Wilderness training by God - But why?

When I finish this post , you will be able to explain anyone 'Why evil exists in the world and why there is suffering in this world?'. Pastor Teju started the sermon with a scripture from

Hosea 2:14
"Therefor, Behold, I will allure her, Will bring her into the wilderness, And speak comfort to her."

'I' here refers to God and 'her' refers to God's children and that includes not only Israelites but also us. Why does God want us to enter into wilderness? Is God a sadist to lead us into a dangerous path and then take pleasure in watching us suffer ? [ Definitely NO!] He lead the Israelites towards the fertile land which flowed with honey - Canaan - as promised to their forefather Abraham. He promised us heaven and eternal peace for eternity, but do we have them or atleast are we on the path to reach them? God made us know the destination and endpoint but what about the route?? Is God playing the fool with us by leading us astray into the wilderness and then comforting us? I ask these questions just to trigger your thoughts and opinions.

Three things are to be noted carefully from the above scripture verse and what does God want to communicate from it?

1.] Imagine a case where the Earth is full of heavenly places and desert was some place which was hard to find. The mere thought of it creates a nice feeling and comfort. But will it always keep us in a close relationship with the Master who made us ? We will soon forget Him and remember only His works. Not only that, we will attach ourselves closely to this world and forget the place which our father in Heaven has reserved for us . God wanted to test and correct our ways before we reach Heaven. So he created something like wilderness which is devoid of all earthly beauty. While we go through the tribulations and sufferings , God speaks to us during our times of our endurance. Soon we will start to depend on Lord for everything and reciprocate his grace towards us. He takes us through a journey of tears and pain , teaching us to trust in Him even at times of despair and depression. It also creates a hatred towards this worldly pleasures and when we humble ourselves before the Lord, he will show us great and mighty things which we have not seen. Of course, God created the world for us to enjoy and live in harmony. But the technology advancements have only widened the gap between God and mankind besides creating a materialistic and self-centered society. It is rare to find people who really do care for their fellow human beings nowadays.

I Corinthian 7:31 clearly teaches us not to misuse this world.To sum up, " Too much of friendship with this world is enemity with God."



2.] This point will be incomplete without starting with the centre verse of the Bible ,

"It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man" says Psalm 118:8.

When we go through the wilderness, it's easy to catch up with fever or allergy . When we have a doctor at our side , we will take the medicines with great faith in his diagonsis skills and rely heavily on it. Eventually we may get cured. But under certain cirumstances, when we get an incurable. In a similar way, God wants us to learn, to trust in Him , in all our ways - whether it be small or big.

This was the second reason for God to take the Israelites through the wilderness. Their faith was shattered and mended - it grew with time and learnt from God. Similarly whenever you face a tough time in our life , just say 'I trust in the Lord with all my heart, mind and soul'. He would love to hear us saying that and will not allow us to be tempted beyond which we can bear. The moment you raise your hand and heart in prayer, he will start fighting for you. Sometimes our situation may seem desperate and totally lost, but He will watch us closely and bless us till our cup overflows once we cross the temptation.


3.] The crux of the third point is , " God wants us to love Him , more than anything in this world." When I say this , most of us may get a feeling of ascetic and spartan life. The answer my friend is -- please think carefully. He wants us to lead a God-centered life rather than a world-centered life. It doesn't mean that we need to surrender all the good pleasures of this world for God's sake. When we live a God-centered life loving him alone and setting a limit for all the worldly things, he will give us all those things which we need. Its true and His mouth has said it,

"For your heavenly Father knows that you need ALL these things. ' But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.'" Matthew 6:32,33.

All these things include all that is good for us in this world. Once we focus on God and his righteousness, he will add all the worldly things which we need to our life. Entertainment, happiness, pleasure and other worldly needs are addressed by Him in our life.

Why did God love us? --- Tough question to be answered. Are we sinners , worthy of his unfailing love and mercies? The Answer is pretty simple. There is no reason for Him to love us and that makes God's love unique from Earthly love(sometimes confused with divine love in the case of laila-majna,romeo-juliet :-) ). He wants us to love Him the same way and most of the time we fail when he keeps a simple test. We would have prayed to him the other day thanking Him and singing how much you love Him.But when you fail in an exam or rejected in an interview after long hours of prayer , we start to mumble if not curse or question his existence :-) !!

I would like to end this long blog with a quote from Song of Solomon 8:5 ,
'Who is this coming up from the wilderness, Leaning upon her beloved.'

When we truly understand God's love and trust in Him completely, we like the woman in the desert may come out of the wilderness(world) leaning on our beloved Saviour(Jesus).

Jai Praveen