“And thou shalt remember all the way which the LORD thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep his commandments, or no.”  (Deuteronomy 8:2)

“To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven” (Ecclesiastes 3:1). In our Christian walk, we soon find out that we are truly spiritual trees, as the Scriptures indicate time and time again. (See Psalm 1:3; Jeremiah 17:8; Isaiah 61:3.) As a tree passes through seasons, so do we as believers.

Life itself revolves around these seasons that try our faith as we grow in the spiritual life. Some seasons are less enjoyable than others. Nevertheless, we must walk through each season before we can know the fulness of our experience in the spiritual life.

One such season that every believer will come to experience is “The Way of the Wilderness.” After Israel marched out of Egypt by the mighty, strong hand of the Lord our God, Israel made the horrific mistake of not obeying God, by not immediately moving into their Promised Land. Like so many of us, they failed to enjoy the fullness of their promise immediately, because of doubt and unbelief.

Even as Paul of Tarsus experienced three years in the Arabian Wilderness, so must we go through our Romans Chapter Seven experience, battling with self because of our failure to trust in God’s Sovereignty. But the glorious thing about our Heavenly Father is that our disobedience and lack of faith doesn’t take Him by surprise. There is a reservoir of grace reserved even for our wilderness; which God extends to us for the purpose of maturing us into His Fullness. This experience will be painful, but it will produce attributes in our lives that could have never been known had it not been for “The Way of God’s Wilderness.”

The first attribute God brings about in our lives through our wilderness wandering is humility. “And thou shalt remember all the way which the LORD thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee…”

God has so many ways He works through our life to produce this character in our hearts. But in Israel’s experience, God gives one specific purpose by which He carried out this goal. He suffered Israel to hunger (verse 3).

King David states in Psalms 35:13, “…I humbled my soul with fasting…” The wilderness is a time of getting by with the bare necessities of life. If you will recall, John the Baptist ate locusts and wild honey in his wilderness journey, before entering into the fullness of God’s purpose for his life. If we are willing to experience this part of the wilderness journey with expectation, I am confident that God will create some humble soldiers in the army of our Lord.

Next, God must purge haste out of our lives and produce patience. He does this by proving us and testing us.

“My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations;” (James 1:2)

“Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.” (James 1:3)

“But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.” (James 1:4)

“And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience;” (Romans 5:3)

Notice the response that we must have towards God’s fiery furnace. Paul said, “…we glory in tribulations…” because we know God has a purpose in them.

Israel failed in this. All they did was murmur and complain. They didn’t have the eyesight to see God’s Sovereign Plan; the same as much of the modern-day church today.

We must begin to cultivate a value in our heart for suffering, seeing that all things are working together for our good, because we love God and are called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28). When we begin to walk in this kind of faith, we’ll be able to walk in the midst of the fire without being burnt (Daniel 3:25). We’ll walk away from persecution being filled with joy and the Holy Ghost (Acts 13:52), thanking God that He counted us worthy to suffer shame for His name’s sake (Acts 5:41).

Lastly, God’s Wilderness is going to bring about the test of obedience.

“And thou shalt remember all the way which the LORD thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep his commandments, or no.” (Deuteronomy 8:2)

By the time we come to the end of this season in our spiritual walk, we will know if we’re ready to enter into the fullness of our inheritance. The yielding of our members to His Purpose will determine an abundant entry into an everlasting kingdom versus another long journey in the wilderness. What could have been an eleven day journey for Israel turned into a forty year wilderness journey. (See Deuteronomy 1:2-3.)

We must make up our minds to yield our will to God’s Leading. In doing so, it won’t be long till we see our lines (boundaries) have fallen to us in pleasant places as we enjoy the milk and honey of a goodly heritage (Psalm 16:6).