The Desert

Mark 1:12

At once the Spirit sent him out into the wilderness, and he was in the wilderness forty days, being tempted by Satan.

As a director in a large ministry, I interviewed job candidates who were applying for high tech positions. These inventive and highly skilled people would apply because they believed that God had directed them to work with us and then they would articulate how much we needed their expertise to improve and fix our problems because, after all, they knew what was best.

I could sense that their pride was going to be a problem soon after they were hired. They were bound to get discouraged because they thought they were on a mission to fix us. We were the ones who needed to change and they could help. So, I would present this question. "Do you know what Abraham, Moses, Elijah, Jeremiah and the Apostle Paul had in common with Jesus? They all went through God's training program out in the desert. Why do you think God used the desert to shape leaders who were to end up becoming spiritual heroes because of their faith?"

None of those applicants had an answer so I would describe what I thought was the attitude they needed to embrace if they wanted the job. God uses the desert because the desert does not change. You can't make it comfortable to suit your wants. You can't change the surroundings and decorate it with your prideful ideas. You have nowhere to hide from the scorching sun that will humble you into submissive dependence on only one source for your survival, God Himself.

He strips away all of your self made dreams of glory and your ability to manipulate those around you because you want to be in control. He shakes your view of how great you are until you are convinced that you need Him more than ever. The desert will not change so what does? You.

Only when the desert of life does its work are you ready to humbly submit to Him and let Him use you for His glory. Are you in God's desert training program right now? Do you bang your head up against your circumstances or the people in your life because you want them to change so badly but they continue on as if they are an unbreakable rock? Acknowledge the Lord today as the author of life and the one in supreme control. He knows where He has put you. He knows where your heart needs to be softened to His voice. Now is the time to surrender to Him and ask, "what do you want me to change, Lord?" If you will pray that prayer, you will end up in the place He wants you to be and it's a good place.