Purpose of the Wilderness

. Today i would like to share with you all about something that God has been revealing to me over the last few months, and that is about the purpose of the wilderness.

. At the begging of this isolation period i was feeling so much like i was lost in the wilderness, both of my forms of payment were suddenly gone within a couple of days, i felt like i was stuck, i felt like i had nothing to do, i felt like the thing that i love doing and know that im called to do ( pastoring & preaching ) were gone.

. i felt like i had absolutely nothing to give and nothing to do i felt totally worthless, however this message was something that God had already begun to speak to me about and he quickly turned it all around!

. Because as a believer and as a Son of God the wilderness is actually one of the most amazing places to be, because there are 3 things that happen there! ( These 3 things are what the Jewish people believe because this is what God did for the nation of Israel in the Wilderness)

Divine provision

Intimate Fellowship

Identity forming

. and i believe there is often some misunderstanding of what the wilderness is and also its purpose, and a lot of this comes down to what we think about or what we picture when we hear the word wilderness.

. we often think of a dry, dead desert area when we thinking of wilderness, a place where nothing grows and nothing could possibly ever live.

. and while that is true a desert could be described as a wilderness it is not the only way it can be described! Wilderness can also be described as a beautiful place that is just uninhabited by people!

. What im trying to get you to understand is that the Wilderness can actually be a beautiful place full of life, (the bush/rain forest in Old)

. as a result of our understanding of the wilderness at times we are afraid to be there with God, and we can rush to try and get out of there as quick as we can and as a result miss what God is trying to do for us in the wilderness!

. Also we can tend to think that when we feel like we are spiritually in the wilderness, its our fault that we have done something wrong and now we need to fight through this time so that we can be “Spiritually healthy” again but that is so wrong

Revelation 12:5–6 NKJV

She bore a male Child who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron. And her Child was caught up to God and His throne. Then the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, that they should feed her there one thousand two hundred and sixty days.

. we also need to understand what the wilderness meant and represented to the Jewish people, To them it represented Divine provision, Intimate Fellowship, and it was the place where their identity as a people was formed

. Lets take a second to think about this.... When God rescued Israel from captivity in Egypt, he took care of them in the wilderness by feeding them every day, He was present with them everyday, leading them as a pillar of cloud by day pillar of fire by night.

.Israel was the only nation that was lead and guided by God, they had intimate fellowship with him.

. and it was during this time in the wilderness that God formed the identity of his people he told them who he was, he told them who they were and how he wanted them to live to honor him, he gave them the Mosaic law.

. That was different from all other nations it was this law they separated the nation of Israel from all other nations, it is what defined them as Gods people, and all of this came from a time in the wilderness.

. Lets read that scripture again

Revelation 12:6 NKJV

Then the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, that they should feed her there one thousand two hundred and sixty days.

. Fled into the wilderness to a place prepared by God, here time in the wilderness was known and in fact planned by God that he had already made a place for her to stay.

. Just as God foresaw and planned for Israel’s time in the wilderness.

. God used the time in the wilderness to protect his people, he lead Israel out of the nation of Egypt, who were chasing them to kill them into the wilderness where he provided for them.

1 Samuel 23:14 NKJV

And David stayed in strongholds in the wilderness, and remained in the mountains in the Wilderness of Ziph. Saul sought him every day, but God did not deliver him into his hand.

. The wilderness can be a place of refuge where God keeps you safe.

. We need to understand the purpose of the wilderness!

. Jesus also gives us an example of this in

Mark 6:34–37 NKJV

And Jesus, when He came out, saw a great multitude and was moved with compassion for them, because they were like sheep not having a shepherd. So He began to teach them many things. When the day was now far spent, His disciples came to Him and said, “This is a deserted place, and already the hour is late. Send them away, that they may go into the surrounding country and villages and buy themselves bread; for they have nothing to eat.” But He answered and said to them, “You give them something to eat.” And they said to Him, “Shall we go and buy two hundred denarii worth of bread and give them something to eat?”

. Jesus divinely provided for the people in the wilderness, and they were having intimate fellowship/teaching from him, (identity as well?)

There is a divine purpose to our time in the wilderness!

. I mentioned at the begging that God quickly turned it around for me this is what happened, first God provided the opportunity to continue to do what i love and am called to do with the Wednesday Live stream and Zoom life group meetings.

. the day after the first live stream we got a card in the main that had a card with $200 cash in it, the card said “God provides for his children! (no name) the next week after the live stream someone dropped off a huge watermelon at our house ( its my favorite!)

. within a couple weeks i was back being paid thanks to the governments job keeper and honestly with not being able to travel and do things we have been even better of financially than we were!

. and God has been forming my understanding of my identity, its not being able to go to church and preach and meet with people and all that stuff that make me who i am, even when those things are taken i am still who God has called me to be that never changes.

. He has been teaching me about the greater power and authority that i have because of his name!

. This time in the “wilderness” has been of the most amazing times of growth for me, and i honestly believe it because I changed my perspective!

. There is a purpose in the wilderness!!

. Pray

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