In his book, Devotions for the Man in the Mirror, Patrick Morley writes, "God uses Satan for good. Can you believe that? Paul received a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan, to keep him from becoming conceited (see 2 Cor. 12:7)." That was for his good.
"In the name of Christ, Paul instructed the Church to hand a sinner over to Satan (1 Cor. 5:5). Why? So that his sinful nature would be destroyed - for good."
"The Holy Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness to be tempted ." For his good and our good.
He also leads us into the wilderness.
But God is with us in the wilderness as he was with Jesus. He sent his angels to help him and he does that for us.
The people of Israel were in the wilderness for 40 years. Why? Because they wouldn't stop complaining, wanting and blaming. Still, God did not leave them. He stayed with them the whole time.
The wilderness seems to be a place of testing. A testing of one's faith in God. I've been in the wilderness and it is no fun, but I learned a lot. Patrick Morley said his wilderness was a place of, "deepest, darkest agony." That sounds a lot like how my wilderness was.
In my mind I believe the way out of the wilderness is by giving up on yourself and your expectations of what life should be like. It's when you stop fighting for anything and everything and give it all to God. It's when you say to him, "Life isn't what I thought it would be, even my life as a Christian. I give up. I am yours to do with as you want. I give up trying to make things happen, even good things, and lay them at your feet. I want to be open for whatever comes and know you are there with me and that is enough.
