Navigating the Spiritual Wilderness

“There are 3 C’s in life: CHOICES, CHANCES and CHANGES. You must make a choice to take a chance or your life will never change.”

— Steve Gladen

I went to a café church service recently and was blessed to hear this musical arrangement called the Autumn Thorns. But it wasn’t their distinctive music that most captivated me; it was the haunting realism of a guitarist—barely twenty by the look of him—who spoke of the meaning behind the words of a song called, something like, Show Me the Way Out, Lord. Both of the young men who were playing spoke about the song, but it was the second who spoke about the song reflecting the spiritual wilderness we can find ourselves in. He identified with the idea, and even admitted he was still in his own spiritual wilderness. It was a moment of raw truth as he exposed himself with the emotional maturity of someone at least ten years older.

I was immediately touched by his candour. For a young person to be so publicly gallant was not only a healing thing for him, but in an audience of 60 people there must have been a least another couple of people who would have been struck in a positive way by such a message.

What he was really saying is, there is no shame in being in a spiritual wilderness place.

Views on Spiritual Wilderness

Being in a spiritual wilderness place can be viewed in at least a couple of different ways. It can be seen as a testing ground toward the maturing of us through a difficult season, or it can be seen from another person’s viewpoint as an encouragement for something they are experiencing. The admission of one person’s problem encourages another on their problem.

Being in the spiritual wilderness place is not a bad thing. If it’s us and we are patient we will gain much learning in negotiating the tremulous pathway. We become bigger for it. If it’s somebody else who is to benefit—or if we are that somebody else—then there is glory to God in the highest for having created a sense for community in breaking down the barriers of isolation. The truth is exposed and that’s always a good thing.

Spiritual wilderness places are necessarily isolating. But when we tell on the spiritual wilderness by being honest about it we begin the journey through it.

The less isolated we feel the more we are inspired to make the choice and take a chance to change.

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Admission of our problems before trusted others is our best weapon on the journey to change. See what God does with this bold expression of faith. The only way out is through, and through has its power in being honest from start to finish.

© 2013 S. J. Wickham.