A Voice of One Calling in the Wilderness

EnGedi, Israel

“A voice of one calling: “In the wilderness prepare the way for the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God” (Isaiah 40:3). The prophesy of Isaiah 40:3 was made about John the Baptist 700 years before he was born. John preached and lived in the Judean desert. Except for the oasis of EnGedi, the Judean desert is a wilderness.

During a severe famine God’s people were led out of the Promised Land (Israel) to live in Egypt. They lived in Goshen, the choicest land the country had to offer. Egypt and Canaan survived the famine under Joseph’s leadership. Four hundred years later, the Pharaoh at that time didn’t know about the famine or about Joseph. What he saw was the Hebrew nation growing under his command. He thought if Egypt was attacked by surrounding nations, Israel would join those nations, so he oppressed them and made them slaves.

God sent Moses to rescue Israel so they could worship their God in the wilderness. After four hundred years, I wonder how much they knew about their God. Israel left Egypt with Moses and crossed the Red Sea into a vast wilderness where they wandered for forty years before they returned to the Promised Land.

What’s Your Wilderness?

I have often reflected on Israel’s wilderness experience. When they were hungry, God provided mana, bread from Heaven, and quail for meat. When they were thirsty, God provided water from a rock, the rock in EnGedi, shown above.

Even though I received Jesus’ amazing love as a girl, I chose my ways too many times, which led me into my wilderness experience. God was faithful to provide for me all those years of loneliness and empty living. I wanted to give up, but God called me out of the wilderness into His glorious light. Little by little, He brought meaning and purpose into my life. Thank you, Jesus!

Why a Wilderness Experience?

When we experience the amazing love of Jesus, we are called as John the Baptist “to prepare the way for the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God” (Isaiah 40:3). Our salvation is too good not to share with others. Like our Lord, we do not want anyone to perish, but that all would come to know the love of Jesus and experience eternal life with Him.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, lead us out of the wilderness into your light. Reveal yourself to us and rescue us from loneliness, despair, anxiety, pride, lust for power, addictions . . . Lord, you know what we need. Come, Lord Jesus, come!

The Family Pillar

Lot’s Wife pillar rock formation, Mount Sodom near the Dead Sea, Israel.

When we think of family pillars, we think of the matriarch or the patriarch. Lot’s family had a different experience. He, his wife and daughters lived in Sodom and Gomorrah near the Dead Sea, but the people who lived there grew so evil that God destroyed the place. He saved only Lot and his family with the simple instructions to get out of town before the fire started and not to look back.

Lot’s wife has a twelve word bio in this Bible story: “But Lot’s wife looked back, and she became a pillar of salt” (Genesis 19:26). Salt pillars or deposits are along the shores of the Dead Sea, but the pillar that is remembered as Lot’s wife is a rock on Mount Sodom. I have put myself in this woman’s place and remembered a time when I moved from my home of twenty years in California to our new home in Arkansas. Unlike Lot’s wife, I had time to plan and pack. Yet, when it came time to drive away, memories passed before me–Family get-togethers, Christmas times and Easter egg hunts, graduations and celebrations, holding my grandchildren and reading stories to them. Tears flooded my soul–uncontrollable sobbing, but when the truck pulled away, I could not look back. I didn’t have the courage.

I think Lot’s wife probably grew up in places along the Dead Sea, a paradise of beaches and palm trees. And she lived the good life with Lot, who was a wealthy man. I can imagine the parties and friends she must have had. Suddenly her life changed, and she had no time to adjust her thinking to life in any other place. She and Lot and their daughters left their paradise and entered the barren land east of the Dead Sea. Unfortunately, she paid with her life for not believing that God would do what He said.

Is there something God has said or done that you have a hard time accepting or believing? You are in good company. We all have had questions at one time or another. I found encouragement in Isaiah 43:18-19. “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.”

Whatever your wilderness is, God has a plan for your life. He loves you with an everlasting love, and He promises to always be with you, even to the end of the age (Matthew 28:19-20).

Prayer: O Lord, these are hard times. Sometimes it is easier to think about the good times of the past. Help us to focus on You and to trust You for our strength and courage to go on. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

No Complaints

We traveled down the mountain from the Herodium. All we could see was miles and miles of desert. In the middle of this barren desert, the bus driver pulled to the side of the road, turned off the engine, got off the bus and opened the hood. He climbed back inside, made a phone call and talked to our guide. Our bus had broken down, but a replacement was on its way.

There was no place to hide from the stinging hot sun. No motor, no a/c. The doors of the bus were opened. Flies entered. Lots of flies. People used this as a Kodak moment (or Kodak hours). I took some pictures from my window of a herd of sheep and a herd of camels as they passed. Other people got off the bus to take closeup pictures and videos of the herds. No one complained. That’s right! No complaints. One of the papers we signed to go on this tour said we agreed not to whine or complain, no matter what, and we didn’t.

We were reminded that this was where John the Baptist lived and preached. I thought again of the camel hair clothing and the leather belt. How did he have the presence of mind to preach? I didn’t complain but I wanted to. I took a few pictures, journaled and swatted flies.

Jesus said of John, “Truly I tell you, among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist; yet whoever is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he” (Matthew 11:11).

John, the forerunner of Christ, prepared the way for Jesus’ ministry, yet he was an unsung hero in a wilderness land. I thought to myself, if John could give testimony of the gospel in unpleasant circumstances, certainly I could do something in more blessed surroundings. I wonder what John would think of me writing in an air-conditioned home with a ceiling fan whirling around. He might call me a wimp, and he would have good reason to.

Prayer: Thank you, Lord, that you are with us in all circumstances. Help us to bear fruit in response to the salvation you bought for us. Many say it’s free, but Jesus paid for it with His life. May we never, ever take it for granted, but love and show mercy to others as Jesus would. In His great name we pray, Amen.