He will walk you through your wilderness!!

This past year has been one of the hardest and most challenging years of my life. I have had huge changes happen this year, none of which I have requested.  Here in a nutshell has been my year. 

I had an unexpected break up.  One of my closest friends, who wore many hats in our relationship such as mother, friend, confidant, colleague and Jesus friend, passed away, very unexpectedly.  I have lost my passion for a career that I have been very blessed to be successful in.  I have had medical issues, and recently, as in two months ago, was diagnosed with MS. 

As you can tell, 2014, has not been my best year, but if I am going to tell you all the bad things, I must tell you all the good things.

My break up has landed me right on my knees and facing God.  My break up has showed me that God has a plan for my life, and has drawn me closer to God than I have ever been before.  My break up has given me a purpose, where before I did not have one.

The passing of my dear, sweet friend, while this one is hard to find a positive in, I know that she is with Jesus and is telling jokes and decorating heaven.  My heart is at peace and my sadness is comforted in knowing I will absolutely see her again. I also have learned that I relied on her heavily in times when I should have been going to God.

While my passion for my job has been weaning, my ability to do my job hasn’t changed, and I thank God that He is still blessing me through my job.  I know and am accepting that I will not be at this job for the rest of my life, because God is opening other doors for me, He is giving me people there to help, in the meantime.  He is showing me ways to share Him with my co-workers, and seeing the many blessings in those moments.

My health, like my friends passing, I am still trying to peel back the layers of this onion.  I do know one thing, My God is a good God.  My God has brought me this far and I know that He will not forsake me and leave me alone.  I also believe, truly from the deepest part of me, He will take care of this disease, and I will either be healed completely or it will be in a remission state.  I know that this MS will not stop God from working in my life, and in the lives of others.

I would think by this time you are wondering why I just went on a rant about my life.  And the reason would be Mark 1:12-13.

Immediately the (Holy) Spirit (from within) drove Him out into the wilderness (desert).  (13) And He stayed in the wilderness (desert) forty days, being tempted (all the while) by satan; and He was with the wild beasts, and the angels ministered to Him (continually).

I knew there was a call on my life for the last three years, if I am being honest, but I never did anything to understand it.  I never prayed about it, never sat in God’s presence and asked about it, nope, I just went along my way.  

As we all know when God wants to do something in your life, He is going to give you only so much time before He makes you surrender.  He will do something, anything to get your attention, and that’s exactly what He did in my life.

I had decided at the end of 2013, in December, that I was going to really dive into this God thing.  I was going to give Jesus more attention in my life, and really try to understand what He was doing in me and around me.  This actually, as odd as it will sound, was inspired from my relationship at the time.  

His family is very connected to God, and their church, and I wanted what they had, and decided I am going to try and get it.

Around this time is when I noticed things, big things, like the things I have mentioned starting to happen.  Changes in me and around me were starting to take place and I didn’t understand at all what was going on. 

God had me doing things, saying things and reading things I never thought I’d do, say or read, and also was not allowing me to do things, read things, say things and watch things. 

I was changing… and quickly I might add.

So when reading Mark 1:12-13 tonight, I thought, this is me!  This is my life.  Just as Jesus had just been baptized in the Holy Spirit by John the Baptist, and was committing His life publicly to God, He is quickly sent into one of the fights of His life.

He was sent into the wilderness, where I have been for the last year, and I am sure some of you have either been, are there now, or will be in the future.   I am sure some of you thought, well I am going to go deeper into this being a Christian thing and deepen my relationship with Jesus and my life should be so much better for it…

WRONG… Well kind of wrong, not completely wrong, but about half wrong.

Being a Christian, and having a deeper relationship with Jesus, isn’t as easy as you think it’s going to be, and why is that?   Because you have to be cleanse of you first.

When you commit yourself to a deeper relationship with God, He is not going to allow you to be the same person that you were when you entered into the relationship, He’s going to change you, and it’s going to hurt!

Now, that’s the truth!  It will hurt! 

But all the work, the tears, the changing and the healing will bring you out on the other side, out of the wilderness of tears, work, lack of sleep, healing and changing, a new person, a changed person, a person ready and able to help other people.

You see, I have found that the reason why I am losing my passion for my job, the only job I’ve ever wanted to do, is because Jesus has given me a new assignment.  He is preparing me for another calling, and the dissatisfying feeling with my job, is God changing my desires. 

He’s preparing me for the promotion.

We have to fight, war and fight some more, when we are in the wilderness times of our lives, but the peace that should be there, is that Jesus not only has done this and succeeded, but He is doing it with you again, right now. 

He is directing your steps through your wilderness, which by the way, doesn’t have to look anything like mine.  Your wilderness will be tailored just for your needs and for the work that God is calling you to do.

In verse thirteen we see that Jesus battled with satan, but was also being ministered to by the Angels.  This is very much like our lives.  We have horrible, life changing things happen in our lives, that we don’t expect or prepare for, but in the same time and space, God is doing a new thing.   He is sending the Angels to minister to you.  To keep you confident in what He is doing and the changes that are happening.

You see God will not strip you clean of yourself overnight, He is a gentleman, and will do it bite by bite.  He will ease you into the changes, so that the pain is less severe and at the same time, He will show you His goodness and mercy.  He will share Himself with you in ways that you have never imagined and they will get you through to the next moment.

The Grace of God not only saves you from Hell and destruction, but it holds your hand while you are in the wilderness of your life.

Mark 1:12-13 should give us hope, that if Jesus could do it, and He did, and come out victorious, than so can we!  Jesus conquered His wilderness, and with His help we can conquer ours. 

We can come out of a bad year, a bad month or a bad season and know that the Angels will be there to minister to us continually!!