The people of Israel have been slaves in Egypt for so long. They have no sense of who they are ... and they have nothing of their own. They are nobodies ... with nothing! God takes them into the wilderness to make them his, to shape them. He shows them what he's like and how he can care for them. He gives them laws ... celebrations ... a corporate identity ... and if they obey Him, they will begin to resemble him ... reflect Him to the rest of the watching world. God is also getting them ready to live in the Land he's prepared for them.
But the wilderness proves frightening and difficult. God is in it with them, to be sure, but it doesn't feel like home. They are tempted to go back, on one hand, but when they finally get the chance to go in to the Land God was giving, they prefer their discomfort to venturing faith. Trusting God proves more challenging than the wilderness.
The writers of the New Testament urge us to look closely at these desert lessons. This life IS the wilderness for disciples of Jesus. It isn't home. We can become confused and sorrowful when we expect it to be otherwise. We're being shaped in this wilderness for his Kingdom, for eternity. If we forget it, refusing his directions, we risk missing his purposes for us.
My prayer for these teachings is that God would 'speak tenderly' into our wilderness walk, as he promises in Hosea to do, and further shape each of us, individually and corporately, for his Kingdom and the joys ahead.
More Wilderness Resources HERE.