As I went over in Part 1 of "Victory in the Wilderness", when we view our situations in human response, we are blinded to the goodness God has prepared for us. We need to see the blessing of the trial, and not the "curse" of it.
Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal. (2 Corinthians 4:16-18)
The length of time and the sufferings experienced in the wilderness-- compared with what will be gained -- are considered a light, momentary challenge. Of course, when you are in the middle of the wilderness, seeing the experience as not that big of a deal is hard, unless you have the vision of what comes after you exit the desert.
Bevere shares that when he was in the middle of spiritual dry times in his past, they didn't seem like a "moment." Sometimes he thought, is this going to end? Is what God promised ever going to come to pass? That is when he quickly had to cast down those thoughts and encourage himself in the Lord.
I too went through the same thought process when I was going through some tough moments in the past and even in the present. The difference between before and now is that I know this "wilderness journey" will pass. It's just going to take time again to go through this journey and learn from the past on how to respond better now to the circumstances I face.
The soul is the battlefield in the wilderness. The soul consists of our intellect, emotions, and will. The will is that part of our soul that decides whether we choose God's way or the way of the flesh--if you will see things as God does or if you will give attention to your affliction in the wilderness. This again, I shared in Part 1 of this chapter. Peter writes, "Dear friends, I warn you as 'temporary residents and foreigners' to keep away from worldly desires that wage war against your very souls" (1 Peter 2:11).
It all comes down to who is your center focus-- the Lord or you? His will or our wants? The fleshly desires that battle in your intellect and emotions will focus on selfish interests. These will draw you away from your godly vision, for God's way is not the way of self, but the way of denying self.
The gospel that has been preached and accepted by many today has been a gospel of ease to the flesh. Many of the mainstream messages don't encourage us to crucify the flesh, but rather to comfort and satisfy the desires that actually fight against the end goal of being conformed to Jesus Christ. Often the focus is "What can God do for me?" rather than "What does He desire of me?" The gospel of ease does not emphasize the reality of the sufferings involved in pursuing Christ. It has caused many to settle down into a complacent lifestyle. Such a gospel has not equipped believers to be the soldiers of God.
The apostle Paul touches on this theme in writing to his disciple Timothy:
Endure suffering along with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. Soldiers don’t get tied up in the affairs of civilian life, for then they cannot please the officer who enlisted them. (2 Timothy 2:3-4)
Because of this "gospel of ease," if we experience resistance or hardship we seek an escape route, rather than facing the difficulty and pressing through it. The vision that is birthed by the teaching of the gospel of ease is not the "heavenly or prophetic vision," but rather a "Selfish vision."
Jeremiah was a man of the Bible who was pursuing the heavenly vision and as a result of his obedience, was experiencing a lot of verbal and mental persecution. He became weary of it one day and began to complain a little. He said, "'Why does the way of the wicked prosper? Why are those happy who deal so treacherously?'" (Jeremiah 12:1 NKJV). God did not respond sympathetically. He said, "If you have run with the footmen, and they have wearied you, Then how can you contend with horses?" (Jeremiah 12:5 NKJV). In other word, "Jeremiah, if you are getting weary of the devil's foot solider, what are you going to do when you face the devil's cavalry?"
We must remember that there are no great victories without great battles. The wilderness is a boot camp and training ground for future battles. Just as we send soldiers to boot camp to prepare them for war, even so God sends His enlisted soldiers to the wilderness to prepare them for what they are called to do in building His kingdom. The greatest obstacles soldiers have to overcome in boot camp are their fears, weaknesses, and discouragement. Likewise, the greatest battles we experience in the wilderness are in the realm of the soul.
One of the biggest battles we face is discouragement. Oh, how this is true. We encounter discouragement in different aspects of life. Some within their jobs, their ability, finances, or relationships. It is recorded that Joshua was told eight times in the bible to "be strong and of good courage" (Numbers 13:20, Deuteronomy 31:6,7,23; Joshua 1:6, 7,9,18). The Lord knew this would be one of his greatest challenges. Discouragement occurs in the desert or battles from focusing on ourselves rather than on God and our mission.
The enemy's purpose is to get your focus on you, which is what he tried to do with Jesus in the wilderness. Jesus was hungry from not eating for forty days, and the devil came and said, " If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread" (Matthew 4:1-11 NKJV). The temptation was to use the power of God apart from God's way to provide what His flesh desired. We must remember that when God gives a gift, it comes with a serious responsibility not to misuse it, but to administer it as He desires. God was going to make sure Jesus's needs were met, but it would be done His way. When the devil left, angels came and ministered to Jesus.
Again, let's look at what Jesus says concerning His ministry: So Jesus explained, "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). Notice the word "sees". Jesus did nothing apart from the will of God. When in dry times, one of our temptations will be to do it our way, rather than waiting on God's way. This might be using God's power to get something before God's timing.
I fall guilty to that. We all have a tendency to get very impatient that we lean towards our temptation of doing things our own way and in our own time. It's been a constant lesson for me when facing the wilderness journey to really surrender and allow God to do His will. And when we say, "God, your will be done", we have to truly understand what that means. We can't say, "Your will be done", and be upset if the outcome isn't what we planned for ourselves. In saying "Your will be done", we have to be accepting and at peace with whatever the outcomes is knowing that this is what the Lord has planned for us.
Trying to advance our timeline because of our own personal goal will not get us anywhere. Now, I speak for those who are true believers of God. Not those who pick and choose what they want to believe in, but those who truly transformed and conformed their lives to reflect Christlikeness and to follow in the ways of the Kingdom. When we take matters into our own hands, our circumstance prolongs and will feel like forever because we are hanging on to the control of wanting the results we want and not what God wants in His time.
It is important that we do not forget what heaven has revealed to us. There will be times when we think, I have got to have an answer now! Or, I have got to make a move now; if I do nothing, everything will fall apart! If God does not seem to be saying anything to you, that does not mean he isn't speaking to you! What Bevere means is that God is very involved with us in many ways. In this instance, the message He is "communicating" is, "You don't need to do anything now." In those situations, we must wait on the Lord and not force things:
Wait patiently for the Lord. Be brave and courageous. Yes, wait patiently for the Lord. (Psalm 27:14)
Waiting does not mean laziness! If we focus on our needs and not on Him, discouragement and heaviness will set in. We cannot get distracted and focus on our "light affliction." Instead, we must keep our eyes on the exceeding and eternal weight of glory that is being worked for us in the affliction (2 Corinthians 4:17). This is the joy set before us that must capture our vision.
Joy is a spiritual force that gives us strength to endure affliction and trials. Notice the Word says, "Count it all joy," It does not say, "Count it part joy and part sorrow." We are not to mix up a combination of joy and sorrow in our hearts. You and I know it is easy to "count it all joy" when everything is going great. But that is not what the text says. The time to "count it all joy" is in the time of trials--wilderness, persecution, hardship, affliction, and any other adversity. God says this because He knows that ".. the joy of the Lord is your strength" (Nehemiah 8:10). It's the joy of being in a close relationship with Him that strengthens us.
Nehemiah cried out to his men when they were going through a tough time. He said, "Don't sorrow over this adversity-- get your eyes on the Lord. Because when you draw near to Him, joy will fill your heart and it will be strength to you" (paraphrase by JB). Praise will cause your focus to turn from you to the Lord. In the midst of trials, it is easy to lose sight of the ability of God because of the intense pressure we face. David wrote the majority of his Psalms in the middle of trials. By praising God, he was able to stay strong in really adverse circumstances.
In Isaiah 61:3, God says that He gives us, "...the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness" (NKJV). I remember the biggest wilderness journey I faced when my sister passed away. I could not find comfort in what happened, peace in the anyone's words or even the Bible at the time. But this I can say to you, when you open your heart, soul, mind to the Lord and allow Him to reside in your heart and invite Him to help, the burden will be light.
As God says in Matthew 11:28-30, "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
Lay your burden, affliction, trial, circumstance to God and He will give us rest. Going back to Isaiah 61, the Lord gives us the oil of joy in our difficulties and gives us what we need when we are spiritually heavy. Isaiah writes, "With joy you will drink deeply from the fountain of salvation!" (Isaiah 12:3) and through the joy of the Lord, I began to draw strength from the wells of salvation. Praise helps us keep our eyes on the joy set before us, rather than on the circumstances that surround us.
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne. Think of all the hostility he endured from sinful people; then you won’t become weary and give up. After all, you have not yet given your lives in your struggle against sin. (Hebrews 12:1-4)
Jesus endured the greatest trial that anyone ever has faced or ever will face by keeping His eye on the joy set before Him, which was the resurrection that followed the crucifixion. It was the glory that would follow the obedience of His suffering and ultimately bring many sons and daughters into His kingdom --which includes you and me! That is the way it is for us who follow in His steps. Beyond denying self and crucifying the flesh awaits resurrection life. Beyond the sufferings of the flesh is the needed maturity to produce a closer relationship with Jesus! Beyond the hardship of the desert is great glory! Paul writes, "For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us" (Romans 8:18 NKJV).
Dear friends, don’t be surprised at the fiery trials you are going through, as if something strange were happening to you. Instead, be very glad—for these trials make you partners with Christ in his suffering, so that you will have the wonderful joy of seeing his glory when it is revealed to all the world. (1 Peter 4:12-13)
Again, what is the joy set before us? It is His glory being revealed in those of us who have suffered as a result of obedience to Christ. Notice that the extent to which you suffer is the extent to which you should rejoice, knowing that the greater the resistance, the greater the glory!
Do not stop your pursuit of God when resistance comes. I know that He will lead you into tough situations in life, because the greater the battle, the greater the victory for the kingdom and for you. But in the midst of these battles, always keep this guarantee before you:
Every test that you have experienced is the kind that normally comes to people. But God keeps his promise, and he will not allow you to be tested beyond your power to remain firm; at the time you are put to the test, he will give you the strength to endure it, and so provide you with a way out. (1 Corinthians 10:13 GNB)
No matter what trial looms, you have the power to get through it and get through it with success and glory. Otherwise you wouldn't be facing it; God wouldn't permit it!
If you love your life, you will quit in the tough places. You will end your pursuit and settle down to a fruitless lifestyle. Revelation 12:11 says, " And they have defeated him by the blood of the Lamb and by their testimony. And they did not love their lives so much that they were afraid to die."
Those who are more concerned about themselves than the will of God are those who love their own lives, and Jesus says, "If you try to hang on to you life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for My sake, you will save it" (Matthew 16:25).
The only way to endure what lies ahead in the days to come is to lose your life. Bevere says that he wants to exhort us to continue to press on "until at last the Spirit is poured out of us from heaven. Then the wilderness will become a fertile field, and the fertile field will yield bountiful crops" (Isaiah 32:15).
The wilderness is not the place where we are to lay down our weapons of war and give up! It is the place where we are to be strong, bold, and courageous to do the will of the Lord. It is the place we are to submit ourselves to God and resist the devil steadfastly. If you are in the wilderness now, God has brought you into this place so that you may know what is in your heart. Many times what JB initially thought was the devil's temptations were really some hidden areas of his life that needed to be submitted to Christ.
As you continue your pursuit of the heavenly prize, remember these words:
Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ.. (2 Corinthians 2:14 NKJV)
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulations, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loves us. (Romans 8:35, 37 NKJV)
But thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 15:57 NKJV)
Do not quit in your pursuit of Him. Do not give up. Keep the vision that He's given you, no matter how the circumstances appear. It seemed hopeless for Joseph in the pit and later in a foreign country when he was thrown into the dungeons. His life appeared over. How could he possible have any future? Remember, though, "Humanly speaking, it is impossible. But not with God. Everything is possible with God" (Mark 10:27).
Even so with you-- no matter how tough it gets, remember, "Anything is possible if a person believes" (Mark 9:23).
Keep your eyes on the joy set before you, which is His glory manifested in you. This will give you the strength to overcome the trials you face. Continue to seek Him with all your heart, and believe what He speaks to you by His Spirit through His Word. If you do, you will experience victory in the wilderness.
Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling,
And to present you faultless
Before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy,
To God our Savior,
Who alone is wise,
Be glory and majesty,
Dominion and power,
Both now and forever.
Amen. (Jude1:24-25 NKJV)
As I end this journey on "The Project of Finding Strength & Purpose in my Wilderness", I want to thank you for taking this journey with me until the every end of this chapter of my "life project". I want to encourage you to not give up, but have faith in the most difficult circumstances in your life. Be encouraged that we can be victorious even if the world views our victories as tragedies. Open you heart to the Lord, so He can carry the burden you are carrying. Questions and doubt can arise, but stand firm in faith, and be still so the Lord can move the mountains that are in your life.
The first step is to invite the Lord into your life and walk hand in hand faithfully in Him. Life does not turn into perfection, and struggles don't disappear; however, the Lord will turn our imperfections into a path in which we can reach perfection in Paradise, and the struggles we face will only be a mere moment in our lives that produces strength in our faith. May you navigate in your own story and journey in this life with faith, boldness, and belief that God can work all things for good.
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