The wilderness leads us deeper into the heart of the Father into a deeper facet of knowing His love as He walks with us in the dark places. The place of weeping and deep sorrow becomes a portal of His glory when we run into His arms and open our heart to Him. He uses his healing balm to soothe the wounded, dry places. He massages our heart to revive us back to life and circulate the blood flow once again. We can run into His arms and surrender our heart to Him. He knows the depths of our being and the chasms and fragments of our soul.

I love how David poured out His heart to God in the Psalms. His prayer is mine. “God, I invite your searching gaze into my heart. Examine me through and through; find out everything that may be hidden within me…sift through my anxious cares…See if here is any path of pain I’m walking on and lead me back to your glorious everlasting way- the path that brings me back to you” Psalms 139:23-24, TPT. This depth of Intimacy comes when love abounds, and fear is cast off. This stability and confidence of knowing that in every season of my life I am secure and can rest in Him releases deep peace. In every season, the fruit of my life flows from my union with Him. I only have to stay connected to Him and let His love nourish me through His words and our intimate union. In this place of intimacy, I have great confidence in our partnership. I can face anything even go into the bowels of hell and feel safe with Him by my side. His light illuminates even the darkness, making it light (Psalms 139:2).

There is such a covering in this beautiful relationship that in weeping, sorrow, pain, trials, hardship, or despair I can run into His strong arms. His arms wrap securely around me, and I find refuge. I lean into His strength and not my own. In my weakness, His glory is made manifest even more! He is life and this life brings transformation. He breathes hope and removes the clouds of fog. We can cast the heaviness of anxiety and depression at His feet and take up His yoke, looking to Jesus the author and finisher of our faith (Hebrews 12:2). I have peace when I stayed fixed on Him, looking in His eyes, aligning my thoughts with the unseen realities (2 Corinthians 4:18, Colossians 3:1-3). I connect to His thoughts as my mind is renewed to His operating system (Ephesians 5:26, Romans 12:2, 1 Corinthians 2:16). His thoughts become my thoughts, because we are one. In this place of intimacy, there is no fear. His love removes every bit of fear (1 John 4:1). The more hell comes against us or our families or finances or bodies we press deeper into His heart. We stand on His words, unmoving. We dive deep into His rivers of life and breather Him in. We inhale His life. In the dark places, He releases secret riches and hidden treasures in the secret places to bring glory to His name (Isaiah 43:5). He beckons us deeper into the darkness as we lean on Him and not our own understanding. His word becomes a lamp to our feet step by step (Psalms 119:105). Hand in hand we listen to His voice and go where He leads, trusting Him to order our steps (Psalms 37:23). Come deeper, he calls. Follow my narrow road. “He’s singing follow my road to sorrow and joy intertwined” Josh Garrels, Desert Father. Come deeper my beloved ones into union with me.

Scriptures on the Wilderness

“Blessed is the man whose strength is in You, whose heart is set on Pilgrimage. As they pass through the valley of Baca [weeping], they make it a spring; the rain also covers it with pools. They go from strength to strength” Psalms 84:5-7 NKJV.

“How enriched are they who find their strength in the Lord; within their hearts are highways of holiness! Even when their path winds through the dark valley of tears, they dig deep to find a pleasant pool where others find only pain…They grow stronger and stronger with every step forward” Psalms 84:5-7 TPT.

“Trust in the Lord completely, and do not rely on your own opinions. With all your hearts rely on Him to guide you, and he will lead you in every decision you make. Become intimate with him in whatever you do, and he will lead you wherever you go….Then you will find the healing refreshment your body and spirit long for” Proverbs 3:5-8, TPT.

” Jesus stood and shouted to the crowds- ‘All you thirsty ones, come to me! Come and drink! Believe in me so that rivers of living water will burst from your innermost being'” John 7:37-38 TPT.

“Are you weary, carrying a heavy burden? Come to me. I will refresh your life, for I am your oasis. Simply join your life with mine…” Matthew 11:28-29 TPT.

“…Jesus could no longer openly enter the city; but went outside in deserted places and they came to him from many directions” Mark 1:40-45.

“…vast crowds came to hear him preach and be healed of their diseases. But Jesus often withdrew to the wilderness for prayer” Luke 5:15-16.

“….a message of God came to John son of Zechariah, who was living in the wilderness” Luke 3:2.

“…Make straight in the desert a highway for God” Isaiah 40:3, NIV.

“…I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland” Isaiah 43:19, NIV.

“Water will gush forth in the wilderness and streams in the desert. The burning sand will become a pool, the thirsty ground bubbling springs…A highway will be there; it will be called the Way of Holiness; it will be for those who walk on that Way” Isaiah 35:7-8, NIV.

Jesus wants to encounter us in the wilderness places and make those very places a portal for His glory. I am reminded of the desert Fathers and Mothers who took refuge in obscure desert places in Egypt, Syria, Palestine and Lebanon. They lived monostatic lives of solitude and surrender. They choose to have a life’s purpose of seeking after intimacy with God in silence and solitude. These obscure desert places became places of encountering Him. They encountered God in deep ways, so much that people would seek them out for wisdom. They created a place of presence in the wilderness, rivers in the desert places. One of the desert Mothers Amma Syncletica wrote an encouragement that wherever we are God can encounter us when we set our thoughts toward Him. Amma said, “There are many who live in the mountains and behave as if they were in the town, and they are wasting their time. It is possible to be a solitary in one’s mind while living in a crowd, and it is possible for one who is a solitary to live in the crowd of his/her own thoughts.” He wants to speak to us intimately and take us deeply into His heart. No matter what we face these hard places can be a place to invite Him in and a place for His glory to be made manifest.