Into The Wilderness
This week we read about John the Baptist and the baptism of Jesus. The extent to which John was in tune with the Spirit is evidenced by the fact that he immediately recognized the Savior as the Lamb of God. Then after the baptism, he saw the Holy Ghost, “a bodily shape,” descend upon Jesus like a dove. It is not clear that anyone but John witnessed these spiritual manifestations.
The accounts that described John mentioned his dress and diet, indicating that he lived in the wilderness. As an adult, John lived a rugged life in the mountainous area of Judea, between the city of Jerusalem and the Dead Sea. These facts fulfill the prophecies: “The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.”
After Jesus was baptized, “immediately the Spirit driveth him into the wilderness. And he was there in the wilderness forty days, tempted of Satan; and was with the wild beasts; and the angels ministered unto him.” This 40-day trial spiritually prepared the Savior for his upcoming ministry and mission.
This idea of being in the wilderness struck me as a pattern used by the Lord to prepare people for events to come. The children of Israel traveled in the wilderness for 40 years to overcome the past and prepare generations to keep the covenant of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Before that, Moses was in the wilderness when he saw the burning bush. Elijah was living in a cave when he heard the “still, small voice” of the spirit that sent him on a mission. These are just a few examples of stories about spiritual preparation in the wilderness.
Other cultures have similar traditions of going into the wilderness as rites of passage or spiritual quests. In Australia, the aboriginal people go on walkabouts to remind themselves of the past and to learn to live in the wild. Native American cultures include vision quests which include fasting and praying in an attempt to see or communicate with a guardian spirit. In each case, these practices help prepare the individual for the future.
These intense wilderness experiences intentionally push people to their physical and spiritual limits. Usually, people who push the boundaries of their abilities find that they are capable of more than they expected, and they can be life-changing.
Life-changing events usually come by accident. Witnessing or experiencing something extraordinary can change the way we think about things. Near-fatal accidents or illness makes us reconsider how we live and alters our priorities.
However, the experiences I described earlier are no accidents or serendipitous events; they are voluntary and intentional. All of us need life changes. Rather than waiting for an accident or illness to change us, why not choose to have a wilderness experience? This does not mean you must go into the desert and eat locusts and wild honey while wearing camel hair clothing and a leather loincloth. Maybe engage in an extended fast and intense prayer. Or you could do the above and include a full day or two in the temple. The idea is to do something challenging to push you to your limits.
The wilderness is a place where you can experience solitude and where distractions are minimal. We need to be quiet for a long time which causes us to reflect deeply on things. Doing nothing but surviving (which is no easy task in the wilderness) allows us to reset our priorities.
Going to the wilderness had profound effects on those who did it. It proved them in every way. John and Jesus both had challenging missions to perform, and they needed great strength and resolve to accomplish them. Jesus had angels that attended to him during his most difficult ordeals. Maybe his time in the desert proved to him that angels were always with him. Perhaps it can be the same for us if we go into the wilderness.