Wilderness Wandering is Good

I’ll admit that there was a time when I was a kid that I planned in my head about how I would run away from home.  I don’t really remember why or if there even was a reason.  I just remember lying on my bed dreaming about what would happen if I ventured out on my own.

Often times, it’s much easier to run away from our problems than to deal with. And as hard as it may seem to have this necessary ending, leaving will be the easiest part of this whole process.  One of the things we need to do to get through it, is ask ourselves: do we know what we are running to? Someone wise told me once:

It’s better to run towards something than away from something.

No matter what direction you are heading, you are leaving something behind and moving forward to something else. So what is it that you are moving towards? And what are you really leaving behind?

Without that something in view, we will not know how to react when we experience the mysterious middle, the wilderness.  The wilderness is that place between where you left and the place that you’re going to. The Israelites of the Old Testament experienced this mysterious middle when they happily left Egypt. They were so excited about busting away from this problem.  Their problem was slavery.  Leaving Egypt was the easy part. Getting to the next destination was not so easy.  They did not anticipate the wilderness.

The wilderness was full of hardship, uncertainty, lifestyle changes, and lack of resources.  This freedom they sought for was not full of happiness, pleasure and good times.  They felt abandoned and confused. They found themselves thinking they should have not left Egypt at all. Suddenly, slavery in Egypt was better than the wilderness? Egypt was at least full of certainty.  They were certain on what time they would go to work.  They were certain on what they would experience.  They were certain on what resources would be available. Even though it wasn’t ideal or where they knew they needed to be, it was certain.  The Israelites couldn’t make it because they saw their initial problem as just slavery, rather than not living where God wanted them to be. They were only running away, rather than running towards what God called them to be.

This mysterious middle exists in any adventure or change in life. Being able to make it through the wilderness is the ability to know what you are running to.  It helps you evaluate what you really want and need. It helps you get down to the basics of life.

Whether you are leaving for the right reason or whether you are running away from your problems, know that leaving is the easy part. You’ll be able to make it through the mysterious middle as you keep in mind that what you are running to is better for you than what you had before. Other people might not understand or agree why you would want to experience the mysterious middle, but at least you do. And it’s up to you to live up to that vision. You took the step. Don’t stop in the middle. Keep going. It’s not going to be easier before it gets harder.

Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead,
I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
(Phi 3:13-14 NIV)