The Wilderness- Part 1

Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. Matthew 4:1 (KJV)

This verse tells us that the Holy Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness. Jesus did not accidentally end up there- the Spirit led Him there.

The wilderness is a dry, lonely place, where it is just you and God. It is often a place where you face the enemy. God uses the wilderness so we might know Him, hear Him, and experince His presence. It is a place of testing and trusting. It is a place of learning, where God prepares us for what is to come.

In the wilderness, we learn to live by God’s Word, depending only on the Lord. We learn to take tests, with an opportunity to fail or succeed and overcome. We learn how to receive God’s Word and how to use it to overcome the enemy. God uses dry places in our lives so we’ll dig deeper in His Word to tap into living waters. This sustains and satisfies us in the wilderness. We find out that God is all we’ve got and all we need.

Our time in the wilderness can be short or long, depending on how we handle it. As we learn our lessons and overcome in the wilderness, we come out equipped with God’s Word and anointing for life and ministry. We emerge able to accurately handle the Word and equipped to minister to others. As God taught us to overcome in the dry place, now we can teach it to others.

The wilderness is never a waste of time when we use it to be prepared by God. We can allow the wilderness to make us more like Jesus.