Good News! You're In A Wilderness!

 

I get it more… probably more than you know.

 

The longest year in the history of the world, and I think we all get it.

 

This… is the wilderness season.

 

It has been hard.

It has been challenging.

It has bee difficult.

It has been heavy.

It has been lonely.

 

And wilderness seasons generally are.

All of those things, and more.

 

But there’s always been something sacred, almost, about the turning of a calendar year.

 

For me it’s almost always served as a clean slate, a new beginning, a do-over of sorts.

 

It’s like a second chance to get it right.

 

And with that, I wonder, what have I learned in 2020 that will serve to benefit my spiritual growth in the coming year?

 

I’ve learned the importance of connection and community.

I’ve learned the necessity of anchoring myself in the Lord.

I’ve learned the art of encouraging myself in the Word of God.

I’ve learned that for far too long I took “time” for granted.

I’ve learned that patience is far more than a virtue, it’s a life-source.

 

But I have also learned that there’s a significant difference between the wilderness and the desert.

 

The desert is defined as, “a region so arid due to little or NO rainfall. An area which new forms of life cannot exist because of lack of water or presence of proper soil.”

 

BUT… the wilderness is described by definition as, “an uncultivated region. A part of a garden SET APART for plants growing in luxuriance.”

 

And to think I always associated those two things as the same.

 

They’re not!

 

The desert is a destination… a grim finale yielded to harmful external conditions.

 

Ahh.. but the wilderness is a transient locale… a hopeful transition giving way to the deployment of healthier souls that withstand the unpleasant production process.

 

The wilderness breeds promise because of the proper clay best for cultivation.

 

The wilderness propagates hope because of it’s nature to set apart from other decaying regions.

 

And just look at the synonyms for “set-apart” = “divide, insulate, isolate, sequester, disassociate, island, and… QUARANTINE.”

 

Oh God, you’re so good!!

 

And you have reminded this weary heart of mine today, that we are to live separate… set-apart… lives - those who belong to the Lord. (2 Cor 6:17, Deut 14:2). 

 

And though being set-apart isn’t always easy, it is always worth it for those who long to live peaceful, joy-filled lives of purity and righteousness.

 

And so I look ahead from still within the wilderness season with a fresh set of eyes this morning. And I rejoice at the coming year with great determination that as I march out I will look so much different than how I marched in.

 

Good news, friends, you’re in a wilderness. You’re just in a wilderness. Not a desert.

 

And the best truly is yet to be!

 

Keep walking… the finish line is just up ahead!

 

W