The Process to Your Purpose: Spending Time in the Wilderness

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Process stinks

Can I be totally honest with you guys?

The process stinks. It really does at times. It can be hard, disappointing, discouraging. 

Here's another word for it. Are you ready? 

Its being in the Wilderness.

How's about those apples, huh? What do you think of when you hear the word 'wilderness'? 

I looked it up on my dictionary app and this is what it says:

wilderness

-noun

1. a wild and uncultivated region, as of forest or desert, uninhabited or inhabited only by wild animals; a tract of wasteland

Synonyms: badland, barrens, boondocks, desert, middle of nowhere, waste, wasteland

Sounds fun, huh?

The phrase 'uncultivated region' stood out to me just now when I typed the definition. So, I looked up 'cultivated'. 

Here's one of the definitions: prepared and used for raising crops, tilled

and another:  educated, refined; cultured. 

Ok...remember that for a minute.

God's all about processes.

God is God. He can do ANYthing. Nothing is too big or too small for Him. If he chose to, He could come in and rectify any given situation/problem/circumstance. He could restore you or place you in the seat of your calling in an instant. But then, what do we learn from that? Do we then expect Him to do that at all times? 

For example: I'm trying to lose weight and get in shape. I've been working at it for a while. I'd be lying if I didn't say that on may occasions, I asked God to just supernaturally take the weight off! And He could...but in doing that, I would go back to eating the wrong things. Stop exercising. It'd skip the process. I would turn around and gain it all back when I failed to maintain the things that I would have done in the process of losing weight. 

Get it? You'll never know what's inside with out a test. Through the process, God is chipping away to reveal the true you. 

Now, I'm not saying that God never comes in and just supernaturally shows off. He does! More than we probably realize. But its in the process, in the wilderness, that He's able to teach us. To whisper to us. 

Its where we find Him. 

Up until recently, I also thought the wilderness was a scary place to be. In my mind, its where we're all alone. That God abandoned us, in a way. However, His Word says that He'll never leave us. Or forsake us. He's always with us.

In the wilderness, its just you and God. There's no better place for the process to happen than in the wilderness with our Beloved. 

As you take one step into the wilderness with Him, in the process, you will begin to see just how you can get from where you are to where you've been called to be. 

We have to search Him in the wilderness. Cling to Him. 

When you walk into the wilderness, you are taking the first step into your destiny!

In the wilderness, there's no water to be found, but God wants to take us into the wilderness with a pick axe and wants to teach us how to dig. How to search for Living Water.

But I've been "called".  

All of us have been called by the Lord to do something for the Kingdom. But even after you become aware of that calling, or have that encounter where God comes to you and tells you, you still have a process before you come into the fullness of your destiny.

Moses was living in the wilderness when he went up to the mountain of God and saw the Lord's glory manifested. Afterwards..he went straight back into the wilderness! 

Remember David? The shepherd boy? When Samuel came to Jesse to anoint the next king, the Lord promptly said no to each one of them. Until they had David come from the fields where he was tending the sheep. This was the one! This was the next King! And Samuel anointed him right there. Surely after that, David was escorted straight to the palace to live until he became king. Right? Nope. He was sent right back to the sheep in the fields. 

And then, Jesus. He hadn't even begun His ministry yet. He was being baptized by John, and as soon as He came up out of the water, heaven opened,  He saw the Spirit of God and a voice from heaven said "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased."(Matthew 3:16,17). And afterwards? Jesus was sent into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 

What? This is JESUS we're talking about! He had to wait before stepping into His ministry. I think if Jesus could wait and go through the process, then so can I. 

What do I do while I'm here?

Being in the wilderness is the best place to be! Its not a scary place, like we've believed for so long. Its the place where God can speak and you can hear Him clearly. Its quiet there. So you can hear His voice better. Its the perfect place to hear Him. 

Be still and know that I am God. - Psalm 46:10

If you allow it, the wilderness will become the place where you hear Heaven and sit under its rain. And then....you'll know what it feels like. What it sounds like. And when the process is over and He leads you out of that wilderness, you'll remember. You'll then recognize His voice. When He speaks, you'll know it! 

Like I said earlier, when you're in the process, deep inside the wilderness, is where God can teach you. Refine you. And then lead you right into your destiny. 

Remember when I gave the definition of  'cultivated'?

-educated, refined; cultured

The wilderness is where God educates us, teaches, refines us. So that we will no longer be an uncultivated region. We will be cultivated; prepared and used for raising crops. Where we will bear fruit when we have stepped into our destiny. Into our ministry. 

My prayer for you all, and myself, is that we come to appreciate and love being in the wilderness. That we become so in tune with God's voice. That we allow Him to teach us and refine us. That we come to know His heart for us! That we come closer to Him.