[On an unrelated note before we begin: My friend Kyle Bullock has begun producing a weekly podcast. This week’s episode features one of the stories from my new short stories collection entitled The One Who Stood Before Us. It is an audio rendering of my short story about “Deborah” – the name i have given the woman with the issue of blood who encountered Jesus. The narrator, Marian Elizabeth, does a TREMENDOUS job of bringing the events and all of the emotions to life. On the podcast the story is entitled “I Wasn’t Always Alone”, but it’s the same story. i PROMISE (and i do not do so lightly) that it will be worth the investment of your time to listen to it ... and please feel free to share this story of hope with your friends! Here’s the link: https://youtu.be/Q_qTOiEK_E0]
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Often as we journey through the wilderness of our lives, we think we’re all by ourselves. We begin to think that there is no one else walking through a wilderness like ours, and no one else who understands what we are going through. We allow ourselves to become isolated and alone … and from there we fall headlong into despair.
During the years the Israelites were walking through their wilderness, a census was taken that indicated there were over 600,000 men.(1) It represented men who were able to go to war, aged twenty years and older. Estimating the number of women and children, as well as the tribe of the Levites that were not included in this count, the total number of Israelites easily approached or exceeded two million people, which equals or exceeds the population of ninety-four countries in our world today. This truly was the nation of Israel. This nation was prepared to mobilize an army in excess of 600,000 men if the need arose; that number would only be exceeded by the armies of seven nations in our world today. Are you getting the picture that this was not a small group of people?
And yet, they too, felt alone and isolated!
God was allowing His people – His nation – to wander in a journey through the wilderness. He had placed His earthly dwelling place – His tabernacle – in the midst of His people. It was a journey through which God intended to spread His Name throughout the world. All who saw or heard about this people were aware that His glorious presence dwelt among them, and He had led them this far.
And yet, here they were in the wilderness!
A wilderness can be a barren place. It can be a place absent of life or brimming with distractions; but a common denominator is always that it is a neglected place without a clear path and not easily traveled. A wilderness is comprised of the unknown and the unusual. It can be a painful place. A wilderness always begins at the outer edge of that which was familiar. Sometimes the boundary that divides the wilderness from the familiar is obscure; sometimes it is very pointed. Sometimes we are surprised to find that our journey has led us into the wilderness; sometimes we know that we have very deliberately been led to cross that boundary into the wilderness. At other times, we know that we have driven ourselves to wander in the wilderness – just like the Israelites.
The wilderness is often, in fact, a proving ground and a testing place. It is a place where the mettle of which we are made will be tested and proven. Will we be found deficient, or will we be found adequate to the test? God allowed His people to wander – all two million of them - through just such a place for just such a purpose, until they were ready to enter the land of promise He had for them.
Even in the wilderness, He wanted them to know they could encourage one another, they could help one another, and, if necessary, they could fight for one another. God wanted to teach the people to trust one another, to depend on one another and to love one another. It was His plan that they be interdependent – that they understand the unique way each of them was gifted. The journey through the wilderness would be accomplished as they learned to journey as a people and not as individuals.
But they could only journey as a people if they were all following the same Leader. That is why sometimes, even when we are in the midst of a crowd, we must come to a place where we are alone. Because it is when we are alone that we will make the personal choice as to whom we are going to follow. Will we follow ourselves or the crowd or the Leader? If we are going to follow the leader we must know and understand Who the Leader is. Moses was not the leader of the Israelites; he was the undershepherd placed there by the Leader.
God was the Leader of His people – and He still is. If you have found yourself in the midst of a journey through the wilderness, take heart, God is your Leader! And He will not only lead you through the wilderness; He designed the wilderness, so that through it, His purpose can be accomplished. He knows every peak, every valley, and every obstacle ahead. He will use it to test and to prove you. He will use it to spread His Name. He will use it to allow His glorious presence to be seen.
Take heart, you are NOT alone on this wilderness journey either!
He has placed many of His children on the journey with you. They are here to encourage you and help you, just as you are here to encourage and help them. We are interdependent with one another. Watch for His other children – they are all around you. But also, you are not alone, because your Heavenly Father is right here in your midst, leading you. And He has promised to never leave you nor forsake you.(2) Follow your Leader – He will lead you through this wilderness!
As i often do, i want to point you to a worship song that will encourage you as you walk through your wilderness. It’s entitled “Here Again.” Below are the lyrics and a link so you can listen to it. Take the time to be encouraged and to be reminded – you are not alone!
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This post is adapted from The Wandering Years, chapter 1 entitled “You’re Not Alone”. This second book in the Lessons Learned In The Wilderness series is available through Amazon in print and for your e-reader. Click HERE for more information on how you can obtain your copy.
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(1) Numbers 1:1-4, 45-46 (NLT)
One day in midspring, during the second year after Israel's departure from Egypt, the LORD spoke to Moses in the Tabernacle in the wilderness of Sinai. He said, "Take a census of the whole community of Israel by their clans and families. List the names of all the men twenty years old or older who are able to go to war. You and Aaron are to direct the project, assisted by one family leader from each tribe." …They were counted by families--all the men of Israel who were twenty years old or older and able to go to war. The total number was 603,550.
(2) Hebrews 13:5
Copyright © 2021 Kenneth A. Winter All rights reserved.
Photo by Stephen Leonardi on Unsplash
Here Again
Can't go back to the beginning
Can't control what tomorrow will bring
But I know here in the middle
Is the place where You promise to be
I'm not enough unless You come
Will You meet me here again
'Cause all I want is all You are
Will You meet me here again
As I walk now through the valley
Let Your love rise above every fear
Like the sun shaping the shadow
In my weakness Your glory appears
I'm not enough unless You come
Will You meet me here again
'Cause all I want is all You are
Will You meet me here again
(Repeat)
Not for a minute
Was I forsaken
The Lord is in this place
The Lord is in this place
Come Holy Spirit
Dry bones awaken
The Lord is in this place
The Lord is in this place
(Repeat)
I'm not enough unless You come
Will You meet me here again
'Cause all I want is all You are
Will You meet me here again
(Repeat)
Songwriter: Christopher Joel Brown
Here Again lyrics © Essential Music Publishing