Purpose Of The Wilderness Experience {& Why It Matters?}

If you are wondering why you are going through a wilderness experience in your life, then this post on the purpose of the wilderness experience in the bible will be of great help to you.

It’s easy to begin to question and doubt God’s ways and wisdom if you are going through a wilderness season when our Lord Jesus Christ promised us abundant life in John 10:10b in the new testament.

You need to understand that God permits us to experience the wilderness experience for various reasons we are going to discuss below just as we see in the case of the children of Israel in the Old Testament when they left Egypt for the Promised Land.

Therefore, if you are experiencing a wilderness season in any area of your life, don’t despair as God is preparing you for the best He has to offer as the wilderness experience comes first before the promised land.

With that said let’s look at the purpose of the wilderness experience in the bible and why God first allows us to be in the wilderness before entering the promised land.

What Is The Wilderness Experience?

The Wilderness Experience is a test and training ground that God gives to each of us to help us grow and mature spiritually. It’s also a season that not only tests your faith but also tests your patience, perseverance, and determination to serve God.

In the Old Testament, God used a wilderness experience to teach His people the Israelites in this case about the character and nature of God. He called them to leave Egypt and go into the wilderness for 40 years.

Their purpose was not to die but rather to be changed so they could return with a changed heart, mind, and behavior to ready them for the Promised Land (Deuteronomy 5:15-18).

In like manner, God uses the wilderness experiences in your life so that you can mature spiritually by knowing more about Him and to prepare you to enter the spiritual Canaan in heaven when you die.

The Main Purpose Of The Wilderness.

God permits Christians and believers to experience the wilderness season for many reasons some of which are revealed in the bible especially in the Old Testament in the case of the children of Israel as we see in Exodus 13:18.

Although the children of Israel left Egypt for the Promised Land in the Land of Canaan flowing with milk and honey, they weren’t quite ready yet to enter it.

So, God in His own wisdom had to first allow them to be in the wilderness before entering the promised land where there were to be prepared and refined by trials in there.

The children of Israel have been free from the Bondage of Egypt but they were still in spiritual bondage with remnants of Idol worshipping that had to be dealt with.

1. The Wilderness Is A Place Of Testing.

God allows us to experience the wilderness season in our lives as believers to test our faith to see if it’s real or not. The wilderness is a place where your faith is comprehensively tested and proven with various trials.

As we see in the case of the Israelites, their faith in God was tested and sadly only a few passed the test as many fell into worshipping idols, murmuring, and complaining against Moses and God as we see in Exodus 16:1-16. Hence, they perished in the wilderness.

Many of the Israelites in the wilderness at that time began to think that they were better off in the Land of Egypt where they had onion forgetting that what was ahead of them is far better than what they left in Egypt.

Sadly, this is the case with many Christians today who are experiencing the wilderness season and are thinking that they were better off in their old life of sin when things were at ease.

Now that they have become a believer and are now experiencing trials of faith in the wilderness season, most resort to complaining and thinking being a Christian isn’t worth it just as the Israelites did.

For this reason, most never entered the Promised Land apart from Joshua and Caleb as they failed the test with their idol worshipping, murmurings, and complaints despite the many miracles God had done for them there.

You need to understand that to be in the Promised Land flowing with milk and honey where abundant blessings of all kinds flourish, you need to pass the tests found in the wilderness.

Also Read: 12 Sure Signs God Is Testing You (For Greater Blessings).

2. The Wilderness Is A Place Of Preparation.

Another reason why God lets you go through the wilderness season is to prepare you for the best and greatest blessings He has in store for you in the Promised Land.

The Promised Land in this case in your life represents a place in your life filled with abundant blessings of all kinds be it spiritual financial, marital, etc. it’s a place of plenty, joy, happiness, contentment, and abundance.

In the case of the Israelites, as we see in Exodus 15:22-26, God let them go through the wilderness journey so that they can be prepared to receive the blessing He had in store for them in the Promised Land so that they don’t take them for granted.

You need to understand that whenever God is preparing you for something better, He will always allow you to first go through some sort of wilderness experience in your Christian life as a believer.

This could be delays in breakthroughs in the area of finances, ministry, seasons of trials of faith, hardships, suffering, lack, joblessness, etc. that prepare you for the great blessings God is about to unfold in your life.

So if you are having a desert experience in your life, hang in there and don’t give up as that season won’t last. Before long, you will be in the Promised Land full of blessings of all kinds and abundance if you pass the wilderness experience test.

Also Read: 12 Clear Signs God Is Pushing You Into Something Better.

3. The Wilderness Is A Place Of Separation.

God also allows us to go through a desert experience or wilderness season in our lives to separate us unto Himself so that we can fully focus and concentrate on Him only.

This can also be seen in the case of our Lord Jesus Christ in Matthews 4:1-11 where He fasted 40 days and forty nights in the desert where He was alone praying to the Father after being led by the Holy Spirit there.

It was the time Jesus Christ fully consecrated Himself to God without any distractions. We also see that God separated the Israelites from Egypt into the desert wilderness so that the influence of Egypt does not affect their devotion to Him.

All of a sudden, the uncertainties Israelites found themselves facing in the wilderness created a dire need in them to focus and fully depend upon God. It was the place they were to fully understand that God is their provider and deliverer.

The same applies to you as a believer who may be experiencing some sort of spiritual wilderness in your life where you see the need for God in your life for deliverance.

It’s during the wilderness experience in our lives God truly reveals Himself. In the wilderness darkness, the Lord becomes your light. In the maze of confusion and uncertainty, you learn to trust God as your guide (Psalms 37:23,24).

Also in the wilderness, God separates us from evil worldly influences so that they don’t affect our relationship with Him as we see in the case of the Israelites who were made to leave Egypt to serve God in the wilderness undistracted.

4. The Wilderness Is The Place Of Spiritual Growth.

Sometimes, the Lord will let you go through the wilderness period in your Christian life as a believer so that you can grow and mature spiritually in the knowledge and things of the Lord.

It’s in the wilderness where our spiritual muscles are flexed as the wilderness season acts as a spiritual gym that enables our spiritual muscles and knowledge in the Lord to grow in a way that wouldn’t be possible if we were never in the spiritual wilderness.

The apostle Paul tells us in Romans 5:1-11 that we must rejoice in our suffering, hardships, and trials of faith we go through during the wilderness season as they help us develop our character and have a stronger relationship with God.

This can be seen in the case of the Children of Israel in the desert wilderness where they grew spiritually and witnessed the goodness of the Lord there via the many miracles God did for them as we see in Exodus 14:12-14.

As a result, of the goodness of the Lord they experience in the wilderness, they learned to appreciate God’s goodness more and their knowledge of who the Lord was to them and His wondrous work increased exponentially.

If they hadn’t gone through the wilderness all the miracles and the goodness of the Lord they witnessed there such as manna falling from heaven, water being provided from the rock, etc. would have been unknown to them.

Consequently, they would have little knowledge of what the Lord can do for them and His goodness. In like manner, God lets you experience the wilderness so that you can know Him more and grow spiritually.

5. To Prepares You For A Spiritual Canaan.

Last but not least, perhaps the most important reason for the wilderness experience in the life of every true Christian and believer in Christ Jesus is to prepare them for a spiritual Canaan.

As believers, we need to understand that this world is a wilderness and not our home. It is why we will experience many hardships, persecutions, and suffering for Christ’s sake as we are being prepared for our spiritually promised land, which is heaven.

The apostle Paul wonderfully encourages us in Romans 8:18 that all our present suffering, afflictions, and difficult times we go through as believers in this present evil world cannot be compared to the glory that will be revealed to us in heaven.

So, if you are a person who’s suffering for Christ’s sake, don’t despair and quit your Christian faith like most have as great will your reward be in heaven when you finally enter there. Won’t that be beautiful?

What the Israelites experienced in the wilderness in the Old Testament is also a symbolic representation of what all heavenly-bound truly born-again Christians will have to go through before entering their spiritual Canaan, heaven.

It’s why Acts 14:22 tells us that through many trials and tribulations we must enter God’s kingdom that’s full of everlasting joy, happiness, and bliss without any suffering and death we see in this fallen world we live in.

Also Read: How To Get To Heaven According To The Bible [+Sermon].

Conclusion.

I hope the above 5 reasons on the purpose of the wilderness experience in the bible have finally made you understand why wilderness experiences are mandatory in your Christian life as a heaven-bound true believer. In closing, if this post edified you, let me know in the comments below, and don’t forget to share before you leave.

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• 7 Major Reasons Why God Allows Delays {In Our Lives.}
• 5+ Major Reasons Why God Allowed Job To Be Tested.
• 10 Reasons Why God Allows Rejection? [+ Animation].

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