In the final chapter of the Song of Songs, a victorious Bride walks out of the wilderness rapturously loving her Bridegroom alone. In addition to this first-love relationship with her Bridegroom, she has a new anointing to accomplish her assigned tasks.
It was not always so. Before arriving at her victorious place of peace and power, she suffered extended times when she felt separated from her Beloved – separated from His presence (see 3:1-5). Feeling separated from His presence was the distress of her soul, but it was necessary.
Necessary because the Bride’s character needed transformation. Before her wilderness, she knew her Bridegroom in a salvation sense, but self (the “Big-I”) sat on the throne of her heart. After the blessing of her wilderness years, “Big-I” died and Jesus was enthroned as the Bridegroom King of her heart.
So it is with you and me as committed disciples of Christ. God must work “self” out of our lives so that Jesus is truly our one and only King. Just like the Song’s bride, God will use times when He seems to be absent in our distresses to refine and transform our character. And like the bride, when He accomplishes that transformation in our lives, we will be in rapturous love with our Bridegroom King and will, secondarily, be anointed to better accomplish our assigned tasks.
The “stuff” that we’re going through has a Divine purpose! As author Bernice Hicks says, “Even in the midst of great temptation, God was faithful to sustain Jesus in the wilderness before His ministry began and was faithful to sustain Him in the wilderness of the Cross. We can be sure that He will sustain us and complete the work that He has begun in us until we take our place at the marriage supper of the lamb.”