Young Men, The Wild Places Are For You

Young men, God has designed wild places to unlock spiritual truths in your heart. Wilderness experiences are a visceral means of drawing you nearer to Christ—a needed antidote to the numbness of our comfortable, digitally driven lives.

By wild places, I don’t mean the community park. I mean a place where cell service is unlikely, where the only creature comforts are the ones you’ve carried with you. In short, wild places are, well, wild. If you’re ill-equipped, they can turn dangerous quickly.

Of course, God has created the wilds for man and woman, young and old. But after 20-plus years of guiding people, I can confidently say God has specially tuned the hearts of young men to hear spiritual truths in wild places. Here are four examples.

1. Beauty Leads to Worship

The wild world is filled with beauty that Instagram cannot capture. When you’re standing in creation, far from home, subject to your environment, every sense is engaged. It’s a beauty you don’t just observe but feel. It’s enrapturing: pine trees sighing with a rush of wind, a solitary loon calling across a dusky lake, alpine balsams pillowed in snow, a sky so dark the Milky Way spills across the horizon.

To experience these wonders, and a million others like them, is to recognize you’ve stepped into glory. As C. S. Lewis writes, “Nature never taught me that there exists a God of glory and of infinite majesty. I had to learn that in other ways. But nature gave the word glory a meaning for me. I still do not know where else I could have found one.”

The wild world is filled with beauty Instagram cannot capture.

I’ve stood with young men on mountaintops, or beside riverbanks, and worship suddenly erupts. It’s not that we begin singing (though this has happened), but we break into spontaneous expressions of gratitude for Christ, who made all things and holds them together (Col. 1:16–17). We speak words of Scripture, like Psalm 19, almost instinctively. God has designed wild places to point your heart to Christ’s beauty and glory. Worship is the only natural response.

2. Simplicity Leads to Prayerfulness

When you travel to wild places, the stresses of normal life are left behind—if only for a moment. Life becomes simple. Everything you need is in your backpack or canoe. Your work is to keep moving, to control your breathing. Set up camp, break it down again. Make a fire, cook your food, make sure bears and stray embers bring no ruination. Life in the wild is intense; mistakes can quickly lead to misfortune. But this simple intensity strips away distractions. You become single-minded, focused.

Young men, simplicity is a revelation for your soul. When life is reduced to a simple set of objectives, with no screens to distract, it becomes much easier to meditate on the things of God. Thinking becomes praying, and praying becomes easier. The simplicity of the wild and the worshipfulness it produces amplify a prayerful state. Perhaps this is why Jesus frequently sought out wild places to pray (e.g., Luke 4:42, 5:16; Matt. 14:23).

3. Adversity Leads to Fortitude

If you’ve reached a wild place, you’ve experienced difficulty: burning muscles, lungs desperate for air, downpours threatening to drown your tent, mosquitoes resistant to chemical warfare, uncooperative stomachs, uncertainty about whether you can make it through. Wild places cannot be accessed without some form of adversity. But the reality of the wild is that, one way or another, you must push through—even if it’s to bail.

I’ve seen it play out with dozens of young men: When suffering comes, Scripture becomes the driving thought. I remember: in my weakness, he is strong (2 Cor. 12:10); we ought to count trials as joy (James 1:2): these present sufferings are not worth comparing to future glories (Rom. 8:18). God’s Word presses you forward through the challenges of wild places, trusting he’ll bring you to better moments. Young men, God has filled wild places with challenges, and he has created you to overcome challenges.

I think of wilderness adversities like a school, preparing young men for life’s greater sufferings. Any fortitude gained through battling the wilderness, God will surely use when he leads you through a future spiritual wilderness.

4. Wild Experiences Lead to Brotherhood

After returning from a wild place, I’ll often be asked, “How was your trip?” I offer a brief report, but it’s impossible to explain to someone who wasn’t there. For the friend who was there, all we need is a glance to remember. And the stories we love to repeat aren’t of blue skies and clear waters but of when we came through the storm together, when we struggled side by side, and when the wild places forged a brotherhood between us. Nowhere but in the wild have I more consistently learned that a “brother is born for adversity” (Prov. 17:17).

Nowhere but in the wild have I more consistently learned that a ‘brother is born for adversity’ (Prov. 17:17).

The wild places are for you. Find a friend, leave your screens behind, and get out there to discover that creation declares the glory of God (Ps. 19:1).

Disclaimer: Fools walk into the wild with no experience. If you don’t have experience, find a more seasoned man. Likely, he’ll be eager to introduce you to wild places. If you don’t know anyone, ask God to bring such a man into your life. God loves to give good gifts!