Psalm 139:13–18 ‘My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.’ (vv15–16)
Scripture reveals the wilderness is our teacher. Isolated, left alone to converse with God, here’s our personal pilgrimage to learn from Him. Learning leads to a changed character and behaviour as we master the way of the disciple.
Life’s essential purpose is to become more like Jesus, and so better equipped for our eternal future. God is practical where education isn’t. Most of what we learn at school offers little practical help in life’s realities.
God has a purpose for each of us, so all attempts at comparing ourselves with others is a frustrating waste of effort. There’s no median lifestyle to aim for since life’s unique for each of us.
How do I discern God’s presence in life’s circumstances? There’s no generic answer; Job’s ‘comforters’ shared their theology without helping him, whilst blaming him for his condition.
Being alone with God can sound daunting, a unique space in which we reflect honestly on the depth of our love and commitment and resolve how completely we trust in God’s promises. Like the disciples apparently abandoned on a storm-tossed fishing boat, we can only cling to the promises that God hears and holds us, even as the winds roar and we assume a disastrous outcome.
True life is only ever fully realised in God (John 14:6), and we must learn how to move from treating God as a useful back pocket resource for use when we want something, and discover the invisible presence who alone can sustain us.
SCRIPTURE TO CONSIDER:
Ps. 119:65–80; Isa. 64:8–12; Matt. 14:22–33; 1 Pet. 2:9–25
AN ACTION TO TAKE:
Learning to take God at His word can prove a challenge. Are you up for this challenge,
so that your life follows God’s pattern ahead of your own?
A PRAYER TO MAKE:
‘Lord, may I welcome the wilderness as a space in which I can seek and find You
and learn to live as You desire. Amen.’
Photo by REVOLT on Unsplash
