The Backside of the Desert (War in the Wilderness)

I recall I had the best laid plans -That I thought that I could understand
And they led me to where I’d have never gone
But though I sought my heart’s desire-God used that spark to start a fire
That would cleanse and purify me to the bone.
There are trials that transform a man-There’s a seminary in the sand
God gives a new heart for a heart of stone
Though I thought I knew how to trust-But wandering a wilderness of dust
Teaches us how to discern we’re not our own.

The backside of the desert is a classroom

Where the lessons of the heart come to be known

Things no seminary in the world can yield

On the backside of the desert there ‘s revealed

The battles of the heart aren’t fought alone

There I found my Midian it seems-There I traded all my dreams

There is where I lost and found my self

My faith had so much more to learn-By losing all the things for which I’d yearned

When I realized that God is all my help

For in the desert is a place-Where lessons learned are those of grace

And our values are examined and exposed

Self sufficiency and selfish pride-They come to naught and are cast aside

In Midian our thrones are all deposed

The backside of the desert is a war-room

Where the mind’s transformed  by the glories shown

Things no seminary in the world can yield

On the backside of the desert it's revealed

That the battles of the mind aren’t fought alone

We set our goals and put the stamp-Of God’s approval  then we camp

In ragged tents beneath our privilege

We must abandon every worldly end-God’s discipline is our best friend

For life is found in living on the edge

In every pilgrim path we’ve trod-There is a place where we meet God

In a very special way not known before

A place there in the desert dust-Where we truly have to learn to trust

A place where we need God and nothing more

The backside of the desert there’s a throne-room

Where God’s own Spirit teaches the unknown

Things that no seminary in the world can yield

On the backside of the desert they're revealed

For The battles of the flesh aren’t fought alone

The battles of the heart aren’t fought alone

The battles of the mind aren’t fought alone

Anthony Foster

October 7, 2021