Secrets of the Desert Place

There I am now going to allure her; I will lead her into the desert and speak tenderly to her.

Hosea 2:14

Have you found yourself in a place where you never thought you would be, doing things you never thought you would do, searching for something you never thought you would lose? Aching with the empty of it, knowing there is something more? Welcome to the desert place, a place where there are more questions than answers, a place where the out is discovered only by going through.

We know from the story of Hagar in Genesis chapters 16 and 21 that God sees us in our desert places. What if God not only sees us in the desert, but what if He is the one who leads us there? What if the ache for something more is the evidence that we were designed for something more?

The book of Exodus tells the story of the Hebrew people being led from bondage out of Egypt. Their destination is Canaan, a land of abundance, the land promised to the descendants of Abraham by God. But first God routes them through a long trek in the desert.

Why would a loving God lead His people a roundabout way through the desert? And what does this story reveal about God and why He leads us into desert places?

Following the famine that brought Jacob and his sons into Egypt 400 years earlier, the Hebrew people established themselves in Egypt. They flourished in this land such that the Egyptians were fearful (Exodus 1:9-10) and so the Egyptian king enslaved them. God’s people cry out to God for their freedom. “Their cry for rescue from slavery came up to God. And God heard their groaning, and God remembered His covenant He had made with Abraham” (Exodus 2:23-24). God brings them out of Egypt under the leadership of Moses.

Imagine the anticipation as the people prepare to leave Egypt. They have experienced the plagues brought on the Egyptians, they know the promise of land through Abraham, and their desire is for freedom. What they discover when they leave is that a vast wasteland lies between where they are and where they are going. A wasteland, a desert place where provision is scarce. God keeps them in this wasteland for forty years. Why does He leave them in this wasteland for so long? As they encounter one obstacle after another they face the reality that their survival is dependent upon the provision of God, the mercy of God, the grace of God, and their obedience to His direction. He sends the Hebrew people to the desert place to redirect them, rebuild them and to reveal to them who He is.

If God sends us into a desert place it is because He has chosen us with the intent of bringing us into freedom. Are we enslaved by another people group? Unlikely. Our enslavement comes from our choices, our motives, our need to be accepted or perceived in a certain way, our preoccupation with temporal things. God longs to bring us freedom from ourselves so we can be ourselves, so we can be who He created each of us to be. And while our response may be dismay or anxiety as our distractions cease to be distractions, as our self-sufficiency is no longer sufficient, He is bringing us about face to a life changing work. The only way through the desert, is to go through the desert. Go through, let Him lead you. Let Him be your provision (Exodus 15-17), your guide by day and by night (Exodus 13), let Him speak to you (Exodus 3-4, 20), nurture you (Genesis 16), let Him reveal to you His glory (Exodus 34). Let Him make you His person.

The journey of Moses and the Hebrew people reveal what to expect when we find ourselves in a desert place.

• Expect it to be uncomfortable. It is intentionally sparse such that our focus is on God.
• Expect to hear from God (Exodus 3-4)
• Expect to ask God hard questions (Exodus 4)
• Expect to see God (Exodus 24)
• Expect God to guide you by (Exodus 13-14) opening doors and shutting doors. (Perhaps God allowed the Red Sea to close quickly not just to keep the Hebrew people from being overtaken by the Egyptian army. Perhaps He quickly closed the Red Sea so the Hebrew people would not go back to Egypt.)
• Expect God to be your provision (Exodus 15, 16, 17)
• Expect God to keep you there until you are ready (by His assessment) to leave.
• Expect God to prepare you for what He has prepared for you.

If in this season, you find yourself in a desert place, lean in close and move through. God is working on you. When the God of the universe has His mind on you to do a work, be still and let Him work (Psalm 46:10). Choose the difficult way. On the other side of this desert place, you will marvel at how He brought you through under His provision, His mercy, His grace and His direction. On the other side of this desert place, you will marvel at Him and the work He has done for you (and in you!).