Finding Wonder in the Wilderness

Lent is likened to a wilderness journey because its forty days duration mimics Christ’s forty days of temptation in the wilderness before beginning His public ministry. But Lent also alludes to Christ’s solitary journey to the cross. Though He spent countless hours of fellowship and instruction with His twelve disciples, they little understood the final destination of His journey. While traveling with His chosen men, and countless followers enamored with His message, none understood His personal anguish. In our own wilderness travels we feel the isolation too. Yet finding wonder in the wilderness redeems a lonely journey.

As with any journey, perspective transforms our vision. Even painful journeys find comfort and reassurance when we focus on the promised presence of God.

Whether this season is a time of retrospective spiritual evaluation where you return to a deeper walk with Christ through Lenten practices, or you are laboring along a personal wilderness path, I invite you to come along with me as we follow our Savior into the wonder of the wilderness.

A more beloved psalm than Psalm 23, for grief filled wilderness travels is hard to imagine. By far the most read literature at funerals and crisis filled hospital rooms, we love the comforting assurance of God’s presence in the darkest of times.

But it also leads us to an incredible posture of finding wonder in the solitary wilderness journeys we must all take.

Though familiar, notice with me the reassurance of the first three verses:

“The Lord is my shepherd; I have all that I need. ² He lets me rest in green meadows;
 he leads me beside peaceful streams. ³  He renews my strength. He guides me along right paths, bringing honor to his name.”

David reveals his deep trust and reverence for God’s goodness and provision in these opening verses. His perspective displays one of deep intimacy with God and faith in His provision. Adding bold for emphasis to the first-person pronouns highlights David’s knowledge of God’s abundant care for him.

Another interesting feature of these verses is David’s use of the third person pronoun for God as he describes God to the readers of the psalm. Remember that fun fact, because we are about to take a turn in the wilderness in the next three verses.

“Even when I walk through the darkest valley, I will not be afraid, for you are close beside me. Your rod and your staff protect and comfort me. ⁵ You prepare a feast for me in the presence of my enemies. You honor me by anointing my head with oil. My cup overflows with blessings. ⁶ Surely your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me all the days of my life,”

Exactly halfway through the psalm, notice a shift in the language. David transitions from speaking about God to speaking to God. Adding bold for emphasis, we observe David no longer refers to God as “He” but now speaks of Him as “You”.

But what occurred in the psalm before this transition?

The change came as David walks through the “darkest valley”. What encouragement we reap from realizing that mighty warrior King David grappled with his own wilderness experiences. Yet in the midst of his wilderness journey he reveals to us the wonder of the wilderness.

In the darkest valleys, along the hardest paths, we shift from knowing God to experiencing God.

David demonstrates how his intellectual knowledge of God prepared the way for him to grasp God’s hand in a dark hour and experience His presence. He moved from declaring his understanding of who God was, to walking by His side, communing in confident praise.

How often in our wilderness journeys do we rely on our intellectual understanding of God’s attributes and knowledge of His love and goodness to guide us? We speak about Him, “The Lord is my Shepherd, He leads me, He guides me.”

But the difference between knowing God and experiencing Him comes when we shift from relying on parroted knowledge and live in the unyielding faith that looks God in the eye and grasps His hand.

In the darkest of times, our solitary wilderness journeys illuminate the true essence of our relationship with God. We can rest in the value of our knowledge of God, or we can experience His presence and guidance.

As we move through Lent contemplating Christ’s solitary journey to the Cross, may we remember He walked a solitary path so that we would never walk alone. My prayer for you this Lent, and in all of your wilderness travels is that you would move beyond the knowledge of God and instead encounter the richest experience of God’s Presence in the fullness of His unfailing love for you.

If you enjoyed reading this post, there’s more! Sign up for my Substack; a little slice of serenity delivered right to your inbox!