The Wilderness & The Spirit

Wilderness seasons. Ever have one? Or two? Or many? No one is exempt from having them. Dry seasons where we don't "feel" the closeness of God can be confusing and frustrating. Dry seasons where we don't "feel" the anointing like we used to.

Maybe that's the whole issue. We rely more on feeling rather than simply trust that God is there.

Sometimes we view the wilderness as punishment rather than viewing it as the place where the Holy Spirit leads us to.

The wilderness is the place where we put into practice what we have learned concerning the Presence of God. We say that but when we are in the wilderness, we forget that.

Luke 4:1
Now Jesus, full of [and in perfect communication with] the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness 2 for forty days, being tempted by the devil.


We have to begin to look at things differently. The Holy Spirit graciously leads us into dry seasons, wilderness seasons so that we grow and mature in our faith and trust. I love what the Amplified Bible is saying.

1) Jesus was full. - Are we full? Are we filling up on the good things of God in the fruitful seasons of life? It is so important draw close in the good times because that is what we will need to draw upon in the dry wilderness times of life. If I don't fill myself in the good times, there will be nothing to draw upon when I am in the wilderness seasons.

2) Jesus was in perfection communication with the Holy Spirit. - This is key. I need to be sensitive and responsive to the Holy Spirit and that comes from being in communion with Him in the good times. If I trust the Holy Spirit in the good times, then shouldn't I be able to trust Him in the dry times?

3) Jesus was led by the Spirit in the wilderness. - Jesus wasn't afraid of the wilderness. The dry seasons aren't anything to be afraid of if I truly trust that I will be led THROUGH the wilderness. The wilderness is NOT my home. It's NOT my dwelling place.

There have been many seasons that have been dry-like in my life. There have been seasons of doubt, frustration, questioning. There have been times where I have had to toss everything I've believed up in the air, re-evaluate my belief system.

Just because I am in a dry season doesn't mean that I am less anointed. It has nothing to do with that. Maybe that is how anointing grows and matures.

Maybe that is how our relationship grows with the Holy Spirit.

We will be tempted. We will go through trials. The Holy Spirit WILL NOT keep us from them. He will actually lead us to them. That is why we need to have the Word of God deposited into our lives so that we have something to draw upon in those seasons of temptation and drought.

Jesus didn't despise the wilderness. He welcomed it.

Luke 4
14 Then Jesus went back to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and the news about Him spread through the entire region. 

We all love this verse because Jesus came up out of the wilderness in power of the Spirit. What we don't necessarily appreciate or want to think about is the HOW He came filled with the power of the Spirit. The power only comes one way and that is going THROUGH the wilderness experience.

He embraced the dry season, the wilderness. He didn't fight it.

Let's be like Him and walk through the season we may find ourselves in.

Am I Missing Out?

I think we have had a wrong perception of the Holy Spirit for many generations. The enemy of our souls has lied to us concerning the Holy Spirit. How? He has tried to teach us that we miss out on what God wants to do. He has told us that if we aren't where we are "supposed" to be, we can't get what God is doing in a specific place.

How is that possible when the King of Kings lives on the inside of us?

Hos is that possible when the Holiest of the Holy lives on the inside of us?

Is God not able to make sure that you get what you need no matter where you find yourself?

Is God not able to make sure that you get what you need, whether you are at this church or another?

Is God not able to make sure that you get what you need, no matter the circumstance you find yourself in?

When we believe the false teaching of "missing out", we are simply reliving the Fall back in Genesis.

The enemy of the soul said to Eve, "Did God really say...?" He was suggesting that God was holding back things from them.

When we believe that we are missing out, we are agreeing that God is holding back from us.

This is not how the Holy Spirit operates. This is not how the Holy Spirit works. The Holy Spirit lives on the inside of us.

There truly is no "missing out" when we truly understand that the Holy Spirit is forever breathing on the inside of us. When I am in relationship with the Holy Spirit, He is forever making sure that the oil is flowing over me and then I am in position for receiving.

It's not about what church you are in!

It's not about who the speaker is!

It's not about what songs are sung!

It's about the connection between the Holy Spirit and us.

Did the blind man miss out? How about the lame man?

When Jesus showed up, the blind man was there ready for encounter.

When Jesus showed up, the lame man was sitting there ready for encounter.

We must understand that Jesus approaches us with healing in His hands. I'm not missing out! You are not missing out!