Finding Our Way

I have spent a great portion of my adult life wandering in the wilderness of my spiritual journey with God.  Unfortunately on this road, there can be a lot of heartache and pain associated with being off-course from God's will.  While the intent is to never get into the wilderness to begin with, once you're there it can be difficult to find your way out.  Before I go any further, let me explain what I mean by being lost in the wilderness.

I believe there are many correlations between our spiritual journey and the Jewish Exodus out of Egypt.  From the Jews being slaves to the Egyptians as we were slaves to sin, to their deliverance and the long journey to the Holy Land representing our deliverance and walk with Christ, there are many similarities that we can draw from to help us through our own journey.  I will save the details of these similarities for a later blog, however one area that I believe is important to touch on is the time the Jews spent in the wilderness.  As God was leading the Jews to the Holy Land, the children of Israel spent a significant amount of time in the wilderness between Egypt and the Holy Land.  Forty years to be exact, when the journey only should have taken 11 days!  There are many reasons for this and I encourage you to read Exodus and Numbers for the full story, but at the end of the day the children of Israel were not spiritually prepared to take the next step in their journey.  Israel had a lot of growing up to do before God would take them into the promised land.  This is very similar to our walk with Christ.  God has a very distinct plan for each of us, however we can't take the next step in our journey until we are spiritually ready.

The question is how do we become spiritually ready?  I believe there are several steps we can take to help ensure we are on the right path:

• Studying the Word of God - this is our biggest weapon when facing the evil one.  God's word can penetrate through any trial, tribulation, or temptation that we encounter.  Paul called it the Sword of the Spirit (Eph. 6:17) for this reason.  We need a daily dose of God's word to fight off Satan and his demons.
• Prayer - Nothing can draw us closer to God than prayer.  Open your heart to God and let him speak to you.  Give God your burden and listen for his guidance.  I think too many times we get into a prayer and we are too busy asking that we don't take the time to listen and truly understand what God is telling us. 
• Praise - Give God the glory for all that he is, all that he's done, and all that he will do.
• Church - I used to believe that church was for people that did not have a good foundation in their faith (more of a support group to keep each other honest).  I have since drastically changed my view and think the church is needed more than ever!  Fellowship is a key component, but being involved in church is crucial.  Don't just show up on Sunday's to feel good about yourself. Get your hands dirty and get involved in a study group, ministry, volunteer work, etc...That's where the power of the church lies is when you get out in the community!   

As for myself, I have spent the last 10 years wandering in the wilderness and don't intend on spending anymore time there.  Hopefully this blog will help someone in their own spiritual journey.

TD