War in the Wilderness: Fight for Your Family When Life Isn't as It Should Be

We live between two gardens: Eden and the New Jerusalem. Between the gardens there is only desert; a biblical metaphor for life. Three main words in the Hebrew language describe the desert: midbar, t’siyah, and yashiymown―three kinds of deserts and metaphorically three kinds of life experience. In midbar you can survive if you know what you are doing. Midbar is what we call, normal. It’s not exactly right, but it’s as good as it gets outside the Garden.

In t’siyah you can survive if you have help. This is deeper, darker, hotter, and even more chaotic. There are times in life when the soul of your family is scorched. In the t’siyah parts of life, you can’t survive unless you have help. Yashiymown is desert you cannot survive. Yashiymown is wild, unbearable, and unfit for dwelling. In this time of life, only the presence of God and a miracle of God will sustain life.

Life between the gardens is a desert. It’s all challenging but some parts are almost impossible. The most important action we can take to lead our families through such a war in the wilderness is to cry out to God. He will hear you.

Brian Haynes, D.Min., has served the church locally and globally as a ministry leader and pastor for over 25 years. His work focuses on family, parenting, and discipleship. As a husband and father, Brian has led his family through the spiritual warfare, and he shares his experience of fighting for family when life isn’t as it should be.