More About The Wilderness

Just a little more about the wilderness – The Lord accomplishes great things in us as He leads us into the wilderness. We tend to think of the wilderness as a negative experience, but think about it: The Lord was with His people day and night – by cloud and by fire; He provided manna every morning and water from the rock. The interesting thing is that the children of Israel were never more than a few days from their destination - yet they continued to wander for 40 years: 

"Wilderness" A desert, an uncultivated and uninhabited land; part of a garden left looking uncultivated and confused, mingled, a waste land.  (Oxford Dictionary)

• There are two ways that we may enter the wilderness:  God takes us in as a test and as an allurement, or we can go into a wilderness ourselves through rebellion.

If you find yourself in a wilderness – ask yourself if the Lord has you there for a purpose, of if you have refused to move on, and you are there because of rebellion. No matter the reason – you will find the Lord very near in the wilderness, and an opportunity to learn His song.

• The wilderness is a place of extremes  (extreme climate).

Your wilderness may seem like a place where you have extreme feelings – sometimes you feel close to the Lord and at other times He may seem difficult to find. Maybe your life seems to be in a turmoil of extreme ups and downs. No matter the circumstances – the Lord will open your ears to His song.

• The wilderness is a place of frustration. The children of Israel knew the goal that was before them, but there was an inability to realize that goal.

The Lord led his people into the wilderness - that the deep intent of their hearts would be revealed.

Deut. 8:2 And you shall remember that the Lord your God led you all the way these forty years in the wilderness, to humble you and test you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not.

Wilderness Survival Technique:

a) Obedience Deut. 8:1-2; Josh 5:4–6 Make sure you listen to God’s direction and obey His every word.

b) The visitation of God (preserves our spirit). Remember the times when God has visited you - draw life and strength from those encounters - they will preserve your spirit in the dry times.  Job 10:12 You have granted me life and loving kindness. Your visitation has preserved my spirit. (WEB, KJV)

c) Take one day at a time - receive fresh manna for each day - Ex. 16:18 Stay in the Word. He feeds us every day and sustains us through the wilderness.

d) Learn how to dig wells - even in the dry places. Ps. 84:5-6  In Psalm 84, the one who is on the journey towards God’s presence learns how to make springs in the valley and receive the blessing of God’s rain This is a “double portion” of God’s refreshing coming in the wilderness. (Is. 12:3 We need to dig "…wells of salvation.")

e) e) Meet the Lord in the wilderness: Song 8:5 Who is this coming up from the wilderness, Leaning upon her beloved? Once we have met the Lord in this place, there is a new intimacy with Him. Lean on Him, commune with Him, follow Him, be changed by Him.

Whenever we go through the wilderness it is so the Lord

can show His wonders and His faithfulness

Oh...I couldn't resist this adorable picture

it has absolutely nothing to do with our study on the wilderness

-or the song of God...but it is adorable!

Songs of Deliverance 1

Psalm 32:7 You are my hiding place; You shall preserve me from trouble; You shall surround me with songs of deliverance. Selah

 What a wonderful verse – God surrounds His people with songs that bring deliverance and joy. I want to take a few days to look at some of these songs of God – the songs He sings over us as we hide in Him. We need to tune our ears to hear His song – then it will resound in us and touch every difficult and hopeless place in us until we come to a place of triumph over our suffering.

I want to begin with the song from Hosea, as I heard from a friend in Nevada today – she sent me an article her husband had seen in the “Natural History” magazine – a song about singing sands!

A Song From The Wilderness—Hosea 2:14-15

Therefore, behold, I will allure her, Will bring her into the wilderness, And speak comfort (tenderly) to her.

 I will give her vineyards from there, And the Valley of Achor as a door of hope; She shall sing there, As in the days of her youth, As in the day when she came up from the land of Egypt.

The Lord draws us with solitude in the wilderness - The Lord actually draws us to the desert place. We tend to think of the wilderness or desert as a bad place – a place where we suffer. But the Lord has a special song to sing through us here. He wants us all to Himself and He actually has a unique desert experience picked out for each one of us.

The Lord draws us with words and songs Notice that our song comes after the Lord speaks comfort to us in the wilderness. The word for “speaks” in this passage is the Hebrew word: dabar, which can also mean to promise or to sing!

The Hebrew word for “comfort” is leb. It really speaks of the deep inner comfort that God puts into the core of our being. He gives wholeness and courage to us as He speaks and comforts us in the wilderness – then He gives us a song.

The Lord draws us with gifts of trouble – this wilderness actually has a name – it is the ‘Valley of Achor.” Achor means trouble – it is a place near Jericho where Israel got into her first trouble after crossing in to the Promised Land (Joshua 7). Achan, from the Tribe of Judah disobeyed God and took items from Jericho after God had forbidden it. At some point in your walk with the Lord, He will take you to your “Achor” the place of your first and deepest flaws. What a wonderful thing it is that He helps us to deal with our sinful nature in this wilderness – not only that, He teaches us His song here in this place and turns the trouble into doors of hope – not only for us, but all those who pass this way with us.

Our extremity becomes God's opportunity. Our misery gives place to God's mercy.

Now He is able to close the door of our past behind us and lead us out of the wilderness with His song on our lips and His fire in our eyes!

"Troubles are often the tools

By which god fashions our hearts

For better things."

(Henry W. Beecher)

The wilderness becomes a vineyard

The sorrow becomes a song

The trouble becomes a door of hope

Now we get to something interesting – the article I mentioned from the “Natural History” magazine on “Singing Sands” by E. R Yarham. This is a great article that talks about the scientific phenomenon of sands that “sing” at various times when certain circumstances are in place. Such as…when the sands are hot, when reservoirs of water flow deep beneath the sand, or when the wind blows along surface of the sand and catches little ridges.

Go HERE and read the entire article – it is so interesting.

I am fascinated by this article as it shows us that natural deserts can “sing” – how much more can our desert places sing – especially when we have deep reservoirs of Holy Spirit water within our hearts; or when we have the blowing of the Holy Spirit on our hearts.

So…don’t turn away from the Lord as He leads you into this place. He sings over you and puts His song into your heart. The next step is that you can be used to sing God’s song of deliverance – the song of the wilderness over others who need to walk through their door of hope.

Part 2: HERE