Introduction

Today we begin a new 4-week series called Wilderness: Growing Off the Grid. You may be surprised to learn that the Bible speaks both fondly and extensively about the off-grid-wilderness experience of people like Jesus, the Israelites, Hosea, and many others. You can find evidence of the wilderness in the Old Testament, the Prophets, and the New Testament. And it was so important in the lives of the Israelites that the Lord kept them there for 40 years.

So what is it about getting away, getting alone, and being challenged that is so transformative for us? What’s so special about growing off the grid? What can we learn from the great cloud of witnesses who’ve gone before us?

To begin our journey, we are going to start with one of the most well-known wilderness experiences found in Matthew chapter 4. But before we get there I want to share a short illustration with you; “A. Parnell Bailey visited an orange grove where an irrigation pump had broken down. The season was unusually dry and some of the trees were beginning to die for lack of water. The man giving the tour then took Bailey to his own orchard where irrigation was used sparingly.

“These trees could go without rain for another 2 weeks,” he said. “You see, when they were young, I frequently kept water from them. This hardship caused them to send their roots deeper into the soil in search of moisture. Now mine are the deepest-rooted trees in the area. While others are being scorched by the sun, these are finding moisture at a greater depth.” (Our Daily Bread)

The desert-wilderness experiences of life forces our roots to go deeper. Hardship and adversity force us to press into faith, into Christ, and into prayer. Like the Israelites wandering in the desert, like Joseph locked up in a jail cell, like Jonah in the belly of the whale - there are times in life where we must come face to face with our reality and stand squarely on our faith in God to come through and provide. These are sacred and transformative times for those who call themselves disciples of Christ. Necessary seasons in the journey of sanctification as we look to the author and perfecter of our faith; who for the joy set before Him, endured the cross. (Hebrews 12:2)

The desert-wilderness experiences of life forces our roots to go deeper. Hardship and adversity force us to press into faith, into Christ, and into prayer.

Main Teaching

As I mentioned earlier, the Bible actually has a lot of stories about people finding themselves in the wilderness and learning in those environments. Sometimes it’s an actual physical wilderness and other times it’s a difficult time or season they find themselves in. Either option becomes a place of great teaching for the people in the midst of hardship.

Some lessons we learn from being taught, reading, or seeing it happen in other people’s lives. There is however, something unique and special that happens when we actually experience a hard time and it turns into a lesson etched in our hearts and minds that we will never forget.

So this morning we are going to be reading from Matthew chapter 4 (have them turn to this chapter) a well known story about Jesus being tempted or tested, as some translations say, in the wilderness. And as we walk through Jesus’ experience I hope we would come to understand the great role that the wilderness can play in our own lives.

“Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. After fasting forty days and forty nights, He was hungry.” Matthew 4:1-2

Now we already have to pause here for a minute because we immediately see some details that we might not remember from when we originally heard this story in Sunday School class ... View this full sermon with PRO Premium