An Invitation into the Wilderness
The town of Carp Lake, MI hosts the Into the Wilderness Trail Marathon.
In early 2018 an invitation to this marathon was delivered to my inbox. In part, the invitation read:
“Are you ready to head into the wilderness? We are excited to be hosting a race at one of the most beautiful state parks in Michigan! This event will not disappoint. . .This event has it all! The race will have abundant, well stocked aid stations, and will be extremely well marked."
An invitation into the wilderness . A beautiful, well-stocked, well-marked wilderness was not enough to tempt me to enter. And apparently it was not enough to tempt many others. A few months later race organizers published the following announcement:
The town of Carp Lake, MI hosts the Into the Wilderness Trail Marathon.
In early 2018 an invitation to this marathon was delivered to my inbox. In part, the invitation read:
“Are you ready to head into the wilderness? We are excited to be hosting a race at one of the most beautiful state parks in Michigan! This event will not disappoint. . .This event has it all! The race will have abundant, well stocked aid stations, and will be extremely well marked."
An invitation into the wilderness . A beautiful, well-stocked, well-marked wilderness was not enough to tempt me to enter. And apparently it was not enough to tempt many others. A few months later race organizers published the following announcement:
" Unfortunately we have not received enough registrations for this event to make it possible to host a high quality event in 2018. Therefore we are postponing the event until 2019. . ."
I used to think that the wilderness was a part of life, a location, a passageway to something better. Over the last two years I have prayed many times to come through this wilderness, but what God has taught me about the wilderness surprised even me.
The word itself, WILDERNESS, comes from the Hebrew word MIDVAR. It doesn't just mean a "desolate & deserted place" it means "a place beyond." A place beyond communities, a place beyond the norms of life.
The word itself, WILDERNESS, comes from the Hebrew word MIDVAR. It doesn't just mean a "desolate & deserted place" it means "a place beyond." A place beyond communities, a place beyond the norms of life.
It is also a place of transitions. Think with me about the Children of Israel.
They were enslaved in Egypt.
God miraculously delivered them from their slavery and took them through the wilderness on the way to the promised land. The transition between slavery and freedom was the wilderness.
It wasn't a stop on the journey.
It was the journey.
If the wilderness represents the place between deliverance and The Promised Land then it is not a point on the journey of the Christian's life. . .it IS the Christian's life.
If this is the case then we have to acknowledge the fact that sometimes God deliberately calls us into the wilderness.
If the wilderness represents the place between deliverance and The Promised Land then it is not a point on the journey of the Christian's life. . .it IS the Christian's life.
If this is the case then we have to acknowledge the fact that sometimes God deliberately calls us into the wilderness.
But why would anyone WANT to go into the wilderness?
Because in the wilderness hunger and thirst are satisfied. In the wilderness there is protection from your enemies. In the wilderness temples are built, souls are nourished, and Satan is defeated. In the wilderness God speaks, you listen. You move forward as the presence of God leads and you set up camp where His presence dwells.
When Congress passed The Wilderness Act of 1964 they defined the wilderness like this:
"A wilderness, in contrast with those areas where man and his own works dominate the landscape, is hereby recognized as an area where the earth and its community of life are untrammeled by man, where man himself is a visitor who does not remain."
The works we do in the villages are monuments to ourselves. The works we do in the wilderness are altars to our God. So then let us take our foot off the gas (or brake), our hands off the wheel and look around. Let's stop driving around in circles. Let's step out in faith and trust God to navigate us through life and into the Promised Land. Because, in life, like the wilderness "man himself is a visitor who does not remain."
Because in the wilderness hunger and thirst are satisfied. In the wilderness there is protection from your enemies. In the wilderness temples are built, souls are nourished, and Satan is defeated. In the wilderness God speaks, you listen. You move forward as the presence of God leads and you set up camp where His presence dwells.
When Congress passed The Wilderness Act of 1964 they defined the wilderness like this:
"A wilderness, in contrast with those areas where man and his own works dominate the landscape, is hereby recognized as an area where the earth and its community of life are untrammeled by man, where man himself is a visitor who does not remain."
The works we do in the villages are monuments to ourselves. The works we do in the wilderness are altars to our God. So then let us take our foot off the gas (or brake), our hands off the wheel and look around. Let's stop driving around in circles. Let's step out in faith and trust God to navigate us through life and into the Promised Land. Because, in life, like the wilderness "man himself is a visitor who does not remain."
I like your blog and your post! We all go through the wilderness at times and sometimes it does take a big jolt for us to figure that thing out. I look forward to reading! :) Thanks for sharing!
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