The Lord your God has blessed you in all the work of your hands. He has watched over your journey through this vast wilderness. These forty years the Lord your God has been with you, and you have not lacked anything.
Deuteronomy 2:7
Remember how the Lord your God led you all the way in the wilderness these forty years, to humble and test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands.
Deuteronomy 8:2
You, God, are my God, earnestly I seek you; I thirst for you, my whole being longs for you, in a dry and parched land where there is no water.
Psalm 63:1
I led them out of Egypt and brought them into the wilderness.
Ezekiel 20:10
The Spirit sent him out into the wilderness, and he was in the wilderness for forty days, being tempted by Satan. He was with the wild animals, and angels attended him.
Mark 1:12–14
Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, left the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness.
Luke 4:1
He is to lay both hands on the head of the live goat and confess over it all the wickedness and rebellion of the Israelites – all their sins – and put them on the goat’s head. He shall send the goat away into the wilderness in the care of someone appointed for the task. The goat will carry on itself all their sins to a remote place; and the man shall release it in the wilderness.
Leviticus 16:21–22
There are three ways for us to look at the wilderness.
It can be seen as a beautiful and absolutely necessary part of the earth’s life.
Unless a huge proportion of the earth’s surface is left as wilderness, a high percentage of species will be driven into extinction, and the climate will no longer sustain life. We cannot live without wilderness. If we see wilderness as a metaphor, this is still true. We all need breathing space, time to just be, peace and quiet, and the opportunity to retreat, regroup, and get a better perspective on life.
Wilderness can be seen as a situation of austerity – a desert place offering
no luxury. Intimidating, disheartening, and downright dangerous, time in the wilderness is daunting and not something to look forward to. It’s a place where survival skills are called for. Metaphorically, it is about loneliness or depression, about adversity – maybe bereavement; tough times.
Wilderness can also be a place of formation. Luke (1:80) says of John the
Baptist: “And the child grew and became strong in spirit; and he lived in the
wilderness.” It has been pointed out that the world’s great religions emerged from desert cultures, and suggested that perhaps in the desert there is time and space to think and pray, whereas in wetter climates the mind naturally focuses on organizing stout houses, umbrellas, and gumboots.
Whatever happens to us in life, dear Lord, even when the road is rocky and leads us through wild or frightening passes, help us to hold on tight to you and to drink from the springs of grace along the way. Thank you for the endurance and courage of Jesus, and his steadfastness in temptation. May we learn from him, may our faith in him never fail, and may we grow more like him as we follow – slowly, stumblingly – after him. We ask our prayer in his name and for his glory; Amen.
