Purpose in The Wilderness

Intro
A. Trust Fall w/Pastor Trevor (Trevor catches Jacob)

1. Trust is based on relationship. I can only Trust those I have a relationship with. Known Pastor Trevor for a long time.
2. I trust him, but there was still hesitancy in him catching me.
a. I even question him and become uncertain
3. This relationship is a symbol of our relationship with Jesus
4. All we have to do is ask, and He is there, but yet we still struggling with trusting Him, despite how faithful He has been
5. Some of us here are going through a season that is requiring us to trust God even in times of uncertainty and ambiguity.
6. This is often referred to as a Wilderness.

Pray!

Definition: Wilderness: uncultivated, uninhabited, and inhospitable place.

Illustration: A dry and weary place where you have little chance of survival without assistance.

Examples: Death Valley

It’s not just about dry geography, but it is a desert of the soul. Where you don’t hear God’s voice, when things become dry, where you are not satisfied, and are being tempted. It can be lonely and even painful. Its uncomfortable. And sometimes if your in it too long, you begin to question if God is even still with you? Does He still hear your prayers? Junk box-
Or maybe you're wondering what you’ve done to deserve this?
Because if your anything like me, as soon as I realize I am in a wilderness in my life, my first thought is: How do I get out of here?
What 10 steps do I gotta do? How many prayers or scriptures do I need to quote. What fast do I go on? Just tell me exactly what I need to do in order to get out of here!
This often reminds of my son Preston. Punishment.
We often confuse trials w/punishment.

But that is not the purpose of the wilderness. Now, God may not have caused the wilderness, but He certainly will use it. You see Everyone has to deal with the wilderness at some point in their lives. Sometimes several. You are either in a wilderness, coming out of one, or heading into one, but everyone faces the wilderness, but let’s not focus on the why we are here, that will come in time. But let's focus on what we are going to now that we are here.
I am here to tell you there is hope, and His name is Jesus. That Jesus, The Word of God Himself, although without sin, walked through a wilderness for 40 days, and came out successful. And so can you.

And, just as it says in the Word of God in Isaiah 40:3-5, that there is purpose to the wilderness and if you allow God to work through you by the power of the Holy Spirit, you will discover it’s not just something you want to get through, but it's a journey full of purpose and opportunity to know and to grow in the Lord.

Main Text: read with me and stand
Isaiah 40:3-5 A Voice of one calling in the wilderness: “Prepare the way for the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low; the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain. And the glory of the Lord will be revealed, and all the people will see it together…”

Main Point: The Wilderness is a Place of Purpose not Punishment

Transition:
The wilderness can be internal or external, no matter what kind of wilderness you are in, there is hope, there is purpose, but first you have to trust God.
Wilderness of Divorce- yes there can be purpose even in this.
Also Wilderness of Depression- yes. He will see you through it

1) Repentance Prepares the Way

Often being in a wilderness leads us getting turned around, and we tend to wander or forget the trajectory we were on before. Before we know what our purpose is, we first need to determine where we are going. Like a compass that points true north, we need to fix our eyes back on Jesus. Back to the cross. Just as the verse in Isaiah 40 prophecies of the coming of John The Baptist preparing for Jesus in the New Testament, so are we called to prepare our hearts and minds to receive Him and His purpose for us! We cannot find our purpose outside of Christ!

John the Baptist prepared the way for Jesus by preaching repentance. How can we expect to understand our purpose in the wilderness if we don’t do the same.

Matthew 6:33 “..seek first the Kingdom and His righteousness and all these things will be added onto you.”

Just like the trust Fall, we need to first call on Jesus to come to us, redeem us from our sins and selfishness. But He is already there, we don’t have to wait for him to walk to us like I had to wait for my Pastor. Jesus is already there to catch you!

Prayer: Lord we repent. As it says in your Word God, we want you to draw near to us in this season, we want to make a straight path for you to come into our hearts and cleanse them. Please purify our minds, give us clean hands and a pure heart to see what it is you are doing and hear what it is you are saying in the wilderness. So Lord we repent, we lay down all the idols we have placed ahead of you, and the sins we placed instead of you, and we seek your Kingdom. We ask that your kingdom will come and your will be done, here and now. In Jesus name.

Transition:
Now that we have prayed that together, we can start to discover the purpose of the wilderness.

2) Main Point: Just like wounds, valleys need to be healed/filled in.
a. We cannot build a road with a valley in the middle of it
b. Grand Canyon
Illustration: I’m a nurse. And I know somethings about the human body and how it heals from injury. So, when someone has an open wound, sometimes depending on the size and condition of that wound, it can take a long time to heal and often it requires a process called debridement. Explain this.
- So just how we in our physical bodies need to have wounds debrided, we also need our hearts and minds debrided of areas we have failed to trust God.
- Maybe we have been in the wilderness and began to start doubting God @ His Word, or allowed the fears and accusations of the enemy to enter into our hearts.
- Just like the trust fall. My hesitations are examples of How we failed to full trust God @ His Word and trust Him.

- Explanation:
We cannot perceive what God is doing in this season, if we don’t receive his Grace to in giving over our fears and doubts to him.

2 Timothy 1:7 For the Spirit of God does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline.

God is wanting to heal the wounds of our hearts and minds. And if we allow Him to draw close to us and raise up these valleys, we can start to move more into our purpose and plans He has for us. For He is faithful to finish the good work He started. (Philippians 1:6)
John 3:16
If God was willing to love us, and send His son for us in our sin, won’t He also heal us from our wounds? From our depressions, from our anxieties? From our fears?

Transition:
Then after we receive His healing in our valleys of depression, doubt, and fear, we need to submit any areas of pride in our lives. As we grow in this confidence in Christ, we need to recognize some areas of “overconfidence” because we have been leaning on our own understanding and not on The Lord’s.

3. Lowering the Mountains (In text Scripture reference)
Mountains and Hills area geographical structures that are raised above the level ground.
Just like we can’t build a road through a mountain, we also can’t allow The Holy Spirit to work in our life to see the Glory of The Lord, unless we submit to Him areas of Pride.
Main Point: Mountains are areas of Pride, where we think we are “good”
I can’t get through this Mountain, God says “Neither can I”
• And maybe your not there yet. Ok well,There was another people that once didn’t get it the 1st, or 2nd, or 3rd time. (Reference to Israelites)
• all in one place together, stinky, and farting. Lol
• So you’ll just have to take another trip around the mountain. Hopefully you get it before 40 years!
• I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to die in the wilderness! I want to make it to the promise land with my children and see my children’s children walk in the power and likeness of Christ!

Illustration: Road again, can’t make a good highway if a mountain is in the way…
Just like when we get saved God doesn’t swoop us up and into Heaven! No!
Why because we are called to bring Heaven to Earth!

Matthew 6:10
Your kingdom come, and your will be done, on Earth as it is in Heaven.

• Jesus taught this to His disciples, why?! Because He wasn’t on planning on taking them with Him. Just like He may not take you out of your wilderness season, but He does want you to have breakthrough in it! And not just for you! But for those around you, and those that come after you. To create a Godly Legacy, as Ruby Lopez preached on 2 weekends ago! Which leads to the next part of the scripture.

4. Fine Tuning: (Scripture reference here)
K3C logo on slide
*Main Point: I am not called to walk this journey on my own. I need His Bride, I need my church.
Illustration: Singing and playing an instrument. There is only so far you can go on your own. Or worse if your like me. Shower singing vs concert.
Explanation: We are called to contend for the bond of peace. There is nothing to contend for, if your not there! The fight is already over. You gave in to offence! You let the enemy win
• Acts 2:1-2 When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like a mighty rushing wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting.
Transition:
Now that we have allowed God to fine tune the areas we need work in, He are able to allow His ways, and His spirit to move freely to us and through us. He is now able to trust us to reveal His Glory to so that we can come to know Him in a greater way. The road has been constructed, we have built a smooth path for him to come into and move freely in our lives as we see the fruit of our labor now come! The Fruit of The Holy Spirit!
Galatians 5:22-23 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
How Glorious does this sound!?

4. See the Glory!
The Glory of the Lord is revealed to us and through us
We have turned from our sin, came back to the cross. And in the process allowed his Healing hands to mend all the valleys, and the Word of His Power demolish all strongholds, aka mountains, placed in our way. And as we then gather in community and fellowship together, the rough places of our hearts have become smooth to allow passage for us to behold Him. To see Jesus, and to see his transformational work in our lives!
2 Corinthians 3:18
And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

• More Wilderness, more work. More work, more Glory! More evidence that He is with us in this journey. He is transforming us through the wilderness. Again, it doesn’t matter how you got here, but are you going to continue to allow His work in you and through you while you are here?

• In case you haven’t figured it out yet, this is why we are in the wilderness! This is the whole point! Not to get through it. The Israelites that I spoke of earlier wanted that. Just to get to where they are going! And maybe that is how you entered the wilderness, but that doesn’t mean its how you have to finish it! You can produce fruit while in the wilderness as you continue to grow and go from glory to glory.

Conclusion:

So as we continue on this journey with Jesus, and as we walk through the wilderness, we have His Word to rely on as His assurance. Just as a voice calls out to us saying in
Isaiah 40:3-5 A Voice of one calling in the wilderness: “Prepare the way for the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low; the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain. And the glory of the Lord will be revealed, and all the people will see it together…”
1. Prepare the way: we repent. Fix our eyes back on the cross
2. And as we raise up some valleys, we say Lord, what valleys, what areas, what wounds in my life still need healing?
3. Then we recognize the mountains and the hills in our way. Father, please take my idols, take my pride. Any area of my life that I have not allowed you to bring your sledge hammer of truth to it, please take it down. Demolish this pride, so that nothing can stand between you and me.
4. Then Father, please fine tune with your church, with your pastors, with my brothers and sisters as to what areas of my life need correction. Because you have not called me to walk this journey alone. I need you, and I need my brothers and sisters.
5. Finally, So that God’s glory may be revealed in my life, and the evidence of the fruit of your spirit will start to manifest. So that in a wilderness others can still see the fruit of your spirit in me. A testimony for my children and my children’s children.

Prayer:
Lord, I don’t want to miss what you are doing in the wilderness. I want you. I want what you want for me. I want your kingdom to come and your will to be done. And if now there are still areas of depression, or places or pride, and areas of rough ground in my heart, please come and have your way in them. Smooth them out, take them down, raise them up. Lord do whatever it is you want and need to do so that your Glory can come, and I can see the evidence of your Spirit in my life.