Lessons from the Desert

This devotional is from the Touched archives. It was written in August 2005, but is still relevant today. It’s also really appropriate with the current sermon series at my church.

The last few weeks I’ve been spending time in the desert. No, not literally (to be honest, I’m not really that crazy about sand – there are only so many sandcastles you can build!) I’ve been going through a time where I haven’t been as enthusiastic about serving God. I haven’t really been feeling very Spirit-filled and it’s been pretty tough pushing through prayer and reading the Bible.

I’m sure most of you have been through the same thing before. Or perhaps you’ve been through a really hard time that’s also left you feeling the same way.

A few weeks ago, Mike Pilavachi from Soul Survivor did a preach at my church on how to move in the power of the Holy Spirit. He spoke about how after Jesus was baptised and filled with the Holy Spirit (Luke 3:21+22) He was immediately led by the Spirit into the desert (Luke 4:1) and how we as Christians too have times were we are filled with the Spirit and times when we are led by the Spirit into the desert.

Being filled with the Spirit sounds like the more exciting of the two options – who doesn’t want to be fully amped for serving God and being empowered by Him?! But both being filled with the Spirit and being led by the Spirit into the desert are Biblically necessary. Time in the desert is really important because it is there that God changes us. Mike told us about 3 lessons that can be learnt in the desert. I’ve included them here and have added some of my own experiences:

1.)   God teaches us how to be humble

‘Remember how the Lord your God led you all the way in the desert these forty years, to humble you and to test you in order to know what was in your heart.’ (Deuteronomy 8:2a)

A good example of this would be Moses. Moses was brought up as the son of the Pharoah’s daughter (Exodus 2:10) and because of this, he received a really good education. This made him think that he was better than those who were less educated. In Exodus 2 he killed an Egyptian for beating one of his own people and fled to the desert of Midian. That was where he came across a bush that was ‘different to other bushes’ (Exodus 3:2) and where God called him to lead the Israelites out of Egypt. How did Moses respond to God’s call? He made excuses, (check out Exodus 4) because he doubted himself. Very different from the proud Moses who killed the Egyptian! He’d spent years in the desert and it was there that God stripped him of his confidence so that he doubted himself and made those excuses.

God uses our time in the desert to humble us if we are proud. But trust me, it’s a lot easier to humble ourselves before God than for God to humble us! I’m usually humbled by my ‘blonde moments.’ I have this tendency to not think before saying something and I end up totally embarrassing myself (and usually in front of guys – argh!) Just when I’m getting proud, I’ll have a blonde moment (usually in front of a large audience) and that’s God’s way of reminding me that I’ll just little me – a sinner saved by His grace.

When God strips us of our pride in the desert, He reminds us of the fact that we are just weak people. But He also reminds us that His power is made perfect in weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9.) He reminds us that we shouldn’t rely on our strength (because we don’t really have any!) but on His.

2.)   God teaches us how not to forget Him

‘When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the Lord your God for the good land he has given you. Be careful that you do not forget the Lord your God’ (Deuteronomy 8:11a)

If you want to stop yourself from forgetting God in the good times, then learn to praise Him in the ordinary or hard times (check out Deuteronomy 8:10-14.) When the Israelites were in the desert for forty years, they had only manna to eat (Exodus 16:3) which after a while became pretty ordinary. We need to learn to praise God even when all we have is manna (the ordinariness of life.)

Praising God when we’re hurting isn’t easy, but it is our duty. God is the same Awesome God who is worthy of all our praise, even when we don’t feel like praising Him. We’ve got to put our situations aside and praise Him no matter what, and then we’ll never forget Him.

3.)   He allures us and takes us deeper

‘Therefore I am now going to allure her; I will lead her into the desert and speak tenderly to her’ (Hosea 2:14)

This is my absolute favourite part of being in the desert. God uses our time in the desert to speak tenderly to us, to woo us. In Song of Songs, the beloved speaks about how when she found the one her heart loves, she brought him to her mother’s house (Song of Songs 3:4) which was her most intimate place. God wants to bring us into His most intimate place.

In the desert, all competing voices are stilled and God reveals more of Himself to us, taking us deeper. When God reveals more of Himself to us, we fall more in love with Him. I know that every time I’ve been through the desert, I’ve left more deeply in love with God.

Remember...

When you’re going through a desert time, don’t forget to keep reading the Word and praying, even when it gets hard or you’re not really amped for it. If you don’t do these things, then you’re not really in the desert, you’re backsliding – and that is so not cool!

This month spend time thanking God for some of the good and bad times you’ve been through. Thank Him for His faithfulness throughout those times and for the lessons He has taught you. Then, spend some times praising Him for being a loving God who cares so much for you.

And when you’re going through the desert, enjoy it! Remember that God is using it to humble you, to teach you not to forget Him and to capture your heart.