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Walking with God

In the Desert

Understanding God’s purpose for hard times.

By F. Remy Diederich

Cedarbrook Church

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This document contains three parts:

• Part One: The Purpose of the Desert

• Part Two: Finding the Kindnesses of God

• Part Three: The Gift of Pain

Walking with God in the Desert

Part One: The Purpose of the Desert

By Remy Diederich

Cedarbrook Church 3.18.12

Outline:

1. The first place God took the Israelites was the desert.

2. The hardship of the desert reveals our dark side;

• Pride

• Greed

• Jealousy

• Selfishness

• Anger

3. Our first response to our dark side is denial. We...

• Blame others, God and ourselves

• Justify our behavior

• Cover it up

• Look for a quick fix

• Run away, isolate, sulk

• Medicate

• Get religion

• Complain

4. Denial distances us from God and others.

5. God’s purpose for the desert is to make us into his “priests” (representatives).

6. Our focus shouldn’t be on our hardship as much as on our response to the hardship.

• Admit and take responsibility for your character defects

• Invite God to join you and shape you into the image of Jesus

Message

A few weeks ago I flew down to Tampa to visit my mom. My mom is 93 years old and she lives

in an assisted living apartment about a mile from Busch Gardens.

Back in 2000 my dad died. My mom continued to live in her condo on a golf course up until

about six years ago when we moved her into a graduated living complex. She started out in an

apartment on her own but then she started to fall randomly and so we moved her over into the

assisted living units. She doesn’t have a kitchen any more so she eats in a dining room where

they serve the residents. Most of the residents are women in their late 80’s. Some in their 90’s

like my mom.

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I ate a couple of meals with my mom in the Dining Room and it was pretty uncomfortable. We

sat at a table with three other women. I’m not a great small talker to begin with. Then I quickly

realized that if I didn’t talk we would sit in silence for the next 30 minutes. So I asked one of the

women what was new for her that day. She couldn’t hear me very well so I had to semi-shout.

WHAT IS NEW FOR YOU TODAY? And she said, “Oh, nothing. Nothing is ever new for

me.” And the other women all nodded in agreement, like, that’s our life.

And then I realized why the silence. It wasn’t simply because they had lost their hearing. They

had lost just about everything important to them; their husband, their home, the ability to cook a

meal, the presence of their family, their eyesight, their hearing, their mobility, their figure, plus

they lose their friends all the time. There is a signboard near the elevator where there is the latest

obituary from someone that died at the facility.

They have lost most everything important to them. So in their mind there isn’t too much to talk

about.

It got me thinking a lot about loss. I teach about loss quite a bit at the treatment center but this

gave me new insights. You see, we all experience various levels of loss every day but most of us

have the luxury of preoccupying ourselves with something else. We go to work, we call a friend,

we go to a movie or spend hours on Facebook. We have the ability to distract ourselves, to

escape the reality of our loss if only for a few minutes. But when you are 90...you don’t have

those same options. Your losses stare you in the face every day.

I got to thinking...you know, Remy, fastforward 40 years and - THIS IS YOUR LIFE. How will

my life be any different? What will keep me from lamenting my losses every day like these

women?

And I thought, the only way I can survive my upcoming losses is if I make sure the source of my

life, that is my joy and satisfaction and fulfillment, rests on nothing but God alone. I need to be

able to honestly say...my joy and satisfaction in life is in God alone and anything else good that

happens is bonus. If my kids come to visit me, that’s bonus. If the food is good, that’s bonus. If I

can walk, that’s bonus.

I mean, that’s what the Christian mystics have told us all along. You can be a monk in the desert

all by yourself and be fulfilled in God alone. I’ve often thought that was extreme but I really

think they are on to something. In fact, I need some of what they’ve got to survive my coming

losses.

And then I thought...you know, this thought is what the season of Lent is all about...the forty

days leading up to Easter. Lent is a time when we reflect on what it means to be stripped of

everything in our lives but God. That’s why people fast during Lent. It’s a symbolic way of

saying...God...you satisfy me more than food. Or one of my friends is fasting time on Facebook

for Lent. It’s her practical way of saying...God satisfies me more than spending time with my

friends on social networking. Lent is a time when we realize and remember that God is our all in

all.

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So that’s what I want to talk about over the next three weeks. I’m calling this series Walking with

God in the Desert. I want to use the desert as a metaphor for our times of dealing with loss. In

fact, let me show you a short video that talks about that. (A Ray Vander Laan video shows the

ruggedness of Israel’s deserts)

When the Israelites crossed the Red Sea they immediately entered the desert. That’s not a

coincidence. That’s something we have to understand. God often leads us into the desert. God

could have led his people south to Rwanda where the land is lush and green. But he didn’t. He

led them to a desert region. After Jesus was baptized the Bible says that the Spirit led Jesus into

the desert to be tempted by the desert. There is something spiritual and symbolic about a desert.

Jesus handled his time better in the desert than the Israelites did. Jesus obeyed God and was out

of the desert in 40 days. But the Israelites disobeyed God and wandered in the desert for 40

years.

It’s so easy to mishandle our time in the desert and get stuck. I don’t want that to happen to us. I

don’t want any of us getting stuck in a desert. I want to help us to learn our lessons and move on.

So let’s see what we can learn.

Now, my guess is that some of you have suffered a great loss this past year. Some of you are in

the middle of a loss right now. Someone died. Or there was a divorce or some kind of a relational

breakdown. Or maybe your finances bottomed out or your health failed. These are the things that

rock our world. And that’s what I like about the Bible because it doesn’t dodge this aspect of our

humanity. It confronts it head on. Listen to how the Psalmist describes it...

Hear my prayer, O LORD; let my cry for help come to you. Do not hide your face from

me when I am in distress. Turn your ear to me; when I call, answer me quickly. For my

days vanish like smoke; my bones burn like glowing embers. My heart is blighted and

withered like grass; I forget to eat my food. Because of my loud groaning I am reduced

to skin and bones. I am like a desert owl, like an owl among the ruins. I lie awake; I have

become like a bird alone on a roof. All day long my enemies taunt me; those who rail

against me use my name as a curse. For I eat ashes as my food and mingle my drink with

tears because of your great wrath, for you have taken me up and thrown me aside. My

days are like the evening shadow; I wither away like grass. Psalm 102

Did you notice the desert references? A desert owl, withered grass, ruins.

The desert is an interesting place. When you are stripped of everything that’s important you see

yourself in a new way. And it’s not always pretty. You see your dark side.

I listed out some of the things we see in your notes; Pride, Greed, Jealousy, Selfishness, Anger,

to name just a few. In a word, what’s revealed is this tremendous sense of entitlement. We think

that we have the right to expect that everything should go well in our life and that everything

should break our way. When it doesn’t, we get mad.

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But rather than own our dark side we deny it. I listed out a number of things that we do to avoid

looking in the mirror. The first thing we do is blame others. We see that just a few days into the

Israelites desert journey...

They said to Moses: "Is it because there are no graves in Egypt that you took us to die in

the wilderness? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt? Isn't this what we

told you in Egypt: Leave us alone so that we may serve the Egyptians? It would have

been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness." Exodus 14:11,12

Then Moses led Israel from the Red Sea and they went into the Desert of Shur. For three

days they traveled in the desert without finding water. When they came to Marah, they

could not drink its water because it was bitter. (That is why the place is called Marah.)

So the people grumbled against Moses, saying, "What are we to drink?" Exodus 15:22-24

Did you hear the fear in their words? Fear is what drives much of our behavior in the desert. I

don’t have time to talk about each thing here. But ask yourself...which of these look familiar?

• Blame others and God

• Justify our behavior (the anger, and entitlement)

• Cover it up

• Look for a quick fix (in a relationship or finances or health, etc.)

• Run away, isolate, sulk

• Medicate (drugs and alcohol, food, sleep, exercise, etc.)

• Get religion (inauthenticate religion...hoping that going through the motions

solves everything)

• Complain

We put so much energy into behavior that is unproductive. I wonder how God looks at all this.

He probably looks at us like I look at my ten month old granddaughter. She’s in that stage of life

where there is no reasoning. Everything is either traumatic or pure joy. There are no in-betweens.

When she doesn’t get the food she wants...it’s the end of the world. When she doesn’t get the

right toy...it’s a national crisis. And when she gets upset all attention must immediately be

redirected to making her supremely happy.

She doesn’t have the ability to understand the big picture. She doesn’t have enough life

experience to realize that there is life after creamed broccoli. She won’t die. Life will be good

again. And she doesn’t understand yet that her grandfather isn’t into random acts of cruelty.

For example, I held her the other day for about three minutes. This doesn’t happen normally. She

likes to make faces at me but not touch me. That’s just a grandma thing right now. But after we

got home from a walk she let me carry her into the house and then take off her jacket without

incident. I was really pleased with myself. I thought we might even sit on the floor and play so I

handed her her favorite spoon, thinking I was going to make big points. Not so much! She had a

total meltdown. I don’t know what that spoon meant to her but she was convinced that I was

ruining her life. I will be so happy when she can reason a little bit!

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I just have to wonder if that’s how God looks at us. I wonder if he doesn’t say, “I’ll be so happy

when they grow up and I can reason with them!” It gives me new insight to the words of God in

the book of Isaiah where he says “Come, let us reason together!” (Isaiah1:18). As long as our

friends like us and our bills are paid and the sun shines we are happy but the minute anything

goes wrong it’s like, God, how can you let this happen to me? And I’m sure God says, I’ll be so

happy when they mature enough to realize that I’m not against them and that bad things

happening doesn’t mean I’m against them.

But this is what I want you to see. This list that I just gave you...this behavior often consumes

us. From the minute we get up in the morning until the time we go to bed we are blaming or

complaining or somehow fighting against our loss. But when we do that, do you know that we

are telling God that he’s not enough, that he’s inadequate to help us in our time of loss? We

become God’s accusers. We say things like, God, why me? How can you do this to me?” Don’t

you know God that I can’t live unless my life is ideal?

And God would say, That’s just what I’m trying to teach you...yes, you can. I am enough. You

can make it and I want to show you that. But you have to quit fighting the loss and embrace it.

You need to allow it to do its work in you.

You see, the purpose of the desert isn’t just to reveal to us our heart. The purpose of the desert is

to reveal God’s heart to us as well. God wants to show us that he is able to meet our needs. He’s

able to help us overcome our loss and find a new life.

Look at what happened after the Israelites complained about no water...

Then Moses cried out to the LORD, and the LORD showed him a piece of wood. He

threw it into the water, and the water became sweet. There the LORD made a decree and

a law for them, and there he tested them. He said, "If you listen carefully to the voice of

the LORD your God and do what is right in his eyes, if you pay attention to his

commands and keep all his decrees, I will not bring on you any of the diseases I brought

on the Egyptians, for I am the LORD, who heals you." Then they came to Elim, where

there were twelve springs and seventy palm trees, and they camped there near the water.

Exodus 15:25-27

God wasn’t out to destroy them. He wanted to show that he was enough. And notice here that

God didn’t just sweeten the water so they could drink it. He went way beyond that and brought

them to an oasis. I really believe that God wants to say that to some people here. He wants to

bring you through your desert and into a good place but you need to stop fighting your loss.

The story that the Bible tells over and over again is that God provided for his people in the

desert. The story isn’t that God solved all the problems. The story is that God gave them what

they needed in the moment. When they needed water he gave them water. When they needed

food he gave them manna.

Remember how the LORD your God led you all the way in the desert these forty years, ...

He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither

you nor your fathers had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but

on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD. Deuteronomy 8:2,3

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When I look back at the various deserts I’ve been in over the years the biggest lesson I’ve

learned is that God meets my need. Lisa and I have gone through some tough times financially.

We lost just about everything at one time but we got back on our feet and our now able to give

generously to many different things. Our marriage hit the wall a while back but God met us in

that. We’ve gone through numerous church deserts causing us to give up on church but we made

it through that and the irony is that I now pastor a church.

So now when I find myself in a desert I know the drill. I’ve learned to save myself a bunch of

time. I don’t waste my time blaming or complaining or justifying or medicating or whatever it is

people do when they go through a desert. (Well, I probably do complain and blame a bit but not

as much as I used to!) Those things only distance me from God and other people and I can’t

afford that. I need God and people in my life more than ever when I’m going through a desert.

What God wants us to do in a time of loss is grab a hold of him and let him do his work in us.

That’s what will get you through. The quicker you can learn that the quicker you will get through

your desert.

You see, God has a very specific purpose for us when we go through the desert. He wants to

bring us into a better place…

He led you through the vast and dreadful desert, that thirsty and waterless land, with its

venomous snakes and scorpions. He brought you water out of hard rock. He gave you

manna to eat in the desert, something your fathers had never known, to humble and to

test you so that in the end it might go well with you. Deuteronomy 8:15,16

But more than that he wants to make us his priest, his representatives on earth so we can make

use of our loss and comfort others…

…they entered the Desert of Sinai, and Israel camped there in the desert in front of the

mountain. Then Moses went up to God, and the LORD called to him from the mountain

and said, …Although the whole earth is mine, 6 you will be for me a kingdom of priests

and a holy nation.' Exodus 19:2,3,6

And so, if you find yourself in a desert today or in the near future, remember that your focus

shouldn’t be on your hardship as much as on your response to the hardship. Put your energy into

that.

Let me close by telling you two things that I’ve already alluded to. First, admit and take

responsibility for your dark side. Say to God... Lord, I am so busy complaining and blaming

others that I never listen to you. Help me to see what it is you want me to see right now. Help me

become who you want me to be. The hotter your desert the more time you need to sit in silence

before God and regain your focus. Pain gives us a window into our souls like few things do.

Don’t miss the moment to gain the insight that only pain can give.

And second, invite God to join you and shape you into the image of Jesus. It’s like surgery...you

can refuse it but then you won’t get the help you need. Be still and let God do his work in your

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heart. He wants to bring you into a better place but you have to work with him. Again, hear the

words of the kind of place that God wants to bring you beyond your desert...

Observe the commands of the LORD your God, walking in his ways and revering him.

For the LORD your God is bringing you into a good land--a land with streams and pools

of water, with springs flowing in the valleys and hills; a land with wheat and barley,

vines and fig trees, pomegranates, olive oil and honey; a land where bread will not be

scarce and you will lack nothing; a land where the rocks are iron and you can dig copper

out of the hills. When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the LORD your God for the

good land he has given you. Deuteronomy 8:6-10

Prayer:

Father, I pray for people here that went through a desert time and got stuck. And I pray for

people right now who are in a desert. Help us to respond well. Help us to invite you to walk with

us and lead us out of the desert. Change us. Shape us into the person you want us to be. I pray

that you will calm our fears and show us that we can trust you. Amen

Going Deeper:

Use the following questions for personal reflection and/or to discuss with your family, friends

and small group.

1. What are some “desert” experiences that you’ve had throughout your life?

2. Read Exodus 15:22-25. What was Israel’s first response to the desert?

3. Remy talked about a number of negative behaviors we exhibit in response to our deserts.

What were they? Which behaviors did you exhibit during your times of pain?

4. Did you find yourself getting stuck focusing on your pain? How much energy and time

did you waste focusing on your pain?

5. Were you able to see the work that God was trying to do in your life? What was it and

what good came out of your desert experience?

6. Read Matthew 4:1-11. What was Jesus’ response to his desert trial? Do you think these

two stories are just a coincidence or is there a purpose to the similarity of both Jesus and

Israel being tempted in the desert after going through the water/baptism?

7. Read Deuteronomy 8:1-10. Exodus 19:6. James 1:2-4. What is God’s purpose in the

desert?

8. What is a hardship you are going through right now? Remy mentioned a process that God

wants for us. What is the process and what do you need to do right now in the midst of

your desert?

9. Read Exodus 15:25-27. God proved his character in the desert too. What was it?

10. Pray for each other to move through the desert well and become the people God’s wants

you to become.

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Walking with God in the Desert

Part Two: Finding the Kindness of God

By Remy Diederich

Cedarbrook Church

3.25.12

Outline:

1. God is fully aware of your desert.

2. God has a plan to bring you out of your desert.

3. Our greatest fear in the desert is that we won’t make it.

Our biggest mistake is we give up.

4. God always

has a bush for us in the desert.

hears our cries.

offers a vision of hope.

5. We need eyes to see God’s kindness in the desert. Our despair blinds us.

Message:

Today is the Fifth Sunday in Lent. Lent is a time that we reflect on how God can meet our

deepest needs even when everything else is stripped away. And like I mentioned last week, that’s

why people will often fast food during Lent as a symbolic way of making that point. It’s a simple

way of saying...God, you are more important than food itself.

But sometimes we don’t need any symbols. Sometimes we go through hard times when we are

naturally stripped of the most important things to us; we lose a loved one, a job, a relationship,

maybe our marriage, our finances, our health. And that is really a moment of truth for us. It

reveals our strengths and weakness, our faith and our lack of faith.

Sometimes we call these hard times deserts. And so last week I started a three week series called

“Walking with God in the Desert”. If you are going through a hard time right now I’m glad you

are here today.

Probably the biggest desert in my life was when Lisa and I lived on a farm with two other

families. Many of you have heard me talk about that. When we moved onto the farm we had

visions of great things happening but in reality it was a time of stripping. Without going into

detail that was a time that I came face to face with my inadequacies; inadequacies of my faith,

the inadequacies of my ability to be a good husband or father or friend, my inadequacies of

knowing how to keep machinery working and animals alive...I mean, every day was like a new

revelation of something I did poorly! Desert times like that will either make you or break you. Or

maybe they break you first so God can re-make you. That’s what happened to me.

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It’s interesting how we often look at desert times as being bad but the Bible tells us that God

looks at those desert times as good. God spoke to Israel in the book of Jeremiah. He was

reflecting back on when he brought them through the desert and he said...

I remember the devotion of your youth, how as a bride you loved me and followed me

through the desert, through a land not sown. Jeremiah 2:2

God looked at that time as precious just like an older married couple might look back on their

early days of marriage before life got so busy. They may have lived in a two room apartment

over a bar on $500 a month but they were in love! In the same way, in the desert...when times are

tough...we draw close to God and God loves deserts for that reason. It’s too bad that it often

takes a desert to make it happen.

Or listen to what God says about his plans for Israel through the prophet Hosea...

I am now going to allure her; I will lead her into the desert and speak tenderly to her.

There I will give her back her vineyards, and will make the Valley of Achor (weeping) a

door of hope. There she will sing as in the days of her youth, as in the day she came up

out of Egypt. "In that day," declares the LORD, "you will call me 'my husband'; you will

no longer call me 'my master. ' "In that day I will respond," declares the LORD... I will

show my love to the one I called 'Not my loved one.' I will say to those called 'Not my

people, ' 'You are my people'; and they will say, 'You are my God.' " Hosea 2:14-23

Do you see what God is saying here? He wants us to understand that the desert can be a good

place because that’s where God becomes real. And, in a way that only makes sense in God’s

economy, he adds to our lives in the desert. But it’s not in the way we usually understand

addition. We walk into the desert just like I walked onto our farm...rich, proud, and confident in

ourselves...and we walk out of the desert humble, and poor but confident in God. (At least...that

is the goal.) Yet we gain so much in our loss.

My hope in this short series is that we see the desert through God’s eyes. I don’t want us to miss

the opportunity the desert gives us because...if we walk through a desert and miss God...then it’s

just a painful experience that can haunt us the rest of our lives.

That’s what happens to many, many people. They spend the rest of their lives complaining,

feeling sorry for themselves, playing the victim and trying to get people to feel sorry for them.

But if you encounter God in the desert it can change you for good and you will actually be

thankful for the experience. That’s what I want for us.

This morning I want to look at a specific desert story in the Bible. Turn to Genesis 21. Here’s

the backstory. God called Abraham to be the father of the faith, literally. God tells Abraham that

in his old age he will father many children and they will become the people of God on earth. The

only problem is his wife Sarah can’t bear any children.

So Sarah, says, look, let’s be practical. I’m too old. I’ll never have kids. Desperate times call for

desperate measures. You need to sleep with my servant Hagar. So Abraham did that and Hagar

has a son by the name of Ishmael.

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Then a few years later Sarah became pregnant and Ishmael was no longer necessary. So Sarah

told Abraham to send Hagar and Ishmael away. And that brings us up to chapter 21.

Sarah saw that the son whom Hagar the Egyptian had borne to Abraham was mocking,

and she said to Abraham, "Get rid of that slave woman and her son, for that slave

woman's son will never share in the inheritance with my son Isaac."

Do you hear the contempt in Sarah’s words? Hagar and Sarah were probably friends at one time.

But now Sarah refers to her as just “that slave woman”. That must have been very hurtful to

Hagar. But also to Abraham...

The matter distressed Abraham greatly ...

The word distressed means to be broken into pieces. But it also uses the word “greatly”. He’s not

just broken into pieces. He is greatly broken into pieces. He’s a wreck. He’s devastated. This

thing is eating him up. Have you ever been in a place like that?

He can’t believe how unfair Sarah is being. It was her idea to have Hagar get pregnant and now

she wants to get rid of them. It’s unjust. It’s not right. These are the kinds of situations – when

people treat us poorly - that make a desert for us.

Look what it says here...the matter distressed Abraham greatly...why?......because it concerned

his son. If you are a parent you understand this, right? Your desert might not be about you. It

might not be about your health or your finances. It might be about one of your children.

When I was in high school I got arrested for selling drugs. That put my parents through a long

desert. You know, when your kids go through hard times you go through hard times. In fact, in

some ways it’s harder on you because you want to fix it and you can’t. But I like what it says

next.

But God said to him,...

God spoke. Abraham was in distress so God spoke. He does that. God speaks to us when we are

in distress.

In other words, God is fully aware of his problem and God’s got an answer. And that’s true for

us too. God is aware of our deserts. When you are in a desert you want to listen because God is

speaking to you. He wants to comfort you and give you direction. Never forget that. God is

speaking to you...

But God said to him, "Do not be so distressed about the boy and your servant. Listen to

whatever Sarah tells you,... Genesis 21:12

Now, this is interesting because what Sarah told Abraham was wrong. It was cruel. It was

vindictive. And that’s the way our deserts feel, aren’t they? We go...this is so wrong...how can

God let this happen? How can I do what she says when she is being so hurtful? I don’t want to

listen to her. I want to argue with her and prove her wrong!

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Our deserts often result from feeling at the mercy of some person like this. It makes you feel

helpless. It makes you feel like God’s not in control. But that’s not true. God is in control. He

can make good out of evil and stupidity.

I was on staff at a small church once and I had to leave the church because the pastor was

unhealthy. He was preaching legalism and using scare tactics. I confronted him and he told me to

agree with him or leave. So I left. But it felt so wrong. I felt cheated. I felt like he should be the

person leaving the church. Not me. But I’m sure God was saying to me...don’t be distressed. It’s

going to be okay. I’ve got your back.

You see, God had a plan for Abraham and Ishmael and here it is...

...it is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned. I will make the son of the

servant into a nation also, because he is your offspring." Genesis 21:12,13

God says, look, don’t worry...I’ve already thought this through and I have a plan. It’s not like it

looks. You think Ishmael is going to die. Not only will he live but I will bless him and make him a

nation too.

Just because you don’t know the plan doesn’t mean that God doesn’t have a plan. It isn’t ours to

know. It’s just ours to obey and that’s what Abraham does...

Early the next morning Abraham took some food and a skin of water and gave them to

Hagar. He set them on her shoulders and then sent her off with the boy. She went on her

way and wandered in the Desert of Beersheba. When the water in the skin was gone, she

put the boy under one of the bushes. Then she went off and sat down about a bowshot

away, for she thought, "I cannot watch the boy die." And as she sat there, she began to

sob. Genesis 21:14-16

If this was a movie you’d be crying right now. This is a very moving moment. It’s so wrong. It’s

so unfair. Everyone watching the movie is convinced that this boy is going to die, right?

That’s the biggest fear in our deserts...that we aren’t going to make it. That life will never be

good again. That we will somehow be shipwrecked financially or emotionally or relationally and

our life will be over. And then we often make the biggest mistake; we give up.

My guess is that some of us feel like giving up today and that’s why God brought you here. He

wants to encourage you so you don’t give up.

You see, that bush that Hagar put Ishmael under was there for a reason. Hagar thought it was a

bush to die under but it was meant as a bush to bring refreshing. God always has a bush for us in

our deserts.

VIDEO: Ray Vander Laan show how desert bushes are very small and cast a very small

shadow. The point being that God rarely gives us an oasis or delivers us fully from out

desert. He typically gives us just enough shade to refresh for the rest of the journey.

Just when all hope is lost the music changes in our movie and this is what it says...

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God heard the boy crying, and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to

her, "What is the matter, Hagar? Do not be afraid; God has heard the boy crying as he

lies there. Lift the boy up and take him by the hand, for I will make him into a great

nation." Genesis 21:17,18

Underline the word “heard”. That’s the point. God hears us in the desert. He hears our cries.

"Because they love me," says the LORD, "I will rescue them; I will protect them, for they

acknowledge my name. They will call on me, and I will answer them; I will be with them

in trouble, I will deliver them and honor them. With long life I will satisfy them and show

them my salvation." Psalm 91:15-161

Pastor Kyle shared the story of how his first ministry experience was a desert to him. But he was

then led to pastor in a church in northern Minnesota where the people loved on he and his family

and they found it to be a “shade tree” in the desert for them.

God wants us to know that he is a god who hears us in the desert. He’s listening. The angel told

Hagar...

Lift the boy up and take him by the hand, for I will make him into a great nation."

Genesis 21:17,18

He’s telling her...You totally misjudged this event. Your son isn’t going to die. He is going to lead

a nation. What you thought was a bad thing God is using for good.

God always offers us a word of hope.2

Now, does that mean there wasn’t any hurt? Any loss? No, not at all. Hagar and Ishmael were

still cut off from Abraham and Sarah. That’s very painful. But it wasn’t the end of the world.

They still had God fighting for them and he still had a plan for them.

God made good out of what remained.

Then look what happened...

Then God opened her eyes and she saw a well of water. So she went and filled the skin

with water and gave the boy a drink. Genesis 21:19

Do you see what happened? She was so convinced that her son was going to die that she missed

seeing the water that was right in front of her. I think that happens a lot in the desert. We are so

1 There are many verses about God hearing our cry/prayers. I always think about what God said to Moses when

Moses encountered the burning bush. God said that he came because he SAW their suffering and HEARD their

cries. This is the God we serve. See Exodus 3:6-8. 2 A side note in regard to Ishmael is that it’s important to see that God blessed this man who was clearly not God’s

will in the first place. God blessed a “mistake”. Ishmael was not the child of promise. Isaac was but God blessed

Ishmael anyways. Sometimes we fall into the trap of thinking that God must do one or the other; bless Isaac or

Ishmael, bless evangelism or discipleship, be about grace or truth, faith or works. The list goes on and on. God is big

enough to do both. It’s not one OR the other. It’s BOTH/AND. We need to leave our poverty mentality and shift to

an abundance mentality...God is much bigger than we give him credit for being.

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caught up in what’s wrong with our lives that we miss what’s right. We give up way too soon

and miss out on what God is trying to do.

We need eyes to see the kindnesses of God. And that’s really my simple point today. I’m not

here to give you the magic bullet to get you out of the desert. That doesn’t exist. What I want for

us is to see the value of the desert from God’s perspective. And I want us to develop eyes to see

the shade trees and the wells of water that God has to refresh us along the way. Rather than

asking God to “get me out of this mess” I hope you will ask God for the grace to see his kindness

and the patience to walk through the desert rather than look for some quick fix. It’s so easy to

minimize the shade tree, even scoff at it and say, “That can’t be God”, and go looking for

something more dramatic. But that IS God...in that tree, in that kind word of a friend, in that song

that plays on the radio, in the sermon that comes at just the right time, etc. If you miss the shade

tree you miss God and you don’t want to do that.

God gives us just enough to make it down another stretch of the road. That’s what it means to be

a desert person.

Prayer: Father...thank you that you are a god of the desert. We just don’t make very good desert

people. Help us to become desert people. Help us to see the little kindnesses...the shade...the

water...the caves for protection. Remind us that we won’t die and that you have a plan for us...for

good and not evil. Help us to be patient and allow you to use this time to draw us close to you.

Amen.

Benediction:

The LORD watches over you-- the LORD is your shade at your right hand; the sun will not harm

you by day, nor the moon by night. The LORD will keep you from all harm-- he will watch over

your life; the LORD will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore. Psalm

121

Going Deeper

Use the following questions for personal reflection and/or to discuss with family, friends and

small group.

1. What stood out to you about the story of Hagar and Ishmael? Could you identify with

any aspect of the story?

2. Sarah was wrong to send Hagar and Ishmael away. But God told Abraham to comply

to her wishes. Why do you think he allowed that desert experience to take place? In

other words, what lessons were learned from this desert experience?

3. What is our greatest fear in the desert and our biggest mistake? Why is this so?

4. When we pray for deliverance we are hoping for Club Med but God gives us a bush.

Why is that?

5. Give examples of bushes that God has brought your way in hard times to refresh and

encourage you.

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6. Remy said that God always offers a vision of hope in our deserts. What can you do

practically to see and/or hear this vision for yourself?

7. Take time to read through these passages of hope out loud to one another and note

what you find most encouraging:

a. Psalm 23

b. Psalm 91

c. Psalm 121

8. Take time to thank God for the small kindnesses (bushes) that he’s brought you in

hard times.

Following are verses that might encourage you during a desert period in your life.

I lift up my eyes to the mountains-- where does my help come from? 2 My help comes from the

LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth. 3 He will not let your foot slip-- he who watches over

you will not slumber; 4 indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. 5 The

LORD watches over you-- the LORD is your shade at your right hand; 6 the sun will not harm

you by day, nor the moon by night. 7 The LORD will keep you from all harm-- he will watch

over your life; 8 the LORD will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.

Psalm 121

10 Those who know your name trust in you, for you, LORD, have never forsaken those who seek

you. Psalm 9:10

6 Now this I know: The LORD gives victory to his anointed. He answers him from his heavenly

sanctuary with the victorious power of his right hand. 7 Some trust in chariots and some in

horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God. Psalm 20:6,7

Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and your dominion endures through all generations.

The LORD is trustworthy in all he promises and faithful in all he does. 14 The LORD upholds

all who fall and lifts up all who are bowed down. 15 The eyes of all look to you, and you give

them their food at the proper time. 16 You open your hand and satisfy the desires of every living

thing. 17 The LORD is righteous in all his ways and faithful in all he does. 18 The LORD is near

to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth. 19 He fulfills the desires of those who fear

him; he hears their cry and saves them. Psalm 145

22 I was senseless and ignorant; I was a brute beast before you. 23 Yet I am always with you;

you hold me by my right hand. 24 You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will take

me into glory. 25 Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you.

26 My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

Psalm 73

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This is what the LORD says: "Cursed are those who trust in mortals, who depend on flesh for

their strength and whose hearts turn away from the LORD. 6 They will be like a bush in the

wastelands; they will not see prosperity when it comes. They will dwell in the parched places of

the desert, in a salt land where no one lives. 7 "But blessed are those who trust in the LORD,

whose confidence is in him. 8 They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its

roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no

worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit." Jeremiah 17

19 They spoke against God; they said, "Can God really spread a table in the wilderness? 20 True,

he struck the rock, and water gushed out, streams flowed abundantly, but can he also give us

bread? Can he supply meat for his people?" 21 When the LORD heard them, he was furious; his

fire broke out against Jacob, and his wrath rose against Israel, 22 for they did not believe in God

or trust in his deliverance. 23 Yet he gave a command to the skies above and opened the doors of

the heavens; 24 he rained down manna for the people to eat, he gave them the grain of heaven.

25 Human beings ate the bread of angels; he sent them all the food they could eat. 26 He let

loose the east wind from the heavens and by his power made the south wind blow. 27 He rained

meat down on them like dust, birds like sand on the seashore. 28 He made them come down

inside their camp, all around their tents. 29 They ate till they were gorged-- he had given them

what they craved...Psalm 78

Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. 2 They

say of the LORD, "He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust." 3 Surely he will

save you from the fowler's snare and from the deadly pestilence. 4 He will cover you with his

feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and

rampart. 5 You will not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day, 6 nor the

pestilence that stalks in the darkness, nor the plague that destroys at midday. 7 A thousand may

fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you. 8 You will only

observe with your eyes and see the punishment of the wicked. 9 If you say, "The LORD is my

refuge," and you make the Most High your dwelling, 10 no harm will overtake you, no disaster

will come near your tent. 11 For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all

your ways; 12 they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a

stone. 13 You will tread on the lion and the cobra; you will trample the great lion and the

serpent. 14 "Because they love me," says the LORD, "I will rescue them; I will protect them, for

they acknowledge my name. 15 They will call on me, and I will answer them; I will be with

them in trouble, I will deliver them and honor them. 16 With long life I will satisfy them and

show them my salvation." Psalm 91

6 I call on you, my God, for you will answer me; turn your ear to me and hear my prayer. 7

Show me the wonders of your great love, you who save by your right hand those who take refuge

in you from their foes. 8 Keep me as the apple of your eye; hide me in the shadow of your wings

9 from the wicked who are out to destroy me, from my mortal enemies who surround me. Psalm

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Your love, LORD, reaches to the heavens, your faithfulness to the skies. 6 Your righteousness is

like the highest mountains, your justice like the great deep. You, LORD, preserve both people

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and animals. 7 How priceless is your unfailing love, O God! People take refuge in the shadow of

your wings. Psalm 36

1 Have mercy on me, my God, have mercy on me, for in you I take refuge. I will take refuge in

the shadow of your wings until the disaster has passed. 2 I cry out to God Most High, to God,

who vindicates me. 3 He sends from heaven and saves me, rebuking those who hotly pursue me--

God sends forth his love and his faithfulness. 4 I am in the midst of lions; I am forced to dwell

among man-eating beasts, whose teeth are spears and arrows, whose tongues are sharp swords. 5

Be exalted, O God, above the heavens; let your glory be over all the earth. 6 They spread a net

for my feet-- I was bowed down in distress. They dug a pit in my path-- but they have fallen into

it themselves. 7 My heart, O God, is steadfast, my heart is steadfast; I will sing and make music.

8 Awake, my soul! Awake, harp and lyre! I will awaken the dawn. 9 I will praise you, Lord,

among the nations; I will sing of you among the peoples. 10 For great is your love, reaching to

the heavens; your faithfulness reaches to the skies. 11 Be exalted, O God, above the heavens; let

your glory be over all the earth. Psalm 57

You, God, are my God, earnestly I seek you; I thirst for you, my whole being longs for you, in a

dry and parched land where there is no water. 2 I have seen you in the sanctuary and beheld your

power and your glory. 3 Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you. 4 I will

praise you as long as I live, and in your name I will lift up my hands. 5 I will be fully satisfied as

with the richest of foods; with singing lips my mouth will praise you. 6 On my bed I remember

you; I think of you through the watches of the night. 7 Because you are my help, I sing in the

shadow of your wings. 8 I cling to you; your right hand upholds me. 9 Those who seek my life

will be destroyed; they will go down to the depths of the earth. 10 They will be given over to the

sword and become food for jackals. 11 But the king will rejoice in God; all who swear by God

will glory in him, while the mouths of liars will be silenced. Psalm 63

16 Answer me, LORD, out of the goodness of your love; in your great mercy turn to me. Psalm

69

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Walking With God in the Desert

Part Three: The Gift of Pain

By Remy Diederich

Cedarbrook Church

4.1.12

Outline:

Desert Eyes enable you to...

1. Embrace the desert as a chance to see your dark side and deal with it.

2. Look for the kindnesses of God to help you make it a little bit down the road.

3. Look for the gifts of pain that you can share with others.

a. Humility

b. Empathy

c. Compassion

d. Intimacy with God

Message

Today is the sixth Sunday in Lent – Psalm Sunday - and the beginning of Holy Week. Palm

Sunday is the day that Jesus entered into Jerusalem to cheers only to be nailed to a cross a few

days later. When I came to faith in college I joined an independent church that never talked about

the Christian calendar. They never talked about Advent or Lent. They just stopped briefly to

recognize Christmas and Easter. But the older I get the more I see the value in taking time to

reflect on the coming of Jesus (Advent) and the suffering of Jesus (Lent).

Lent is the forty days leading up to Easter where we reflect on the suffering of Jesus as well as

our own suffering. When we look at Jesus’ suffering we understand that there was nothing

accidental about it. It wasn’t a mistake. God didn’t lose control of the story for a few days there

and struggle to get it back on track at the last minute. Jesus’ suffering was planned from the

beginning of time. God used Jesus’ suffering for good and God wants us to understand that he

can use our suffering for good too.

I want to continue to look at the idea of suffering and loss today. This is the final week of my

series that’s called Walking with God in the Desert. Starting next week, on Easter, I’ll begin a

series called Restoring Broken Relationships.

In thinking about the desert, there are a number of myths that we have about the desert. First we

assume that God is not with us…that we fell of his radar and we are on our own. It’s like will

walk with us up to the entrance to the desert but then he stops and says, “Okay, now you are on

your own. Good luck. Hope you do well.”

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Second we assume that deserts are only a time of loss, never a time of gain. And third, we

assume that deserts are setbacks, wasted time and we have to “play catch-up” the second we exit

the desert.

Desert Eyes

Since we have such a negative view of the desert, when hard times come we tend to hunker

down and wait it out – hoping we survive in one piece and usually with a lot of complaining and

blaming. But what I’ve been trying to show us these past weeks is that deserts can be rich times.

My prayer for us is that God will give us eyes to see the desert from his perspective. We need

“desert eyes”, that is, special vision to see in hard times. Like night vision goggles enable you to

see in the dark, desert eyes help you see what is often missed in times of pain and suffering.

Eyes to See Our Dark Side

The first thing we need to see is that the desert reveals our dark side so we can deal with it. We

joke about praying for patience and then complaining about the obstacles that come our way. But

that’s really true. We don’t build character in easy times. We build character in hard times. God

uses hard times to reveal the junk in our hearts and then offers to do spiritual surgery on us.

Sometimes God gives to us by taking away. It’s like cancer surgery. The surgeon takes

something out of you but that gives you new life. God refers to this kind of transaction in the

book of Hosea. Listen to what God tells Israel will happen as a result of a desert experience.

Therefore I am now going to allure her; I will lead her into the wilderness and speak

tenderly to her. There I will give her back her vineyards, and will make the Valley of

Achor a door of hope. There she will respond as in the days of her youth, as in the day

she came up out of Egypt. "In that day," declares the LORD, "you will call me 'my

husband'; you will no longer call me 'my master.' I will remove the names of the Baals

from her lips; no longer will their names be invoked. Hosea 2:14-17

God says he’s going to use the desert to remove something from them – their desire to worship

other gods. In the desert they will see that those gods won’t meet their needs like He will. But

when he does that he will give them something back. He will give them vineyards. That doesn’t

mean they will plant vineyeards in the desert. It means that something will transpire in the desert

so that when they return to their land God will prosper them again. James says it like this...

Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds,

because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance

finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. James 1:2-

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James tells us that trials produce something in us. It gives us something...so much that when all

is said and done we will not be lacking in anything.

Eyes to See the Kindness of God

The second thing we need to see in the desert is the kindness of God. We looked at this last week

where God gave Hagar both shade and water. God didn’t solve all of her problems. He didn’t

bring her to paradise or even an oasis. He gave her just enough shade and just enough water to

make it another mile down the road. One more day.

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Last week I quoted Psalm 91 where it says this…

He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. I

will say of the LORD, "He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust." Surely

he will save you from the fowler's snare and from the deadly pestilence. He will cover

you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; Psalm 91:1-4

God brings us small kindnesses through people most often. When Lisa and I were going through

our hard time on the farm God showed us a number of little kindnesses. One was a job working

at Our Savior’s Lutheran Church as their Director of Small Groups. That was a kindness in three

ways.

One, it gave us the money we needed to survive. We were hemorrhaging financially. That was

the only job I could get. Two, the staff at the time became my friends...pastor John Mickelson

and Mike Peterson. I was so alone and isolated back then. They brought me a lot of

encouragement. And third, it’s what got me back into ministry after being out of it for many

years.

It would have been easy to dismiss that experience because working at Our Savior’s didn’t solve

all of our problems. It barely made a dent in them. But it was just enough shade and just enough

water to help us make it through our desert.

Eyes to See the Gifts of Pain

The final thing we need to see in the desert is the gifts of pain that God wants to give us to share

with others. The easy teaching about the desert is that God wants to comfort you. That’s

absolutely true. But if I just took these three weeks to tell stories of comfort then I would really

be doing you a disservice because God’s comfort is only half the story.

God comforts us for two main reasons. One, he loves us. He wants to help us. The second reason

is so we can turn around and comfort others. Your desert experience is a training ground to learn

how to help someone else in the desert. The apostle Paul understood this. He wrote this to a

church in Greece...

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and

the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those

in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.

Then Paul applies this directly to his situation...

If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for

your comfort... 1 Corinthians 1:3-6

That’s like a friend of yours feeling sorry for your situation and you say...oh. Yes...I suppose it’s

bad news for me but it’s good news for you. And they ask, What do you mean? And you

say...because of my distress I’ll be able to comfort you better when you go through hard times.

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That’s what I mean by the gifts of pain. Paul used his desert experience to help others. When you

go through hard times you learn things like humility and empathy and compassion. You learn

what it means to be intimate with God. You can’t go to college to get these things, right?

In fact, I recently had a woman write me from south England. She said that she was in seminary

trying to find God and it wasn’t working. She went online and did a search for “how to find

faith” and one of my old sermon series came up. She read it and realized she was looking in the

wrong place for God. She couldn’t find God in a class. She found God by inviting his Spirit to

come into her life. So she quit seminary and she just wanted to thank me. I love the internet! To

be able to impact someone that way is so fun. But my point is that she didn’t find intimacy with

God in a classroom. You can’t buy that experience. She had to travel the desert of feeling alone

and without God before she got desperate enough to find him.

These gifts only come one way...through pain. But once you have them then you have something

to share that you never would have had to share. God wants to work something deep into you so

that he can pull it out of you.

For example...I’m not advocating abuse but if you’ve been abused then you know something that

others don’t know. You know a side to life that others haven’t seen or experienced. And you

have a choice how you view it. You can focus on what has been stolen from you and go through

life feeling crippled...living the life of a victim. Or you can see that you’ve been given insight

into a side of life that few people have and use it for good. Yes, something has been taken from

you but something has also been given.

Now, consider this. If I’ve been abused and I’m looking to talk to someone and I have the choice

of talking to you or talking to someone who hasn’t been abused...who do I want to talk to? I

want to talk to you. That’s a no-brainer. Why? Because you have something the other person

doesn’t have. I don’t look at you as deficient or handicapped. I look at you as rich in experience

and wisdom - a great resource to my pain. What you have is priceless. And that is both ironic and

possibly offensive. It’s ironic because who would ever think that the result of abuse could be

priceless? But it could also be offensive because the victim doesn’t want to assess any value to

something that cost them so much. In fact, they might say. I don’t want to be a great resource. I

never asked for this. I don’t care if you think it’s priceless. I don’t want to have anything to do

with it.

True. I understand those feelings. They are valid. But you can’t unscramble the eggs. You can’t

change your situation. So you can either let the abuse haunt you and continue to steal from you

for life or you overcome it and let God turn what was meant for evil into something good.

You see, you earned that wisdom. You paid a great price/tuition for that wisdom, so why would

you want to waste it? That’s like going to medical school and working in a factory. But that’s

exactly what happens with so many people. They go through hard times and they waste the

experience. They hunker down, pull the sheets up over their head, hold their breath and ride it

out...praying to God that they’ll survive.

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Then when it’s over they want to bury it...act like it never happened. They put as much distance

between themselves and their pain as they can. Or they play the victim and spend their life

complaining and seeking sympathy. But they’ve been given a gift...the gift of pain. They need to

share it to help others.

I wish everyone could see what I see here. What I see is that there are many hurting people here.

In fact, I got an email the other day from a friend. They got permission to tell me about someone

who is going through a hard time right now. When I read what happened to them I was shocked.

I shook my head and out loud I said, SAY WHAT? You’ve GOT to be kidding. I mean this person

was just blindsided with something terrible.

But that happens all the time. People are blindsided by health issues. They are blindsided by

betrayal. They are blindsided by the death of a loved one. This one instance was not unique.

We walk in here every week and think that everyone is doing just fine. No they’re not. Probably

a half of us on any given Sunday are going through some kind of a desert. We need to remember

that. We should just assume that about each other. We should assume that everyone here is

struggling through something hard in their life. And my point is...God may want you to be shade

or water to that person.

That’s what God said Israel was supposed to be.

You transplanted a vine from Egypt; you drove out the nations and planted it. You

cleared the ground for it, and it took root and filled the land. The mountains were

covered with its shade, the mighty cedars with its branches. Its branches reached as far

as the Sea,... Psalm 80:8-11

Do you see what God is saying here? He pictures Israel as a giant vine that offers shade to the

world. Their mission was to offer shade to people who were hurting.

Last week pastor Kyle shared his story about how the church up in International Falls was shade

to he and his family for five years. I was talking to a mom this week and she said her Mom’s

group here at church has been shade for her... just a safe place to know that she can share and not

be judged. And we have a number of foster parents here. One of them shared with me how they

took someone into their home and how they are giving their child a stable home life that they’ve

never had. These are all examples of how we can be shade to each other.

The book of Isaiah says it this way...

Each person will be like a shelter from the wind and a refuge from the storm, like streams

of water in the desert and the shadow of a great rock in a thirsty land. Isaiah 32:2

Our calling isn’t to hide from adversity. Our calling is to face it and overcome it with God’s

help…and then turn around and help other people overcome the same adversity.

Susan Minter Testimony. Susan shares how three years ago she woke up to see her face

paralyzed. She soon learned that she had Ramsey-Hunt syndrome. She tells how this effected

her, how she was comforted through this time and how she has been able to turn around and

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comfort others. Susan gained “desert eyes” and used her gift of pain to help others. Download

the audio version to hear Susan’s story

Prayer; Father, please forgive us for running from the desert. Give us eyes to see our darkside.

Eyes to see your kindness. And eyes to see the gifts of pain that we can share with others. Amen.

Going Deeper

Use the following questions for personal reflection and/or to discuss with family, friends and

small group.

1. Has this series changed your perspective on desert experiences? If so, in what way?

2. Remy summarized the series by talking about developing desert eyes. What three

things did he mention?

3. Read James 1:2-12. Why does James say we should be joyful in regard to our trials?

Do you agree?

4. The following verses don’t necessarily sound like they are related. Follow this section

through verse by verse. Can you see a thread of insight that James is sharing in regard

to the value of trials. Note especially verses 5,9 and 12.

5. Read Psalm 80:8-11 and Isaiah 32:1,2. Note what it describes.

a. How have people been shade, shelter or water to you?

b. How have you been shade, shelter or water to others?

c. How can the church community act as shade, etc. for people?

6. What is the “gift of pain”? Are there any Bible characters that you can think of that

were given the gift of pain and then shared it with others. (consider 2 Corinthians

12:7-10).

7. What are some of the gifts of pain Remy referred to? Can you think of others?

8. What is your typical response to hardship? Do you complain about it or do you invite

God into your pain to learn from it?

9. Pray for those who are in desert situations now and for people who haven’t fully

recovered from past desert experiences. Pray that they will develop desert eyes and be

able to move on with their lives.

Bonus material that didn’t make it into the sermon.

Isn’t this what Jesus said would be true of us. Listen to his words...

Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within

them." By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive.

John 7:38-39

Jesus didn’t say, whoever believes in me will be satisfied. No. He said whoever believes in

me...rivers of water will flow FROM them.

I think too many people come to God for refreshing only. They run dry and so they go to prayer

or they go to church to get some more God juice to make it another day. But Jesus gave us his

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Spirit to solve that problem. His Spirit lives inside of his people so we never have to run dry. But

more than that the Spirit is inside of us so WE can refresh those around us.

We’ve got to breakout of our survival mentality. The mentality that says...I’m just trying to make

it through life by the skin of my teeth and thank God he’s there to help me. Well, he’s got way

more for us than just enough juice to survive. He’s got enough juice to light up not only you but

the people he wants to touch through you.

So yes, I want you to have eyes to see the kindness of God but I also want you to have eyes to

see the gifts that God has given you through your pain to help others.