Led by the Spirit into the Wilderness

Led by the Spirit into the Wilderness

Following His baptism, Jesus left the Jordan River full of the Holy Spirit and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness.  Luke 4:1

Life is a series of high and lows—mountain top victories and wilderness wanderings.  Naturally, we long for the heights and try to avoid the valleys.  Yet, the Spirit of God led Jesus into the wilderness, immediately after His baptism–a spiritual high point.  

Why would God do that?  Why are we Led by the Spirit into the Wilderness?

A Place of Preparation

The wilderness is God’s training ground.  It’s a sacred classroom where lessons are learned through hardship, silence, and surrender.  Repeatedly in Scripture, we see that wilderness seasons often precede ministry.  

Moses spent 40 years in Midian before leading the Israelites out of Egypt.  

John received the vision of Revelation while exiled on the Island of Patmos.

Jesus Himself was led by the Spirit into the desert for forty days before beginning His public ministry.

As Lysa TerKeurst and Joel Muddamalle write in 30 Days with Jesus:

The wilderness wasn’t God’s punishment because He didn’t care. It was where God took them because He knew something they didn’t. 

The wilderness is not a place of abandonment.  Rather, it’s a place of preparation.

Can I Embrace the Wilderness?

My first instinct is to run from the wilderness.  It’s vast, lonely, and unfamiliar.  It strips away comfort and control.

But if I’m honest, my deepest growth has come from wilderness seasons.  Though I initially feel alone there, I am not.  God is with me.  He walks beside me, teaching me how to live in barren places.  

God doesn’t carelessly send me into the wilderness.  He journeys with me.  The Spirit Leads Us into the Wilderness. In the wilderness, God reveals His presence in difficult terrain.

What is Your Word in the Wilderness?

I enter the wilderness with trepidation.  However, in ancient Jewish culture, the wilderness wasn’t feared–it was revered.  The people believed it to be a place where God speaks.

There’s a Hebrew phrase, Davar in the Midbar, which means, “a word in the wilderness.”  Those who entered the wilderness did so with eager anticipation, trusting that God would meet them there.  They believed He would speak. Therefore, they listened.

Led by the Spirit into the Wilderness

I have much to learn about the wilderness.  Instead of running from it, I need to recognize its divine purpose.  What does the Lord know that I don’t?  What might He be preparing me for?  What word does He have for me there?

Prayer:

Dear God and Father, help me trust You when I’m Led by the Spirit into the Wilderness.  Thank you for walking beside me.  May I hear Your voice and respond with gladness.  Amen.

Questions to Consider

1. What lessons have you learned in the wilderness?
2. Do you have a Davar in the Midbar—a word in the wilderness?
3. How to you know that God is with you in the wilderness?