REST IN THE WILDERNESS: CAN IT BE?

Estimated reading time: 10 minutes

Can you experience rest in the wilderness? The other day, we looked at the wilderness as a place of oppression and persecution. But today I want us to look at it as a place of nourishment. I know you are wondering how this can be. One perfect example was Elijah. After Elijah prophesied the 3-year drought, God told him to go to the east of the Jordan River, a desert, and for him to camp there. Although it was a desert, Elijah received nourishment and sustenance. He had the ravens feed him, and the brook quench his thirst whenever he was thirsty. Despite Elijah being in the wilderness, he never encountered lack. Do you know it is possible to experience rest in the wilderness?

• The Woman and the Dragon
• Definition of the wilderness as a place and an experience.
• Signs that your wilderness is a place of refreshing and rejuvenation
  • You have already birthed your promise
  • You have no access to the promise
  • New strength and new perspective
• Conclusion

Today, I want us to focus on Revelation 12 and see how we can experience rest in the wilderness.

The Woman and the Dragon

12 A great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head. ² She was pregnant and cried out in pain as she was about to give birth. ³ Then another sign appeared in heaven: an enormous red dragon with seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns on its heads. ⁴ Its tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky and flung them to the earth. 

The dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth so that it might devour her child the moment he was born. ⁵ She gave birth to a son, a male child, who “will rule all the nations with an iron scepter.” And her child was snatched up to God and to his throne. ⁶ The woman fled into the wilderness to a place prepared for her by God, where she might be taken care of for 1,260 days.

⁷ Then war broke out in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. ⁸ But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven. ⁹ The great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him.

¹⁰ Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say:

“Now have come the salvation and the power
    and the kingdom of our God,
    and the authority of his Messiah.
For the accuser of our brothers and sisters,
    who accuses them before our God day and night,
    has been hurled down.
¹¹ They triumphed over him
    by the blood of the Lamb
    and by the word of their testimony;
they did not love their lives so much
    as to shrink from death.
¹² Therefore rejoice, you heavens
    and you who dwell in them!
But woe to the earth and the sea,
    because the devil has gone down to you!
He is filled with fury,
    because he knows that his time is short.”

¹³ When the dragon saw that he had been hurled to the earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child. ¹⁴ The woman was given the two wings of a great eagle, so that she might fly to the place prepared for her in the wilderness, where she would be taken care of for a time, times and half a time, out of the serpent’s reach. 

¹⁵ Then from his mouth the serpent spewed water like a river, to overtake the woman and sweep her away with the torrent. ¹⁶ But the earth helped the woman by opening its mouth and swallowing the river that the dragon had spewed out of his mouth. ¹⁷ Then the dragon was enraged at the woman and went off to wage war against the rest of her offspring—those who keep God’s commands and hold fast their testimony about Jesus.

. In this context, a woman is about to give birth and a red dragon is there waiting to devour her child once it is born. The most amazing thing is that although the woman knew that the dragon was presently waiting to devour her child, her focus was on giving birth. Despite the raging war, will you focus on birthing the promise? The enemy will never attack you if you are not a threat to him and his kingdom.

The cool thing that happens is once she gives birth, God takes the baby to His throne room, and the woman flees to the place where God had prepared for her. The surprising thing is that it was in the wilderness. Can you see the irony in this? God ensured that the woman received nourishment in the wilderness.

Definition of the wilderness as a place and an experience.

Before I forget, I would like to give you the definition of a wilderness experience. It is a period where a believer undergoes trials and difficulties and cannot experience the good things that life offers. If we reference it as a place, we can define it as an inhospitable region.

So the woman was in a place unfit for humans to live in, yet God prepared a place for her to rest and recoup after her season of birth. So from this text, it is clear that she had received her promise. But was yet to fully experience and walk in the full manifestation of it. Can you relate? Do you feel you received your promise yet you cannot access it?

Signs that your wilderness is a place of refreshing and rejuvenation

• You have already birthed your promise
• You cannot access the promise
• God is equipping you with new strength and a new perspective

You have already birthed your promise

God took the woman to the wilderness after she had given birth. Sometimes you can receive answers to your prayers. But because you are not spiritually and mentally strong enough to tend to the promise, God incubates it for you. This can manifest as an unexpected delay. Let’s say you get accepted to the university you always wanted, but suddenly you experience unexpected financial issues. You have already received the answer, but then there comes a delay. All delays are not demonic, some are just God’s way of protecting you. The battle for your promise could have been so rough that you lost your zeal for life. So imagine receiving your desires and not having the psyche to enjoy that which you had prayed for years.

Sometimes, God will take the same desire away for you to receive nourishment. You will not be effective when you are walking into your purpose and promise wounded and weary. How will you fight the goliaths in your promised land? God wants to give you your promise. But He wants you to walk in it while whole. Why would He give you something that will destroy you when He is a Good Father? Could it be that God is giving you rest in the wilderness just like He did for that woman?

Are you mislabeling your season because you lack discernment? God knows your heart and knows the difficulties you have experienced. So before He can get you to where He wants to, He has to ensure that you are whole. Healing is very important. Otherwise, you cannot walk in the fullness of everything God has for you.

You have no access to the promise

Although you know God has answered your prayers, you are still in that weird place where you are yet to walk in your promise, and yet you are not in battle. The middle place can be so frustrating, and the test then becomes your patience. Maybe God is testing your level of patience. If you are in this process, go through the healing and rejuvenation that God wants you to experience. After all, He tells us He has a good plan for you and me, one that has an expected end. Will you trust Him in this season? Will you trust Him with your promise and keep in mind that He is only nurturing it so that it can grow and mature? The woman was in no position to tend to the baby. She had enough strength to only cater to herself.

Could it be that you have no strength left to tend to your promise? Your promised land is a responsibility that God bestows upon you. When the Israelites got to Canaan, God told them they would have to tend the land, grow crops, and build homes. Although it was God’s gift to them, they still had to steward it. Can you honestly say that you can tend to your promised land? Will you steward your land effectively?

It is easy to want to move forward with your life and assume that everything will handle itself when you get where you have always wanted to be. The reality is that God needs to equip you for your next level before you can walk into it. God prepared David before he fought Goliath by having him kill the bear and the lion. That was why he was successful in his mission. That is why rest is important.

New strength and new perspective

When God took the woman to the place He had prepared for her in the wilderness, He gave her a pair of eagle wings. The wings meant she could fly higher and not have to fight the devil. God is calling you to come up higher in this season. He wants you to focus on Him and when you do that; He is the one who will fight the battle for you. The woman did not have to fight the enemy, she only needed to fly. The earth also protected her. Your environment can also be a place for protection.

The enemy thinks he has won when one is in a place of trials. Just imagine how the enemy must have celebrated when Jesus died. What he did not know was that it was God’s plan all along so that Jesus could save the whole of humanity. Just because you are in the wilderness now doesn’t mean that nothing is working. There is a lot going on behind the scenes, but for now, just be still and know who God is to you. That is all He wants you to do: rest. It is not over until God says it is over. God has hidden you for a moment and soon you will walk in all that God has for you. In the meantime, rest, heal, pray, and praise. Turn your eyes upon Jesus and the things of this world will grow strangely dim.

• Stop Struggling in Your Wilderness Season Now.
• 5 Practical Keys That Will Help You Navigate A Wilderness Season As A Christian Millennial.
• Are You out of the wilderness?
• BE STILL! WATCH GOD FIGHT FOR YOU!
• The Easter Series: When You are Birthing Your Purpose.

Conclusion

You can experience rest in the wilderness. God wants to see you made whole. That was why God sent Jesus to earth. He wanted to redeem us and make us whole. It is when you are whole that you can fully become who God created you to be. Rest in the wilderness will occur when you surrender to what God is doing and allow Him to mold you as He wills. He knows how that wilderness can become your source of rest. That is why He allowed it to begin with.

Do not grow weary and think that good things will never happen to you. The truth is that things will change because God has a good plan for you. A future that is good and perfectly designed for you. It is not over for you. Do not allow the enemy to lie to you and make you believe things will remain as they are. There is always a set time for your redemption. And just like God sent Moses to deliver the Israelites, He has a plan to get you to your promised land and give you your breakthrough. Right now, focus on healing and resting. Because when it is go time, you will not have room to rest as you did before.

Ask the Holy Spirit to give you discernment so that you can discern the season you are in. He will help you because He wants to help you. That is one of His roles. You can find rest in the wilderness. Rest in this truth today.