Wilderness Experiences
You must be willing to be tried and tested.
For God to use us memorably, we must accept that the Holy Spirit will need to guide us through periods of spiritual and personal development. We will have to say no to the instant impulse gratification that marks mediocre lives.
In the wilderness, we learn to fight battles and overcome the temptations of the flesh. We also know to resist the temptation of always looking for shortcuts in our advancement. The wilderness teaches us the value of discipline and the art of depending on God alone.
“As sure as God puts His children in the furnace of affliction, He will be with them in it.” (Charles Spurgeon)[1]
In the wilderness, we are broken of self-sufficiency and self-promotion. We gain a clearer perspective on our spiritual journey. We might solidify our sense of purpose. We are prepared for the next level of our calling.
Quality leaders can almost always point to wilderness experiences as part of their development and growth. During lonely wilderness trials and testing, our motives are purified, our backbones are fortified, and our callings are clarified. Our example, the Lord Jesus, was tried and tested for forty days in the wilderness. You could say that it was a testing and screening process to see what Jesus would be willing to give up and how He would trust God to provide for Him.
“Solitude is the furnace of transformation. Without solitude, we remain victims of our society and continue to be entangled in the illusions of the false self.” (Henri Nouwen)[2]
If we want to follow Jesus and become remarkable like Him, we can expect to be tried and tested with the three familiar temptations everyone has to wrestle with:
Our legitimate needs
Our gifts
Our needs for significance and fame
We must remind ourselves that Jesus came as a servant (see Ephesians 2) and obeyed His heavenly Father's plan. Even when it came to His legitimate needs, Jesus trusted God over everything else. He said no to becoming self-sufficient and independent of God.
Likewise, you and I are not supposed to be so autonomous that we become independent of God. We must maintain complete trust in the Lord, even in the lonely moments of a wilderness experience.
Thank you for reading!
1 “Charles Spurgeon Quotes.” QuoteMaster.com. https://www.quotemaster.org/q77b23b1c586e78899722ca27df8a5ada.
2 “Henri Nouwen Quotes.” QuoteMaster.com. https://www.quotemaster.org/qde5fde23af514642b78d502710a034b4.