The wilderness. It’s a dry place. It’s unfamiliar, uncomfortable, maybe a little scary and sometimes a frustrating place where we’re thirsting for more and even the old that you were running from may look better than the now. This wilderness though, it’s also a place of growth and revelation and it’s preparing you to receive your greater purpose in life. I think this is what Lot missed.

“Oh no, my lord!” Lot begged. “You have been so gracious to me and saved my life, and you have shown such great kindness. But I cannot go to the mountains. Disaster would catch up to me there, and I would soon die.  See, there is a small village nearby. Please let me go there instead; don’t you see how small it is? Then my life will be saved.” Genesis 19:18-20

This story still gets me. (Read Genesis 19:1-22 for reference.) Lot asked God to let him go to a place called “Zoar” meaning little. There was so much more for him than what he could see in the immediate, with the physical eye, but he didn’t want to go through the wilderness to get to the mountaintop, the “much”.

You see, the wilderness is a ‘place’ that prepares us for our divine purpose. It’s sent to prepare us for our divine purpose. Let me rewind right quick… Lot asked GOD to send him to a “small village”, a place of little, when God had literally laid out the more, the so much more, before him. The only thing Lot had to do was make it through the wilderness to reach the mountain top. God told Him he would make it there, but even that wasn’t enough. Lot wouldn’t even try. He turned away from the mountain top before even taking a step towards it.

Lot didn’t want to be stretched, pushed, challenged. Gosh… How many of us are like Lot? God has warned us, multiple times, He’s made it clear what He wants us to do. He’s sent His angels to save us, to guide us (Genesis 19:12-17). Yet, we’re stuck.

Like Lot, we’re trying to muster family and friends’ approval and support. Like Lot, we’re holding on to what we know even though we’ve outgrown the place we’re in. Maybe like Lot, we don’t want to let go of the present. We feel the familiarity of our present state is comfortable even in its dysfunction and darkness. We fear the unknown of the future, we doubt, we let personal insecurities hold us back. Like Lot, we question where we’re going, even when we know we’re being God led. Lot spoke of potential death and evil when he was living in the midst of it (vs 19). Had he already forgotten God’s power and favor upon him? Maybe like Lot, we need God, in all of His mercy, to force us out of the place we’re in because it is now a place of destruction and infertile ground rather than one of promise and growth. 

And like God did for Lot, God will do for us. He didn’t bring us this far to leave us. God says he will bring us to a perfect end. He will perfect that which concerns us. He won’t send us out to the mountains and not equip us to win. Think about what mountains represent in the Bible. Mount Zion, Mount of Olives where Jesus ascended into Heaven, Mount Sinai where God gave Moses The Ten Commandments, Mount of Transfiguration. Mountains are symbolic of God revealing His glory. So go to that mountain top where God is sending you with haste. God can’t move unless you are willing to accept his direction and go (vs 22)… God can’t reveal His glory until you get there!

Remember this is a journey and it’s a faith walk. Put your faith in God, not people. Those who are meant to be on your journey will be on the journey. Don’t give up no matter how tired, weak, over it you might feel. Keep trusting God. That’s what faith is, believing God’s promise before you see it in the physical. This wilderness period is building your faith like nothing else can. It’s building your trust in and dependence on God. The wilderness is a place of revelation, and as you continue to seek God, this period will become a place of miracles and testimonies. When you learn to find joy in it and truly walk by faith, you will see how God is strengthening you and bringing you to a point of supernatural glory.

When Pharaoh finally let the people go, God did not lead them along the main road that runs through Philistine territory, even though that was the shortest route to the Promised Land. God said, “If the people are faced with a battle, they might change their minds and return to Egypt.” So God led them in a roundabout way through the wilderness toward the Red Sea. Thus the Israelites left Egypt like an army ready for battle. (‭Exodus‬ ‭13‬:‭17-18‬ NLT)

If we’re not prepared for where God is taking us, when we get there, we will turn away the minute things don’t look how we want them to look. God won’t put us into battle until we’re ready. He can’t take you to your destiny without preparing you. If you’re questioning God and His truth because of your circumstances, take a minute to remember God’s promises to you, either scripture or something He’s spoken to you directly. Let this word be what you stand on. I pray you come to a place of thankfulness in your wilderness, that you find joy and peace as you experience God in a way like never before. If you feel like you’re in a wilderness, don’t give up. Keep the faith. You are going places, it’s just your prep time!

With love,

Carin