Remember how the Lord your God led you all the way in the wilderness these forty years, to humble and test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands.

— Deuteronomy 8:2

God is the great discipler, and He disciplines and molds you because He loves you. This time of trial, of desert wandering, is not a cruel joke. It is a time of shaping. Do not resist His chisel. Do not bark at the strike of the mallet. God sees the figure you can be beneath the block of granite you are. God may lead you into the desert for a long time “to humble you and to test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands.” But He also promises that when you are ready, when you have the unnecessary pieces of yourself chipped away so that others can see God’s perfect creation and idea, then He will lead you to the place where you lack nothing.