Wilderness - The Path of the Children of God

After the previous post, God guided me to write about the life that the children of God receive. The first part is the wilderness, where God in His grace and mercy moulds the child to be a worthy smooth stone.

Saul ruled over Israel for 40 years. Acts 13:21 'And afterward they asked for a king; so God gave them Saul the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years. '

Samuel anointed David on God’s guidance. He was around 15-17 years old according to bible scholars. He was not in the army yet like his elder brothers, meaning he had not attained 20, which is the legal age in Israel at the time to be conscripted into the army. He was crowned King at 30. II Samuel 5:4-5 'David was thirty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned forty years. In Hebron he reigned over Judah seven years and six months, and in Jerusalem he reigned thirty-three years over all Israel and Judah.

This means, David was in the wilderness for 10-13 years.

Joseph was 17 when he had dreams of him being exalted over his siblings and his parents. Genesis 37:2 'This is the history of Jacob. Joseph, being seventeen years old, was feeding the flock with his brothers. And the lad was with the sons of Bilhah and the sons of Zilpah, his father’s wives; and Joseph brought a bad report of them to his father.'

He was 30 when he stood before Pharaoh in Egypt. Genesis 41:46 'Joseph was thirty years old when he stood before Pharaoh king of Egypt. And Joseph went out from the presence of Pharaoh, and went throughout all the land of Egypt. '

Joseph was separated from his parents and lived a life of literal wilderness for about 13 years.

We know from the Bible, David and Joseph are special men with special calling. But once the calling of God comes, it's never a smooth ride.

Every Child of God, when anointed as a “Child of God”, starts a journey of the wilderness. This is where God trains the child of God to trust Him completely.

David in the wilderness, was chased by Saul and his men. He was reported to Saul by spies. He is on the run. However, since he is a child of God – He didn’t die in the wilderness.

He learnt to lead and empathize – a key character of a king. I Samuel 22:2 'And everyone who was in distress, everyone who was in debt, and everyone who was discontented gathered to him. So he became captain over them. And there were about four hundred men with him.'  He learnt that only God could sustain him always and wrote Psalms 63 in the wilderness. God was moulding him to become a great leader in the wilderness.

Joseph learnt not to trust everyone blindly – His entrapment by the wife of Pothipar and when the chief butler forgot about him when he was reinstated by Pharoah. Genesis 40:14 'But remember me when it is well with you, and please show kindness to me; make mention of me to Pharaoh, and get me out of this house. ' Genesis 41:9,12 'Then the chief butler spoke to Pharaoh, saying: “I remember my faults this day. Now there was a young Hebrew man with us there, a servant of the captain of the guard. And we told him, and he interpreted our dreams for us; to each man he interpreted according to his own dream. '

When the anointing of God comes, be prepared for a time when He will smooth your rough edges in the wilderness. It will be painful, yet fruitful as at the end of the training period, the child of God will be transformed into a smooth stone ready to do the duty of the eternal master and execute His perfect will.

As a child of God, during this phase of pain and wilderness, just submit to Him who is faithful.

Psalms 73:1-3 'Truly God is good to Israel, To such as are pure in heart. But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled; My steps had nearly slipped. For I was envious of the boastful, When I saw the prosperity of the wicked.'

Asaph in the Psalms above captures the mind of a child of God beautifully. When we go through the wilderness, we will tend to look at the prosperity of the wicked, who seem blessed. This will make us stumble in our path. Question God.

But in the same Psalm, Asaph writes again in verses 16-18  'When I thought how to understand this, It was too painful for me— Until I went into the sanctuary of God; Then I understood their end. Surely You set them in slippery places; You cast them down to destruction.'

Joseph’s Brothers who hated him, lived a good life with their parents when Joseph was lonely in Egypt.

While David was in the wilderness, Saul was still king of Israel, even though the spirit of the Lord departed from him in I Samuel 16:14 'But the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and a distressing spirit from the Lord troubled him. '

But the two men connected with the almighty and learnt to trust Him more than anything. This is the lesson to be learnt by every child of God – to trust Him over everything else. The end was blessed for them, while their enemies were subdued before them.

Praise the Lord.

Glory be to Jesus.