Great and Terrifying Wilderness

“‘And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD.’” —Deuteronomy 8:3

We all want God to bring us to the good places He has promised us, to bless us beyond our imagining and shower us with every good thing.

But what happens when the road to that destination leads through a great and terrifying wilderness?

The people of Israel experienced that. When God rescued them from slavery, He promised to bring them to a land of their very own, one that was rich in every good thing and would meet all their needs.

The journey there was difficult, though, filled with every kind of danger. They faced thirst, starvation, exhaustion, enemies. Many times, they were on the brink of extinction, spared only by God’s grace.

But in the middle of their troubles, God showed up. He revealed Himself to them in ways they would never have experienced living in a land of plenty. They had to be hungry and desperate before they could truly know God.

“The wilderness” can look like many things. Most of us won’t be wandering through a literal desert, but we all know what it is to be empty and dry, to feel that we’re stuck in a desolate place with no hope of ever escaping. Maybe your relationships have failed you, or you’re in your third month without work, or you’ve received a bad medical diagnosis. Maybe someone you know is suffering, and you’re helpless to do anything about it.

Overwhelmed by our troubles, we forget that God has already carried us this far. We see only the desolation, but He sees the potential.

It is in the wilderness, when we are desperate for Him, that He can feed us with manna. It is when we recognize how utterly hopeless we are that we will finally throw ourselves on His mercy and find that in Him is what we’ve been searching for all along. We are caught up in our physical needs, but God shows us that what we really need is Him.

We cannot live without God. And if it takes a wilderness to teach us that… then let’s go wandering.