THE WILDERNESS

Have you ever thought much about being in the wilderness?  After participating in a Bible study, my husband and I had a discussion about what we had perceived the wilderness to be.  I think a lot of us automatically picture a huge, dense forest, dark and foreboding.  Or like being in a maze with no way out.  But then we realized that much of the time the wilderness is being mentioned in the Bible is when they are actually in the desert, the wide-open space.  Granted, this space is not desirable necessarily, but it doesn’t fit my picture of wilderness exactly.  

This photo was posted by a friend from her trip to the Holy Land.  It is a picture of the Judean desert and it just astounded me and drew me in for some reason.  I couldn’t quit looking at it and asked her if I could borrow it to use for the devotional booklet our church puts together each year for the season of Lent.  I had some runners-up, but this one was the one I truly hoped they would use for the cover, but it was outvoted.  I understood a lot of their reasons and licked my wounds (yeah, I know, that’s a little dramatic) and moved on.  But I really think it was almost a premonition of what was to come in just a few short weeks.  For another story on another day, I’ll talk about why I believe or at least like to think about premonitions - it’s my mama’s fault.

Most of the season of Lent took place during the COVID shutdown, as you remember.  It turns out that almost every devotion I read during that time spoke to what we were going through - all of us.  It was uncanny since no one knew what was just around the corner.  Now that’s how I think God works, though.  I think he uses people, things, and words we read to reach us and help us discover or feel something sacred in that moment - closer to Him.  

My point is no one but me knows to miss that wilderness photo that I wanted to see on the cover of the booklet.  And it’s okay.  Because I know for a fact that the cover they used did exactly the same thing for someone else.  And most likely everyone reading the devotions had a different one “speak to them” on a different day.  

By the way, the definition of wilderness is: an uninhabited, abandoned or neglected region.  And I don’t think we’re abandoned or neglected at all.

#lifelessons #growing #plants