207. Stuck in the "Wilderness" of Life // Luke 4:1-2 & James 1:2-12 // Josiah Bogue

Speaker 2 All right, let's get to it. You're starting a brand new series of conversations that we are calling stuck in the wilderness, Stuck in the wilderness. And it's at the the, the subtitle of this is, is one of my favourites. What to do when you have no idea what to do, what to do when you don't know what to do. And, and here's what this series is going to be about. There's a theme in the Bible that shows up over and over and over again. And it's the theme of the wilderness and, and you know, here's what it is. Have you ever been in a situation where you were like legitimately lost? Like legitimately kind of freaking out? Like, I have no idea where I am right now. Maybe a brand new place. Maybe your phone dies. The, the scariest is like when you're driving through like West Virginia, you know, or whatever to get somewhere else because no one's actually trying to get to West Virginia, you know, so you're like fasting through, you know, I, so last week my, my family went on a family vacation, which was fun. And we went to Disney World and I legitimately got lost in Disney World. I think I must be the most directionally challenged person that has ever lived because there is a giant freaking castle in the middle of Disney World that tells you exactly where you're supposed to. But even then I'm like, I guess, I guess I live here now. I guess I'll never find. I guess I've got to settle down with Daisy Duck. I hope like my wife's cool with this. You know, it's like, that's that's how challenged I am. Anyways, if you know, the feeling of being like legitimately lost, it's a terrifying feeling. And it's funny, like we can get lost in a America when we have like highway systems and cell phone service and all that kind of stuff. But I just want you to imagine for a second that you got dropped into the middle of the wilderness in the Middle East 2000 years ago. Like, do you have that photo? So OK, so the middle of this, you know, Dune, you get dropped like in the middle of this 2000 years ago. You have no phone. You got no map, you got no compass. Every hill starts looking the same, every path starts looking the same. You are hundreds, maybe thousands of miles from any form of, of civilization. And and then there's like criminals and life threatening. You know, there's like scorpions and storms and like, there's like life threatening things and you don't know where they are. And every time you climb over a mountain or every time you get over the next hill, there's just another hill. How, how would you feel in that scenario? How long do you think it take you to get home? I would just die. I would just like, all right, all right, God, I guess we're done. Like, that's what that's what I would do. Well, the Bible picks up on this image right here and says, actually, that is exactly what life feels like a lot of the time. That is exactly what life feels like a lot of the time. The metaphor of the wilderness in the Bible is the wilderness is any season of life when you legitimately don't know what to do or where to go. The wilderness is any season of life where you legitimately, you don't know what to do and you don't know where you're supposed to go. And that's a lot of us right now. You know, it's like you don't know what's next. You don't know what to prepare for you. You don't have a direction even like to, to head in. You don't know what you're working towards. It it maybe if you're a Christian, you would say, like God isn't speaking to me, You know, so God's not given me any like guidance. He's not given me any clear next step. Maybe it just feels like everything's going wrong, man. Have you ever been in a season where it just feels like everything's going wrong? And, and just when you think like you're about to, you know, if things are finally going to pull together, then then that person dies or, or then that that grade comes in or then that layoff happens and it's just one bad thing after the next and you think it's going to pick up, but it never does. And let's be honest, if you're a person with a relationship with God, the wilderness is often the season where it feels like God's just not with you anymore. He's abandoned you to figure it out on your own. Speaker 3 That he's like. Speaker 2 You gotta survive this. Remember that scene in Inception? You guys see an Inception? Remember that scene when they go into limbo? It's like. Speaker 4 That's. Speaker 2 The wilderness, it's like a whole lot of nothing. Miles and miles and miles of nothing. And that's what life feels like a lot of the time. Now let me tell you something. Every single person in this room will go through the wilderness. I know that many of us in this room are in in a wilderness right now. To be honest, the reason I want to talk about this is because for the past few months I've been in my own version. Speaker 3 Of. Speaker 2 The wilderness. And I've just felt like, you know, seasonal depression. Speaker 4 It's. Speaker 2 The perfect time to talk about this. But let me, let me tell you something, even if you're not going through a version of this, every single person will go through the wilderness and multiple wildernesses in their life. Every single person all the time, like some of you guys are, are brand new followers of Jesus. Like you just started following Jesus a few months ago, and that's amazing. Speaker 4 And you're like I. Speaker 3 Don't see how. Speaker 2 Anything could ever go wrong and what what I've seen time and time again is like brand new followers of Jesus. They think the rock solid. They think they're ready to go and the wilderness hits in one version or another. And they are so caught off guard by the even the idea that God would allow something like that, that they immediately abandoned faith that they immediately disconnect from all the people that can help them. They're they're immediately like thrown into these horrible spirals. All of us are going to go through the wilderness. So everybody. Speaker 4 I I think. Speaker 2 This is going to be a timely thing and if you're not paying attention, like if you're I, I don't understand the guy that comes to collective and is just on his phone the whole time, like that doesn't make any sense to me. Like just stay home. But anyway, if you're that guy, maybe not for the next few months, you know, I, I just don't think that that's a really good idea. But let me give you some examples of, of, of wildernesses. Can I give you some examples? So being between jobs is a version of the wilderness, right? And that's a lot of us. It's like you just don't know where the future of your career is going. A breakup is a wilderness. You know, like when you go through a breakup, you have to, not only are you dealing with the grief of, of a relationship lost, you also have to like reorient your whole life again, right? You have to find new rhythms and new patterns. Many of us just being single is a version of the wilderness because you don't want to be single. And so you feel like you're between things and you feel like something but, but nothing seems to come up and you feel lonely and you feel like maybe I'm doing something wrong or something's wrong with me. Depression is a wilderness. Unfortunately, it's a version of the. Speaker 3 Wilderness I I. Speaker 2 Probably know a little bit too much about you know, but when you feel. Speaker 3 Depressed, you feel hopeless. Speaker 2 You don't really think about the future, like you don't want to think about the future 'cause you don't feel like there really is a future. You honestly just don't want life to continue. Like you're like, I'd be fine if that's a version of the wilderness. Loneliness is a wilderness. So now this feel abandoned by friends right now. Some of us, the holidays were just like the absolute worst because it was a reminder of how disconnected you feel from your family and your friends. And you didn't have a New Year's party that anybody invited you to. And like, you know, all that kind of stuff, right? And so, so that's a version of the, you know, some of us, we, we just moved here, you know, and so you don't have meaningful relationships. Speaker 3 Yet that's a wilderness. Speaker 2 Grief is wilderness. Speaker 3 I know several people. Speaker 2 That over just the past few months they lost someone dear to them and then they had to go through. Speaker 3 Christmas some of those people that person is someone that that took their own life and so in the now they're questioning like is there something I could have done You know they're going through all that grief is a. Speaker 2 Awful wilderness, maybe the maybe one of the worst, a season of heavy temptation. You you ever get those days where you're like as soon as you get home? Speaker 3 If the first thought in your head is something self-destructive. Speaker 2 You're like I. Speaker 3 Just, you know, it's like as soon as you get home, you're like man, you know, pornography, self pleasure, whatever, as soon as you get. Speaker 2 Home you. You. Speaker 3 Think about like you know you've been sober. Speaker 2 For a while, but it it just it. You just love a drink just to take the edge off. As soon as you get home, you know you blow up in anger or whatever. A season of heavy temptation. Burnout is a wilderness. Some of us are just done. I could keep going, but you get the idea. Any season where you don't know what to do. Self hatred, insecurity, a lack of finances, right? All versions of the wilderness. But, but can I, can I be really clear about something as painful and as extreme as some of these things I put up on the screen are? The wilderness doesn't have to be this big painful, dramatic thing. I found that most of the time in my own life, the wilderness is just any season where I feel directionless. I feel like things are mundane. I feel like things really aren't going anywhere. It's any season of life when you just don't know what to do. You don't know where to go. I don't know what I'm supposed to do after college. I don't feel like I'm in the job right now. Life is just boring. I feel like I was made for more. I, you know, I just don't know what God wants me to do. Everybody, anybody connecting with me on this, you get the wilderness. Now, here's what sucks about the wilderness. This freaking blows is when you feel like you have no idea where you're supposed to go. You're still expected to make major decisions. That sucks. So you have to make these big decisions, pivotal decisions, life changing decisions, without feeling any clear direction of which way I'm supposed to walk. So how can I make the right turns when I have no idea where I'm going? This series. Speaker 3 Is all about how to navigate the wilderness in life. This. Is this what the next few weeks are about, by the way? Total. Speaker 2 Side now I've seen a lot of faces in here that I haven't seen in a really long time and I'm super stoked about that I'm also seeing a lot of new faces in here, which is really wonderful and and I know a lot some of you guys are Christians and and and you have wondered maybe for the past season why your relationship with God has fell off or what why you feel like you've kind of gone off the rails a little bit or lack direction and the Bible is really. Speaker 3 Clear. Speaker 2 That a huge portion of that is because you have been inconsistent and disconnected from the church, the Bible's. Speaker 3 Super clear about that. Speaker 2 And, and so I know I'm like 9 days too late to the New Year's resolution thing, but but I have a New Year's resolution for you. And this is totally up to you if you want to take following Jesus seriously. What if you decided that from today until the April retreats, from from today for like the next 8-9 weeks or however long that is from today until the April retreat? What if you made being here on Thursday nights a number one priority, something that nothing else gets to bump up against? And, and my promise is that if you do that, the next few months are going to help you Orient your life on how to follow Jesus, how to connect with your purpose, how to do everything you were made to do. Now I'm not saying this to get attendance up whether you are here or not. I get paid the same and there's more snacks for the rest of us so. Speaker 4 You know, like, that's not what I'm saying. I'm saying this. Speaker 2 Because you need this. That's why I'm saying it. I'm saying this because you need this. Because you will. Speaker 3 Go through the wilderness. Speaker 2 And you need the tools to survive. So here's what we're going to do in this series. Let me just give you a little layout. Today I'm going to layout a foundation and a logic about what the wilderness is all about. We're just going to kind of talk about it conceptually. And then in the following weeks, we're going to look at different types of wildernesses that show up in the Bible and different types of wildernesses that are showing up in your life. And we're going to talk about how to specifically navigate through them and face them. Sound good, yo? It's Josiah. Speaker 1 I just wanted to pause our conversation real quick to talk about something super important. One of the things that's been so encouraging to me about this podcast is hearing stories from people all over the place who listen to this every week. But if you would call yourself a follower of Jesus, I want to remind you of something. Podcasts like this are only intended to be a supplement to you being a part. Speaker 3 Of a local. Speaker 1 Church community and mission every single week on a regular basis. These are not intended to be a replacement of being a part of a church. I talk to people all the time who say, oh, just say I'm really busy. So I listen to sermons on YouTube or on podcast or wherever it is. And if that's you in all of Jesus would look at you and say, bro, that is not what I had in mind at all. So if you are in the car right now or getting ready for work but you are not every. Speaker 3 Week multiple times a week. Speaker 1 Plugged into a church community. I would stop this podcast right now. You don't ever have to listen to this podcast ever again. Instead, get on the Internet, find a church in your area that believes the gospel of Jesus and is trying to reach the people around them and jump into that community hook, line and sinker. All right, let's get back to it. Speaker 2 So today I really just want to answer one big pivotal question. That's really what I want to answer. And it says what is the purpose? Speaker 3 Of the wilderness. Speaker 2 What is the purpose of the wilderness, in other words, So I don't think God causes pain. Like I don't think God causes us to like be in the wilderness, but God definitely allows us to go through the wilderness. And so the question very quickly becomes, why would God ever allow me to go through a wilderness when so often these wildernesses are so painful? Now here's what's really interesting if you. Speaker 3 If you read the Bible. Speaker 2 Virtually every single main character in the Bible goes through the wilderness, and probably goes through the wilderness multiple times. You hear what I just said? Virtually every single main character in the Bible goes through the wilderness. But here's what's even more surprising. Even Jesus goes through the wilderness. That's the surprising parts of me. Even Jesus, who is perfect, who did everything right, goes through the wilderness. If you got a Bible or if you want to look at the screens or whatever, we're just going to look at Luke chapter 3 and 4 for a second. So this story is right at the beginning of Jesus's ministry. So literally the story right before this is like Jesus is a baby, you know, So now it's like the first like adult story. This is before Jesus does any miracles, before he has any followers, before he does any teachings that we know about. This is like the first real adult story we have of Jesus. And this is what it says. One day there was this crowd that were being baptized by this guy named John the Baptist and Jesus himself was baptized. So Jesus got baptized. As Jesus was praying, the heavens opened and the Holy Spirit of God in bodily form descended on Jesus, fell down on Jesus like a dove. And a voice from heaven, a voice of God said to Jesus, You are my dearly loved son and you bring me great joy. You are my dearly loved son and you bring me great joy. Imagine being Jesus here for a second. You know, you get baptized, which is awesome. Like this is awesome high like spiritual experience. And when you come up from the waters, man, the skies open up. You know, the Holy Spirit falls down on you. Everybody's looking like what's happening here. And a voice, literally a voice from heaven calls out and it's the voice of God the Father. And he says, listen everybody, this is my dearly loved son. I'm so. Speaker 3 Proud of him. Speaker 2 He he's doing everything right. He brings me so much joy. This is my I am so pleased. Speaker 4 With him, I mean from Jesus. Speaker 3 Perspective. Talk about a. Speaker 2 Burst of confidence. Speaker 4 You know, it's like 2 thumbs up from. Speaker 2 God, you know this, this is like a big moment for him. The Holy Spirit's with him. He's like full of the spirit, all all this kind of stuff. Now check out, so this big moment, top, top mountaintop moment, right? Check out the very next thing that happens. So the book of Mark records the same story. It says at once. So this next thing that happens is like 5 seconds later. Speaker 4 You know, you know, it's like a SpongeBob. Speaker 2 Three hours later right so that now check out the very next thing that happens chapter 4 then Jesus just got baptized God spoke to him from heaven full of the Holy Spirit of God returned from the Jordan River the the river he just got baptized then and he was led by the Holy Spirit of God into the. Speaker 4 What? Speaker 3 The. Speaker 2 Wilderness where he was tempted by the devil for 40 days. Jesus ate nothing at that time and he became very hungry. OK, we're going to talk about that more in a second, but this is very important. Before I can tell you what the purpose of the wilderness is, I first just have to clarify what the wilderness. Speaker 3 Is not. We just got to make this really clear before I. Speaker 2 Can tell you what the wilderness is. Let me tell you what it's not. The wilderness is not necessarily punishment from God. The wilderness is not necessarily punishment from God. Sometimes it is. That shows up in the Bible, and we're probably going to talk about that later. But a lot of the time, probably most of the time, the wilderness is not. And this is pivotal because there's a lot of us in this room right now. And if God were to look at some of us in this room and he would say, listen, this is my son, this is my daughter. I'm so proud of them. You know, they're doing everything right. That's a lot of us in this room. They're doing everything right. But there are a lot of us. And you think that the reason you feel lost or directionless or or full of pain is because you've done something wrong. Speaker 3 And God is mad at you. And because God is mad at you. Speaker 2 He sentenced you into limbo. And, and that makes a lot of sense because it's like, you know, if, if I end up in the wilderness when I'm driving, it's because I made a wrong turn, right? So a lot of us just assume that like, if we're in the middle of nowhere, it's because somewhere along the lines we've made a wrong turn. But the Bible makes it very clear that you can do everything right and still be in the wilderness. You can do everything right and still be in the wilderness. In fact, sometimes the reason you're in the wilderness is precisely because you're doing everything right and because you're listening to God, and because he was led by the Spirit, because you're going where God wants. Speaker 3 You to go so so the. Speaker 2 Wilderness is not automatically necessarily punishment from God. All of us are going to go through the wilderness. So what is the purpose of the wilderness? Well, we're going to camp out in in James Chapter 1. Speaker 3 That's really where the wilderness. Speaker 4 I think is explained maybe the clearest in the Bible. James is one of the authors of the Bible. He's the half brother of Jesus technically same mom, you know, but Jesus is dad is God. So that's different. But like so James, he's one of the leaders of the church and. Speaker 2 He's talking about. Speaker 3 These wilderness experiences, these trials and look what he says, James chapter 1 starting in verse two, he says, listen guys, he's running a group of Christians that are going through a really tough season of life. Speaker 2 Consider it pure. Speaker 3 Joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials. Speaker 2 Of many kinds. Consider it pure joy whenever you face trials. Of many kinds. He's not saying slap a happy smile on it. You know he's not saying that. He's not saying go, go to Hobby Lobby and buy more calendars with Bible verses on them. He's not saying that, but he but he's saying listen, listen, listen. If the dragon is attacking, it's because there's a cave full of gold on the other side. Like consider it pure joy when you face trials, many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. The testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything, and God blesses those who patiently endure testing and temptation, and afterward they will receive the. Speaker 3 Crown of life that God has promised to those who love him. OK, let's talk about this for a second, James. Speaker 2 Compares the wilderness to a trial or a test. A trial or a test of faith. Now when I think. Speaker 3 Of a test of faith. Speaker 2 For some reason my mind instinctually just goes to like. Speaker 4 The The Hunger Games, you know. Speaker 2 So like, God throws you in The Hunger Games and he throws you into this impossible situation where you have to suffer miserably for no reason. Like at all, no reason. And he's watching you from the control room. Speaker 4 Being like, ha, ha, ha, you didn't pass. Send in the hounds. You know, it's like, this is good. This is too easy for you. The Hornets, now the mutant Hornets, you know, it's like, do all that. Speaker 2 And and God, basically what God is doing is he's thrown you into this impossible situation. Speaker 3 To. Speaker 2 Prove to God how devoted you are to him and that's how you bring glory to God. And, and, and in my mind, I'm like, that's, that's what a test kind of defaults, defaults to in my mind. And that's a very cruel image of God. And if you read the Bible, God is nothing like that at all. And, and when the Bible's talking about a test, it that's not the kind of test that he's talking about. There's two types of tests. There's like a test that's supposed to be challenge, but then there's a test that's supposed to be like an assessment, right? So when I get an E check in my car, it's not the guy doesn't come out with like a flamethrower and he's like. Speaker 4 See if your car can survive this. No, he just takes out his meter and he's like, your car is healthy, moving on, you know, it's like. Speaker 2 So there's a test and an assessment. I think we're talking a little bit more than an about an assessment. And and here's a here's a better analogy for you about a test. OK. When I was a a sophomore in high school. Speaker 4 I had this girlfriend and I was obsessed with her. This is going to cringe you out so bad. I I was a different man at this time, cringy, insecure, you know, just like obsessive. So at school I would try and walk to like every class with her, you know, So like even if I had to go like all the. Speaker 2 Way around the school and be like walking into. Speaker 4 Biology or whatever. Speaker 2 And if she went to a party and there were like other. Speaker 3 Guys there, I had to be there because I had to protect. Speaker 4 Her, that's what I told myself. And I had to protect her. And when she would post on Instagram, I I remember like, you're going to judge me, but you've all done it. Yeah, I would click on the likes of her. Speaker 3 Posts and scroll. Speaker 4 And be like Matt seems to be like in a lot of her posts right now. Better keep an eye on this this Matt fellow, you know, whenever we're sitting next together and and she opened up Snapchat, I would like lean over and make sure we're still best friends and then you know, and then be like. Speaker 2 Wait, why is? Speaker 4 Colin have an emoji next to his name. Oh, Colin's your cousin. OK, all right, fine. You know, so you know. Speaker 2 And so it was all so cringy and so obsessive and like, some of you are like, you know, laughing at me, but you've done all the same things. So shut up. Anyways, Now in my defense, as stupid as that was, in my defense it wasn't for no reason. Speaker 3 That I was like that over the top that. Speaker 2 When we were in the eighth. Speaker 3 Grade, so like a few years. Speaker 2 Prior, we had a thing then, too, in the eighth grade. But then one random day in the eighth grade, she just stopped talking to me. And that's when I learned I wasn't the only guy. Speaker 4 That she had a thing with, you know, so when we get back together as sophomores, I'm like, you know, on the prowl, you know, I'm like trying to trying to fight off any, any threats anyways, so when we're together as sophomores, I'll never forget this day. My parents came to me and they, they sat me down and they're like, hey Josiah, we have really good news. You're going to be really excited about this good news. I'm like, OK, awesome. What's the great news? And they go we are going on a one month long family vacation across the United States and I about had a stroke. I'm like, how long are we going to be gone? They're like one month. Isn't that a one month with mom and dad isn't that amazing? I was like, no, that is not amazing. And so eventually I was like, I was like, I'm not going, I'm not going. I'm like, mom, dad, don't you know, I have a very serious relationship that I have to attend to And my parents were like, you're 15 years old, like you can't even drive. You're you're coming on the road trip. Speaker 2 So anyways, very. Speaker 4 Much so against my will and with a lot of kicking and screaming. Speaker 2 We live for we leave for this one month family vacation and I am freaking out because I can't keep an eye on my girlfriend and so. Speaker 4 So this whole. Speaker 2 Time like I'm texting my friends for like updates on her. I'm like who's? Speaker 3 She with. Speaker 4 You know what's going on. I, I try and call her constantly, but we didn't really have any cell service and, and so it was constantly, I really didn't get to talk to her very much. And, and I would like try and think of like, what are some romantic things I can do to like buy more time, you know, So I, this is so stupid. I remember in the car I recorded an instrumental version of Can't help Falling in Love with You on Garage Band and like sent her. And it was like, it was an instrumental version of please don't break up with me. And I was like sending that to her, you know, and. Speaker 2 And I remember, I remember I found out when my friends texted me and. Speaker 3 They're like, hey, just so you know, when she left this party. Speaker 4 She gave a hug. Speaker 2 To this dude named Kyle and I'm like why is it always a Kyle bro? Speaker 4 And, and so I, I had, we literally had, I had to get on the phone and I was like, I forgive you for giving this guy a hug. You know, it's just like absolute pathetic, insecure, clingy, gross relationship. And in a shocking turn of events, the relationship did not work out. I know you're very surprised by that, that it wasn't very, that wasn't very healthy. Speaker 2 Now here's the point. Everybody tracked me on the point. Here's the point. Why was I so insecure? Because in many ways, that one month long vacation, ironically through the wilderness, was a test. It was a test. And here's what the test was. How will she respond? And how will she act when she cannot see me or sense me? How will she respond? How will she act when she cannot see me or sense me? And that is an evaluation of the strength and the trustworthiness of our relationships. Listen, here's what James is saying. James is saying the wilderness is the place where you cannot see God or sense. Speaker 3 God, like you did before. Speaker 2 So you just have to trust them. The wilderness is the place where you can't see God or sense God the way that you did before. So you just have to trust him. In the same way that my girlfriends trust and love for me was revealed by how she lived when I was out of town, your trust in God is revealed by how. Speaker 3 You live when you're in the wilderness and you can't see him or sense him in the same. Speaker 4 Way Now that test is not actually a bad thing. It's a good thing because it will have one of two outcomes. Either it will strengthen your relationship with God if it's healthy. Speaker 2 Or it will end your relationship with God if it's toxic and God's not going to be the toxic one. It's you. Now, everybody getting what James is saying. Everybody understand what this is. It's how you live when you can't see or sense God in the same way. Now, here's the next thing that James says. It's really important. You can't grow in your relationship with God without going through the wilderness. You can't grow, you can't mature. That's the word he uses. You can't be complete in your relationship with God without going through the wilderness. In fact, you probably will never really know if your relationship with God is completely genuine or completely legitimate until. Speaker 3 You go through the wilderness, you know, some of some of us are like, very like. Speaker 4 Hands in the air, you know, love it, but you've like never gone through anything. Speaker 2 And so it's like we don't actually know what your relationship with God is actually like. Speaker 4 Now there's a big. Speaker 2 Difference between the story of me and my girlfriend and the story of you and God. The 1st is that God is not clinging and pathetic and hormonal. Speaker 4 So that that's the first but but the second. Speaker 2 The second difference is this. The second difference is this. In my story, I actually went to another state. I actually went away. I was gone. But in the wilderness, God is just as much. Speaker 3 With you as he was. Speaker 2 Before you just can't feel him. So in the wilderness God is just as close. He, he's, he's just as present as he was before. He loves you just as much. You just can't feel him or sense him. Look at Luke chapter 4. Jesus full of the Holy Spirit, full of God return from the Jordan River. He was led by the Spirit into the wilderness. 5 seconds ago Jesus heard a voice from God saying I love you. I'm so pleased with you, you, you know, like you are my son, you know. 5 seconds later, Jesus is in the wilderness being tempted by the devil. But the Bible is in assistance that God is just as much with you in the wilderness as he is in your best moments, actually. But track, track with me. If anything, in some ways God is more with you and closer to you in some ways in the wilderness than he is in the the high moments. So it's not that God's distance or presence changes. So what changes in the wilderness? Well, here's what changes your perception. Your perception. Speaker 4 Have you ever played the game of peekaboo with a baby? You know, I, I hate to break it to you, but babies are stupid. They know nothing. They just, and, and babies really don't understand like space-time and matter and how that works. So I, I was thinking about this earlier today. When you play peekaboo from a baby with a baby, think about this from the baby's perspective. When you cover up the baby's eyes and the baby's mind, you have legitimately vanished. Like you have ceased. You have gone to another dimension. In fact, everything in the world has gone into another dimension. Imagine the panic of like, Oh my gosh, you know, And then when you were the reason the baby smiles so much is like, I'm alive, you know, like that, that, that that is the reaction. Speaker 3 Well, listen, listen, listen. Here's what the wilderness is. The wilderness is when life puts its hands in front of your eyes. Speaker 2 And you can't see God, and you can't sense God the same way that you did. Speaker 3 Before. Speaker 2 But when you play peek a Boo with a baby, have you gone anywhere? No. What's changed? What the baby can see in the wilderness? Has gone God gone anywhere? No. What's changed? What you can see, what you can perceive. And you have to decide if you're going to be mature and trust and believe. Speaker 3 That God is actually still there or you're going to be immature and and believe that he's not actually there. My dad, who's done a a lot of work on the wilderness stuff and he's inspired a lot of thoughts today. He's very wise and he gives this line. He says the wilderness is not where God abandons you, but it's often where you abandon God. Speaker 2 The wilderness is not where God abandons you, but it's often where you abandon God. It's a test. Speaker 3 But it's tested in the best way. Speaker 2 Because if you can't sense God. Speaker 3 That's when you're most likely to cheat on him if you don't actually love him the way you say you do. And that, by the way, is why the wilderness is so often associated with temptation. The wilderness is often associated with temptation. Jesus was led in the wilderness, and he was tempted by the devil. Now. Speaker 2 I have a pretty controversial hot take, not trying to get everybody all riled up. Speaker 4 I've said this hot take before and I this is like some of you are very scarred from it so I'm not trying to like re explore your trauma. This hot take is not from the Bible. It's just Josiah's random opinion on something dumb. So, you know, I just apologize in advance, but here's my hot take. Speaker 2 I just really don't think it's that big of a problem if another guy or another girl hits on your boyfriend or girlfriend. Speaker 4 I just don't think it's that big of a deal. I just don't think it's wrong. I, I think it's fine. You know, it's like, if in my mind, if you're not married, totally fair play. You know, it's like no D bag move totally. You know, if you're like a follower of Jesus and trying to have a good rap, wouldn't recommend doing the flirting, you know, but technically, technically totally fair play. No, Anytime I say this. Any time I say this. Speaker 3 People get all offended, they get all offended. Speaker 2 Like if I was a. Speaker 3 Sophomore in high school with my. Speaker 4 Girlfriend and I heard someone give me that take. Speaker 3 My heart, my heart rate would go up and I would get all offended. And some of you are all offended, All offended. Here's my question. Here's my question to you. If you're offended, why are you so offended? I. Speaker 2 Thought you trusted your girlfriend with everything? Speaker 4 I thought your boyfriend had the greatest integrity in the world and was going to stick with you to the end. I thought he was the greatest guy. Oh my gosh, I love him. He's going to be with me forever. In other words, listen to me. If your relationship is so strong like you say it is, why are you so afraid of it being tested? That's my question. That's my question. Well, so somebody say somebody gave me this rebuttal. Speaker 2 The other day he said, well, it's a sign of disrespect. Speaker 4 That's what they say. It's a sign of, of disrespect when he hits on her. It's disrespectful to me. Is it, is it, you know, so, so my wife Sarah and I, we've been together for almost nine years now, which is, which is really fun. And, and before we got married, I definitely would get all, you know, my heart rate would go up and whatever. And I definitely would have agreed with you on my hot take. But after we got married, I'm just being honest, just being real. After it we got married, it started becoming like funny to me and flattering to me when someone would like hit on my wife. Like I, I still think it's kind of funny. So, so I think Sarah is just the most gorgeous person. I think she's, she's just so beautiful. I remember one time I was telling this story to a group of guys. Speaker 3 And I was like, yeah, I just think my wife is so beautiful. And, and this guy, this guy in the room, dead serious, just accidentally slipped out. Yeah, she is so beautiful. And like bro, you're not. Speaker 4 Allowed to say that anyways anyways, so I I just think she's so beautiful and and here's The funny thing about guys unmarried guys they don't know to check for rings when they're talking to someone like they don't know to think about that. And and so some of you guys here at here at collective or what I have dubbed horny thirst monsters like literally this is this is some of you this is some of you you literally like as I'm talking you're not listening to anything I'm saying as I'm talking you're just scan in the room and as soon as the last song plays you just go where are the blondes? You know, that's some of you man, that's that's some of you. So it's true. So every couple of months, every couple months this really funny thing happens and this has happened multiple Times Now every couple of months when the service is over one of you rooms. Speaker 2 Up to my wife. Speaker 4 And starts trying to like make conversation. And so like, what do you do? And what do you know, all this kind of stuff? And she's so nice and so she's engaged and whatever. And then and then eventually you, you know, you'll drop the line. Hey, are you seeing anybody? And I just think it's. Speaker 2 So. Speaker 4 Funny that my poor sweet wife who never wants to hurt anyone's feelings. I think it's so funny that she has to actually. She has to be like. Speaker 3 Oh well, actually my. Speaker 4 Husband is here. Speaker 3 And and then they inevitably say, oh, your husband? Like who's your husband? Speaker 4 Like you're kind of flustered and she has to look at them and say. Speaker 2 You know, the guy you've been listening to for the past. Speaker 3 45 minutes. Speaker 4 I just think that's the most hilarious thing in the world. But but listen. Speaker 2 Here's the point. Here's the point. I have a real point to this. Here's the point. Every time Sarah says no to someone or something else and says yes to me, it deepens our relationship and it strengthens our love. And vice versa is true. Every time I say no to someone or something else and say yes to her, it deepens our relationship and strengthens our love. We end up closer and more confident than we were before. OK, now apply this whole logic to your relationship with God, because it works exactly the same way. When you cannot sense God in the wilderness, so you cheat on Him, you say yes to a temptation. It exposes how unhealthy your relationship with. Speaker 3 God always was. Speaker 2 How unhealthy you were the whole time. But the flip side is true. When you are in the wilderness and you deny that temptation, you say no. Speaker 3 It will deepen your relationship with God to A level. Speaker 2 It could have never been at before, and it will strengthen you to accomplish things with God that you currently cannot do right now. That's why James is like, listen guys, I know it sucks. Like it's really hard, but consider a joy when you face trials of many kinds. Because if you really love Jesus, you're going to end up so much closer to Jesus by the end of this than you ever could have been on your own. Now that does not listen. It does not mean the wilderness is easy, and it does not mean that the wilderness is no big deal. And it definitely doesn't mean that the wilderness is funny, But it also doesn't mean that the wilderness is bad. You're tracking with what I'm saying. That's why James calls being in the wilderness the testing of your faith, The testing of your faith. I hate the English word faith, because in English we're like, yeah, magic and wishes and dreams and faith, you know, like. Speaker 3 We just lump that all together. Speaker 2 But that's not what faith is. Faith is it's a very active, strong word, and it's a very relational word that faith simply is just your trust in God. Faith and trust are synonyms, and let me give you a more specific definition. Faith is choosing, so it's a choice. It's not a feeling, it's a choice. Faith is choosing to trust that Jesus is still loving, He's still working and he still writes even when nothing feels like it, and then choosing to obey him as a result of that trust. Everybody here what I just said. Faith is choosing not a feeling, it's a choice. It's choosing to trust that Jesus. He's still loving when I can't feel it. He's still working when I don't know what he's doing. He's still right even when he seems wrong, even when nothing feels like it. And then I choose to trust Him. Speaker 3 To obey him as a result of how deeply I trust him. So when you're in the wilderness. Speaker 2 When you're in the wilderness, there's really 4 wilderness questions that are being asked by you. When the Bible is talking about like being tested, there's really 4 questions that make up that test. I call them the four wilderness questions. Speaker 3 And the first three questions are about God. It's like what you think about God. And the last question, the 4th question is about you. Let me show. Speaker 2 You these 4. Speaker 3 Questions real quick. By the way, if you're like write stuff down, this is probably the thing to write down these 4 wilderness questions. So here's 4 wilderness questions. The first wilderness question is this. When I'm in the wilderness, does God still love me? Speaker 2 When I'm in the wilderness, will I choose to believe? Will I choose to act on that God still loves me? Hebrews chapter 13, Deuteronomy chapter 31, and Joshua chapter one. They all drop. Speaker 3 Exactly the same line. And when the same line is repeated in the Bible over and over, you know it's a very important line. And here's the Hebrews version. Here's what it says Hebrews chapter 13 verse 5 says for God has said. Speaker 2 I will never leave you, and I will never abandoned you. I will never leave you and I will never abandoned you. Do you know that this verse in the original Greek language? So we translated this from Greek into English. If you look at the original Greek language, this verse actually uses a double negative and then a triple negative. So if we were to more literally translate. Speaker 3 What this verse says Here's what it actually says. Speaker 2 For God has said. Speaker 3 I will never, ever leave you, and I will never, ever, ever abandoned you. I will never, ever leave you. And I will never, ever, ever abandoned you. Now why? Why didn't God just casually say I'll never leave you? You know I'll never abandoned you. Why does God have to say I will never, ever, ever abandoned you? Here's why. Here's why. Because he knows in the wilderness it's going to feel like he's leaving you. And here's here's why. The wilderness always feels like the exception to the rule. Always. Speaker 2 So if God. Speaker 3 Would never leave me except like one time, you know, the wilderness always feels like it's the exception to the rule. God has given us a statement so that when all of your senses cry out like God has left you, you can say back to yourself, no, he said he would never ever leave me. He would never ever, ever, ever abandoned me. And we're in one of those situations right now. So let let me ask you a question. Some of us are in the wilderness right now. Some of us are going into the wilderness. Let's ask some wilderness questions. Does God still love us? Ready. When life takes away the closest person in your life. When life takes away the closest person in your life, and for some unexplainable reason God allows it, does God still love you? Do I? Will I choose to believe? Speaker 2 Even if I don't feel it, it's not saying suck it up. He's not saying that. Speaker 3 Will I choose to believe that God still loves me? There's no one when depression. Speaker 2 Is more real to your senses than anything spiritual or anything Jesus. When the only lens you can see through is the lens of your depression, nothing's going to take it away. Nothing's going to change like you're in a wilderness season. This is just what I'm going to see in that depression is God. Speaker 3 Still with me but choose believe they're still with me when. Speaker 2 Your work. Speaker 3 Life. Speaker 2 Or your home life. Speaker 3 Is fundamentally toxic. Fundamentally toxic and walking into that room, as soon as you walk into that room or that building, you immediately feel like this, this burden of like darkness fall on you. You know what I'm talking about, like this heaviness and you just want out as soon as possible because every the surrounding is so miserable. And when that darkness falls on you, listen, is Jesus still standing next to you like he promised he would always be standing next to you? Listen, I think there's a lot of people in this room who will say, yeah, God will never leave me. God will never leave me, you know? And the songs come up. You're like, yeah, yeah, yeah. You know, it's like the verses and the verse in the bio and like the whole thing, God will never leave me. And you might believe that, but you don't believe God will never, ever leave you. And he will never, ever, ever abandoned you. Now, I'm not trying to be mean or judge mental or sassy or anything like this. I'm just trying to get us all to be honest because I think if you don't believe God will ever, ever, ever, he'll never leave you. Your relationship with God is legitimately, and I'm just being diagnostic, just some diagnostics here. Your relationship with God is legitimately no deeper than my relationship with my sophomore girlfriend. Because before the month long vacation, we were saying I'll never leave you no matter what. You know, we're saying all that, but you don't actually know that until you see how you function when the wilderness hits. The question in the wilderness is when I can't feel God's love, is God's love still real when I can't sense his presence is he's still there? That's question number one. Now here's the second wilderness question, right Here's the second one. Is God still doing what's best? Is God still doing what's best? Let me give you a couple verses that I think are incredible. Psalm chapter 32 verse 8 says the Lord says I will guide you along the best pathways for your life. No one hear that. I will guide you if you trust in God, I will guide you along the best pathways for your life. I will advise you and I will watch over you and then. Speaker 2 I love this. Speaker 3 Verse Romans chapter 8 verse 28 and we know that in all things. Speaker 2 Every single thing, every little detail in all things, God works for the good of those who love Him, who trust Him, and who have been. Speaker 3 Called according to his purpose. OK, OK, so here's the question. Somehow God not curing that illness and allowing that person to die, as awful and egregious and evil as that is, somehow that is the best pathway for your life. Somehow Now I see a lot of people nodding our heads, but I'm sure a lot of us that are in the wilderness right now, you're not, not in your head because it's very hard to swallow. Speaker 2 Somehow God is saying the most painful thing that's ever happening in your life. God will. Speaker 3 Work that for your good, if you trust in him, if you follow him. Speaker 2 Is that still true somehow? Here, here's a big one. Somehow me not getting my dream job that I've worked for for seven years and I've dedicated my life to somehow that is the most loving thing that God could possibly allow, that I don't get that dream job. OK, well, that's very easy to say when you're in high school and you haven't dedicated your life to anything. It is very hard to say seven years later, when it seems like you've dedicated your life to something that is going nowhere, is that still true? Whatever wilderness you're in, God is making a promise that if you trust in Him, this is not a detour on your journey. It's one of the most important stops you'll ever make in your journey. You hear me? The wilderness always leads to the promised Land. Speaker 4 But you can't get to the. Speaker 2 Promised land unless you trust in God through the wilderness and God is taking you there because he loves you and he wants what's best for you and he knows that it is the best route. But here's my question to you. Speaker 3 Do you still believe that God's doing what's best in your life? OK, Does God still love me? Is he still doing what's best #3 wilderness question #3 Is God still right? Is God still right? There are a lot of teachings from the Bible that I can throw out and all of us will agree with until you're in the wilderness where that teaching actually applies. So I can say we need to forgive everyone. And everyone nods their head. They nod their head, they nod their head. And when your mom leaves and now you have to forgive your mom, is that so true? Speaker 2 In in the midst. Speaker 3 Of your depression, is what God said about marijuana still true? In the midst of your loneliness is what God said about pornography and any movie or show that contains nudity and pornography, is that still true? When I'm broke? Is what God said about money still true? When I'm anxious, is what God said about anxiety still true? When I'm busy, is what God said about spending time with him and being a part of the church and being on the mission of Jesus and dedicating your life not to your work, not to your school, but to telling other people about Christ, is that still? Speaker 2 True. In other words, now that I'm in the wilderness and these words actually mean something, they actually affect my life and they're actually painful and they're actually hard. Speaker 3 Is every single word in the Bible still 100% certified? Platinum will bank my life on it true? Or was God wrong? And do I know something that he doesn't know? And that's exactly when temptation comes in, right? That's exactly the moment where we're like, maybe I should cheat on God. Maybe it would be a little bit better. That's the test of faith. So those first three questions are about God. And then finally, there's one last question. And this final question is about you. Question #4 am I still going to obey God even when I don't know why I should? You can't control your feelings of the first 3 all. Speaker 2 The time you can control your actions, but not your feelings. Speaker 3 This is the one that you have the most control of. Am I still am I going to still obey God even when I don't know why I should? I know in our culture we don't like the word obedience. Like I get it, I don't like the word obedience either. But in the Bible, obedience and faith are basically synonyms. They're basically the same thing. What am I going to choose? Am I going to choose to obey God based on no benefit other than he said that it was true? Or am I going to walk away from him? Now, let me show you something. So all four of these are on the screen, right? Every track with me on something, most of the time in your relationship with God, we can answer these questions from the top down. So, so here, here's what I mean. Oh my gosh, I'm overwhelmed by the love of God. God loves me so much. I can sense that, I can feel that. And because God loves me, I know that God's going to do what's best for me. And because I know God's going to do what's best for me, I know God must be right, even when it doesn't make sense. And since I feel the love of God and I know God's doing what's best and I I, I think God's. Speaker 2 Probably right, because I agree with all those things. Speaker 3 I am going to obey God even when it's it's hard, right? Most of the time we can answer this from the top down and everybody listen to me. That is amazing. That is healthy that that is how we grow. We talk a lot about this at Collective, that if you just understand the love of God, everything else flows through. Can I tell you the part that very few people will ever tell you? And the Bible does talk about this a lot. Can I tell you the part that very few people will tell you? Sometimes in the wilderness you don't get the privilege of answering these questions from the top down. Sometimes in the wilderness you have to answer these questions from the bottom up. I don't feel God's love. I'm not even sure if he's right. I don't think he's got what's best for me. So you just start with question number four. I am going to obey God. That's it. There's no feeling. I don't agree and it feels wrong. I, you know, the, the podcast I listen to completely disagree with this, You know, like I am just going to obey God. And when I obey God, I'm going to treat God as if he's right. I don't think he's right. If I feel like he's right, I'm just going to treat him like he's right. Then I'm going to trust that God's leading me to what's best. It feels like we're way off course. It feels like we're way off course. And then finally, finally, I will listen and believe that God actually loves me. Listen, some of us in this room, you are waiting for a feeling that God loves you in order to obey. That's what some of us are doing. So you're waiting for a sign, or you're waiting for spiritual goosebumps. You're waiting to, like, sense the presence of God again. But until God shows his love to you in a supernatural way, you feel justified in ignoring what he says. You're like, well, I don't need to do that 'cause I don't really feel convicted about it. You feel justified and bursting out in anger because you're going through so much. I'm just venting. You feel justified in like skipping being around like the church and community and all this kind of stuff because I'm not feeling it anymore. I'm not getting anything out of it. I'm not learning anything. You feel justified in drinking more than you should because God's not helping you. So at least this takes the edge off. You feel justified with sleeping with that person. What? Whatever it is. And I'm telling you, I'm telling you if you are waiting to just feel the love of God before you obey Him in the wilderness. Speaker 2 That. Speaker 3 Is the trap of the wilderness. Speaker 2 That's like what the wilderness does. You are falling for the central trap of what the devil does in the wilderness, and as long as you. Speaker 3 Here's the irony. Can I tell you the irony? As long as you do that, barring some kind of miracle, you're actually not going to feel like God loves you. That's the irony. The more you disobey God, the more you feel like he doesn't love you. That's that's why rebellious people think God hate hates them. God loves rebellious people, but because they're so insistent on turning away from Him, they have blocked anything that would receive the love of God. There are some of us in this room right now who need to say to God, God, I'm rebelling against you. I'm cheating on you. I am wrong. I've fallen for the trap of the wilderness. Will you help me turn around? I I love what Dietrich Bonhoeffer said. Bonhoeffer. He was this German Christian pastor who was killed by the Nazis for fighting against the Holocaust. Talk about a wilderness. Here's what he said. Faith is only real when there is obedience, never without it. And faith only becomes faith in the act of obedience. Faith is not a feeling. It only becomes real when it's obedience, never without it. Faith only becomes faith in the act of obedience. But the wilderness is the place that tests what you would do when you don't feel like God is around. But there's good news. I tell you the good news. The wilderness is also the place where you can become closer to Jesus and become more like Jesus than ever before. If you want a purpose for the wilderness, here you go. The wilderness is the place where you can become closer to Jesus and become more like Jesus than ever before. I've talked about this before. A few years ago, I was in the wilderness big time. I hit one of my bouts of depression and it was probably the worst one I ever had. And I don't know if you've ever been depressed, but when you're depressed, essentially you just like, hate yourself 24 hours a day. You can hardly get out of bed in the morning. Like everything just sounds like the worst. You're on the verge of destroying your relationships all the time because you're always like about to explode in anger or you're always about to say too much or you're about always about to say something too harmful. And then you just like don't mind the thought of dying. Like you entertain that way too much. When you entertain the thought of dying, all sorts of other toxic temptations come in and toxic lies. And when I get depressed that like the temptations start coming in big time. The, the temptations to, to blow up my life, blow up my marriage, blow up everything God's trying to do. And and this was a really bad round. Speaker 2 And you know you. Speaker 3 You like try and talk to God, you know, you try and talk to God. It just sometimes you get something, but like most of the time it just doesn't feel like he's there. Like I, I would try and read the Bible because I'm like, I just need to do it every day. So I try to do it every day. And like most of the time it just felt like it was nothing. And you kind of hate being around the church because even though you need it, you kind of hate being around the church because you convince yourself that everyone else is fake, even though the real reason you don't like being there is because you hate yourself. That's you know. Anyways, I'll never forget this one night. It was probably like the worst night of the whole thing. And Sarah was asleep and I was staying up way too late because I couldn't sleep. And I was trying to talk to God and I'm sure I was just like yelling at him. And I'd be like, God, where are you? You know, I've tried to serve you my whole life. I'm trying to give my life. Where are you? You know, I'm like letting out some choice words and you know, the whole thing, like what? What's going? Why won't you take this away from me? You say you're listening to me. You say you're with me. Why won't you take this away from me? You know, and it was, it was some of the worst internal pain that I've ever felt in my life. Like it just felt like my soul was on fire, you know, have you ever been there or just like you just hate everything about it? I'll never forget this one moment. I was sitting on the couch. We had this couch that just had two seats on it, like 2 cushions. And I was sitting on the right side of the couch and I, I was yelling at God, crying out to God in pain. And I was sitting on the side of the couch and literally all of a sudden I just felt this sense to like look over to the left. And when I looked over to the left, I just felt this overwhelming sense. Like it, it's unbelievable, this overwhelming sense that Jesus was sitting right next to me. You know, I didn't see anything I didn't, you know, But it was one of the most real experiences with God, like transcendent, like supernatural experiences with God I've ever had. And so I just sat there and talking to God and I just felt what Jesus, Jesus was like looking at me dead in the eyes. And I just felt like Jesus was Saint Jessiah. I am with you, you know, I'm with you in the wilderness. I'm with you in your suffering. I've never left you. I will never, ever leave you. I will never, ever, ever, ever abandoned you. I'm sitting here right now. I'm, I'm carrying this pain with you. It was really crazy in that moment. I just felt like this overwhelming peace the Bible talks about a peace that surpasses understanding, you know, And so this peace just came over me. But here's the weirdest part. You want to know the weirdest part of the story, The peace came over me, but none of the pain went away. None of it. I was still depressed, still felt like my soul was on fire, still like, wouldn't mind if, you know, a tree just fell through the house and killed me. You know, it's like that was all there. So I was feeling the peace of God in the misery of the wilderness at the same time. And I realized in that moment the peace of God was so overwhelming. I realized in that moment I told this to God. I said God, I would rather be in misery with you by my side than to be in complete ease without you it. Speaker 2 Was like the most. Speaker 3 Alive I've ever felt in my life. Speaker 2 Like I wish I could. Speaker 3 Go back there, I'd rather be in misery with you by my side than be at ease without you at all. Speaker 2 And the depression didn't. Speaker 3 Go away that day, but to the best of my ability, with many failures and many slip ups and mistakes, I tried to stay obedient to God. You want to know what's crazy though? Here's what's crazy. Eventually, the depression, the self hatred, the anger, that all went away. You know it did not go away. The depth of my relationship with God never went away. I'm so thankful right now for that moment a few years ago because that deepened my relationship with a God in a way that I can never go back. It was invaluable. That's why James says consider it pure joy when you face trials of many kinds. He's saying the. Speaker 2 Reward of being. Speaker 3 Close to Jesus, it is more valuable than anything the wilderness could ever take away from you. This is what listen when you go through the wilderness. Here's why that happens when you. Speaker 2 Go through the. Speaker 3 Wilderness. You get closer to Jesus because Jesus went through the wilderness to get close to you. That's why when you go through the wilderness, you get close to Jesus because Jesus went through the wilderness to get close to you. This is why what Peter says at first. Peter, he says don't be surprised at the fire trials you're going through. Instead, be very glad for these trials. Trials make you partners with Jesus. Speaker 2 Side by side with Jesus. Locked in with Jesus, so that you Jesus. Speaker 3 In his suffering, so that you have wonderful joy of seeing his glory. Jesus was attempted was tempted to abandon you in the wilderness, but Jesus said no because he loves you so much. Jesus was attempted to abandon God in the wilderness, but he said no because he trusted that God's plans were best. But the greatest wilderness that Jesus went through was not when he was in in the desert with with the devil. The greatest wilderness that Jesus ever went through was the days leading up to him being crucified on the cross. Jesus's crucifixion and his death was the greatest trial that he ever went through. And the night before Jesus died, he called out to God, and he said, God, will you please, my Father, will you please take this suffering, this trial? Will you take it away from me? And God looked at him and said, no, this is the only way. I can't take it away from you. So Jesus was crucified and Jesus was killed. And Jesus still said yes. Why did Jesus say yes to the cross? Here's why. Because Jesus promised he will never, ever leave you. He will never, ever, ever abandoned you. There is never, ever, ever a wilderness that Jesus isn't in with you. There is never, ever, ever a wilderness that Jesus isn't in with you. The God who died for you then is not going to abandon you now. So for every person in the wilderness right now. And every person who's about to go through the wilderness and a little bit for if you are in the wilderness right now, I have one question for you. Everybody look at me, everybody that's in the wilderness, I have one question for you. And this is it. We'll end here. Will you stay obedient to Jesus in your wilderness? That's the question. Will you stay obedient to Jesus in your wilderness? Will you trust Him? Everybody close your eyes for a second band guys, you can get settled in and 2nd kind of get settled in. I want to do something really honest here. Nothing weird, just something honest. If you are in the wilderness right now, everybody close your eyes. If you are in the wilderness right now, I just want you to picture what the trial that you're going through is. Just picture it. The test of faith, a breakup, depression, loneliness in between jobs, burnt out, no money, lack of purpose, the mundaneness of life. Everybody kind of got that moment that season. OK, if you're going through the wilderness right now, I just want to ask you to do something. I, I would just love to pray over you. In fact, if you're going through the wilderness right now, if that, if that's your season, can you just do me a favor and raise your hand real quick? OK, that's a lot of us. So here's what I want us to do. If you're going through the the wilderness right now, I just want to ask if you're comfortable, will you just stand up real quick? That's all I'm asking you to just stand. You're not going to go anywhere. No big deal. Just stand up. Just so we know, When Jesus was in the wilderness, he battled those temptations and those trials with the word of God, with Scripture, with scripture and with prayer. And so here's here's what I want to do. If you're going through the wilderness of your stand up right now, just stay up. I want to be able to pray the word of God over you. And I want to pray some verses that that show up in the Bible that talk about who God is right now, even though you might not be able to see it right now. And, and what if you're a follower of Jesus? I'm going to read some verses that are true about you. If you're not a follower of Jesus and you're going through the you're going through it right now. If you're not a follower of Jesus, I just want to let you know that you can start a relationship with Jesus today and all of these verses will become true of you like literally immediately. So, so here's what I want to ask everybody. You guys can open your eyes. Speaker 4 And if you are. Speaker 2 If you're just sitting and you're a follow. Speaker 3 Jesus, what I would love, can you just reach out your hand towards the closest person to you that's going through it? Just reach out your hand. We just want to pray over everybody going on it. And if you're, if there's a couple of you standing next to each other, you can put you can reach out to each other. That's totally fine. OK, Let's all pray this together. OK? You don't have to repeat after me. Just pray in your heart. Jesus, right now there are a lot of us going through it. This is a sucky time for a lot of us right now. Jesus, I just pray in your name that as I read these truths from the Bible about you and about your relationship to us, I just. Speaker 2 Pray in your name in a supernatural. Speaker 3 Way that we would believe these scriptures and and for each person that's going through it, would you let one of these scriptures or one of these phrases pop out to them to know that it's you speaking to them? So God, as I read these scriptures, just make the words come alive. Now let me read some scriptures. These are the words of God. These are not Josiah's words. These are the words of God. Matthew chapter 28. This is from Jesus. Be sure of this. I am with you always, even to the end of age. Philippians chapter 4. This same God who takes care of me will supply all of your needs from his glorious riches which have been given to us in Christ Jesus. Psalm chapter 34. The Lord hears his people when they call to him for help. The Lord rescues them from all of their troubles. The Lord is close to those who are broken hearted. He rescued those whose spirits are crushed. Second Timothy chapter 2. If we are unfaithful, if we fail, He remains faithful. God remains faithful, for He cannot deny who He is. Psalm chapter 32. The Lord says, I will guide you along the best pathways for your life. I will advise you and watch over you. Psalm chapter 23 Even when I walk through the darkest valley, I will not be afraid, for You are close behind me. Your rod and your staff, they protect me and they comfort me. Psalm chapter 139 How precious are your thoughts about me? Oh God, your thoughts about me, they can't be numbered. I can't even count them. They outnumber the grains of sand. And when I wake up, you are still with me. Romans chapter 8 I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God's love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow, not even the powers of hell can separate us from God's love. Finally, Hebrews chapter 13 verse 5. For God has said, I will never ever leave you, and I will never ever, ever abandoned you. I know we didn't answer every question about the wilderness today, so keep coming back for the next few weeks. And we're going to keep talking about this, but we're going to right now go into a time of worship and we're going to sing a bunch of truths about who God is. And what I've found is when I'm going through it and I can't figure out what God's like, the best thing that can ever help me is singing these truths out loud. So I encourage you to do the same. Once again, thank you so much for listening to the Collective Podcast. Speaker 1 If you have any questions about any of the things we talked about, feel free to shoot us an e-mail. Our e-mail is [email protected]. Those emails come straight to my inbox and I'd love to have a conversation with you and I'd love to meet you in person at Collective. We meet every single Thursday night at 7:00 at 754 Jet Rd. Fairlawn. OH, and if you have any questions or need any more information, you can find that on our Instagram GCM under Score. Speaker 2 Collective We. Speaker 3 Would love to see you soon.