Many of us know what it means to go through the
wilderness, spiritually speaking of course; it’s that time when our spiritual
walk before the Lord seems to hit a dry, rough, and even seemingly lonely
period. The Word seems dead when we read it, our prayers feel as though they
never even made it past the ceiling and God seems altogether silent. John of
the Cross referred to this as the “Dark Night of the Soul” And let’s be honest;
many of us will eventually give up and just try to coast it out. Believing and
hoping that one day the season will change and we’ll experience God’s presence
again.
However, have you ever wondered what the purpose of
the wilderness is? Why at one moment we are in a fruitful place in God and then
the next it’s as dry as…..well….a wilderness? It’s almost like God teased us
with His love, presence and joy and then pulled the rug out from under us.
Or…..is there more to it? Maybe there’s something
we’re missing; could it be that God is actually wooing us to Himself and not
just teasing us? He gives us a taste of who He is and then pulls away and says,
“Come on! Chase Me!”
I’ve been meditating on Psalm 84:5-7 for about a
month now, and the Lord opened my eyes to how much I am wasting the wilderness
when I should be using it to my advantage. Let me explain…..
“Blessed
are those whose strength is in you, whose hearts are set on pilgrimage. As
they pass through the Valley of Baka
(Weeping), they make it a place of springs; the autumn rains
also cover it with pools. They go from strength to strength, till
each appears before God in Zion.” Psalm
84:5-7
“Blessed
are those whose strength is in you, whose hearts are set on pilgrimage…”
This passage in its context is speaking of
Israelites who begin their “pilgrimage” to Jerusalem to offer their sacrifices
and burnt offerings to the Lord. That area of the Middle East is a mountainous
region, and so in order to see Jerusalem you must be standing on a mountain
top. They then orient their path in the direction of Jerusalem and then begin
to descend the mountain in to the valley, they purpose in their hearts to make
the long journey no matter the coast.
We have our “mountain top” experience while we are
encountering God and can see Him moving in the lives of others as well as our
own. Every time we open the Word we see Him leaping off the pages. We then put
our strength and trust in Him more and more, and we purpose in our hearts to
pursue Him! We’re on fire for Him! We have oriented our lives to His direction
and began our “pilgrimage”.
But then we begin to descend from the “mountain top”
experience, and into the “valley of weeping”, a.k.a. the wilderness.
“…As
they pass through the Valley of Baka
(Weeping), they make it a place of springs…”
But notice that the verse says, “They make it a
place of springs”. As we go through the wilderness we need to be refreshed, so
some digging is required. At some points we may only have to dig a foot or two
and others we may have to go 15 or 20 feet deeper just to find water.
We dig through the dryness of His Word, we press in
to over come our whiney and fickle flesh through prayer and maybe even go
without food (fasting) until we find the Living Water; that little trickle that
gives us just enough to continue on and create a longing for more.
“Blessed
are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, For they shall be filled…” Matt.5:6.
As we continue on we look back and see that we now
have a valley full of wells. All different in width and depth but all are areas
of refreshing; and each one has its own story in God. Some required many tears,
others many days of fasting, and others required tears, fasting, groaning, and countless
hours sacrificed just to find the hem of His garment; each one its own journey
and history in God. Every single one of them is precious to us, but even more
so, precious to Him.
“…the
autumn rains also cover it with pools.”
He now changes the season on us, and the once dry
and arid land now becomes a deluge of His presence! Every single one of those
wells, every single one of those springs have now become pools of His love for
us! His overwhelming, all consuming love for us! He has been waiting to ambush
us, waiting for us to increase our capacity for Him so that He could fill us to
over flowing! Eagerly He waits and Gladly He pours out, for He has wooed us
into increasing our capacity for Him so that He could give us more of Himself!
Taking us from grasping for His hem to gazing upon His face! Oh that we would
comprehend what is the width
and length and depth and height of His great Love!
“They
go from strength to strength, till each appears before God in Zion.”
We once again find ourselves on the mountain top
able to see the New Jerusalem; our strength has been renewed as if we have
mounted up with wings like eagles. We find ourselves recommitting, or
reorienting our lives with the Kingdom, God’s throne, and continuing our
pilgrimage going from strength to strength.
Let us no longer waste the wilderness but rather,
take advantage of it to increase our capacity for Him! It is the desire of His
heart! For when He was faced with the cross He asked the Father for only one
desire to be fulfilled, “Father, I desire that they
also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold
My glory,…… that the love
with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them.” John 17:24-26
