The Way Out Of The Wilderness

“Late in August the lure of the mountains becomes irresistible. Seared by the everlasting sunfire, I want to see running water again, embrace a pine tree, cut my initials in the bark of an aspen, get bit by a mosquito, see a mountain bluebird, find a big blue columbine, get lost in the firs, hike above timberline, sunbathe on snow and eat some ice, climb the rocks and stand in the wind at the top of the world on the peak of Tukuhnikivats.” 

― Edward Abbey, Desert Solitaire

 Wilderness cuts both ways; testing and blessing. Daytime temperatures peak at 120, the nights cool to the mid-nineties. Hot and barren the days, day after day. No cool wind (any wind seems a cool wind at 120 ); few thundershowers.  I hunger for that cold breeze, for the sight of water falling over rock or waves crashing against rock and sand.

Dry, hot, intense and waiting for change.  This has been a long summer season, “Deep water faith in the shallow end.”  But life happens on different levels.  Like this desert.  Springs form from faults; aquifers run deep underground.  There is life giving water. 

There are tantamount blessings on my plate; food, happy marriage, darling daughter, two great vacations this year including Spring in Yosemite.   Work and ministry are dry areas.  No driving vision; nothing pulling me hard forward.  ‘Seared by sunfire’ I don’t look for shade.  I search for fullness.

Tourists in Palm Springs can take a tram up past timberline.  Most mountains require sweat before they reward you with beauty.  The desert will bake you if you bask too long.  Movement is the key forward.  The mountains lure is that they are reachable.  God is a rewarder of those that seek Him. Walking forward is the way out of the wilderness.  “He changes a wilderness into a pool of water and a dry land into springs of water.”  

Psalm 107 Meditations

There are seasons in life when God brings us from valleys of darkness into fertile places; lands of milk and honey.
Psalm 107 reads,

“They wandered in the wilderness in a desert region;
They did not find a way to an inhabited city,
They were hungry and thirsty,
Their soul fainted within them.
Then they cried out the Lord in their trouble;
He delivered them out of their distresses.

He led them also by a straight way,
To go to an inhabited city.
For He has satisfied the thirsty soul,
And the hungry soul He has filled with good food.”

Interestingly enough, in verses 35-36,

“He changes a wilderness into a pool of water and a dry land into springs of water;
And there He makes the hungry to dwell,
So that they may establish an inhabited city.”

God sometimes chooses to either lead to an inhabited city, or makes provision to build an inhabited city.

Been thinking about this in light of my present circumstances, a blog post, and phone calls I received this week. ‘Bottom line, her husband wants out and there's not much she can do to stop him. She and I have talked for hours, and it breaks my heart when she asks "Why is it so hard for him to love me?" "How can he do this to me, our children?"’

The conversation last night was an echo of the first one. He’s been out of the relationship for two years. For the first six months he couldn’t see his children. Following that, he could only see them when a court appointed mediator was present. He’s still praying to God for direction. At this juncture, there is still no end in sight.

Then, there was the other phone call. Never good to get a a late night phone call from the mother of your childhood friend. “Did you know Russ has cancer?" My friends’ dad; I'd spent my childhood years in their yard and at their dinner table.

“Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble;
He saved them out of their distresses. He sent his word and healed them,
And delivered them from their destructions.”

Today I find myself in a blessed, glad place. My work is fun, challenging, and allows me to be myself. Doors for ministry continue to open. Financially, I find myself on stable ground (finally!). Surrounded by countless good male friends and possibilities for female relationship as well. Food in the fridge and a roof over my head.

So what can be said to those fainting in the wilderness? May we continue to cry out to the Lord. Repeatedly the Psalmist says, “They cried out to the Lord in their trouble…” Let us look forward to deliverance, and the inhabited city. Hopefully, it will come soon and in this lifetime. If not, for those who are His, it will come soon enough, and will be a permanent deliverance from affliction and destruction.

On that day, we will be able to say with the Psalmist,

“Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good, for His lovingkindness is everlasting. Let the redeemed of the Lord say so,
Whom He has redeemed from the hand of the adversary…”
and let us look to the coming of the holy city when God will be among us, “and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death, any mourning, any crying or any pain.

“Who is wise? Let him give heed to these things, and consider the lovingkindness of the Lord.”