TESTIMONIES of THE WILDERNESS - Powerful

WHITEDOVE wrote-
"Very good point about the desert being able to swallow you
whole if you aren’t clinging to Jesus. My wilderness is 11 years
and counting. The last few months I’ve tried to ‘go to sleep’ and
ignore things, be inactive, and just sit down and play in the dirt
til Jesus comes because I’m tired and sad. But this has only
served to make me more tired and more sad, and very parched.
“She who lives in pleasure is dead while she lives” is what
comes to mind. Thank you for this timely word to warn, but also
to encourage and show that this pain has a great purpose."

SARAH wrote-
"I have been in extreme darkness and earthly loneliness for 19yrs
now. I don`t hope to come out some famous kind of person, but my
hope is that the world around me will know and see Christ in me.
My face is set hard towards Him, because He is my only Hope. He
has been everything to me over these years. My mother, father,
sister,brother, uncle, aunt, grandma, cousin, best friend…..He
has been the anchor of my soul and my Rock who causes me to
be steadfast. I encourage every child of His to begin every day as
if looking from the grave, then we can come to some kind of true
eternal perspective. It`s because of Him that I am able to be more
than a conqueror in this world. Even in this `desert“ His yoke is
easy and His burden is light. It`s the glory and the agony. Amen!"

SIGMUND wrote-
"I was especially encouraged by some of the last words, “hang on
to Jesus. Be active, be praying, be prepared. Don’t become
“passive” and let the desert swallow you whole… Dig down and
plant your feet firmly on the Rock. Humble yourself before the Lord…
cling to Him.”

What I felt this winter (just before leaving “the prophetic
movement” here in Norway) was that a lot of stuff/material under
my feet vanished, and so my feet came to touch the solid ground,
the Rock, Jesus Christ, and I got to experience God’s grace. So
that’s something I can relate to. “Cling to Him” has been some of
the most important Bible words for me even though I can’t seem
to fix it. But it’s true what you just wrote, that our self-reliance
becomes shattered and is to be replaced by a total reliance in
God…"

SERAPHAH wrote-
"While 40 years may be on the long end of the wilderness time
scale, it is certain that it is longer than 6 months. It seems so
many ‘preachers’ (Todd Bentley comes to mind) were barely
’saved’ before they exploded on the scene with their ‘anointing.’
And when these ‘preachers’ get caught in sin, six months to a
year and you can recover from anything from adultery to
homosexuality and be back leading the flock. Is it any wonder
that they are leading people into deception?? How many cults
were started by people who suddenly went from saved to prophet
in six months or less?? And hundreds, maybe even thousands of
people follow them, because they are not rooted and grounded in
the WORD."

THERESE wrote-
"It’s very strengthening to know this is the “normal” experience for
any believer wanting to move on from maturity to holiness, God is
not picking on any of us – in fact the highway of holiness is found
in the wilderness. In answer to the  question, how important is the
wilderness, I would say there is no way around it, some kind of
wilderness is really the cross whereby we are conformed increasingly
into the image of our Saviour as we bear His reproach.

My wilderness began about 23 years ago and seems at different
seasons it has had layer upon layer added to it, wish I could say
I have suffered nobly, but no, I have just suffered as messily as
suffering always is. Lately I’ve been getting somewhat resigned
and it’s worrying me a little whether this is a normal phase or if
I’m getting passive as you mentioned in the article, or maybe
just older! For sure I’m more at rest in the Lord than I’ve ever
been, trusting in His sovereignty, but I’ve experienced the death
of my dreams and visions and am having to encourage myself
that the Lord will resurrect what is of Him. How I pray for all the
precious believers here, that the Lord will uphold, encourage and
strengthen and be near to all who are suffering according to His
perfect will…may the Lord bless you all!"

LUCILLE wrote-
"Yes, 'tis true, when God gives a vision, He will take a saint
through the three stages of it: birth, death and supernatural
fulfillment. Abram, Joseph, Moses, even the apostles had to
go through the stages. To me, the problem seems to be
the waiting, not knowing when.

Abram did not know he had to wait 25 years for the son of promise
– Isaac; Joseph did not know he would go into a pit, prison, before
his dreams realized, let alone see his father again after 22 years in
Egypt. Even the apostles did not know if Jesus would resurrect,
even though He told them that He would. They could not see the
Messiah dying. Most of the O.T. prophets portrayed the Messiah
in his glory. They could not see the church. She was hidden.

I guess faith is the key. “Without faith, it is impossible to please
him; ..”(Hebrews 11:6) Even the apostle Paul was in the desert/
wilderness of Arabia for 3 years, God straightening out his
theology. “…but I went into Arabia, and returned again unto
Damascus.” (Galatians 1:17) Christ was tested in the wilderness.
All the while we are waiting for God, Satan will try to get us to
fulfill the vision with human effort. Prime example: Hagar, the
Egyptian maid bore Ishmael. But the wilderness is a lonely
place. I can attest."

TENNEY wrote-
"In this American culture of youth, the maturation process and
the years required for the growth of wisdom is often disparaged.
People do not want to wait, and they fear old age. But God used
Moses when he was 80 to lead a congregation of over 3 million;
God used Caleb at 80 to conquer the Promised Land. Others were
mightily used of God in older ages, so we can see that waiting
in the wilderness brings increase in many areas, including
patience, wisdom, longsuffering, endurance, and humility. Now
that I’m 70, having spent years in the  desert, literally taking care
of cows and sheep, God is allowing me to travel and minister in
foreign lands, in ways I’d often dreamed about, but was not free
to follow. He knows our days, He is our strength, and the time
in the wilderness is important for our eventual testimony. Thanks...
for the words of encouragement."

-You can read more of these testimonies at our website below.
Also, please comment yourself if you can. Here is the link-

http://www.johnthebaptisttv.com/


God bless you all.