God With Us - Wilderness
December 5, 2021
Matthew 1:23
We’re in part two of a series that's called God With Us. We’re looking at the different ways that we can experience the presence of God in our lives. We’re using one main text for this series and building off that text.
Our verse comes from Matthew 1:23 - - - 23 “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel” (which means, God with us). - Matthew 1:23
That’s our focus, believing and trusting that God is with us. Last week we looked at the fact that God is with us in the valleys of life. Today, I want to look at a different metaphor, that God is with us when we’re in the wilderness.
We enjoy God on the mountaintops, but we experience Him in a different, more intimate way when we’re in the valley.
How do we experience God's presence in the wilderness? To me, the wilderness is different from the valley, because time in the wilderness seems to last longer. The wilderness is a barren, dry place, a desolate place where you feel very alone.
One of the images often found in the wilderness is wandering. As we wander, we wonder when in the world is this going to be over. When are we going to get out of the wilderness? Think about the Israelites as they moved through the wilderness for 40 years on their way to the promised land. It seemed like the wilderness was a place of wandering, loss and disasters.
You may be in the wilderness right now. We seem to pass through the valleys, but we wander, almost directionless in the wilderness. Maybe you’re stuck in a job, or debating going back to school, maybe it’s what to do in life and you feel like you’re wandering. Maybe it’s a relationship that’s not moving along as you like, maybe it’s a sickness that doesn’t seem to be resolving.
We feel alone, lost, maybe disoriented. We try to finding our direction, as people offer free advice, but that doesn’t seem to help.
It’s interesting that most wilderness stories in the Bible occur after mountaintop experiences. That's what happened with Jesus. He had a mountaintop moment with God right after He was baptized by John the Baptist in the Jordan River. Heaven opened up and the Holy Spirit descended upon Jesus in the form of a dove. And His Father publicly expressed His love and approval for Jesus. God said ‘this is my Son, whom I love. With Him I am well pleased.’
It's a father saying I'm proud of you. It's a mountaintop experience, and then the next verse says, immediately Jesus was driven into the wilderness to be tempted for 40 days. Isn’t that crazy? Mountaintop, followed by wilderness.
Maybe it’s that way with you, things were going great, and then you found out that someone wasn't being honest with you – and you end up in the wilderness; or they weren’t faithful to you. Something happens financially. It’s a health issue, job issue, school, kids, or the fridge or furnace goes out. You know how it is, one day all is great and the next, you’re in the wilderness.
You feel alone, spiritually dry, and desperate. I want to show you one big thought that we'll come back to again and again that I pray would touch your spirit as you hear it and as you live it.
The big thought is this - - - as much as it hurts, your deepest need becomes a gift, when it drives you to depend on God.
If you’re willing, your deepest need, can become a gift, because it drives us to a greater dependence upon God. That’s when you get intimate with Him.
I want to share a story from 1 Kings 19 to illustrate this. The prophet, Elijah had a mountain top experience and before he knew it he was alone in the wilderness. He became desperate, depressed, and scared for his life.
It would take a lot of time to read the entire story from the Bible, so I’m going to summarize it for you. The story is in 1 Kings 17-20.
There was an evil king in Israel named King Ahab. And King Ahab had an even more evil wife named Jezebel. Jezebel heard about all that Elijah was doing for God. How he was condemning their sinfulness. He was not afraid to proclaim God to all people as he followed God’s call in his life. She got so mad at Elijah for confronting her husband that she wanted to take matters into her own hands. She wanted Elijah dead!
In 1 Kings 18, Elijah performed this amazing miracle proving that God is real and alive. He burned up this altar that the false gods couldn’t touch. He poured 100's of gallons of water on the wood to make it harder on God to set on fire. Elijah prayed to God and - - - - POOF ---- a fire from heaven came down and burned up the altar. All the false prophets couldn’t manufacture a fire on dried wood. It was a miracle and it was powerful. Then he killed around 450 false prophets. It was a huge amazing victory!
Jezebel was furious. So, she sent word to Elijah in 1 Kings 19 - -
2 “So may the gods do to me and more also, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by this time tomorrow.” - 1 Kings 19:2
In other words, Elijah, the gods can kill me if I don’t kill you by tomorrow. She threatened him that he’d be dead the next day. King Ahab had been coming after him for years and Elijah didn’t feel threatened, but as soon as this woman became angry, Elijah ran for his life.
Let me tell you how scared he was. He’s on foot, or maybe had a camel to ride, and he went about 100 miles from Jezebel. It wasn’t an overnight trip.
He was just on the mountaintop, but where did he end up. He ran into the wilderness. He's alone, he's scared, he’s depressed, he’s anxious, he’s hurting, and he's desperate.
Listen to what verse 4 tells us - -
4 But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness and came and sat down under a broom tree.
And he asked that he might die, saying, “It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life, for I am no better than my fathers.” - 1 Kings 19:4
Do you see what Elijah said? He used the words we often have. Enough, Lord, enough! I've had enough --- I just can't take it anymore. He had put up a battle, he fought with bravery, he had faith and courage, but now, finally, he’s at the end of his rope. He’s in the wilderness, under the broom tree he exclaims . . . . I've had enough, Lord, I’m done.
I'm certain there are some here or watching, that at some point in your life, and maybe even now, have said those very words. I'm done. I'm spent. I've had enough, I can't take it anymore.
You feel overwhelmed. Sometimes it's the smallest things. You work hard, you serve faithfully. Maybe you were that way on Thanksgiving. You know, you cooked for 3 days, put out the fine china. It’s a Norman Rockwell picture. Everyone is having a blast. You sit down to eat and in 10 minutes, everyone’s done eating and back to watching football, napping and playing. The dishes are still on the table, nobody said ‘thank you.’ You turn into Jezebel. I'm going to kill somebody. By this time tomorrow, everyone who ate of my food will be dead if this house isn't cleaned up.
This is what happened to Elijah. Yet, this guy was in with God. He had an amazing trust and belief in the power of Almighty God. How else could someone call on God to destroy that altar in fire. And before that Elijah prophesied that there would be a 3 year drought and there was. He totally knew God.
Then, Elijah prayed for rain. And in the distance he sees a cloud the size of a hand, and has the faith to believe that God’s bringing rain, and God does. He had experienced God's greatness, and then when Jezebel makes a threat, he runs.
Some of us may be there, right now. I've had enough. I can't take anymore. I'm exhausted - overwhelmed. I'm doing the best I can, and the best I can isn't enough.
Let me try to explain something to you . . . many of us would say, ‘man, I’m tired! I’m exhausted.’
Dr. Henry Cloud, a wonderful Christian psychologist said this and it resonated with me. He said - - - most of you are misdiagnosing what your real need is. He said, most of you are not tired. Because if you were tired, you could take a nap, and that would solve your problem. Ouch! That hits home, doesn’t it?
He said, you're not in need of physical rest, as much as you are in need of spiritual replenishment. You're not just tired, you're spiritually depleted.
Do you hear that? You're not just tired, you're not just overwhelmed. What you need is an encounter with the very real and holy presence of God. What you need is an intimate moment where you experience the grace, the goodness, the loving kindness, the mercy of the presence of God.
Maybe you do need some rest. Physical rest might be good. But even more than physical rest, you need an encounter with God’s grace. You need spiritual replenishment.
This is what David was getting at in Psalm 23 - - -
1 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. 2 He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. 3 He restores my soul.
We need the restoration grace of God to our souls. I think so many of us are spiritually depleted. So, what does God do?
This is the part of God we’ve got to love . . . He doesn’t condemn Elijah, but instead look at what happens in verses 5-8 - -
5 And Elijah lay down and slept under a broom tree. And behold, an angel touched him and said to him, “Arise and eat.”
6 And he looked, and behold, there was at his head a cake baked on hot stones and a jar of water. And he ate and drank and lay down again.
7 And the angel of the Lord came again a second time and touched him and said, “Arise and eat, for the journey is too great for you.”
8 And he arose and ate and drank, and went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb, the mount of God. - 1 Kings 19
I really think God’s message in this is that the most spiritual thing you can do is to rest in the presence of God. Sometimes the most spiritual thing you can do is just take a breather, and let God restore your soul.
The angel brought him food, let him nap, but God provided what he needed. And God was like that mom who’s going to say, ‘hey, you’ve got a long journey ahead of you, you need to eat something before you go, so here - - - eat up, then go.’
You ever wonder if God is wondering, ‘where are you running to? I’m here, I’m waiting for you to just stop, to rest by the quiet waters. I’ve never left you, I’m always here for you. I’m never going to leave you, I won’t forsake you. I came for you . . . I died for you . . . I’ve redeemed you, I’ve adopted you as my child, I gave you myself. So, stop running child, because I’ve sent the Christ, the Lord of lords and King of kings for you. . .
23 “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call His name Immanuel” (which means, God with us). - Matthew 1:23
Immanuel . . . God with us . . . God with you! Trust in His promise.
