No Mistake

The Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness.      Mark 1:12 ESV

The wilderness.

It’s where you end up when you’ve made a wrong turn and find yourself miserably lost, right?  

Apparently not.

If the Scriptures are true – and we know that they are – then we can clearly see that ending up in the wilderness does not indicate that you have made a mistake.  Jesus went to the wilderness, and we know that He never made a mistake EVER.

Our tendency is to think that when we’ve hit hard times, we must have done something wrong.  We replay scenarios in our heads, trying to find our mistake, and looking for some way to make a correction that will get us out of the wilderness.  The problem with that line of thinking is that it can take us in the opposite direction of where we need to be.

In fact, there’s a pretty good chance that if you find yourself in the wilderness, you are exactly where you are supposed to be.

That’s probably not the kind of encouragement you were looking for today.  When I’m in the wilderness, I’m generally looking for a way out.  Perhaps you are, too.

I would charge you to be very careful!  Trying to find your own way out of the wilderness can be dangerous.  There are hazards along the way.  Even if you think that you have an excellent sense of direction, it can be easy to get lost in the wilderness.  You get disoriented.  Everything begins to look the same, and it can be hard to distinguish where you’re headed from where you’ve been.

I remember watching an old TV show where a couple went hiking.  They were trying to stay on the trail, but having lost their sense of direction, the two soon found themselves walking in circles.  An argument naturally ensued, as tends to happen when couples get lost, and while one remained level-headed, the other panicked, and presumed himself much more lost than he really was.  The wife calmly and methodically found her way back to civilization, while the husband went full-on “survival” mode, working his way deeper into the forest.  

While we can watch in amusement as this story plays out on TV, these are two very real responses to the wilderness.  Calmness can show us the way, while panic may leave us lost.  We can fight the wilderness, or we can acknowledge it.

When Jesus found Himself in the wilderness, it was no accident.  Mark tells us that the Spirit “drove him out into the wilderness.”  Matthew and Luke say that the Spirit “led” Christ into the wilderness.  Whichever gospel account you read, one thing is clear – Jesus did not CHOOSE the wilderness.  He simply went where He was sent.

This kind of simple obedience is so difficult for us, but it is necessary if we desire to truly be Christ-followers.

My own natural tendency is to resist the wilderness.  I’m more likely to dig in my heels and try to put on the brakes than to go along willingly when I see myself heading in that direction.  Maybe that’s why I spend so much time there…  

You see, the wilderness is a place of preparation.  It’s where lessons are learned and where endurance is developed.  It’s where you discover the difference between needs and wants. 

If you never go to the wilderness, you’ll never get to experience what lies beyond.  If you leave the wilderness too soon, you won’t be adequately prepared for what lies ahead.

So the challenge today is to embrace it!  Do not resist.

The wilderness is coming.  Or perhaps, you’re already there.  Allow me to encourage you today – you can survive this.  It seems big, and difficult, and maybe even a bit scary.  And it probably hurts a little… or a lot!  But it doesn’t mean that you’ve done the wrong thing or that you’ve gone the wrong way.  It means that God loves you, and He’s chosen you, and there are things He has for you in the future that you’re not quite ready for.  He wants you to be ready.  He’s not going to send you to that next challenge until He has developed in you the skills you will need to succeed.

So do the work.

Learn the lessons.

Commit to the hard training.  You’re going to need it!

Reflect: What hard thing are you resisting?  Is it possible that your fear is keeping you off the path that will ultimately lead to purpose and blessing?

Remember: Finding yourself in the wilderness does not mean that you made a wrong turn.