Wandering in the Wilderness

Well, I'm certainly glad to be here this morning and spend this time with you.

I trust that as we've already been blessed, that God will continue to bless our time together

and use this time to encourage us in our walk with him.

I had the privilege of growing up in a pastor's home.

My dad entered the ministry when he was kind of middle-aged.

He was elected to the ministry as pastor in a small local church.

And so a lot of my formative years were spent in that kind of a home, that kind of a context.

And there was a time when I was in my teenage years, a high school student,

and we had a young family that came and joined us for one, not quite a year,

probably maybe through the equivalent of a school year.

And they were doing an internship because they were going to go out as missionaries.

And so they came and they were part of our little congregation for that time

and just got to know this family and appreciated the contribution they made to our ministry and our church there.

Went out to the mission field and when they came back, they came back somewhat disillusioned

because things were not what they had expected them to be.

It wasn't really what they had signed up for.

And I was thinking about coming to speak here and, you know, it's kind of nice when you have a period of time to prepare.

I know when you have to, not have to, but when you speak to the same congregation week after week,

it seems a week goes by very quickly and Sunday morning is there again.

But now that I have more free time, I have more time to think through what I'm going to speak about.

And so I was thinking about what should I share here this morning?

What would God have for us this morning?

And my thoughts were influenced by a book that I read written by Rabbi Jason Stobel.

And he was writing about the life of the Messiah.

And one chapter he devoted to Jesus being in the desert.

Jesus being led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by Satan for 40 days and 40 nights.

That time that Jesus fasted right after his baptism.

And so he pointed out some different things that happened in our walk when we're in that wilderness experience.

This Penner family that went out as missionaries, things weren't what they expected them to be.

They were in kind of a, we might call it a desert or a wilderness experience.

Those thoughts are kind of parallel what happened with the children of Israel.

When they were in slavery in Egypt and then God raised up Moses to be the one who led them into freedom,

God gave them the promise of a promised land.

He had promised that to Abraham years ago, generations ago.

But now was the time for the children of Israel to enter into that promised land.

And so they had the opportunity to leave slavery and bondage and a place that wasn't really what God had called them,

their homeland.

And they had an opportunity to go into the promised land.

But they spent time traveling through the wilderness.

And it wasn't what God had planned for them to be long term.

But they ended up spending 40 years in that wilderness.

In Psalm 78, verse 52, and a couple of verses following, we read a little bit about that.

Psalms 78:52

But he brought his people out like a flock.

He led them like sheep through the desert.

He guided them safely so they were unafraid.

But the sea engulfed their enemies.

Now he's thinking about the Red Sea and how the Egyptian army chased them and God delivered them.

Thus he brought them to the border of his holy land, to the hill country his right hand had taken.

He drove out nations before them and allotted their lands to them as an inheritance.

He settled the tribes of Israel in their homes.

Isn't that wonderful how God can deliver people and bring them into a place of plenty,

a place of blessing, a place of prosperity, a place of goodness.

That is who God is and that is what he intends for his people.

And so the story of Israel and Moses and leaving Egypt and going to the promised land

has so many parallels to our own walk with God.

But the next verse says,

But they put God to the test and rebelled against the Most High.

They did not keep his statutes.

But.

But.

God had these good plans for them.

But.

The people rebelled.

The people were sinful.

The people were doubting.

They didn't trust God.

And so they ended up spending that whole generation in the wilderness.

Now God doesn't intend for us to live our life in the wilderness.

However, there is a time between coming to know Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior.

And maybe you've experienced the transformation that comes when you see everything with new eyes.

And you have that new life.

And you have that freedom that comes from the burden of sin being lifted.

And you're not carrying that guilt anymore.

And you have that awareness that God loves me.

That Jesus died for me.

It's a personal salvation.

And then you read in his word about all the wonderful promises God gives us of his presence with us.

His empowering.

The way that he wants to use us.

That life.

We could call it life in the promised land.

But what happens is that sometimes there's that transition from that newness and that freshness and that joy and that new awakening.

And actually living in that place of promise.

As I was thinking about this, just in the last two weeks, I've had two interesting conversations.

The first one was with our next door neighbor.

Just moved in.

Just getting to know him a little bit.

Found out he's a believer.

And he has one of those testimonies of living in the world.

And being completely immersed in the world and in the drug culture and all of that kind of thing.

And then God just radically touching him and changing his life.

And now he's walking with the Lord.

And he's studying.

He's working full time.

But he's also studying full time in an online seminary.

And he's feeling a sense of being called to ministry.

But he was sharing with me that 10 years ago when he came to know the Lord, he had this wonderful transformation.

And this just a new insight into what life was all about and how he could be free from the bondage of sin.

And the drugs that he was involved in.

And all of that brokenness and that dysfunction.

And he had this joy and this peace.

And he said, but then for a while I kind of wandered.

He went into that desert place.

He went into that place where it seemed as if the presence of God was not as real.

It wasn't as vital.

And he kind of struggled for years.

And then slowly learned more.

And learned about walking with the Lord.

And now he's in a good place.

But he went through a time of real struggle.

Another person that I talked to within the last couple of weeks is somebody that has been used in ministry.

Somebody that has training in ministry.

Somebody that has been used in ministry.

And was sharing with me just the other day.

And I said, right now I'm in a place where I'm not seeing any sense of purpose.

I'm not content where I am.

I feel that there is something that could be different, should be different.

But I'm kind of stuck here.

And I thought, you know, that's probably not an uncommon experience.

Maybe many of you can relate to the fact that there is that joy and that freedom that come when you first come to know the Lord.

And there's the great promises that God has for us.

But your daily life feels a little bit like cake without ice cream.

Or cake without icing and ice cream, right?

It just, it's there but it's not quite.

It doesn't feel as if you're living quite in what God has promised.

Sometimes God leads us into that wilderness.

Jesus was led into the wilderness by the Spirit of God.

God had a purpose in that.

God had a purpose in taking the Israelites from Egypt through the wilderness to the promised land.

He didn't intend for them to be there for a whole generation.

But he intended them to be there.

What did he do in that wilderness?

Well, Moses went up on Mount Sinai.

He got the Ten Commandments.

He got the instructions about building the tabernacle.

These people had been immersed in a culture that was ungodly.

They'd been influenced by the Egyptian culture.

Remember what they did as soon as they ran into a little bit of a test?

Make us a golden calf.

Well, that was a direct influence of the thinking of the Egyptians.

What did they do when they were running short of, or they got tired of their food, or they were maybe short of water?

They said, you know, maybe we could go back to Egypt and we could have some of those leeks and onions and cucumbers that we used to enjoy there.

They forgot about the slavery.

And they said, but there was different food there.

And maybe we could just go back to that.

And so they had the thinking of Egypt in their minds and God had to cleanse them of that.

He had to remove the values and the religion of Egypt from them and show them that they needed to trust in God.

They needed to learn to trust in God regardless of what their circumstances or their observations suggested.

And they didn't always make that test, did they?

When God said, go, they said, no, we look, oh, we feel like grasshoppers.

We can't go.

When God said, don't go now, they said, oh, well, you know, we've had second thoughts.

Maybe we'll go now.

And God said, don't go.

I won't be with you.

You know, years ago in Bible college, our singing group used to sing this little song about the,

or the Israelites in the desert.

And it went something like this.

Well, don't you know that in the days of old when the Israelites didn't do what they were told?

Because of their stubbornness, they failed the test.

When they wavered in their faith each time by their whining and their crying for a sign,

our Lord simply told them this.

Go on and take another lap around Mount Sinai till you learn your lesson.

Till you stop your whining and you quit your rebelling.

Till you learn to stand in your day of testing by trusting and obeying the Lord.

Have you been in the situation where the Lord asked you to wait upon him,

but it seemed you could not remain still?

So you started planning what you're going to do because you thought the Lord had forgotten you.

And just then you hear these words.

Go on and take another lap around Mount Sinai.

Just the other day I heard the Lord say,

Son, you've got to trust me and take another step of faith to carry you through the storm.

But when the storm started getting rough, I thought the Lord wasn't strong enough.

So I started doing things on my own.

Then he said, go on and take another lap around Mount Sinai till you learn your lesson.

So we used to sing that song and I thought there's a lot of truth in it.

Now if you can relate to spending time in that wilderness experience,

that in-between time, you're probably in very good company.

King David had been anointed by Samuel and told very specifically that he was going to be the next king of Israel.

And we know what happened in his life, right?

As a young lad, he went out and he fought the...

It wasn't even really a battle, but he conquered Goliath,

threw the whole Philistine army into confusion.

Israelites won a great victory.

And King Saul said, you know, whoever defeats Goliath can become my son-in-law.

David said, I'm not worthy of that.

But then years later, he did become Saul's son-in-law, married another daughter.

And everything was just going fantastic for David.

But we know the story of David, don't we?

How for years and years, Saul was jealous and David was running and hiding.

And if we go to the book of Psalms, we read over and over and over again the Psalms that David wrote during those times.

Your Bible might have little subtitles at the beginning of the Psalm.

And a lot of the Psalms talk about how David wrote this Psalm while he was fleeing from Saul,

while he was in the desert of Zin, while he was with the Philistines, over and over again.

You're probably very familiar with some of those words.

We like to sing them.

As the deer pants for the streams of water, my soul pants for you, O God.

My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.

When can I go and meet with God?

My tears have been my food day and night, while men say to me all day long,

Where is your God?

These things I remember as I pour out my soul.

How I used to go with a multitude, leading the procession to the house of God,

with shouts of joy and thanksgiving among the festive throng.

Why are you downcast, O my soul?

Why so disturbed within me?

Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.

My soul is downcast within me.

Therefore, I will remember you from the land of Jordan, the heights of Hermon, Mount Zimer.

Then he goes on to say,

I say to God, my rock, why have you forgotten me?

Why must I go about mourning, oppressed by the enemy?

My bones suffer mortal agony, as my foes taunt me, saying to me all day long,

Where is your God?

Why are you downcast, O my soul?

Why so disturbed within me?

Ever felt that way?

Ever look back in your life and said,

Boy, it was terrific.

Like, God's presence was so real and so near.

God's word was so alive to me.

I couldn't wait to worship with other people.

God has great promises in store for me.

But right now, I'm in that in-between time.

Why am I feeling this way?

Why does it feel as if the problems are greater?

Why does it feel as if the trials are so strong?

Why do I feel as if I'm in this wilderness?

Then David ends that Psalm 42.

Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.

Sometimes God develops our faith by exercising it.

Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

But our faith becomes stronger when it is exercised.

So King David had that wilderness experience.

What about John the Baptist?

Where did he spend his ministry time?

Matthew chapter 3, the first couple of verses there.

Matthew 3 · chapter mention

John the Baptist's ministry was in the desert.

His message was, prepare the way of the Lord.

But what, how do you prepare the way of the Lord?

What was his message?

It was, repent.

Repent, for the day of the Lord is at hand.

The kingdom of heaven is at hand.

Repent.

Repent means change.

Change your way of thinking.

Change your way of living.

Change your way of acting.

Make an about turn.

Learn.

So the people in John the Baptist's time were probably somewhat complacent.

They had waited for many years for the promise of the Messiah.

They had probably settled into, this is the way life is.

None of us would ever do that.

We'd never settle into, well, this is just the way life is, would we?

We always live with anticipation.

We always live with hope.

We always live up with optimism, don't we?

But maybe some of the people needed to hear that message.

Hey, you know, you've settled into the wrong thing.

You need to lift up your eyes and remember the presence of God is here,

and God is doing a new thing.

And so John the Baptist learned that, and he taught the people,

you need to prepare your heart.

You prepare your heart by humbling yourself before God

so that God will be great.

John the Baptist used these words,

he must increase, I must decrease.

And that's really the bottom line.

That's the bottom line of repentance.

It's not about me, it's about God.

And so sometimes we go into that wilderness experience

because God needs to work on our attitude.

God needs to humble us.

God needs to show us our dependence on him.

If you think you are spending time in a wilderness

and you can maybe relate to King David or John the Baptist,

what about Jesus?

I mentioned earlier that after Jesus' baptism,

he was led by the Spirit into the wilderness,

and it says very specifically,

to be tempted of the devil.

Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert

to be tempted by the devil.

After fasting 40 days and 40 nights, he was hungry.

And then if you want to read all about the temptation,

you go to Matthew chapter 4

Matthew 4 · chapter mention

and you can read about the various temptations.

How Satan came to Jesus

and how he was actually using and abusing the Word of God

to try and tempt Jesus to doubt God,

to disobey God,

to worship the wrong things,

to try to go about God's purposes in his own way.

And it was the whole temptation,

the whole time of Jesus being in the wilderness

was addressing this question.

Did God really save?

You know that question first came up

in the Garden of Eden, didn't it?

When Satan came,

the serpent came and tempted Adam and Eve,

his question was,

did God really save?

And the implication was,

maybe God said something,

but did he actually mean what he said?

And Jesus faced Satan

and he answered that question,

yes, God really did save

and God really does mean what he says.

And when we stand with God

and are faithful to God,

he hears us,

he may test our loyalty,

but he rewards those

who diligently accept and trust

and wait for him.

Hebrews chapter 4 gives us

Hebrews 4 · chapter mention

another little picture of Jesus.

The end of that chapter,

verse 14 and following,

gives us another little picture of Jesus

and that temptation

and what effect that has for us.

Therefore,

since we have a great high priest

who has gone through the heavens,

Jesus,

the Son of God,

let us hold firmly

to the faith we profess.

For we do not have a high priest

who is unable to sympathize

with our weaknesses,

but we have one

who has been tempted

in every way,

just as we are,

yet without sin.

Let us then approach

the throne of grace

with confidence

so that we may receive mercy

and find grace to help

in time of need.

So sometimes we're in that wilderness place,

that desert place,

that place of God's seeming silence,

God's maybe seeming absence,

and he's testing our loyalty.

He's testing our love for him.

Will we believe him?

Will we trust what he has said

even though the circumstances around us,

even though our feelings tell us

it's not working out the way it should?

Will we trust that he is true

and that he keeps his word?

Another person who spent some time

in that desert place

was the Apostle Paul.

After his conversion,

that dramatic conversion

on the road to Damascus,

then he met the Lord

and right away he was on fire for God.

But in Galatians chapter 1,

Galatians 1 · chapter mention

it tells us something about his experience.

He says,

I did not consult with any man,

nor did I go up to Jerusalem

to see those who were apostles

before I was,

but I went immediately into Arabia

and later returned to Damascus.

Then after three years,

I went up to Jerusalem

to get acquainted with Peter

and stayed with him 15 days.

And he goes on to talk a little bit more

about his experience.

But what happened in Paul's life

during those three years in Arabia?

Well, we know that Paul was very zealous.

We know that Paul was very familiar

with the Old Testament.

We know that he was instructed

in the Old Testament.

We know that he was persecuting the church

because he believed that followers of Jesus

were not on the right track.

He believed that they were working against God.

And so his whole thinking,

his whole frame of reference,

his whole worldview had to be reshaped.

And I believe during that time in the desert,

he learned a whole new way

of understanding God's purpose and God's plan.

because he became a very strong teacher

of taking the Old Testament truths

and saying this is how Jesus has fulfilled

what was spoken in the Old Testament.

His most basic convictions were shaken

and had to be rethought.

What he had believed and fought for

with such passion and zeal

was shown to be a tragic misunderstanding

of God and God's plan of salvation.

He had to work through that.

And then he became that great apostle,

that great missionary

that's established churches

in so many places.

You know, sometimes we're very sincere.

Sometimes we love the word of God

as much as we understand it,

but God has to take us

to a better understanding.

Maybe we're misguided in some way.

Maybe we're sometimes simply wrong.

And God has to put us in a place

where he can teach us

a little more of his truth.

So what are some lessons

that we can learn from this?

In God's economy,

which comes first?

Our happiness

or our holiness?

In God's economy,

which comes first?

Our happiness

or our holiness?

Our peace,

our well-being,

our joy,

it's all going to flow

out of our holiness.

When we come to know God,

when we come to trust God fully,

when we surrender ourselves

and when we say,

my life is yours,

when we yield completely,

then the fruit

of all these good things

are going to start

to grow in our life.

Another thing we can learn

is God's timing

is not our timing.

God's timing

is not our timing.

God has a lot of patience.

God has a long-term plan.

God has an eternal plan.

We think in the moment.

We think,

boy, this is very uncomfortable.

God says,

you know,

I'm shaping you

for something greater.

In Revelation,

what do we read

over and over and over again?

To him who overcomes.

That means there will be testing,

there will be trials,

there will be things

that we have to work through,

there will be challenges in life.

But to him who overcomes,

I will give to eat

of the tree of life.

There are parts of our character

that are shaped

in times of retreat

or quietness

that would not be shaped otherwise.

There are things

that we learn

when God pulls us back.

Our understanding

of God's word

is at best incomplete.

There are times

where he has to correct

something in our thinking.

Maybe being taken

on that wilderness journey

is a preparation

for a greater,

more fruitful ministry impact.

Many of you

are probably familiar

with the story

of John Bunyan,

the author

of Pilgrim's Progress,

an allegory

about how

Christian leaves

the city of destruction

and he goes

to the celestial city.

And the story

is all about

the trials

that he faces

and the victories

that he overcomes

and the companions

that he meets

along the way.

And it's a beautiful story

that has been

translated

into many,

many different languages.

It's a very,

very popular story

and it's been

very helpful

to many people.

But you know,

John Bunyan lived

in the 1600s

in Britain

and during that time

there was a lot

of tension

within the church

because the Church

of England

was a state church

and they had

certain ways

of doing things,

they had certain structures,

they had certain ways

of organizing things

and then there was

a group of,

they called them

non-conformists

they were people

that said,

you know,

we need freedom

to worship God

the way that our

conscience dictates

according to the

word of God.

We don't want

to follow the structures,

we don't want

to stay with these

traditions that are

sometimes more secular

than godly

and we want the freedom,

we need the freedom

to share.

And so,

there were people

like the Methodists

that grew out of it,

there were people

like the pilgrims

that grew out of

this non-conformist

group that said,

we are going

to walk with God

and worship God

and study the word

of God

and seek to be

faithful to him.

And John Bunyan

was a pastor

in this non-conformist

church group

and because

he refused

to conform

to the state church,

he ended up

being in prison.

He spent 12 and a half

years in prison

and his heart

was to be with

the people

and to be pastoring

the people

and he used

his time

in prison

to write.

And he wrote

numerous things

but among them

he wrote

The Pilgrim's Progress.

During that time

of what we might

call wilderness time

or desert time,

John Bunyan

ended up

writing something

that has given

people

a lot of guidance

in their

Christian walk.

It has given

people hope

in their struggles,

it has given

people

an insight

into some

of the things

that happen

in our Christian

life and the

struggle,

the spiritual

conflict that

is behind it.

Would he have

been able to

write with such

insight,

with such depth

and such clarity

if he hadn't

lived that

experience?

So,

where are you

today?

If we think

back to the

example of

the Israelites

in Egypt

in bondage,

moving through

the wilderness,

entering the

promised land,

where are you?

Perhaps

there's someone

here today

that says,

you know,

when I really

look at my

life,

I have to

say,

I don't know

freedom in

Christ.

I don't know

if I'm saved.

I don't know

if I would die

today,

I don't know

if I'd go to

heaven.

I don't know

if my sins

are forgiven.

Maybe there's

someone here

that struggles

with those

questions.

And God's

answer to you

today is,

you can know.

You can know

that Jesus

died for your

sins.

You can know

that your

sins are

forgiven.

You can know

that you don't

have to live

in bondage.

You don't

have to live

with all the

things that

hold you back

from the best

life that God

has for you.

You can

simply confess

your sin

to God.

You can

believe that

Jesus Christ

died for

your sins.

You can

say,

yes,

I admit

that I

have a

need.

I admit

that I

am a

sinner.

I admit

that I

don't have

the gift

of eternal

life,

but God,

I turn

to you.

I offer

you my

life.

I ask

you to

cleanse

me,

and I

thank and

praise you

for giving

me the

hope and

the gift

of eternal

life.

And you

can enter

into that

joy and

that freedom

that Jesus

Christ offers,

that gift

of eternal

life that

will not

be taken

from you.

You can

thank him

for that.

Perhaps

today you're

living in

that promised

land.

Perhaps

today when

you look

at your

life you

say,

yes,

you know,

I am

living in

the abundance

of God's

blessing.

I walk

in his

presence.

His word

is alive

to me,

and I

am just

living in

joy and

in victory.

If you

are,

praise God.

That's a

good place

to be

because your

joy and

your life

with Christ

will overflow

and it

will influence

and impact

other people's

lives around

you.

And that's

a great

blessed place

to be.

Perhaps

you're living

in that

in-between

place.

What I'd

say to you

this morning

if you are

is don't

believe the

lie that

God has

abandoned

you.

Don't

believe the

lie that

God doesn't

care.

Put down

your roots

into God's

word.

Believe what

he says

when he

says in

Isaiah 30

Isaiah 30:15

verse 15,

in repentance

and rest

is your

salvation,

in quietness

and trust

is your

strength.

Maybe you'll

never see

this side of

eternity,

what God's

purpose is

in leading

you through

that desert

place,

that wilderness

place.

But remind

yourself

that the

God who

loves you

enough to

give his

only begotten

son to

die in

your place

has a

good plan

for you.

When I

was a

kid we

used to

sing a

song

together.

In our

family

devotion

time we

sometimes

ended by

singing a

little chorus

together.

We'd sing

together,

My Lord

knows the

way through

the wilderness,

all I

have to

do is

follow,

my Lord

knows the

way through

the wilderness,

all I

have to

do is

follow.

Strength

for today

is mine

all the

way,

and all

that I

need for

tomorrow,

my Lord

knows the

way through

the wilderness,

all I

have to

do is

follow.

God

bless you

as you

follow him.