Desert Experience
Deserts are hot and dry with very little rainfall and because there is very little moisture in the air, nights tend to be very cold. With such extreme changes in temperatures and lack of water, the desert can be a very harsh place to live. I don’t know about you but a couple of days in the desert and I’d be screaming for a way out! I’m amazed that the Israelites made it 40 years! Now God gave them a promise that he would bring them into a land flowing with milk and honey,
“Go and gather the elders of Israel together, and say to them, ‘The LORD God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, appeared to me, saying, “I have surely visited you and seen what is done to you in Egypt; and I have said I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt to the land of the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Amorites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites, to a land flowing with milk and honey.”’ Exodus 3:16-17
God is giving them a promise and asking them to take a leap of faith but I imagine if they had any idea what they would go through they might have changed their minds, in fact there were several times they wanted to turn back. Now sometimes God takes us into our own desert experience. He gives us a promise but before we enter into that promise God takes us on a journey through desert times. The conditions are rough and many times you wonder how you are going to get through it and when will God deliver you into the land flowing with milk and honey. The one thing that is absolutely essential, is that you stand firm in your faith because a desert experience will absolutely test your faith and not just once but over and over again. Faith is what determines whether your journey through the desert is an 11 day journey or a 40 year journey.
And to whom did He swear that they would not enter His rest, but to those who did not obey? So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief.
Therefore, since a promise remains of entering His rest, let us fear lest any of you seem to have come short of it. For indeed the gospel was preached to us as well as to them; but the word which they heard did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those who heard it. Heb 3:18 – 4:2
The Israelites got to the edge of the Promised Land, they could see their promise within reach and they lost their faith in God. What makes matters worse for them is that before God sends them to scout out the Promised Land He tells Moses that He is giving them this land.
And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, “Send men to spy out the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the children of Israel; from each tribe of their fathers you shall send a man, every one a leader among them.” Numbers 13:1-2
You’ve got to know that God already knows what lies ahead for them but this is the mother of all faith tests. Before he allows them to enter into their promise they must prove their faith in God when the obstacles in front of them are insurmountable. Twelve of them who were leaders among them spent forty days scouting out the land and realized that it was a land that was inhabited with giants and fortified cities. I imagine they thought it would be easy and the land would be theirs for the taking but instead fear entered into 10 of them and they had forgotten all the times the Lord had delivered and provided for them and they just couldn’t see how they would get through this one. I’m sure they had grown weary from living in the desert and when they saw the battle that was in front of them they got discouraged and decided it was better to just give up. Because of their lack of faith in God the Israelites spent the next forty years wandering through the desert. God had proven himself to them over and over again. Time after time he provided for all their needs and delivered them from the hands of their enemies and they let fear and doubt overcome them and they forgot all that God had done.
Then the LORD said to Moses: “How long will these people reject Me? And how long will they not believe Me, with all the signs which I have performed among them? Numbers 14:11
As Christians this is a story that is important to remember because the author of Hebrews is warning us here that the Israelites heard the same gospel that we hear and that we need to be careful not to fall short of the promises that God has given us. You see it is impossible to please God without faith.
But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
Heb 11:6
And let us remind ourselves what faith is. Faith is confidence or trust in a person or thing; belief that is not based on proof. Biblically, faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Heb 11:1
Faith is like jumping out into the pool and letting your mother or father catch you. It usually takes several attempts at gaining your confidence before you realize that your parents will not let you drown. God is the same way, He is asking you to trust that He will catch you and not let you drowned.
For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. Jeremiah 29:11
So it is important that we stand firm in our faith and equally important that we continue to increase our faith in God by staying in the word of God and growing in our relationship with Christ.
So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. Romans 10:17
If you implant the word of God in your heart, you will be able to draw on it when you are running low in the faith department. It is also so vitally important that you grow in your relationship with Christ! When you spend time with God on a daily basis there are several things that happen. First God begins to reveal Himself to you just like any other friend that you spend time with. You begin to know God on a more personal basis. He also begins to reveal His plans for you and guides your path on a daily basis. It is important to remember that God lead the Israelites through the desert
And the LORD went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so as to go by day and night. He did not take away the pillar of cloud by day or the pillar of fire by night from before the people. Exodus 13:21-22
It is not easy to see your way through the desert, you need a guide. My day usually doesn’t go well if I don’t give God the first part of my day. I need God to guide my path on a daily basis. When I meet with God in the morning, it is like having a cup of coffee or breakfast with a friend or loved one and discussing my plans for the day and any problems or concerns that I need help dealing with. When you start walking in this kind of relationship you have confidence in what God has told you and in difficult times you are able to cast all your care upon Him, for He cares for you 1Peter 5:7. True friends don’t abandon you in your most desperate time of need and that is where time spent with someone builds your trust that they will back you up when you need it. God has given you this promise!
For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.”
Romans 10:11
Whatever your desert experience is, I exhort you to trust in God and continue to draw near to Him. I pray that you would stand firm in you faith and in God’s perfect will and timing that He would deliver you out of your desert experience and bring you into the promise of a land flowing with milk and honey. I also pray that he would guide you through the desert in a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. I ask all these things In Jesus Name! Amen. Glory be to God!
