3 REASONS WHY YOU MAY BE AFRAID TO LEAVE THE WILDERNESS

Are you wandering and restless, wanting to leave the wilderness? Are you wondering why God has kept you in the desert for so long? Sometimes we get stuck in the wilderness because we are afraid to leave what we believe is comfortable, safe, or familiar. Learn the three reasons why fear keeps you in your wilderness and how to overcome them with faith to reach the Promised Land.

DEFINING A WILDERNESS

For many who have been walking their faith journey for a while, the term “wilderness experience” may be familiar. The Bible uses the imagery of a desert or wilderness both literally and figuratively to describe when God feels distant, absent, or unresponsive. “Desert” and “wilderness” are used interchangeably in the scripture and come from the Greek words eremia (noun) and eremos (adjective). These roughly translate to a person or place that has been abandoned, uninhabited, or left desolate. Vine’s Complete Expository Dictionary describes someone in a wilderness experience as a “desolate, deserted or lonely person deprived of friends and kindred.”

It is a place where you may have a crisis of faith. Due to some physical, emotional, spiritual, relational, or financial trauma, you feel alone, lost, and vulnerable. You may question God and isolate yourself from others. You may feel stuck, hopeless, and helpless. If any of these ring true for you, you may be wandering in the wilderness.

While there may be many reasons why God directs us into the wilderness and allows us to wander there, I believe the Bible shows us three main reasons that God can use the desert in our lives.

Many times God takes us the way of the wilderness to:

• Restore and renew, not rebuke.
• Teach and train, not torment.
• Protect and prepare, not punish.

Because the desert is a dry, barren place that we would rather avoid on our faith journeys, it is easy for us to focus on the negative reasons for being there. We think God is rebuking us, tormenting us, and punishing us. It is hard for us to see any useful purpose or effective plan he might have in allowing us to feel such despair, abandonment, and hopelessness. Again, we cry out: How could this wilderness experience be God’s will for my life?

And yet, the Bible teaches us time and time again, using genuine people who wandered through actual deserts, that often the wilderness is where we need to be for God to restore our souls, teach us his will, and prepare us for the Promised Land ahead.

In 2018, God took me on a wilderness journey that I chronicled here. So many of you responded to those posts that I compiled them into a devotional, The Way of the Wilderness.

While, in some ways, I can tell you I reached the other side, I am now in a different kind of wilderness that is bringing me back to my knees and digging deep into God’s Word again for answers, wisdom, and guidance.

THE ISRAELITES IN THE WILDERNESS

So I returned to reading about the Israelites’ journey through the wilderness.

Each time I reread the biblical account of the story, I learn something new (the Bible is way cool in that way!).

Many of you may know that the Israelites wandered in the desert for forty years before reaching the Promised Land. But do you know that they had the opportunity to enter the Promised Land after two years?

Just two years?!?!!?

But God kept them in the wilderness for 38 more years!.

Why? What happened?

It was not God’s plan. He brought them to the land flowing with milk and honey and told them He was giving it to them (Numbers 13).

But they got scared. Of the twelve spies Moses sent to survey the land, only two (Joshua & Caleb) were ready to go in and claim what God had promised them. The rest were unwilling to trust God and infected all the people with their doubt and negativity.

And how does God respond? Not well.

Then the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, ‘How long must I put up with this wicked community and its complaints about me? Yes, I have heard the complaints the Israelites are making against me. Now tell them this: ‘As surely as I live, declares the Lord, I will do to you the very things I heard you say. You will all drop dead in this wilderness! Because you complained against me, every one of you who is twenty years old or older and was included in the registration will die. You will not enter and occupy the land I swore to give you. The only exceptions will be Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun.'”

“‘You said your children would be carried off as plunder. Well, I will bring them safely into the land, and they will enjoy what you have despised. But as for you, you will drop dead in this wilderness. And your children will be like shepherds, wandering in the wilderness for forty years. In this way, they will pay for your faithlessness, until the last of you lies dead in the wilderness.'”

“‘Because your men explored the land for forty days, you must wander in the wilderness for forty years—a year for each day, suffering the consequences of your sins. Then you will discover what it is like to have me for an enemy. I, the Lord, have spoken! I will certainly do these things to every member of the community who has conspired against me. They will be destroyed here in this wilderness, and here they will die!’”

Numbers 14:26-35 (NLT)

God tells them their punishment three times: You will drop dead in the wilderness.

Before you think that is too harsh or unfair, remember that this was THEIR CHOICE. Almost all Israelites decided to stay in the wilderness instead of entering the Promised Land, so God gave them what they wanted.

Ouch.

I know this may be a difficult message to hear, but we cannot ignore it.

Because sometimes we can stay in wildernesses of our own making too. Not because God wants to keep us there but because we are unwilling to walk through the pain, doubt, and fear to get where He wants us to be.

3 FEARS THAT KEEP US FROM LEAVING THE WILDERNESS

Let’s take another look at why ten spies were afraid to leave the wilderness. Remember, Joshua and Caleb were the only ones who believed that they could go in and take the land God had promised to them.

They reported to the whole congregation and showed them the fruit of the land. Then they told the story of their trip:

We went to the land to which you sent us and, oh! It does flow with milk and honey! Just look at this fruit! The only thing is that the people who live there are fierce, their cities are huge and well fortified. Worse yet, we saw descendants of the giant Anak. Amalekites are spread out in the Negev; Hittites, Jebusites, and Amorites hold the hill country; and the Canaanites are established on the Mediterranean Sea and along the Jordan.

 Caleb interrupted, called for silence before Moses and said, “Let’s go up and take the land—now. We can do it.”

But the others said, “We can’t attack those people; they’re way stronger than we are.” They spread scary rumors among the People of Israel. They said, “We scouted out the land from one end to the other—it’s a land that swallows people whole. Everybody we saw was huge. Why, we even saw the Nephilim giants (the Anak giants come from the Nephilim). Alongside them we felt like grasshoppers. And they looked down on us as if we were grasshoppers.

The whole community was in an uproar, wailing all night long. All the People of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron. The entire community was in on it: “Why didn’t we die in Egypt? Or in this wilderness? Why has God brought us to this country to kill us? Our wives and children are about to become plunder. Why don’t we just head back to Egypt? And right now!”

Numbers 13: 27-14:3 (The Message)

FEAR #1: We FEAR leaving the WILDERNESS because we believe we are too weak to FIGHT.

Even though the Promised Land was everything that God had guaranteed, a land flowing with milk and honey, the Israelites focused on the obstacles:

• “The land will swallow us whole.”
• “The people are huge and stronger than we are.”
• “They looked down on us like grasshoppers.”

Instead of reminding themselves of God’s promises and provision, the Israelites fixated on their weaknesses and insecurities.

The same fears can keep us wandering in the wilderness. Instead of drawing strength from how big our God is, we only see how small and insignificant we are. Instead of believing that God will fight for us, we feel we must fight our battles alone.

FEAR #2: We FEAR leaving the WILDERNESS because we believe we will FAIL.

After spreading the scary rumors of incredible giants and land than devoured its inhabitants, the Israelites convinced themselves that they could not take the land and were doomed to fail. Despite the encouragement of Joshua and Caleb and God’s repeated protection as they faced other enemies, they were so afraid of failing that they refused to try.

We talk ourselves out of leaving the wilderness for the same reasons, don’t we? Despite God’s faithfulness in the past and the promises of His power, peace, and provision, we would rather stay stuck and hopeless than risk venturing out and failing.

FEAR #3: WE FEAR leaving the WILDERNESS because we believe it is FUTILE.

The last few verses of this passage are the most disheartening. After the people heard the report from the twelve Israelite spies, they began to grumble, complain, and wail:

• “Why didn’t we die in Egypt?”
• “Why don’t we just die here in the wilderness?”
• “Why has God brought us here to kill us?”

Can you see now why the Lord was so angry? The Lord brought them to the Promised Land and was ready to give it to them, yet they thought it was futile, unbelievably thinking it was better to die than to claim the land God promised was theirs.

Although I do not like to admit it, I have been guilty of groaning against God in the same ways. I question God’s timing and methods, stubbornly refusing to do things His way because I think I know better.

HOW TO USE FAITH TO LEAVE THE WILDERNESS

God continually brings a verse to my mind as I ponder leaving the wilderness:

Forget the former things;
    do not dwell on the past.
 See, I am doing a new thing!
    Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
I am making a way in the wilderness
    and streams in the wasteland.”

Isaiah 43:18-19 (NIV)

If you look at these verses closely, there are two distinct parts:

1. God’s Part
2. Our Part

What does God say he will do?

He promises to do a new thing. He offers to make a way in the wilderness. He says he will provide streams in the wasteland. These are the same promises He made to the Israelites.

And what does he ask us to do?

We must forget the former things. We have to let go of the past. We need to perceive or notice what God is doing. Joshua and Caleb were willing to do this, trusting God to take them safely into the Promised Land. The rest of the Israelites refused.

Fortunately, we can learn from their mistakes and choose differently. We can trust God’s promises and give Him our fears.

God may indeed bring us to the wilderness for many reasons, but He never intends to leave us there.

LEAVING THE WILDERNESS TOGETHER

The question for us is this: Are we willing to choose faith over fear to leave the wilderness and enter the Promised Land?

As we learned from the story of the Israelites, the choice is not easy. The fears of fighting, failure, and futility are challenging to overcome. That is why we need to encourage each other and hold each other accountable on our wilderness journeys.

AT THE CROSSROADS wants to offer you a safe place to choose faith over fear as you make your way through the wilderness. If you put your hand in mine, we can walk this part of our faith journey together. Sign up by filling out the form below, and you will receive weekly blog posts, monthly newsletters, free faith resources, and more!

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