Tag: wilderness

Obstacles

Isaiah 40:3-5

A voice cries:
“In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord;
    make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
4 Every valley shall be lifted up,
    and every mountain and hill be made low;
the uneven ground shall become level,
    and the rough places a plain.
5 And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed,
    and all flesh shall see it together,
    for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”

In everything we do there is always preparation. Preparation to start a new job, preparation to getting married, preparation to having kids. You get the picture. And there is also another kind of preparation that God is calling us to do. This kind of prep is ongoing, it’s not only for a season of our lives but everyday.

There are obstacles that we can put before God, and those obstacles can be a hinderance to our relationship. What we might think is good for us on the other hand isn’t pleasant in the eyes of God. God can do anything, right? His power is limitless, we all know that. But it’s up to us, as obedient children of God to surrender those obstacles to Him. I like the prayer that David prayed in Psalm 51:10 “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me”

I don’t need to give examples of the obstacles that can get in the way, we all know those obstacles that we need to make flat. It’s all in the prep work to make every “mountain and hill low; the uneven ground shall become level…”

Right now, where you’re at ask the Lord to reveal those obstacles in your life, ask Him to make a way in the wilderness. Ask for help in preparing your heart for His soon return.

Leave the Wilderness Changed

Like others, I have too had to adapt to this “quarantine” “Stay at Home” or “Lose Your Mind” kind of lifestyle. It’s like life halted all at once, because it has. Everything was comfortable, normal, we were in control of when and where we wanted to go and BAM! We were left with the economy spiraling downwards, millions of unemployment within three weeks and our lives would be changed. But for the better?

We ask ourselves, what was the point in all of this?

It’s like we have been scattered in a wilderness of isolation, desolate, uninhabited and deserted by others. Let’s face it, isolation is a wilderness!

But I want to point out that the “wilderness” is an invitation. How is that?

God may be shaking us, wanting us to re-prioritize our lives and re-align ourselves for the better. He may be showing you areas in your life where you need to repent, areas that you are lacking. For some, it is a hard thing to do. But it’s been done before.

The Israelites: When they were in their “wilderness” God provided; not for days ahead but each day He made provision. – Exodus 16

Hagar: When she fled into her “wilderness” a promise was revealed to her by an angel of the Lord about her son who was Ishmael. – Genesis 16

Jesus: After being baptized in water by John, Jesus was led into His “wilderness” where he was tempted for forty days and forty nights by the enemy, preparing Him for His ministry. – Matthew 4

The Wilderness is an invitation into dependence.

Sometimes invitations from God are not wrapped in a pretty bow. Most times it’s going to cause discomfort and loneliness. But remember that we never graduate from being dependent on God to being independent from God.

//QUESTIONS TO ASK YOURSELF\\

WILL YOU ALLOW THE WILDERNESS TO HARDEN YOUR HEART?

OR ALLOW HIM TO CRUSH US, PRUNE US?

LEAVE THE WILDERNESS CHANGED!

Come Out, Come Out Wherever You Are

COME OUT

In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, “Repent, for the kingdom of Heaven is at hand”…- Matthew 3:1,2

…Now John wore a garment of camel’s hair and a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and honey. Then Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region about the Jordan were going out to him, and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. – Matthew 3:4-6

 

Why would God’s spirit preach in a wilderness? God brought thousands out of the city, away from the comfort, away from the luxury, away from the distractions.

How far would you be willing to go in order to receive the blessings of God?

God wanted to save and preserve those who love Him and leave those in the city to fall to there own demises.

Sometimes we must see the prosperity and blessing in the desert rather than the corrosion and weathering of the city.

Sand erodes by the ocean, but is preserved in the desert