God's Gift of Wilderness (Luke 1:80)

Luke 1:80 ⁸⁰ The child (John the Baptist) grew and became strong in spirit, and he was in the wilderness until the day he appeared publicly to Israel.

A few blogs ago, because John the Baptist's dad, Zechariah, had doubted the angel's message, God provided Zechariah, with a "time out" by taking away his ability to speak.  Nine months later, after John the Baptist's birth, God not only restores Zechariah's ability to speak, but gives him a new gift: prophetic words to speak to the people of God.  God has used this silent time in Zechariah's life to both let him consider the consequences of his doubt (does the world really need a doubting priest?), but also to prepare him to prophesy a very important message to the world.  God uses this "time out" to reshape Zechariah's faith and to enlarge Zechariah's ministry.

Through out scripture, these "time outs" that God gives happen because God wants the person's attention for a variety of different reasons.  In Zechariah's case, it was because he had doubted and God wanted to change that behavior, but many times it has nothing to do with a failure of some sort. It has to do with God wanting to provide a space for growth. In the scripture today, God provides "wilderness time" to John the Baptist where he could not only grow up, but also grow spiritually. Wilderness time was a time for John to prepare. 

I thought it would be interesting to think about other ways that God has used wilderness time in scripture...

• Wilderness Testing:  The Holy Spirit sent Jesus into the wilderness (Luke 4:1-2) where he would be tested.  Jesus needed the experience of overcoming temptation. If you are going through a time of wilderness testing, look for ways to get temptation under control!
• Wilderness Maturing:  An idealistic, but immature Moses felt compelled to protect his fellow Hebrews, but ended up running for his life into the wilderness after killing an Egyptian who was hurting one of them (Acts 7:29-30).  God kept Moses in the wilderness for forty years while he matured and learned how to survive in the wilderness.  This was a good lesson, because Moses would spend another forty years guiding the spiritually immature Hebrews through the desert.  If you are going through a time of wilderness maturing, look for lessons to absorb!
• Wilderness Injustice:  Joseph spent a lifetime in slavery and at least two years in prison having done nothing to deserve it (Genesis 39:20-23).  He could have developed a terrible faithless attitude toward God, but instead he did a quality job every time a job was required of (mostly force on) him.  If you are going through a time of wilderness injustice, pay attention to your attitude and look for creative ways that God might use you.  Joseph eventually became a ruler of Egypt.
• Wilderness Nourishment:  King Saul forced David into the wilderness to protect his throne for himself and his son, Jonathan (1 Samuel 23:13-17).  Even though Jonathan was the rightful heir to the throne, Jonathan protected David from his father and showed him mercy, love, and kindness. Lessons David put to use as King.  If you are receiving wilderness nourishment from another person, pay attention to how you might mimic their behavior on down the line.
• Wilderness Outcast:  Jephthah was rejected by the really awful people in his life (Judges 11:3-6).  And was eventually forced to live as an outcast in the wilderness.  He experienced wilderness rejection!  If you feel unwanted and unloved in the wilderness, it may be that God is using this time to teach you the kind of self-confidence that seeks only God's acceptance.  Eventually, God not only sent other outcasts to join Jephthah, but Jephthah learned to lead these outcasts. If you feel unwanted and unloved in the wilderness, it may be that God is using this time to teach you compassion for other outcasts.  Eventually Jephthah became the commander of the Hebrew army.
• Wilderness Isolation:  Before Paul committed his life to following Jesus, he murdered Christians(Galatians 1:15-18).  Then one day Jesus met up with him.  Afterwards, instead of sending Paul into the world immediately to bare witness to his new faith, God sent Paul into the wilderness of Arabia for three years.  There is no record of anyone with Paul in the wilderness. During this time the Holy Spirit must have taught him the theology that comprises most of the New Testament, because Paul says that God taught him directly.  God isolated Paul so he could be in a tight relationship with God learning new things and unlearning old things. Before we can effectively minister to others, we must be ministered to by God. If you are experiencing wilderness isolation, allow God to minister to you.

Most of us have a hard time going through the wilderness.  We are often consumed with finding our way out instead of enjoying it as a time to embrace Jesus - as a time to be nourished and to prepare.  But the way we spend our wilderness time is essential for our future.