When was the last time you were in the wilderness of life? Maybe you are there today. 

We all come to wilderness times in our life. Sometimes the choices we make bring us to the wilderness. Sometimes the actions or words of others send us there. And sometimes it’s circumstances beyond our control that take us to the wilderness.

The wilderness I’m talking about is not a camping trip in a state park, a hike on a marked trail, or the view from a scenic overlook. I’m not talking about the geography around us but the landscape within us. I’m talking about our highs and lows, the parts of ourselves that have become twisted and crooked, the rough and bumpy parts of life. 

This interior wilderness brings us to the limits of our own self-sufficiency. It leaves us feeling vulnerable and exposed, living on the edge. In the wilderness there are no distractions and no places to hide. We face the truth of who we are and what our life is like. We face the reality of what has happened to us. We feel our deepest longings and hunger more acutely. 

The wilderness can be a time of profound loneliness. We might feel abandoned, lost, or confused. A lack of connection to others, broken trust, violence or abuse, are wilderness places. Chaos, uncertainty, and fear are trails in the wilderness. 

In the wilderness we face our break ups and our breakdowns, our losses and grief, our failures and disappointments. Self-betrayals and the things done and left undone lead us into the wilderness. In the wilderness we confront our brokenness and addictions. We wrestle with ourselves, our doubts, and the voices in our heads. We learn who we are and what really matters to us. 

Does any of that sounds familiar? What are your wilderness stories?

Time in the wilderness is not easy, fun, or comfortable. There are no quick fixes. There is no way out of or around the wilderness. The only way is through the wilderness.

The wilderness, however, is also the place in which the word of God comes. In today’s gospel (Luke 3:1-6) “The word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness.” 

It’s the place where our lives can be transformed, the place we are most open to changing and being changed. It’s a place of healing and growth. The wilderness is the place where we are claimed by God. 

Hidden within every wilderness is the beauty of divine presence. That’s why every year at this time the Season of Advent takes us not just to the wilderness of John the Baptist but to our wilderness. It is our preparation for the coming of the Christ. The way to Christmas goes through the wilderness. 

The word of God and the wilderness always go together. In today’s gospel Luke makes it very clear that the word of God did not come in the empire of Tiberius; the governing of Pontius Pilate; the ruling of Herod, his brother Philip, or Lysanias; or the high priesthoods of Annas and Caiaphas. The word came in the wilderness. 

There’s something about the safe and domesticated places, the political and religious systems, power and wealth, that separate us from and make it difficult if not impossible to hear the word of God. 

Maybe we just don’t need God as much in those places as we do in the wilderness. Maybe that’s why the word of God comes in the wilderness. It comes at a time and in a place we can hear it and it can make a difference. That was true for John the Baptist and it is true for you and me.

So let me ask you a couple of questions:

• What is your wilderness today? How would you describe it? What name would you give it?
• What is the word of God you need today in your wilderness? 

Here’s why I asked that last question. Often when I finish a conversation with someone she or he will ask me to pray for them. They are asking for a word in their wilderness. I almost always ask them, “What do you want me to pray for?” And they almost always have an answer. 

They know the word they need. They may be afraid to face the reality and truth of their life, they may be hesitant to name or claim what they need, they may not want to do what that word will ask of them, but they usually know the word of God they need in their wilderness. And if they don’t, God does. 

For every wilderness there is a word of God coming into it. It might be a word of life, faith, hope, love. It might be a word of mercy, forgiveness, reconciliation. It might be a word of wisdom, discernment, clarity. It might be a word of courage, strength, consolation. It might be a word of peace, compassion, healing. It might be a word of detachment, letting go, freedom. 

Whatever that word is it’s a word that asks us to reclaim ourselves, turn our life around, have a change of heart, and begin putting life back together – not in the same old way it used to be, but in a way we could never have imagined possible. 

What is your wilderness word today? You got it? Know what it is?

Say it to yourself. Hold it as a gift. Repeat it. Picture what it looks like and means in your life. Write it down. Commit yourself to it. Pray it. Let it sink into your heart and be the mantra on your lips. 

What will you do with that word today? What will you let it do with you? What is it asking of you? And what is it offering you? 

Don’t let go of that word. Carry it, follow it, live it. It holds the promise that God will not let go of you. And all flesh, not some, not a few, “all flesh shall see the salvation of God.”

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Image Credit: Photo by Werner Hilversum on Unsplash.