Spiritual Wilderness: Have You Walked Through One? I Want to Interview You
After being prompted by Jane Isley, to interview a fellow Christian for a future story idea, I put on my thinking cap. I agreed that an interview piece would make an interesting essay, so I put together a list of interview questions based on a wilderness theme.
Several people kindly said they were willing to be interviewed, but busy seasons of life made it hard for anyone to follow through. I understand completely, and that experience may become a story of its own someday.
Maybe I am a bit impatient, or maybe I just don’t like to nag people. I am also something of a DIY personality who tends to go it alone, so I decided to get started on my own.
To get the conversation started, I will share the questions here along with some of my own answers. If you would like to be interviewed about your own spiritual wilderness, visit my Medium page and send me a message.
1. Entering the Wilderness
Q. Can you describe a season in your life when you felt as though you were in a proverbial “wilderness” — a place of uncertainty, isolation, loss, waiting, or spiritual struggle? What was happening in your life at that time?
A. Yes, for me the most profound wilderness experience happened during COVID; at a time, I had moved back home with my mother while going through a divorce after a 27+ year marriage, and was quarantined on lockdown along with the rest of the world. I was waiting to see what The Lord had for me next. And I was suffering from the added heartbreak of a couple of friends in recovery who, from my perception, had betrayed me in a way I would rather not explain in greater detail here.
2. Experiencing God in the Wilderness
Q. During that wilderness season, how did you experience God — or, perhaps, how did you struggle to experience Him? Were there particular moments when you sensed His presence, guidance, provision, or silence?
A. Quite literally, it felt like I was taking nature walks with Jesus every single day during that lockdown life. I definitely felt his presence with provision and guidance as he helped me save up money to eventually get my own place, and he guided me through what it means to be healthy and whole with or without another marriage relationship in my life.
3. What the Wilderness Revealed
Q. Looking back, what did your wilderness experience reveal to you about yourself, your faith, and your relationship with God that you might not have discovered under different circumstances?
A. Having the time and quiet environment to grieve, heal, and let go of those I needed to place in God’s loving hands (including myself) was on an incredible level that may not have been possible under any other circumstances. Investing quality time with my mother while her mental and physical capabilities were still as strong and competent as they were at that time, relatively speaking, was also undoubtedly by divine appointment.
4. The Impact on Your Relationship with God
Q. How did going through the wilderness change your relationship with God? Did it affect the way you pray, read Scripture, trust Him, worship, or understand His character?
A. One hundred and fifty-five percent! My relationship had never been as close and intimate with my Jesus prior to that COVID wilderness experience as it is now, as a direct result of that season of isolation and intense recovery. Regarding reading scripture more, that is a big YES as well. Specifically, Philippians 4 has been my life chapter for a long time now to remind me to meditate on whatever things are pure, lovely, noble, and of good report. In recent years, God also gave me an additional life verse so relevant to the approval-seeking little girl in me that I still have not fully outgrown, unfortunately. That verse is Galatians 1:10: Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ.
5. Looking Back from the Other Side
Q. Now that you have some distance from that experience, how do you understand your wilderness season differently? Is there anything you would say to another Christian who is currently walking through their own wilderness?
A. Hindsight truly is 20/20, so looking back on that time now, I tremendously value it as precious quality time with The Lord. At the time it felt like frustration, suffering, and broken-hearted loneliness. But now I know God was faithfully doing a healing, transformational work in my heart. To the fellow Christian who is in a season of waiting or suffering, I want to encourage you with Philippians 1:6: being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.
In conclusion, while seasons in the wilderness often feel lonely, painful, and filled with uncertainty, they are rarely without purpose. When we surrender our timelines to God and allow Him to refine our hearts in the quiet places, our isolation transforms into a sacred space of personal growth and spiritual deepening. Trusting His perfect timing through every valley ultimately reminds us that He is faithfully using every season to shape us for what lies ahead.
Comments