Tag Archives: wilderness

Waiting for Hope

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I just finished Waiting for Hope, a study on the book of Malachi. I love the title of this study so much. The people that Malachi wrote to during the time of this book didn’t know what was coming; they didn’t know that they were about to enter a period of four hundred years of silence from God. Once again, God was going to ask his people to wait. This is the last message they will receive for a long time. I think that makes us give this book special attention.

God’s Last Words

What did God have to say in His last words to His people before He would send His son into the world? The first words from God in Malachi are these, “I have loved you.” He reminds them of His love. In the days to come, they would feel that God was so very far away. Yet, He leaves them this powerful reminder that He loves them.

Sometimes God asks us to wait for hope during different seasons of our lives. It’s during these times that we feel God is so very far away. We feel like we are alone. Eugene Peterson calls these “wilderness times.” We all go through them, and so did so many of our favorite people from the Bible. David, Elijah, Moses, and even Jesus. Wilderness times are times of testing and discouragement, a contrast between hope and faith and doubt and fear. It’s during these times that our faith can be strengthened if we allow it to be.

David’s Wilderness Years

It’s during these wilderness times that we learn to see the beauty of the wilderness and of what God’s doing. Eugene Peterson writes about David’s wilderness times in his book, Leap Over a Wall.

The wilderness taught David to see beauty everywhere. The wilderness was David’s school in the preciousness of life; through wilderness testing David learned to see God in places and things he never would have thought to look previously.

In the wilderness years, as David was dealing with God, a sense of the sacred developed in him. While he was living in that austere country, his awareness of holiness, of God’s beauty and presence in everything, in everyone, increased exponentially.

Wilderness Times

God takes us all through wilderness times. They look different for all of us, and yet, it’s in these wilderness times that we can draw close to God. We can see the beauty of the wilderness times when we choose to walk through that time with peace and hope, hope of the good to come. We can find peace and beauty in the wilderness times instead of just wishing for an escape.

I don’t know what season of life you’re in today, but if it’s a wilderness season, I’m here to encourage you to hold on to hope. God’s not done with you. Your story’s not over. Look for the beauty right where you are. Choose to hold on to hope and find joy right where you are. Soon this season will be over and with it the opportunity to find the beauty in this season. Don’t miss what God’s trying to show you during this time.

More Encouragement

For more encouragement, check out my post, Hope in the Midst of Suffering.

Finding God in the Lonely Places

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Places are important in our lives. Think about a place that means so much to you and your family. Maybe it’s where you got engaged or the restaurant where you had your first date. It could be the house where you found out you were having your first baby, or the town you grew up in. Place have value because they hold memories for us.

God Used Places all the time in the Bible

Places in the Bible are no less important. We see time and time again where God uses places or geographical features to do something in the lives of his people. Often it was deserts or wildernesses. God would use these places as a time set aside for his chosen person, often to get their attention.

Think of Moses in the desert and the burning bush, Joseph in Egypt, David in the caves as he runs from Saul, Elijah on the mountaintop with the prophets of Baal, Jesus praying in the garden…

Hagar in the Wilderness

Hagar was a person who experienced something in the wilderness. We find her story in Genesis 16. Abram knows he’s going to be the father of many nations; God’s promised him that. But when his wife doesn’t get pregnant, and they get too old to have kids, he and his wife take matters into their own hands. Abram sleeps with his servant, Hagar, and she becomes pregnant. Sara becomes bitter about it and treats Hagar terribly, so Hagar runs away.

Hagar finds herself alone in the wilderness. She’s sad, scared, uncertain, and all alone. And yet, God finds her there. The angel of the Lord that she will have a son. Her son, Ishmael, will have many offspring, too many to count.

The God Who Sees Me

Hagar is overcome with emotion and the fact that God came to her. She calls God by his name El-roi, “the God who sees me.” She takes notice of the fact that God saw her...in this place.

So she named the Lord who spoke to her: “You are El-roi,” for she said, “In this place, have I actually seen the one who sees me?”

Genesis 16:13CSB

Had Hagar been in a different place, would God have seen her? Yes. Would He have come to her? I don’t know. If she had stayed with Sara and Abraham, it’s possible God might not have made an appearance to her. But in the wilderness, in the place where she was very alone, God appeared to her.

Seasons in Our Lives

There are seasons and places in our lives where God comes to us and “shows” Himself to us more than at other times. Often, it’s in the “wilderness” or “desert” seasons. It’s in those times when we feel so alone, isolated, forgotten, that God shows us Himself. Sometimes, it really is a location.

It can be a college dorm room, the first time we’re away from our family. We don’t know anybody, and we are completely and utterly alone, even though we’re surrounded by hundreds or thousands of other students. Our wilderness can be in a new city or after we leave our job to stay at home with a baby. Maybe it’s after a divorce, and we suddenly find ourselves alone once again for the first time in years. Wilderness times can surprise us; other times, we know they’re coming. So many times, God uses these wilderness times to “come to us,” to remind us of who He is. It was after a time of testing when Job lost everything that he says, “I had only heard about you before, but now I’ve seen you.” (Job 42:5)

Wilderness Times

There will be times when God takes you away from everything you know, whether that’s literal or figurative. You will be completely alone and isolated, whether that’s from people or even just from peace and joy. You’ll feel alone and abandoned, discouraged and depressed. Yet, these are the times that God shows Himself to us; He shows us who He really is. When these times come, and they will, don’t abandon your faith. Don’t abandon your belief that God is good. Trust that He is still working on your behalf. He hasn’t forgotten you, and He knows exactly what you’re going through.

Instead, spend the time searching for Him. Spend extra time in your morning time routine. Pray more often; journal more frequently. Keep your eyes open and alert because it’s in the wilderness or alone times that God often shows Himself to us in a way that’s so remarkable, we won’t ever forget it.

More Encouragement

For more on this topic, check out my post, The God Who Sees Me, or check out The Hidden Pain.