The Journey Through the Wilderness onto a Clear Purpose Focused Path: Part 2

Revival, Renewal & New Life

There are many accounts in the Bible of wilderness times, times when prophets, servants of God, & even Jesus were sent by the Holy Spirit into quiet wilderness places to reflect & to commune with God & to make some decisions about how they would go forward & what their purpose was in life.  The Bible tells us that God, in the past & even now, draws people into the wilderness to enable them to reflect on their life & to listen for His leading & to renew & awaken their spirits.  We are all called to draw on His strength, His unending covenant with us & His steadfast unconditional love in order to step into a new day in service to Him, reflecting His light to the world.  As His instruments in the world, we need to pause & our spirits need to be revived & renewed.  God is good & loving & is ever present with us as we journey through darken times.

We read in the Old Testament that it was in the wilderness that God encountered & called: Abraham, the Israelites, Moses, the prophet Elijah & David (& many others).  Then, in the New Testament, we read that Jesus was drawn by the Holy Spirit into a wilderness time following His baptism to discern the direction of His calling as the Son of God.  All of the Biblical wilderness experiences consist of intense encounters with God.  Many wilderness accounts in the past & even right now, occur right after some very unsettling event, as people are struggling & seeking answers & comfort from God, or right before there is some new revelation or unfolding plan & calling from God to do a new thing.  It is in the wilderness that decisions & pathways are carved out & where God is most prevalent.  Whenever we find ourselves in the wilderness seasons; depressed, confused & engulfed with conflicting decisions regarding how to go forward & to make sense of our lives, we can rest assured God is there with us. 

 The wilderness is a time to of letting go of everything that has sustained us other than God.  It is a place that every believer has to experience in order to be molded for their Divine purpose.  We all were created with a Divine purpose for our lives & the voices we listen to affect our view & our path as our purpose is defined.  It is difficult if not impossible, to decern God’s plan & purpose for us when we are pressed on all sides & distracted by the noise of this world.  As challenging as it may be, it is good to be in the wilderness alone with God from time to time, in the quiet stillness of His silent voice.  It is a time of deep reflection seeking God’s will & healing in a locale for intense experiences with our Holy Living God.  The time & experiences in the wilderness of unknown solitude with God are often surrounded in the background of challenging, troubling & significant events.  The choices we make as to how to go forward effect the work of God among His people.  If we ask God for a calm, thankful heart that sees all the blessings His grace imparts, He can teach us many lessons in times of illness, depression, confusion & change that can never be learned in health or anywhere else for that matter.

 As we move through the wilderness seasons of our lives, let us all move forward trusting in God & the gift of the empowerment given by the Spiritual infusion of the revival & re-awakening of our spirits that gives us new spiritual life imparted by the Holy spirit.  As the prophet Isaiah says: “Those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagle, they shall run & not be weary, they shall walk & not faint.”  AMEN

~Posted by Rev Kathryn Bindig, MDiv. MS; Pastoral Care Minister with assistance from Rich Muscatello; Director of Business Development & Strategy