Getting Ready in the Desert

I'm trying to get back on track with this whole "Bible in a year" reading plan. So far, I'm not doing as well as I had hoped to be doing ... but I am doing better than I have in the past: I made it past February.

March #1's reading in the OT was from Numbers 1-2. Here's some interesting observations:

1. The Census was God's idea first (I'm just saying USA ...)
   Num 1:2 - "Take a census ..."
   
   
2. It is in the wilderness God speaks to His servants most clearly.
   Num 1:1 - "The Lord spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the tent of meeting,"
   
   Even in the wilderness, we should have a regular meeting time with God when we open the Bible and ask Him speak to us. Moses was in the wilderness; the dry desert where life is challenging, difficult, and even lonely at times. Yet it is in the wilderness that God often speaks most clearly to His people. It is also in the wilderness that His people band together in close enough proximity to count them!
   
   Know that you're not alone if you feel like you're wandering in the desert - many of us have been, or are there right now. Because of this, reach out to God and one another ... and if someone reaches out to you, grab hold of them because they need you.
   
   
3. It is in the wilderness that God calls men to war.
   Num 1:3 - "From twenty years old and upward, all in Israel who are able to go to war, you and Aaron shall list them, company by company."
   
   You find out who you really are when you're out in the desert. This is where young men become soldiers ready for battle. This is where the nitty-gritty of the soul is laid bare before the Lord and He changes you into something you never thought possible. There's a reason boot-camp doesn't have all the creature comforts most are used to - they want you by yourself, away from comfort, ready to give your all for the cause you're fighting for. To quote Monk & Neagle, "That's what soldiers do ... they fight for what is true."
   
   In the wilderness, God calls us to prepare for war. The Israelites were not in the middle of fighting someone, scrambling to come up with some kind of battle plan. Rather, God calls them to get ready in the desert for what is to come. He's taking them into places that will require men to be ready to fight. He's taking us into places that will require us to be ready to fight temptation, sin, darkness & the enemy.

We are at war, and we must be ready. It's in the desert, meeting with God when it's just you and Him, that this happens. But know you're not in it alone. Men were called company by company, and we must pool together with those around us who will help us get ready for the fight as well as fight alongside us.

Do you have a plan ... a training plan ... to get ready in the desert? Are you in the Word, "preparing your mind for action" (1 Peter 1:13)? Are you putting on the full armor of God (Eph 6:10-20)? There is a real enemy out there, and we must be ready to resist him (1 Peter 5:8-11). Are you getting ready, even if you're in the desert?