The Masterpiece of the Wilderness
One of the main purposes of the wilderness is to bring about a paradigm shift in our thinking. Before the wilderness we are in control of our own life. We basically live our life and we do good things as a Christian, but Christ is not the Sovereign Lord over our life. After the wilderness we are absolutely dependent upon Jesus. We are simply and purely, not our own. He is the Sovereign Lord over our lives. We do as He wills. Even if our will may assert itself for a moment, our mind is renewed to the point where we can still discern His will and therefore walk in it. This is the renewing of our minds, which is the paradigm shift.
Also, during the wilderness, our dividedness or fragmentation comes together. It is actually through external fragmentation, when our life begins to fall apart, that our internal fragmentation is revealed. Therefore it is a good thing when we “fall apart,” because then the Lord can begin to piece us back together as a new creation “in Him.” We will be pieced together by His voice speaking truth and light to our broken identities. Broken because they were formed in a broken world and had words spoken into them by “broken people.” Therefore, healing occurs through the process of the Living Word being spoken into our depths, revealing in true reality who we are and who we were created to be.
The wilderness is actually a masterpiece in design!
©2005 Masterpiece of the Wilderness, Deanna Deering
I am in the middle of your book right now. It is encouraging to see in print what the wilderness is like and for! Many people try to avoid the wilderness or falsely think what they are going thru is the wilderness, but until our fully submitted spirits are laid bare we miss out. To be honest, I never thought I would come across a community that has this thinking from the top as ‘normal’. 90% plus I have talked to about the wilderness have no idea what I am getting at! Thank the Lord for putting these words together to fill in some of these huge gaps! At least now I can use the word ‘mysterious’ a little less in 2014!!! We definitely will be coming from Warsaw for a visit. Be blessed in Him! Jeff