Far from moving in a straight line, faith’s journey climbs mountains, descends into valleys, and at times even reverses course. Which is why we find ourselves traversing a spiritual wilderness more often than we desire. Still, God is able to set a table in the wilderness.
Beset with challenges, our faith wavers when we feel imprisoned by our circumstances and heaven remains silent.
As I spent time with John the Baptist again in my yearly pilgrimage through the bible, God nourished my soul with a startling truth. John was at home in the wilderness, he preached and lived there. God even prepared a table in the wilderness for him, feeding him with locusts and wild honey.
After years of preparation and living all but alone with God in the wilderness, John gained notoriety with his preaching on the coming Messiah. Everyone spoke far and wide about “the Baptizer” and resorted to the wilderness listening for more and getting baptized.
John spoke bluntly, especially to the religious leaders about their sin, and at length his outspoken ways landed him in prison when he condemned Herod for marrying his brother Philip’s wife. (Luke 3:19-20)
In those days prisoners relied on friends and family to visit and bring them food and necessities. Yet we read in Matthew 4:12-16 his cousin, Jesus, the Messiah he preached, left the area after receiving word of John’s imprisonment.
If you check your biblical maps, Jesus headed in the complete opposite direction.
Knowing Jesus left, John must have felt the impact of a spiritual wilderness, unable even to be comforted by his cousin who he believed was the Messiah. After wrestling with his own doubts, he sends messengers to Jesus asking him outright if He is the Messiah.
In many of my own wildernesses, I wrestled with doubts about what I thought I believed about Jesus; wondering like John, where was Jesus?
When the messengers encountered Jesus with John’s question, instead of a simple “yes or no” answer, He tells them to return to John with a list of fulfilled Messianic prophecies from Isaiah 35:5-6, 61:1.
He exhorts them to tell John what they saw and heard: how the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and to the poor the gospel is preached. Of note, Jesus omits “and the captives are set free”, perhaps a cryptic message to John that he will not be released.
But then Jesus says almost as an afterthought, “Blessed is he who is not offended in me.”
The beatitudes were preached previously in the Sermon on the Mount, which John no doubt heard. Now it seems Jesus is sending one last beatitude to put all the pieces together for John.
Radical at their original preaching, the beatitudes called God’s followers to a lifestyle completely contrary to anything the religious leaders taught. A lifestyle which not easily embraced then or now.
Yet this last beatitude would have been a comfort to John, and indeed anyone who suffers as a result of following Christ.
How often have I “been offended” at God’s choices for my life, or the unpleasant results of living for Him?
When choosing to live for Him, I am deserted by family, or suffer other unjust treatment, do I doubt God or become bitter, questioning Him?
While few of us will be thrown into prison for following Christ, we still suffer in other ways. God’s choices for our lives often involve pain, trials and wilderness travels. Yet even there, He sets a table in the wilderness. Though in our despair God seems distant, He is not a God afar off, He does not say, “I know I have been there too”, He says, “I am here too.”
He sets a table in the wilderness with His Presence, and as we wrestle with the reality of the wilderness, we deepen our faith, reaping the blessing of true intimacy and fellowship.
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He does, indeed, set a table in the wilderness – and I am so very glad He is there. As I go through Elijah – and see the similarities between Elijah and John – I am struck by how Elijah’s life ended with mentoring and being captured up, but John’s last days were more brutal, a much harsher wilderness – and so very alone/isolated/imprisoned – yet, unlike Elijah who had a give-up moment, John didn’t. He never let go of God’s job for him. John’s story fills me with such awe at his resilience and courage in his unwavering faith in God being with Him.
Maryleigh, I am blessed by your comments on the comparison between John and Elijah. We know John “represents” Elijah coming before the “day of the Lord”, and while their ministries were similar, they also held contrasts. Indeed, like our own journeys: they are often similar, but different. But God is the same God for each of us, and He is with us in every wilderness we travel, and in the midst of our doubts and failures. Hallelujah, what a Savior!
We indeed have a compassionate God Donna. It’s interesting as God seems to have a theme going I’ve had a few messages on John these past few weeks & again in my own Bible Study this morning & I included him in my post last week. 🤔
You have been in the forefront of my mind as I wrote this week’s post for publishing today dear friend. 😊
Bless you, Jennifer
Jennifer, I noticed the theme! I enjoyed reading your post on John the Baptist, too. It is amazing how a certain theme can pop up for us, especially from familiar passages. Thank you for your kindness and support and thinking about me!
I am so very grateful that at those times I wrestled with questions and felt alone, He provided more of Himself to strengthen my soul and draw me to Himself.
Joanne, we are blessed to have a God so near and so compassionate!
Donna, here we are almost a week after reading this post and I am still thinking about it 🙂 Today as I came back to read it again, the Lord brought this song to mind. I was trying to think of it for days and today, it finally came. It is these lyrics from the song which I realized I wanted to share with you. It is amazing to me how the Lord sets a table for us again and again …
“In a world so unstable, You keep setting a table here
inviting me to rest in Your grace.
To drink of all of Your goodness.”
I have so been blessed all week by your words, sweet friend! Thank you!
Joanne, how kind of you to circle back to this post and leave another comment. God’s words are like that, they stay with us and continue to work deep down, in His own time. Oh what beautiful and perfect lyrics! They go so well with what God is speaking to us through His Word, thank you for sharing them!