DESERT, WILDERNESS OR VALLEY

This whole thing stemmed from a very quick conversation that my daughter and I had where she was telling me about her Bible study.

She said “did you know that Desert and wilderness are not the same?”

I had never thought about it until she said that but it quickly got my attention and I felt the Lord speaking something greater into my spirit. I felt a strong urge to go study that out further. See what else He wanted to tell me about such a simple comment.

Wilderness and desert are not the same. The environment of a desert is hard and the environment of wilderness is lonely. Sometimes God has to get us in a spiritual desert allowing us to experience hard things to strengthen our character or the wilderness to be alone so He can speak to us or in the valley so that we can focus only on Him.

The good news is…. Whichever we are in…God is also present. Making provision for our needs and always available for communication.

What we go through is either due to our poor choices or because God trusts us to grow in Him.

In good times and bad God still deserves glory, honor and praise.

If He doesn’t receive it in us then the rocks will do it for us.

Just like that ole song says “I don’t need no rock doin my praise”

If our desert, wilderness or valley due to our poor choices then we must repent and let God have control of the situation. If it’s because He trusts us then we should thank Him for that kind of trust and for the suffering we will endure that will ultimately bring Him glory.

The hard pressing produces fine oil. These things are for our good but more importantly for God’s glory. I’m thankful for this knowledge as I’ve walked through wilderness and desert places. They’re not the same but people use them interchangeably.

And then…. There’s valleys. The valley causes us to potentially hear a lot of noises and voices of opinions. Sometimes it can be difficult to decipher through all those voices and tell which ones to listen to and which ones to politely ignore. Walking through the valley can also be scary; there can be a lot of spiritual attacks in this place. Being in the valley forces us to tune out worldly opinions and to really tune in to the voice of God and discern each step.

Which place are you in?

Whichever one it is…God is preparing you for something greater! Thank Him that He found you worthy to suffer for His sake.

Don’t let the enemy cause distractions of any sort!

-No distractions of loneliness.

-No distractions of hardships

-No distractions of hearing opinions of others.

Get into the living Word of God and get through these places closer to Him. His Word is alive, sharp and powerful! He will speak to you through His pages.

Again…. Remembering that what we go through isn’t ever about you but it’s always about the Lord. The hard times will be for your good…. but it all also be for His Glory!!

He always gives a way of escape.

He is our strength in these difficult places and He gave us a comforter (the Holy Spirit).

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Isaiah 43:19 Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert. (KJV)