Reposted, edited, from the archives, because it’s how I feel now.
Shut doors and stripped self-life, it was a sort of exile from the familiar and “productive.”
Yet rather than a thirsty desert, in shades of dark gray bleakness, rather than a place of empty longing for something brighter and better, my “wilderness” was the site of one of my richest, deepest, most spiritually intimate times with my Savior, Lord, and Friend.
It was the retreat I hadn’t taken,
the vacation I’d long craved,
the sabbatical of which I’d felt such need, so enriching and building and insight-instilling that I didn’t much want it to end.
Now that the calendar is getting all scribbled up and my days are getting filled again with activity, I find myself longing for that blessed “wilderness,” or at least would like available for myself a corner of it where I can go to be with Him alone.
Where, after all, did Abraham find his deep communion with the Almighty? Where did Moses encounter the LORD and hear His voice? Where did he experience His glory? Where did David have those sweet times with his God? Where did Hagar “see” “the God Who sees me”? In the wilderness.
And so it was with me. I thank God for His wilderness, and especially for His awesome presence in it.
And so, may I make an effort to keep it—and use it—even as I head back again to the crowded highway…
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Good morning, Sylvia!
Thanks for stopping by my blog. I have enjoyed browsing around yours. I understand this post because I often feel the same way. I’m lucky to have a physical “wilderness” I can retreat to. I have a cabin in the mountains–no phone, no computer, no TV. When I go up there I spend time praying and meditating, being grateful for nature, sitting by the creek. Lovely blog!
I enjoy your writings.
Good morning, Dawn, a day late. God bless it!
Hi Galen Pearl,
Thanks for stopping over, “browsing around,” and commenting here.
What a blessing that little cabin must be! I almost wish I had one and could go there today! Up north here, where winter weather makes plans iffy and lots of projects and events temporarily impossible, it seems everyone tries to squeeze so much into a small window of warm-weather months that life gets noisy, overloaded, and chaotic. A retreat sounds so soothing! Hope you get to enjoy yours much this year!
Hi Denise,
Thank you, dear sister, for kind words of encouragement. God bless you this day and week.
Mmm, that wilderness I could really use right now, rather than the one I currently have (“dark gray bleakness” is a very accurate description, by the way – beautiful metaphor). Hopefully, He’ll bring me there eventually . . . probably toward the end of this.
Such truth in this! That we find Him best without the distractions, the things that take us away – even in the pain, He seems closer than before. Yet we can’t hide from busyness forever, however much we might want to. Thank you so much for sharing this – what a beautiful reminder!
Hi Mary,
I pray your “wilderness” grows brighter. You are so right about the distractions, which I seem to be surrounded by today. Thus, no blog post. One thing after another, from very early on. But you know how that is. Thanks for your visit!