In the wilderness we learn to "eat manna" (to depend continually on Christ for our life, our strength, our wisdom, our holiness and righteousness). We are taught to "follow the cloud by day and the fire by night" (to wait patiently for the leading of the Holy Spirit; to walk in the blessings that come during the "day," and also to follow the judgments of God's Word through the "nights" of our discipleship).

We learn how to be healed spiritually and physically by gazing at the "brass serpent" (by looking to the redemption that flows from our Lord Jesus on the cross). We understand God means exactly what He says and that those who disobey the Lord's revealed will for their lives soon find themselves in difficult and painful situations.

We Christians are taught many lessons in the wilderness. It was in the wilderness, at Mount Sinai, that the Ten Commandments were issued by the Lord. In the Christian experience it is in struggling faithfully through problems and troubles, as we attempt each day to follow the Lord, that we begin to come under the law of the Spirit of life. Trouble, perplexity, persecution, press us into Christ so He can be formed in us.

And thou shalt remember all the way which the Lord thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep his commandments, or no. (Deuteronomy 8:2)

While we are enduring prolonged, severe testing, trouble of all kinds, confusion, rebuffs on every hand, misunderstanding by our brothers and sisters in the Lord, rejection by the churches, unbelief, problems in our families, the removal of our ministry perhaps, dryness, barrenness, affliction, deception, we may be tempted to believe God has been insulted and has withdrawn beyond the galaxies.

Under these circumstances one can forget the promise of Him who cannot lie:

. . . lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen. (Matthew 28:20)

. . . I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. (Hebrews 13:5)

Sometimes it seems God has left us, that we have failed in the Christian walk. There are so many questions, so many doubts, and no apparent revelation of the Lord or of His will for us. None of the other Christians appear to be having any trouble at all. In fact, we may experience the "pleasure" of having some of the saints counsel us concerning our lack of joy, our unfruitfulness or sickness, just as Elphaz, Bildad, and Zophar took the trouble to counsel Job.

Unless we have deliberately turned our back on God, have willfully and knowingly refused to obey a clear leading of the Lord concerning our life, or have drifted back into the sexual excesses, idolatry, hatred, and riotous living of the world—unless we have chosen to go back into sin there is a good chance that much of the confusion and barrenness we are experiencing is a wilderness trial of the "Job" variety.

If you now are in the wilderness with God, He is very present. He hasn't left you. He instantly is aware of every deception, every fear, every circumstance, every trial, every word you are saying, every thought you are thinking.

To be continued.