The Wilderness
I shot this picture last week at the Circle B Ranch. The image reminds me of the wilderness that is referenced many times throughout the Bible. The prophet Jeremiah describes the Lord as the one who brought the people of Israel out of Egypt and led them through the barren wilderness, a land of deserts and rifts, a land of drought and darkness, a land where no one travels and no one lives (Jeremiah 2:6). The weeping prophet points out several obvious negative qualities of wilderness living. Perhaps today you find yourself in a wilderness situation. Life feels lifeless; work has dried up; the dark clouds of depression are rolling toward you from the distant horizon; the storm is raging in your marriage…
Don’t lose heart, for it is also in the wilderness that Jesus comes to meet us with his good news of grace. He provides bread in the wilderness to sustain us on the journey of life and faith as we learn to rely on him for our every need. Of course, the wilderness is a place of desperation. It is designed to bring us to the end of ourselves.
God whispers this question in our ears when we find ourselves with parched throats and sweaty brows in barren lands: “Will you depend on me?”
…a voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.’ (Mark 1:3)