Wilderness Wanderings 3

Wilderness Wanderings

Part 3

"The Wilderness of Loneliness"

Mark 1:12 "Immediately the Holy Spirit urged Jesus into the wilderness. There, for forty days, (He was) alone except for desert animals..."

Loneliness is indeed a wilderness place.

In fact, the Greek word in the New Testament that means wilderness or desert is eremos, which can be translated: “a lonely place.”

Jesus felt loneliness in His wilderness experience.

He was "alone" except for the desert animals.

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Now, there is a paradox at work here when we talk about loneliness because our world is more connected than ever!

Through social media we have the unbelievable ability to be in instant, real-time communication with anyone, anywhere on the planet.

We have Facebook, Twitter, e-mail, instant messaging, Skype, blogs, Websites, Pinterest...you name it, we shouldn't be lonely.

And yet, studies have shown that people are feeling lonelier than ever.

The instances of people claiming loneliness and alienation are higher than ever.

Here's the deal: It is entirely possible to feel completely lonely in a crowd of people.

It is possible to be lonely in a city of millions.

Loneliness is the feeling that no matter who is around, we are very much on our own.

We have no one to stand by us....and that is a profound wilderness!

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The story is told of a child saying his evening prayers with his father.

The child’s mother had died some time before and the child was expressing how he missed his mother.

Trying to comfort him, the father replied that they still had God with them.

And the child replied, “I know; but I want someone with skin on them!”

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Now remember that Israel went through a long and lonely wilderness...made much longer by their disobedience.

And Paul tells us that "Such things were written in the Scriptures long ago to teach us, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope." (Romans 15:4)

So what can we learn from Israel's wilderness of loneliness?

What were their mistakes?

The Bible says in a nutshell it was grumbling, mumbling, murmuring and complaining about how terrible God was being to them!

Israel literally buried themselves with the shovels of their own tongue.

"Then the whole congregation of the children of Israel complained against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness" (Exodus 16:2).

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Now catch this: Complaining is something we do instead of listening to what God is seeking to teach us.

Put another way, "If you're listening, God is talking."

I have learned that in every trying situation in life, Jesus the Teacher is standing on one side, and my complaining flesh on the other side.

I can either yield to the flesh and complain, or I can say, "Lord, help me to understand what you're trying to teach me."

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We know that in Israel's wilderness, God was right there seeking to teach them lessons that would carry them for a lifetime.

"Yes, he humbled you by letting you go hungry and then feeding you with manna, a food previously unknown to you and your ancestors. He did it to teach you that people do not live by bread alone; but by every word that comes from the mouth of The Lord" (Deuteronomy 8:2-3).

And the wilderness of loneliness was part of God's lesson plan.

Question: Are you listening to God today, or are you complaining!

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I assure you, God loves you more than you will ever know...

He's not being mean, unfair, or insensitive to your needs.

He is instead wanting to build some things into your faith and character that will serve you well in the days to come.

As He told Israel, "I led you through all these experiences "to do you good in the end."

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Now, what I'm not going to do is give you a "theologized" solution to your loneliness by offering silly little shallow, charismatic, knee jerk responses like:

"Just praise the Lord," or "Have stronger faith," or "Change your confession..."

I want to give you some things I know are real and will help carry you through your wilderness of loneliness!

And rather than just focus on the loneliness itself, I want to encourage you with one simple statement:

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In your loneliness, God is at work in you

Think with me for a moment of David--the poet, the musician, the warrior, the king, the man after God's Own heart...

What made David who he ultimately became was not developed in the fanfare of the palace, but in the isolation and loneliness of a pasture...

Gene Edwards in his classic book, "A tale of three kings” speaks of the isolation of David.

David was the youngest son...

And the youngest child generally had two distinctions...spoiled and uninformed.

In David's day, very little would have been expected of him.

He displays fewer characteristics of leadership than his brothers because he never had to lead...

Being the youngest he only follows, he has no one younger than himself on whom to practice leadership.

The seven older sons of Jesse worked near their father’s farm.

But David, the youngest, was sent on treks into the mountains to graze the family’s small flock of sheep.

Every day, David would leave home carrying two things: a sling and a small, guitar-like instrument.

Spare time for a shepherd was abundant...

The sheep would graze for days in the green meadow.

As days became weeks, David became very LONELY.

There was a feeling of FRIENDLESSNESS inside him.

There were likely times that he literally wept from isolation...

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Now, I see three things that God worked into David's soul during these lonely, isolated seasons in his life that served him well for the REST of his life....

I. His worship ministry

In his boredom, David would play his harp to pass the hours...

As his harp playing improved, he added singing...

His voice changed over the years and became strong...

At night, when all the sheep lay sleeping and he sat staring at the dying fire, he would strum upon his harp and break into quiet song...

He sang the ancient hymns of his forefathers.

While he sang he wept... and while he wept, he praised...

As one commentator put it: "The distant mountains lifted up his praise and tears, passing them on to the next mountains, and so on until they eventually reached the ears of God."

From this time of lonely isolation came Psalms like:

"The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want;

He makes me lie down in green pastures;

He leads me beside the still waters.

He restores my soul" (Ps. 23:1-3).

Or, as he say under the starry night sky with nothing but sheep surrounding him, he wrote:

"The heavens declare the glory of God;

And the skies show His handiwork,

Day after day they utter speech,

And night after night they reveal knowledge" (Ps.19:1-2).

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A SECOND thing God wove into the fabric of David's faith during the lonely seasons was...

II. His Warfare ministry

When playing and singing failed to comfort him...he turned to a popular pastime of his day---target shooting with a sling!

I can envision the young shepherd boy as he gathered up a pile of stones and, one by one, placed them in a sling, twirled it overhead, and hurled them at a distant tree...

When the rock pile was depleted, he would walk to the blistered tree, re-gather the rocks, and fire away at another leafy enemy at yet a farther distance.

I'm sure he had many victories over many trees!

But then one day he heard the panicked bleating of one of his sheep.

He turned quickly and there it was--brown lightning on mighty, furry legs charged at him with deadly intent.

Leaning on what he'd learned, he grabbed a smooth rock from his pouch, placed it in the sling, and fired it with lethal accuracy at the bear's head.

The bear came down and David said to himself in the solitude of that lonely place---"I can bring down giants when God is with me."

Then the day came when the young shepherd stepped out of the shadows and into the national limelight....

This time to take down a giant Philistine named Goliath with nothing but a sling, a stone, and faith in God.

Do you see how what he learned in lonely solitude was preparation for a greater day?!

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And in his loneliness, David experienced something else...

III. He became WILD about God

God didn't get to know David in the palace, he got to know him in the pasture...

In the lonely solitude of the Judean wilderness, as he worshipped God into the night and pondered the Word of God, David became "a man after God's own heart!"

His intimacy with God grew by leaps and bounds until he was WILD ABOUT GOD!

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So catch this:

In the lonely seasons of David's life, his WORSHIP ministry, his WARFARE ministry, and a deeper LOVE for God were all honed and sharpened!

So....What some of you see as an END because you're lonely, God sees as a BEGINNING!

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Peter thought it was over for him after denying Jesus...

He walked off in solitude, went back to the sea, back to fishing....

But Jesus had a different view: His perspective was, "It's in this lonely time I'm preparing you for Pentecost...

In the midnight of his life, when Peter was isolated and alone, Jesus was working some pride out.... Some arrogance out.... Some selfishness out....

When he was brought out of isolation, he was also brought out of preparation...

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Listen! Your destiny is greater than your dilemma...

As one old preacher put it, "If you ain't got no dilemma, you ain't got no destiny...

When you're isolated, lonely, and discouraged...You need to recognize what's happening!

God has set you apart to perfect the tools of WORSHIP, WARFARE, and RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD that you will need for your DESTINATION....

So...Instead of pouting, pray!

Instead of whining, worship!

Instead of wringing your hands, read your bible!

Bad things aren't the only things happening in the dark, lonely hours!

Paul and Silas sang at midnight and the jail was rocked.

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Oh this is so clear!

When Saul called for David to play the harp to sooth his spirit, he didn't realize that long before he played for the king, he was playing for the king of kings!

Before the kingdom of Israel knew his name, the Kingdom of God knew all about him.

Before the kingdom of Israel sang David's praises in the STREETS, David sang Gods praises in the MEADOWS...

Years before David defeated Goliath, he was defeating trees and targets, lions and bears in lonely isolation...

What do you think gave David the faith and confidence to think he could take a giant?

It was the time he spent in lonely isolation...

God prepared David in lonely isolation, so he could stand in times of great admiration..."

One commentator said, "If you get admiration before isolation, it will lead to devastation..."

You're wondering why you are where you are....

It's so you can be prepared for what is coming....

LET'S PRAY