“Sometimes by losing a battle you find a new way to win the war.”
Donald Trump
At one point in my Wilderness season I was ready to walk away from everyone and everything I was close to.
I was DONE with a capital “D”!
Enough was enough. The emotional pain was so great I thought I was going to die.
God spoke to me clearly and said “Go down with the ship. Even if this ship breaks apart – go down with the ship!”
“Go down with the ship? You’re nuts!” I thought.
God was speaking to me through a story in the book of Acts. Paul was a prisoner on a boat sailing by the area of Malta when they hit a huge storm. Paul had warned them not to sail because he thought it would be disastrous, but the captain refused to listen to him and set sail anyway.
During the hurricane type storm, all the sailors on the boat were ready to take the lifeboats and get off that ship. But God told Paul that if anyone got off that ship they would ALL perish. The only way they would ALL survive is to all go down together on the ship.
Paul obeyed. He even went so far as to cut the ties to the lifeboat so that no one could take a lifeboat and get off.
Paul’s boat did end up hitting the rocks and the entire ship broke apart, but each man swam or grabbed a plank and got to the land.
They ALL made it alive to shore!
At one point in your Wilderness experience you may want to take the lifeboat and get off the ship.
Your “ship” may be your marriage, your close friends, or your really hard situation. But this may mean disaster in the long run.
Looking back my “ship” completely broke apart and everything I held dear at that time was gone, but I am so glad I went down with the ship. In hindsight it was the best decision that I have ever made.
Your “ship” may seem like it is about to run aground. You feel like you are hitting the rocks and you want to bail out.
Have courage. Ask God if you are supposed to go down with the ship to actually save those things that need to remain.
“But now I urge you to keep up your courage, because not one of you will be lost; only the ship will be destroyed. Last night an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve stood beside me and said…’God has graciously given you the lives of all who sail with you.’ So keep up your courage, men, for I have faith in God that it will happen just as he told me. Nevertheless, we must run aground on some island.”
Act 27:22-26 (NIV)
One fateful decision landed me smack in the middle of my own Wilderness…
Though I was obeying God’s voice, I spent the next several years “walking on water,” even though it felt more like I was treading water. A Journey Out of the Wilderness is for people going through a rough time—a Wilderness experience—where you feel as though you are “down for the count” and ready to give up. Wilderness Wanderers feel as though they are doing laps around the mountain, passing the same tree over and over again wondering, “Will this never end?” However, being in the Wilderness will be one of the most transformational times of your life.