Tools for the Journey

Getting out of the wilderness would be a desperate situation if we didn't have tools to navigate it. If you were lost in the woods, you would certainly grab a compass, an old fashioned map or a cellphone to phone a friend.

Oddly, when lost in a spiritual wilderness, we don't think of tools for survival. Maybe we fail to pick up our compass, underestimating the direction we could gain from reading the Word of God daily. Maybe we neglect to look at "a map" and fail to examine our situation. An internal assessment of where we are, where we want to be and how to make changes is a valuable tool as well. In a spiritual crisis, picking up the phone to call a friend, a pastor, a hotline is the greatest tool that we underestimate.Humans are funny. Animals will search for clues when they are lost and make it their full-time job to find their way home.

We however, are known to kill ourselves with our own self-reliance.

When Jesus went to the wilderness, the Spirit went in front of him. That means that God goes before you in your life also. God gives us tools to use. God knows that in the wilderness weakens us, so additional help is needed. In the Bible, it said that angels were there to provide for Jesus, woodland creatures arrive to assist! (I love to imagine groundhogs and chipmunks showing up on the scene.)The exit route through the wilderness will be a path where God will provide tools, people, help. Look around, your compass, your map and your angels are nearby.