Waiting On The Lord (Wilderness Season)

Matthew 4:1 Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit unto the wilderness to be tempted of the devil.

WILDERNESS SEASON: A wilderness season is a make-or-break kind of season. Its purpose is to free you from sin and bondage so you can be transformed into the person God has called you to be. Going into the wilderness or desert is rough and it may seem worse than the place you left.

This is a season of wilderness for a lot of people. For some it's been going on for a while now. Some recognize it and some don't. Those that don't recognize are the ones having the hardest time dealing with it. The wilderness season is not meant to destroy you. It's actually the time that God uses you for His glory. If you don't recognize your wilderness season it will definitely last longer than it should, unless you surrender to God's will. That sounds easier said than done. If you handle it correctly, it can be a season of rest, renewals and reversals in the name of Jesus. At the beginning of 2022 I did a post about this being the year of faith: 2022 - The Year of Faith (Why This Should Be Our Focus) (buildgenwealth100.wixsite.com). This year was going to be a test on families, relationships, marriages, finances and faith. For many it has been just that for one if not all of those things. You are in a wilderness season at a time when the enemy is becoming bolder, more deceiving and more rampant here on this earth. How are we to handle our wilderness season?

I only speak on what I have experience with until the Lord tells me otherwise. I'm still a disciple in training and studying to show myself approved. But when God puts things on my heart I have to speak on them. What I will touch on in this post will consist of things that God has put in my spirit that are confirmed through my Bishop, what I'm led to read in the bible and various YouTube videos that I listen to which I will post later towards the end. As always if something I say hits your spirit a certain way, just pray over it and take it up with God. I'm simply a vessel being used by Him to reach others. First I want to start off with a prayer that I actually wrote the other day after being attacked in my dreams by the enemy to keep me covered while on this journey.

Father God, I come to you Lord recognizing you as my Lord and Saviour. I thank you for dying on the cross for my sins, so I wouldn't have to. Thank you for keeping us in this season. I ask for mercy for not only myself but for my family as well. Continue to keep us covered under Psalms 91. Cover us under your wings. I plead the blood of Jesus over my entire family. No weapon formed against us will prosper. In the name of Jesus, I rebuke any and all attacks the enemy has planned for us. Keep me filled with the Holy Spirit. Strengthen me in areas where I am weak. Help me reject my fleshly desires. I need the Holy Spirit to do your will your way. Forgive me for my disobedience. I repent of my sins. Renew my heart, my mind and my spirit in all things holy. Let the anointing you have bestowed upon me cover me and my family and act as a shield of protection. I surrender to you so that I may stand in the gap for my children and my husband until he is able to do so. I ask you to cover me and my children while we sleep. Protect our dreams so the enemy is blocked from promoting his lies. You are the way the truth and the light. I know that you are fighting our battles and you don't lose. My faith will not waiver in what I know you are doing on our behalf. I trust you and only you for all things. Thank you for your love, your warnings, your mercy and your protection. Amen.

I pray that this prayer has touched the person that reads it. The one thing that you have to understand about being in a wilderness season is that there is work to be done. God gives you instructions. How we handle His instructions can determine how long we are in that wilderness season. Still, everything is done on God's time not ours. You cannot rush your way through it. This season is teaching us to be patient. It's teaching us to be disciplined. Most of all it's teaching us to trust God and his process.

We deal with attacks from an enemy that we can't see, for now. But what if the attacks you are encountering are coming from the enemy you can see, which is YOU. We are our own worst enemy sometimes. We block our blessings without realizing it. When we lean to our own understanding and not God's, we are leaving Him out of the decision making process. While it's hard to do, we should consult Him in EVERYTHING that we need to make a decision on. When we do something that God does not approve of He will destroy it. Point blank. Period. That goes for relationships, cars, jobs, finances, homes, etc. The wilderness season is a test that we should not fail. How do we pass His test?

Psalms 1:1 Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. 2 But his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.

We must be careful of worldly associations in this season. Don't surround yourself with unGodly people, those that use God's name in vain, those whose demonic spirits come alive when they get drunk or use drugs, those that are content with living in sin and those that promote sin and don't recognize God at all. Keep your children away from these people as well. One thing covid taught us was how to be separated from people for a long period of time. You couldn't go to work, parties, get togethers, out to lunch, to the gym, even to church in some areas. It was hard if you love to socialize and be in the midst of everything that's going on. But if you're somewhat of an introvert, it probably didn't bother you as much. It gave some of you a sense of comfort knowing that you and your kids were home, safe from being exposed to any sickness. Did you know that there were a lot of people that received their calling from God from 2019 to 2021? Do you know why? Because they were finally able to hear Him. We get so distracted with our day to day life, we can't hear Him when He's trying to speak to us.

In a wilderness season God will separate you from others. It will feel personal, because IT IS personal. You won't have that desire to be a part of the crowd. God will open your eyes so that you can see a person's spirit. The spirit that is working in you will clash with the spirit working in them if it's not of God. Just like you were comfortable being at home during the plandemic, you will be comfortable being by yourself. As a matter of fact, you will probably prefer it. You're not alone because God is with you. You will be able to hear when the Lord is speaking to you. Your gut feelings are more significant than they ever were because it's coming from a different place. You may not be where you want to be physically, financially or emotionally. In a wilderness season, God is not trying to make you comfortable. He is shaking things up for a reason. But what He does expect from us is to be comfortable where we are, no matter how unpleasing it may feel. DO NOT COMPLAIN unless you want to be in the wilderness a little longer.

Your friends and family will notice a change, probably because you told them. When God is using you for His purpose, let the world know. After all, it's for Him to be glorified. Your friends may want you to come hang out because they haven't seen you in a while, and you'll choose not to. You don't want to invite anyone over to your house because again, you can see spirits now. That person that you thought had a great personality, and is just cool to hang with all of a sudden is dealing with a spirit of jealousy and envy towards you. They only want to hang with you to keep you in a state of deception until they see an opportunity. People will call you wondering what you've been up to because you're not posting your life all over social media. Tell them you're in the wilderness and you don't know when you'll be back. Some people will recognize that God is working on you, and will fall back on their own because they want no part of the new you. That's just God removing people that He knows don't belong in your life.

Keep your associations small to people that bring value to what you are going through. Surround yourself with God fearing people, and someone that can keep you focused on the work you are putting in. Form a circle of people that are going through it just like you for support. Remember outside people will not understand what is happening, and they will try to destroy everything that you are working towards.

Joel 2:12 Therefore also now, saith the Lord, turn ye even to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning: 13 And tend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the Lord your God: for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil.

Fasting is very important. This is an area that I am still trying to improve on with myself. I've heard that you should not fast unless your led. I've also heard the opposite. Here's what I can say. I have been led to fast before from the Holy Spirit when God called on me in November 2020. I did a 3 day juice fast. I don't know if that was what the Lord put in my heart to do. I just know that it worked for me. I kept it and during that time I prayed and read my bible. God gave me a vision in a dream that later came to fruition. I have also fasted without being led by the Holy Spirit. It is a little harder to stick with it, at least for me. So I will do a fast for part of the day and not all day. But in that time period I am praying and reading my bible and spending time with the Lord. I still hear from Him. In the end what works best for me is at least 3 days. I haven't gone longer than 3 days yet but I'm willing to do it if that's what I am led to do.

Fasting is a form or repentance. It teaches us discipline in areas where we normally would have none. We give up food in most instances for a certain number of days or a defined number of hours. You can also give up something that is taking your time away from the Lord, such as television or your cell phone. During the period in which you are fasting you should also be reading your bible and meditating on the Word of God, along with consistent prayer. If you are seeking answers in a particular area of your life fasting can help with that. When you fast you are cleansing your mind, your body and your spirit. We open the door to be able to hear God clearly because there is nothing blocking Him from entering. I have received some of the clearest messages from God when I have fasted. If you are considering fasting pray to God about it, and ask Him what kind of fast you should do.

Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.

The last thing I will say is just go with the flow. God's plans for you were finished before you were even born. Don't fight it. There is a lesson to be learned in this season. If you try to rush through it you might miss it. If you can't handle it, ask God to give you peace that surpasses all understanding. The more you resist the changes that are going on, the worse off you're going to be. God is going to have his way regardless. You can take the narrow path or the wide path. Just remember that the path to God is a narrow one that many will not pursue. There is a light at the end of the tunnel. It's called your blessing. God wants to bless us all, and our blessings are already there but we have to earn it. We have to put in the work. God wants to know that you can handle what He has for you. If you can't He will keep working on you until you can.

When you come out of your wilderness season, give all the glory to God. All of it. He was the one that kept you, covered you, guided you and built you. Without Him you would have been consumed by the fire that surrounded you, bitten by the snakes that were waiting to sink their teeth into you, and drowned by the waters that were up to your neck. We will come out changed, brand new children in Christ. We won't look like what we've been through. We will get double for our trouble. The God we serve is a restorer of all things.

If you feel like this is your wilderness season buckle up. It may be a bumpy ride but God is in the driver's seat. Be encouraged because God is fighting your battles. Learn to recognize the Holy Spirit and follow His instructions. Stay blessed.

The Unapologetic Disciple