The Wilderness

A popular cartoon in the early 90's called Duck Tales, had this quote at the beginning of its theme song, "Life is like a hurricane." Interesting how a quote from a kid's TV show could be so profound, but think about it. Doesn't life just feel like that sometimes? There are those beautiful mountaintop moments with a jaw-dropping view and the wind whistling through your sweaty clothes as you take the scenery in, rejoice with friends, or just give a loud, "HUZZAH!" Then, however, you have to eventually get down off that mountaintop and walk into the deep, dark, dirty, buggy, muggy wilderness. Recently I got a chance to meet with some friends at Northern Frontier, a Christian boys camp in the Adirondack Mountains. It was a great time with great people and it was very difficult to leave, but during my time up there I was literally reminded of a spiritual reality called the wilderness.

You see, the Adirondack Mountain area is known very well for its uneasy terrain. There is an excess amount of roots, rocks, massive mud puddles and washed out areas. Even on flat ground! On top of that there are mosquitoes that constantly are hungering for your blood as they land on you, stick that sharp hollow needle in your skin and feast on some of your blood. And don't get me started on those deer flies! They constantly are flying around your head, looking for a place to either roost in your hair or bite your neck. And every time you try and swat them, they escape before you get the chance to make them pay. And on top of that there is NO CELL PHONE SERVICE! So if you slip, fall and get hurt you can't even call 9-1-1. You have to run back to camp, which is usually pretty far, and get help. And if you're off camp grounds then you find the nearest park ranger or something.

For the record, I love it in the Adirondacks with my good friends out there, and miss it dearly, but those conditions are the spiritual reality sometimes.

Sometimes life just gets hard, and you pray asking God that it would just end, but for some strange reason, it just won't end. Maybe you're there right now, whether it's your fault or not. Right now for me...I feel like I'm there. I feel like I'm in that wilderness, dealing with that rocky terrain and swatting at those deer flies and mosquitoes.

It's interesting because in the accounts of Jesus after He was baptized it says that Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness (Matthew 4:1). Now, the wilderness for Jesus wasn't Adirondack Mountain wilderness, but hot, scorching desert wilderness. On top of that, He wasn't eating or drinking anything for 40 days! Even if Survivor Man tried doing that, he'd probably die. But what's interesting is that part that says "the Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness."

So it was God's will for Him to be there? Now granted, Jesus is God, so really it was His will, but it's still interesting that Jesus went there and did that right after He got baptized with the Holy Spirit and water. I bet He didn't even change His clothes!

The wilderness is a common theme in the Bible. Moses ran away into the wilderness, as did Elijah in the Old Testament. John the Baptist was also another example. He lived in the wilderness for probably most of his life just being alone with God and living off the wild before embarking on his ministry. Paul also had a time when he disappeared too right after he met Christ, and he briefly talked about it in Galatians 1:15-17.

So what am I getting at? The point is that God is first of all sovereign. Yes, He is loving and good, but He is also LORD! He can do whatever He wants to whomever He wants and no one, not even Chuck Norris can stop Him (Chuck Norris is a Christian by the way). God is second of all good, and He does at times sovereignly decide to let our lives get totally messed up! He mainly, of course, does this for His own glory because it's all about Him. He does it really to draw us closer to Him and build us up in Him. We could either be knee-deep in mucky sin or living life in the holy fast lane. Sometimes life throws us curveballs, and God lets them come. God does work all things out for our good, but our good isn't necessarily a good that we agree with.

Well that stinks! God lets bad things happen to me for my own good? How is that good? Well first of all, God is the ultimate source of goodness, and because God is the ultimate source of goodness, He wants to draw us closer to Him! I know that through my trials one thing I've been doing a lot of is praying. I'm drawing closer to God. A lot of the Psalms in the Bible were written during times when things were absolutely horrible! Not only that, but when we come out of those hard times, we come out of them stronger and even closer to God than when we started. That's why James calls it "pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of any kind" (1:2).

Right now...I'm here in the wilderness. To bring it personal on my life, I don't know how God is going to provide for me. I'm not even at 5% of my funding goal and I start ministry in less than a month. On top of that, I just found out this past week that I have been diagnosed with minor arthritis in my left knee, which has been quite swollen recently. Right now I'm doing physical therapy and taking anti-inflammatory medication, but this crazy knee is still swollen. Financially speaking, I have no idea how to pay for all this, especially if I have to get surgery or something. With my health insurance I'm still in "deductible mode", which means you have to pay almost the full amount of the cost every time you go to the doctor until you reach a certain amount. I don't have enough money hanging around to pay all that.

So yes, right now I'm praying. If you want...please pray for me too. If you actually feel led to support me, please contact me personally at stimmons86@gmail.com.

I remember a verse that says, "The LORD will fight for you, and you have only to be silent" (Exodus 14:14). Sometimes, all one can do is wait.

God bless you!

Steve

A Bit of an Update...

So first of all, it's been awhile. My mom, who is this blog's number one fan, checks this blog daily and the other day she said to me, "Steve, you haven't written in this in awhile!" So Mom...this one's for you!

Lots has been going on. I went off for training in mid-June for a program called EDGE Corps (Evangelizing, Discipling, Growing, and Experiencing). It's a program with a non-profit organization called The Navigators. Through the program I'll be working at Eastern Connecticut State University (ECSU), a school I recently graduated from, and Manchester Community College (MCC). I'll mostly be at ECSU and I will be working with college students on a small-scale and relational basis. If they're not Christians, my hope is to meet them where they're at in their doubts, fears and struggles and to look at them not as projects, but as people made in the image and likeness of Christ. My hope is to, of course, draw them closer to Christ. If they're Christians, my hope is to encourage them in their faith and to turn them not just into a passive follower who absorbs information, but someone who actively lives it out for the Kingdom.

Since coming back from a ten-day training session there, I have been steadily raising support through meetings with people, phone calls and sending out letters. Above all, I've just been trusting God for provision.

Has it been easy? I'd be totally lying if I said yes, however it has been a fun and interesting growing experience. It's an interesting thing when one jumps out in faith like this. Just think about it...I'm truly relying on God to supply my needs! My salary isn't guaranteed everyday. It's all based on how God moves individual people who partner with me to give joyfully to Him. Then He in turn blesses them and gives to me.

One should always rely on God even if they work a job with a full-blown salary. You don't earn your way, God blesses you with it. Don't just rejoice in your hard work, rejoice in His blessing! My old job was at a pharmacy delivering medications to people. It was only a minimum-wage job that BARELY paid the bills and there were a lot of times when I didn't even know how the next month's wave of expenses would be paid. Then...they were!

Stay tuned for another post coming shortly about some things I've been battling with, and as I preach to myself as a reminder of how God has and will always provide.

I don't normally talk about my life on these things by the way. That's not my style. I mention things and struggles, but the central part of why I write is to edify others with a message, not to just "tell them about me." If I want to just "reflect on me" I'll journal elsewhere or I'll go take a prayer walk or something. I just felt like I needed to say that.

You can donate to my cause, but if you want to know more I'd have to ask you to e-mail me at stimmons86@gmail.com. There I can give you the necessary information.

Thanks and God bless,

Steve