Sometimes as Christians, we find ourselves in a wilderness season or in a dark night. We serve God, but it seems like life and its challenges are overwhelming us. We trust God, but we feel like our trust needs to grow. We believe, but we look at our circumstances and realize that our prayer is for God to help us in our unbelief. This season of challenges is never a season of punishment. It is a season of preparation. It is an opportunity to grow our relationship with God.
David understood challenges. He had to run for his life many times. People he loved were trying to destroy him. Many times he had no food, he experienced loss he was attacked. David learned to grow in the wilderness.
“O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you, in a dry and weary land where there is no water. I have seen you in the sanctuary and beheld your power and your glory. Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you. I will praise you as long as I live, and in your name I will lift up my hands. My soul will be satisfied as with the richest of foods; with singing lips my mouth will praise you. On my bed I remember you; I think of you through the watches of the night. Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings. My soul clings to you; your right hand upholds me. They who seek my life will be destroyed; they will go down to the depths of the earth. They will be given over to the sword and become food for jackals. But the king will rejoice in God; all who swear by God’s name will praise him, while the mouths of liars will be silenced.” (Psalm 63:1–11, NIV84)
When we become overwhelmed, we can start by looking to God. We can seek and cry out. We can look to God knowing that our lives depend on us finding God. We can seek God with all that is in us. We can use all our strength and our power to seek God. We can yearn, we can long. We can desire HIM and HIM alone.
When we are in the season of challenge, we can remember what we know and have already experienced of God. We can remember His power and His prior miracles in our lives. We can recall how God has worked in the past. We can recall how we have experienced His love. As we recall who God is, we remember that God never changes. His power never changes. His love for us never changes. His power and His love will provide a way of escape.
In the wilderness, we praise God. We use our mouths to declare God’s goodness and His greatness. We declare that no challenge will take away our worship. We declare that with every breath we will live for God and declare God’s love to all creation. We will sing in the wilderness. We will cling to God in the wilderness.
We will remind ourselves that God is just and will destroy those who seek to destroy us. We know that the battle is not ours but belongs to God. In the wilderness, we entrust the challenge to God.
There is no wilderness where God is not with you. His love has never changed. Seek Him! Praise Him! Trust Him!
