Selah2020: Pause and Reflect

[This is one in a series of devotional reflections prepared for Horley Baptist Church during February 2021]

Last week I went on a goose chase. Not a wild goose chase but a rather more domestic one; the intention was to exchange our dominant male with one from another family in order to encourage a fresh blood line in each flock. We went beyond the end of the asphalt, beyond the end of the village, beyond the end of the unsurfaced road, even beyond the end of the visible road and, like good king Wenceslas, we left our tracks in the drifting snow.

Fortunately, I had with me someone who knew how to handle geese but also knew where we were going. I was reminded that “My Lord knows the way through the wilderness, all I have to do is follow”. Are you following in His footsteps or is your faith on cruise control?

The Bible makes no mention of geese but it does have a lot to say about the wilderness:
» The wilderness is a place of trouble and testing; it is often associated with failure and punishment:

The Lord’s anger burned against Israel and he made them wander in the wilderness for forty years, until the whole generation of those who had done evil in his sight was gone. [Numbers 32:13 NIVUK]

» The wilderness is a place of restitution. In Leviticus 16 we see how the scapegoat was to be taken into the wilderness, bearing the sins of the people, but at least its chances of survival were slightly better than those of the other goat, which had already been sacrificed.
 
» The wilderness is a place for life-changing experiences. Jacob dreamt of a ladder in the wilderness and his name was changed. Moses came across a burning bush in the wilderness and his life’s work was changed. The Ethiopian court treasurer encountered the apostle Philip whilst travelling on the wilderness road between Jerusalem and Gaza and his country was changed. The establishment of Christianity in Ethiopia started with that meeting.
 
» The wilderness is a place for refuge and refreshment.

David stayed in the wilderness strongholds and in the hills of the Desert of Ziph. Day after day Saul searched for him, but God did not give David into his hands. [1 Samuel 23:14]

David subsequently moved to the oasis of En-gedi where there was a spring of fresh water and established agriculture. Once again, Saul’s attempts to find him were thwarted.
 
» The wilderness is also a place of training. It can be a great place for social distancing, for clearing our heads, for concentrating on those things which are important. John the Baptist, the apostle Paul and Jesus himself all spent time in the wilderness as part of their preparations for their respective ministries.
 
To a lesser or greater extent, we all have wilderness experiences. How do we look back on them? It is up to us to decide whether they have negative or positive outcomes. The song-writer Laura Story posed the question:

What if Your blessings come through raindrops?
What if Your healing comes through tears?
What if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise?

Paul put a similar question to the Christians in Rome: “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?”
You can read his answer in Romans ch 8 v 38-39.

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