“Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush.”

Exodus 3:1-2

 Ask anyone and they will tell you that they long to hear from God, to have a personal encounter with Him, to know His will and direction for their life. But many of us fail to realize that often God gives us an appointment in the wilderness.

 In the rush of our everyday activities, in the comfort of our home, in ‘the praises of men’, the voice of our flesh, of our senses seems heightened, and the still small voice of the Spirit in our hearts is often not perceived.

 It was not until Abraham, Joseph and Moses left the comfort and familiarity of home and entered the wilderness that their journey of hearing and obeying God’s instruction really began.  

 God waited until He had Moses’ attention on the burning bush in the wilderness before He spoke to him (Exodus 3:4). And even though that divine visitation that changed his life happened in just one day, the process of his heart had taken many years before he was ready to receive that call.

 In the wilderness, distractions are stripped away, and we are often forced to wait, to pause, to reflect on what really matters. We should not forget that God holds all men’s hearts in His hands, and that He is a God of process. He will not speak to us until we pay attention to Him. It is often in the wilderness period of our lives when we are facing hard times, that our hearts are more sensitive to God.

 That is why as believers in Christ, trials, hard times, challenges can be our greatest friends because they force us to look within us to hear the voice of God in our heart.