GOD SPEAKS TO HIS PEOPLE IN THE WILDERNESS! And I will bring you into the wilderness of the people, and there will I plead with you face to face (Ezekiel 20:35). For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then we will see face to face. Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known(1Corinthians 13:12).
You feel all alone. You have lost your direction. You do not know where to turn .You feel like a ship that is being tossed , turned and battered by an angry sea! You could feel like you are walking in a cold dark desert at night without a road map home.
So, if you ever feel all alone, like you are in a wilderness all by yourself. You could be in the spiritual wilderness! RELAX YOU ARE NOT ALONE! YOU ARE GETTING READY TO HAVE A ONE ON ONE EXPERIENCE WITH GOD! TEXT Ezekiel warned the tribes of Judah that because of their apostasy they would be taken captive into Babylon by king Nebuchadnezzar. Ezekiel preached to Jews of the Babylonian captivity from 593 BC to 563 BC .He also predicts that after years in a spiritual wilderness God would restore their worship and fellowship with him.
God had to allow this captivity in order to have a face to face encounter with his people .It was a teachable opportunity! Paul takes the case further, in the New Testament. He asserts that we do not see things clearly until we come face to face with the Lord .In other words, when we are in our spiritual wilderness , God will speak to us ,if we would only listen.
We all have a mission in Kingdom Building. Unfortunately, we have to end up in the wilderness to get the message from God. This will be a spiritual face to face encounter with God. COMMON GROUND All believers share a common experience. They all spent some time in the wilderness.
Abraham, Jacob, Moses, David, Elijah were there. Even Jesus was there. Their examples were meant to guide us as we also pass through the wilderness (1 Cor. 10:11). By "wilderness," we are referring to the times of God's tests and trials in our lives. In Hebrew, the word for wilderness is midbar. It is surely interesting that the root of midbar has the meaning of "speak" or "word."
God speaks to us in the wilderness. God also humbles and proves us in the wilderness (Deut.8:2). The wilderness period can last days, or years, depending on how quickly we learn our lessons. Since the wilderness is a common experience of our faith, we need to learn about it. Especially, we need to learn the rules of spiritual survival in this wilderness.
We might ask the question, when are we most likely to experience the wilderness? That is a good question! However, we do some of our best work in the wilderness! Just keep the faith! GOD HUMBLES AND IMPROVES US IN THE WILDERNESS Strangely, these experiences often come on the heels of great spiritual breakthroughs.
The children of Israel were just miraculously delivered through the sea as they escaped from Pharaoh and Egypt. They had also just received the Torah (law) and had experienced the very presence of the Living God in smoke and fire. Very soon after their mountain-top experience, they had to wander in the wilderness.
Many centuries later, after Jesus was baptized and after he heard the voice of God speaking to him from heaven (Matt. 3:16-17), he was led into the desert to be tempted by the devil forty days and forty nights.
GOD WILL NOT FORSAKE YOU OR LEAVE YOU ALONE! SUCCESSES IN THE WILDERNESS: Martin Luther King, Jr., wrote his great letter from the Birmingham Jail. Colleges all over the world are using this material today in their classrooms. He did this in the wilderness!
Fred Shuttlesworth lead the successful civil right movement in Birmingham, Alabama right after he was beaten by a mob, wife stabbed, and his home was bombed .He did this in the wilderness!
Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote Uncle Tom's Cabin after overcoming her depression about the lost of her mother .She did this in the wilderness! Jacob needed a blessing in the wilderness. He wrestled with the Lord's Angel all night. After that experience, he cried I have seen the Lord face to face!
Ezekiel the prophet predicted that the Lord would bring his people to the wilderness and speak with them face to face. Paul wrote his greatest epistles to the church in jail and finally on death row!! He said, endure hardness like a good soldier of Jesus Christ! He was tried and found guilty of preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ by the Roman Courts.
Jesus was also sentenced to death ,because he told the world that he was the Son of God. However, he warned the world by saying...that if you lift me up I will draw all men unto me. He started his ministry in the wilderness.
WILDERNESS PRINCIPLES :THE CASE IS CLEAR! GOD USES THE WILDERNESS TO FULFILL HIS PURPOSE FOR OUR LIVES! WILDERNESS PRINCIPLES: 1.Wilderness experiences are learning opportunities 2.Face to face opportunity with God 3.Listen for God's message 4.Opportunity to clarify your mission 5. Opportunity for a closer walk with God. CONCLUSION Despite these negative wilderness associations, we know that Jesus often went to the wilderness to seek solitude and respite.
Indeed, Gerhard Kittel believes that for Jesus the wilderness is a place where nothing separates him from God. What he primarily seeks there is the stillness of prayer. The Spirit drives Jesus into the wilderness so that he may have time apart with God to prepare him for his public ministry, time that is interrupted by Satan. However, Jesus refuted Satan in the wilderness simply by quoting the word of God in Scripture to combat each of his attacks.
When Paul was on death row, he only had a few more days left before he was to be executed .He urged us to endure hardness like a good soldier .He said; he ran the race and he had fought a good fight! He kept the faith. You might be in the wilderness with your career, children, home, finances, health, or ministry. Your way could be as dark as night! GOD-- IS SAYING--RUN THE RACE--FIGHT THE GOOD FIGHT--FINISH THE COURSE--KEEP THE FAITH--THOU GOOD AND FAITHFULL SERVANT! Esco Yancey,Jr.,Ed.D.