Some people, in order to discover God, read books. But there is a great book:the very appearance of created things. Look above you! Look below you! Noteit. Read it. God, whom you want to discover, never wrote that book with ink.

Instead he set before your eyes the things that he had made. Can you ask fora louder voice than that? – St. Augustine

Introduction – Meeting God in the Wilderness

Picture if you will, a man wandering in the wilderness. He

is clothed with camel’s hair and is wearing a leather belt around

his waist. He is eating a meal that looks very unseemly. From a

distance it looks as if he is pouring a liquid substance over

small twigs, and eating them. As you approach him you realize

that he is not actually eating twigs like you had originally

assumed, he is eating locusts and pouring honey on them. He is

always dunking people in the water and sending them on their way.

He is always yelling or chanting the same message over and over

again; as if the message he is trying to relay is one of

importance. To many he is a crazy man that is better to be in the

wilderness than living in the ranks of civilized towns where that

sort of thing would just be downright weird and awkward.

1

This man I am talking about is John the Baptist. He began

his ministry in the wilderness preaching, “Repent for the kingdom

of heaven is at hand.”1 He might have been seen as odd or

different, but his ministry was effective. He is not the only

person in the biblical narrative that was shaped from a

wilderness experience. Some of David’s most formative

experiences were those he gained from his time in the wilderness

being chased by Saul. It was during this time that he wrote many

of the Psalms, which continually portray David seeking God as his

refuge and strength in the wilderness. Elijah was led by an angel

through the wilderness for 40 days. The Lord led his people

Israel through the desert for 40 plus years. Even Jesus had

wilderness experiences during his ministry. The deeper you delve,

the more you can see how the wilderness is a vibrant aspect of

the Biblical narrative.

There is nothing in God’s creation that is without purpose.2

“For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth,

visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or

1 Matthew 3:2.2 Proverbs 16:4.

2

authorities—all things were created through him and for him.”3

With purpose God created everything for his glory. Like all

created things within God’s creation, the wilderness in the Bible

has purpose. Here we shall embark here on a journey to find God’s

purpose for the Wilderness.

The wilderness cultivates a setting of vulnerability where,

with the Holy Spirit’s facilitation we can crucify our unhealthy

dependence on certain things, enabling a shift from the outward,

toward the inward; a journey from slavery (Egypt) to freedom (Mt.

Zion). The wilderness is spiritually formative because it

creates an environment where our learned spiritually repressive

habits are challenged and overcome. For a foundation it will be

helpful to have a brief definition of ‘wilderness’ and ‘spiritual

formation.’ Following that we will exegete Old Testament

narratives of Elijah and David, and then focus on Jesus’ personal

wilderness experiences from the Gospel of Mark. This will be

followed by an examination of how the wilderness creates an

environment contrary to the norms of comfort, busyness, and

control. This will culminate in an in depth look at spiritual

3 Colossians 1:16.

3

formation as wrought by wilderness practice, as opposed to merely

wilderness experience.

If creation is rooted in the life of God and sustained by God, then creation,though finite and dependent, participates in the superabundance of God’s

life. – Jonathan Wilson4

What is ‘Wilderness?’

Wilderness is a very broad term to use for this paper. It

can often be seen and used for different contexts/settings.

Therefore it would appear that an in depth look at the Bible’s

use of both ‘desert’ and ‘wilderness’ becomes necessary for a unitive

perspective of them. Before continuation of this paper is

plausible, it is necessary to alleviate any confusion that might

arise as a result of both aforementioned terms. The process will

integrate the ‘desert’ and ‘wilderness’ as understood in the Old

Testament and New Testament. This will culminate in a holistic

understanding of the two terms that will then be utilized

4 Wilson, God’s Good World, 18-19.

4

interchangeably for the duration of the paper, with personal

preference being given to usage of ‘wilderness.’

First, the Old Testament understanding of desert and wilderness

is fairly specific. The most frequently used Hebrew term for

desert is midbār, which means ‘to drive.’ “It is applied to the

deep valley of the Jordan extending from Lake Tiberias to the

Gulf of Aqabah.”5 It is also used to describe mountains, valleys,

and grassy pastures. The word midbār is translated into our

English Bibles as both ‘wilderness’ and ‘desert.’ The second

Hebrew word is Arabah; which is commonly used for ‘wilderness’

and refers to a very depressed and enclosed region, a sunken

valley north and south of the Dead Sea.6 The third Hebrew word is

Chorbah while less commonly used in the Old Testament, typically

stands for ‘waste places,’ ‘desolation,’ and ‘desert.’ It is this

wilderness that is referred to by Isaiah when he says, “and [the

Lord] makes her wilderness like Eden.”7 Our final Hebrew term is

Jeshimon (yesh-ee-mone’), which literally means, “to be empty.” In

5 Denton, Christian Outdoor Leadership, 57.6 Denton, Christian Outdoor Leadership, 62. Arabah is also the location where John the Baptist was when the Bible says he was in the ‘wilderness.’7Isaiah 51:3. This passage has an encouraging message. That to be reconciled with our Savior is far more dramatic and miraculous than a lifeless desert turning into a Garden of Eden.

5

English it is most often translated as desert, and denotes the

wasteland tracts on the eastern and western shores of the Dead

Sea (Salt Sea).8

The New Testament has two terms for ‘Wilderness.’ They are

Eremia (er-ay-mee’-ah) and Eremos (er’-ay-mos). They are used to

describe both desert and wilderness. However, their purpose is to

denote the lack of population in a region rather than vegetation

or a specific location. “The common thread… is a natural outdoor

environment relatively untrammeled and uninhabited by man.”9

Biblical integrity is not compromised on contemporary

application. As we have seen, the Bible uses geographical places,

visual imagery and, population proximity as a part of the

wilderness and desert experience. Whether wilderness or desert is

used, the meaning used herein does not deviate from its original

purpose. From personal research I have found that both

‘wilderness’ and ‘desert’ still have effect on spiritual

formation today. In light of the above, wilderness will be my

default choice of words. Therefore, a unitive perspective of

wilderness can be seen as follows: uninhabited, uncontrollable,

8 Denton, Christian Outdoor Leadership, 63. 9 Denton, Christian Outdoor Leadership, 66.

6

unpredictable, alien to human purposes, desolate, wild, distant

from the immediate, undomesticated, and at all times under the

care of a loving God.10 Now that we have a grip of wilderness in

hand, we can move on to what constitutes spiritual formation.

I want creation to penetrate you with so much admiration that wherever yougo, the least plant may bring you a clear remembrance of the Creator....Oneblade of grass or one speck of dust is enough to occupy your entire mind in

beholding the art with which it has been made. – St. Basil the Great

What is Spiritual Formation?

“Christian spiritual formation responding to the gracious

work of God and requiring both perseverance and progress, is the

intentional and Godward reorientation11 and rehabituation12 of

human experience.”13 Essentially it is an act of turning away

from sin and turning towards God. One important factor to

10 In different places in this paper I will either use ‘desert’ or ‘wilderness’ to describe a setting. In the Old Testament we can see that‘desert’ creates differentiating traits from that of the ‘wilderness.’ By this I mean that 11“From ‘things that are on earth’ to ‘things that are above’ (Col. 3:1-2), from the ‘old self’ to the ‘new self’ (Col. 3:9-10).” Howard, The Brazos Introduction to Christian Spirituality, 269.

12“A transformation of particular patterns of emotions, conducts, thoughts, and intentions of our experience.” Howard, The Brazos Introduction to Christian Spirituality, 269. 13 Howard, The Brazos Introduction to Christian Spirituality, 269.

7

recognize is that spiritual formation is inseparable from Divine

transformation. While the person enacts his/her part; which is

spiritual formation, God enacts his part, which is divine

transformation. God is the genesis for the occurrence of

spiritual formation in our lives.

His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature.14

For apart from God we can do nothing.15 Spiritual formation

refers to the initiatives and means by which we seek to foster

and ‘work out’ the transformation that God ‘works in.’ 16

Therefore, spiritual formation is something that takes work

and discipline. It is not an easy endeavor and requires us as

sinful humans to be stretched beyond what we are comfortable with

and are used to experiencing. It is a shift from being “conformed

14 2 Peter 1:3-4.15 John 15:5.16 Howard, The Brazos Introduction to Christian Spirituality, 268.

8

to this world, [to being] transformed by the renewal of your

mind.”17 It is something that needs to be worked out both

individually and communally.18 It is an introspective journey

that challenges the intention for our emotions, worldviews,

opinions, evaluations, and the “core lifestyle that drives our

habits and actions.”19 “We are constantly being formed, and

[this includes] the formation of our relationship with God.”20

Ultimately, our efforts to facilitate our personal spiritual

formation are an act of worship. We are to “to present [our]

bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which

is [our] spiritual worship.21 Therefore, when spiritual formation

is mentioned throughout the progression of the paper, it will be

said with the understanding that it is a part of our spiritual

worship. And I would argue that an intensified shape/context for

spiritual formation, with the kind of spiritual stretching that

it requires, is found in the Wilderness.

17 Romans 12:218 The communal aspect of spiritual formation is unfortunately not covered in this paper as both time and spacing constraints played a factor. 19 Howard, The Brazos Introduction to Christian Spirituality, 269.20 Howard, The Brazos Introduction to Christian Spirituality, 272.21 Romans 12:1

9

I will make a way in the wilderness

And rivers in the desert…

For I give water in the wilderness,

Rivers in the desert,

To give drink to my chosen people,

The people whom I formed for myself

that they might declare my praise.

Isaiah 43:19-21

Old Testament Wilderness Experiences

As I said earlier, there are many events in the Bible where

the wilderness/desert is a part of the narrative. The first place

to look in historical progression is the Old Testament. The Old

Testament is full of wilderness experience and as we will see, it

is not without purpose or direction for God’s people.

Elijah’s Wilderness

1 Kings 17:1-7 – Elijah has just predicted that there will

be drought in Israel. That without his word there would be no

10

rain. Then the word of the Lord came to him and directed his to

enter the wilderness.22 We do not know exactly why the Lord

directed Elijah to withdraw to this location. Perhaps it was to

place him out of the reach of the king, so as to protect him. Or

maybe it was to demonstrate his obedience to God. Whatever the

reason, the application is still the same. He has been instructed

“to distance himself from all normal life-support systems, to

live in a context of extreme vulnerability, to be at risk. He is

east of the Jordan, outside the zone of administered life… He is

at the mercy of the elements.”23 He won’t be eating normal meals,

but rather he will be fed by ravens that God has commanded to

feed him there. This was not an easy light hearted adventure for

Elijah, but rather it was God calling him to obey him and trust

him in the wilderness. The wilderness where he would be striped

of comforts, made to be hungry at times, experience a new level

of filth, and be alone in the desolate wilderness.

1 Kings 19:4-10 – Here again we see Elijah in the

wilderness. Although this time he is on the run for his life. He

22 By the brook Cherith, which is east of the Jordan (v. 3).23 Brueggemann, Smyth & Helwys Bible Commentary: 1 & 2 Kings, 209.

11

has just defeated the prophets of Baal and now must flee the

anger of Jezebel; who desires to kill him. Elijah has fled to a

place barren of life and full of risk. Upon arriving in the

desert completely spent and exhausted; He immediately falls

asleep. Elijah has no energy to do anything else. “The sleep is

loss of control.”24 When Elijah falls asleep it is also “a time

when the inscrutable powers of God work their will with us.”25

Elijah’s wilderness experience wasn’t any easy journey.

Elijah had to choose to obey God and leave the comforts of home

behind and enter the wilderness. The Lord called him into the

wilderness for a purpose, and even though it may have been an

extremely difficult and risky place for him to be; the Lord still

provided for Elijah.

David’s Wilderness

There are many accounts of David fleeing and finding shelter

in the wilderness. These stories can be found in the Psalms and

correlate with the stories in 1 Samuel and 2 Samuel. The stories

that are found in the Psalms are easier to apply to the purpose 24 Brueggemann, Smyth & Helwys Bible Commetary: 1 & 2 Kings, 234.25 Brueggemann, 234.

12

of this paper because of the immediate understanding that can be

utilized from them.

Psalm 63 “A Psalm of David, when he was in the wilderness of

Judah” (1 Samuel 22:5) - Here we find David being advised by the

prophet Gad to not remain in the stronghold of Mizpeh. Rather, he

should depart and go into the land of Judah; which is actually a

wilderness region. This is the context of Psalm 63; that David

wrote during this period of time in the wilderness. God has

placed him in the wilderness so that he would continue to rely

upon God’s strength. David writes the words, “earnestly I seek

you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a

dry and weary land where there is no water… Because your

steadfast love is better than life. My soul will be satisfied

with fat and rich food, and my mouth will praise you with joyful

lips.”26 While David is in the wilderness he speaks of his

experience of lack of water and food, which would normally be

seen as a discomfort, as praise to God. He says that his soul

will thirst for God, as opposed to thirst for water. He says that

he will be satisfied as with rich and fat food because of his

26 Psalm 63:1,3, & 5.

13

reliance upon God. The wilderness causes David’s thoughts and

life to be pointed towards God as he says “my soul clings to

you.”27

Psalm 54 (1 Samuel 23:15-17) – Here we find David in Horesh,

which is in the wilderness of Ziph. “Horesh” in Hebrew literally

means forest and wooded area. He is surrounded by Saul’s troops,

in a wilderness region, and on top of that the Ziphites

practically beg Saul to come down and kill David. The only reason

it would seem for hope is that his friend Jonathan comes to him

and “helped him find strength in God.”28 Again when things seem

bleak and hopeless David calls out to God. “Behold, God is my

helper; the Lord is the upholder of my life.”29 Because of the

circumstances that David finds himself in, he has almost no

reason to hope. However, once again David looks to the Lord in

the wilderness. He doesn’t decide to trust in his own strength,

or deceive himself that he has delivered himself from his

enemies, hunger, and thirst. He looks past himself in the

wilderness and towards God.

27 Psalm 63:8.28 NIV 1 Samuel 23:16.29 Psalm 54:4.

14

Psalm 18 (1 Samuel 23:28) – This is another Psalm that David

wrote at the end of the same story that was just discussed. “So

Saul returned from pursuing after David and went against the

Philistines. Therefore that place was called the Rock of

Escape.”30 David proclaims that God’s “way is perfect.”31 He ends

up writing 50 verses about how good God is to him. How the Lord

is his rock, his shield, his stronghold, his fortress, his

deliverer, and the horn of his salvation.32 Even here in the

wilderness, David wrote that when “the cords of death encompassed

me; the torrents of destruction assailed me, in my distress I

called upon the Lord; to my God I cried for help.”33 David finds

comfort in the Lord in the midst of his discomfort in the

wilderness, and so does Jesus.

1 The heavens declare the glory of God,    and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.

2 Day to day pours out speech,    and night to night reveals knowledge.

3 There is no speech, nor are there words,    whose voice is not heard

Psalm 19:1-3

30 1 Samuel 23:2831 Psalm 18:30.32 Psalm 18:2.33 Psalm 18:4, 6.

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Jesus’ Wilderness Experiences

There is much more in the Old Testament, but for now we

will move across the divide into the New Testament. I want to

utilize Jesus’ experiences in the wilderness, exegeting the

stories from Mark Jesus is the foundation for our salvation and I

believe that he should be the foundation for all theology that we

interact with as his image bearers.

Mark 1:1-13 – Jesus came from Nazareth to the Jordan where

John the Baptist was baptizing people in the river Jordan

(Mark1:9-11). Here the Spirit of the Lord descended upon Jesus.

Immediately following this experience/event “The Spirit drove him

out into the wilderness” (Mark 1:12). The Holy Spirit driving him

into the wilderness is significant. The reason is that Jesus

needed to be equipped in the wilderness by God before starting

his ministry. Jesus learns his human limitations in the

wilderness. He had to understand His humanity and how he would

relate and rely upon God. He had to rely on God to sustain him.34

34 Matthew 4:1-4.

16

He had to understand that his place wasn’t to overstep his

humanity by throwing himself off the temple and saving himself.35

Then Satan takes him on very high mountain and shows him all the

kingdoms of the world and their glory.36 Then Satan offers to

give Jesus all that he had shown him if he would only fall down

and worship him. Jesus responds and says, “you shall worship the

Lord your God and him only shall you serve.”37 Here Jesus doesn’t

cross the threshold from humanity to deity, thus affirming his

complete and utter reliance upon God for his life. Here in the

wilderness Jesus spent 40 days. Jesus had no comfort,38 aside

from angels ministering to him (Mark 1:13). This was a time of

discomfort and unrest for Jesus; a time where Jesus had to rely

on God to sustain him and pull him through the temptations.

Jesus’ desert experience was counterculture as it “requires a

break with the institutions and culture of Jerusalem. The way

that is prepared will not be a comfortable path; it will require

forgoing pleasures long taken for granted.”39 Hence, his 40 35 Matthew 4:5-7.36 Matthew 4:8.37 Matthew 4:10.38 He ate nothing during that time, had no bed to sleep in either.

Possibly even no change of clothes.39 Garland, The NIV Application Commentary: Mark, 46. Here the Commentary is referring to John, but the same idea or truth is applicable to Jesus’

17

days in the desert/wilderness before his ministry began were a

discomforting time of solitude where he spent time discerning his

mission on earth.40 Immediately following his time in the

wilderness the first thing Jesus did was go to the synagogue at

Nazareth and read the scroll of Isaiah; where he found the place

where it was written “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because

he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent

me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to

the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim

the year of the Lord’s favor.”41

The power of God appears in the desert, in weakness, inones who come out of nowhere. God’s activity has been hidden from human beings, and even when it is revealed through Jesus, many will be unable to see. Those who dosee will take comfort [in the Lord] when they pass through the desert. They will know that Jesus has already been there and knows the way. All they have to do is follow.42

Mark 1:35 – Here Jesus ventures to ‘a solitary place’ to

pray. “The noun is the same word (eremos) that appeared in 1:3-4,

desert experience. 40 This is a viable explanation for why Jesus went into the desert, not

to say that is the sole reason. 41 Mark 1:18-1942 Garland, The NIV Application Commentary: Mark, 57.

18

the voice calling ‘in the desert,’ and in 1:12-13, the locale of

the testing by Satan. ‘Desert’ is an inappropriate word to

describe any geographical area around Capernaum, but in Mark’s

Gospel it connotes the quarter where the divine and the satanic

vie for life.” 43 After Jesus’ victory in the desert, however, the

desert is now a place where one can seek solitude and prayer and

receive divine replenishment.44

Mark 6:45-46 – Here Jesus instructs his disciples to go on

ahead of him to Bethsaida while he decides to hang back and pray

on a mountainside by himself. Jesus’ retreat from the throngs and

his disciples shows that all humans need solitude, rest, and

prayer (1:35; 6:31). During such moments we can meet ourselves

face to face and then most clearly can we hear God speaking. We

value busyness, and thereby we measure our effectiveness. Few of

us schedule time for solitude and meditation during our days that

are usually full of activities. Many of us can feel besieged by

persons constantly pulling at our sleeves. “The whirlwind of

activity spins them like tops, and they end up becoming bone

43 Garland, The NIV Application Commentary: Mark, 73 & 74.44 Replenishment here is not as we normally understand the word. I understand it as the Lord pouring into the lives of his people.

19

weary physically and bone dry spiritually. They may feel like the

disciples – rowing furiously against the wind but getting

nowhere, and blind to the God who calls out and says ‘I am.’”45

Jesus utilized the wilderness in his personal life for his

own spiritual formation as well as that of his disciples. When we

see that Jesus used it in his life and ministry; we have his

example that we can follow in our own personal lives. We need the

wilderness because it creates circumstances where we cannot rely

on comfort, our desire to control, and our busyness that keeps us

distracted. It leads us into discomfort, rest, and loss of

control that can only cause us to cry out to Jesus as the

‘founder and perfecter of our faith.’46

“It’s a gala without masks, where participants get to experience the dawningof true freedom in their soul through the transformational experiences of

learning to depend on God for the basics of life.” 47

Why We Need the Wilderness 48 45 Garland, The NIV Application Commentary: Mark, 268.46 Hebrews 12:2.47 Denton, Christian Outdoor Leadership, 59.48 It is important to note that wilderness has the aptitude to do the things that I talk about in this paper. However, the wilderness is not the only place these things can occur. Rather, that formation can occur with greater efficacy in the wild. Also important to note is that God

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Comfort Dulls Spiritual Formation

Comfort is an unnoticeable quicksand that bogs down a Christian’s

spiritual life. It slowly kills our ‘kingdom come’ telos bound

passion and crippling our willingness to grow. Yet it does all

this without us knowing that it is happening. When we take the

easy route the glamour of comfort often misleads us and thereby

reduces our capacity to tolerate the discomfort that is necessary

for us to truly change.49 An example of desiring to return to

comfort or take the easy way out would be Israel. They wanted to

be in the promised-land, but they didn’t want to journey through

the wilderness; the precise place where God enacts

formation/change in part through discomfort to get Israel to

their destination both spiritually and physically. The wilderness

journey is necessary for the people of Israel because God desires

to form them into a disciplined and monotheistic people. This is

in direct opposition to the typical milieu of polytheism and

undisciplined way of living from which the Israelites have just

does not only meet us when we escape. Escape to the wilderness is not the point of this paper. Rather, that being in the wilderness can be seen as a spiritually formative act of worship that we involve ourselvesin. In fact, I would argue that trying to escape is not God honoring or worshipful. An example would be the story of Jonah. 49 Robinson, Adventure and the Way of Jesus, 39.

21

emerged, and do not desire to leave behind.50 Exodus 16:3 – “and

the people of Israel said to them, ‘Would that we had died by the

hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the meat

pots and ate bread to the full, for you have brought us out into

this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.’”51 This

was after they had crossed the Red Sea and God had mercifully and

majestically delivered them from their previous oppressors. This

isn’t the only time that they lament and complain that they wish

they had stayed in Egypt. They do it again after the spies return

from their mission and give a bad report. Israel responds as

follows in Numbers 14: 1-4

Then all the congregation raised a loud cry, and the people wept that night.  And all the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron. The whole congregation said to them, ‘Would that we had died in the land of Egypt! Or would that we had died in this wilderness! Why is the Lord bringing us into this land, to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will becomea prey. Would it not be better for us to go back to Egypt?’ And they said to one another, ‘Let us choose a leader and go back to Egypt.’

50 Exodus 32.51 All Biblical References will be in the ESV version, unless otherwise

specified.

22

Both times they desired their old comforts of home and not

the straining, hungry, and dirty wilderness. Israel’s reaction

here is absolutely absurd. They are completely romanticizing the

Egyptian experience; which was a time of slavery and harsh

living. Presumably, they had no luxuries because they were

slaves. Yet they glorify this experience over their wilderness

journey, where God has graciously saved them from the Egyptian

army and sustained them with manna from the heavens.52 Yet they

wanted what they knew, and not the uncertainty and faith

requiring trek that God desired to lead them through. They wanted

to cling to a warped sense of security (comfort), and reinstate

what they had previously known. They had no desire to be

stretched (through discomfort) to come at last to a new

understanding of their faith. Even Jesus called the disciples out

of comfort to a life of discomfort and uncertainty where they

might never know where they would lay their head at night to

sleep. “We must realize that comfort and complacency hinders

growth.”53 52 Exodus 16:453 Dunning, God of Adventure, 79. Comfort here applies to misplaced comfort. It is a comfort that’s telos is not found in Christ Jesus. Comfort in Jesus, is rightly placed comfort and need not be assessed in any negative fashion.

23

Even A.W. Tozer said in his book Pursuing God, “Complacency

is a deadly foe of all spiritual growth.”54 So, conversely,

discomfort facilitates and makes room for growth to happen. It is

not the assurance of growth, but rather the catalyst for that

growth to happen. “If we run from that discomfort we will never

see the new perspective. We will settle for old answers that we

know even if those answers do not work.”55

God was trying to form the Israelites in the desert, but

ultimately and unfortunately they didn’t learn from the

experience, and were no better off.56 The Lord was trying to

release his people from slavery and bring them to a place of

freedom. This is where the wilderness plays a unique role in

creating a setting of discomfort. In the wilderness the comforts

of home are stripped away. You no longer have microwave dinners.

You do not have tap water that is at your disposal whenever you

desire or feel the need to drink water. You sleep on the ground,

and if you are lucky have some sort of padding to put under a

54 Tozer, Pursuing God, 26.55 Robinson, Adventure and the Way of Jesus, 37.56 Facilitation to initiate spiritual formation from the wilderness willbe discussed at a later time. The wilderness may not always have the desired effect, but goals can be set and parameters set up in order to best influence a desired outcome or spiritual formation.

24

sleeping bag. You have to carry all of your supplies on your back

wherever you go. Nothing is comfortable in the wilderness.

Physically you are stretched. Mentally you are pushed to your

limits as you must convince yourself at times to continue the

trek. It can even be emotionally disheartening at times. Dr.

Ashley Denton describes it as follows:

This reminds me of what it’s like coming back to the comforts of civilization... It’s a relief to have comforts again, but quite often something has shifted in my soul as aresult of the time of solitude with God in his creation. Being stretched out of our comfort zones helps us see what’struly in our hearts so we can orient ourselves back to fidelity with God.57

The wilderness does more than just stretch us out of our

comfort zones; it also teaches us to rest in the presence of God.

“Be Still and Know That I am God”

We do not know what rest is. We spend all week either

working or going to school, and then involve ourselves in

activities to keep ourselves occupied. We have lost the ability

to rest and be still. We can barely put down our phones long

enough to eat meals, or cannot bear the idea of a night alone in

57 Denton, Christian Outdoor Leadership, 60.

25

solitude and meditation. Subconsciously we might feel that if we

are not doing something or involved with our friends; then we are

being lazy.

We need to reclaim the ability to rest in the Lord. It is

hard for us in North American culture to slow down or stop. We do

not want to slow down because if we aren’t seeing results; then

we aren’t being productive and we begin to think that we aren’t

fulfilling our telos. However, this is something that we

desperately need as a culture. We need to reclaim meditation, and

the disciplines of solitude, and silence. The Lord instructs us

to rest, and yet we often do not follow this instruction.

While I was in Explore we had to spend a twenty-four hour

period of time in solitude. I remember setting up my tent and

thinking that I would have plenty of things to do so that I

wouldn’t become bored. After setting up camp much faster than I

had anticipated, I suddenly realized that I had nothing else to

do. The time was only noon, and I still had at least seven hours

till dusk. My mind started to panic. What do I do? “I don’t know

what to do with empty time,” I thought to myself. How do I fill

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the emptiness of all this time? So I decided to try and make a

fire. I quickly succeeded and only burnt58 thirty minutes off of

the seven hour period that I knew would be very lonely, and

empty. So I decided to try and read my Bible. This lasted only

about another half hour, and I found myself with at least six

more hours of not knowing what to do. It was very difficult to

handle the emptiness. I felt as through my mind was gnawing at me

to do something. It was very uncomfortable mentally to know that

I had nothing to do and almost no control over the situation.

Finally, after an hour of discomfort, emptiness, loneliness, and

mental disorientation I decided to go to bed at about 3pm. I

couldn’t handle any more any of the feelings and sensations that

I was experiencing. I just had to get out. I couldn’t handle the

idea of resting in the wilderness because it was something so

foreign and uncomfortable to me. While in the wilderness we have

the unique experience of being away from civilization and the

distracting sounds: like car horns honking, or the baby crying.

In the wilderness all you have is a destination. No distracting

sounds that carry your mind away to a different place. You have

58 Pun intended.

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the rare opportunity to be alone with Jesus and invite his

presence to be felt. The rare quiet required to meditate and

experience personal solitude that causes you to question personal

presuppositions and personal revelation that you are not as good

of a person that you thought you previously were. When we are

faced with the opportunity to rest within silence and solitude;

then we have to take advantage of it. We cannot respond like I

did and run, we have to boldly face the uncertainty of the

unknown; in that uncertainty is the rest that we can find in the

presence and worship of the Lord. Rest within wilderness is a

vital facilitator of spiritual formation, but there is more to it

than just rest and discomfort. Letting go of our compulsive need

to control is also an aspect of spiritual formation in the

wilderness.

“Letting Jesus Take the Wheel”

Wilderness setting is a place where we are drawn to

relinquish our perpetual desire for control. We are stripped

naked, as it were, and exposed to God’s demanding love and

challenges in his word. For example, one night when I was in

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Explore my team decided to endeavor a night hike. We set out with

only the light of the moon and a barely trodden trail. I have

never felt less in control of where I was going. I relinquished

my desire to control the outcome of the hike and spent the whole

two hour hike praying that I would not lead my team astray.

Granted we were on a somewhat recognizable trail by moonlight,

but the hike still created an atmosphere where I doubted the

hubris that I alone control my future and direction. I laid down

my personal autonomy and through prayer clung to Jesus to guide

me. The wilderness creates a setting of vulnerability where we

cannot control anything other than what we ourselves do. We are

stripped of the illusion that we can control things outside of

ourselves. We cannot control what the weather will be like during

our trip. We cannot control how long it will take to get from

point A to point B (we can only plan).59 We do not know if we

will be injured because of a boulder that somehow manages to

become dislodged and roll down the hill in front of us and we

barely manage to dodge it, only to twist our ankle. In the

wilderness we are at the mercy of the weather. We cannot control

59 Proverbs 16:9 – “The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps.”

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weather that never seems to act as though the weather channel has

predicted, and somehow manages to turn violent within minutes.

We live in a culture immersed in love for itself; the

culture that believes individualism is the best asset of our

culture. Its genetic makeup is constructed with the premise that

comfortableness makes you happier. It has built itself to

withstand the belief that anyone else can help us along our path.

The genesis and existence of “life, liberty, and the pursuit of

happiness” through the Declaration of Independence promotes the

value of personal fulfillment and pleasure. An example of the

individualistic self-utilized power is seen in a commercial for

the new 2015 Chrysler 200. The commercial asserts that, “America

is a nation of ‘Born Makers’ - people who constantly create,

reinvent, and never look back. This commercial for the All-New

Chrysler 200 celebrates these individuals.”60 In the commercial

the narrator says, “What’s a born maker made from? From calloused

hands. Strong backs. From the shoulders of giants. From small

steps to giant leaps. Big ideas. Sharp minds. From steel resolve.

60 Chrysler. “All-New 2015 Chrysler 200 Commercial – Born Makers: 60.” YouTube video, 1:02. June 6, 2014. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4A11cEEdCzE.

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From blood, sweat and gears. All the things that make a ‘born

maker.”61 This commercial, plays to the American view that we as

an individualistic culture create and are born creating. We have

become God’s unto ourselves; our own Adam and Eve’s. That we

control our own destiny. Jonathan Wilson (PhD, Duke University)

is Pioneer McDonald Professor of Theology at Carey Theological

College says;

From the side of the sciences, being bound to a telos would rob humans and the world of the account of ‘freedom’ that both underwrites and is underwritten by modernity. However, freedom in the modern sense is simply destined for failure… The putative freedom of modernity is the delusory belief that I create my own self and that human society should be organized to maximize my freedom to create myself. The lie that I can create myself is my undoing.62

The wilderness puts to death these egotistical delusions of

grandeur. Either you recognize that God is creator and sustained

or you attempt to delve further into your self-centeredness. It

chafes at your ego, and rubs you the right way; shedding light on

a human that is both evil and flawed and in desperate need of

their Savior. These false worldviews only lead to death. They are

61 Chrysler. “All-New 2015 Chrysler 200 Commercial – Born Makers: 60.”62 Wilson, God’s Good World, 117.

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intrinsically opposite to the biblical narrative of the human

condition. 1 Peter 1:24, “for all flesh is like grass and all its

glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers…”

We have unconsciously bought into the types of practices and

beliefs that are disteleological to have as Christians. We have

been steeped in practices that form us without our knowledge; to

the point where, undenounced to us, they have become an

unconscious reaction. On top of that startling reality, we have

no idea how formative practices/liturgies are forming our love

towards an intended telos.63 James K. A. Smith (PhD, Villanova

University) is associate professor of philosophy and adjunct

professor of congregational and ministry studies at Calvin

College says that “liturgies – whether ‘sacred’ or ‘secular’ –

shape and constitute our identities by forming our most

fundamental desires and our most basic attunement to the world.

In short, liturgies make us certain kinds of people, and what

defines us is what we love.”64 “These are not just ‘things we do’;

(random commercials we see, or even idealistic individualism that63 James K. A. Smith, talks about the Impact of these cultural liturgiesin his book “Desiring the Kingdom: Worship, Worldview, and Cultural Formation.”64 Smith, Desiring the Kingdom, 25.

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never hurt anyone) they are habit-forming, identity-shaping,

love-directing rituals that capture our imagination and hence our

desire, directing it toward a telos that is often antithetical to

the telos envisioned as the kingdom of God.”65 Even as I sit here

and write this paper after having watched the aforementioned

commercial five hours before; I have the ending rhyme of the

commercial “things have changed” stuck in my head. We are

saturated in and immersed within these practices. Whether we

desire or realize it; it is a truth about how our culture forms

us. Our greatest example Jesus, emptied Himself and took on the

form of a servant. He had no form or shape that we should desire

him.66 He wasn’t anything great or flashy. Crouch says in his

book Playing God, “We began our lives utterly powerless; we will end

them the same way. Our first breath was a cry, and so will be our

last.”67

The wilderness strips us of our self-dependency and our

personal autonomy. It strips away the façade that we are creator

and sustainer of our own destiny and reality. It places us within

65 Smith, Desiring the Kingdom, 126. 66 Philippians 2:7, and Isaiah 53:2.67 Crouch, Playing God, 268.

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the reality of complete and utter dependence on God, and shows us

that we aren’t rulers of our existence. We aren’t our own idol.

When you sit alone in the wilderness there is no one there to

pander to your needs. There isn’t Facebook notifications to give

you the false implication that you are for some reason important

or worthy in your own eyes. Or perhaps that you should be more

like that one friend who you secretly think is cooler than you

because their Instagram has more followers. It removes a portion

of idolatry that exists within our lives and that we do not

realize.

We have seen that discomfort, rest, and letting God control

our lives are key aspects of vulnerability that we can find in

wilderness and that facilitate spiritual formation. However, of

equal if not greater value is the integration of practice in the

wilderness.68

68 These practices that are born from the time in the wilderness are notonly temporally valuable in practice, but should rather be seen as a wayto incorporate a little piece of wilderness into everyday life. Essentially when time in the wilderness is complete; the practices that were started there should not be forgotten and laid aside when the person returns to civilization. This is, I believe, a holistic approach to the situation as many persons cannot spend gratuitous amounts of timein the wilderness and must at some point return to civilization.

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“When we practice the spiritual disciplines, we discover how deep runs ourcommitment to our own autonomy and comfort, and how addicted we are tothe approval of others, the sound of our own voice, and the satisfaction of

our appetites.”69

Wilderness Practices: How to Facilitate

Spiritual Formation in Wilderness

At last we have reached the practical part of the paper. If

you are anything like myself you have waited the whole paper for

the theory of what I am talking about to be put into practical

terms that can be applied to every-day life. Herein lies one of

the stepping stones to spiritual formation. Individual practices

that we can involve ourselves in. These practices are vital to

our ‘spiritual journey,’ because now we have seen that they form

our love towards the kingdom, are an act of spiritual worship,

and thereby point us toward God. It should also be noted that

these liturgies are in no way ordered by importance, and that

69 Crouch, Playing God, 239.

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integration of them must inform life outside the wilderness as

well as within.

Practicing Presence70 – This is a practice that we can integrate

into our normal lives that need not be experienced in the

wilderness alone. I am merely asserting that the wilderness is a

unique setting for experiencing/reflecting on the presence of

God. Psalm 139:7 says, “Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or

where shall I flee from your presence?” The presence of the Lord

is always closer to us than we realize. “A spiritual kingdom lies

all about us, enclosing us, embracing us, altogether within reach

of our inner selves, waiting for us to recognize it. God Himself

is here awaiting our response to His Presence.”71 However, often

during our busy lives we become blind to that presence. We do not

take time to rest in his presence. While in the wilderness we

have a unique opportunity to experience the presence of God. This

is a result of the lack of distractible sounds, appointments,

people, stresses, relationships, and so forth. In the wilderness

there is only the sound of nature, and the beauty of God’s

70 For further reading on Practicing the Presence of God please reference A. W. Tozer’s book The Pursuit of God. 71 Tozer, The Pursuit of God, 54.

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creation. “God dwells in His creation and is everywhere

indivisibly present in all His works.”72 We can experience the

presence of the Lord when we are still in the wilderness because

we have the calm and peace of mind to reflect and pursue a desire

to ‘draw near to God, and he will draw near to you’ and because

‘in him we live and move and have our being.’73

Now the aim of practicing the presence of God may seem

foreign and ‘far out’ for many of us living in the 21st century.

The focal point herein lies in the desire to “become suddenly

aware that we are in God and that God is in us.”74 To practice

the presence of God is to “rip through the dear and tender stuff

of which life is made [and] can never be anything but deeply

painful. Yet that is what the cross did to Jesus and it is what

the cross would do to every man to set him free.”75 In the

wilderness we are bound to the mission to pick up our cross and

carry it daily. We must experience the brutal self-honesty and

personal revelation that we are implicitly at fault for Jesus

being on the cross. This can and should only lead to personal 72 Tozer, The Pursuit of God, 62.73 James 4:8; Acts 17:28.74 Tozer, The Pursuit of God, 43.75 Tozer, The Pursuit of God, 49.

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discomfort. A discomfort that is born out of desire to glorify

God but bound to the realization that we need to tear down the

veil of self within one’s life, and nail our sin to the cross.76

It gives us the opportunity to rest in the Trinity as our

salvific and emancipating enactor. The beautiful incarnation of

Jesus Christ, the creation of the creator God, and the Holy

Spirit’s personal work in our lives are all a part of the

Godhead’s salvation economy and are reason enough to gratefully

find rest in that knowledge. This also plays into us placing God

at the center of our lives. Because when we realize that God

alone is responsible for our salvation we can let go our desire

to control and place God back in his rightful place as author,

perfecter, designer, and creator of our faith. Practicing the

presence of God can be actualized in couple applicable ways.

Meditation is at the forefront of the ways that we can do this.

When we meditate on Jesus’ incarnation, and our personal sin; our

desire to follow Jesus and pick up our cross pervades everything

else. Meditation on Scripture like Galatians 2:19-21 where Paul

says,

76 ‘Personal Veil’ is an idea borrowed from A.W. Tozer’s book The Pursuit of God, in chapter 3.

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For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God.  I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.  I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose.

Another passage of Scripture is where Paul talks about

counting everything he had gained as lost, in comparison to the

surpassing worth of knowing Christ.77 A final suggestion of

passages that are essential for fruitful meditation would be John

15; where Jesus describes himself as ‘the true vine.’ We can

stretch the parameters of our mind in an attempt to uncover what

a life looks like when its focus is to ‘abide in me.’ Abiding in

the presence of the Lord is something that cannot be overlooked

in the Christian life.

We can also realize this through silence and solitude. David

says in Psalm 46:10 to “be still and know that I am God” or in

Habakkuk 2:20, “But the Lord is in his holy temple; let all the

earth keep silence before him.” We can also see it in part of

Elijah’s story. When after God sends a great wind that breaks the

77 Philippians 3:8

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mountains, an earthquake, and a fire. He decides to speak to

Elijah in a low whisper. Here we see that God spoke to Elijah in

the silence and solitude as God waits for these three miracles to

conclude to speak to Elijah and for him to be secluded and by

himself in a cave.78 Both practices are formative, and when

coupled together cannot be utilized without effect on our

spiritual formation. Now we can move from practicing the presence

of God to practicing an ‘economy of communion.’

Practicing an ‘Economy of Communion’ - According to Jonathan R.

Wilson, “We must turn from an ‘economy of consumption’ to an

‘economy of communion.’”79 Here Wilson says that we set aside the

competitive nature that consumption fosters. An economy of

communion is counter culture to that of consumption. It

understands life as a gift. In the wilderness we need to stop and

take time to realize and understand that we have been gifted with

everything that we have. This is contrary to the lies that

consumption tells us.

That’s right: every breath I take, every beat of my heart, the continuing knitting together of the molecules in my 78 1 Kings 19. 79 Wilson, God’s Good World, 209.

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body, all of this depends on God’s grace climactically enacted in the gift of Jesus Christ for the redemption of creation. Jesus exposes the taking and keeping practices of the world that lead to death. He humiliates them and defeatsthem. In doing so, he reveals the overflowing giving and receiving that is life: the LIFE of the one God—Father, Son,and Spirit—and the life of creation redeemed.80

In the wilderness, in the quiet expanse, we have the sanctuary of

creation that creates an atmosphere where reflective thought and

quiet of the wilderness can give birth to a community of

communion. “Life is sustained by God’s grace not by human effort.

Life is not a zero-sum81 game in which I am competing for limited

resources.”82 The wilderness is a wonderful setting to come to

grips with this wonderful realization; one that celebrates the

Lord as the giver and sustainer of life.83 In the wilderness we

have time for reflective communion with our Savior while in the

wilderness. Through this practice we can gain a new understanding

of how the Lord affects our spiritual transformation and how we

can be active in our spiritual formation by reflecting on this

80 Wilson, God’s Good World, 209.81 “Zero-Sum” – It is used to define a transaction when another person’swealth increases the same amount that my wealth decreases. Is also defined in Andy Crouch’s book Playing God: Redeeming The Gift of Power page 41.

82 Wilson, God’s Good World, 211.83 For further reading on this idea please reference Jonathan R. Wilson’s book God’s Good World – Chapter 10 Consuming Desire.

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‘economy of communion.’ This also can be expanded to involve the

practice of the Eucharist as we eat and drink while in the

wilderness. Each time we have some of our limited water supply;

we are receiving the gift and life of creation through Christ’s

work of redemption.84 This ‘economy of communion’ in the

wilderness fosters our teleological desire to usher in the

kingdom of God. It should produce a longing for the kingdom, and

prod us to glorify God because of what He has done for us.

An ‘economy of communion’ can be understood through the

words of Jesus, “my food is to do the will of him who sent me and

to accomplish his work.”85 I see it as an intentional reorienting

of our telos towards understanding Jesus’ will as that which will

sustain us. We meditate on Jesus’ crucifixion. Quite simply, that

is how we practice an ‘economy of communion.’ “God’s economy of

communion means that we will seek to live ever more deeply in

communion with the life of the Triune God.”86 We focus on the

cross and Jesus’ sacrifice, and desire to consume our thoughts

with the power of his death and resurrection. We think on things 84 Please reference God’s Good World – Chapter 10 for further expansion of

thought on the subject of ‘Eucharist.’85 John 4:34.86 Wilson, God’s Good World, 212.

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that are pure.87 “As our desires are purified and we participate

more fully in Christ (1 Cor. 10:16), we will grow in knowing that

our life is guaranteed for eternity by the life, death, and

resurrection of Jesus Christ.”88 It is a counter-culture mindset

where we intentionally meditate on the cross, and present our

whole being (body, soul, and spirit) to the Lord as a living

sacrifice, which is our spiritual worship. This is not only

internal and temporary, but an outward way of living; where it

changes the way we assess relationships, jobs, school, etc. as

opportunities to present ourselves as a living sacrifice, and not

assess them in a consumeristic fashion. Now that the practice of

an ‘economy of communion’ has come to its fruition, we can move

on to ‘imagining the kingdom of God.’

Practicing ‘Imagining the Kingdom of God’

Now this practice may seem abstract and foreign to our way

of thinking. It is often complicated to think on things that we

cannot see and only imagine. However, we must be able to grasp

the concept of imagining the kingdom. We are called to hope in

87 Philippians 4:8-9.88 Wilson, God’s Good World, 212.

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something bigger than us.89 We have to look past ourselves and

see the bigger picture. It is vital to incorporate this way of

thinking into wilderness and every day practice. Here we shall

formulate a practice of imagining the kingdom. To do this we will

use Colossians 3:1-17, as a template for our understanding of how

we to participate in ‘imagining the kingdom.’

Colossians 3:1-16

(v. 1-2) – “If then you have been raised with Christ, seek

the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right

hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things that

are on earth.” This is the beginning of imagining the kingdom. We

must have a change of mind in the way that we see the world. We

are called to be actively transformed by the renewing of our

minds.90 The wilderness provides a rare setting where we have

time in solitude and silence. Instead of focusing our minds on

earthly things like who is playing in the Stanley Cup, who is

winning the AL Pennant Race, or what our best friend just posted

on Facebook, we have the time and silence of both mind and

89 Romans 5:5, & Proverbs 23:18.90 Romans 12:2

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setting to focus on heavenly things. We are to focus on how the

kingdom of God can be realized more in our heart, mind, soul, and

spirit. “Every thought, aim, value, aspiration, and striving

should come under his lordship.”91 We are called by Paul to think

about whatever is true, honorable, just, pure, lovely,

commendable, excellent, and worthy of praise.92 This is only the

beginning as Paul continues to describe how we can ‘imagine the

kingdom’ practically in the subsequent verses.

(v. 5-8) – Practical application begins when we start to

‘put to death’ the things that are earthly in our lives.93

“Christians are being transformed into Christ’s image (3:10).”94

This happens when we meditate and think on things that are

heavenly and not earthly. We begin, with the Holy Spirit’s

guidance, to see that our lives aren’t always in line with a

telos that is kingdom orientated. The wilderness can make us

painfully aware of this reality; as we seek to fill our time and

thoughts with things that are easy and comfortable and cannot.

There is no Tumblr feed to scroll through, and there isn’t a 91 Garland, Colossians and Philemon The NIV Application Commentary, 202.92 Philippians 4:8.93 Colossians 3:5.94 Garland, 204.

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video game to keep us occupied and distracted from thinking of

things that are pure and praise worthy. There is only a place

where earthly thoughts are of little value to our existence and

survival. Here we need to orient our thought life towards the

kingdom by actively seeking to put to death practices in our life

that the Holy Spirit reveals to us and that are deadly to our

spiritual worship.95

(v. 14) – If we are to put off earthly things then we need

to put on heavenly things. That which we are to put on above all

others is love.96 Paul says that love binds everything together

in perfect harmony.97 This phrase reads “literally, ‘which is the

bond of perfection.’”98 Love here is understood as self-

sacrificial; one that emulates Jesus’ example on the cross. “For

even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to

give his life as a ransom for many.”99 Jesus’ telos was to usher

into existence the kingdom of God. He did this by and though his 95 A practical list of examples can be found in Colossians 3:5-8. Also, here we find an aspect of community in the wilderness as Paul says, “Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices” (Colossians 3:9). 96 Colossians 3:12-13, has a comprehensive list of things that we are to

put on along with love. 97 Colossians 3:14.98 Garland, Colossians and Philemon The NIV Application Commentary, 210.99 Mark 10:45.

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love; when he laid down his life, and gave it as a ransom. Jesus

said that, “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay

down his life for his friends.”100 Love that is imagining the

kingdom is willing and desires to sacrifice the good of itself

for others.101 Love like this coming to life is difficult to

imagine. However, when we begin to see things with spiritual eyes

because we have our mind set on heavenly things; we start to see

a glimmer what the kingdom looks like. We start to move past

merely imagining the kingdom and can start living within it. Now

we can move to the final step, which is memorization of

Scripture.

(v. 16) “The Word of Christ dwell[ing] in [us] richly.”102

The telos or aim of this liturgy is to worship God through

Scriptural immersion. The Word of the Lord is “living and active,

sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of

soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the

thoughts and intentions of the heart.”103 When we memorize

Scripture we are actively integrating the Word of the Lord into 100 John 15:13. 101 Philippians 2:1-10.102 Colossians 3:16103 Hebrews 4:12.

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our heart, mind and spirit. In the wilderness, this is where the

rubber hits the road; for this practice of imagining the kingdom.

Life and thoughts become informed by Scripture that we have

memorized and seared into our hearts. How this becomes reality in

the wilderness is by choosing to memorize passages that we like,

or that the Holy Spirit has laid on our hearts.

“In true worship, we surrender our deeply held but false belief that lifedepends on us. We also surrender the fear that the struggle to survive – to

get what we need for life, hold on to it, increase it, and pass it on to ourprogeny – is the deepest reality of the cosmos. Everything about proper

worship is directed toward teaching us that creation is a blessing.” 104

Conclusion

The wilderness is not what we always come to expect. It is

not merely a collection of rivers, trees, and mountains. As we

have seen there is an unseen substance to wilderness. It does

have purpose within God’s redemptive creation. God can utilize

whatever he desires to bring us closer into relation with him. I

believe that the wilderness is part of that redemptive plan for

the whole of his creation.

104 Wilson, God’s Good World, 104.

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Jesus used God’s created wilderness to find purpose and

direction for his ministry. He intentionally withdrew from an

urban setting to the wilderness where the discomfort, rest, and

letting go of control allowed him to be formed to fulfill the

ministry that he lived. Not only did Jesus withdraw, but he also

withdrew with his disciples, and called them into a life of

discomfort, rest, and picking up one’s cross.105

Comfort, busyness, and desperately trying to control one’s

life are spiritually repressive. The wilderness is spiritually

formative because it creates an environment where the opposite

effect is realized. It creates a setting where the comforts of

life in the urban life are stripped away and you are placed in a

discomforting wilderness. While in God’s creation you have time

to slow down and reflect. You have time to rest and not have to

worry about your next appointment, or getting your child to their

next soccer game. It creates a setting where, coupled with the

wilderness vulnerability and discomfort, it becomes difficult to

not let go of control and place God at the center of your life

again. This placing of God at the center of our lives requires a

105 Luke 9:23, Matthew 16:24. Luke 22:39-46.

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certain type of heart, a heart of meekness. Meekness is a trait

that we arrive at when we let go of our control. “But the meek

shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves in the

abundance of peace.”106 Meekness is a broadly misunderstood word

in English culture. When I use it here I am aiming at “the

biblical understanding of meekness is power under control. Power

under God’s control means two things: (1) refusal to inflate our

own self-estimation; and (2) reticence to assert

ourselves for ourselves.”107

Wilderness may set the stage for spiritual formation, but we

are partners with the Holy Spirit in the process of spiritual

formation. We enact our part in the wilderness when we set up

practices for ourselves to follow and observe. Practicing the

presence and practicing an economy of communion are two excellent

ways to participate in personal spiritual formation. Ultimately,

we uniquely involve ourselves in a practice where we pander not

to our personal glorification, but God’s glorification. 106 Psalm 37:11107 Alice Mathews and Jonathon Pennington, “Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth,” Theology of Work, November 4, 2011. http://www.theologyofwork.org/new-testament/matthew/the-kingdom-of-heaven-at-work-in-us-matthew-5-7/the-beatitudes-matthew-51-12/blessed-are-the-meek-for-they-will-inherit-the-earth-matthew-55/

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So I encourage you to find time in your life, even if it’s

just breaking away for a day trip to Banff, or just going on a

nature hike. Step out of your comfort zone, let go of your

control and give it to God, and let your soul and spirit rest. As

I said earlier; we are partners with the Holy Spirit in our own

spiritual formation. If we desire to glorify God; then each of us

should take this to heart on our own personal level. Allow

yourself some time to be in the beautiful wilderness; it is an

outdoor sanctuary for God to pour into your spirit and soul.

BibliographyBrueggemann, Walter. Smyth & Helwyn Bible Commentary: 1 & 2 Kings. Macon,

Georgia: Smyth & Helwys Publishing Incorporated, 2000.

Chrysler. “All-New 2015 Chrysler 200 Commercial – Born Makers: 60.” YouTube video, 1:02. June 6,

2014. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4A11cEEdCzE.

Crouch, Andy. Playing God: Redeeming The Gift of Power. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2013.

Denton, Ashley. Christian Outdoor Leadership: Theology, Theory, and Practice. Fort Collins: Smooth Stone, 2011.

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