To everything there is a season…so sayeth the word of God. However, not all of them are pleasant, as we all know quite well.
I was talking with a friend the other day about how we walk through different seasons and some seasons can be really tough. Some seasons, quite frankly, are wilderness experiences. As we read in the Bible, this is nothing new.
The Bible says that God leads His people through the wilderness to see what is in their heart, to see if they will continue to serve Him, even in the wilderness.
In my own life, I have found that there is always a time when my faith is confirmed. A time when my faith is put through the fire of the word of God. A time of the testing of my faith.
It’s an open book test. We already have all the instructions we will need. We have the outcome already written out for us, all we have to do is listen for the voice of God and obey it. If we do that, we are promised that no matter how hot the fire gets, we will come through without the smell of smoke.
We have a promise from God declaring that He will lead us through the wilderness and bring us out into an abundant place. But we must come out to enter into that abundant place. We can’t make camp in the wilderness.
I find many people stop and make camp in the wilderness season of their life. They get in the middle of their wilderness and decide they don’t want to do it anymore or it isn’t working for them, so they pitch their tent in the wilderness and remain there. When you pitch your tent in the wilderness, you have to live from the wilderness, with all its dry places, lack of food, lack of water, lack of rest and much labor.
Don’t pitch your tent in the wilderness, keep walking. Keep talking, keep saying what the word of God says. Just keep moving. Don’t stop. If you are going through one of the worst times in your life, why would you stop there? The wilderness it not our destination – we are promised an abundant place. The Promised Land. All God’s promises are there for you. Those who endure to the end, who hold their confidence steadfast to the end, they have a reward and that reward is exactly what God has said belonged to them. Keep walking, it has to come out somewhere.
This reminds me of Breanne. When she was young, I used to love to take roads that weren’t familiar, just to see what was there. It often made her nervous. I constantly said to her ‘no reason to be nervous, it has to come out somewhere.’ And it always did. More often than not, we found places we loved and wanted to revisit.
I love the scripture in Philippines 3:13-15; it talks about pressing on, keeping on, to keep on moving toward the prize. Let me share the Message Bible translation with you: Friends, don’t get me wrong: By no means do I count myself an expert in all of this, but I’ve got my eye on the goal, where God is beckoning us onward – to Jesus. I’m off and running, and I’m not turning back. So let’s keep focused on that goal, those of us who want everything God has for us. If any of you have something else in mind, something less than total commitment, God will clear your blurred vision – you’ll see it yet!
I have gone through seasons where I would have loved to have given up. I would have loved to quit. But there was something in me, urging me on, that something was God, beckoning me on, reminding me what was at the end. His promise for me was at the end of that season and I knew that truth in my spirit.
There were months when my mouth was declaring what I knew by faith and I continued to speak faith, but on the inside, my flesh wanted to lay down and give up. Yet something in me, God, would not allow me to quit. So, I was off and running, I would not even look back.
The Bible says God is doing a new thing! Keep moving forward. Don’t Stop and don’t look back. Remember what happened to Lots wife when she looked back? Don’t look back! There is nothing for you there, the promise is ahead of you. Your future is bright! God has already paved a way for you through the blood of Jesus. Press on. Press on toward all He has for you. Refuse to look back, refuse to turn back and whatever you do, don’t set up camp in the wilderness. Every day that you continue walking in the word of God brings you a day closer to your promise.
When you go to sleep tonight, remind yourself that you made progress today, you are a day closer to all God has promised you. Do you hear that voice beckoning you on? That voice is God and He is calling you forward, to Jesus, the finisher of your faith. In the end your faith will speak.
In the end, your faith will show forth what you have been declaring, in the end, you will see it with your eyes.
Press On! Keep Walking…just keep walking in the word.
