Journey into the Wilderness

The message that really stuck with me from this week at church was journeying into the wilderness. To many of us the wilderness is of being out in the boonies surrounded by trees, wild animals and since this is 2024, no Wi-Fi.

As I listened to the pastor preach, I thought of the wilderness in a more abstract way. The wilderness can signify the unknown or even clarity. When you take a hike into the wilderness you don’t know what you may find on your path – maybe an enormous tree has fallen in your path. You now are faced with two options (1) you can find your way around it or maybe even over it or (2) you can turn back and head home because that is the easiest option and possibly the safest.

If you choose option one you may find more obstacles in your way that you must navigate through to make it to your destination. Option two is going back to what you know and what is “safest”.  Many of us would pick option two because of the obvious – it’s what we already know and what we are comfortable with. But what if you didn’t and you chose option one? Growth, is what would happen. Every experience you encounter in life brings you to where you are and sets you up for where you are going. If you feel stuck in your life, in your career venture into the wilderness, take chances and GROW.

Talk with God and ask for His guidance of where you need to be. God has already written your story and knows where you are and where you need to be. God has predestined you for greatness. Your faith will take you to places you have only dreamed of, but your fear will keep you in the same place you have always been.

“In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, in order that we, who were the first to put our hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory. And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession – to the praise of his glory.” (Ephesians 1: 11-14)

Let God meet you where you are in the unknown and guide you where you need to be.

If we constantly sit stagnant and are content in where we are we will never grow and get where we need to be. If you feel like you are still missing your calling reach out to God and ask for that direction of where you need to be.

Thrive in the wilderness because that is where you will experience the most growth.