The Wonderful Wilderness

<p>Join Pastor Tammy as she takes us through a thought provoking sermon on the Wonderful Wilderness. </p><p><br></p><p>The Bible describes the wilderness as:</p><p>- Eremos: A place which is uninhabited (no people).  A place which is uncultivated (no crops).</p><p>As Christians', we are used to our comforts. Even as followers of Jesus, we try to avoid “the desert”. We don’t like when life gets hard, or barren, or lonely. The wilderness makes us feel isolated, so we do what we can to escape it.</p><p><br></p><p>But what if instead of running, we asked God about His timing – when is the right time to move on? Is He trying to tell us something, what is the purpose of this wilderness season? </p><p>Sometimes we try to run away from it but we should not rush this season - we should go through it with God at the center.</p><p> </p><p>1.  THE WILDERNESS IS A PLACE OF SEPARATION</p><p>When we are in a desert we feel alone, separated. However, that’s when we are separated from the world and should focus on God. </p><p><br></p><p>God separated the Israelites from Egypt, from what they previously knew, from their slavery, their captors and sent them into the wilderness, and not straight into the Promised Land, why? In the wilderness the Israelites received: a new way to live based on worship, an intimacy with God which they had never known, and a new identity. This verse from the Song of Moses tells us of God’s loving care of the Israelites in the wilderness:</p><p>  “In a desert land He found him, in a barren and howling waste. He shielded him and cared for him; he guarded him as the apple of his eye.” Deuteronomy 32:10.    </p><p><br></p><p>2. THE WILDERNESS IS A PLACE OF RESTORATION  </p><p>In the book of 1 Kings 19:5 - 8, we see Elijah disheartened, burnt out, tired, however we also see God’s miracles. We see God providing for him.</p><p><br></p><p>From this verse we also see restoration. Restoration involves a miraculous provision for the present, for the next season. However, Elijah did not register the miracle when i