The wilderness was never the end; it was a path God was leading you through.
Deuteronomy 8:2 (NKJV)
The enemy uses a strategy that is quiet but incredibly effective. He doesn't always attack your faith directly; he tries to convince you that the hard seasons you face are hardships that never end. The enemy might have made it seem like the fasting, the waiting, the stretching you just went through was too tough, especially when you were in the midst of it. And after such a season, it becomes so easy to start believing that the wilderness is where the story ends for you, especially when the breakthrough you prayed for hasn't arrived yet.
But that is not how wilderness seasons work in Scripture. Every wilderness has a boundary, and it is always on the other side of that boundary that the purpose of the wilderness becomes clear. Look at what God says about Israel's forty years in the wilderness.
Deuteronomy 8:2
New King James Version
2 And you shall remember that the Lord your God led you all the way these forty years in the wilderness, to humble you and test you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not.
God did not lead Israel into the wilderness to leave them there. He led them there to humble them, to test them, to know what was in their heart. The Israelites were not going to dwell in the wilderness forever; it was not what God had destined for them, but it was a place of necessary preparation for them for all that the Lord would have them do and for the promised land.
Dear believer, don’t ever think that the problem you’re in right now will remain forever; never let the devil lie to you that this would be a season you would go through for the rest of your life. In the hard seasons, do not forget the promises of God.
Just like the Israelites, Jesus also had his wilderness season.
Luke 4:1, 14
New King James Version
1 Then Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness
14 Then Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and news of Him went out through all the surrounding region.
Jesus, after His wilderness season of fasting, testing, and confrontation with the enemy, came out in the power of the Spirit! After this, news of Him spread around the land. When Jesus went into the wilderness, he wasn’t derailed from his purpose. He wasn’t just there to be hungry and tested by the devil for nothing, but He was being prepared consciously for all that was ahead of Him.
This is the shift you need to make today. You just came through a season of fasting, a hard stretch, a period of waiting on God. The question in front of you is not "when will things go back to normal?" That question keeps you looking backwards, treating the wilderness as the thing to recover from. The real question is, "What is the normal I am walking into now?" Because something was produced in you during that season, whether you have recognized it yet or not. Your character was tested, priorities were repositioned, your capacity was increased, and your sensitivity to hear God was sharpened. These things were never meant to stay in that wilderness; they were meant to walk out with you into what God has next for you.
Israel came out of the wilderness knowing how to trust God for daily bread. Jesus came out of the wilderness having defeated the enemy on the ground of the Word and did ministry explosively. Neither of them came out the same as they went in, and that was entirely the point. You are not the same either.
The fast is over, but that hard season in your life still has a boundary. And you are standing now at the edge of something great, because the wilderness season of prayer has prepared you for what comes next. The wilderness was never the end; it was a path God was leading you through.
Prayer
Father, thank You for what You have completed in me during this season of preparation. I walk forward in the fullness of what You have built in me, and I begin to see breakthroughs and manifestations.
