Stripped: Trusting God When He Allows Others to Hurt Youনমুনা

GOD OF THE DESERT

What is so special about the God of the desert? Wouldn’t it be better to meet the God of the gardens, where all is green, lush, and satisfying? Gardens are adorned with self-sufficiency and leave little space for miracles.

In the desert, He provides manna, the bread of angels

In the desert, He shields His children from the sun’s rays

and heat with a colossal cloud

In the desert, He ignites a column of fire to light the way at night

God does not leave His children alone in the desert. He makes His dwelling with them in the wandering. To those who draw near, He invites to His holy mountain. If there were an abundance of creeks in the desert, who needs a miracle water fountain that springs from a rock?

It may be a long, hard journey through the desert, but it’s also where those who choose to obey Him and believe His promises witness the most amazing miracles.

DIFFERENT EXPERIENCE, SAME DESERT

The Israelites wandered in the desert for 40 years due to their unbelief and stubbornness. Even after witnessing unique miracles to deliver them from slavery, they doubted, complained, and sinned, going as far as creating a golden calf idol. Psalm 78 describes this journey in great detail, and how their unbelief angered the Lord and caused them to wander in the desert.

In spite of the consequences of their sin, God cared for them those 40 years, patiently providing for and shaping His chosen people.

Joshua was Moses’ assistant during those years. Out of the 12 spies sent to check out the promised land, he and Caleb were the only two who basically said, “Yes! It’s wonderful, God will give us this land, let’s do this!” (see Numbers 13 and 14).

The Israelites doubted, Joshua believed.

The Israelites complained and wanted to return to Egypt, Joshua trusted God would keep His word.

The Israelites sinned against God, Joshua was a righteous man.

But like the Israelites, Joshua wandered 40 years in the desert.

He didn’t get to skip the desert.

However, the God Joshua met in the desert was different from the God the generation that died in the desert got to know.

After Moses died, Joshua was charged with leading the Israelites into the promised land and fighting many battles to conquer the land. During one of those battles, Joshua prayed an astounding and bold (possibly the boldest) prayer.

“‘... Sun, stand still over Gibeon, and moon over the Valley of Aijalon.’ And the sun stood still and the moon stopped until the nation took vengeance on its enemies. Isn’t this written in the book of Jashar? So the sun stopped in the middle of the sky and delayed its setting almost a full day. There has been no day like it before or since, when the Lord listened to a man, because the Lord fought for Israel” (Joshua 10:12b-14, CSB).

How on earth did Joshua come up with that prayer? And what’s more astounding is that God answered such an audacious and out-of-this-world request! God wasn’t dissuaded from responding because Joshua prayed the wrong thing—it was, after all, the earth that needed to be still, not the sun or the moon—but that didn’t matter to God!

Joshua asked God to stop time and our awesome God responded to that faith; what a sight to behold! Those close enough to hear Joshua’s prayer must have thought he was crazy. Yet, as the battle ensued and the sun didn’t set for almost an entire day, their weary minds and spirits were infused with faith to continue fighting. What a powerful God! What incredible faith!

I want to have that type of confident faith; I am sure most of us do too. And do you know how time-altering faith is developed? In the desert.

Joshua was constantly near Moses and God’s presence in the desert. He witnessed miracles up close. He saw the cloud over the tabernacle, he heard God’s voice when He spoke from the mountain. He saw the earth swallow rebellious people. He ate manna, he got quail-meat delivery from heaven, he drank water from a rock!

Those 40 years were the training he needed for the job he inherited from Moses. Joshua had blind confidence in the God that accompanied him through the desert and trusted He heard his prayers, no matter how unconventional or bizarre.

Walking with the God of the desert (even if we are forced into the wilderness due to other people’s unbelief) develops our faith and character to the point of audacious prayers. We can be confident the God of the impossible will come through for us, whether we pray for the right thing or not. He understands what we mean and is moved by faith, not by accuracy.

Dear friend, in the desert we make choices. We either follow Him, or give up. We either choose righteousness or, like the Israelites, become stiff-necked and complain against Him. We either believe Him, or defy His sovereignty.

As a fellow desert-traveler, I am convinced Joseph chose to trust and follow the God of his forefathers, fully committed and devoted to doing what was right, even if it cost him. It was in the desert that a broken Joseph lifted the white banner of surrender. It was through the simple yet difficult choice to follow God, that he broke free of the patterns of sin that had plagued his family for decades. What paradox: out of all the brothers, he was the one that was a slave, but also the one that was truly free.

Thus, chapter 39’s Joseph was capable of standing up to temptation day after day. In the desert, he learned to trust God in spite of his fears for the future, a process that transformed a young man to slowly understand where his gifts came from, and that dreams were only God’s to interpret.

Have you been in the desert? Maybe that’s where you are right now. Feet sinking deep in the sand, surviving one day at a time, often a minute at a time. What you decide in the desert has the possibility of positively altering your destiny and the future of your family...if you choose righteousness. You might not see the result of your choices right away, Joseph’s story is barely starting at this point, but his decisions in the desert and the waiting defined the rest of his story.