The Reason for the Wilderness
Luke 4:1-2
Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, 2 being tempted by the devil for forty days. During those days He ate nothing. And when they were ended, He was hungry.
Joshua 5:6
For the sons of Israel walked forty years in the wilderness, until all the nation, that is, the men of war who came out of Egypt, perished because they did not listen to the voice of the LORD, to whom the LORD had sworn that He would not let them see the land which the LORD had sworn to their fathers to give us, a land flowing with milk and honey.
I Kings 19:1-4
And Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done and how he had executed all the prophets with the sword. 2 Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, “So let the gods do to me and more also, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by tomorrow about this time.”
3 When he saw that she was serious, he arose and ran for his life to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah, and left his servant there. 4 But he went a day’s journey into the wilderness and came and sat down under a juniper tree and asked that he might die, saying, “It is enough! Now, O Lord, take my life, for I am not better than my fathers.”
Lessons Learned
The above texts give different accounts of people who were isolated at one point in their lives. They spent a portion of their lives in the proverbial wilderness. In each of these instances the wilderness was used to prepare them for the next level of their existence. Jesus was sent to the wilderness to be tested. The children of Israel were sent to the wilderness to be purged. Elijah was kept in the wilderness to be protected. This wilderness experience seems to be a kind of limbo that exists between who you were and who God wants you to become. I believe we are in this limbo.
THINK ABOUT IT
1. The above texts demonstrate three different types of wilderness experiences. What do you think our wilderness experience is?
2. The texts also demonstrate three different reasons God's people were in a wilderness experience. Why do you think we are going through this wilderness?
Chapter 18
Our Wilderness
Introduction
Presently, we are at an important crossroad. We are at a place where we need to be decisive about what kind of ministry we want to be and what type of resources we are willing to invest to be that ministry. The Creator has brought many people to this point before, where they had to decide if they were going to invest all they had and all they were into the vision He set before them or if they were going to remain in the same state as the Creator found them. However, he usually does not bring them to this point in an evironment or situation to which they are accustomed. He usually uses the isolation of the wilderness.
Get Ready to Grow
Acts 2:1-4
When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. 2 Suddenly a sound like a mighty rushing wind came from heaven, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 There appeared to them tongues as of fire, being distributed and resting on each of them, 4 and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues, as the Spirit enabled them to speak.
Luke 4:14-22
14 Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee. And His fame went throughout the surrounding region. 15 He taught in their synagogues, being glorified by everyone.
16 He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. And as His custom was, He went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day. And He stood up to read. 17 The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him. When He had unrolled the scroll, He found the place where it was written:
18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me,
because He has anointed Me
to preach the gospel to the poor;
He has sent Me to heal the broken-hearted,
to preach deliverance to the captives
and recovery of sight to the blind,
to set at liberty those who are oppressed;
19 to preach the acceptable year of the Lord.”[e]
20 Then He rolled up the scroll, and He gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of all those who were in the synagogue were fixed on Him. 21 And He began to say to them, “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”
22 All bore witness to Him, and wondered at the gracious words which came from His mouth. Then they said, “Is this not Joseph’s son?”
Lessons Learned
The wilderness changes you. For the disciples, their study and their prayers of unity made them a force to be reckoned with as they left the Upper Room and began to preach the Gospel. For Jesus, His mission and purpose were established and He articulated them so eloquently and confidently that those who witnessed Him in the temple could not accept that this was the son of Joseph the carpenter. Our wilderness, filled with transitions, challenges, schisms, and uncertainty, is supposed to change us. That change is supposed to prepare us to do what we were created to do.
1. We are about to emerge from our wilderness. What do you hope we will have learned about ourselves and how do you think our actions will have changed?
The Work in the Wilderness
Acts 1:12-14
12 Then they returned to Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives, which is a Sabbath day’s walk[b] from Jerusalem. 13 When they had entered, they went up into the upper room, where they were staying: Peter, James, John, and Andrew; Philip and Thomas; Bartholomew and Matthew; James the son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot; and Judas the son of James.
14 These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers.
I Kings 19:11-13
11 He said, “Go and stand on the mountain before the Lord.”
And, behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind split the mountains and broke in pieces the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. And after the wind, an earthquake came, but the Lord was not in the earthquake.
12 And after the earthquake, a fire came, but the Lord was not in the fire, and after the fire, a still, small voice. 13 When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood in the entrance to the cave.
And a voice came to him and said, “Why are you here, Elijah?”
Mark 6:31
And He said to them, “Come with Me privately to a solitary place, and let us rest for a while.” For many people were coming and going, and they did not even have time to eat.
Lessons Learned
Those called to the wilderness were not called simply to be isolated. They were called to be prepared and that preparation took on different forms. The disciples were sent to the Upper Room to study, pray, and unite. Many of join churches for social reasons without understanding the history, purpose, and way of Christ. There are times we are isolated so that we can spend time learning and coming together in preparation for what God has in store for us.
One of the reasons Elijah was in the wilderness was to learn to get out of his own head and hear God's voice. He was so concerned with what Ahab and Jezebel were doing that he let fear overwhelm him. He was looking for God to reveal Himself in a way that would drown out his fears, but God was using a different medium to commune with him. It took the wilderness experience for Elijah to learn to truly hear God's voice.
At times, the work of the Gospel was overwhelming for Jesus. During these times, he would find the solitary spaces to simply rest. The wilderness can be a place of peace for those who fight the good fight in a stressful world. We are not called to the wilderness just to be isolated. We are called for a reason. It may be to study, find God's voice, or rejuvenate. Whatever it is, there is work to do in the wilderness.
THINK ABOUT IT
1. What do you think we should be doing right now to prepare for what God has in store?
2. How do we get others in our ministry involved in this preparation?