But, God, This Isn’t a Garden! Victory

Wilderness and victory? Maybe these two words don’t naturally connect in our minds, but then again neither do wilderness and garden.  

The last several months, I’ve welcomed you into my mind wanderings on the wilderness and the invaluable lessons that become woven into our souls there. Dependency, intimacy, and identity; lessons that are hard-learned and rarely truly acquired any other way—which is precisely why the wilderness is an ideal garden for our lives. And also why the wilderness is the place of victory. 

Let’s take a look at Jesus’s example. After being baptized, the Holy Spirit (note, NOT the devil) drove Him into the wilderness. Was the enemy there, waiting? Yep. Was He tempted? Of course! Actually, if you go to my podcast and listen to the thorns and thistles series, I cover how the temptations presented in the gospels directly reflect where Adam and Eve fell in the garden (see? Wilderness and garden connection again) and how Jesus stood in victory through this crazy intense experience. 

While Jesus modeled specific temptation overcoming strategies like leaning into the Holy Spirit and standing firm on Scripture and declaring its truths, I propose that the life-forging lessons from the wilderness are the victory. It’s when we fully comprehend that we are completely dependent upon Jesus, hidden in Him as son or daughter of God to the point where we can become a living revelation and demonstration of that truth that we truly live in His victory. Note: The victory IS GOD’S. This going directly back to point #1: dependency.  

In and of ourselves, we are completely unable to have victory over our flesh. Can we create behavior modification programs and see some improvements? Absolutely! But trust me, the behavioral improvements and inner wholeness gained through our own efforts fall WAY SHORT of the ABUNDANT LIFE and FREEDOM found in the victory of Christ. (Trust me, I’ve tried. Lots.) It’s when we get revelation from the Holy Spirit, when we learn to truly lean into His grace so we breathe it in and breathe it out that we become transformed—radically transformed. And it’s when we are radically transformed that we experience and model the victory we have through the cross.  

Is the wilderness a place of comfort? Hmm…I don’t think I would describe it that way. But I’ve found in my life that when I’m comfortable, I get complacent, and when I’m complacent, the slippery slide into the flesh happens so fast, I’m in a place I never thought I’d be before I even realized I was on my way there. It’s scary. Scary enough to realize the ongoing, moment-by-moment need to recognize my complete and utter dependence upon Him.  

So does comfortable feel good? Sure. It’s part of the seductive trap. But we need to be willing to get uncomfortable in the wilderness so we can live in greater measures of His victory. Otherwise, how will anyone ever get a glimpse of how awesome and amazing He is? The gains found in the wilderness far outweigh any momentary discomforts from our flesh-dying process. The freedom and wholeness and glory found when we truly learn to live in Christ’s victory are worth every moment in the wilderness. And what truly make the wilderness a garden.