THE WILDERNESS EXPERIENCE
Have you ever gone through a period of time where you can’t feel, hear, or sense God like you want to? When it seems like your prayers are bouncing off the ceiling?
Perhaps you’re struggling physically, mentally, financially or spiritually. Perhaps you’ve prayed and prayed and your answers haven’t manifested yet. Perhaps you’ve prayed and fasted till it hurt, and the breakthrough hasn’t come.
These are just a few of the examples people can go through, but thank God – you’re going THROUGH!
It’s called a wilderness experience. A season of testing, temptation, trial, and proving what is in your heart. Every person will walk through seasons like this. What’s going on?
You’re answer the accusation that satan has put before the Father like he did Job. Saying the only reason you love God and live for him is because God has blessed you.
The purpose of this season is not only to prove whether you love God in spite of all his blessings and goodness, but it’s also designed to teach you how to hear and trust in God.
WHAT IS A WILDERNESS?
If you’ve ever been in a wilderness, you probably don’t need an explanation of it, but let me define and describe it anyway.
The Greek word for wilderness is G2048, “eremos” which means: solitary, lonely, desolate, uninhabited. Lonely places, deprived of aid and protection of others, especially of friends.
Have you even been in seasons and times of your life, when you’re surrounded by people and yet still feel completely alone and isolated? Like the whole room full of people don’t even know you exist or could care less if they did? There may be people sitting at your table laughing and having a good time, and yet you feel completely lonely and empty inside.
That is a wilderness experience. When you’re in a season of people being all around you and yet being completely alone inside. Empty of everything by loneliness and questions.
WHY ARE YOU IN THE WILDERNESS?
I believe that many people think that every wilderness experience is caused and endorsed by God, but THAT IS ABSOLUTELY NOT TRUE.
The wilderness you’re in may not have anything to do with God at all.
I want you to realize that there are actually THREE sources of the wilderness experience. Your wilderness experience can be initiated, endorsed, prolonged,
- God
- The devil
- Yourself
What do I mean? Let’s look at a few scripture passages and you’ll see what I mean.
A GOD-ORDAINED WILDERNESS
The book of Luke gives us two good examples. First, let’s look at the life of Jesus in chapter 4 and see that Jesus was led by the Spirit (God) into the wilderness to be tempted and tested.
Luke 4:1-13 KJV
(1) And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost returned from Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness,
When God leads you into a wilderness experience, he intends for you to come through in order for you to be promoted. He wants you to be successful, empowered, anointed, and come out with great strength, dominion and might. The Spirit of God wasn’t leading him into a wilderness to see him fail. The Spirit was leading him there in order for him to make it through, and to come out on the other side of it with great power, authority, and dominion!
The scriptures bare witness that Jesus did in fact come out of that season of testing and trial with great power. Look at verse 14. It says he “returned in the power of the Spirit.”
Luke 4:14 KJV
(14) And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee: and there went out a fame of him through all the region round about.
Sometimes God will lead you into a wilderness because you’re not ready for the next battle. He needs to you toughen up, get strong, understand who you are, and make up your mind that he is God and with him nothing is impossible. The bible says that God led the children of Israel the way he did, because they weren’t able to handle facing the Philistines, and God knew if they engaged that enemy, that would indeed find a way back to Egypt. Look at Exodus 13:17-18:
Exo 13:17-18 ESV
(17) When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them by way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near. For God said, “Lest the people change their minds when they see war and return to Egypt.”
(18) But God led the people around by the way of the wilderness toward the Red Sea. And the people of Israel went up out of the land of Egypt equipped for battle.
If you find yourself in a God-ordained wilderness for a long period of time, you need to start asking God what’s wrong. What have you not learned? What have you missed? What fears have you not overcome? What enemies are in your way that you’re not strong enough to defeat and how come? Begin to come into alignment with God and ask him what to do.
God loves you so much, he won’t lead you into something you can’t hand. Which leads me to the next point. Some wilderness experiences are ordained and empowered by the devil.
A DEVIL-ORDAINED WILDERNESS
Luke goes on to record another wilderness experience a few chapters later as he details the story of the demon of Gadara. I want to look specifically at what the bible says in Luke 8:29:
Luke 8:26-29 KJV
(26) And they arrived at the country of the Gadarenes, which is over against Galilee.
(27) And when he went forth to land, there met him out of the city a certain man, which had devils long time, and ware no clothes, neither abode in any house, but in the tombs.
(28) When he saw Jesus, he cried out, and fell down before him, and with a loud voice said, What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God most high? I beseech thee, torment me not.
(29) (For he had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. For oftentimes it had caught him: and he was kept bound with chains and in fetters; and he brake the bands, and was driven of the devil into the wilderness.)
Notice who drove the demon-possessed man into the wilderness? Was it God? Did God drive him there and put him through those things? NO! the devil did it. Literally. I’m sure the man contributed to it, as we will see in some examples coming up, but the scriptures say this man was driven into the wilderness by the devil.
By virtue of dwelling in the tomb-filled wilderness, howling and screaming like wild animal – the man had lost his family, his reputation, and civility. He was a by-word. A haunt to scare children at night into submission. He was the nightmare of the region. No man could bind him. He had a supernatural demonic power that could break even the chains they tried to bind him with. He beat himself, cut himself, and did what he could to slowly self-destruct. Those are all obvious signs of a demonically-inspired wilderness. Self-inflicted wounds and hurt.
God didn’t do those things to him. In fact, Jesus, (God manifested in flesh) just crossed a sea to get to him in order to deliver him and set him free! God was interested in getting him OUT OF THAT DEVIL-ORDAINED WILDERNESS.
IF you want to know if God wants you in a demonically-inspired wilderness – the answer is NO! of course NOT! God wants you OUT! And he will cross whatever sea and walk though whatever storm he needs to in order to get to you.
Another example is Elijah.
He had just stood on the Mount of Carmel and called fire down from heaven in probably the most dramatic account ever recorded. It was a bone-a-fide miracle. He killed the prophets of Baal, broke a 3.5-year drought with the sound of an abundance of rain, and brought national revival as the people turned their hearts and minds back to God.
However, there was a woman named Jezebel. You know her. Yes. That one. King Ahab’s evil wife. Let’s look at the passage.
1Ki 19:1-4 KJV
(1) And Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and withal how he had slain all the prophets with the sword.
(2) Then Jezebel sent a messenger unto Elijah, saying, So let the gods do to me, and more also, if I make not thy life as the life of one of them by to morrow about this time.
(3) And when he saw that, he arose, and went for his life, and came to Beersheba, which belongeth to Judah, and left his servant there.
(4) But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a juniper tree: and he requested for himself that he might die; and said, It is enough; now, O LORD, take away my life; for I am not better than my fathers.
Elijah, this great man of God, fresh on the heels of one of the most notable events in human history – fled into the wilderness (verse 4). Not because of the prophets of Baal, Ashtoreth or King Ahab. He went into the wilderness because Jezebel came against him and he chose to run.
Some demonically-inspired wilderness experiences in your life are because there is an enemy you refused to face. For the children of Israel, his name was Goliath. He walked around spouting threatenings and tell them all the things he was going to do to them, yet no one ever stood up to him to see if he could actually do what he said he was going to do. All it took was one young man named David who had more faith in God than he did in the fear of death.
If you find yourself in a demonically-inspired wilderness, it could be for several reasons. It may be because you are living in sin and turned your life over to the devil, his purposes and his mission for your life, or it may be because you are under great demonic attack and you have not risen up to defeat it.
One thing I can assure is this: running for a battle you are supposed to fight will ALWAYS put you under its bondage and jurisdiction. He will come to the edge of your wilderness and scream all his threatenings over and over. He wants to keep you intimidated, fearful, and cowering in the shadows of your own insecurities. You must face the giant you are destined to kill and stand strong in whatever storm you are facing!
SELF-INFLICTED WILDERNESS
Lastly, I want to talk about self-inflicted wilderness experiences. These are caused by your own will, emotions, insecurities, and unbelief.
The children of Israel were never intended to walk in the wilderness for 40 years. That was NOT God’s plan by a long shot. God brought them out of Egypt with great signs, wonders, and miracles, proving over and over that he could anything they needed; however, that didn’t transition from their mind into their heart.
When God brought them through parted waters and slew their enemies. You would think that should have been enough. But no. God manifested his power over and over to them through every trial, struggle, and valley, and there they stand on the edge of their promise – actually ready to LEAVE the wilderness and go into PROMISE! What do they do?
They saw turned away the chance to get out!! The houses they didn’t built were just across the river. Fields they didn’t plow. Vineyards they didn’t plant. The answer! The promise! The wilderness is over! But they turned back!!
Sometimes the wilderness in your life is your OWN fault because you refused to accept that you could do what God called you to do.
You think the enemy is too big. The walls are too tall and too strong. You think of yourself according to the flesh instead of thinking about yourself spiritually. When we keep our eyes on giants instead of God, it ALWAYS leads to prolonged wildernesses.
MOSES
Another example of a self-inflicted wilderness experience is Moses. The bible says he took matters into his own hands and yet the very people he was trying to help weren’t ready to go with him and support him. He made his play and they didn’t rally around him. His only option was to flee, and it led him into a self-inflicted wilderness experience that lasted 40 years!
Sometimes you may be in a wilderness experience because of your own actions, choices and decisions.
WHAT’S THE TAKE-AWAY?
One thing that I want you to notice, is that in EVERY wilderness situation, regardless of what initiated it – God ALWAYS came though in every situation.
Even if it was their fault. God didn’t let their shoes or clothes wear out. He made water come from rocks and fed them with manna from heaven. Bitter waters were made sweet, and even their moaning, griping and complaining was forgiven.
For the demon of Gadara, God even crossed the sea in order to get to him. God can and will help you through ANY wilderness!!!
I want you to question who put you in the wilderness you’re in. Identify what the source of your wilderness is. Did God lead you here, the devil or your own actions? The reason you need to identify that is because each one has it’s own solution and remedy.
Let me give you a list just to look at one how to handle each, and I hope this article was a blessing to you.
- IF it’s GOD
- ASK God what you are supposed to LEARN.
- PRAY to stand through the TRIALS and TEMPTATIONS
- Jesus said PRAY that you don’t enter INTO TEMPTATIONS
- ASK GOD to HELP YOU and show you what you’re supposed to do.
- IF it’s YOUR WILDERNESS
- Ask GOD to forgive you
- Ask GOD to show you how to get out
- LIFT up your spirits
- GET everyone on BOARD and on the SAME PAGE. What’s right for EVERYONE?
- IF it’s the DEVIL
- REBUKE the enemy
- RESIST and FIGHT HIM
- RUN TO JESUS – NOT away from JESUS
- WORSHIP — is the KEY — the demoniac was FREED – when he RAN to JESUS and WORSHIPPED
God bless,
Theo