The Wooing of the Wilderness
“But those who suffer he delivers in their suffering: he speaks to them in their affliction. He is wooing you from the jaws of distress to a spacious place free from restriction, to the comfort of your table laden with choice food.” Job 36: 15-16 *all scripture is NIV unless otherwise noted
It is hard to believe we are at the end of another year and beginning a new one. The holiday season is over, and while there can be much joy and anticipation with the fresh start of a new year, many people struggle with the weeks and months following the turn of the calendar. The “winter blues” is a real thing in many parts of the world. It is a disease that can make you feel depressed because there is a lack of sunshine during wet and gray months.
If anyone is experiencing a hard place in life during this season, the “winter blues” can exacerbate what you are feeling. Being in a dark, heavy place, a wilderness experience or desert season, is not fun. But you know what? Two things are very true; the desert can be a beckoning and blessing. The very place that feels empty can become the place where His voice becomes clearer. And amazingly, what looks like a detour or delay can become the doorway to deeper hope. That’s exactly what we see in Hosea 2:14–15.
The Beckoning
The book of Hosea holds 2 verses that are hidden deep within all the books of the minor prophets, that give hope to a desert season. Hosea was a prophet to the northern kingdom of Israel. God told Hosea to find a wife, Gomer the prostitute, and then proceeded to tell him that she would be unfaithful to him. She would go on to have many children, some of whom were fathered by other men. The book of Hosea is a picture of God’s love for his people Israel, His bride, and their response to Him as bridegroom. As Israel turns from God, Hosea, in chapter 2 verses 1-13, shares what their punishment is for their sin. But then, hope is restored.
“Therefore I am now going to allure her; I will lead her into the desert and speak tenderly to her. Hosea 2: 14
Did you catch the very first line of verse 14? “I am going to allure her.” Allure means to romance, to charm, to woo. If you are married, do you remember dating your spouse? I am sure there was a time of “wooing,” a time for your husband to show you all his wonderful qualities and allow you to fall in love with him. That is what God was doing to Israel. But look at what He also did.
The second part of verse 14 reads, “I will lead her into the desert.” Did you catch that? God led Israel into a hard place. In order for Israel to fall back in love with the Lord God, He had to take to her a place that felt like she was desperate and alone, forgotten and forsaken, dry and barren. Do you feel like that today? Do you feel like the Lord has taken you to a place where you feel lost, alone, forgotten, punished? This is a promise for you as well. Your desert season is not a place of punishment, it is a place of pursuit.
God led Israel into the desert, however, He was there the whole time, from beginning to end. Look at what God does after He allures her to the desert. The third part of verse 14 reads, “and speaks tenderly to her.” WOW! The whole reason for the desert experience was to take away all distractions, to remove all the things that were a hindrance to the presence of the Holy God of Israel so they could clearly hear his tender voice speaking to His beloved. What a beautiful picture of God’s pursuit of us.
“I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with unfailing kindness. I will build you up again…” Jeremiah 31: 3-4a
Every wilderness, experience, every desert destination, is an opportunity for us to draw closer to the Father and allow Him to awaken something new in us. It is a time where He can strip away pride, shame, self-sufficency, idols, anything that can prevent us from focusing on Him. We have an opportunity to get quiet, to intentionally praise, and enjoy the sweet presence of the Lover of our soul. The reward of the desert is more of Jesus. And if it were not enough to know that the Lord leads us into desert seasons to speak tenderly to us, He then goes on to speak of the blessings that come from the experience.
The Blessing
“There I will give her back her vineyards, and will make the Valley of Achor a door of hope. There she will sing as in the days of her youth, as in the day she came up out of Egypt.” Hosea 2: 15
The very first part of verse 15 gives us a beautiful promise, “There I will give her back her vineyards.” What was God doing in the “background,” so to speak, during the desert experience? He was preparing the crops for a beautiful harvest. He was growing things that could not be seen at the time. Even when everything looked barren, God was quietly arranging the breakthrough that would one day burst into view. Let this truth give you hope for your desert season. God is working something for your good. Be patient and draw near to Him, ready to receive once the rivers start flowing again!
The second part of verse 15 should make you smile, “And will make the Valley of Achor a door of hope.” Achor means trouble, and some translate it as heartbreak. The Valley of Achor is the site where Achan, in Joshua 7, had sinned by keeping forbidden war plunder. He brought great disaster to Joshua’s troops, and ultimately Achan was put to death. Here we see the promise of how something so terrible can become a door of hope. Think of it as “Heartbreak Valley to Acres of Hope.” When we come through the desert, we no longer see the experience as something terrible, but rather a doorway to something better than we ever could hope or imagine.
And then we come to the very last part of verse 15, the celebration. “There she will sing as in the days of her youth, as in the day she came up out of Egypt.” When Israel crossed through the Red Sea on dry ground and watched the Egyptian army get swept away by the waters, Miriam led the charge, with her tambourine in hand, singing songs of praise to God. When you can look back and see how the hand of God moved and guided every step, your heart and soul has no choice but to rejoice. What a beautiful picture of the joy in our hearts at the realization of what God has done for us in the desert season of life. You well up with gratitude which then overflows into the songs and praise of thanksgiving.
Also notice that the singing after the desert implies that the goodness of God was not kept a secret. While there are times when we are to keep things just between us and God, there are other times that call for celebration with others. When you are going through a hard season, whether you know it or not, there are others coming alongside you to pray you through. And even if you don’t feel like you have anyone praying for you, or that you even have the strength to pray for yourself, rest assured that Jesus is praying! He intercedes for us before the Father. So when we see the light of day after a dark season, it is most appropriate to praise Him and celebrate His goodness and provision with others.
“Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always loves to intercede for them.” Hebrews 7:25
So as we stand here at the start of a new year, and winter still lingering, may we remember that the desert is never the end of the story. The wilderness is not wasted, and the winter blues do not get the final word. Just as God allured Israel into the desert to pursue her heart, to whisper His love, and to prepare her blessing, He is doing the same for you. If you find yourself in a barren, gray, in-between place, take heart: you are being lovingly beckoned, not abandoned. You are being drawn closer, not cast aside.
And in the quiet places where everything feels stripped away, God is planting vineyards you cannot yet see. He is turning your Valley of Achor, your trouble, your heartbreak, into a door of hope. And when the season shifts, when the rivers begin to flow again, you will emerge singing. Singing because He sustained you. Singing because He restored you. Singing because you can now see the beauty He was growing all along. May this be the year you look back on and say, “That desert didn’t break me, it blessed me. That wilderness didn’t end me, it awakened me.” And may your life echo with the song of Miriam: a song of praise to the God who leads, who loves, who restores, and who turns every desert into a doorway of hope.
Self-Reflection Prayer Questions
Lord, where in my life am I resisting Your leading into a quiet or uncomfortable place, and what are You inviting me to surrender?
Jesus, what part of my heart needs to hear Your tender voice today, and what lies am I believing that You want to replace with truth?
Father, in what area of my life am I longing for control instead of trusting Your timing and Your goodness?
“He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” Philippians 1:6
