by Tim Hall

The word "wilderness" brings many images to American minds. Generally it connotes a place of harsh circumstances, a terrain that tests survival skills. For some, the wilderness is a place to be avoided at all costs; they don't want to give up their comforts. Others relish the opportunity to get out and brave the elements.

One man in the Bible didn't fare so well in the wilderness. We read of this nameless individual in Luke 8:26-39. We know nothing of his former life, only that he was possessed by demons who drove him "into the wilderness". After living among the tombs, his appearance and actions frightened people. His was a miserable existence in the wilderness. (Of course, Christ changed all that.)

The book of Numbers in the Old Testament is a record of many who didn't survive. In the Hebrew Bible, its title is "In The Wilderness", taken from the first words of the book. Its account of the first generation of Israelites doesn't have a happy ending. By failing to place their trust completely in the One who wrested their freedom from mighty Egypt, they forfeited their promise of a wonderful new home in Canaan. Here's Paul's summary of that first generation: "But with most of them God was not well pleased, for their bodies were scattered in the wilderness" (1 Corinthians 10:5, NKJV).

Jesus' experience of life on this earth was not exempt from harsh wilderness experiences. Luke 4:1 tells us, "Then Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness." The wilderness, the place where so many before Him had not survived, was a dangerous place even for the Son of God. But as Luke goes on to report, Jesus survived the wilderness. And His conquest carries with it seeds of hope for our own survival.

What enabled Jesus to do what many others didn't is highlighted in Luke's account. When tempted by Satan to compromise His convictions, Jesus responded each time with "It is written" (Luke 4:4,8,12). What did He mean? Simply that mortals must look to God for their survival. If Jesus had reacted on the basis of fleshly passions, He would have changed the stones to bread, or taken the short-cut to power by worshipping the devil. Instead, Jesus looked to God for direction, refusing worldly solutions. The key to wilderness survival according to Jesus is to keep our focus on the One who placed us in the wilderness.

The Hebrew writer exhorts us with these words: "For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the author of their salvation perfect through sufferings. For both He who sanctifies and those who are being sanctified are all of one, for which reason He is not ashamed to call them brethren" (Hebrews 2:10,11).

We who are Christians today are mentioned in that passage: "those who are being sanctified". We struggle to resist the allurements of the flesh. But we have made it our aim to be set apart solely for the use of God. We follow the example of Jesus who was perfectly sanctified, and look to Him for help. By keeping our focus on Him, we will survive this wilderness we call life on earth.

"They wandered in the wilderness in a desolate way; they found no city to dwell in. Hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted in them. Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble, and He delivered them out of their distresses. And He led them forth by the right way, that they might go to a city for habitation. Oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord for His goodness, and for His wonderful works to the children of men!" (Psalm 107:4-8).