Why You’re in the Wilderness, 🏜️

If God is making you wait, even though you want to move forward, it’s because He wants to go further with you than you currently realize. You want to move forward. But God wants to go FURTHER.

In the book of Hosea, we read how God says:

“...I will lead her into the wilderness and speak tenderly to her … There she will respond as in the days of her youth, as in the day she came up out of Egypt.” (Hosea 2:14-16, NIV)  

These are SUCH beautiful words! Because they show how if God is letting you experience the wilderness, He wants to speak to you personally. ❤️

In this context, it’s about Israel—about God’s disappointment over the behavior and unfaithfulness of His people. But instead of punishing them, He leads them into the wilderness, not as punishment, but out of love. To finally get their full attention again.

You see, our lives are so full that we often don’t even realize how empty we really are! That’s why God repeatedly leads us to places where it seems there is nothing but dry dust and sand—to help us recognize His presence and power.

And this is exactly what I experience on every trip to Burkina Faso: from our perspective, the people there live in much greater poverty than we do. From their perspective, we are the poor ones, because we’re always so stressed…

People living in the wilderness have an advantage—they have more time to worship Godand get to experience a little piece of heaven on earth. Meanwhile, we rarely take the time and constantly focus on what we lack, like God’s presence and voice. 

But today I understand: If God leads you into the wilderness, He wants to lead you to Himself. ❤️

Let me repeat the verse—applied to you: “I will lead you into the wilderness and speak tenderly to you … There you will respond...” (Hosea 2:14-16, my paraphrase)  

Make the most of your wilderness season—this is exactly where you have God’s full attention!

You are a miracle!