Out Of Egypt: Lessons From The Wilderness: God, Where Are You? // John Bevere

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Hey everybody at Radiant Church in Kalamazoo, Michigan, Western Michigan. I'm very familiar with you guys because I was raised in Whitehall, Michigan. It's an hour-and-a-half northwest, up on the coast, right on Lake Michigan. You've got White Lake, and you've got these two little tiny towns called Montague and Whitehall. Whitehall's where I was actually raised. And so I have such a deep, deep love for Western Michigan.

And I just want to say, first of all, your pastors, Pastors Lee and Jane Cummings. Oh my gosh, two of the great, great leaders in the body of Christ in the United States, and I sincerely mean that. Lee and I just jumped on a podcast, and this coronavirus time, just a couple weeks ago, and I'm telling you, wow, was I just so impacted by his presence. I mean, he carries an authority from heaven that I admire and I love. And so we were talking to one another, and we said, "Hey, Mother's Day is coming." And I just want to say, what a privilege and an honor it is to be able to speak to you on Mother's Day. Now, your pastor requested this, and I want to say, I felt to bring a message that would combine both the time we're in along with speaking to the hearts of women and why mothers are so important.

So here's what we've got. There is a book that I wrote called *God, Where Are You? Finding Strength and Purpose in Your Wilderness*. You know, the book came out last January, but if there's ever been a time that this message is needed, it's right now. So I'm going to basically cover about a chapter of it in this message. But I want to say this to you guys right now. This is what I want to do. If you just go to messengerinternational.org, so that's messengerinternational.org, what you'll find there, this will be right on our front page, okay? And you can, it'll take you to a page, you just click on it, and for a contribution of any amount, okay, we're gonna send a signed copy to you. And that's what I want to be able to strengthen what I'm sharing with you by doing that.

And so, to open, I want to go to the book of Ecclesiastes. Here's a very, very familiar portion of scripture, but I want you to listen to it carefully. First one says, "For everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven." So everything has a season, okay? There are seasons in our life, and each of those seasons has a purpose. And that's what we're in right now. We're in a season. And a lot of people are asking questions, they've got their arms up in the air, they're saying, "What's going on?" I mean, furloughed people, people laid off, people not knowing where their next paycheck is gonna come from. We have people that are fighting the actual disease of coronavirus. We have all this stuff going on. Our nation's basically on lockdown. We have been this way for the past five, six weeks. What is going on?

I don't see this in a negative light. You're gonna think I'm crazy when I say what I'm gonna say, but I've had more joy the last six weeks in my heart than I have had, and I can't even remember how long. And I'm gonna explain why, and you'll understand why when I get through this message. But it's very, very important that you understand that if you don't understand the season you're in, you're gonna behave incorrectly. Therefore, you won't get the desired results that God has out of the season.

Let me give you an example. I'm, you know, we live in Colorado, and people come here all the time to go skiing. So I want you to get an image of this. Somebody flies to Denver, they've got all their ski equipment, they load up the rental car, they drive up to Breckenridge, they get all suited up, they've got their goggles on, their helmet, they've got their skis on, to get on the chairlift, right, to the top of the mountain. And when they jump off the chairlift, they fall flat on their face. Now, why do they fall flat on their face? Because it's August. There's enough snow on the ground. This is what they should have done. They should have put a mountain bike on that chairlift. See, we here in Colorado, please enjoy the summer months probably more than the winter months. And what we do up in those chairlifts is we bring our bikes up and we ride down the mountain. And so because the behavior was incorrect for that season, you got a scraped-up face. And that's what's happening. People don't understand the season.

I, I love 1 Chronicles chapter 12, verse 32. It says, "The sons of Issachar who had understanding of the times to know what Israel ought to do." Listen to that. They understood the time. So how do we say it today? You know, if I was talking to a millennial right now, I'd say, "Hey, this is the why behind the reason, but behind the season." The Bible says understanding. We use the word "why." Why are we in this season? What is the purpose for the season? Why are we going through this?

Well, I want to put a title on this season that we're all going through right now. I call it a wilderness. And a wilderness is not a negative time. Please don't shut your mind off and not listen to me anymore because I said something that was negative. This is not negative at all. This is extremely positive. And by the time I'm finished, you're gonna understand why a wilderness is not only a necessary season, but it's a very exciting and important season.

So if you look at the people in the Bible, all the Old Testament, New Testament, all over, people had wilderness experiences. In the Old Testament, for everybody, it was a physical place. I mean, you've got Joseph in the dungeon. You've got Moses on the backside of the desert tending his father's sheep for 40 years. You've got David going through a 12-year wilderness where he's living in caves and he's and sleeping on with us as a pillow with rocks, and he's living in the land of the Philistines. If you, if you look at Daniel, it's in the Lions' Den. If you look at, I mean, we could go on and on and on. If you look at John the Baptist, he's in the actual wilderness of Judea, he's in a desert. If you look at John the Apostle, he's on the deserted island of Patmos. Paul said, "I went to the wilderness of Arabia, and that's where Jesus revealed himself to me."

So for them, it was a physical place. For us, I like to say it like this: a wilderness is when God seems like he, he's a million miles away, and his promises that he's you are even further. And you know, that's not a bad time. I mean, Job gives a perfect description of the wilderness. And I don't have it in front of me. Matter of fact, it's important enough that I go over there. So if you have your Bibles, just turn over to the book of Job, chapter 23, and listen to what Job says. He said, "Look, I go forward, but he's not there. And I go backward, but I can't see him. He says, but when he works on my left hand, so he is working, he's right there with Job, and he works on my left hand, I can't perceive him." So in other words, Job is looking for God everywhere, but he can't find him. He can't discern him. But God has made a promise: "I'll never leave you nor forsake you." So the wilderness season is when, even though he's there with us, we don't perceive him.

There are two types of the presences of God that the Bible speaks about. All right? The first is the omnipresence of God. David said, "Where can I go from your presence? If I go to the highest mountain, you're there. If I make my bed in the lowest valley, you're there." It is the presence of God that says, "I will never leave you nor forsake you." The other presence of God, which is valid, is the manifest presence of God. That's what Jesus said in John 14, "I will manifest myself to my followers." What does manifest mean? It means to bring out of the unseen into the realm of the seen, the unheard into the realm of the heard, the unknown into the realm of the known. It is when God reveals himself to our senses. We sense him near us. That presence is totally absent in a wilderness. But it's not in the presence. He's still with you because he said again, I'm gonna repeat it, "I will never leave you nor forsake you."

And so when we go through these wilderness seasons, it's very easy to slip into a behavior that is going to be detrimental for us. If you look at the children of Israel, God only intended them to be in the wilderness for one year. Yeah, read it carefully. One year. But despised one out, they came back, they brought an evil report, they discouraged all their brethren, and the result, they ended up spending 40 years in that desert. Okay? So here's, here's the truth we take from that: You can't shorten your wilderness experience, but you sure can lengthen it. I'm gonna say that again: You can't shorten your wilderness experience, but you sure can lengthen it. How do we lengthen it? By having behavior that doesn't correspond with the season.

Now, Paul writes about the children of Israel in 1 Corinthians chapter 10. He says, "Hey, they are an example to us." Now, listen, they are an example to us today. So we've learned from them. And Paul tells us why the children of Israel didn't enter into their destiny. God was bringing them out of Egypt and was gonna bring them right into that Promised Land one year later, but they never went in. They ended up dying in their desert. And Paul said, "Hey, learn from this because God doesn't want you to die in your wilderness. He wants you to fulfill the destiny he's placed on your life." Why? Because the destiny he's placed on your life is gonna build people, it's gonna build the kingdom, and it's important. It's important to God, it's important to me, it's important to you, it's important to all of us. All of us fulfilling our destiny is so important.

So if you look at why the children of Israel didn't fulfill their destiny, Paul gives five reasons. Number one, sexual immorality. Okay, we get it, we understand that. Number two, idolatry. That's putting something before God. And let me just be really blunt with you right now, okay? If you're binge-watching Netflix, Hulu, or, you know, and you're not spending time in the Word of God, you are making a really bad choice right now, okay? You're putting pleasure, you're putting pleasure above time with Him. God's given us like a sabbatical so we can spend more time with Him, not so we can spend more time catching up on all the TV programs we've missed, okay? You need to get that. I know that's what the world is doing right now, and that's all they know to do. But I'm not talking to the world right now. I'm talking to people who want to walk with God. That's why you're watching me right now. You wouldn't even watch me a minute if you didn't want to walk with God. So I'm trying to give you the wisdom of the season right now, okay?

So here's the deal. They, they committed idolatry, which is putting something else before Jesus. They tempted Christ. So we've got sexual immorality, idolatry, tempt Christ, and then they lusted after other things. What does the word "lust" mean? It means they intensely desired other things. So, Louise, let me, let me just bring it down to reality, okay? If you're binge-eating, you're desiring other things other than God. This is not the time to give your flesh what it craves. This is the time to say, "Wow, God's put me in a timeout." Now, is the timeout a bad thing? No. A timeout is to say, "Hey, I want to show you some new things." Because I'm gonna show you by the end of this message that in the wilderness is when God reveals himself to us in a fresh way, if we handle it correctly. I'm gonna show you all through the scriptures, and this is what he's about to do with you. This is what he's about to do with me. That's why I said I have so much joy right now. I have more joy in the last six weeks than I've had in the last 30 years on a concentrated six-week time period because I know what's coming.

Jesus, who for the joy set before him, endured the cross. I know some of you right now, you may be battling the sickness, not knowing where your next paycheck is gonna come from. You, you, you've been furloughed, you've been laid off, you don't even have a job. Are you kidding me? Do you think God's going, "Jesus, what are we gonna do? Jane down there in Kalamazoo, Michigan, she just doesn't have a job. Do you have any openings when this whole coronavirus is over?" Are you kidding? Jane in Kalamazoo, Michigan, I'm making up a name right now, okay? Do you realize you are about to be promoted? And if you get this revelation now, you'll handle that promotion so much better. I'm telling you.

You say, "John, you're you're pretty passionate." It's because I'm so excited about what's coming. I know it's coming. It's so good for you. God has great plans for you. He has a future for you. He's not sitting there going, "Oh, gosh, what do I do? Coronavirus? Oh, I just, what are my churches gonna do? They can't even gather. It's Mother's Day, for goodness sake." No. But he's not saying that. He's saying, "I have a plan. I'm so far ahead." If you look at Joseph, the brothers said, "We're gonna destroy the dreams." And God said, "Oh yeah, I'm so far ahead of you. You're actually the guys that are gonna fulfill Joseph's dream." So this is a time of rejoicing because we've got a joy that's set before us.

So back to the children of Israel. Number one, it was what? Let's think about sexual immorality. Number two, putting things before Jesus. Number, I'm gonna put it in our language, okay? Number three, tempting Christ. Okay? Number four, lusting after other things, right? Number five, complaining. Whoa, whoa, complaining. How can you put complaining in a list like that? I mean, that just doesn't fit. Now, let me tell you something. I want you to understand this: complaining is a very serious offense in the eyes of God. I will never, ever, ever forget the time when I was complaining, and the Holy Spirit confronted me on it. And I said, "God, what's such a big deal about complaining? I mean, why would it cost the children of Israel their inheritance?" And God said, "Complaining basically says to me, 'God, I don't like what you are doing in my life right now, and if I were you, I'd do it differently.'" And I realized, wow, that's a slam on His character.

And so, see, you don't want to complain. Him. This time, I'll never forget the time I was on a four-day fast, and I woke up on the third day, and I heard the Holy Spirit say, "As soon as my eyes open up, I hear the complaining in your heart." And I went, "Oh my goodness." And I literally rolled out of that bed to my knees that morning, saying, "God, I'm so sorry." If you have a renewed mind, the Bible tells you as a believer to renew your mind according to the Word of God. You can't be negative. You can't be discouraged. If you're discouraged, if you're negative, that means there's an area of your mind that is not yet renewed. Now, did I get this way overnight? No. I've been walking with Jesus for 40 years. And if you ask my children, they will say every day they got up, they would see the light out of my office at 5:30 in the morning, and I'm reading my Bible. All my sons will tell you that because they had to get up at 5:30, go to school, they come right downstairs, there it was, the office on, and Dad's in his Bible, coloring up his Bible like you see here, okay? Because why? I understand that my mind has to be renewed. If I don't put the Word of God in my mind, I'm going to think like the world. I'm going to act like the world, and I'm going to receive what the world receives. I don't want that. I want to think like a man of God. If you're a woman of God, you want to think like a woman of God so that you can receive all that God has for you. God loves blessing His children, but we have to get our thinking in line with what He's doing in our life.

And so it is so important right now. God said, "Hey, take a timeout." You know, the government, I'm gonna have the American government help you, give you some paychecks here. I'm gonna, I mean, it's amazing what's happening. And God's saying, "Don't spend this time worrying." Why are you worried about tomorrow? By you worrying, you're saying that I'm not God. I can't provide. You know, George Müller loved it. George Müller was brought up in a very affluent family in Germany, and they sent him off to his higher education. After a short time, he said, "You know what?" He actually, George Müller made fun of all the Christians in university. He persecuted them. He called them a bunch of, like, just stupid people, right? But he got radically touched by the presence of God at a Bible study. He got saved. He came back home to his dad and said, "Dad, I'm not finishing education. I want to be a missionary." And his dad was furious, cut off all of his financial aid because, you know, his dad was very wealthy. So George went to England, started a church, and he was furious because in the church in England, he was at the wealthy people got the front-row seats. So they literally paid for their seats. And George said, "I'm not doing this." He eradicated it.

Well, after time, God felt like George should start some orphanages. And he, he started doing orphanages because he saw so many kids on the street that had no mom, no dad. And what happened was, he had several of these orphanages. And in one of the orphanages, they ran out of food completely, totally out of food. And he had 300 kids in this orphanage. And that, and the orphanage mothers, the ladies that were helping him, said, "What do we do?" He said, "Half of all the kids to the dining hall." And so what he did is he stood in front of the kids and he thanked God for their meal. And as soon as he said, "Amen," this is a true story, a knock came at the door. And the person there said, "I have three huge loads of bread, and I just felt like I was supposed to bring them." So he unloaded all this bread. Those 300 kids had bread. But then a few minutes later, another knock came at the door, and it was a man who said, "I have a milk cart, and my wheel busted. And by the time they come and fix the wheel, all the milk will be spoiled. I don't want to see it go to waste. Would you happen to need some milk?" He gave him enough milk to give 300 kids a drink of milk and bread. They all had breakfast, and they never locked again. David said, "I've never seen the righteous forsaken, nor their seed begging for bread."

Now, Israel, you gotta remember, there was a reason that God brought them into the wilderness. Why would God bring them into this wilderness? He said there were two reasons: I brought you in here to humble you and to test you. So let's talk about these.

Number one, humility. All right? David had a wilderness, a 12-year wilderness where he lived in caves and deserts. He had to go into the Philistines. I already spoke of that, right? King Saul, who was Dave's, David's leader, he was the first king of Israel. He had no wilderness. Now, King Saul had this appearance of humility. I mean, when, when Samuel, the senior prophet in Israel, comes up to Saul and says, "You are God's chosen one." Saul's like, "Who am I? It's like my family is the least in our clan, and our clan's the least in all of Israel." And on the inauguration day, when God called Saul's name to identify him in front of all of Israel, they couldn't find him. Want to know why? He was hiding in the equipment. He had a, he had a humility. Everybody thought, "Wow, this guy's humble." But after his first victory, you know what he did? He built a monument to himself. Yeah. And you know what he thought? He was big man on campus. And so I'm gonna basically keep the king of live, even though God told me to destroy him. All there's a pride in him. There wasn't evident. It looked like he was truly humble. So people who don't go through a desert really don't have true, true humility worked in them.

God said, "I brought you into this desert to humble you." Okay? That humility is so important. Why? Because God says in Isaiah 57, "I dwell with the humble." I dwell with the humble. I mean, I want God with me. Therefore, I don't want a false humility. I want a real humility. Real humility doesn't mean that you're weak, bone and spot, spineless. That that actually repelled me from the word humility when I was a baby Christian. I was like, "I don't want to be spineless. I'm an athlete. I mean, I played varsity tennis at Purdue, I played the USTA circuit, I played junior Davis Cup. Athletics was my life." And I'm not, I'm not gonna be weak and wimpy. But then I started thinking about David. David comes to the battle, and his brother says, "You're full of pride." And I thought, "Whoa, wait a minute." His oldest brother said, "You're full of pride." Begin one chapter earlier, the prophet of God comes and says, "There's a king among your sons." Do Jesse, Jesse thinks he's God, and Eliab, and even the prophet thought it was Eliab. But God said, "I've rejected him." There's only one reason God rejects pride. So the very thing that Eliab has, he accuses David of having. Yet God says David's a man after my heart.

So humility is not being weak. Because David says, "Who is this uncircumcised Philistine?" He said, "Obviously, you guys won't fight him." God had to find somebody in the wood. Sounds very arrogant, but he's not. He's totally dependent on God and completely obedient to Him. Moses wrote the book of Numbers, but you know what he wrote in chapter 12, verse 3? He said, "Now the man Moses was the most humble, humble man in the whole earth." It takes a lot of humility to write that you're the most humble man in the whole earth. Jesus said, "Come and learn from me, I am humble in heart." He's basically saying, "I'm humble. Let me teach you about it." So humility, what is it? It's our complete, utter dependence on God and our resolve to be obedient with Him, to Him. Humility and the fear of the Lord run very closely together. And God says, "Through humility and the fear of the Lord, our long life, riches, and blessings." So, hey, look, there's, there's a blessing to being truly humble. And that humility occurs in the desert.

So if you look at David, he is constantly depending on God. I mean, his own men want to stone him, and he says, "Let me first ask God what to do." He didn't move. Saul has men leaving his camp. The Philistines are at 30,000, he's less than 2,000, and he goes, "I felt compelled." He wasn't dependent on God. He didn't obey the Word of God. So God teaches true humility in the wilderness.

And the second thing is, he said, "I brought you out here to humble you and test you." Now, why do we have a problem with tests? Why? I mean, let's, let me read Job's word. I'm right here in verse 10 of chapter 23. He says, "But he knows where I'm going, and when he tests me, I will come out as pure gold." Pure gold. Listen to the words, "pure gold." Now, why do we have a problem with tests? Our midterms and our finals in university, right? Come on, we all hated them. But can I tell you, the very last trip that I took was over the Pacific Ocean, that was about six, seven weeks ago. And can I say this? I am so glad the pilot passed the test. Why? Because he and I didn't end up in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, down at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean.

Do you know what tests do? They only reveal what's in you. When I was going through a very intense time, oh my gosh, I was so angry at my wife, I was mad at my pastor, I was mad at everybody. I was mad at my friends because they're not giving me this sympathy I'm going through, through, because I was going through trials like I've never faced before. I was in my first desert experience. And I remember it started scaring me how easily I got angry, how upset I was at everybody. And after six months of this, I went outside one day and I said, "God, where's all this anger coming from?" I say, "I'm more bitter and angry right now than I was before I got saved." I said, "What do I, what do I cast out?" And that's when the Lord spoke to me. He said, "You don't cast out your flesh, you're crucified." But he said, "Son, look at your gold ring." And he said, "Does it look like pure gold to you?" And I said, "Yeah, it looks like pure gold." Now, my ring was 14-karat gold. And for those of you who don't know, 14-karat gold means 14 parts out of 24 parts is gold. Ten parts out of 24 parts, it's other metals. It's impurities. It's copper and zinc, it's nickel. And so in other metals. He said, "But it looks like pure gold." I said, "Yeah, looks like pure." He said, "What happens if you put it in a furnace and heat it up a couple thousand degrees?" "Us?" "That will it liquefy the whole thing?" "Liquefy?" He said, "Then what happens?" I said, "Well, the impurities, the copper, zinc, nickel, and other metals, because they're lighter molecular weight, not, I have an engineering background, they come to the surface." And God said, "They appear, right?" And I went, "Yeah, they appear." He said, "You keep asking where all this anger and bitterness is coming from." He said, "It's always been in you." He said, "It was visible to me, but invisible to you, just as the impurities are invisible to me on this right now." He said, "It was invisible to you." He said, "But I am, my love for you, have brought you into this furnace of affliction, and now all these things are beginning to surface that are already that are in you." He said, "What you do with this will determine your future." Listen to me. Listen. He said, "You can keep blaming your pastor, keep blaming your wife, keep blaming your friends, and you still all go back down. We got to start this thing all over again." You know, the Israelites just went around in a circle for 40 years. That's all they did. Go around in a circle for 40 years because why? They wouldn't let go of their impurities. They wouldn't let go of their unbelief. They wouldn't let go of their character flaws. See, is it really that important for you to be right? Is it really that important for you to get even? Is it really that important for you to get back at your mother-in-law? Stop them. Think about it. You want all those impurities going back down into you? It's not worth it.

So God said, "Or you can own it." And he said, "If you own it," he said, "you know what I'll do? I'll take my ladle and skim these impurities right out of your life." See, God gave us a free will. And you have to understand, God will not violate your free will. So that means if you want your anger, you want your bitterness, your hot temper, you want to blame it on being Italian. I'm Italian, I can say it, okay? I'm 75% Italian, only 37% Italian, but anyway, don't tell her I told you that. Four years. Oh, we're, we're Italians, we're hot-headed. No, own it. There are things about our cultures that are not godly. There are things about our cultures that are godly. Okay? I grew up in Western Michigan, a bunch of, we're a bunch of Dutch. We were Dutch people, right? Now I'm Italian. I'm Italian. I'm also Dutch. But there were ways about our culture that were very healthy. But there were ways about our culture that weren't. Why? Because the principalities over those regions developed that. And you see, Jesus came. I said, "You can have life and have it more abundantly." He's given us grace so we can change. He's put His nature in us so we can change. And we can live like Him. That's why the Bible says, "He who says he abides in Him ought to walk as He walked." I'm not supposed to walk as my ancestors in Italy walked. I'm supposed to walk as Jesus walked. Now, my ancestors in Italy walked godly, that I'm supposed to walk godly. But here's the job. When we get saved, our spirit is just like Jesus. God puts His nature in us. But then one day, this body's gonna get a new. We're gonna get a new body. The body's going back to dust. And I'm gonna give me a brand new body. It's gonna be just like Jesus. I walk through walls, I can eat fish, I can fly in the air in front of people. But this soul, it's my responsibility to cooperate with God to get the soul saved. That's why James says, "Receive." He says, "This Christians, receive with meekness, with humility, the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls." He was writing that to Christians. 15 times in that book, he said, "My brethren." So your soul has to be renewed. Your soul is getting saved. It's in the process. And that's why 40 years ago, right now, I would have been totally negative. I would have been so upset. I would have been complaining. But what happened? The Word of God changed me. And now I got joy. And I'm thinking, "Why? Why do I have this joy? Why?" Believe me, I have deep sorrow for the people that are suffering from coronavirus and the people are suffering unemployment. Don't get me wrong. But I'm talking about I got joy because my mind's been renewed. See what I'm saying?

See, this is what it means when it says Caleb and Joshua followed God wholeheartedly. Hey, they got the Promised Land because they wholeheartedly followed God. They wholeheartedly allowed His Word to transform their thinking. See, your thinking determines the course of your life. Oh, yeah. The Bible says that. Romans chapter 12. Go read it. It's absolute. It says, "Be transformed." Not by a miracle, not by a service where the presence of God comes all over you. "Be transformed by the renewing of your mind." It takes the Word of God renewing our mind to our character begins to change.

So here's the two things. Reasons God said, "I brought you in the wilderness to humble you and to test you." Refine you. Think of refined. That's what Jesus said to that church in Laodicea. He said, "Hey, I counsel you, you have need of nothing. You think you've got everything, but I counsel you to buy gold refined in the fire." Why? So you can be white, so that you can be pure, so that you can receive all that I have for you. Do you understand? God wants to bless you. He wants to bless you so huge because He loves you.

Moms, I'm telling you, moms, I don't know what it is, but women have this tremendous sensitivity to the Holy Spirit, to the Word of God. And I'll be very honest with you, it's like I get so angry when people say women can't be in leadership. I'm like, "I've met more godly, wise women than I have men." And why are you taking a few scriptures out of the New Testament and putting people and putting women into a box? Woman, probably 60% of the churches, women. There is a sensitivity about moms. And I'm telling you, I'm so grateful for my mother. I'm so grateful that she was patient with me. You know, God's been patient with me. My mom was patient with me. My mom could have said, "Ha, he's a hopeless cause." And to be honest with you, I wonder why she didn't. My grandfather, my grandfather sure thought he actually said, "Oh, if you were my boy, I was a mess. I was a mess." But my mom was patient.

I'm gonna say something, guys. Watch your wives. Watch how they spend time with Jesus. Watch how tender they are to what He says. And you know what? You'd be really smart to listen to your wife. You know, when I do the stupidest things, when I don't listen to the some wisdom of my wife. Yeah, there's times I know that Lisa might be speaking out of fear, but that's maybe one in a hundred. But I'm gonna tell you, I'm married to a godly woman. And does that mean she's perfect? No. Is any of us perfect yet? No. We're on a process of being transformed, okay? We all are. But I'm telling you something, I see a sensitivity in women that I love, I admire. And you know what? God made it that way. You know, it's not just males are created in the image of God. It's male and female. Don't read it in Genesis 1. It takes a man and a woman together to represent the image of God. I mean, how could God create? Specifically says God created females in His image. He created the male and female in His image. How can a female be created in the image of God if she doesn't have attributes that God has? So, in other words, there has to be attributes of God in a female that didn't exist, doesn't exist in a male, because He put His attributes in both male and female. Hey, think about that one for a few minutes.

You know, I'll never forget this. You know, one day I was like, so mad. I was praying an hour and a half every morning, right? And Lisa wasn't doing that. Lisa would get up, pray 10 minutes in the shower, and she, you know, this and that. Later on, I learned she prayed all the time. But anyway, I'm making these decisions because I got to be the man of the house, right? And I'm making these decisions. And, and, and have more than half my decisions were stupid. And we suffered as a couple. We suffered. And we're young married. I'm, I'm so insecure in my role as being head of the home, right? And I'm, half my decisions are stupid. And thank God, Lisa didn't look at me and say, "I told you so." She could have, but she didn't. And, and I'm, one day I was so frustrated. Not, I'm gonna get my pen out so I can show you this. And, and, and I said, I said, "God, I've had it. I pray an hour and a half every morning. I go outside, I pray an hour and a half every morning, and I'm making decisions. You make me the head of the house. I'm making decisions, and she's, she's got better wisdom than me." And the Lord said to me, said, "Son, draw a circle." So I drew. Okay? So, state, draw a circle. See that circle? Okay. He said, "Now put X's all over that circle." So I put X's, X's, X's, X's. And I'm doing this in my free time, right? I got the X's all over the circle. He said, "So see there's the X's." He said, "Now draw a line right down the middle of the circle." I drew a line right down the middle of the circle. He said, "That's you. That's Lisa." He said, "When you were single, you were complete in yourself." He said, "But when you became married to Lisa, you became one flesh." He said, "So now you don't make complete. You and Lisa make complete." I went, "Whoa." He said, "Do you know what the X's represent?" I said, "What do the X's represent?" He said, "Information that you need from me to make a wise decision." He said, "You're making all the decisions for the family based on half the information from me that you need." And I went, "Oh my God." He said, "If you were smart, you would draw what I'm putting into the heart of Lisa out. And don't do it in an intimidating way where she doesn't want to share with you or she tells you what you want to hear. He said, "Draw it out of her." I went, "Wow." Changed my life forever. I'm telling you, changed my life forever. Because I started listening to her, and we started making good decisions. And life is all about wisdom to make good decisions. I mean, wisdom is the most important thing you can get. Proverbs 4:7 says that. It's the most important thing you can get. Well, guess what? Half the wisdom you need, guys, God's giving it to your wife. So why don't you be smart and draw out of her? Draw out of her heart the way she sees things. Now, anyway, back to our wilderness talk. There was a little rabbit trail for some of you, okay?

So why is the wilderness so important? Well, let's talk about it. Moses on the backside of the desert. What happens? God reveals Himself to Moses in the burning bush. Joseph's in the dungeon, and God reveals Himself to Joseph on how to interpret dreams. Are you talking with me? David's in the wilderness, and God reveals Himself to David, "I'm your shepherd, I'm your fortress, I'm your rock, I'm your defense." Are you, are you tracking with me? This is getting good. This is really good, isn't it? Okay, watch this. We're not done yet. John the Baptist, he's in the deserts of Israel until the day of his manifestation. But what happens in those deserts? Luke chapter 3 tells us, "The word of the Lord came to John in the desert." So God revealed Himself to John the Baptist in the desert. Are you listening to this? John the Apostle is on the deserted island, Patmos, and that's when God reveals in him, to him, the revelation of Jesus Christ. Oh my gosh. Are you following this? I mean, Paul gets saved and goes to the wilderness of Arabia for three years, and that's where he gets the revelation of grace. The wilderness is where God reveals Himself. But if I'm watching Netflix 12 hours a day, how do I get the revelation of God? I'm gonna get the revelation of some TV series that's just gonna put a bunch of junk and doubt and unbelief in my mind, and I'm gonna act like the rest of Israel when it's time to go in and take the promise. I'm gonna say, "The giants are too big." You said, "John, you're acting a little passionate right now." Hey, look, this is the way I look at it. I like the NFL. And when I watch Jon Gruden on the bike on the sidelines, or when I'm watching some of these great NFL coaches, there's, they're not, they're not wimpy. They realize I'm in a war, and I have a 60-minute war, and I've got to win this war. And they're tough on their guys. And I think sometimes we need a little tough talk because we love each other. See, not because we're trying to shame each other. If you're trying to shame anyone, oh, that's so wrong. It's because I love you enough to speak the truth to you because I don't want to see you suffer the consequences that Israel did, dying in the desert.

God reveals Himself. Listen, listen to this. I'm gonna go, I'm gonna go to Isaiah. Isaiah chapter 40. The Prophet says, "Comfort, comfort my people." How do I comfort? Okay, listen. "It is the voice of someone shouting, oh, not talking nice and sweet. No, they're acting like Jon Gruden on the sideline trying to get his team to win. Shouting, 'Clear the way through the wilderness, oh boy, for the Lord.'" So where is the way of the Lord prepared? In the desert. "Clear the way for the Lord in the wilderness." What is that way called? It's called the highway of God. It's called the higher way of God. It's called the way of God that brings blessing and benefit to you. Oh my gosh. "Make a straight highway through the wasteland." See, where's the high, straight highway made? In the wasteland, in the wilderness. "For our God, fill the valleys and level the mountains and hills, straighten the curves and smooth out the rough places." Then listen to this. This is why I got so much joy. "The glory of the Lord will be revealed." We're in the desert. That's why He said, "Your deserts will become a fruitful field because that's where God reveals Himself to us in a fresh move of His Spirit."

Listen, I really hope you do get a hold of the book *God, Where Are You?* Because basically, I've uncovered about one chapter of this. One chapter. And there is so much more. I didn't even talk about the new wine, the new wineskins. I didn't talk about, you know, how do we keep from getting bitter? I didn't talk about the fact that there's gonna be three groups of people that are going to emerge in this time we're living in right now. Oh, yeah. There's three groups of people. But it takes so long to describe it. It's in the book of Malachi. But anyway, there's so much more in here. How do you draw in the times of the desert? How you draw from the wells? So anyway, I hope you get a hold of the book *God, Where Are You?* Like I said, I got about a chapter out. I'm not doing this. I'm not saying this because I want an offering, because I want anything else. I'm saying it because I really believe this will give you the understanding so you'll be like the sons of Issachar, that you'll know the season you're in, so that you know the right behavior. And it's such my hope that you behave in a way in which you receive your destiny.

I love you guys so very much, and I'm so proud of you. It has been such an honor to speak to you. And can I say, I believe your greatest days are in front of you. So I want to pray for you. Father, in the name of Jesus, I pray for my brother, my sister, I pray for all the moms, I pray for all the dads, the sons, and the daughters, the grandfathers, the grandmothers. And Lord, I'm asking in the name of Jesus that Your presence, that You would refresh them, that it would be an oasis time, even right now, that they would sense Your manifest presence. Let them know by the sense of Your presence that You are pleased. And if you are praying with me right now, you say, "I've been complaining, I've been murmuring, I've been, I've been lusting after other things, I've been binge-watching." Just say this to me: Say, "Father, forgive me. Forgive me for wasting this precious time that You've given me to draw close to You. I repent, and I am going to begin to seek You in this time that You've given me. In Jesus' name, Amen."

God bless you. What a powerful word from our friend John Bevere. I love what he said about our behavior, our response in the wilderness. That it's all about that. It's all about how we respond. And so, what I want to do is I want to ask you a question before we close. The question is this: How is the Holy Spirit speaking to you today about how He wants you to respond? You may not have felt the pressure of the season that we're in as much as some other people, but all of us have felt it to some degree. God is always speaking. He's always prodding, or adjusting, or leading, and guiding us into an area of change in our life, from glory to glory. You know, He finds us in the wilderness. I love that scripture in Isaiah. It says, "Clear the way through the wilderness." God wants to clear the way, raise up the valleys, lower the hills, straighten the crooked, to make way so that all of the distractions can fall to the side, and we can hear His voice saying, "I am the Lord."

Today, I believe that the response for some of us is that God is drawing us to Himself. And our starting point, our response in the wilderness, is to say, "Yes, finally." And ultimately, to surrendering our lives to Jesus Christ. I'm not talking about believing in God. I'm not talking about joining a religion. I'm talking about you recognizing your own brokenness, your own sinfulness, your need of a Savior, and the gift of salvation that Jesus has won for you, paid for for you, when He went to the cross, and He died in your place, paid for your sins, so that the wages of sin would not be your lot in life, but you could receive the free gift of salvation, eternal life, spend forever with God, heaven would be your home, and you can live in this life in relationship with Him, have your sins forgiven, a brand new heart, the slate clean. Today, for some of you, that's the response that the Holy Spirit is drawing you and saying to you, "It's time for you to ultimately surrender. Give your life to Jesus. Invite Him in to be your Lord and your Savior."

For some of us, we're already saved. We're already on our way to heaven. We have a relationship with God. But yet, there are some things in our life that we need to lay down and say, "Lord, I'm sorry for allowing that to monopolize my time and my energy. I've, I've grumbled, or I've complained, or I've not trusted You, I've not believed You." And the response that God is looking for is a response of humility. It's, it's coming back and instead of taking shame on us for how we've responded, it's to say, "Lord, right now, I stop, and I'm gonna humble myself before You and say, 'I'm sorry. Forgive me. Give me a new spirit. Give me a new heart. Give me a new attitude. Help me now know how to renew my mind to receive that engrafted word of God.'" And so your response is just one of humility to just say, "Lord, in the wilderness, here I am. Speak to me. I'm sorry for allowing other things to get in the way."

For some of us, the response that God's looking for in the wilderness is we're weighed down with the burdens. We're even weighed down with the voice of the enemy and his accusations, his lies that have told us that the wilderness is our graveyard, we're never coming out of this. Today, the response that God is looking for is for us is to reject that voice and to literally say, "Lord, I will listen to no other voice than Your voice. I'm not gonna give in to any other leadership. I want You to lead me and guide me." And today, to once again let hope arise in your heart and say, "Lord, if You'll lead me, I will follow." And let the peace of God that surpasses all understanding come and flood your heart and your mind.

Here's what I want to do today. I want to pray before we go. And if you are someone that needs to surrender your life to God, you need to invite Jesus Christ into your life to be your personal Lord and Savior right now, where you're at, I want you to join me and pray this prayer. Say this with me:

"Heavenly Father, I come in Jesus' name and I repent of my sin, living for myself and being the master of everything. It's so wrong. I was created for You. And Lord, I'm asking You right now to forgive me, to wash away all of my sins, all of the stains. Give me a new heart. I want to be born again, a brand new beginning. Jesus, come into my heart. Be my Lord and my Savior. Teach me how to follow You from this day forward. I belong to Jesus. I am saved. Heaven is my home. I have a purpose that I shall fulfill. In Jesus' name, Amen."