Wilderness Living

Thus says the Lord,
your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel:
“I am the Lord your God,
who teaches you to profit,
who leads you in the way you should go. Isaiah 48:17 (ESV)

When my husband and I moved into our first home — a massive renovation project in a new town — excitement filled me, but also trepidation. I did not know where this new season would lead, and I don’t do well with change. I didn’t know what wilderness lay before me.

On top of that, I was healing from an arduous stretch of physical and mental strain. It all left me vulnerable and admitting I didn’t have it all together.

Would this stretch remind me of barren years behind me? Would the panic of not knowing what’s ahead here keep me from partaking in a potentially beautiful present?

God became my cloud by day and pillar of fire by night, leading me where I could not see, protecting me when old doubts and fears begin to reacquaint themselves. One shaky step at a time, I was held, directed, and comforted.

We wish to forge on fast and straight, one swift cross across the water. But it never works that well-aligned, does it? There are crooked turns and twists, head-scratching and heart-rending. The journey never moves the way we mean.

Then, we gripe and curl our fingers into fists and demand answers, bemoan how we should have known better than to land here. It is a bitter herb to chew, this mirage of self-sufficiency.

“Let go,” He says, bringing us to this place of dependence to bring us what’s best.

Maybe it’s in this mud-slung stretch of wilderness living where our bones grow strong and hearts grow soft. After all, it is the LORD who leads us where we do not think to go.

**

Honored to be over at Proverbs 31 talking about finding God in the wilderness. Won’t you meet me there and read the rest?