Exodus 13:17-18(NLV) When Pharaoh had let the people go, God did not lead them by the way of the land of the Philistines, even when that was nearer. For God said, “The people may change their minds when they see war, and return to Egypt.” 18 So God led the people through the desert to get to the Red Sea. The people of Israel went out of the land of Egypt ready for war.
The wilderness is a place where we simply survive to get to the next test. There was never any ground taken. In the wilderness Israel was continually passing through. The whole point of the wilderness was preparation.
The wilderness is all about preparation. In the wilderness Israel received the law and the commandments. This was to prepare them to walk right before God. They learned to trust God daily for food, and God provided manna. However, manna was not the point. The point was to learn to trust God. In the wilderness God did many things to provide for them in miraculous ways. Yet this was not the best God had to give them.
If the wilderness is about preparation, the Promised land is about occupation.
If you find yourself in a difficult season, it doesn’t mean you’ve missed God. Everyone who follows Him will go through trying times of testing and waiting. It’s what you do in these seasons that will either keep you wandering in circles or propel you into your destiny. The greater the calling, the greater the testing and preparation. You cannot shorten the time in the wilderness God designed for you, but you sure can extend it.
When God gives you a promise, there will be an appointed time for it.
Habakkuk 2:2-3(MSG) And then GOD answered: “Write this. Write what you see. Write it out in big block letters so that it can be read on the run. This vision-message is a witness pointing to what’s coming. It aches for the coming – it can hardly wait! And it doesn’t lie. If it seems slow in coming, wait. It’s on its way. It will come right on time.”
There is always a preparation before the promise. Preparation always precedes promotion. The promise would crush you if you weren’t prepared to handle it. This is where faith comes into play.
Habakkuk 2:4b(NKJV) But the just shall live by his faith.
God carried them into the wilderness so that they could be away from the influences of Egypt. The uncertainties of the wilderness create a need for God and a dependence upon God. In the wilderness, God reveals Himself. In the darkness of the wilderness, He is your light.
Deuteronomy 29:5-6(MSG) I took you through the wilderness for forty years and through all that time the clothes on your backs didn’t wear out, the sandals on your feet didn’t wear out, and you lived well without bread and wine and beer, proving to you that I am in fact GOD, your God.
Luke 18:7-8(MSG) “So what makes you think God won’t step in and work justice for his chosen people, who continue to cry out for help? Won’t he stick up for them?” I assure you, he will. He will not drag his feet. But how much of that kind of persistent faith will the Son of Man find on the earth when he returns?”