When God Leads Us To the Desert

God seems to like deserts as places to mold his servants. Multiple times in the Bible, we read about desert experiences. Moses encounters God in the burning bush at Mount Horeb, the children of Israel wander in the desert for 40 years, John the Baptist preaches in the desert, and even Jesus himself is led into the desert to be tempted by the devil.

There are times when we find ourselves in seasons we might describe as desert-like.  In these times, our hearts feel spiritually dry, and life feels intense, oppressive, and lonely.  It is in these spiritual deserts that we often ask questions like, “Where are you, God? Why is this happening?”  There is no relief in sight, and we wonder if we will ever be happy again.

Several years ago, I walked through a desert season.  Divorce, a church split, family conflicts, and depression surrounded me as I walked with my family and friends through these hardships.   I remember pouring out my heart to the Lord so many times, asking him to help me understand why all this was happening. I watched brokenness and sin wreak havoc among people who claimed to be his followers. There was no quick end to this season of suffering; in fact, the desert experience seemed to last forever. The deep pain in my heart felt too much to endure.  

The children of Israel experienced life in the desert for 40 years.  In Deuteronomy 8, Moses explains why the Lord God led them there.  I do not know all the reasons for the desert I walked through, but I know that one of God’s purposes was to conform me to the image of his Son (Romans 8:29).  Like the children of Israel, I experienced that in four distinct ways:

FOUR PURPOSES IN THE DESERT

1. God takes us through the desert to humble us.

“Remember how the LORD your God led you all the way in the desert these forty years, to humble you…” (Deuteronomy 8:2)

The opposite of humility is pride, and pride is insidious.  It hinders a close relationship with our Father.  In life, when the sailing is smooth, we often lean on our own abilities and may think we have little need for him.  The desert brings us to our knees, reminding us that we are utterly dependent upon him for every breath.  In my own desert season, I was so discouraged that simple daily activities were arduous.  I was humbled and learned to pray moment by moment for his divine strength. 

The Apostle Paul describes a similar experience in 2 Corinthians 12.  He confessed his need for humility and was given a thorn in his flesh to keep him from becoming conceited (2 Corinthians 12:7).  This side of heaven, we will always need to grow in humility which will draw us into deeper fellowship with the Lord, and desert seasons can help us do that if we respond well to them.

2. God takes us through the desert to test us.

“…and to test you in order to know what was in your heart whether or not you would keep his commands.” (Deuteronomy 8:2)

It is easy to have faith in God when our family is stable, our jobs are prosperous, and our health is intact. But take one leg out from under that table and our faith may wobble or threaten to collapse.  Trials test us and reveal what is in our hearts—we often have little to no idea what is inside of us until the desert season brings it to the surface.  Self-reliance, anger, and jealousy often rear their ugly heads as the intensity of the desert heat increases.  Our faith is being tested, or proved, in the refining fire of the desert (1 Peter 1:6-7). 

It is the grace of God that uses testing to draw our sin out so that we can repent, receive his healing, and become more like him.  Prior to my own desert season, I did not realize how much I depended upon my natural family and my church family for my security.  When those things began to crumble and my faith quaked, I recognized my displaced trust and slowly shifted my faith back to its rightful place on my unshakeable God.

3. God takes us through the desert to teach us.

“…to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD.” (Deuteronomy 8:3)

In the desert, the Lord had my full attention.  The things I had clung to for stability were absent. Every day I longed to hear him speak life into my circumstances and show me his perspective.  He taught me that even though my natural and spiritual families were being shaken, He was my sure foundation. I learned to live on His Word and His promises like the sustenance of bread.  I searched my Bible to find what I could know for certain.  I learned to live on the Word of the Lord and claim his promises no matter how I felt.  I was more persistent in prayer, and my ears were more attentive to receive his guidance.

 4. God takes us through the desert to discipline us.

“Know then in your heart that as a man disciplines his son, so the LORD your God disciplines you.” (Deuteronomy 8:5)

When we hear the word discipline, sometimes we think of punishment linked to anger.  But we need to remember that the Lord has no wrath toward his children – that was taken care of by Jesus on the cross (1 John 4:10).  His discipline may include punishment, but that punishment is out of love to correct us for our good, not out of anger. 

The word discipline in the Bible is a broad term which includes chastening, instructing, and correcting.   In the New Testament, Hebrews 12 says that God uses hardship as discipline “for our good that we might share in his holiness.”  The word “discipline” is the Greek word “paideia” from which we get our English word for pediatrics – the welfare of children.  Discipline is a way that we care for our children through correction and training.  Where there is no discipline, there is no true love. For example, if we let our children get away with lying, we are not loving them but setting them up for a terrible life.  Likewise, God loves us too much to leave us to our sinful, immature ways.  Like any good father, He disciplines us so that sin will no longer reign in us, and we can experience abundant life (John 10:10).

LIFE IN THE DESERT

Humbling, testing, teaching, and disciplining are just four purposes for our desert journey, but as John Piper says,

“God is always doing ten thousand things in your life, and you may be aware of three of them.” 

The desert is a hard place to endure, but we can walk through it knowing that God led us there in his providence and he has not abandoned us.  He is a good Father.  If we receive his correction, he will transform us so that we might share in his holiness (Hebrews 12:10; Romans 8:28-29) and thus experience life that is to the full (John 10:10).

*Scripture references are quoted from the New International Version, 1984.