When You're In The Wilderness Series

Dreamworks did a nice job with the movie “The Prince of Egypt.” But they changed an important fact. Moses wasn’t in the prime of life when this happened. He was 80. God is confronting you with the truths of this tonight so you can get the message now. Get it while you’re young. Don’t stay in the wilderness.

Here at 707, Dan has led us though a series designed to help you discover what happens when you encounter God. “All you need to know” is a series about the God whose name changed everything. You’ve been looking at OT characters who met God.

The Bible says, that the things that happened to them happened for our instruction. So let’s see what we can learn from Moses’ life.

Now Moses was pasturing the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian; and he led the flock to the west side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God.

Exodus 3:1

Talk about a dead-end job! Moses is a stinkin’ shepherd! He didn’t even start his own business. He didn’t earn his own way. The guy is working for his father-in-law! Literally, he’s out in the wilderness.

What’s sad about this deal with Moses is that he used to be a somebody in Egypt. He was raised in the king’s house. The future was bright. His potential was unlimited. He was slated to help rule. But in one hotheaded moment, he took matters into his own hands, killed an Egyptian who was abusing one of Moses’ Jewish brothers, and ruined it all. He abused his privilege. He lost his status. Now, he’s on the run… in the wilderness – doubting his ability. “I guess all I’m meant to do is take care of a few sheep in an obscure wilderness.”

Maybe that’s the way you’re feeling about your life. Look at those photo albums your mom has on the shelf – pictures when you were little. See the hope in your eyes. You were going to run faster than anybody – and be the smartest kid in the class. You were going to leave your mark on this world – good job, fast car, hot spouse. But look at you now. You’re not working for your father-in-law, but it’s a dead-end job. Or maybe you have no job at all. Things aren’t working out real well for you at home or at school or in your relationships. You’re feeling like there’s no point to your life. There’s no purpose for it. It’s not a stretch for you to say, “I’m in the wilderness.”

That’s not a bad place to be. He has you right where He wants you. God loves to come to us in the wilderness. Look at verse 2.

The angel of the LORD appeared to him in a blazing fire from the midst of a bush; and he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, yet the bush was not consumed.

Exodus 3:2

Are you in a wilderness? Look for your burning bush! God wants to talk to you.

A burning bush is the way God chose to get the attention of Moses. He might be seeking to get your attention in other ways. But don’t miss this: God lets us experience wilderness times – dead-end jobs, bad relationships – because He knows that it’s when we are in the wilderness that we are most ready to encounter Him. That’s when He gets our attention. For Moses, it was a burning bush.

What’s been the burning bush for you? How has God been working to get your attention? Maybe it’s been through a friend, through a book, a CD, or though 707.

What do you do when you are in the wilderness? There’s no real point, no real purpose, no real passion in your life? And God’s seeking to get your attention. You do what Moses did.

1. Draw near.

"This is strange," he thought. "Why isn’t the bush burning up? I will go closer and see."

Exodus 3:3

What if Moses said, “I have some sheep to shepherd. I can’t stop right now. I’m too busy!”

Go close. Move in. Some of us are just too busy. We won’t slow down long enough to seek God, to see what He’s doing to get our attention.

Day after day after day, we go through the motions. No point to it all. No real purpose. We go from one movie to the next, one job to the next, one relationship to the next. And we stay in the wilderness because we won’t draw near.

“I have a job I’m pursuing. There’s a girl I’m chasing. I’m focused on school right now. No time to really draw near to you, God.” And we miss our burning bush – and stay in the wilderness.