The Nothing

The Bible is filled with stories of those who entered wilderness times. Sometimes very lengthy wilderness times. Moses spent decades on the backside of the desert. Joseph endured more than a decade as a slave and prisoner. John the Baptist emerged into his ministry from a life lived in the desert. Paul spent three years in the Arabian desert before he undertook his calling from the Father. Jesus Himself went into a 40 day sojourn in the wilderness before He came out ready to fulfill His mission as Savior. Our flesh hates the very thought of the wilderness, but our God cherishes it for us. Something mystical takes place there, if we will have it. I really like what Alicia Britt Chole said about all this. She wrote, "You will not shortcut the wilderness season. Let Him meet you in the nothing. You will become one who can carry what God wants to put in your hands." Meeting Him in the nothing, and nothing is what the wilderness will seem like. Being there makes no sense, but it's there that He shapes and equips us. None of the above, even Christ Himself, could have fully carried out what the Father would put in their hands without their wilderness experience. Too many of us waste our wilderness time. We just want out, for it to end. As a result, He is unable to put into our hands the work, the witness, the impact that He means for us to have. For Him, for His Kingdom. I think we've mostly lost the concept of being "pilgrims in the world," just passing through, but that is what we are. Pilgrims will have their wilderness time, but will He be able to place anything in our hands there? In what seems like nothing, will we gain His everything? There are no shortcuts through the wilderness, so don't waste time seeking one. Meet Him there, in the nothing, and gain everything. He has wonders to place in your hands there. Will you allow Him to do so? Blessings, Pastor O