God Is Waiting for You in the Wild Places
This Changes Everything
There’s something we need to tell you that might mess with your comfortable Christianity: God doesn’t just show up in church buildings and quiet times in your living room.
He’s been meeting people in the wilderness for thousands of years. And He’s waiting to meet you there too. [Finding God in the Wilderness]
We’re not talking about a nice nature walk or a pretty sunset Instagram moment. We’re talking about life-altering,
identity-shifting, everything-changes encounters with the living God in places that strip away everything fake and leave you raw before Him. While this may sound intense and not meant for you, nature can be a place for growth. If you’re willing to to seek growth, we challenge you to take the step and explore a deeper connection with God through His love and creation.
Don’t believe us? Let us show you something we’ve witnessed over and over at SROM.
When God Shows Up in Fire
Picture this: Moses is stuck. Forty years old, living in exile, tending someone else’s sheep in the middle of nowhere. His dreams of delivering his people? Dead. His confidence? Shattered. His future? A big question mark. [Biblical Examples of Wilderness Transformation]
Then he sees it. A bush on fire that won’t burn up.
Everything changed in that moment. Not in a temple. Not in a city. In the wilderness.
God called his name from that burning bush and Moses’ life exploded into purpose. The scared shepherd became the deliverer of nations. The failure became the friend of God. All because he stepped toward the fire instead of running away.
Moses could have walked past that bush. He could have thought, “That’s weird,” and kept going. But he didn’t. He turned aside to see.
When was the last time you turned aside to see what God might be doing in the wild places of your life? Discover how wilderness encounters lead to spiritual renewal.
Songs Born from Hiding
David wasn’t writing his most beautiful psalms from a palace. He was writing them from caves. From hiding places in the wilderness while running for his life.
“O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.”
That’s not comfortable Christianity. That’s desperate, wild, life-or-death seeking after God.
David’s wilderness years weren’t punishment—they were preparation. God was teaching him to depend completely on His strength when everything else was stripped away. The future king learned to rule his own heart before he could rule a nation.
At SROM, we’ve watched participants connect with these ancient psalms in profound ways. One young man from Colorado told us, “I’d read Psalm 23 hundreds of times, but it wasn’t until I was lying under the stars in the desert, completely dependent on God for everything, that ‘He leads me beside still waters’ became real to me.”
The Sound of Silence
After the showdown with the prophets of Baal, Elijah should have been celebrating. Instead, he was running scared, hiding in a cave, asking God to let him die.
Sound familiar? Sometimes our biggest victories are followed by our deepest valleys.
But here’s what happened next: God told Elijah to stand outside the cave and wait. Then came the wind, but God wasn’t in the wind. Then the earthquake, but God wasn’t in the earthquake. Then the fire, but God wasn’t in the fire.
Then came a gentle whisper. And Elijah knew that was God.
In our noise-saturated, notification-obsessed world, we’ve forgotten how to hear whispers. We’re so used to spiritual shouting that we miss the gentle voice of the One who loves us most.
This is why we build solo time into every SROM course. The wilderness teaches you to hear whispers again. When you’re days away from WiFi and completely removed from your normal distractions, the volume on God’s voice goes way up. [When God Speaks in Silence]
Even The Son Needed the Wild
Jesus himself went to the wilderness.
The Son of God. The one who had the most important work in history to accomplish. The one who only had three years to change the world forever.
And He spent 40 days alone in the desert before He started His ministry.
If Jesus needed wilderness silence to hear His Father clearly, what does that say about us?
Throughout His ministry, Jesus kept withdrawing to “lonely places” to pray. Before choosing His disciples, He was in the wilderness. Before the crucifixion, He was in the garden of Gethsemane. He knew something that we’ve forgotten . . . The voice of God is clearest away from the crowds.
Here’s What We’ve Learned
After years of watching people encounter God in the wilderness, we’ve seen a pattern:
– Comfortable people don’t change. You have to get uncomfortable to grow. The wilderness specializes in uncomfortable.
– Distracted people don’t hear God. You have to get away from the noise. The wilderness is naturally quiet.
– Shallow people don’t go deep. You have to be stripped of superficial things. The wilderness only cares about what’s real.
The Breakthrough Moment
Standing at the edge of a cliff face that needed to be climbed, one of our participants froze completely. “I can’t do this,” she whispered. “It’s too much.” [The View From the Top Changes Everything]
But something beautiful happened next. Her team gathered around her, prayed with her, and reminded her that she didn’t have to do it alone. Invited and supported by the whole team, she had the courage to continue. Step by step, they guided her up that rock face. When she reached the top, she wasn’t just celebrating a physical victory, she was experiencing spiritual breakthrough.
“I realized God doesn’t call us to be strong enough on our own,” she shared later. “He calls us to be brave enough to take the next step with Him.”
That’s what happens when you encounter God in His creation. You realize how small your problems are and how big your God is.
One Step Changes Everything
Here’s the most practical thing we can tell you; You don’t have to see the whole mountain to take the next step.
Every impossible journey begins with one step. Every life transformation starts with one decision. Every encounter with God begins with one movement toward Him.
Moses took one step toward the burning bush. David took one step deeper into dependence. Elijah took one step out of the cave. Jesus took one step into the wilderness. Learn how every step can become a prayer.
We’ve watched thousands of participants discover this truth on the trail. “I was overwhelmed looking at the week ahead,” one shared. “But my instructor just said, ‘Focus on today’s hike.’ By the end of the course, I was amazed at what God had done through me one day at a time.” [Alumni Stories]
What’s your one step?
Creation Is Calling You
Here’s what we know for sure: God is not done meeting people in the wilderness. The same God who spoke to Moses from the burning bush wants to speak to you. The same God who sustained David in the desert wants to sustain you. The same God who whispered to Elijah wants to whisper to you.
But you have to show up. You have to turn aside and see. You have to step away from the comfort and the noise and the distractions.
At SROM, we’ve been privileged to witness these encounters for over 40 years. We’ve seen tough guys break down in tears watching a sunrise. We’ve watched anxious teenagers find peace sitting by a stream. We’ve celebrated with burned-out adults who remember who they really are underneath all the noise. [Biblical Wilderness Ministry]
The wilderness is waiting. God is waiting.
Your burning bush moment might be one step away.
Are you ready to take it?
Ready to write your own wilderness transformation story?
Just as Moses discovered his calling at the burning bush and Jesus prepared for ministry in the desert, God is waiting to meet you in the wild places too. Don’t let another season pass wondering what God might do in your life through wilderness ministry.
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Your story of transformation is waiting to be written in the wild places. All it takes is the courage to say yes to the wilderness and the God who meets people there.