GROWING IN THE WILD

Have you ever been in the wild?

Those seasons when God leads us into the wilderness to prune us, when He leads us into deep moments of intense waiting for the actualization of His promises. He paints beautiful pictures of the promised land in our hearts then ushers us into the wait. Moments when He steers us to the empty desert to show us, He is the true source of life.

In the wilderness, nothing seems to be growing and all the doors seem to be tightly shut against us but He feeds us with Himself, the true bread of life. There is undeniable proof of His presence and His love yet He shows us that not cars, money, jobs or marriage bring joy, that He is the one who truly beautifies and satisfies our soul.

“He humbled you and allowed you to be hungry and fed you with manna, [a substance] which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, so that He might make you understand [by personal experience] that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of the LORD.”‮‮DEUTERONOMY‬ ‮8:3‬ ‮AMP‬‬‬‬‬‬

Bread here refers to The Word that always proceeds from God, our true sustenance.
The promise land is weighty. So we do not become a people who put their hope in the prosperity and abundance at hand thus forgetting their God — if there are still cracks, poorly healed wounds and besetting sins like pride and constant comparison in our foundation that might make us collapse before our expected end— He uses moments like this to expose them, just like He did with the Israelites.

“And you shall remember [always] all the ways which the LORD your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, so that He might humble you and test you, to know what was in your heart (mind), whether you would keep His commandments or not.” DEUTERONOMY‬ ‮8:2‬ ‮AMP‬‬‬‬

In the wilderness, He demolishes the battered and broken building that is us so He can construct a beautiful palace, a masterpiece where He dwells. That He may plant gardens of lush flowers by flowing springs as He drains out bitter waters that have clogged up our souls

“For every house is built by someone, but the builder of all things is God.”
‮‮HEBREWS‬ ‮3:4‬ ‮AMP‬‬‬‬‬‬

The wilderness is a place where God breaks us down till we lose our desires for earthly achievements and become consumed with the heavenly agenda. The fire of His Spirit burns away everything leaving only desire for Jesus and as we gaze intensely at him, we are daily changed into the same image.
The wilderness teaches us dependence; we come to the point where God wanted us from before the foundations of the world, completely surrendered to and reliant on Him. Since we have nothing of ourselves, He guides us with His light within us bringing light to everything around us. In moments where we can’t see what’s ahead, His voice gently and consistently guides us into the promise teaching us to walk by faith and not by sight. We learn our feelings have no place in the evaluation of our walk with God. We become more inner life conscious and unmoved by external circumstances.
These seasons are filled with joy when we realize how strong our Spiritual growth game is and the incomparable strength of character that is built in us. We know we’re being made into love, we’re losing the baggage that drags us down and we’re receiving His heart. What we lose cannot be compared to what we gain.

The stretching of our capacity and enlarging of our faith that happens in the wait is more important than the promise. This is because these are points of inexplicable personal transformation that keep us steady in the promised land and guide us even in the bigger promises. We are driven to our knees; desperate for Him, constantly waiting in the word and in prayer. We teach and encourage others even in the wilderness because that’s His will for us — to comfort others with the comfort we have received.
We find strength, courage and faith in the immutability of His word. His word will not fail, His word cannot be broken. His promises are surer than the sun rising every morning.
We know with unshakable certainty that we’ll have everything He has promised. When we come out of the wilderness, we come into divinely orchestrated alignments, extraordinary unbelievable abundance and because He trusts us, He knows we can handle it.

This is the emptying before the filling.
The breaking before the building.
The crushing that brings the sweetness of the new wine.
These are growing pains. Embrace the wilderness.
#GrowingInGrace #DeborahnitiativeForWomen #WildernessSeason #TheGreatCommission