Welcome to another day the Lord has made that we should rejoice and be glad in. (Psalms 118:24)

Today we’ll pivot from remembering what our Lord and Savior said, to how the Lord God has led.

Today’s scripture, Deuteronomy 8:1‭-‬2
(NLT) says…
“Be careful to obey all the commands I am giving you today. Then you will live and multiply, and you will enter and occupy the land the Lord swore to give your ancestors. Remember how the Lord your God led you through the wilderness for these forty years, humbling you and testing you to prove your character, and to find out whether or not you would obey his commands.

Consider…
Today’s scripture is fascinating to me. It fascinates me because the Lord tells His chosen people to obey His commands, and then reminds them how He led them through the wilderness for forty years.

That’s significant because knowing Israel’s history, we know it means that in our wildernesses…

• God is with us no matter how long it takes
• God is leading us inspite of our ingratitude and mistakes
• God is developing our complete trust and dependence on Him

The scripture is also fascinating because God discloses why He led His chosen people, which was to humble, test and prove their character of obedience. God’s leading in the wilderness seems to always be preparation for what He has next for us…

• God led Moses in shepherding stubborn, wandering, impetuous sheep for forty years, in preparation for him leading the Children of Israel.
• God led David to defend his sheep from a lion and a bear in preparation for defending the Children of Israel from Goliath and the Philistines.
• The Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness to be tempted to look out for himself in preparation for resisting the temptation to save himself from the unjust propitionary death of the cross.

It’s clear to me that in order for us to embrace what God has planned for us, He may need to lead us through some wilderness moments for preparation.

Wilderness led preparation is where we realize our issues and discover God’s grace and perfecting strength. We learn that God’s careful handling of our thorny character is part of His growing us to become the beautiful fragrant roses that He pre-planned us to be, to glorify Him and bless others.

This makes me think of the Apostle Paul who testified…
And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure. For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me. And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. – 2 Corinthians 12:7‭-‬9 KJV

Isn’t it intriguing that Paul, who wrote over half of the New Testament, was given a thorn, to grow his total dependence on the Lord. So that being led by God would become his way of life. Perhaps that’s why he wrote…
So I tell you, live the way the Spirit leads you. Then you will not do the evil things your sinful self wants. – Galatians 5:16 ERV

Speaking of Paul and preparation, I am reminded of what Jesus told Ananias when he instructed him to lay hands on Paul to inaugurate his service. Scripture says…
But the Lord Jesus said to Ananias, “Go! I have chosen Saul for an important work. I want him to tell other nations, their rulers, and the people of Israel about me. I will show him all that he must suffer for me.” – Acts 9:15‭-‬16 ERV

If you follow Paul’s story, you know that he suffered greatly for the gospel. And when you read Paul’s Damascus road wilderness moment, you see how Jesus blinding him was preparing him to rely totally on God to be led into His marvelous light. It was in Paul’s total reliance on Jesus in the midst of darkness, that he would be prepared for complete reliance on God’s spiritual vision to help the universal church see the love and grace of God revealed in Jesus Christ in the midst of it’s darkness. (Galatians 1:15-16)

This shows us that being led by God helps us first see Jesus for ourselves, in order for us to show Him forever to everyone He leads us to encounter.

The Holy Spirit bears witness to my understanding with 1 Peter 2:9 (ERV), which says…
But you are his chosen people, the King’s priests. You are a holy nation, people who belong to God. He chose you to tell about the wonderful things he has done. He brought you out of the darkness of sin into his wonderful light.

Do you see it? God prepares us to tell of His wonders, by leading us out of darkness into His wonderful light. God wants to be the soul subject of our ‘show and tell’, to fellow sinners in need of the same Savior.

So the next time you reflect on tragic or difficult moments in your life, remember that they were wilderness led moments with God. Recognize, it’s in those moments that you experienced His sufficient grace and perfecting strength. Understand, that God doesn’t waste any moments, and that every moment is simply preparation for the next moment He has planned for you.

The scripture the Holy Spirit gave me to confirm my understanding is Ephesians 2:10 (ERV), which says…
God has made us what we are. In Christ Jesus, God made us new people so that we would spend our lives doing the good things he had already planned for us to do.

This means God leads us through the wilderness of who we are, to help us become the do-gooders He pre-planned us to be.

Lastly, the Holy Spirit just dropped in my spirit that God’s wilderness led moments in life are meant to inspire and develop our worship led way of life. Rather than a confirmation scripture, He gave me a spiritual melody that says…

give me one pure and holy passion
give me one magnificent obsession
give me one glorious ambition for my life to know and follow hard after you
to know and follow hard after you
(to know and follow hard after you)
to work as your disciple in your truth
this world is empty pale and poor compare to knowing you my Lord,
lead me on I will run after you.
lead me on I will run after you

When we remember how the Lord has led us, we’ll be more inclined to let Him lead us.

Today, take a moment to reflect on a time when the Lord led you through something, that you later realized was preparation for something else.

Trust God’s leadership, past present and future, because it’s all preparing you to become who He pre-planned you to be before you were born.

Today’s song is…
He’s Preparing Me

Blessings 4HG (1 Corinthians 10:31)