Pastor Pat McFall
September 28, 2014 - W1439

Today, I will be continuing in a series called Refresh, and talking about the life of John the Baptist. This is because his life taps us into the truth about God. There is something about the wilderness or desperate places that allows us to experience the freshness of God.

Thesis: It’s in the desperate places of life where we discover the deepest truths and experience the most powerful breakthroughs.

Every summer, my friends and family go backpacking into the mountains of Yosemite. It is a really fun trip where you have to pack all of your food and living essentials with you. Well, two days into my trip, a can of sardines exploded in my backpack due to the high altitude at which we were hiking. This sent sardines and sardine juice flying all over my clothes and into my sleeping bag. I became like a hot fish for bears who are attracted to the smell of fish.

On the last day of my trip, I met Mr. Yogi Bear. In the wee hours of the night, my companions and I were awakened by a bear who was ripping apart my backpack looking for fish. So I said, “Okay guys, let’s charge him!” I ran towards him yelling and making all types of noises. Luckily, the bear got spooked because everyone else stayed behind laughing at me.

In the wilderness, in the desperate places of life, refreshment can be found. This is where we discover the deepest truths about ourselves, and where we are able to experience the most powerful breakthroughs.

John the Baptist spent most of his life in the wilderness, eating honey and locusts, and wearing camel skin to protect himself from the elements. The chapter of Luke is where we find John the Baptist, but in reality, this is really the story about Jesus. One day when Zechariah, John the Baptists’ father, was serving in the temple of God, an angel told him to rejoice because he would have a son who would reconcile Gods’ people with God. “And the child grew and became strong in spirit; and he lived in the wilderness until he appeared publicly to Israel.” (Luke 1:80 NIV)

From the beginning of his life, John the Baptist grew and became strong in spirit, before disappearing in the desert for 30 years. During that time, he had to find his own water, food and clothing, and navigate through the desperate places in his life. He had to listen to the voice of God, because his survival depended upon God, and because he needed to gain clarity to his calling.

1. The desert is where my survival depends on God alone. Being in a desperate place stimulates a hunger and a desperation for God. This allows us the opportunity to be reconciled (made right with God), which in turn allows us to be reconciled and made right with each other.

It is important to correctly navigate our lives through these desperate places, or we may make desperate decisions, and find ourselves worse off than when we started.

I have a brother, two years older than I who is extremely competitive and stubborn. When I was 13 years old, I went on my first backpacking trip to Yosemite accompanied by my church group and brother. Well, my brother decided that he wanted to beat everyone to the bottom of the hill. Therefore, he started running full blast with a heavy 20 pound back pack down the hill. Halfway through that trek, he ran out of water and got dehydrated; however, he did not want to stop. So he kept running until heatstroke set in, causing him to become delirious. He then took off his backpack and started stumbling around towards the edge of a cliff. His backpack then falls down the hill and hits him in the back before tumbling down the cliff. Luckily, he grabbed a tree next him and sat down before someone arrived to help him the rest of the way down the mountainside.

If we are not careful, we will navigate poorly in desperate places.
For example, time is ticking and your biological clock is running out, so you jump into a wrong relationship. This is a desperate decision, made out of a desperate circumstance. However, when we depend on God, we learn to discern His voice, and are able to navigate through those desperate situations well. This allows us to find refreshment. Our character must be deepened and rooted deeply in God, so that when abundance comes, when our platform for promotion comes, we will have the character to steward that opportunity.

Application: Learn to hear and discern the voice of God.

There is life, love and power in the Word of God. This is why devotions and prayer are so important. We need to quiet ourselves to hear God speaking to us – especially in the desperate places of our lives.

2. The desert place is where my appetite for lesser pleasures is starved.
It is a place where I learn what is important and what is not important. It is a place where you learn that life is not about me, and where you realize that power, reputation, position and money fall incredibly short of what is important in life. It is a place where you do not have the resources that you once had.

In His Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.” (Matt. 5:6)

John the Baptist was a forerunner for Jesus. In the desperate place of living in the wilderness, John the Baptist learned that his purpose in life was to give glory to God. He gave Jesus the credit as the Messiah when he said, “There he is – the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.” He also said, “He must increase, and I must decrease.” John’s disciples even left him for Jesus.

When I was living in Tacoma, I was sort of living in a desperate place, because I felt far from where I wanted to be in life. One day, my wife arrived home from her substitute teaching job and told me that God put something on her heart. She said that God wanted her to do an outreach for the inner city high school students at the high school where she was teaching. Well, I was not really enthusiastic about her outreach, and just said “that’s nice.” After many emails, the outreach was successful, allowing 35 students to be saved using campus created activities. How sad it was that I was unable to share in her joy. That is when God spoke to me and said, “Pat, I will never show you what I promised you unless you learn to do this together and closely with your wife.” In that moment the blinders covering my eyes were removed, and I realized that it was not about me. Then I was able to appreciate my wife and my children. This is why Colossians says to set our minds above where Christ is seated. Learn the value and miracle of contentment. Focus on the blessings of God.

Application: Train to hunger and thirst after God.
Jesus said some people worry about what they are going to wear or eat, but seek first the Kingdom of God, His righteousness, and all of these things will be added to you. They may not be things that you want, but they are things that you need. This is why the Lords’ prayer is so important.

Thirty years in the desert prepared John the Baptist for his platform of ushering in Jesus. It was in the desert of prison that John confronted doubts with what he was dealing. Sometimes when I feel God is not coming through for me, I do not go directly to God. I may go to other people asking for their advice about what God is or is not doing. Instead, I should go directly to Jesus, and ask Him myself.

3. The desert is where I find my voice.
The desert is where we come face to face with who we really are and who God really is.
In the desperate place of your marriage where communication has ceased, we have to listen to God again. Maybe God is showing us some things so that He can free us from them. This will allow us to know Him at a deeper level, and experience His love.

In an oasis, you think there is no water, but there is water, it is just hard to find. In the desert, there are sand storms that can move several tons of sand. It is a storm that produces the opportunity for life. A storm can erode an area of land so that water is able to emerge. A storm produces the opportunity for life, and for refreshment.

Some of you may be going through difficult circumstances and it is looking desperate. But I want to encourage you with the words of Jesus who said, “Come to Me if you are thirsty or hungry and I will give you rest, and you will never go thirsty or hungry.”

Jesus came as an oasis for the desert of the human soul. He gave Man refreshment, because Man was cracked and empty, and because there was no hope. Jesus died on the cross as a means of offering refreshment to us. There is refreshment in desert places. Look for this refreshment and learn to trust Him. Remember that it is not about ourselves, but about our realization of our need for God. This is when we will find eternal refreshment.

Application: Rest in the identity you have in Christ. Then you will find life in the middle of that desert season, and you will be celebrating at the end of it. Amen….

Questions:
• What, how, and why did John the Baptist build his platform?
• How can refreshment be found in the desert or in desperate places of your life?
• How and why do we need to discern the voice of God?