Do We Need a Wilderness?

“The voice of one crying in the wilderness:” . . . John came baptizing in the wilderness and preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins (Mark 1:3-4).

Surrounded by comforts, computers, and friendly people, we might forget that we need God in our lives. Deprived of food, shelter, and cordial conversation, we might remember that without God, nothing makes much sense. Our most dramatic stories of people discovering God are set in difficult, sometimes tragic, circumstances—prisons, famines, plagues, earthquakes, hospitals, battles.

We experience a “wilderness” whenever we are lonely, tired, and hungry, and the universe seems not to care. There we wilt or grow strong, die or find new strength, come to despair or discover real faith. In the wilderness, life turns “bitter, brutish, and short”—or, that’s the very place God breaks through to us.

Unless otherwise noted, Scripture taken from the New King James Version®, NKJV © 1982 by Thomas Nelson.
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