From Mountains to Valleys to Mountains

WELCOME TO THE WILDERNESS EXPERIENCE!

John 11:4 But when Jesus heard it He said, "This illness does not lead to death. It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it."

I mean, I'm going to preach my life right now... isn't that what preachers do anyway? Lol When you encounter your first wilderness experience, you'll find that it's a season where all you want to do and really, all you can do is shut up and die. Life is good in the beginning of your walk with the Lord, He's superly overly protective of you, He lets you hear His voice clearly, He allows you to feel His presence, and He fills you up with joy. Then, there comes the season of pulling back, where God begins to pull back so that you may seek Him, and that you may begin to learn how to pray even when you can't feel him all the time. In this season He teaches you a lot about His character. Then, there's the wilderness... *dun dun duuunnnnn*

Let's think about the wilderness in retrospection. The Israelites were GREAT when they first came out of Egypt. They were witnessing many mighty works by the Hand of God. They had great leadership (Moses) and they were well taken care of (Manna). Then... something happened. Things started changing, maybe they got used to being so well taken care of by God, I'm not quite sure. But they began complaining, "God, why did you bring us here to die! You're not taking care of us. We want to go back to Egypt! We would have been better off there!" And God says, "Alright, fine! I will let you die here!" And many of them, as you may know, did die in the wilderness and never made it to the promised land. But that isn't what this blog post is about though LOL!

I am in the wilderness, but I WILL NOT die in this place, though it may feel like it. This will not be the end of me! Job 13:15 "Though He slay me, I will hope in Him; yet I will argue my ways to His face." Psalm 66:10-12 "For You, O God, have tested us; You have tried us as silver is tried^{. 11} You brought us into the net; You laid a crushing burden on our backs;¹² You let men ride over our heads; we went through fire and through water; yet You have brought us out to a place of abundance." Jesus will tear down this temple (me), but He will also build it back up again (Isaiah 28)!

I know that God has not forsaken me, nor has He forgotten me. This is all done, so that I may believe, and know that He is the LORD my God. That I will proclaim what He has done for my soul. When Jesus went to raise Lazarus from the dead, Lazarus was already dead for 4 days. He was deader than dead! Thing is, Jesus shows up right at the point of death, when things have died, and resurrects it--even when it seems impossible! He makes a new life, restored, refreshed, and cleansed of impurity. John 11:5-6; John 11:25-26. At our suffering, God isn't happy, He weeps with us (John 11:35), but He allows it because He loves us and wants us to truly believe, though we may question and wonder if He is really who He says He is (John 11:36). But Jesus says, "if you believe, you will see the glory of God." John 11:40.

The wilderness experience determines whether you are one of the "few that find" the straight and narrow, or the "many" that stay on the broad and wide way. It shakes your faith, but when, or if you come out of it, your faith will be unshakable. You become more confident and stabilized in Christ. It either makes or breaks you. It's up to us to fight the good fight of faith! So if you're in your own wilderness experience, I pray that God strengthens you, and if you have yet to enter into the wilderness, I pray that you are preparing for what is to come.

This IS a matter of life and death, truth and lies, light and dark. We must believe our beliefs and doubt our doubts, until we see the Son of God/Son of Man risen in Glory in every aspect of our lives!
 
♥ Kamaria