One of the statements I hear the most from people when I inquire about their relationship with God is this: “God has me in a wilderness.” It’s as though God has left them on top of the refrigerator like an avocado waiting to ripen.… They see themselves as being in a perpetual state of incompletion, and they honestly believe that God not only endorses this idea but He also participates in it. This mentality goes against the basic theology of scripture. In New Testament times, if you were a Christian you were in the Promised Land, not the wilderness. Make no mistake about it; God will not put you in the wilderness!… Though you are a work in progress, He has already declared you completed! By one sacrifice He has made you perfect forever.
Darin Hufford
The Misunderstood God, Windblown, 2009, 87-8.
GraceQuotes.com 
I think the statement,WORK IN PROGRESS ,is what to remember,i GET SO IMPATIENT,and sometime wonder if the end to a problem will ever come,but growing up is not easy,just like the kid who wants to drive the car and is to young
To me, if JESUS had to go through the wilderness, so do we. My take on the wilderness is not being in a state of “incomepleteness” but a place for growth. Everything GOD has placed in us before the creation of the world to the time we were born of the Spirit GOD wants to bring it to manefistation. This “wilderness” to me means cultivating time…tested and tried so that I KNOW HIM..that HE is Faithful and True! HE GOT me! Rather than drown in the storm I can swim in the rain because I learned to Trust the LORD in the darkest of places. So if it feels like I’m on top of the refrigerator so be it. I KNOW GOD will keep me fed and warm and after all that ill be stronger IN HIM like never before!
I agree with Racheal. Great response!
Well Racheal,
I am going to stay in the Promise Land.
Tommy
I think if you frame the Wilderness as a destination vs. a journey then yes, we are not called to the wilderness but to the promise, but it is fairly much a metaphor in our culture, no one you know (reading this) is actually in a physical wilderness, the lack of wifi wouldn’t let them post.
Hosea 2:14 God allures us to demonstrate His love…I’m not sure about the idea of testing…I don’t really think He needs a wilderness for that and I’m not THE son of God so its a pretty moot point, but there is something akin to many of the examples in scripture such as Pauls 3 year stint in the Arabia…not “exile” but being moved apart for re-tooling perhaps, but it should be fairly clear which paradigm you are under by who is there with you…if you’re there alone, its probably your own isolation and not Him, if however he has called you apart (perhaps to deconstruct some of the traditions of men) and is there with you then sure, you are in the promised land…
And that becomes the litmus test for you…where-ever He is, is the promised land…if your by yourself then yeah it’s your mindset and not Him.
Thinking you are in a wilderness and God is taking you through it is Old Testament theology. Christ doesn’t want us to go through that. He has already done it, paid the price and set us fee. The confusion comes because we are trying to be conformed to his likeness often by our own strength, when in fact, we are being changed by the renewing of minds. It is our Father who changes the way we think and act by the Holy Spirit in us. Any self effort to change is nothing more than behaviour modification and works. I have tried this and know it does not work.
Being in HIM is my Promise Land :). The wilderness is a journey I agree Markanddallpixley! And thanx irish03gator! There’s always going to be different seasons but HE is the only one who stays the same…. I know HE will never leave me or forsake me now matter “what it feels like!” HE is True, and Faithful…. HE is LOVE! GOD Bless you all..