Experiencing Friendship With Godنموونە

The Wilderness of the Soul

From now until heaven, the harsh realities of life will challenge your reasons for believing in God. You will fail, and sometimes other people will fail you. Plans will fall through. Doors will close, with no indication of opening again. Circumstances will not budge in your favor, and certain people may never change. You may be in a waiting season, or perhaps a crushing season. If this remains your reality long enough, then you may become disillusioned, with a burnt-out faith.

This is the wilderness of the soul.

For the Israelites of the Exodus, the Sinai wilderness was not a hike along a scenic trail of luscious green, with a sunset that you could capture for Instagram. No, the wilderness was a horrific wasteland with unlikely chances for survival. It was an inhospitable region with bullying heat and desolate grounds. It would be hard to nurture a dream there and even harder to find a purpose.

The wilderness of the soul is no different. When in it, you travel on the terrain of discouragement. When you find yourself to be a wanderer, few if any will fully understand your journey. You will become more familiar with pain than progress, with confusion than vision.

Some say pain makes you stronger, but this is a senseless platitude for someone who is sapped of strength while wandering. You can be one who is naturally sure of yourself, but in the wilderness you can be met with an alarming insecurity. To make it worse, you won’t be sure when it will end.

Beloved Wanderer, what if the ultimate purpose of the wilderness is not to make you better or for you to get somewhere? Although sanctification can indeed be a byproduct of walking through the desert season, the pain of the journey is not merely the cruel means to that end. Rather, the purpose of the wilderness is to know the Presence of God—and an intimate, authentic, and passionate friendship with Him is the reward.

The book of Exodus says, “The Lord would speak to Moses face to face, as one speaks to a friend” (33:11). What would it mean for you to feel that God is your Friend?