Day 32
Remember how the LORD your God led you all the way in the wilderness these forty years, to humble and test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands. He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your ancestors had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD... He led you through the vast and dreadful desert, that thirsty and waterless land, with its venomous snakes and scorpions. He brought you water out of hard rock. He gave you manna to eat in the desert...to humble and to test you so that in the end it might go well with you.
—DEUTERONOMY 8:2-3;15-16
At once the Spirit sent him out into the wilderness, and he was in the wilderness forty days, being tempted by Satan. He was with the wild animals, and angels attended him.
—MARK 1:12-13
There is a great paradox in my wilderness experience. Did I end up in the desert because of my sin or did God lead me there? The answer is YES. My own sin led me into the wilderness and so did the hand of God. I hold these truths together, loosely in my hands, recognizing that though they are opposite, they are equally true.
God led me into, and He led me through, the vast and dreadful desert.
He needed to teach me that there was food I needed that I knew nothing about.
The Israelites’ Great Wandering, after God delivered them from slavery in Egypt, can teach us so much about our own desert experiences—those prolonged times of drought or dan- ger when pain presses in from every side, threatening to crush us. I can’t help but see the symbolism in the “manna” that fell from heaven to feed the Israelites as they wandered: God fed them “with manna....to teach [them] that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord” (Deuteronomy 8:2-3;15-16); He wants to teach us that same truth today.
When we find ourselves in dry and thirsty places, we must remember to gather up the “manna”—the truths that God is showing us—so that our times of trouble are not in vain. God’s manna gives meaning to even the darkest of times if we will only see it. We can honour the wilderness as a sacred place, because God is with us there.
It’s easy to believe, when we are on the spiritual mountaintop, that God is close, because we feel Him close at those times. It is easy to forget, however, that God is just as near to us when we make our bed in the depths and in the dark.
O LORD, you have searched me and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O LORD. You hem me in — behind and before; you have laid your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain.
Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.
—PSALM 139:1-10
When pain and fear press in on you, do you find it easy to forget that God is just as truly leading you as when you are experiencing times of happiness and peace? In the dark places, do you forget to look around for the “manna” He is giving you there?
Today I want you to sit, distraction-free, and pray that God would help you to begin to collect the “manna” that He has given to you in your own desert experiences. After inviting God in, sit and think about your dry and thirsty times, whether past or current, and write down what He shows you. Commit to continuing to do this periodically so that you don’t miss out on the growth, the change, and the blessing He has for you in the most unlikely places.
