“If you’re going through hell, keep going!” So said Winston Churchill during one of the worst crises in world history.
And these words of wisdom still apply to anyone passing through a trial today. Adversity does not have to become our destination. It can be a pathway to something greater.
Maybe you are passing through a difficult season in your life. Perhaps you feel spiritually dry and alone. You might feel as though your prayers are not being heard, and you wonder if God even knows where you are. You are not alone. Millions of believers have passed through these troubled waters and experienced the same emotions. King David sang about the “valley of the shadow of death” (Ps. 23:4). John of the Cross wrote of the “dark night of the soul.” Even Jesus went through times of suffering when He had to offer “prayers and supplications with loud cries and tears to Him who was able to save Him from death” (Heb. 5:7
b). People often refer to such seasons as “the wilderness.”
But first things first. If you have not been born again into the family of God, then the wisdom that follows cannot apply to you. Before a person receives the mercy of God through faith in Jesus Christ, they are lost in a perpetual wilderness that stretches beyond this world and into the next. And there’s no way out—except one: Repent and believe the gospel. Entering God’s kingdom by making Jesus your Lord and Savior makes you a child of the most loving, powerful and wonderful Father. He knows how to guide and take care of you as you traverse life’s journey, even when it leads you into a wilderness. His wisdom for the wilderness is what I want to explore in this timely email study.
To do that, I will adapt six tips survival experts give for those stranded in the wilderness. As you will see, the secrets for surviving a physical wilderness bear striking parallels to those for surviving a spiritual one:
Survival Tip No. 1 – Don’t Panic
Survival Tip No. 2 – Assess Your Situation
Survival Tip No. 3 – Find Shelter
Survival Tip No. 4 – Build a Fire
Survival Tip No. 5 – Drink Water
Survival Tip No. 6 – Find Nourishment
