"Prepare the Way of the Lord"
Adversity is always unexpected and unwelcomed. It is an intruder and a thief, and yet in the hands of God, adversity becomes the means through which His supernatural power is demonstrated.
--- Charles Stanley
"I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by Himself. He does only what He sees the Father doing."
--- John 5:19
The desert, or wilderness, is the place where the way of the Lord is prepared, the place where every mountain is made low and every valley exalted. Isaiah describes this in such a memorable fashion in this well-known passage:
Listen! It’s the voice of someone shouting,
“Clear the way through the wilderness
for the Lord!
Make a straight highway through the wasteland
for our God!
Fill in the valleys,
and level the mountains and hills.
Straighten the curves,
and smooth out the rough places.
Then the glory of the Lord will be revealed,
and all people will see it together.
The Lord has spoken!”
A voice said, “Shout!” I asked, “What should I shout?”
“Shout that people are like the grass. Their beauty fades as quickly as the flowers in a field. The grass withers and the flowers fade beneath the breath of the Lord. And so it is with people. The grass withers and the flowers fade, but the word of our God stands forever.”
---Isaiah 40:3-8
What does this mean exactly to those of us who may be in a wilderness season now? In the body of Christ, we all have responsibilities that the Lord has assigned to us. But before God can release us to accomplish them, we are in need of some testing and training in the wilderness where our flesh is crucified. There, too, we learn to wait on the Lord, to be still until we hear His voice and understand what He is doing, so we can obediently accomplish His will.
I want to share more of my personal experiences and stories to illustrate how the journey through the wilderness may involve less than a direct route from departure to destination, including some confusing detours and unplanned rest stops.
Since 2002, I had a ministry at my church. I was playing piano for worship and taught Children's Sunday school. However, throughout my journey in college, and my plans after never involved plans to really further God's kingdom. I was okay with what I was currently doing (thinking that was enough) and was so focused on what to accomplish in the world that when I look back on my journey, I realized, I had my heart and mind set on the less important and temporal pursuits for my way to eternal life.
I entered college with a plan to finish quickly so I can graduate and get my degree in Computer Information Systems, enter for Corporate America, make a lot of money, and give my tithes to the church (and thought this was all I needed to do on top of my ministry). These were MY plans, and I was so jaded by the world's "plans" and expectations of success that I never stood still for a moment to see what God had planned for me. (There would have been nothing wrong with this plan, but I was so blinded by accomplishing so much in the world that I was hardly including God and the plans He had for my life.)
I honestly thought I was on the road to success and money. And doing church on Sundays, praying in the morning and night, and giving my tithes and offerings were enough to have "balance" in life and eternal life (which is the incorrect way of thinking). After graduation, I worked for a small company for about 6 months while applying to jobs in line with my degree. I received a call back for an interview to work for the IT department at the company I currently work for (Yes, I've been at the same place for some time -- more to that story later). Once I received the offer for this job, I was ecstatic, full of happiness, pride, and I had it in my mindset that this was finally the moment where I would climb up the ladder and get paid more and more--- but that was not what happened.
Upon entering this place, I never realized until now, that I was already experiencing the beginning of my desert journey in this chapter of my life. Being female in a male dominated field can already be difficult when there are people who have the opinion that one gender is smarter than the other. And being one of the youngest in the department as well somehow invited people to judge my personal life and the things I owned (jealously at it's worse from these people).
I worked in this department for almost five years before I was offered another opportunity outside of this company thinking it was God's plan. I believe this next piece to my wilderness journey was God really nudging me and making me realize where my priorities were. To make this long story short, I left the IT department to become a Project Manager and was offered more money than my director even bothered to offer. I followed the money and not the Lord and it led me to three months of agony. The pay raise wasn't worth the two and half hour drive it took me to and from work, and gassing up every other day. The pay raise wasn't worth the terrible work environment I ended up in. The pay raise wasn't worth being in a place where my boss was cheating us by taking money out of our pay checks and not providing benefits as agreed upon.
Within the first month, I was hating myself for the decision I made but I was doing my best to get through it. I kept telling myself, it's worth it, the money is worth it. But ultimately, I followed the money and pasted "God's Plan" on this. When trying to return back to my old job, my position was already filled and there were no openings for me to move into. At this point, I felt like Daniel in the lion's den in some literal form at my new job, but God still protected and shielded me from the bad that was happening at this company. I was at one of my lowest points in life that I was so thankful God heard my cry.
Within the month, I was given an opportunity to go back to my previous company but in a different department. I took a pay cut and position that had nothing to do with my field, and dropped me down multiple steps from where I was aiming to be, but I needed an out from where I was currently. My new job was much closer to home but as I worked in this new department, I had moments where I felt like I degraded myself. My job was not fulfilling, it did not require a college degree to do the job, and I was at the top of my pay grade for this position which meant, I couldn't go higher without leaving AGAIN.
Through this chapter in this long desert journey, I was being tested even more in my faith, and my character was truly being molded. With the testing, I began realizing that I was drawing closer to the Lord more than I was in the past. I wish I was drawing closer to God when I wasn't in the desert journey, but sadly I took God for granted and this was His "loving" way of nudging me. I had some moments focusing on money again instead of the journey itself, and I kept saying I was leaving this situation to God, but I was still doing this out of my own strength to make this chapter move faster (which was wrong). After six months, I was offered a contract job for a very known hospital. Here I was again, excited for MORE MONEY! The job was a huge pay raise from even my project manager position but there was no guarantee of a full time position after the six month contract was over.
This contract was in line with my degree and what I learned at the job (clinically) I was currently in at the time. I asked God, "Is this the next step Lord? or is this another test?" I took the less money route and deferred the offer and continued working at my current job. During this time, my current boss had their own private practice and contracted me to work as an IT Project/Operations Manager on the side. This opportunity was huge. My boss was finding ways to help me financially while I was in the waiting period of what was next in my life.
Just when I was at peace with my situation, another offer arose from within the company. A new position was being created and I was chosen to pilot it. I was torn between the comfort I now had at my current position, and this new opportunity that I was being offered by the VP of Clinical Services. I had to take it right?
After a little over a year working at the job I did, I was promoted and moved to another department. This position was sold to me with responsibilities of handling projects, evaluating processes and workflows, and to figure out ways to make things more efficient. It definitely required a degree, and I was suppose to be a project/operations manager. WOW! what a chance to be the first in the company to set the expectations and responsibilities of this position.
After all of these changes, I settled down and focused on where God had placed me. However, after some time, the unrested feeling returned. The wilderness training wasn't complete for that season; rather, it was still in process. I chuckle because at the end of it all, I was used more as an assistant and thrown work people didn't want to do rather being paid for what I was supposed to do.
Had God put me on a shelf through all those years until the right position opened up? No! A million times no! I had been brought to that wilderness in order to develop godly character.. that His way might be prepared. My character needed maturing so that I might function well in the next position I was called to. I would eventually learn that with every spiritual promotion, the preparation for that level must come first. Despite the dislikes and discomforts I had for that job and the one before, I gained clinical knowledge in multiple aspects which helped to some degree for the job I was going to move into.
No matter how good our intentions might be, without God's involvement, we can do nothing of eternal value-- even in Jesus's name! The Lord Himself says, "I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by Himself. He does only what He sees the Father doing. Whatever the Father does, the Son also does'" (John 5:19). Jesus, the incarnate, anointed Son of God, said He could do nothing of any ultimate value on His own. Jesus further told the skeptical Scribes and Pharisees, "If anyone's will is to do God's will, he will know whether the teaching (leading, direction) is from God... (John 7:17)".
Jesus loved Lazarus and his two sisters, Martha and Mary, who lived in Bethany. Lazarus became very ill. Here's what happened next:
So the two sisters sent a message to Jesus telling him, “Lord, your dear friend is very sick.” But when Jesus heard about it he said, “Lazarus’s sickness will not end in death. No, it happened for the glory of God so that the Son of God will receive glory from this.” So although Jesus loved Martha, Mary, and Lazarus, he stayed where he was for the next two days. (John 11:3-6)
Even though Jesus was the Messiah, He still had very close friends. He loved Lazarus and enjoyed time with this family. However, we see that Jesus did nothing for two days after hearing of his friend's illness. Why didn't He go immediately to Bethany? The reason is that He had not received His orders from God. Jesus waited obediently until the Spirit of God gave the order to go. Then Jesus went.
You would think, if we had a friend like Lazarus, and the ability to heal, we would rush quickly to our friend's side and laid hands on him without even thinking of asking the Spirit for His direction. Unfortunately, many of us have this mentality. We assume that since God is always with us, we don't need to ask for guidance in situations like this. But we should pause and be sensitive to God's Spirit. God knows what He wants, and if we wait to get His instruction or heart on a matter, He will tell us what to do.
We may have thought that, even without the Spirit's leading, if we lay hands on the sick, God is obligated to heal them at that moment. If this is true, then shouldn't we go to all the hospitals and empty them?
In some instances, the Bible reports that Jesus "healed them all", but this was not always the case. For instance, why didn't Jesus heal all the sick, blind, lame, and paralyzed people at the pool of Bethesda when He healed just one man who had been crippled for thirty-eight years (John 5)? Could if be the Spirit of God didn't lead Him to heal the others?
In another instance there was a man, lame from his mother's womb, who was left daily at the gate of the temple. Surely Jesus must have passed him each time He entered the temple. Why didn't Jesus heal him? Because His Father hadn't instructed Him to do so. Later, after Jesus ascended to heaven, Peter and John on the way to the temple -- by the leading of the Spirit-- healed this man, causing a revival to break out (Acts 3).
When Jesus ministered, there was no set formula: some He laid hands on, others He simply spoke to. For another, He made mud balls and put them in his eye sockets. Still others He sent to the priests-- and the list goes on. There is such surprising variety because Jesus only did what He saw His Father doing! God knew the perfect timing and manner in which each individual could receive healing.
This is what God wants for all His servants... to bring us to the place where we will do only what we see Jesus do and under His leading, not what we think or want to happen. Jesus says in John 20:21, "As the Father has sent Me, so I am sending you." Jesus did nothing outside His Father's leading. In the same way, we must follow Jesus' example. We must live like Him, being led by the Holy Spirit, walking as only He can lead us. This requires our flesh to be submitted to the Spirit of God-- the Spirit of Christ. And the optimum training ground for this Spirit-led life is the wilderness. This challenging environment is where the way of the Lord is prepared.
God said to Moses after forty years of wilderness training:
"Now go, for I am sending you to Pharaoh. You must lead my people Israel out of Egypt.”
But Moses protested to God, “Who am I to appear before Pharaoh? Who am I to lead the people of Israel out of Egypt?” God answered, “I will be with you. And this is your sign that I am the one who has sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God at this very mountain.” (Exodus 3:10-12)
Now let's compare this to what God said about people who sent themselves:
“I have not sent these prophets, yet they run around claiming to speak for me. I have given them no message, yet they go on prophesying....I am against these false prophets. Their imaginary dreams are flagrant lies that lead my people into sin. I did not send or appoint them, and they have no message at all for my people. I, the Lord, have spoken!" (Jeremiah 23:21,32)
Ouch, that stings. None of us wants a message like that from the Lord.
At age forty, Moses was not able to help or profit the children of Israel when he first attempted to deliver them, because God had not yet sent him. Even with all the great education, leadership, skills, and wisdom Moses had gained in Egypt, without God's support and timing, Moses could not fulfill what he knew God had called him to do. His vain effort only resulted in the death of one Egyptian oppressor. Even though his intentions were noble, this initial attempt to accomplish his mission did more harm than good.
After forty years of backside desert training, a new Moses emerged who would do nothing except what God told him. Now at God's appointed time, under Moses's leadership, and entire army ends up at the bottom of the Red Sea. That is the difference between our human strength and God's strength-- an entire army compared with one soldier.
John the Baptist trained thirty years for a ministry that lasted only six months, yet Jesus said John was the greatest prophet born of woman.
There you have it! God can do more in six months through a man or woman sent by Him than someone else working hard in their own strength for sixty years. This I can say is very true even in the plans that God has for us. Something I've been trying to obtain for almost ten years on my own took God an instant to reveal His next plan for me. Once I released my own strength on my plans, matured in my character, God revealed in an instant what was next for me.
God is saying that the wilderness is where the way of the Lord is prepared. The way of the Lord is not the strength of man. "His delight is not in the strength of the horse, nor his pleasure in the legs of a man... (Psalm 147:10)".He says that the pride of flesh shall be made low, the humble (those who wait on the Lord) exalted, the crooked (deceitful, inaccurate, insincere) places made straight, and rough (unloving, rude, harsh) places made smooth.
As a fresh out of college kid, ready to take on the world, there were mountains in my life to be made low and rough and crooked places to be made smooth and straight. God knew that I needed some wilderness time to smooth out some flaws. In any wilderness period, it is so important to allow God to have His way with us.
While I was still in my last job position, God spoke to me one day and made me realize that while I was in this lame situation, I was to use the time for the kingdom. Throughout my journey in that place, it was my way to reflect Christlikeness to the people I encountered. Some knew my frustration with my job, everyone knew I lost my sister to cancer, and yet I had to respond in a way that didn't reflect darkness, but it reflected light. The light of Christ.
I was so eager for the money, that I was looking at that phase in my life as a waste of time. I was repeatedly calculating the amount of money I lost over X amount of years. We don't need to fall into that mindset. Realize that God is not wasting time! He is the one who redeems time! Realize that where you are presently is a vital part of where you are going. It is your training arena. It is the process of going from the promise to the promotion-- it is fulfillment. Let Him worry about how it will all work out and come together.. you just flow with Him! He is God, the Author and Finisher of our faith. All we are to do is trust Him (faith has to work first) and obey (proving that He is our Lord) what He is showing us today!
Every time I thought I had figured out a way to the next step of my career, God would kindly nudge me and say, "You are trying to figure out another way; it will not happen." This was true. God brought me to my actual career job in a totally unexpected way. God brings us to a place of contentment (not complacency) so we can live fully in the present.
Faith comes by hearing what God is saying and then obeying it (Romans 10:17). This is why God brought the children of Israel into the wilderness, "..to teach you that people do not live by bread alone rather, we live by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord" (Deuteronomy 8:3). Notice He said "comes" and not "came."
Remember, searching the Bible to back up what you think should be done is not God's way. Jesus could have said to Himself, "I am anointed to heal the sick, so I'll go at once to lay hands on Lazarus as I have done before." Instead, He waited for the Spirit of God to move, then He moved. Christ Himself was fully dependent on the Holy Spirit.
The wilderness is where God brings us to teach us that any attempt to do something for Him, apart from His leading and ability, is an exercise in futility. When we truly learn that the flesh can do nothing worthy of eternal value, then we are ready to execute those dreams and plans He has entrusted to us. The wilderness is all about preparation-- it is the process to the promise fulfilled. Let us follow Jesus' example, being led by the Spirit to do things God's way and not our way.
With the realization that my initial plans and priorities had no eternal value which was all about my life now versus the life I live presently for the life I live in eternity. After my wilderness journey in that chapter in my life, my outlook on life has changed. I still aspire to reach the same goals but not for the same reasons. Everything I do now is with God at the forefront and what He wants me to do in this current season in my life. God will still provide the desires we have but only if and when we have our priorities point towards the kingdom and not towards the world, "Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and ALL THESE THINGS WILL BE ADDED unto you." (Matthew 6:33).
Survival Tip #11 for your Journey: Keep Your Bags Packed
Although I would never recommend it, when your wilderness stay has stretched on for what seems forever, you might be tempted to decide to unpack your suitcases and settle in. DON'T! Trust me-- when God decides to move, He can do it turbo style. Look at Joseph; it appeared that he would be in the dungeon the rest of his life and with no warning, he was promoted to his God-given dream in one day! Yes, that's right-- just one day!
I was in a wilderness and it was feeling like what seemed a ten-year stay in the making. Then, out of the blue, the Lord moved me into my current position and on top of what I love doing, I work from home. Change didn't happen immediately, but when it did happen, it came like a whirlwind. Once I applied to the job, I was moved within the week, and I was ready to roll into the next season of my calling. My bags were packed, and God revealed a much more perfect plan than I even imagined for myself.
(Content in this post was inspired by the writing of John Bevere)
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