How God Prepares Us in the Wilderness for His Purpose

How God Uses Wilderness Experiences

Many people say they want God to use them. Few realize how God often prepares those He intends to use. Throughout Scripture, that preparation frequently begins in places of waiting, hardship, loneliness, and dependence. Before there was a call, there was often a wilderness.

You and I probably won't be called to go out into the desert before our work for God begins, but we may still have a wilderness experience. God may lead us to a place where we will learn dependence on Him instead of ourselves. God will seek to teach us something new about Him and our relationship to Him. We may even discover He is preparing us for a mission.

Not every hardship is a punishment from God, and not every wilderness experience is the result of personal sin. Sometimes God uses seasons of waiting, uncertainty, or difficulty to shape our character, deepen our faith, and prepare us for what lies ahead. The very things we would choose to avoid are the things God may use to strengthen us. Waiting in the wilderness can come in different forms.

Abram was called from his home to a new land by God. After he arrived, God promised he would become the father of many nations, but as he grew older and older that promise seemed further and further away. But God did the miraculous. As an old childless man with a barren wife, God brought out of that their son, Isaac.

The fulfillment of God's promise caused Abraham to recognize that God is always faithful to His Word. What He says, He will do, even if it seems impossible to us. Abraham's preparation by God led him to become the father of the nation of Israel.

God Prepares Us In the Wilderness

Joseph spent years as a slave and in prison because of his jealous brothers. During this time he remained faithful and obedient to God. We have to remember that Joseph didn't know the end of his story. For all he knew this would be his life forever. But during that time of hardship he learned many things. God had a plan in his suffering.

Most importantly he learned that God's timing was always the right timing. He eventually rose to a place of great power in Egypt just at the time that Joseph's brother's and his people needed his help.

His brother's betrayal was meant for evil but God used it for good. Can you remember a time when something bad happened in your life that God in some way turned around and used it for good? Have you seen God's timing working in your life? Perhaps in hindsight you can see how waiting for something helped you grow in your relationship to Him. Joseph was not the only servant God prepared through years of waiting.

In the story of Moses, we discover that he had fled into the wilderness after killing an Egyptian. There he becomes a Midian sheep herder for 40 years. Moses, who was raised as a brother to the pharaoh with all the power and wealth that that implies, had now been reduced to a common laborer. One of the many lessons he learned during this time was humility. Psalm 25:9 says,

"The humble He guides in justice, and the humble He teaches His way."

Certainly of all people it could be said that God taught Moses His way. In fact, in Numbers 12:3 we are told that Moses was the most humble man on earth. God prepared him for his purpose—the deliverer of His people. Do you think that Moses ever imagined God would use him as He did while he was in the wilderness?

Different people. Different circumstances. Yet the lesson is remarkably similar. God often prepares His servants in seasons of insignificance before He entrusts them with greater responsibilities. What is our purpose? These experiences help us to know.

Even nations sometimes have wilderness experiences. The Israelites wandered the desert for 40 years before they entered the promised land. Deuteronomy 8:2-3 explains why. Here God told them it was to teach them humility and what was truly in their heart. Would they obey Him or not?

God explained that man does not live by bread alone but more importantly he lives the Words that come from the mouth of the Lord. When we have done without things and experienced trials of loss, have we learned the importance of humility? Have we learned to listen to the Lord's Words? Wilderness experiences are not limited to failures or national discipline. Even those already chosen by God often waited years before His promises came to pass.

When David was promised to become king as a young man, why did he have to wait so long? Why did he have to spend years on the run from Saul? Because during this time God was once again teaching one of His saints important lessons.

He learned to be strong and wait on God's timing (Psalm 27:14). God taught him that He would hear his cry after patient waiting (Psalm 40:1-3). In Psalm 5:3, David says that when he laid his requests before God, he could wait expecting His reply.

And like many before him, David learned to ask God to show him the path he should take. He learned that God would teach him if he asked him. David found his hope in the only place that really mattered, God (Psalm 25:4-5). David was prepared by his experience to be the great King he would become. This pattern of waiting in the wilderness continues in the New Testament.

John the Baptist's Wilderness Preparation

John the Baptist spent about 30 years in the wilderness. It was a time of preparation for him for his mission. This time was a fulfillment of the prophecy in Isaiah (Isaiah 40:3). The people accepted him as a prophet after almost 400 years of silence (Matthew 21:23-27). He was the first to recognize Jesus as who He really was. His baptism of Jesus was the official beginning of Christ's ministry.

John, like those before him, learned his purpose and to rely on God. Free from the distractions of the world, John was able to focus solely on God. How often do the distractions in our own life keep us from understanding what God would have us do?

Jesus in the Wilderness

Jesus also spent time in the wilderness. Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by Satan (Matthew 4:1). Here Jesus relied on His Father for strength, He remained fully committed to His mission, and He showed us the importance of obedience. When He returned from the desert, He was "full of the power of the Spirit" to set out on His earthly mission. As our role model, He showed us how to respond to temptation. Having endured temptation in the wilderness, He understands every temptation we face, yet without sin (Hebrews 4:15).

Paul's Time in Arabia

Finally, the example of Paul shows us the importance of preparation. After his experience on the road to Damascus and his conversion, Paul explains that he spent three years in Arabia being directly taught by "revelation from Jesus Christ"(Galatians 1:12). Paul was very learned in Old Testament scripture, but now He learned how that same scripture predicted the coming of Jesus as the Messiah.

His mission, he discovered, was to preach Jesus to the Gentiles, becoming the greatest missionary of the early church. What have we done to prepare ourselves for God's work? Have we studied, prayed, and set time apart just for God?

What Can We Learn from the Wilderness?

If these great men from the Bible, including our Savior, spent time in the wilderness, can't we also expect to? When we do, will we make the most of those seasons and ask God what we need to learn and what we need to do?

How sad it would be to go through these times and learn nothing. None of them stayed in the wilderness forever. Neither will you or I, even though sometimes we may feel like we will.

God's plans, greater than ours, cannot be rushed. Although every experience is different, God prepares us in the wilderness to trust Him more deeply and serve Him more faithfully. God did not teach each of these servants the same lesson, but He prepared each one for the work He had uniquely called them to do.

God's preparation often feels like waiting, but waiting is not in vain because it serves a purpose. God is molding and making us into the people He would have us become. We thank Him and praise Him for it.

Pray with me,

Dear Father,

In my pain and weakness, in my sin and sorrow, help me to know Your will.

Help me to learn what You want me to learn.

Give me the strength of the Holy Spirit to take the path You desire for me.

Teach me humility.

Remind me of Your faithfulness.

Don't let this time be wasted by me,

but let me be renewed in my love for You and obedience to You.

In your Son's name,

Amen