Print(6) John the Baptist's Desert Formation
In considering the role of the desert experience in the lives of God's people, few have been impacted by the solitude of the desert like John the Baptist. How long he lived in the desert before making his short but powerful entry onto the stage of Scripture I have no clear idea. I think I'm well within the bounds of probability when I believe it to be in excess of 20 years - if we use the life of his cousin, Jesus of Nazareth, as a guide.
Anyway, however long or short that time was, it obviously was very significant in the making and shaping of the man and his ministry. He was unique in his appearance and his dietary habits. Like Elijah, he was very much a confrontationist in his ministry style. He had no fear of either kings or commoners. His mind was saturated in the Old Testament Scriptures - especially Isaiah. He was intense. He was passionate. And all this was forged in his life as he lived in the desert.
I'm not at all like John. Although I confront when I absolutely have to, it is not who I am. Given his calling, I think John had to be direct and blunt with the people he was seeking to convince, convict and convert. But it was bound to get him into trouble.
I note that Jesus highlighted the differences between His own ministry and that of John. He did so, not to affirm one and denigrate the other; rather to show that God calls and shapes people differently for His service. But I'm getting away from the key point here. The point is that John's experience of the desert was not wasted time. It was critical as to who he was to become - the uniqueness of who he was and what he accomplished.
May God help us all to see our time in the desert as a positive time and place of growth rather than a negative time of waste and uselessness.
