A Cry In The Wilderness
Psalm 3:4
"I cried to the LORD with my voice,And He heard me from His holy hill." Selah
Have you ever found yourself in a place you never dreamed you would be? Have you said,
“O God, how did I get here?” The enemy of your soul can be so subtle you can get in trouble before you realize it.
Yet, God, our Great Shepherd has warned us time and again, “Stay away from those forbidden pastures. The land looks fruitful but it is barren and the enemies have set up ambushes. This path is the way of disobedience and only leads to an ultimate destruction for you. God’s Word says, “How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, Nor stand in the path of sinners, Nor sit in the seat of scoffers! But his delight is in the law of the Lord, And in His law he meditates day and night. And he will be like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither; And in whatever he does he prospers. Psalm 1:1-3.
However with much enticement and in a weak moment, you allow the enemy to convince you that what you see is better than what you have, so you go on passing the fertile pastures of obedience until your way is lost. Fear, pain and confusion set in and you wonder how you could have ever been led to this forbidden place? It is not at all what it looked like from a distance.
You begin to rationalize in the mind, "My body is weary from the journey; I am so hungry, cold and thirsty that I cannot go another mile. What will people say anyway? I cannot go back and face others. Surely I can not tell anyone how I have messed up my life, would they really care to know anyway? It seems no one was there for me when I really needed them. And who's there for me now? I am alone and frightened. What do I do now? Which direction do I go in? How do I get back to where I was?" Your end up with more questions than you do answers.
Deep in the recesses of your heart you know that you have made some very bad choices. "Now, what am I to do with this messed up, broken life?" Do I continue on hoping for answers? Perhaps just ahead you will find the safe haven you have always dreamed of. You try very hard to convince yourself that turning around is not an option. It is too late to try to start again. Your broken heart becomes so heavy that you began to cry, "God, help me in this awful dilemma." You began to rehearse the Word of God that has been dormant in your mind for longer than you want to think about.
Suddenly, the Word of God begins to take root once again, you hear the Words, “Call on me and I will answer you and show you great and mighty things you know nothing about." David said, “I cried unto the Lord and he heard my cry and he delivered me." Once more the presence and the power of the Great Shepherd is real again.
God can deliver us from Wilderness experiences and turn it around for good. So many times God's voice is much louder and clearer in the barren places. No one is around to distract or condemn you. There is no where else to go and nowhere else to look, but up. There is shame from walking away from his love and provision. Ah, but in the stillness of that moment, the rushing of the Holy Spirit starts to sweep over you. In the hush of the moment you find refuge. The answers that you desperately looked for you found in the Savior's still small voice. Your frightened soul is comforted; His precious words of Life set you on an everlasting journey of restoration and rest in His arms.
Once again the freshness of His living water brings life to the dead places. The words from His mouth feeds your barren and dry soul. How sweet to be back into the arms of the Great Shepherd. Your vision is no longer blurred; You see life clearly from God's perspective. You see now that the green pastures were not what you thought they were. Life comes from a deeper source with a greater capacity to see things as God sees them.
We must stop looking to the world for answers. We will not find satisfaction in getting more things, or depending on others, but by surrendering our lives to the will of God. No person on this earth can fulfill our hopes and our dreams but the Savior. It is the Good Shepherd that we must rely on for all things; What we think for a moment is tantalizing to our flesh is nothing but a false delusion in the recesses of our own carnal thinking.
We must stop looking to the world for answers. We will not find satisfaction in getting more things, or depending on others, but by surrendering our lives to the will of God. No person on this earth can fulfill our hopes and our dreams but the Savior. It is the Good Shepherd that we must rely on for all things; What we think for a moment is tantalizing to our flesh is nothing but a false delusion in the recesses of our own carnal thinking.
Cry out to God and seek Him with all your heart. That's what you desperately need to do.
Jesus is our role model . In your dark, barren and wilderness, cry out to God. He is the only one that can provide the way that leads us out and back to green pastures once more. God at times will stand back and let us try it our way. He will let us go through some deep hurts, because He knows in our pain we finally run to Him. He is only a prayer away. "BE STILL AND KNOW THAT HE IS GOD."
Jesus is our role model . In your dark, barren and wilderness, cry out to God. He is the only one that can provide the way that leads us out and back to green pastures once more. God at times will stand back and let us try it our way. He will let us go through some deep hurts, because He knows in our pain we finally run to Him. He is only a prayer away. "BE STILL AND KNOW THAT HE IS GOD."
He desires His kids to Worship, Adore and Trust Him. I love what Job did in his darkest hour, the word says, "He fell on his knees and worshipped."
Praise Him for turning curses into blessings. He is the God of the impossible! Sit for awhile, cry if you must, then turn it all over to Him and let Him deliver you. It could take awhile but learn your lessons and start walking to Him.
It doesn't matter now why you were there, what matters is you are coming out. Just remember it's only for a season. This too shall pass!!
It doesn't matter now why you were there, what matters is you are coming out. Just remember it's only for a season. This too shall pass!!
Beloved, let us learn to be sensitive to His voice and learn the meaning of a "Servant." It is not the proud and haughty that receives from God, but those who know all their strength and power lies within Him. Then and only then will we understand the words of the Lord, "My sheep hear my voice and they know Me and follow ME." The Lord is calling you out of that wilderness. Will you hear His voice and follow Him today?
God Bless you,
Joan Buchanan