Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Why don't we stand this morning? We're going to go to the Lord in prayer. How many have been following what's happening in the Middle east right now? Lots is going on, right?
[00:00:08] Rockets, missiles. They're not only being shot at Israel, but many of the other surrounding countries. Iran is in crisis.
[00:00:16] People there are distressed. And so we're going to pray because, you know, the Bible says in the last days, you know, it says there's going to be wars and rumors of wars. I think we're experiencing not only those things, but we need to pray. Don't be discouraged. The Bible says when these things begin to happen, he said, lift up your head. Your redemption is drawing near. God's going to come back here one day and I'm so happy because he's going to take over the planet. And he's the ultimate ruler that knows what's best for everybody. So let's pray on behalf of these nations that are going through crisis right now.
[00:00:52] So, Father, we pray for the world in which we're living in. We think of the conflict now, Iran, and there's Israel that's infected by this, and then there's the Americans that are involved in this and as well as many other Arab countries in our world that are walking through times of uncertainty. And Lord, we pray right now that your will be done. We pray that this situation would come to a swift and speedy end. We pray, Father, that good would come out of crisis and difficulty. And Lord, even as we hear this message this morning, we're going to see that, that you're the one many times that are leading us into challenging moments in our lives. But you're the one that's going to lead us out again. But we're not going to remain the same. We're going to be changed in the course of that experience. And we pray, Lord, that change will happen, that will be changed for good. And we thank you for that. In Jesus name and God's people said, amen. Amen. You may be seated. I'm going to mention something next.
[00:01:58] A guest speaker from Palm Desert, California, and Mark I've known for, I don't know, a long time and one of the best preachers in our conference. So I've asked him to come and he's going to do a workshop on Monday on how to preach. So some of you that have an interest in speaking preaching, I would sign up for this course because really we're making it at basically at a deficit. We're doing it for the sake of people so they can Develop. And so I know some of you have expressed interest. This would be a great course. It's Monday from 8:30 to 3:30. Lunch is provided. It's $30. You need to register online. I think I know some of you guys that probably need to sign up for this class and I think it will motivate you and inspire you. So we're going to turn in our Bibles this morning to the Book of Deuteronomy, chapter 8, a very powerful chapter.
[00:02:51] And I've entitled this message how to Respond Positively to Life's Most Painful Moments. How many know that everybody in life is going to experience sorrow, challenge pain? There's going to be joyous moments and difficult moments. Urban Lutzer, who I had the privilege of having as one of my preaching teachers. Some of you probably don't know him, but he's a Canadian that pastored Moody Memorial Church for many, many years and has written many, many books. He tells the story of a radio listener years ago that wrote to him. He said, I'm a man of 31 years of age and I'm divorced.
[00:03:26] And though I fought the divorce bitterly, I feel bad because I have no hope for the future. I don't know if this is working or not.
[00:03:35] Is it moving?
[00:03:37] Oh, okay, that's great. I'm not getting it on my back screen. But I feel bad because I have no hope for the future. Often I go home from church and I cry, but there's no one to hold me. When I cry, one cares. What hurts most is that I've begged God for the grace, to be single for his glory and to fix my eyes on Jesus. But nothing changes. I continue to fail. I'm a basket Casey, emotionally on the verge of collapse. Something is very wrong. I'm so crippled and embittered that I can scarcely relate to others anymore. And I feel that I will have to sit out the rest of my life in the penalty box. Well, I don't know if you've experienced those moments. Maybe you're going through a difficult or very devastating experience in your life right now. How many know the temptation comes to become frustrated, hurt, angry? We can become embittered.
[00:04:29] Some people grow to hate and blame God for it. I've seen this.
[00:04:34] Why is God allowing this to happen to me as a question? Why is God leading me into this wilderness experience of life?
[00:04:43] Why the wilderness? Asking why, I've already said this before, doesn't usually satisfy us. That's the problem. But I'm going to give you some whys today. Believe it or not. This is interesting. It's probably far better to consider what we can learn and how to respond in a way that will help us grow through this journey called life. And that's really what this is. Life is a journey. I think we have to have the right mindset. Have you ever noticed that trouble comes in packages?
[00:05:12] And sometimes they come more than one at a time, and it seems overwhelming. And I think what we need to remember is that even Jesus himself, as when God became a man in the person of Christ, we see him in the Garden of Gethsemane. So what wilderness experiences quickly remind us of is, you know, our humanity, our weaknesses, and our frailty.
[00:05:36] And that's not always a bad thing because it helps us recognize that we need God's assistance. And I think we also need the help of other people. You know, God didn't design us to live independently. He designed us to live interdependently. And we need to understand that. Now, I'm going to make a point here that God has always led his people into the wilderness.
[00:06:02] There are everyone. You know, think of all of the different moments. Moses, where did God appear to Moses? He was in the wilderness. What about Elijah? He ended up being in the wilderness. John the Baptist? He came from the wilderness. And Jesus himself. The Bible says Both in Matthew 4 and Luke 4, that the spirit of God led Jesus into the wilderness. Isn't that interesting? And in that case, even to be tested or tempted by Satan.
[00:06:32] So wilderness experiences have a design to them. And if you were to look over the first three Gospels, you'd see that Jesus himself was led there. It was God actually who initiated the confrontation between Jesus and the devil. Which, by the way, is going to help you understand something. It's kind of a mirror with a different outcome.
[00:06:54] As the Israelites were in the wilderness for 40 years, Jesus was in the wilderness for 40 days, while the Israelites in the wilderness mainly flunked. Everybody got an F except for Caleb and Joshua. Right?
[00:07:09] Jesus won out.
[00:07:11] And it's actually showing us that there's a way through the wilderness. We can actually win out in the wilderness experiences of life.
[00:07:20] We find in Deuteronomy here, chapter eight, a fascinating explanation, I think, of why God allows wilderness experiences into our lives. So Moses now, in the book of Deuteronomy, this is called the second reading of the Law. So Moses is actually going through at the end of his career. Like, you know, you have the beginning points. Exodus, a lot of the Law is being explained and said while Moses is there. But the second reading is preparing a new generation to go into the promised land. And Moses is actually communicating that to them. And he's describing to the Israelites the value of the wilderness experience in order for them. And here's the important point.
[00:08:03] Never to forget God.
[00:08:06] And you know what happens when you have a lot of prosperity and a lot of satisfaction and security and resources. The great temptation in life is to forget God. You know, we get caught up with the blessings of life and we forget all about the one who gave those blessings to us. And so Moses is going to remind us here, you don't want to forget God.
[00:08:27] And so he's describing to them, and I think here he's going to give us. I just put down four reasons mentioned to explain why God is actually leading us into wilderness experiences. And the first reason is simple, to humble us.
[00:08:43] And you say, well, do we need to be humbled, Pastor? Well, there's times I don't know about you, but I've had to be humbled. I've had God to work in my life. You know, God is never going to really greatly use your life until he breaks you.
[00:08:57] There's got to be a brokenness.
[00:08:59] How many know that when you're a rancher and you have horses, you know, if you have unbroken horses, those horses are not going to mean a lot to you. They have to be trained, they have to be broken. They have to submit to the will of the person who is going to ride them and use them for benefit. And so for God to really use our lives, he has to break us. And I know that that's a painful process. And he's going to do that so that you and I can begin to effectively serve other people. So let's pick up Deuteronomy, chapter 8, verse 2. It says, Remember how the Lord your God led you and all the way in the wilderness. So who's leading them in the wilderness?
[00:09:41] Right, answer God. Okay. He said, these 40 years now, he gives us reasons to humble and test you in order to know what's in your heart, whether or not you would keep the commands.
[00:09:56] So what we're going to discover here is that the wilderness is actually a place of need.
[00:10:02] It's in the wilderness that miracles are needed. You know, everybody says, I really want to have a miracle in my life, but I don't want to be in the place where I need a miracle in my life.
[00:10:13] Isn't that true? Yeah, we all want one, but we don't want to be at that place where we need it. You know, as long as you need a miracle, I'll watch your miracle. Right?
[00:10:22] That's kind of how we think sometimes.
[00:10:24] Do you realize that Elijah was fed by ravens in a time of famine? Now, how many know ravens don't share food?
[00:10:33] Now, I've witnessed that. I lived in McMurray for a while, and they have a lot of ravens. And I can tell you something, those animals, those birds, they don't want to share anything with anybody. So this goes against their nature. So God is getting them to do something that's counter nature, you know, that's a miracle that these birds were flying food into Elijah. How many think that's a miracle? I think it's a miracle. You know, then Israel was given manna, that gracious provision that sustained them, you know, for 40 years.
[00:11:04] And they estimate there could have been up towards 3 million people wandering around in the wilderness. How many have ever had to make lunch for 30 people, let alone a couple million people? God is taking care of these guys morning, noon and night. It's pretty good. So the wilderness is a place where confidence in ourselves and our abilities are undermined. You know, sometimes have you had moments in your life where you felt your confidence was shattered? And then we get, you know, it's frustrating, but it's not a bad thing. It's making us to look to God and to seek God and to be depending on him and him alone for our source of supply.
[00:11:46] I believe the wilderness is designed to teach us to trust God and be grateful for his provisions. Do you know when you have little and you get something, you're very grateful.
[00:11:57] You know the problem? You know, the people who are the most ungrateful are the people who have too much, the people who have very little. And they get something, total gratitude.
[00:12:08] But when you give, you know, it's like a child, this child has never had a toy. You give him a toy, he's going to be extremely grateful. If you give a kid that's got 50 toys, they're not going to be as grateful. That's the nature of it. And that's true of us as human beings. And I don't care how little we are or how big we get, it's the same experience.
[00:12:24] The wilderness is a place where God is glorified because of his miraculous provisions. He reveals Himself to us. That his grace is sufficient in our time of weakness.
[00:12:36] You know, think about Israel. They're camped by the Red Sea and they're about to be restored, destroyed and returned into captivity.
[00:12:45] What's their response?
[00:12:47] Panic.
[00:12:49] How many of you when you're in a crisis. First response, panic, right?
[00:12:54] But no, I want to give you a word that God says to us in our panicking moments. And some of you are camped right there. Right now. You're at the Red Sea and you're in a state of panic. So I'm going to tell you what God is going to say to you today.
[00:13:07] Be still.
[00:13:09] See your salvation. Salvation is coming from the Lord. Trust in God.
[00:13:15] God led them to the Red Sea. God has led you to this place in your life.
[00:13:21] Wow. You've got to come to trust God.
[00:13:25] Why could Moses not panic? Because he had been trained in the wilderness. He had spent 40 years there.
[00:13:32] And Moses told the people, be still and see the salvation of your God. He said, don't be afraid.
[00:13:39] Stand firm, and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today, you will never see again the problem that you have today. God says, I can take care of that and you'll never see it again.
[00:13:53] That's pretty powerful. That's what he told them. The Lord will fight for you and need only to be still. How many think it's great when you got God on your side?
[00:14:05] How many know if God is God before you? The Bible says, who can be against you? Well, you could have the whole world against you. You could have all kinds of people against you. But if God is for you, just be still.
[00:14:18] He'll take care of it.
[00:14:20] The wilderness is a place where we learn to let God fight our battles for us. I know it's humbling for us to depend on other people because really, it's an acknowledgement of our weakness, of our dependency.
[00:14:33] And we sometimes struggle with that.
[00:14:35] We don't want to have to depend on other people. You know, pride says, you know, I can do this.
[00:14:42] Well, I want you to know, as I already said, God did not create us to be independent, but interdependent.
[00:14:50] And down the road, if you live long enough, you're going to realize how important it is to have good people in your life.
[00:14:57] You know why God created community?
[00:15:00] Do you know why God says it's important to come to church? You're building community. You're building good relationships with good people that you can walk beside you so that in an hour of crisis, there'll be someone there that says, hey, what's going on?
[00:15:12] That they'll be there to pray for you. You know, that they care about you and that you and I can care for them. The wilderness actually addresses our pride.
[00:15:23] The problem with pride is it creates A false sense of security.
[00:15:27] Pride means that we forget our weaknesses and our need for others.
[00:15:31] But above all, it means that we forget our need for God, which is really tragic. Look what it says in Deuteronomy 8:12. It says otherwise. When you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses and settle down. He's talking about being in the promised land. When your herds and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increases and all you have is multiplied. What's he talking about here? He's talking about blessing. He's talking about affluence. He's talking about prosperity. Right?
[00:15:58] But there's a danger in it, and he gives it to us. Then your hearts will become what?
[00:16:04] Proud.
[00:16:05] And then you will forget the Lord, your God. Can I say something?
[00:16:09] Canada's proud and she's forgotten who God is.
[00:16:15] It's true.
[00:16:17] My grandparents were godly, that generation.
[00:16:22] But it was a very difficult generation. They lived in a great depression.
[00:16:27] They lived through a second World War. They knew what pressure and difficulty and hardship was. This generation knows nothing of it. This generation is weak.
[00:16:38] This generation is entitled.
[00:16:42] That mentality didn't even exist in those people's minds.
[00:16:46] They cried out to God.
[00:16:49] They cried out to God. But then God started blessing Canada to such a degree, we've forgotten God as a nation.
[00:16:57] And folks, that's a big problem.
[00:17:01] You know, I was praying this morning, I was reading a devotional. It says, if you could ask one thing of God, what would it be?
[00:17:08] And I wrote in my journal, God, that you would pour out your spirit on our nation and bring us back to youo. That's my prayer.
[00:17:16] We need you.
[00:17:19] Here we see the pride and its results. You know what pride is? It's self worship.
[00:17:24] It's bringing glory to ourselves rather than to God.
[00:17:28] It creates an absence of God. God's forgotten. He's not seen as needed. Self is deified. You know, right now, humanity is deified.
[00:17:37] We have forgotten God.
[00:17:39] We've rebelled against Him. We're doing our own thing. We're breaking his laws. We think nothing of it, but we're going to suffer.
[00:17:47] It's expressed in our self reliance. It's interesting. Savonarola, the great Florentine preacher of the 15th century, one day saw an elderly woman, you know, you have to understand, he's Catholic. This woman was worshiping at the statue of the Virgin Mary in front of a great cathedral there in Florence.
[00:18:06] She'd go there day after day. And he started taking an interest. What's she doing here? Just the same woman worshiping at the same statue.
[00:18:14] And he thought, this woman really reveres the virgin Mary. So he said to one of the priests, do you see this woman? She's really in reverence to the virgin Mary. Oh. And the priest says, don't be deceived by what you see. He says, what's that? He said, yeah. Many years ago, the artist that was commissioned to create the statue at the cathedral sought for a young woman to pose as a model for the sculpture. And he was looking for young, serenely lovely woman who had a mystical quality to her face.
[00:18:44] And the image of that young woman inspired the statue of Mary. And the woman you now see worshiping the statue is the same one who served as its model years ago.
[00:18:55] Interesting. So what was she really worshiping?
[00:18:58] She's worshiping herself.
[00:19:01] Tony Campolo says pride is arrogant self worship. It's the sin of exalting oneself and placing one's interest above the interests of others.
[00:19:08] Pride craves admiration, even adoration, and will not share the limelight. Pride deludes its victims into believing they have no peers and drives them to destroy anyone who takes recognition away from them. The proud are in love with themselves and they seek to call attention to their own admirable qualities.
[00:19:29] In other words, we're full of ourselves.
[00:19:31] If, when I read the scriptures, Jesus says, you have to deny yourself.
[00:19:35] You have to die to yourself. So this is very opposite. How many know pride is what gets you into trouble. As a matter of fact, Peter had to learn this lesson in such a miserable way because in that last night before Jesus was, that night he was betrayed. You know, he told them, everyone's going to flee from me. Peter says, listen, Jesus, I don't know about these other guys, but you can depend on me. I won't let you down. How many know got him into trouble?
[00:20:02] We know the story. Peter eventually denied knowing Jesus three times.
[00:20:07] That's what pride does. Now, Peter writing as an elderly gentleman, Knowing the failure he had done in the past, he writes these words in his letter.
[00:20:16] It says, all of you clothe yourselves with humility towards one another, Because God opposes the proud, but shows favor to the humble. Humble yourselves therefore under God's mighty hand that he may lift you up in due time. Isn't that beautiful?
[00:20:32] So you know what God wants us to walk in? Humility. Humility isn't depreciating yourself. Humility is forgetting yourself and being caught up in a greater thing than yourself. That's what it's about.
[00:20:48] Well, the wilderness experiences create a proper perspective of our real condition. It takes Away all the props. It forces us to depend upon God or else abandon him altogether and go our own way. It's a pressure point.
[00:21:02] The first reason why God leads us into the wilderness is to humble us and address the deception of pride in our own lives.
[00:21:09] And how should we respond to God in the wilderness of life?
[00:21:13] Stand still, trust God, live in gratitude, appreciate him for all that he has done for us. Let me move on to the second reason. It's to test us.
[00:21:23] It's a crucible that brings out the issues of our heart. How many know? It's easy to serve God when all is well. The real test comes when life seems to be falling apart.
[00:21:34] The way we respond in those moments says more about us and where we're at than at other times. You know, sometimes when I was younger, I used to think, you know, my bad behavior could be blamed on the outward situations that were happening to me.
[00:21:51] How many know? I didn't realize it at the time. That was just a real revelation of what was really deep down inside that I wasn't processing and that these crisis were actually revealing the true nature of my heart. And God was bringing them and exposing them.
[00:22:06] And it's kind of embarrassing when you're failing. It's tough on pride and that's a good thing. God wants to deal with that stuff in our lives. He wants to remove that in our lives.
[00:22:18] Deuteronomy 8:2. I'm repeating this verse, but it goes on. Remember how the Lord your God led you all the way in the wilderness these 40 years to humble you and now to test you in order to know what's in your heart.
[00:22:30] Hey, I don't think God needs to know what's in my heart. He already knows that.
[00:22:35] I think who he's talking about here is to know what's in your heart, the person needs to know what's in their heart.
[00:22:41] You know, Listen to the psalmist's prayer. Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a right spirit within me. Do we really know what's inside of us? Search me, O God, see if there be any wicked way in me. You see, the psalmist is recognizing that it's easy to self justify. It's easy to live in a state of self deception. It's easy to say I'm okay. And God goes, no, you're not.
[00:23:05] And I'm going to show you you're not quite okay. I'm going to put a little pressure on you. We'll see how you respond to this. And all of a sudden you're going, wow, I can't even believe I'm not responding properly in this situation. God goes, yeah, well, I know, let's deal with that stuff. Let's confess it, let's move on from it.
[00:23:24] We can easily profess faith in God when life is good, but what about when we're in the wilderness?
[00:23:29] The wilderness will come and attest our allegiance, our loyalty to the person of Christ. It really is love's test. The test is given in a context of obedience. What do I mean by that? John says it this way. If you love me, you'll keep my commandments. How's that? You know, when people break God's commandments, what that really means is we don't really love him. We love ourselves more than we love God.
[00:23:53] That's what's going on there now. How about the first temptation in the Bible? It was in the Garden of Eden in which we notice the serpent's cunning. Has he challenged Eve with the words? Has God said that was the temptation? The temptation was to disobey his word, which is actually God's will.
[00:24:10] And we're all tempted at times to do that. You know, HB London, who is a cousin of Dr. James Dobson, he said this in a book regarding pastors at Risk. What are some of the challenges leaders face in life?
[00:24:25] Leaders have a little bit different challenges at times because of their role. He says one of the great sins that leaders get into, pastors get into, is arrogance.
[00:24:36] You know, arrogance is a big problem. He says arrogance is the sense that the rules apply to everyone else except ourselves.
[00:24:43] The temptation is to think that somehow we're exempted from God's word. We just do our thing.
[00:24:50] But the wilderness is the place where this will be tested.
[00:24:54] Will we return to Egypt, which is a type of the world? Will we complain?
[00:24:59] You know, God doesn't mind it if you're complaining to him, but don't complain to other people about God. He'll get you into trouble. Okay, how many know there's a difference? Read the Psalms. It's okay to complain to God.
[00:25:11] You know what I mean? If you got a problem, talk to God. Don't tell everybody else you got the problem. Start with God.
[00:25:17] Don't complain about how life is treating, how bad it is. You're complaining.
[00:25:21] He goes, don't do that.
[00:25:23] He goes on to say, here, not only will we give in to complaint, but we can panic.
[00:25:32] How many know that a lot of our bad decisions comes in a moment of panic?
[00:25:37] If you don't know what to do, here's A good word of advice. If you don't know what to do, do nothing.
[00:25:45] Don't go ahead and charge in there. No, just be patient. Hang in there. Be still. Wait for God. Let God direct you. Get a sense of what you need to do before you move.
[00:25:55] Will we give in to the temptation?
[00:25:58] If there's no option to obey or disobey, then we have no opportunity to express love to God. Do you know love is about choice? How many know that's true?
[00:26:07] And you know what? Every day, we have to make choices.
[00:26:11] And I'm going to say this to all of the married couples. You have to keep choosing your spouse every day, every day, every day, every day, year after year, year after year. I'm choosing this person above everybody else.
[00:26:27] That's what love is. It's the right choice. I'm making this. It's a volitional choice on our part. You know, the emotions will come. The emotions will go. The emotions will come back. The emotions will go. How many have discovered that?
[00:26:41] You know, some of you are saying, right now, I'm not happy with my spouse, but just hang in there. You'll get happy again.
[00:26:48] You know, be patient.
[00:26:50] Be patient.
[00:26:52] Come on.
[00:26:53] How many? Here you're patient with yourself.
[00:26:57] You're probably a lot more patient with yourself than you are with other people.
[00:27:00] Isn't that true? So let's be patient with one another. It's really important.
[00:27:05] Okay?
[00:27:08] How did Jesus overcome in the wilderness? Well, Jesus didn't just quote scripture.
[00:27:17] Let me go back the slide. He didn't just quote scripture. He submitted to them. What does that mean, Pastor? It's not enough just to quote a bunch of verses at the devil. The devil can quote them back. But when you submit to God, you submit to his word. You're submitting to God's will. That's always the way to victory in the wilderness.
[00:27:37] You know, G. Campbell Morgan said, the silence of the enemy after the reply of the Lord was a clear confession of his defeat.
[00:27:46] A remarkable proof that he's unable to gain advantage over those who are content to abide at whatever cost in the will of God.
[00:27:56] That's a powerful statement, and I agree with him.
[00:27:59] You know, do you know it's impossible to tempt somebody that's totally content?
[00:28:04] You just got to be content.
[00:28:06] You say, well, I'm not content, Pastor. I'm going to give you the secret. How many want to know the secret of contentment? Anybody want to know that secret? Going to give it to you right now.
[00:28:14] Paul says, I've learned the secret to be content in any and every situation. I'm quoting from Philippians chapter 11 and 12.
[00:28:23] He says, I've learned to be content when I have a lot and when I have little. I've learned to be content.
[00:28:30] And here's the verse that teaches you how to be content. Verse 13, Philippians 4:13. Now, we quote this verse, but it applies to contentment. I can do all things through Christ, which strengthens me. In other words, God will strengthen me in my situation, and therefore I can be content.
[00:28:51] I just gave you the secret.
[00:28:53] It comes from the Scriptures. Let me go to the third reason.
[00:28:58] In order to teach us, God wants to train us. He wants to teach us. And when we're in those difficult experiences in our lives, how many know if you've ever gone through a painful experience, it stays etched in your mind.
[00:29:11] You learn the lesson.
[00:29:13] You know, sometimes, you know, you hear the old expression, well, they're going to have to learn it the hard way. What do we mean by that?
[00:29:20] Unfortunately for us, experience teaches us things that words of instruction alone fails to impress upon their value until we discover it through failure. How many say that's true?
[00:29:32] You know, God's talking, we're going, well, whatever.
[00:29:36] Then we do something. You know, we go through a difficult experience and we go, it's not whatever. I just found out that was important, and I should have paid more attention. Isn't that true?
[00:29:45] So how about you and me? I'm saying to myself, I don't want to make every mistake that was known to human beings. I'd rather learn from other people's mistake and watch what happens and hopefully avoid the bad stuff and embrace the good stuff. And that's why reading the Bible is so important, because we're learning that all the time by reading Scripture. Isn't that true? You know, Deuteronomy 8:3 says, he humbled you, causing you to hunger, and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your ancestors had known to teach you. To teach you what?
[00:30:17] That man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.
[00:30:23] You know what's interesting?
[00:30:25] We got to get our priorities straightened out. You know, a lot of times people tell me things, and, you know, in my mind, I don't always say a lot. But, you know, I say something to somebody and they'll go, I can't do that. I don't have time for that. I'm going.
[00:30:38] All you're telling me is that's not your priority.
[00:30:42] How many already know you're going to do what you want to do.
[00:30:45] You're spending your time. It's a gift that God gives. But you know what? Your time to me is not your own.
[00:30:53] I know some of us think it is. This is my time. I go, you know, I used to try to carve out a little space for my time and if somebody interrupted it, I was annoyed.
[00:31:04] Most of you are not like that, I'm sure.
[00:31:06] But you know, it was annoying. I gave all this time and then I have a little carved out space and somebody runs right over it. I'm going, that's not fair. That was my time.
[00:31:18] Some of you are smiling.
[00:31:21] I know. Now I have a different ad. I go, what time? All belongs to God. If he knows I need downtime, he'll just give me downtime. I just figure that out. I just trust in him, you know?
[00:31:34] So we discover in the difficult and devastating places of our lives, it takes more.
[00:31:44] Well, yeah, let me say this. The test to place the temporal material world over the eternal spiritual world is continuously there.
[00:31:52] But let me say this.
[00:31:54] This world is passing away.
[00:31:57] The spiritual world is eternal. And most of us are spending all our time investing in the material world is going to pass away. And we're spending very little time investing over here. That's going to continue forever.
[00:32:09] The really smart people, I'm going to say this, the really wise people, not the smart wise people are going, hey, if that be true and I'm getting ready for eternity, I should be storing up for eternity and not just for the moments that are going to fade away.
[00:32:27] That's a challenge. Think about that. We discover in the difficult and devastating places of our life that it takes more than what our society has to offer to live a fulfilling life. How many say that's so true?
[00:32:39] You can get everything the world is offering and be still miserable. You can get all the money, all the fame, you can have anything your heart desires. And at the end of the day, I'm going to guarantee you if you got everything you wanted, you'd be still miserable.
[00:32:53] Can I prove this to you?
[00:32:55] Yes. Read Ecclesiastes.
[00:32:58] Here's a man that had everything.
[00:33:00] He said, you know what his summation of life is? Everything under the sun is empty.
[00:33:06] Vanity of vanities.
[00:33:08] It's empty.
[00:33:11] All of your dreams, all of your aspirations, if they're not driven by the spirit of God, if not God's vision and dream for your life, you're going to end up empty.
[00:33:22] So sad.
[00:33:24] Life apart from God does not satisfy.
[00:33:27] You need to understand that Jesus said it this Way.
[00:33:32] Seek my kingdom first, he says, seek first God's kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. The context of that text is in relationship to food and clothing. But you know what I've discovered? It's true of everything else. You know, one of the most beautiful verses I love, this one is found in Psalm 23, by the way. I love Psalm 23.
[00:33:55] It's not just for when you're having a funeral, folks.
[00:34:00] It's for when you're living life, you know, and here's a beautiful one, and it says in verse four, and the Lord prepares a table for us. Where?
[00:34:11] In the presence of your enemies.
[00:34:14] When God supplies our needs, even when the enemies of devastating experiences are at work in their life, God will provide.
[00:34:21] He's going to provide. He says he will. I believe that it is in the wilderness that God triumphs over our enemies. Our wilderness experiences are not only for our sake, but for the sake of other people. The Egyptians discovered in this story that God was the Lord.
[00:34:38] God gained glory when Egypt followed Israel into the wilderness and into the sea. And that was the end of them.
[00:34:46] I'm out of here. They're gone forever.
[00:34:49] God revealed himself to his people in such a powerful way. But this miracle would later be instrumental in the Israelites possessing the land. So what God did to deliver them, there was a preparation for them to go into the promised Land. You say, how is that? Well, listen to what it says here. Remember the story of Joshua as they're getting ready to take Jericho? You know, they were people in the promised land, were still talking about what happened a generation earlier at the Red Sea.
[00:35:16] You say, why? Because at that moment, the strongest nation on Earth was Israel. They were the greatest military power at that time. And a bunch of slaves got away from them, and they couldn't do anything about it. Why? Because God was fighting for them. God was for them and not against them. You know, it says here about Rahab, before the spies lay down for the night, she went up on the roof and she said to them, I know the Lord has given you this land and that a great, great fear of you has fallen on us. So that all who live in the country are melting in fear because of you. We have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea for you. And when you came out of Egypt and what you did to Zion and Og, the two kings of the Amorites east of the Jordan, whom you completely destroyed. We know about you guys.
[00:36:02] We know about your God. And we're scared.
[00:36:05] The ultimate reason for the wilderness. This is one I like to teach us to worship.
[00:36:11] Do you know the wilderness experience is a call to worship.
[00:36:14] Remember Moses? He was in the wilderness. And what happened when he got to see this bush that was not on fire but wasn't being consumed? He went over and the Bible says there. When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush. He said, moses, Moses. And he said, here am I. Do not come any closer. Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.
[00:36:36] Then he said, I am the Lord, the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. At this, Moses hid his face because he was afraid to look at God.
[00:36:46] Moses came to God and worshiped in his presence. Where was it? In the wilderness.
[00:36:52] It's interesting to note the words of Moses to Pharaoh regarding his purpose in coming to Egypt. He said. I know what Moses said. He told Pharaoh to let the people go. He was a deliverer. Yeah, that's all true. But that's not the purpose. Let me give you the purpose. It's found in chapter 7 and verse 16 of Exodus. He said, the Lord, the God of the Hebrews has sent me to say to you, let my people go. So that what?
[00:37:17] They may worship me in the wilderness? But until now, you have not listened. Wow. What's the purpose? Worship.
[00:37:26] And God said, I will be with you. And this will be the sign that it is I who sent you. When you have brought this people out of Egypt, you will what? Worship God on this mountain?
[00:37:38] God's deliverance in our lives is to bring us to a place of worship.
[00:37:43] Isn't it interesting that when Jesus was in the wilderness experience, the issue of worship came up?
[00:37:50] As a matter of fact, the devil promised to give him the kingdoms of this world. But if Jesus put only what worship him? And this is Jesus response. It says, the devil took him to a very high mountain, showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. He says, all of this I will give you. He said, if you will bow down and worship me. And Jesus said, away from me, Satan, for it is written, worship the Lord your God and serve him alone.
[00:38:13] The wilderness is all about whom or what we will worship. Let me close with the last point. I'll just mention it. And it's so beautiful.
[00:38:23] Wildernesses are not designed for our destruction. They're designed to develop us and strengthen us and teach us. But ultimately they're designed to bring greater good into our lives and the lives of other people.
[00:38:41] Listen to this verse in the end, that it may go well with you. So let's stand.
[00:38:51] Maybe you're here today. You're saying, pastor, I'm in a wilderness.
[00:38:56] I want to say this to you right now.
[00:38:59] God is not against you.
[00:39:01] God has led you here.
[00:39:03] You're here for a reason. You're here at this wilderness for a reason.
[00:39:08] You know, a lot of times you say, well, why are you doing this to me, God? Did I do something wrong? Not necessarily.
[00:39:14] Sometimes we think, oh, I'm being punished for something. Not necessarily.
[00:39:18] God is in the business of taking us into the wilderness. Experiences of our lives in order to what? To humble us, to teach us.
[00:39:28] Amen.
[00:39:30] He's there to make himself known to us, to bless us, to reveal himself to us.
[00:39:40] Boy, I'll tell you something. It's in the wilderness that the miracles happen. It's in the wilderness that God delivers. God provides. We see the hand of God in our lives.
[00:39:48] We've been praying, we're crying out in desperation, and God comes through.
[00:39:53] And when you get a backlog of that stuff in your life, it gets you ready for the next challenge that's up ahead. But now you're coming into it a little differently. You go, I know who my God is.
[00:40:04] I know who my God is, and I know he'll see me through.
[00:40:08] Yeah, this may be a bigger challenge up ahead. This may be bigger than I've ever experienced before, but I've had these other experiences. Remember David, when he came up to the giant? What did he say to Saul? He said, I overcame the lion and I overcame the bear.
[00:40:25] And this giant is going to be no different because of God before you this morning.
[00:40:30] Who can be against you?
[00:40:32] I want you to know.
[00:40:34] Yeah, he's humbling us.
[00:40:36] Yes. He's testing us. Yes. He's teaching us. But ultimately, he's doing it for our good.
[00:40:42] So let's open our hearts to him. How many here? Just bow our heads for a moment. You're saying, you know, pastor, I'm walking through a wilderness right now.
[00:40:49] That's me. Just raise your hand.
[00:40:52] Yeah. Quite a few of you. It's amazing. Yeah. You're in the wilderness. Here's the good news. God is going to see you through.
[00:40:59] God is going to see you through. Just trust him. Just look to God. Stand still and see the salvation of your God. Keep your eye on him.
[00:41:08] Keep your eye on him.
[00:41:10] He'll take you through. He'll take you through this wilderness and the next one until one day we're in eternity and we're going to look back and say, it was worth it all. It was worth it all to bring us to this place.
[00:41:23] And so, Father, as we commit ourselves to you, we know that you're a God who is leading us and teaching us and bringing us to a place where we would learn to trust you and worship you and delight in you and have confidence in you. And Lord, help us, Father, Help us, Lord, as we're walking through the wilderness called life itself. It's a wilderness. There's a lot of challenges down below here, but you're going to see us through, and we thank you for that.
[00:41:53] Help us today to stand still and see the salvation, your salvation, that you're going to bring into our situation.
[00:41:59] We thank you for that, Father, in Jesus name, amen. God bless you as you leave this morning.
