“Who is this that cometh out of the wilderness
like pillars of smoke, perfumed with myrrh and frankincense…”
Song of Songs 3:6
Some spices release their aroma when crushed; others when heated by fire.
There is a fragrance around those who walk through the siftings and the crush of betrayal and yet remain faithful to Him. These wounded hearts carry the scent of Him who was wounded for them.
Purpose in The Wilderness – Fragrance
The fragrant spices adorn those who “come out of the wilderness.” The long and arduous journey must be passed through. God’s purposes are unto a desired end. The wilderness is never meant to be a place for us to dwell. Jesus, being “led of the Spirit,” was for a specific season.
“Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit
into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil.”
Matthew 4:1
The sad testimony of many is to languish in their wilderness. That which, in God’s purposes, was to be a purifying work, becomes a place of stagnation and great loss. We need to look no further than the failure of the children of Israel to enter into the promised land, who ended up perishing in the wilderness through unbelief. (1 Corinthians 10:1-5)
“And you shall remember all the way which Jehovah your God has caused you to go these forty years in the wilderness, in order to humble you, to try you, to know that which is in your heart, whether you will keep His commandments or not.”
Deuteronomy 8:2 (LITV)
There are many different wildernesses described in scripture. None of them are without His purpose and design. His end is to produce within us the fragrances of Christ: myrrh and frankincense. His way is one of brokenness and humility; the path to becoming someone who reveals His wonder.
“But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of Him everywhere.”
2 Corinthians 2:14 (ESV)
The true disciple of Christ carries within them His fragrance, which is to be an unconscious revelation of the Christ within.
Related Post: “The Brook in the Way”
God’s Purpose in the Wilderness for us
Is that the Fragrance of Christ be known through us.
“The wilderness makes or breaks a man; it provides strength of will and character. The strength provided by the wilderness, however, was not the strength of self-sufficiency, but the strength that comes from a knowledge of the living God.”
– Peter C. Craigie
Brian Troxel
