Wilderness 1 – the riskier road
After the heady liberation from Egypt and the glorious triumph at the Red Sea the Israelites set off into the wilderness of Shur. The challenges of the desert seemed to come as a severe shock to them. Overwhelmed by thirst and hunger the people of God lost the plot. The land flowing with milk and honey that God had promised to lead them to didn't seem half as real as the bread of Egypt. Their legitimate human needs, the seeming lack of direction, the unfamiliarity of liberation gave them a new perspective on their slavery. At least in Egypt they had food. Journeying with God appeared to run the risk of famine and death.
To follow Jesus is to become a journeying people. Newly liberated from the slavery of sin we set out on that road towards eternal life. But often our journey is made more difficult by our needs, our confusions and the sheer unfamiliarity of becoming so profoundly dependent on God. These fuel our yearnings for a settled life, and seeming safety.
Wilderness in the Christian tradition has long been understood as a context for spiritual formation. Our reactions to its challenges profoundly affect the kind of people we're becoming. Will we learn to depend on God in ways that run counter to our desire to 'manage life'? Will we abandon the values of the 'civilisation' we know, which might otherwise continue to enslave our emotions, our energy, our aspirations? Will we embrace the daily adventure of learning to listen to him, to do what is right in his sight?
Day by day as God fed the Israelites with manna and quail, the 'daily' bread and meat of the wilderness, he was engaging them in a different way of living, training them in conscious dependence on him. It was a whole lot riskier than the Israelites, and probably we, would really like. But it was the only way to the promised land.
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