Reading the Scriptures, one notices that when a man of God had to go away for a trial, there were two places that these people went
A Cave or the Wilderness
Even though the final outcome of these experiences were the same in reference to a purified, stronger, and more anointed child of God (except in the case of the Israelites in the time of Moses), there was one major difference between the cave and the wilderness.
Environment.
The cave signified a sense of protection from the natural elements of wind and weather and in the spiritual realm, protection from the cave inhabitant’s enemies. Men like David went into the cave to be hidden, protected, and sheltered from the spiritual climate as well as the meterological climate. David went to the Caves of Adullam to flee the wrath of Saul and came out to begin his reign as the King of Israel.
The wilderness signified a place of barreness (like the cave) except that the person in the wilderness had to face head on the natural elements of wind and weather in addition to being open and vulnerable to the attack of the enemy. Jesus went into the wilderness for forty days where he experienced the natural elements of wind and weather along with temptation during his fast that he had to face head on and conquer.Jesus went into the wilderness and faced Satan and after conquering and surviving the physical and spiritual elements, came out ready to begin his ministry.
Even though we tend to view the cave and the wilderness as a place of trial and testing, people who are in those environments spiritually tend to yearn for another environment. The Christian under trial who was sent to the spiritual wilderness usually has a yearning and hunger for a cave to go into to escape the heat of day and the cold of night and other natural elements that have weathered them. The Christian under trial who was sent to the spiritual cave usually has a yearning and hunger for a wilderness to roam and explore and break the cabin fever mentality they feel manifest in their spiritual being because they have felt bound and cooped up in a limited space.
As long as I live, I will never figure out why some Christians in their trials get to go into the cave for protection until the danger has passed while some Christians in their trials get to go to the wilderness to face the danger, attack, and temptation until the breakthrough of victory is obtained.
Even though the environment of the trial is different, the end result of victory and the next step to fulfill the destiny and calling on a person’s life is the same. I am learning that very slowly. I have the change. I have the power. I have the victory. I have the anointing. Now is the time that I become like King David and King Jesus and learn how to apply the change, the power, the anointing, and the victory that I have learned (and trying not to forget) these past three years into the post trial life that yielded blessing, harvest, freedom, and ministry.
In case you are wondering, cave or wilderness? I really believe that I was in the wilderness.
