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Verse:“He found him in a desert land and in the wasteland, a howling wilderness; He encircled him, He instructed him, He kept him as the apple of His eye.” —Deuteronomy 32:10, NKJV
Wilderness places are dry and uninviting.
In fact, wildernesses are places that we all try to avoid.
Yet, in my experience, God was waiting to show His love in my wilderness of despair. I was spiritually dry, and for so long, I had fought feelings of aloneness as I lived in a remote area, ministering to other people’s needs.
One day I read about a missionary searching for a deep connection with God. Her friends asked her whether she had ever heard God’s voice or asked God for something “with her name on it.” In my desperation, I prayed, “God, give me something —for me personally— with my name on it.” I didn’t expect anything would happen right away. But I was desperate. One morning I was at my church, preparing for a children’s class, when something unusual happened. Amid my hurried preparations, a church member stepped in with an envelope with my name on its blank front.
I tore it open hurriedly, eager to get back to work, uninterrupted. Just then, a check for one thousand dollars slipped out. I pushed it back into the card in the envelope, certain I had not seen correctly. My heart raced as I read the words on the card —words of encouragement with Bible verses that told me I was special to God and I was cared for. The check was no mistake, and neither were the words that told me Someone saw what I was doing and the ministry I was trying to do for His glory.
As I looked at my name written on the envelope, I knew that God had heard my cry for a revelation of Himself. Each of us knows in a superficial way that God cares. But claiming His compassion and grace in our own lives may seem radical. We know God is there for us, but we often choose other sources of stability.
But I learned that anyone who comes to God will find a fresh revelation of His grace. Sometimes God takes us through the wilderness to show us who we are without the luxuries of life, the friends, and the things we hold dear.
When we take our eyes off our troubles and look up, we find who we are when the Almighty is on our side. We see that what matters most is who travels through our wildernesses with us —the One who knows our name.
Anne Crosby