Wilderness Season Series

Psalm 13 captures David’s deep despondency and his struggle with God’s silence during a challenging period in the wilderness. This heartfelt lament reflects a profound sense of abandonment and a desperate plea for God’s intervention. David openly questions how long God will hide His face and whether he has been forgotten. Yet, by the end of the psalm, the tone shifts dramatically—despair gives way to trust and rejoicing as David affirms God’s unfailing love and looks forward to deliverance.

I want to reflect on a similar spiritual season in our lives—a time I’ll call the "Wilderness Experience," much like what David endured. It is a unique season of spiritual warfare that tests our faith and shapes our journey.

The wilderness is often a place of despair, where life feels dry, barren, and unfruitful. It’s a season marked by discouragement, much like the Israelites wandering aimlessly, going in circles, producing nothing. During my own wilderness season, I felt distant from the Lord—hidden, judged, and forgotten. I questioned if He cared, as everything around me seemed empty. In the wilderness, it’s hard to see any good. The wilderness is, above all, a time of waiting. And waiting—how unwelcome that word is. I’ve yet to meet anyone who enjoys waiting.

Waiting tests us. The longer it lasts, the more our hopes rise and fall, sometimes shattering over and over again. Heartsickness becomes a constant companion. We don’t know what God is doing. We can’t see the bigger picture. All we can do is wait for His timing, with no control over what’s ahead. Life feels like it’s on hold, stuck in a monotonous loop of uncertainty. I often entered these days with little expectation, feeling as though the world was moving forward while I remained stalled and stranded, longing for the wait to end so life could begin anew.

Yet, it’s in these seasons of waiting that God does His most profound work. Waiting is painful, lonely, and often invisible to others. No one sees the ache of unfulfilled desires, the quiet tears shed in the solitude of our wilderness, or hears the prayers we whisper in desperation. But God is working, even when we can’t see it. Especially in the wilderness, He is molding us, shaping us, and teaching us lessons we couldn’t learn anywhere else.

The wilderness tethers our hearts to Jesus in ways that self-reliance never could. It strips away our independence, forcing us to depend on Him completely. Though it’s hard to recognize in the moment, there is purpose in the wilderness. God uses these seasons to draw us closer, to refine us, and to lay a foundation of trust and hope. The hope that sustains us through the wilderness reminds us that God is present, even in the waiting, doing some of His most transformative work.

Why is waiting so difficult? Why do we resist it with every ounce of our being? And more importantly, how can we wait well during wilderness seasons in our lives?

1. What is a Spiritual Wilderness?

A spiritual wilderness is a season of life where we struggle to fully understand what God is doing. It’s a time when:

God leads us in a direction that feels unclear or uncertain.

His voice seems silent, and His presence feels distant.

We are left grappling with unanswered questions, feeling as though God is far away.

In moments like these, we echo the cry of the psalmist in Psalm 13:1-2:

"How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will You hide Your face from me? How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and day after day have sorrow in my heart? How long will my enemy triumph over me?"

Similarly, Job wrestled with God’s seeming absence, as described in Job 23:8-9:

"Behold, I go forward, but He is not there; and backward, but I cannot perceive Him. On the left hand, where He is working, I do not see Him; He hides Himself on the right hand, so I cannot see Him."

The spiritual wilderness is never easy, but it is a profound part of our journey of faith. It challenges us to trust in God even when we cannot see or understand His plans, teaching us to wait with patience and hope.

2) Dangers in the Wilderness

In this section, I want to highlight potential dangers we may face if we are not vigilant.

The wilderness is a season where the enemy often seeks to distract us from God's plan. During this time, Satan may try to plant thoughts that lead us to doubt or oppose God's purpose for our lives. When we feel rejected or abandoned—even by God—it becomes easy to fall into these traps.

Here are some common ways the enemy influences our thoughts during these challenging periods:

We grow impatient and lose the resolve to follow God's direction.