The Cave, the Desert, the Wilderness

"Therefore I am now going to allure her;

I will lead her into the desert

and speak tenderly to her.

There I will give her back her vineyards,

and will make the Valley of Achor (trouble) 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 (Hos. 2:14-15).

There is a remarkable similarity in the spiritual journey of all who seek God. Moses, the Law-giver had to flee to the desert to escape the Egyptians after he had killed a soldier.  There, he met the living God, Who spoke to him from a burning bush.  Elijah, the great prophet in Israel, became discouraged and defeated and retreated to a cave, where he finally heard the "still, small voice of God."  Jesus, after being annointed for ministry by John the Baptist, was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, where He was nourished by the Word of the Lord.  St. Benedict, fleeing the corruption of Rome, fled to the countryside where he lived in a cave and was fed by God's provision.  

All of these prophets, after meeting God in the wilderness, were sent back to the people in power and in truth.  In the desert, in the cave, in the wilderness, they had come to the end of their own strength and had learned to rely solely on the power of God in them to accomplish His purposes. 

Everyone who seeks God will eventually find him/herself in a cave, in the desert, in the wilderness.  There, where we have come to the end of our own resources, we will hear the still, small voice of God.  He does not shout aloud in the streets (Is.42), but whispers to those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death.  And those who have laid down their own strength and "mission" can now be directed by His strength and mission. 

Everyone who begins with fire in his belly to establish justice, to do great things for God, will sooner or later find him/herself alone, weak, unable even to pray, much less to "do" anything for God.  There, in the darkness of not-understanding, where nothing makes sense, when we are unable to do anything to help ourselves, we will find God.  There, He speaks "tenderly" to us, and there, He opens a door of hope and puts a new song in our hearts. 

Like the disciples after Jesus' crucifixion, it may seem that our world has dissolved and been destroyed -- but that is only the beginning of a "new creation," a new world the Lord is creating for us.  He has promised to "give us back our vineyards;" He has promised that we will sing again, if only we can be still and know that He is God!