Barren or Promised Growth?

If you get rid of unfair practices, quit blaming victims, quit gossiping about other people’s sins, if you are generous with the hungry and start giving yourselves to the down-and-out, your lives will begin to glow in the darkness, your shadowed lives will be bathed in sunlight. I will always show you where to go. I’ll give you a full life in the emptiest of places—firm muscles, strong bones. You’ll be like a well-watered garden, a gurgling spring that never runs dry. You’ll use the old rubble of past lives to build anew, rebuild the foundations from out of your past. You’ll be known as those who can fix anything, restore old ruins, rebuild and renovate, make the community livable again. (Isaiah 58:9-12)

I live in the Arizona desert, so growing things here is a little more difficult than it might be in the lush greenbelts of our country. Xerarch is a term that indicates the ability to grow and even 'evolve' in dry places. Most of us face those "dry places" in life much more than we do the really well-watered ones! Those "barren" places just don't look very promising when we are smack-dab in the middle of them, do they? In fact, the very word "barren" suggests "sterile" ground - unproductive and unfruitful. I think the barren places are the exact places God will choose to show his power in our lives! A full in life in the emptiest places - isn't this the same as "dry places"? Dryness actually produces emptiness. Emptiness begs to be filled. Even dry places become "collectors" of something. Here in Arizona, we have dust storms from time to time - big ones! The roof shingles get a real workout with some of the high winds! What do those winds do in the driest places? They stir up the dust, moving anything that has withered and become "brittle" in the heat of the day. One of the things we are known for is our tumbleweeds. In the midst of the dry places, these weeds spring up, wither and die - leaving mere skeletons of what once was. When the winds come, those are easily plucked from their spots and are carried away in the winds. The desert floor will be littered with the results of the windstorm - not much to look at, but signs of growth once there. What we don't see is the result of the winds - they move the seeds and spread the soil over them. In the coolness of winter, the rains will come. The growth once evident on the desert floor will again be seen. Even dry places have the promise of growth!

Our lives are much like the desert floor at times - filled with all kinds of "tumbleweed" issues - pricking at us like there is no tomorrow. They spring up, looking like they are going to produce something of real value in our lives, but they just cannot stand the heat of the day, so they wither where they took root. Plucked up by the storms of life, the "floor" of our lives is cleared again to become the planting spot for the things which promise lasting growth. Until the dead stuff is cleared, the "void" that has been covered by all that stuff cannot be filled. The dead stuff takes up valuable room in our lives - it has to be cleared away before that space can be filled with what matters. The good news is that God uses the rubble of our old lives to build us anew! Even the stuff that looks dead has a purpose! As those tumbleweeds in our lives blow across the desert floor of our weary soul, they serve as a "sweeper" of sorts. They begin to gather other dead rubble in their path and sweep it along in the path they are taking with the force of the winds of God's Spirit. As the old is cleared away, the place for newness to spring forth is prepared - readied for the planting that will yield a positive harvest.

If you have ever studied the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem found in the books of Nehemiah and Ezra, you will understand what I am going to say next. They didn't "start over" with the building materials - they used what they had, salvaging what could become useful again when placed in right order. Some of the things in our lives are simply not in "right order". We definitely need "new materials" to be infused, just as Nehemiah and Ezra did when rebuilding the walls, but there will always be some portion of our experiences, past learning, and even our past mistakes that God can be put in "right order" again. Once in the "right order" those things no longer become stumbling blocks or rubble piles, but the potential stones that help to form a foundation in our lives! God uses the old, brings in the new, and ensures the way is made for the dry places to bring forth something afresh and promising. The dry places seem more frequent in our lives because they are the hardest to endure. Anyone hiking across the desert will tell you it is the hardest hike they have taken - until they try to climb Everest! The altitude of the highest peaks can also be our "undoing"! We long for the "peaks" and "lush valleys" in life. The point between both may very well be the driest place - God stands smack-dab in the midst of the driest place, his hand poised to bring forth growth where none seemed possible. Just sayin!

Delayed, not dead

The Lord is not slow about keeping His promise as some people think. He is waiting for you. The Lord does not want any person to be punished forever. He wants all people to be sorry for their sins and turn from them. (2 Peter 3:9)

I would like us to stop for a moment this morning to think on these words - the Lord is not slow about keeping his promises as some people think. If you promise me something, I am looking out for the fulfillment of that promise. I am eager to see it come to pass - whether it is a promise that is for me, or one for somebody else I care deeply about. If we see a delay in the promise, we might just think God isn't going to bring it to pass, or that he has forgotten us, or even that we might not have heard God right when we stood upon that particular promise. We are like that because we expect the fulfillment to be one way, but God may be coming about it in a totally different way than we expected. 

I think I shared this before, but it bears repeating. There are periods in time when the promise isn't really in our reach, but it doesn't mean it isn't there still. In the early 80's, I had been out of the military for a couple of years and desired to use my GI Bill for funding my nursing education. From the age of twelve I had dreamed of being a nurse, helping people dealing with illness, and seeing them heal. I remember being just about ready to go sign up for the classes - a huge step of faith with two small children, a fairly low household income, and challenges with transportation. It was my dream - my hope - a promise of sorts that I believe God put into my heart. Then things changed in a blink of an eye.

As I was going out of the parking lot of the large apartment complex where we lived, a man fell in a full grand mal seizure right in front of me, striking his head hard on the pavement, bleeding profusely from the wound. I stopped, rendered first aide, called for someone to alert EMS, and then promptly left when the paramedics arrived on scene and took over. Instead of heading to the school to enroll in my classes, I returned to the apartment, cleaned myself up, changed my clothes, and hunkered down with my kids. What happened? I was shaken to the core to see the helplessness of the man, seeing the depths of his pain as he dealt with this life-debilitating disease.

It made me think I needed more than just my 'book-learning' in nursing. It shook me to the core - to look deep into what 'else' I could offer to those who hurt so deeply. Here was a man about my age, seizing uncontrollably on a hot pavement lot, bleeding as though it would never stop, clothes soiled as he lost control of his bladder function. Then as he came around, the emptiness and fear in his eyes spoke volumes to me. I needed more! I needed 'footing' to my nursing career. I needed Christ to make me solid in my faith and firm in my convictions. I need him more than I needed the book-learning. If you know the rest of the story, you know that I took a detour that week - right over to the local Bible College enrollment office!

Yes, the promise was still there. Yes, the fulfillment would be a little delayed in terms of when I'd start my nursing career. But...the foundation was laid. That man's life changed mine. I don't even know his name, and he likely doesn't know mine. It was a moment in time that changed my life. God was still going to fulfill the promise of nursing, but he was going to fulfill it in his way - with a firm foundation that would guide my steps. I have been a nurse now for over 32 years. I have seen much in that time, but I have been anchored in Christ through it all. Sometimes our promises are delayed in our mind's way of thinking about them, but let me just remind you - God's timing is always perfect! Just sayin!

Your promise me what?

Have you seen the hope of a promise and what influence it has over a person? The "pulling" or "pushing" effect of the promise they hold onto is often the only thing keeping them going, isn't it? If you have ever really taken any kind of look into scriptures, you will see they are filled with promises. Some make immediate sense to us, causing us to just simply latch onto them quickly, while others take a little "getting used to" in order to have any real kind of impact on us. By definition a promise is something which gives hope - it is what we base our expectations on. If we have been given a promise - we hold out for the fulfillment, don't we? Now, in terms of God's promises, they actually serve to "pull us on" when we don't have the energy to make another move ourselves!

With promises like this to pull us on, dear friends, let’s make a clean break with everything that defiles or distracts us, both within and without. Let’s make our entire lives fit and holy temples for the worship of God. (2 Corinthians 7:1 MSG)

It is Christ's work in us - the work which should give us great hope and assurance. Maybe this hope comes in the declarations, such as: "He puts a little of heaven in our hearts so that we’ll never settle for less." (5:5) Perhaps it is found in the words: "The day you needed me, I was there to help." (6:2) Or maybe: "I’ll live in them, move into them; I’ll be their God and they’ll be my people." (6:16) Regardless of which one of these various promises and assurances we hold onto, they have the effect of "pulling us" out of where we are today and moving us toward where we will be for all eternity! What are we told to DO in response to God's amazing promises. We are instructed to "make a clean break". If you have ever thought about what it means to make a clean break, you probably have discovered it describes both timing and intent. In the realm of timing - it is swift, not delayed or drug out. In respect to intent, it is complete and thorough - no turning back.

What impairs our timing or intent? There is the stuff that "defiles" or "distracts" us. To discover this, we mere need to look both within and without our thoughts, emotions, and physical being. In other words, there is stuff "in" us which affects our timing and intent, just as much as there is stuff "outside" us which sways us to alter our timing or adjust our intent. If you have ever said you'd do something like lose weight, you know timing plays an important part in your conviction. You don't start a diet just prior to the holidays, do you? Nope! In fact, you wait until after New Year's has come and gone to start - timing the start of the new till after the "good stuff" has all been eaten! Timing is dependent on intent, but each has both internal and external "pulling" factors. The question our passage sets before us is whether we will listen to the pulls from without or within. God's Spirit indwells the believer - therefore, the "pulls" we should be listening to are those that emanate from him. It is hard to really respond well to his pull unless we get acquainted with him. It is in this acquaintance where we develop a familiarity with his intent and timing.

No promise is of value unless we place hope in it. We can hear all kinds of promises, but if we never latch onto even one of them, we will be "hopeless", won't we? Not all promises are trustworthy - especially if they are made by humans! Yet, God has NEVER gone back on one of his promises! Latching onto anything that promises something other than what God promises leaves us at risk of being defiled and disappointed. Distractions disappoint, don't they? If you have ever been driving along, distracted by the song on the radio, or the thoughts in your brain, and missed the turn-off you were supposed to take, you know the "cost" of a distraction. It impacts your timing and your intent, doesn't it? You intended to be at your destination at a certain time and you just blew it! We are equally pulled - within and without - by things, people, and activities which promise some form of fulfillment. We need to become so acquainted with God's promises so as to immediately spot those things which pull us and which will do nothing more than defile or distract! Just sayin!

That plane isn't going to drop right out of the sky!

If you are anything like me, you sometimes forget that God never (and I mean never) goes back on his promises. Sometimes we get so caught up in the 'delay' between the promise and seeing it realized in our lives that we get a little wigged out with God because there is such a 'gap' between the beginning and the ending. The truth of the matter is that there is meaning in the delay - while we may not understand or fully appreciate it, God is at work. God isn't hindered in his ability to fulfill the promise - but we may be hindering him a little by our reluctance to trust!

O Lord, I will honor and praise your name, for you are my God; you do such wonderful things! You planned them long ago, and now you have accomplished them, just as you said! (Isaiah 25:1 TLB)

The other day I saw a plane at what almost appeared to be a total 'stand-still' in the sky. While I know this is impossible, the movement was ever so slight. In researching why this 'appearance' is given to those of us standing on the ground, it has to do with our point of reference. Our distance from that aircraft in the sky is still quite great and we have a decreased ability to fix our eyes on a reference point because of where the plane is in reference to our line of sight. The appearance is one of no movement, but the truth is that the plane is in a very specific movement pattern just above the 'stall' speed which will be required at the time of touchdown. 

There are times when we lose our reference when looking at what God is doing to fulfill a promise in our lives. We don't have a good fix on that reference point and therefore we believe he is not moving. We find ourselves wondering if the plane of our lives will drop right out of the sky! Will that promise stall all together and plummet headlong into oblivion, never to be seen or heard from again? Not likely, because God has the 'perfect speed' being maintained to ensure the delivery of the promise, it is more our perception of the delay that is the issue!

The approaching plane's pilot has much to do in order to deliver that plane safely to the gate. There is the whole control of speed, pitch, and descent rate. The flaps will be lowered, the gear down, and the attitude of the plane's nose will be slightly changed, but the plane is not going to stall in mid-air. Why? The pilot is in control! He knows the plane and he knows the specifics of each part of it, thereby rendering it safely into the 'landing zone' at the appropriate time and speed. Too fast and those on the plane may be injured, or the plane may break apart upon landing. Too slow and the plane will land where it is not supposed to!

There is much to be said about God's timing, but nothing remains truer than this - we lose sight of our reference point, or fail to actually have one, a great deal of the time. God isn't delaying the delivery of the promise as much as he in insuring it is delivered within the right timing, speed, and 'attitude' so as to ensure we come to enjoy it exactly as we should! We are likely going to think he has 'stalled' in the delivery, but he is just asking us to trust him a little longer. Just sayin!

Anchored for good

A promise - do we really understand the meaning of that word anymore today? It seems like words are spoken these days, with no real intention of keeping those "promises". Sometimes it is because they were made in the spur of the moment. At other times, it is because they were made at a moment when we were emotional vulnerable. In fact, many people who raise money for various projects count on us being too busy to really explore what we are giving the money toward, or that their marketing tactics will tug at our heart-strings enough to get us to give. A promise is an expression of assurance that we base our expectation on - not a stipulation, or an undertaking that might or might not work out. When God made a promise to his children, he made it with a commitment to fulfill every aspect of that promise, regardless of the cost. He didn't make those promises us to either at the spur of the moment, or because his emotional strings were pulled. They were made out of intense love.

Remember what you said to me, your servant—I hang on to these words for dear life! These words hold me up in bad times; yes, your promises rejuvenate me.  (Psalm 119:49-50)

Hope comes on the wings of a promise. Comfort is contained in the heart of the promise. The Word of God is filled with promises God has made toward his children. So, why is it that we view God's Word as something that is laborious, hard to grasp, and something just way too lofty for our understanding? If it is filled with hope and affords comfort, why do we resist the study of that Word? It really only becomes a comfort, a hope for our daily lives, when we discover it and then live by it, counting on those promises contained within and living by the standards proclaimed there. For David, God's Word had become his night reflection. In the wee hours of night, his mind turned to God - his thoughts were carried into the presence of his loving and compassionate heavenly father. As a child of God, he reflected often on his heavenly father - on the heritage of being one of the children of his household. Reflection is a learned process - it comes through practice - it becomes part of our regular lives. As he got acquainted with what his father spoke to him in the Word, he allowed that Word to have a life-transforming impact on him. As a matter of fact, the more we make God the focus of our reflection, the easier it is to reflect him to others in our life. The more his Word will have a life-transforming impact on us.

You might just have notices how often David declared with an assurance, "Lord, you are mine!" This was not just a saying for him that was without any basis. He stood assured that he belonged to his heavenly father, and that he could proclaim that he had a strong connection to his heavenly father. When we begin to ponder his ways, our ways no longer seem that attractive. We begin to really follow him when this occurs - we lose focus on the things of this world and begin to really tune into him. In that exchange of focus, there is an assurance that every promise is ours. Following begins with "pondering" - we have to consider something before we will just begin to move in that direction.  Pondering is the initiation of action. What we "turn over" in our minds is what we often act upon. Therefore, if our minds are focused on the promises of God, we will hope and trust in them with an assurance. No wonder why David pondered these promises in the stillness of night reflection!

The process of following moves from pondering the truths of God's Word, to allowing that Word to deeply affect our lives. We hurry, without any signs of lingering or hesitation, to obey what is contained within those words. Sometimes we get in trouble at this point - not because the Word of God is not trustworthy, but because we look back - we consider for longer than we should what it is we are leaving behind and forget about what we are moving toward. We don't keep our focus straight ahead. Whenever we spend our time looking back, we lose focus on what lays ahead - God is not at work in the past, he is at work in the present and in the future (this requires a forward focus). There is a step in our following that is what I will refer to as "anchoring". We anchor ourselves in him - fully trusting his promises, standing assured in his presence, reliant on his direction. We can simply "believe" the commandments and promises of God - but that doesn't "anchor" us to him. Anchoring comes in the moment by moment reflection upon him. It is in the consistent reflection that we are made consistent in our reflection of him. We become anchored to that which gives us assurance. Where are you anchored today? To what promises are you holding onto for the fulfillment of your dreams today? Discovering and holding onto the promises of God will give you firm "anchorage" in troubling times. We have all we need to face the challenge of today when we are anchored in him for good! Just sayin!

Promise, Purpose, & Intiative

Three important truths became apparent to me in listening to the Easter sermon this year.  I didn’t really expect to hear much of a different “story” of Easter, but I really “got” something different out of the story I did hear!  Isn’t that just like God?  He brings about something new even when we think there could not be anything new possible!  It had to do with promise, purpose, and initiative.  God’s promises overriding our “try harder” kind of mental belief we will be able to do enough to save ourselves from our own sin.  God’s purpose determining our course right into the very presence of God and into the waiting arms of his embrace.  Lastly, God’s initiative to make a way for each of us where absolutely no other way existed.  All be it we try to live right, we don’t really “do” the work of salvation – the basis of our salvation is all in the promise, purpose, and initiative of another – Christ Jesus himself.  Although this wasn’t the passage my pastor spoke from, it caught my eye as I was making my way through the Book of Romans again in my morning study.  What became quite clear is this idea of promise.  A promise in our sense of the word indicates the intent to actually do something – to act upon what we commit to in some sense.  Intent differs from actually doing something, doesn’t it?  Intent is good, but it lacks carry-through many times!  God’s promise is different – it carries his “oath” of covenant – something unable to be broken.  It is more than “intent” – it is genuine commitment which will see the fulfillment of the purpose and be born out of his initiative!

Don’t suppose for a moment, though, that God’s Word has malfunctioned in some way or other.  The problem goes back a long way.  From the outset, not all Israelites of the flesh were Israelites of the spirit. It wasn’t Abraham’s sperm that gave identity here, but God’s promise.  Remember how it was put:  “Your family will be defined by Isaac”?  That means that Israelite identity was never racially determined by sexual transmission, but it was God determined by promise.  To Rebecca, also, a promise was made that took priority over genetics.  What God did in this case made it perfectly plain that his purpose is not a hit-or-miss thing dependent on what we do or don’t do, but a sure thing determined by his decision, flowing from his initiative.  (Romans 9:6-8; 10-12 MSG)

Many times we attempt to “redeem” our bad circumstances in life by our own power.  Think about being barren – desiring a child to carry on the family bloodline, but incapable of bearing such a child. Then the day comes when you are no longer “of age” to bear children – the “factory” has closed, so to speak.  The hope begins to dim, doesn’t it?  Why?  We thought we could accomplish something in our own plans and purposes, but all life comes from God – not just the union of man and woman!  He is the creator of life – whether it be natural (as in the sense of having a baby), or spiritual (as in the sense of something being birthed within us that wasn’t there before).  It shouldn’t surprise us that the moment we are “beyond” our natural ability to actually try any longer to get ourselves to the place we hoped to be that God comes along with a promise, purpose, and the specific initiative to actually bring us to the place we needed to be in the first place!  Until our striving ceases, God cannot begin to work.  All our initiative is not going to fulfill his purpose. His purpose is only realized when we let down our guard – opening ourselves up to the possibilities of his promise being fulfilled in his special way. 

God’s promise is the birthing place in our lives.  There is much spoken in a promise – the first sign of life is the hope which begins to well up within as a result of having received and believed the promise.   If we think back to this story of Sarah and Abraham, Sarah isn’t too sure about God’s promise, though. She actually laughs when she hears that a woman her age, well passed the time of bearing children, could actually be “with child” at all.  It isn’t that she really had no faith, she just did what most of us do a great deal of the time – she counted on what she could see, feel, and understand with her own mind.  We often try to figure out how God will move in our lives to fulfill his promise without really understanding his purpose or counting on his initiative.  God doesn’t need our capability – he needs our capacity!  He wants us to empty ourselves of all our self-effort and to count on the promise to create or fill us with what is needed to see his purpose fulfilled.  In deferring to his initiative, relying upon his promise as true and worthy of trusting in, we come to the place of seeing his purpose fulfilled.  It isn’t in our doing, but in our trusting that his promise begins to be revealed!

We don’t often “laugh at God’s promises” because they are kind of ridiculous in our minds, but I know we have discounted them on occasion.  We don’t grow to capacity until we have capacity – which comes from emptying ourselves of our own initiative and effort!  Just sayin!

Another wilderness journey?

Have you ever really considered the lessons you have learned because of the experience of another?  You know, the stuff you just never really explore because you see how the exploration of another left them kind of unfulfilled, reasonably sane, but just so not excited about their experience?  Well, I think this is all part of God's plan for us in life - to learn from the experiences of those who go before us.  The first astronaut into space paved the way for all the others who came behind.  The first one to fly above the earth had a whole lot of failures before there was truly lift-off.  The experiences of the first made an example of both what not to do and what to do in the midst of the experiences of the many who followed.  I think the same is true in our spiritual lives - we learn a great deal about what not to do and what really is the best path for us simply by looking at those who've gone before us.

When God, your God, ushers you into the land he promised through your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob to give you, you’re going to walk into large, bustling cities you didn’t build, well-furnished houses you didn’t buy, come upon wells you didn’t dig, vineyards and olive orchards you didn’t plant. When you take it all in and settle down, pleased and content, make sure you don’t forget how you got there—God brought you out of slavery in Egypt.  (Deuteronomy 6:10-12 MSG)

Egypt was a place of barrenness for Israel.  When they came out of Egypt, they were "high" on the promises of great provision and purpose.  I imagine they never expected to face the barrenness of the wilderness in between their deliverance from Egypt and their entrance into the Promised Land!  Most of us never really expect any barrenness - any wilderness experiences - along the way in our spiritual lives.  I think we hope for life to let us get a "buy" on some of the challenges others have faced.  I think we do get a "buy" on occasion - simply because we learn from those who go before us.  Yet, there are times when we just find ourselves smack dab in the middle of the wilderness, wondering why we are experiencing such barrenness in our lives. In those moments, remember this - to move from promise to provision we will likely face a few problems along the way - the biggest of which is our unbelief.

Think about this - would you ever begin a journey if there was no promise of something at the end of that journey?  Not likely!  You'd probably just remain in your contented little world, as bad as it may be, without ever moving forward.  It is the disturbance of our peacefulness in our present circumstances which actually makes us hope for the promise of something different on the "other side".  Between the promise and the realization of the provision we face problems.  Problems are a way of life - they are God's opportunities to reveal himself strong in our lives, but they are also his opportunities to reveal where it is we are leaning on our own strength to just "get by".  In between the place of our bondage and our provision we will encounter a whole lot of testing.  Testing is really what occurs in the wilderness experience.  In the wilderness, God has the chance to show us who and what it is we really rely upon for the provision which is promised!

One thing I don't think we realize is the leading which brings us into the wilderness.  You know, Israel did not end up in the wilderness because they took a wrong turn!  God brought them there!  They left Egypt, crossed the Red Sea, came across and found themselves smack dab in the midst of the wilderness.  Between their deliverance and their provision, God led them into the wilderness.  Now, they chose how long they'd stay in the wilderness, but God was the one leading them into it.  This should give us some hope because I think most of us think we are in the wilderness by our own doing. It is quite the opposite - God brought us into it, he goes with us through it, and he will lead us out of it.  The only thing we have control over is how long we need to stay in it!

Most of us fail to recognize the wilderness is not about our comfort - if we wanted to be comfortable we would have never left what was familiar to us. The wilderness is about our character - for it is in the midst of moments of decision that our choices are refined.  You know, an oak tree grows over the course of a man's lifetime.  A weed only takes a matter of a few days to reach its maturity!  I don't know about you, but an oak tree appeals to me a whole lot more than a huge weed!  Maybe we'd resist the wilderness a little less if we realized the Lord is just after the oak he sees in us!  We want the fast fix. God wants the permanent fix!  We want the quick provision.  God wants to prepare us for the provision.  Guess what?  We never get to the provision until we have learned the lessons of the wilderness.  Think of the wilderness as God's refining ground - his proving ground.  It is there where our motives are uncovered and our true identity is discovered.  

If we begin to see the wilderness as a time of taking us from promise to provision - we might just begin to understand the middle part - process. Nothing good in life ever comes without the evidence of some type of process. Cookies in the jar are a result of someone following a process to actually bake those cookies.  They follow a recipe - what someone who has gone before them has learned.  In following the recipe, they prepare the batch of cookies and take them through the process of baking.  The right ingredients are a result of someone making a whole lot of trial and error decisions.  The right baking time is a result of someone determining how "done" cookies look and feel.  The enjoyment of the cookie is a result of the process.  We have a whole lot of examples of those who have experimented with the right ingredients and the proper amount of "cooking" time, don't we?  

We often want to experiment with our own "recipes" and wonder why we don't get the results another has experienced.  Guess what?  A good recipe is worth following!  The wilderness experience is pretty well "charted" by those who have gone before us.  We see the process of the wilderness if we look closely. There is the response to the promise - we get out of our place of contentment.  Then there is the walk toward provision - we take some first steps.  In the next how ever many moments, there is a whole lot of clarifying of our purpose.  The wilderness is the time of "clarifying" - getting things in right order in our lives.  Good news - we don't go into the wilderness alone, we don't walk through it alone, and we won't come out of it alone!  God goes with us!  So, instead of cursing the wilderness, you might just begin to realize between every promise and its provision comes a time of purposeful growth. God is after the oak in us - the wilderness really helps bring out the strength of the oak!  Just sayin!