Day 41 in the Wilderness: A Reflection

"So the Lord gave to Israel all the land of which He had sworn to give to their fathers, and they took possession of it and dwelt in it. The Lord gave them rest all around, according to all that He had sworn to their fathers. And not a man of all their enemies stood against them; the Lord delivered all their enemies into their hand. Not a word failed of any good thing which the Lord had spoken to the house of Israel. All came to pass.”

‭‭Joshua‬ ‭21:43-45‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

In July, 1969, I watched as Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first men to walk on the moon. Now, the moon is a hostile environment for human beings. So, what made their walk-watched-around-the-world possible, was their space suits.

A proper space suit must provide breathable oxygen along with carbon dioxide elimination. Also, it must control for a stable internal pressure. To maintain a proper temperature, the spacesuit must be extremely well-insulated. In addition to the life-sustaining provisions of the space suit, there is also a communication system and means to capture and contain bodily waste. Additionally, technological advancements have outfitted the space suit with a lot of bells and whistles. But—no matter what else the space suit may accommodate—the main purpose is to allow a person to operate in a hostile environment they could not otherwise survive.

Now, either I’ve suddenly taken on an unexplainable interest in space suits, or I’m heading towards some point germane to our “40 Days in the Wilderness.” Of course, it is the latter.

You see, as I have commented previously in our 40 day journey, this world is a wilderness to us. Whereas the Lord created it for man, giving man dominion over it, through Sin, man lost his ability to righteously rule over a world gone crazy.

But praise be to God, as we discussed a couple of days ago, Jesus Christ came as a man and triumphed over the world, the flesh, and the Devil. By extension, He has afforded us authority over the same enemies. However, in that we still occupy flesh vehicles and live in a fallen world, we are limited in terms of our ability to exercise complete dominance over the powers that be.

The wonderful news is that the work of the Cross and the infilling of the Holy Spirit have provided us with a sort of “space suit” through which we are able to navigate the treacherous evil now at work in the wilderness of this world. Indeed, although the kingdom of God is not currently seen as exercising complete control over the whole world, we are able to be surrounded by God’s rule: a zone of defense against this wilderness until we successfully finish our journey, and are welcomed into the presence of the Lord.

Interestingly, we see that Abraham—although he walked into all that the Lord had promised him—still operated as a stranger and a pilgrim; he was still headed somewhere.

By faith he [Abraham] dwelt in the land of promise as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise; for he waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God.”

‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭11:9-10‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

Indeed, even though we are secure in Christ, we must yet operate knowing that this is not our final place of rest.

“Dear friends, I warn you as “temporary residents and foreigners” to keep away from worldly desires that wage war against your very souls.”

‭‭1 Peter‬ ‭2:11‬ ‭NLT‬‬

In today’s opening scripture we see that the Lord fulfilled His promise to the children of Israel, bringing into their place of rest, those who were obedient to His will.

Just so, we—having been given the hope of Heaven—must walk in obedience to the Lord. Indeed, the Lord has given us all we need to survive this environment that is hostile against the children of God.

And, know this, as He did for the children of Israel, just so, the Lord will lead us to our permanent place of promise: our eternal home!

“Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls filled with the seven last plagues came to me and talked with me, saying, “Come, I will show you the bride, the Lamb’s wife.” And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, having the glory of God. Her light was like a most precious stone, like a jasper stone, clear as crystal.”

‭‭Revelation‬ ‭21:9-11‬ ‭NKJV

#40daysinthewilderness