In the Wilderness

There are seasons in the life of a Christian, and they are subject to change. There are sunny seasons, pleasant seasons, happy seasons, then the winds of life change and the scenery alters and we enter a storm-filled season, a sad season, a hard season. We go from the very plateau of a pleasant mountaintop to the midst of a seemingly endless valley.

We look around us and all we see is a wilderness. In the Wilderness is the title of my message this evening, friends, for there may be some of my hearers who are in a wilderness right now. Turn in your Bibles to the book of Exodus and chapter 17, where we find the thirsty people of God who chide with Moses and complain unto him because they don't like their present situation.

We will pick up our text in verse 1 and following. Here now is the word of God, and may the Spirit of the Lord attend the reading of his holy word. And all the congregation of the children of Israel journeyed from the wilderness of sin after their journeys according to the commandment of the Lord, and pitched in rephidim, and there was no water for the people to drink.

I will pause here, friends. We see the weary people of God as they begin their wilderness wanderings, as God proves them in the wilderness, and they come to a place where there is no water. It is a dry place.

Perhaps you, friend, are in a dry place at this instant. You want more of God in your life. You want a deeper experience of God in your life.

But at present, he seems a million miles away. It's a dry place. You thirst and are not satisfied.

The people of God here in our story do a foolish thing in their dry place. They begin to complain. Wherefore the people did chide with Moses, and said, Give us water, that we may drink.

And Moses said unto them, Why chide ye with me? wherefore do ye tempt the Lord? This is where, friends, we see the instance of the people of God as they provoke God by their unbelief and complaining against their situation, which, in essence, is complaining against the providence of God, which is sin. It is tempting to complain about our wilderness situation, to bemoan ourselves and cry against the providence of Almighty God, who has placed us in this dry place. But it is here where patience has her perfect work as God further develops our character and strengthens our faith as we pass through this dry place.

Moses takes his case to God in verse four. And Moses cried unto the Lord, saying, What shall I do unto this people? They be almost ready to stone me. We see Moses overwhelmed by the multiplied masses who press down on him by their constant complaining.

He turns to God in prayer. God tells Moses, Go up before the people and take with thee of the elders of Israel, and thy rod wherewith thou smotest the river, taking thy hand, and go. Behold, I will stand before thee there upon the rock in Horeb, and thou shalt smite the rock, and there shall come water out of it, that the people may drink.

I will stop there, friends. The rock signifies a hard place. Are you presently in a hard place in your life? Is your grief too much to bear? Is your sickness too heavy a burden? Is your financial trouble too overwhelming? Has a loved one hurt you and wounded your heart? Is this hard place you are in a place of helplessness and possibly even hopelessness? Notice how God answers Moses by telling him that God himself will stand before thee.

The hard place is too much for man. It is way beyond man's capability and ability. Only God can do what is necessary here to bring relief to his people.

And it is at this rock, this hard place, that we find the mercy of God. His mercy flows out from this hard place, this rock. I was reading earlier today in the book of Isaiah, which has been such a comfort to me since the death of my wife.

God's word has nourished me through my wilderness, my own dry place, my hard place, my hard spot. And I noticed something today which brought a great amount of peace to me in my difficult situation. In Isaiah 35.6 it reads, Then shall the lame man leap as a heart and the tongue of the dumb sing, for in the wilderness shall waters break out.

And I realize, friends, it is in the wilderness where the waters break out. They don't break out in the seasons of plenty and peace, but in the place of need and desperation, in the thirsty place, in the dry place, in the hard place, this is where God meets us and we find mercy. And he fills us with his flooding presence as his living waters break out and overflow our banks with hope.

There is hope here, there is hope there in the wilderness, even streams in the desert. The text states, If you, dear friend, are in a trying and hard situation that is pressing you down like the multitude as they press down on the shoulders of Moses, cry out to God as Moses did and take up your rod of faith and strike the hard place in your life with the promises of God. There is comfort here in the word of God and there is strength to be found in the spirit of God.

Stand on his word and lean on his strong arm and he will overflow your banks for it is in the wilderness that waters shall break out. Let us pray.