the desert

so many friends have been going through a time in their life lately where they have felt like God has pulled them out into the wilderness.  a so-called long and windy road to the promised land.  so many seem to be experiencing this pull from the Lord to get out of the world, and to just come and be alone with the Lord.  A place full of uncertainty, full of questions, full of our own attempts to satisfy this longing within for something more...  

in my own life the Lord has challenged me recently to give up some things that I have held on to for too long.  To give up my expectations of how my life is going to turn out, and to learn to be satisfied with the Lord, even if He is  all I ever receive, is He enough?

"And now, O Lord, for what do I wait?
        My hope is in You" - Psalm 39:7

He's also challenging me to simplify my life, to put away the overkill of technology, put away the time wasted doing things that have no eternal value, and to learn to take more time to sit before Him, take more time searching His word, and focusing on what His purpose is in each day, learning to not forsake the little things he asks of us.  

...when the israelites were in the desert, they had 2 certainties, 1 - that when they woke up every day, there would be manna there for them to collect, and  2 - the pillar of cloud/fire would always lead them to their next place.  But what caused them to stumble time and time again... is when they sought out egypt, when they saught things that were more pleasing to the eye and fulfilling to the senses, like the golden calf.  They got caught on complaining because they did not trust the Lord.  They had no vision of the promised land, and started getting tired of waiting for the Lord to act.

Do we get tired of waiting for the Lord to act?  Honestly?

... you know why this is?   .. it seems to me that this is because we are waiting for the blessings of God, and not actually waiting on the Lord Himself.  For if we were to wait upon the Lord Himself, we would know His satisfaction.  As a friend recently reminded me of a hymn "once it was the blessing, now it is the Lord" (http://www.biblebelievers.com/simpson-ab_himself.html).

It is a hard thing to go through the desert in our Christian walk.  It feels alone, it feels deprived of "good feelings", it feels lacking in revival... and at times the light seems dim.  But every day the Lord gave the israelites manna, and He lead them by the cloud/fire, and this was certain.  This is also certain for us that He will provide us with Himself, the bread of Life, and He will be our portion for each day.  And he promises to lead us and tell us to move when the time is right (note that the timing is not always when we think it should be).
He will not leave is us in the desert, but this time is so very much needed in our Christian life.  We need to learn to be set apart from the world, we need to learn to be attracted to the Lord without all the blessings, and learn to know the Lord as our portion, our one true Blessing.  Is this not a true test of our faith?  When everything else is pulled out from under us... are we still seeking the face of our Lord?  ..."to whom else shall we go?" -john 6:68
...and when we come into fellowship with our glorious Lord, how precious it becomes to sit at His feet and wait before Him like Mary did.  To listen to his voice, and to know our God, who defines love.  His voice penetrates all the stuff that we've built up as our "protection" as our "security" as our "hope" ... and He shows us by His gentle hand that He Is ENOUGH, and so much MORE than enough.  He is the overflowing fountain that wells up within us when deep calls unto deep.

..so may we not be discouraged that the Lord brings us into the desert because of His love for us.  So that we might depart from all that is all is of the flesh and of the world and enter into all that is good and right and pure and loving and just and holy, etc... that which is of God and is everlasting and with purpose.

May we learn to eat of his manna and be filled and wait for his word before we move.