The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose. Isaiah 35:1

A wilderness is defined as an uncultivated or abandoned and inhospitable region. When a beautiful place like a garden is neglected, it will become a wilderness. Nobody likes a wilderness but it is Avery vital region, both naturally and spiritually. Most species of plants and animals that are endangered to continuous life are found in the wilderness of this world. Even scientists and biologists will probably never figure out the true positive impact which an apparently useless are, that seems only useful in holding the world together, can be necessary for nature's survival.

When we consider the spiritual context of a wilderness, we grow closer to the Lord and see more clearly just how amazing God really is. Not only can Jesus turn water into wine, He can also turn a wil-derness into a wel watered and flourishing garden.

The natural man; in and of himself, is a walking wilderness. The heart of man left to itself is a pretty desolate desert where nothing good grows.

The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it? Jeremiah 17:9

But when God drains the swamp of sin and stubbornness and cuts canals in the dry places so that the water of life flows freely, things take on a whole new look. Beautiful plants spring up and bloom when they are planted. A Christian is a planting of the Lord and could never have the capacity to do anything worthwhile for God or anyone else except for God’s intervening, wilderness withering grace! God can and does turn the bad into good and the ugly into some- thing beautiful. He did on the cross of Calvary and He’s still doing it today right in the wilderness. Actually, before Jesus went to the cross for us, He had to go through a wilderness experience. He went there for us too! We must remember always how important God’s written word is when we’re in the wilderness. We do find ourselves in the wilderness at times. God knows we need the wilderness experience to keep us from going extinct. It is most critical in the life of a Christian to always have a felt need for Christ Jesus. Difficult circumstances and hard places keep our “needs” needle pointing to God like the true north needle on a compass. I have been knee deep in alligators and too close for comfort to a rattlesnake’s rattle chorus under a palmetto bush to ever forget how much a compass means when you really don’t know which way to go and what direction will get you out of the woods.

A wilderness can be confusing.

As beautiful as a rose is, it does have thorns. Even though our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ has made a beautiful flower out of the ashes of our selfish selves, we still have to deal with problems and pain. God doesn’t take us straight to Heaven when He saves. Rather, He leaves us here in a wilderness of sin and sorrow. Why God allows me to sin is something that confuses me. He is sovereign over all things and could stop it if it were His will to do so. Why would anyone want to sin who has been saved by God’s grace, who houses the Holy Spirit, who has been adopted into the family of the Creator Of The Universe and has been given joint-heirship with Jesus Christ? The only way to deal with this confusing place and predicament is to confess that you are confused. If the Apostle Paul did that, surely you and I ought to.

For the good that I would I do not; but the evil which I would not that I do. Romans 7:19

Yet, our confusion is not a delusion! If a Christian can live in this wilderness called the world and not be confused only proves that the Christian of the wilderness is not just in it. The essence of salvation is God substituting for us. The essence of sin is us trying to substitute for God. If that doesn’t make you shake in your shoes and scratch your head at the same time, nothing will.

The wilderness makes us more courageous.

Young David challenged and defeated the giant Goliath because God meant the world to David and his faith in Him propelled courageous obedience. David got to know his Lord in the wilderness a lot better than he did in the temple. Sometimes a Christian will worship Almighty God more fervently in a hospital bed than he or she will in a church pew. David had fought and defeated a lion and a bear in the wilderness while tending his father’s sheep. But David knew that it wasn’t by his power or finesse that he gained the victory, it was God who did it. And God did it in a most uncomfortable place. God had a purpose in David’s being in the wilderness and David came to realize that too at crunch time.

Most of us will spend some time in God’s school of hard knocks! We may never graduate this side of Heaven, but we’ll learn a lot about God and ourselves, especially when we do our homework. Most of the prophets in the Old Testament worked in the wilderness. Moses needed some time there to be the courageous leader he was and John the Baptist worked out of the wilderness and ended up baptizing Jesus in the Jordan River. A faith that won’t work in the wilderness won’t work anywhere else very well either.

God comforts us in the wilderness.

When God says He will never leave us or forsake us, He really means it! When Jesus said “Come unto me and I will give you rest,” He might as well have said, “Come here and I will comfort you.” And, when the Bible says that the Lord will meet all our needs, it includes comfort when our circumstances are uncomfortable.

Our God is described in the Bible as the God of all comfort. He can comfort us when and in ways no one else can. Sometimes He leads us into the wilderness just to comfort us. If the Holy Spirit led Jesus into a wilderness, we should not be surprised to wake up and find ourselves in a place we don’t really want to be in and in situations we’d rather not have to deal with. When we do though, we will find comfort in what is written in holy writ, just like Jesus did.

The very reason for our faith is for finding our way through the wilderness of life. The two main effects the word of God has regarding our faith is that it comforts us when we’re afflicted and it also afflicts us if we get too comfortable. We should never forget that we are pilgrims and strangers on Earth, so God makes sure we don’t by exposing us to difficulties and dire circumstances.

Probably the greatest part of comfort for us in the wilderness of life is not how we feel but who we become. Physical therapy is needful and necessary, but it does not feel good! Maybe we should be more concerned about our conformableness than we are our comfortableness. Sometimes God will hurt us just to make us better.

Therefore, behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness and speak comfortably unto her. Hosea 2:14

Brother Randy