From Wilderness to Wonders: Embracing the Power of Process

By Katherine Ruonala

Are you praying for a loved one to be saved? Are you anticipating the fruition of a dream or desire? In those times when you are waiting for the fulfillment of a promise, it is vital to seek understanding of God’s divinely orchestrated purpose.   From Wilderness to Wonders examines the journey—the one that takes believers through wilderness seasons full of tests and trials—and emphasizes the importance of enduring the process. By examining the lives of some of God’s great deliverers (e.g., Moses, David, and Joseph) and the processes He brought them through, you will be encouraged like never before to stand in faith for all God has promised you. Learn applicable strategies for:

• Cooperating with God in difficult seasons
• Maintaining joy during wilderness seasons
• Maximizing spiritual growth during these times
• And much more!

 The heart of God is for you to find joy, rest, peace, and strength in whatever season you may be experiencing. You can find solace in the knowledge that God is for you, believes in you, and is making all things work together for your good. In that process He is transforming you and equipping you for His purpose.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Charisma House
• Release date: Nov 3, 2015
• ISBN: 9781629986159

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INTRODUCTION

TIME. THAT SPACE between planting and harvesting, between promise and fulfillment. Living in a world where we are widely accustomed to instant gratification, the concept of having to wait can be frustrating. Yet if we understand the purpose and potential of these times, we can learn to cooperate with God and enjoy the journey.

Many live with a sense of destiny and promise but struggle to see how it can be fulfilled in the light of their present circumstances. That can be a frustrating situation, especially when they see how God is already moving in the lives of others. It invites all sorts of questions: Why not me? I know God has called me to greater things, so why do I feel stuck where I am? What am I doing wrong? When will God fulfill the promises He gave me?

This is a very common experience, and it can be disorienting if we don’t understand what God is doing or know how to respond to it. Some people call it a wilderness, and for good reason. Like Joseph in Egypt, the Israelites on the way to the Promised Land, David in exile, and many other figures in Scripture, we are in the midst of a process between calling and fulfillment. We may not be wandering in an actual wilderness as many of these biblical figures did, but we can easily imagine how they felt. Through their experiences we are able to take hope in the truth that God will also bring us through whatever situation we may find ourselves in.

Jesus spent years waiting for God’s timing in His life too. He didn’t begin His ministry until He was about thirty (Luke 3:23), which means there were long years of waiting. He had a calling. He had vision. And He had God’s promises, but He was not yet walking in the fullness of what God had called Him to do.

Jesus also had an actual wilderness experience:

Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, being tempted by the devil for forty days. During those days He ate nothing. And when they were ended, He was hungry. The devil said to Him, If You are the Son of God . . .

—LUKE 4:1–3, MEV

The Holy Spirit actually led Jesus into a wilderness time. And this was right after the Father had declared that He was well pleased with Him! The wilderness was an opportunity for Jesus to question whether God really was pleased with Him—whether the Father really did care about Him and if He was truly for Him. Just as Adam and Eve in the garden were faced with the question, Did God say . . . ? Jesus had the opportunity to solidify the reality that God had spoken and could be trusted, which was evidenced in His response to temptation when He quoted the words of God. In the wilderness we have the same opportunities to have our trust in God’s words tested and solidified until they become like iron in our soul. (See Psalm 105:18–19.) The enemy came at Jesus in the wilderness with all sorts of temptations and distractions, doing everything he could to steer Jesus away from His purpose, distort His thinking, or question His identity. But when Jesus came out of the wilderness, He began ministering with power the world had never seen before.

A lot of Christian leaders and teachers are doing a great job equipping God’s people for their calling, showing the way to walk in God’s power, and casting vision. Not many talk about the process between promise and fulfillment or calling and destiny, so the wilderness can come as a shock to those who are unprepared.

I believe there is a great need in our time to understand the processes of God, the baptism of fire, and the joy and power of surrender. My personal journey included years of frustration and wondering what God was doing, but I learned to lean on Him in those times and came out with a relationship that could not be shaken. Whenever I teach on this, it seems to resonate with many people. Some remark on how rare it is to hear from speakers about their years of preparation and their behind-the-scenes stories of trials God has brought them through. Many are encouraged to know the process from wilderness to wonders.

I believe this book will equip you to embrace your journey with fresh hope and perspective. The message within these pages is that not only can you survive the seasons between promise and fulfillment; you can thrive in them. In fact, with the right kind of response, your wilderness season can become a time of accelerated growth and fruitfulness.

I hope that encourages you. Wilderness seasons are a great opportunity to lean on your Beloved and learn the deep things of His Spirit. You learn to anchor yourself in the One who gives you lasting joy. You learn to carry the peace of God in every situation because the Prince of Peace is within you. You learn not to let the wilderness or the enemy shape your identity because you find your identity entirely in Him.

In the wilderness we learn to dream God’s dreams. We discover God as our source in every situation. We learn how to respond to temptation, injustice, and pain. We not only endure obstacles and storms; we become victorious in them and rise above them. In the wilderness we learn to recognize divine invitation and wage war with the promises God has given us. Regardless of what we are going through, in the wilderness we learn to find our delight in God alone.

God wants to be the glory and the lifter of your head in every situation (Ps. 3:3, KJV). No matter how difficult your circumstances may seem, He wants you to look up and see His glorious face. He wants to tell you how lovely, free, clean, and redeemed you are. God wants you to know you are the beloved apple of His eye and that He has created you to shine.

The wilderness cannot prevent you from shining. Jesus shone in His wilderness season, and you can too. Jesus’s wilderness experience became one of His greatest victories. That can be your testimony too. You are destined to shine just as He does and to walk in His power, doing even greater works than He did. And even if you’re in the midst of a wilderness, that can begin right now.

Chapter 1

DREAMING GOD’S DREAMS

IT WAS A typical summer’s day in Statesboro, Georgia. I was scheduled to speak at a conference called Glory Explosion. I felt pressured, as I had in previous times of ministry, because I knew the expectation was great for people to receive the miracles they desperately needed. But the Lord in His grace and His mercy reassured me, as He had done previously, that He had called me for such a time as this and that the Holy Spirit would never let me down.

I remember walking in. People had brought their children from the hospital and their friends who didn’t yet know the Lord in the hope that they might see and believe. As I began to preach, the Holy Spirit came over me, and I could see Him beginning to move on people’s hearts. When He comes like that, I know He wants to move in a greater measure, so I realized it was time to begin praying for people.

It began with a woman who had pain in her legs. She had come to the meeting because her son had asked her to host a couple who had driven up from out of town. Although she did not know Jesus, she reluctantly opened up her home and brought the couple to the meeting. She had been through several broken marriages and was living in depression as an alcoholic. She would drink all through the day and night. She would basically wake up drinking. Having suffered for many years, she received a word of knowledge, and her legs were instantly healed. As she walked around in amazement, testing out her legs, she came back asking God to heal her eyes. Her faith blessed me. She had been wearing contacts and glasses in an attempt to see better, and as soon as she asked me to pray for her sight, God touched her and she received perfect vision. She came back the next night to surrender her life to Christ. When she sent me a letter a few weeks later I learned her testimony. Not only had she been healed, but the Lord also had instantly delivered her from alcoholism.

No one, no matter how wonderful he or she may be, will ever be able to truly satisfy the longing only God can fill.

From that time on God opened the heavens over the meeting, and one by one people were receiving miracles. One child was brought in with bowlegs, and in front of the congregation God straightened out his legs. People with walking sticks were dancing freely, and the Holy Spirit was moving with power. One man got so excited that God had healed his chronic skin condition that he wanted to take his shirt off to show everyone his new skin. He was weeping as he tried to explain how terrible his skin condition had been.

Night after night went like this. God showed up; people got healed! On the last night, which I’ll never forget, little baby Kayla was brought up to me. Kayla was a foster child, eighteen months old, and it was suspected that she had been shaken as an infant, causing her to have no control of her eyes, which seemed to float around of their own accord in different directions. As a result, she had no sense of balance and couldn’t walk. As we prayed, people gathered to watch what God would do. I had my arms stretched out in front of me and clasped my hands together in front of her face. The power of God was all over me to heal, and at precisely that moment, I watched her eyes roll back into place. The people gasped as they watched God instantly correct her eyes. Another man gave his life to the Lord on the spot as he saw the miracle. And Kayla was walking within days.

Thinking about it now still brings joy to my heart—every single person the Lord touched, every life changed. But it wasn’t always like this.

I came to know God personally when I was twelve years old through a glorious encounter with God in worship. I found myself frustrated, and I told Him it was really hard to worship someone I couldn’t see and didn’t know. Help! was the cry that came from my heart. And right then, I had an encounter that changed me forever. God opened up the eyes of my heart and allowed me to see Him. I knew in a deeply personal way that He was real! Help! has been my frequent prayer ever since.

The Holy Spirit is longing to help us in more ways than we understand. He wants to be our best friend. I’d longed for a best friend as a child and clung to every friendship in a way that was desperately codependent. You see, we are all created with a deep longing for connection with someone who will fulfill us and give us joy and purpose. Hollywood would like to tell us that we are longing for true love. It offers us the idea of a perfect human counterpart who will fill all our emotional and human needs. But the reality is that no one, no matter how wonderful he or she may be, will ever be able to truly satisfy the longing only God can fill.

You were made for fellowship with God Himself. In fact, He created humans to be His counterpart, His bride, the ones with whom He would have the closest connection. In the years I spent walking with God before I began ministering publicly, I discovered how much I really needed this relationship. He is my everything! And though I have been blessed with a beautiful family, nothing and no one compares to Him. As lovely as my husband and children are, they cannot come close to meeting my need for love and fellowship. I can talk with the Lord night and day, and He understands me and loves me completely.

Eighteen years after I came to Christ, God opened the doors for me to begin full-time ministry. But the years in between were not wasted years. God was at work preparing me, giving me hinds’ feet to be able to stand safely on the high places of influence He had planned for me. It was in those years, some of them very difficult, that I learned the transforming power of perseverance. I found Him as my Lord, my vision, my best friend, and my strength. In the wilderness times I walked through, He helped me grow, teaching me about His nature and character. By His grace God showed me what was really important, shifting my focus away from myself, my problems, and my ministry and onto Him, His faithfulness, and His kingdom. And it was in the wilderness that I learned about the necessity of vision.

WITHOUT A VISION, PEOPLE PERISH IN THE WILDERNESS

Vision acts as a compass for us in the wilderness. When circumstances seem to be so contrary to the promises and hope is hard to find, we need vision. And the first and most foundational vision we need is of Him. We must know Him! In beholding Him, we are transformed into His image from glory to glory (2 Cor. 3:18). In finding Him as Lord, Savior, and friend, we find the fulfillment and security we long for. And knowing Him who is love empowers us to have faith to believe His faithful promises. We can declare with confidence, He who has purposed it will also do it (see Isaiah 46:11).

God is faithful. In fact, His name Faithful and True is written on His robe. But in the wilderness, when we can’t see how in the natural His promises could come to pass, it can be difficult to rest and be happy. We can be tempted to think, When I find my spouse, when that one I love comes to Christ, or when I get my breakthrough, I will be happy. Yet sadly, if we delay being happy until a promise is fulfilled, we may never be happy. What happens when you get what you are praying for? Won’t there be another thing to hope for? If you are believing for a spouse, won’t you need other breakthroughs after you are married? There is always a need for faith as long as we live, and we need to learn how to be joyful at every stage of the journey. God wants us to be joyful in the wilderness, and that joy comes from communion with Him. In His presence is fullness of joy! Communing with God gives us reassuring confidence that He is in control, and peace that passes human understanding floods our hearts. Joy that goes beyond human sense is available when we make pursuing His presence our priority.

Vision acts as a compass for us in the wilderness.

In those times when we are waiting for the fulfillment of a promise, it helps to get a picture of what God is saying. God did this for Abraham when He told him to go outside and look up at the stars. God asked Abraham if he could count them and then told him the stars were a picture of how many descendants he would have. He did the same when He asked Abraham to imagine counting the grains of sand on the seashore. God wants us to get a picture in our hearts of what His promises will look like. Are you believing for a loved one to be saved? Picture that person worshipping God. Imagine him or her passionate about the kingdom. These sorts of activities are not vain imaginations; they are using the gift of imagination God has given you to walk around in the promise of God and help you focus in the direction God is moving.

Like the spies who went into the Promised Land, you can walk around in your promise before you possess it and stir up your faith and joy about what God has given you. Your imagination is not evil. It is like a whiteboard that you, the Lord, or the enemy can write on. But it is yours to steward, and you have a choice as to what you entertain or view on your screen. We need to reject what is not pure and lovely and of a good report—anything that exalts itself above the truth of God’s faithfulness—and replace it with what is true according to God’s promise and will. What we focus on is what we will head toward, so we must be very aware of what has our attention.

I remember once waking up with stiff finger joints, and I began to worry that I might be getting arthritis like my mother had. As I was having this thought, I recognized that it was a trap from the enemy and immediately rejected the picture of illness. I deliberately began to imagine myself as a ninety-year-old lady with supple fingers, playing the piano and wearing my rings. The next morning my fingers were stiff again. Again the enemy tried to get me to imagine life with arthritis and to be fearful, but I chose to reject the thought and began to picture myself with beautiful, healthy, ninety-year-old joints. This went on for a week, until finally I had no more issues with my joints. Now, ten years later, I still have no pain or problems. There is great power in our thoughts, and we need to steward them to align with heaven’s plans. What we focus on is what we will inherit.

The spies who were sent into the Promised Land were faced with similar tests. They went into the land promised by God and walked around in it, tasting the fruit and seeing its beauty. But they also saw giants in the land. Ten spies came back and reported on the giants because that is what they chose to focus on, while the other two, Joshua and Caleb, gave a glowing testimony of the goodness of the land and began telling the people God was well able to help them possess it. One group saw the good things but focused on the problem, while the others saw the problem but focused on the promise. As a result only Joshua and Caleb inherited the promise. As you fellowship with God and get to know Him in His goodness, His love will cause your faith to flourish, and the Holy Spirit will help you to focus on the promise, not the problem.

CHRIST IN YOU—THE BIRTHPLACE OF DREAMS

Christ, the hope of glory, lives within us by faith. So when we’re in intimate communion with Him, His heart blends with our hearts, which become fertile ground for the seeds of His dreams to be planted, cultivated, and grown. He could just give us commands and force us to follow them, but that isn’t the kind of relationship He wants to have with us. He wants such intimacy that our hearts sync with His and we live from our desires together.

This is not pie-in-the-sky dreaming. God allows us to dream in the hope that we will begin to walk around in His promises by faith before we have ever seen them in the natural. Heaven and earth are colliding, and God is bringing them together through the dreams He is putting in the hearts of His people.

In order for us to dream with God like this, He has to wake us up to the truth of our identity—that it is no longer we who live but Christ who lives in us (Gal. 2:20). It is actually He who is at work in us, both to will and to work for His good pleasure (Phil. 2:13). When we come to Him in intimacy and yield ourselves to Him and worship, things happen. Our hearts begin to beat with His. We see things He wants to do, and He extends an invitation for us to join Him in those things.

Now think about this: