Weather Report From Heaven: Sunny and bright, with an abundance of light and lots of singing and rejoicing.
Scripture- “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.”- James 1:2-4
Insight- – God doesn’t test us to break us, but rather to grow our faith in Him. Our scariest experiences can also be the place of our greatest growth. This often happens in places where we can’t see the future very clearly, and can’t feel God’s presence but where we must learn to rely on our faith alone. This can often feel like we are alone in the wilderness, and it can feel very scary. The wilderness conjures up vivid memories for most people. For some, it’s being lost, scared or alone. For me, it represents freedom, beauty, open space, quietness, serenity, and most importantly, time for personal introspection and reflection. I have found my soul many times during various ‘wilderness’ excursions.
But in my Christian walk, as I am sure is the case with many other folks, the wilderness can represent something really scary. It can represent the times that truly test our faith, where we’re alone and afraid, with little feedback or communication from God. It’s when we realize everything we thought we could depend on for security other than God is stripped away to test and grow our faith and it can leave us startled. Jesus himself was tempted by the devil in the wilderness and Jesus suffered greatly in the wilderness, but He stood strong by rebuking the devil with scripture from the old Testament, as noted in Matthew Chapter 4: “ it is written that Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.” Matthew 4:4 ” It is also written: Do not put the Lord your God to the test.” Matthew 4:7 ” Away from me Satan! For it is written: Worship the Lord your God, and serve Him only.” Matthew 4:10
The fact that Jesus, God Incarnate, suffered greatly when tempted in the wilderness should give us all perspective and encouragement when facing our own wilderness experiences. In fact, Hebrews 2:18 tells us,” Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.” That He understands what we are going through in our darkest hours of questioning our faith, is what has kept me going many times. It is that personal relationship and fellowship with Christ that defines my faith walk. That He can relate to our human experiences, since He lived them himself, is what sets our whole Christian life apart from any other religion in the world. Because when we are in the midst of a wilderness experience, when God is building up our trust in Him through a season of preparation and pruning, there is no other practical way to get through that except to know that our savior, Jesus Christ, is walking by our side.
God needs to transform us by removing us from our comfort zones! He helps us overcome strongholds, grows our faith via trials and tribulations, temporarily leaves us alone, and confused, prepares us by deepening our reliance upon Himself, releases us from captivity to our fears, gains an improbable victory and achieves a fulfillment of His bigger purposes. Human nature is nothing if not consistent, and God knows we doubt easier than we trust. We must see it to believe it, just like Doubting Thomas. But God is in the resume building business and He often uses our wilderness experiences to help mold us into what he needs us to be. That usually requires some pain on our part, and it always requires a greater level of patience and deeper faith. God knows how badly we want our dream to be accomplished, He wants it even more. But, He must refine us first. For when our “lack” is finished, whatever that is for each of us personally, then our preparation in the wilderness is finished. We are finally ready to claim our dreams and glorify our God!
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