Through The Wilderness...

It gets exciting in church or in your quiet prayer time, when you can feel the presence of God so strong and then God drops a word In your spirit or the Pastor is operating in the office of a prophet and he prophesies to you or maybe makes declaration to the congregation and your Amen is the loudest… and your heart screams I believe and I receive and O how light your soul feels. God actually sees, He actually knows, or else, why would He give a specific word, relating specifically to you.

All is well, now the promises are yours… Except, as you step back into life, all isn’t as well as you imagined/believed.

There’s still unpaid bills, there’s still no baby, there’s still no blooming business and there’s still no breakthrough. It feels like a bad to worse kind of situation. All the words you believed so strongly struggle to stay afloat in your mind when you go day by day in such dryness that you wonder why the word bothered coming to you when it did, if it had no intention of fulfilling itself.

There was a man named Jesus, He wasn’t really a man, He was God, the word made flesh… but then He was man (go figure), He became man to fulfill a purpose. And He must have lived like the average man for years, waiting on God, seeking to begin His purpose… time was going, He was turning 30 and still no public ministry… still just a carpenter, still no sign of how He was going to fulfill the word to which He was born to. Still the reason for the whispers from the neighbors… “Look He’s 30, not yet married… still in His fathers house, still just an ordinary carpenter when His mates are big time bankers and making something of themselves”…

Then one day, He attended service at John the Baptist’s church and heard these words being referred to Him by Pastor John “… “Look! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! He is the one I was talking about when I said, ‘A man is coming after me who is far greater than I am, for he existed long before me.’ “ John 1:29-30 And as He was baptized by John, He got another word, a specific word from heaven “and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” Matthew 3:17  

Now that must have been a relieve, finally He had stepped into His purpose, He got a word, a confirmation from God that His hope and expectations were not cut short and His appointed time had come. Surely that’s what it meant, His waiting period was finally over. Oh what joy! He left the church holding at Jordan and instead of an immediate transformation, the Holy Spirit led him into the wilderness. Things went from bad to worse. He fasted 40 days and night and dealt with whatever people have to deal with in wildernesses, such dryness, such silence, and such loneliness. 

He was Hungry and exhausted after those 40 days and it was at this point, His faith was tempted… “If you are the son of God…..” a statement that could have caused a seed of doubt to grow. The devil said “the son” omitting a key word God used “beloved”, but Jesus remembered He was the “beloved son” the exact words God used on Him when He was baptized, and He must have gained strength from that knowledge to overcome the temptation. He must have been going through a hard time, but He knew without a shadow of a doubt that He was still God’s beloved despite the pain and weariness of the wilderness, the word stayed afloat in His mind even if I’m sure He was almost losing His mind from that experience.  He was tempted three times, all the offers that could give Him instant gratification instead of waiting on God, but the word stayed afloat in His mind.

After this wilderness experience, He launched His ministry and did in three years, wonders that still awes the world, and fulfilled His ultimate purpose, a sacrifice on the cross that still speaks for people, now and till the end of the world.

He went through the wilderness experience you’re going through. In the period of waiting for the word to manifest, you will be tempted. Alternative means to fulfill will be thrust your way… Sometimes, manifestations are as sudden as they are spoken, sometimes you go through a waiting period. Notice His temptation came at the end of the wilderness experience, sometimes just at the brink of breakthroughs we give up and give in to every temptation of doing things our way… sad!

If He didn’t wait on the word, we probably wouldn’t be enjoying the ripple effect of salvation we enjoy and experience here… cool story. True story… more than just stories that touch.

Our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all (2 Corinthians 4:17)

If you’re received the word… and you’re in the wilderness now, let not your heart be weary, keep praying the word, don’t be discouraged by everything contrary to it you may be experiencing, keep holding on to it, keep declaring it. God gives us the vision and the words so we have something to hold on to when the test of our lives hits us… so when we are thrown into the wilderness, which is our place of preparation, we have words to hold on to… We have a picture to look forward to, our faith anchors on the word to keep us from drowning in despair… Never forget that you’re the beloved, no matter what it feels like, know that God loves you deeply, too much to let the wilderness kill you… Meaning, if you’re in the wilderness, there’s definitely a greater glory coming from there and you are coming into your word shortly.

When you eventually get out of the wilderness where your strength and character gets built up, you’ll so overtake and do in three years what you weren’t able to do in the last 30years of your life, wonders that will outlive you… children that will carry your legacy proudly, businesses that will go beyond where you dreamed of, ministries that will save more lives that you would never know.

“It may be getting worse but God is setting you up for a miracle” Bishop Noel Jones

“When the Lord took the children of Israel to the Promised Land, it was not about the destination...there’s something about the process.” T.D Jakes