The wilderness. A place of spiritual refuge and protection.
I’m feeling the call to flee into a place of wilderness. A place where I must walk alone, where amazing things are hidden and require deep digging.
For the past 363 days thus far, I have been committed to sharing His Word here as I’ve pondered in His presence. I am so thankful to God’s faithfulness and humbled by His invitation to share my heart in this way. It has been quite a journey and has carried me through the seasons of 2009 well. Every paragraph, sentence and word has flowed from a heart seeking Him alone. But now the wilderness beckons.
The treasure in the wilderness? God. The wilderness purifies the soul of everything that hinders our relationship with God and our ability to serve Him. The Lord is asking me the same two questions He asked Hagar in the desert, “…where have you come from, and where are you going?”
As 2009 is drawing to a close, God is asking me to stand on my “red dot”, my current place of location, and take a look at where I am. Just like those mall maps indicate position with a “red dot” proclaiming, “You are here”, the Lord desires that I assess, answer and then accept His invitation and come away. My wilderness experience will become my identity. God is asking me to see Him as all sufficient. The One who supplies. He is protector and provider and will be all the resource needed for the wilderness.
I’m reminded of Deuteronomy 8 where God led His people through the wilderness. A place where God revealed hearts, humbled, increased hunger, fed in ways that thrilled, disciplined and tested. He bought them out, to bring them in.
In to His presence, purposes and promised land. There is so much that God needs to work on, and in me, so that I can emerge pure and prepared for ministry.
Christ entered His wilderness full of the Spirit and came out in the power of the Spirit. Father, my prayer is that I may do the same.
7 comments:
Thank you so much for this post. I truly needed to read it today. I believe God has been trying to get me to walk with Him in a new way.
Have a blessed ending in 2009 and a fresh beginning in 2010.
From my heart,
Sheryl
When God asked these questions of Hagar, he asked a "third" unspoken question which you so aptly address in your post. Not just "where have you come from" and "where are you going", but "where are you in this moment right now?"
Where she was, was in the presence of Covenant God--a God she couldn't claim through ancestral heritage, but one she could now claim because of her encounter with El Roi (the God who sees me).
Many people enter the desert reluctantly for fear of being alone. Saints of God enter willingly knowing that some of the greatest work they will ever do with the Father will be done in the sands of a heated obedience.
Travel well, sister. I'll join you as I can.
I'm so very proud of you for keeping to your 365 days of penned reflection. May God continue to poke and prod your heart (in the desert) in regards to what you will do with these past 365 days worth of writing in the future.
I'd love a bound copy someday.
peace~elaine
Joy, you are such an inspiration! What a blessing it's been to read your comments this year Through the Bible!
Love,
Marilyn...in Mississippi
Dear Joy: Your beautiful writing reflects your heart and love for the Lord and His Word. Thank you for pouring yourself out as unto Him this year. We have been blessed and have eaten delicious fruit here at "Pondering in His Presence".
I pray He blesses you in such intmate ways as you go to the wildnerness with Him.
You are loved dearly.
"I will lead her into the desert and speak tenderly to her." (Hosea 2:14)
I know He will speak tenderly to you as He leads you.
Warm love and prayers,
Sharon
The treasure in the wilderness? God. The wilderness purifies the soul of everything that hinders our relationship with God and our ability to serve Him. The Lord is asking me the same two questions He asked Hagar in the desert, “…where have you come from, and where are you going?”
I love this quote, so much that it is in my Bible Study. Isn't it always a good thing to take the time to ponder the answer to that question in our hearts and allow God to show us "where we are"?
Blessings to you for this NEW year!!
Beautiful post. I, too, have found that the wilderness, though wild and rugged at times, brings forth a beauty and a relationship with the Father that I could never find in the midst of the usual.
Journeying with you, my friend.
Leah
Joy,
I have truly enjoyed reading your ponderings. I can't remember when God led me to you but it must have been around March. Thinking back, that was a tumultuous month for me with a lot of unknowns. Looking back on the other side, I see God put your blog in my path to help in my journey.
BTW, I am currently reading Hinds' Feet in High Places. I first heard of this book through your blog. Well, I am not very far into it. Just to the part where Much Afraid is facing her wilderness experience. I have stirrings in my heart too that our Great Shepherd is asking me on a journey. I do not know if it involves my older son. I am very Much Afraid but I know He can be trusted. And reading the book calms my heart. Thanks you for that, too.
Maybe we'll see each other yonder in the wilderness.
Have a wonderul journey in 2010. I am honored to have shared 2009 with you. I am a better person for it.
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