Wilderness Places

“Behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak tenderly to her.”

At first glance, the mountains of Colorado are paradise: snowy peaks rising above forests of conifers, crystalline blue lakes tucked into valleys, wildflowers carpeting meadows, and open places with rainbow hues. It isn’t until your boots are crunching across rocks and your breath is a little harder to catch that you start to understand there is something complicated about this undeniable beauty.

Life at an altitude of ten thousand feet is challenging. Spindly evergreens stretching toward the sun are rooted in the precariously thin soil that barely covers rocky mountainsides. Delicate alpine wildflowers survive nightly temperatures hovering near freezing even in July. And those incredible clouds rolling over the peak just yonder can suddenly turn your morning romp through mountain meadows into a mad dash for the trailhead as rumbling thunder warns of life-threatening lightning strikes.

Breathtaking beauty exists—even thrives—amid difficult conditions. I pondered this dichotomy as I hiked, grieving afresh the unfairness of Katrina’s death (dear friend to me, sister to Kendra and Kristin) and the ripple effects her missing presence has caused—some beautifully redemptive and some impossibly hard—in the years she has been gone. My thoughts slipped along as my feet moved, naturally shifting to women I know and their wilderness areas as they wait on God for answers, for clarity, for a miracle.

What do we do with the wilderness places in our lives when it feels like those around us are blessed beyond measure? What do we do with the waiting, the “should haves,” the desperate disappointments, the unfulfilled longing in the face of seemingly unanswered prayer?

Friends, Jesus is with us in the wilderness. I am grateful that he will never leave nor forsake us (see Hebrews 13:5), and today’s verse assures us that he is tender and loving toward us, drawing us near to him. Turn toward him with your heartache and sorrow, your grief and your anger. He can handle your worst parts, so dare to entrust him with your fears, your doubts, your longings. Surrender the illusion of control as you wait on him.

Julie

Today’s Act of Gratitude

Take a walk, just you and Jesus, being honest with him about your wilderness areas and all the accompanying thoughts and emotions.