Deut. 8:2 “You shall remember all the way which the LORD your God has led you in the wilderness these forty years, that He might humble you, testing you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not.
Deut. 8:3 “He humbled you and let you be hungry, and fed you with manna which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that He might make you understand that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the LORD.
The Lord who orders the steps of the Righteous sometimes leads, or at least, allows us to walk through the wilderness. His purposes are always redemptive, and His desire is to invest things in us during wilderness seasons that have eternal value.
There is so much in these two verses but there are a couple of simple things I want you to notice that might help you value those difficult seasons in your life. God is always wanting us to apprehend experientially, Him and His Kingdom more and more. He longs for us to long for more, and to comprehend how utterly dependent we are on Him for everything.
One of the things He cultivates in us during a wilderness time is HUNGER. During desperate seasons we become desperate for Him. In arid places independence and pride are broken, and in humility we rediscover how much we need Him and want Him. Hunger shapes us spiritually, and God lets us get hungry for His presence, and ability, so that He can fill us, enable us, and satisfy us with Himself.
You see, Man’s extremities are always God’s opportunities to show Himself as the great “I Am,” for all that we need in all that we do. You will come out of the wilderness, but will you come UP out of the wilderness LEANING ON YOUR BELOVED. (S.S. 8:5) If you do, you will forever be transformed, and therefore grateful, for your time spent there.