Sep 25 2007
God of the Wilderness
Ever wonder why there are deserts? (No, not because of global warming or man’s inhumanity to Gaiea.) Most people tend to shudder at the thought of spending time in such a barren and lifeless wilderness. Others, including those who live in or near the desert, love them for their beauty - and for all the living things that reside there.
I am a pseudo-volcano geek, and I love pictures like this from the USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory. This shows what looks to be a barren volcanic plain with a large stream of lava coursing through it. What you don’t see is that less than an hour away from this place (Kiluaea, on the south shore of Hawaii’s Big Island) lies Hilo, on the island’s eastern shore, with incredibly lush rainforests.
In the ancient Jewish tradition, and even in the New Testament era, the barren places were a refuge. One writer explains, “In the Hebrew Bible, wilderness is where the Torah is given, where David and the psalmists find inspiration, where Elijah hears the ‘still, small voice’.”
On a physical level, even volcanic wildernesses have their place and function. Reasons describes it this way:
Earth, on the other hand, retains CO2 in its atmosphere because of a delicate balance between plate tectonics and volcanic activity. Unlike Mars, Earth experiences considerable surface movement. As our tectonic plates collide, carbonate deposits are pushed deep into the crust. As the carbonates decompose there, they release CO2. Volcanic activity, then, sends the CO2 up to the surface, replenishing the atmosphere. Both tectonic motions and volcanism must operate in balance to maintain this steady cycling of CO2 and carbonates. Earth’s current levels are just high enough - and low enough (we humans can’t handle too many earthquakes and eruptions) - to provide for the needs of advanced life.
So even the most barren, inhospitable places serve a function.
I can’t count the number of times God has had me in the wilderness, either because that’s where I needed to be or because that’s where I chose to be. My personal desert is prayer. There are times when it seems like every prayer I utter bounces off the ceiling and falls dead on the floor. I can spend weeks or months in that state when suddenly God will smack me in the back of the head, as if to say, “What? Aren’t you listening?” I’d been missing out on the whole “Be still and know that I am God” bit. How many times did Christ himself seek out the wilderness to find fellowship with His father? Those times aren’t wasted.
I don’t know about you, but I love the desert.
Technorati Tags: desert, wilderness, Kilauea, prayer
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September 25th, 2007 at 20:56 pm
Last year, Katherine talked me into getting away for a weekend at a retreat center called Pacem in Terris. I got there Friday evening, and settled in to a tiny one room cabin. No phone, tv, radio, computer; just my Bible, and a view of trees. I could not believe how hard it was to be completely alone with no stimuli whatsoever.
They told me at check-in that the solitude takes getting use to, and that not many people can last a full weekend their first time there. I was going stir crazy by noon the next day.
I want to try it again, and I think I’ll be better prepared this time. I’m also happy because I finally have a space in our house that I can now call my own, and get away for some quiet time.
September 25th, 2007 at 21:15 pm
This whole concept of God being in the wilderness was very revelatory for me, the first time I heard it, some eight or so years ago. I was raised in a hyper-Pentecostal environment that basically taught that if Christians weren’t UP! UP! UP! all the time, there was something wrong with them. It was extremely liberating to hear and understand that God can speak in the wilderness times/places. Indeed, he very often speaks MORE clearly in our times of desparation and need than in our times of elation.
I adore the shows Man vs. Wild and Survivorman. I have heard the hosts of both of those shows state that there is more on which to sustain oneself in the desert than in many greener, more temperate environments. That keeps going through my head: that in places of apparent barrenness there is actually an abundance of life and sustenance; it’s just hidden.
(BTW, I first heard of the “Dark Night of the Soul” from a guy named John Paul Jackson. I have some happy-thoughts about his ministry, and some not-so-happy thoughts about it. And something tells me that you, Steve, are not really hip into any kind of modern prophetic movement like Jackson’s. However, I will be eternally grateful to Mr. Jackson and his teaching on this subject, as it really freed me from a lot of guilt about not being 100% chipper 100% of the time.)
September 25th, 2007 at 21:28 pm
Karen,
God uses the oddest circumstances to teach us, and I’ve come to learn that you can’t reject truth - real truth - because of its source. All truth is God’s truth. Who am I to turn away from that?
September 26th, 2007 at 08:25 am
I wonder if you’ve come across the book “Conversations with God” by Neale Donald Walsch?
September 26th, 2007 at 08:41 am
Narziss,
From what I’ve seen, it’s a bit of rehashed eastern mysticism, with a some Jonathan Livingston Seagull thrown in. From the snippets I’ve read, the general tone was that we are all one, we are God, we are trees, be nice to each other. I think he’s actually written six or seven in the CWG series.
September 27th, 2007 at 09:40 am
God of the Wilderness
Ever wonder why there are deserts? (No, not because of global warming or man’s inhumanity to Gaiea.) Most people tend to shudder at the thought of spending time in such a barren and lifeless wilderness. Others, including those who live in …
October 3rd, 2007 at 13:04 pm
[...] of Careful Thought presents God of the Wilderness, asserting that desert and wilderness areas are hostile, forbidding places, but sometimes [...]