As an introvert, I find it exhausting how much emphasis is put on fellowship and congregation when it comes to our duty as believers. This is probably why I feel connected to this topic and the need to point it out. I don’t remember the first time I heard a person mention it or how I started noticing a pattern, but it was a major eye opener for me.

Almost all of God’s great men go through what I’m terming “the wilderness moment.” This is a time where they are alone and away from the city. For some of God’s prophets this time was a meant to heal them of their depression or anxiety, for others it occurs at the beginning of their call. Nonetheless, there is a clear pattern of the wilderness being place to birth or refresh spiritual growth.

Elijah goes through a period of depression in which he flees into the wilderness. He spends 40 days in isolation; during this time God feeds him, just as he feeds Israel when they are in the wilderness. God gives Elijah both hope and a revelatory message meant to be shared while he is in the wilderness. (See 1 Kings 19)

Moses has two 40-year periods in the wilderness. The first comes after he rejects Egypt and flees after killing an Egyptian soldier. It is during this time that he comes to the land of Midian and speaks to God as the Burning Bush. His second time in the wilderness is with the nation of Israel as they journey to the promised land.

During the Exodus, Israel spends 40 years in the wilderness trying to reach the promised land.

At the beginning of His ministry, Yeshua spends 40 days in the wilderness. It is during this time that He is tempted by Satan. (See Matthew 4)

After Paul is converted on the road to Damascus, the disciples aren’t convinced his conversion isn’t just a ploy to uncover information about Christians to be used in their death. As such, Paul is forced to flee and stay in hiding for three years. During those three years he is taught by the Holy Spirit. When he emerges the disciples are shocked that he preaches the same message as them and only then are they convinced he is truly one of them. This marks Paul’s entry to the body and eventual rise to ministry. (See Acts 9; 22; 26; and Galatians 1)

John is exiled to the wilderness of Patmos and it is here that he receives the Revelation of Yeshua that concludes the New Testament. (see Revelation 1)