當我剛信主的時候，我以為登上屬靈的高峰就會遇見耶穌。但這高峰往往不能持久，也不會使我的屬靈生命成長。美國作家莉娜．阿布賈姆拉（Lina AbuJamra）說，我們往往會在曠野遇見上帝並且成長。她在所著的一本研經書籍（Through the Desert）中寫道：「上帝的目的是要用我們生命中的曠野，使我們變得更堅強。上帝不是要用免除苦難來證明祂的良善，祂的良善就是要在痛苦中才能體會到。」

正是在悲傷、失落和痛苦的艱難處境中，上帝會幫助我們信心成長，並且與祂更親近。正如莉娜領悟到，曠野不是上帝的計劃出現失誤，而是在成長的過程中不可或缺的一部分。

許多舊約人物都曾被上帝帶到曠野，例如亞伯拉罕、以撒和雅各都有身處曠野的經歷。正是在曠野中，上帝使摩西經受磨練，並呼召他帶領上帝的子民脫離奴役（出埃及記3章1-2、9-10節）。也正是在曠野中，上帝看顧以色列人長達四十年，給予他們幫助和引導（申命記2章7節）。

摩西和以色列人在曠野行走的每一步，上帝都與他們同在。同樣地，在我們的人生曠野中，祂也與你我同在。我們在曠野學習倚靠上帝，祂會在那裡與我們相遇，我們也在那裡有所成長。

When I was a young believer, I thought “mountaintop” experiences were where I would meet Jesus. But those highs rarely lasted or led to growth. Author Lina AbuJamra says it’s in the desert places where we meet God and grow. In her Bible study Through the Desert, she writes, “God’s aim is to use the desert places in our lives to make us stronger.” She continues, “God’s goodness is meant to be received in the midst of your pain, not proven by the absence of pain.”

It’s in the hard places of sorrow, loss, and pain that God helps us to grow in our faith and become closer to Him. As Lina learned, “The desert is not an oversight in God’s plan but an integral part of [our] growth process.”

God led many Old Testament patriarchs to the desert. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob all had wilderness experiences. It was in the desert that God prepared Moses’ heart and called him to lead His people out of slavery (Exodus 3:1-2, 9-10). And it was in the desert that God “watched over [the Israelites’] journey” for forty years with His help and guidance (Deuteronomy 2:7).

God was with Moses and the Israelites each step of their way through the desert, and He’s with you and me in ours. In the desert, we learn to rely on God. There He meets us—and there we grow.