And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, and was in the deserts till the day of his shewing unto Israel. [Luke 1:80]

...was in the deserts till the day of his showing…

The time of showing is the time the Lord brings a man out to the public. It is the time of the platform, the time God Himself publicizes a man before the public, by pouring His uncommon anointing upon him. At the time of showing, God's man never operates in his own energy, the Lord Himself takes over and works mightily through Him. This time of showing never arrives until a man has successfully passed through his deserts that the Lord has ordained for his preparation.

Many times, due to the numerous experiences we have gathered through watching great men perform, through numerous trials and errors, reading of several inspiring books or by engaging in some religious gymnastics, we think that all these can make up for, or substitute for the days we ought to spend in the deserts. So, we go ahead and plunge into open/public ministry without the desert encounter. This will never work. You will simply remain a copy of others, an adaptation of older men throughout life, without entering into what is truly yours.
There is a desert that The Lord has prepared for His prophets to undergo before He (God) Himself can SHOW them unto His people.

The Bible here says that John the Baptist was in the deserts (in plural). NOT just one or two deserts, but DESERTS. It is the Lord that knows the number of desert places that a man must undergo in preparation for divine 'showing'. If a man does not patiently and painstakingly undergo the desert experiences that The Lord has laid before him, he cannot be fit for any elaborate revelation unto men. No man can be shown who has not partook of the deserts. In fact, the route to coronation and revelation passes through several deserts.

You cannot be a voice for God if the desert is neglected. The desert is not a palatable place, but it is a necessary passage to the top. Genuine anointing and authenticity in ministry is only a certificate offered after a man has passed his desert courses.

Many men who started out through the desert soon dropped off along the way, due to the rigours thereof. We are told that John the Baptist was a voice who cried out from the desert, he had his meal of locusts and wild honey, and his dress was of camel's hair. This is the nature of the desert.

The voice of one crying in the wilderness... And the same John had his raiment of camel's hair, and a leathern girdle about his loins and his meat was locusts and wild honey. [Matthew 3:3-4].

Men who bypassed or boycotted the desert places are not hard to identify. When you see men who are pompous and bogus, men that are loud and domineering on the pulpits, you can safely conclude that such men are clearly not a product of the deserts. If at all you see them on the podium today, they were not placed there by God, they are the ones showing themselves by their mouths and loud publicities, and never by divine approval or divine ordination.
What went ye out to see, a reed shaken by the wind?, a man in flamboyant clothing, a self made, self acclaimed man, such men never came out of the moulding hands of The Lord, which are made from the desert experiences, they were men of pride and self.

The desert is a place where God puts His man to death, so that God's own beauty and life can ensue. The desert drowns self, it kills self, it deals completely with all the pursuits of the world and brings the glory of heaven upon the soul. Seest thou a product of the desert, you will find a man who is subdued a man you cannot lure away with the beauties of the world. His worldly appetites were killed, he has nothing to show or to use to attract the world, he is dead. He does not do 'notice me by force', he is not displaying anything for show, he eyes nobody to impress. Whether you like him or not, whether you appreciate him or not, whether you give him gifts, ridicule him, call him names or love or hate him, he is dead, and nothing shakes a dead man. You don't intimidate him with your fame, size or possession, to him, those are perishables.

Seest thou a product of the desert, you will find a tough man. Whether in poverty or riches, whether in plenty or want, nakedness or shelter, acceptance or rejection, whatever the situation, he has become tough to be able to survive without lamenting, murmuring or asking God why. His ambition for wealth, fame or to be a millionaire has been put to death. The desert product is on fire for God, to him to live now is Christ, to die is gain. Nothing of the world is counted as gain unto him, and before his eyes, whoever spends life to pursue the world has lost that life.
The man from the desert is a bush man, the world sees him as that.


"...day of his showing..."

It is not in a man to show himself unto Israel. Good voice, loud carriage, good administration, commandeering and autocratic approaches are only worldly methods that many employ today in pushing themselves forward. But a clear check up on those men reveal that they lack something of the divine. If The Lord does not handpick a man and give him His own publicity, all human methods are never original, they are only means of promoting self - which The Lord hates because it stinks.

When God Himself shows a man unto his generation, his voice will be far reaching, and the effect of his life and ministry upon men will be spiritual with heaven's footprints.
God is the One that will reveal His prophet unto the nations. I must keep myself in the desert equipping and pruning until I am perfect enough in God's measure to be His voice crying in the wilderness. Only then will He show me to the world. Hence, my business now, is not in the "showing", I cannot do that for myself if I want the authentic. The only thing I can and must do, is to keep myself within the confines of the desert until His divine moulding and making is completed.