I. You recognize the wilderness…

Ba midbar (in the sense of driving) 1. wilderness 2. uninhabited land 3. large tracts of wilderness 4. wilderness figuratively 5. mouth

• Not much social contact
• Lonely days and lonelier nights
• G-d seems distant and doesn’t talk much
• You wonder if this is all there is, if you’ve missed G-d somehow
• You can’t see where you’re going
• All you have is this "manna"
• It feels like your prayers bounce off the ceiling
• You don’t understand what’s happening
• You wonder if you’re being punished for something..

"The churning inside me never stops; days of suffering confront me. I have become a brother of jackals, a companion of owls…. What strength do I have, that I should still hope? What prospects, that I should be patient? Do I have the strength of stone? Is my flesh bronze? Do I have any power to help myself, now that success has been driven from me? Yet if I speak, my pain is not relieved; and if I refrain, it does not go away…. If only I knew where to find Him; in only I could go to His dwelling…. I would state my case before Him…" Job 5:11-13, 16:6,23:3

• You wonder how long it will take before you are finally across ba midbar…

There are things G-d wants to take out and put into your life in the desert. All of His children go there in some way or some time before coming to their promised land. In the desert, if we are willing and obedient, G-d strips us of the "Egypt" that we’ve carried within us.

Worth… How much G-d loves us… in the secret place, even when He is silent, we come to realize that He is there and listening…

To value leadership… How much value there is in counsel, covering, and confirmation

Trust… How to trust G-d instead of striving and "reasoning" and coming up with our own plans and methods.. to be at rest because He is faithful..

Timing.. that G-d can’t be hurried

Stability.. not to live in our emotions or under the circumstances but to become steady and at peace

G-dly sorrow and repentance… time to see what G-d is revealing about us and to turn from self-pity to abhorrence of sin… seeing that position, possession, places, and people are gifts, not Life itself…to turn to the Creator instead of the creature for fulfillment.. seeing the soul’s idols and tearing them down to build the altar of the L-rd

G-d’s promises… what G-d promises to a repentant heart… what the good news of the Kingdom really is for us…getting what we "know" in our head down into a living reality in our heart and life

Vision… to see beyond what the world says about us to what G-d says… to be positive because of who G-d is.. going beyond the "what about me?’s.."

Warfare… how to stand…how to use the word… how to choose what pleases Him

Purpose… to set your heart on Him and His plans that are eternal, which won’t wear out.. Not to live for ourselves any more, but for Him.

Compassion… learning to listen before speaking.. caring for someone else along the road.. to bear G-d’s heart for others

Perseverance… continuing to do what’s right when no one but G-d is watching… like weight training repetitions, over and over and over…

Fearing G-d and no longer man… putting priorities in the right places…caring more about honoring G-d and receiving His approval than anyone else’s.. resulting in freedom from control, manipulation, intimidation, praise, and rejection

Dependence and obedience… We learn to obey G-d right away in all that He says…If He doesn’t take us there, we don’t want to go… if He doesn’t provide it, we don’t want it… if we need it, He Himself will give it to us in His own way at the best time..

Contentment… because we have received the deepest longing of our hearts…relationship with Him, intimacy with Him, trusting dependence on Him… completeness in Him… focus on bringing pleasure to G-d, not self

4. What is G-d’s promise to you in your desert?

"The desert and the parched land will be glad; the wilderness will rejoice and blossom. Like the crocus, it will burst into bloom; it will rejoice greatly and shout for joy. The glory of Lebanon will be given to it, the splendor of Carmel and Sharon; they will see the glory of the L-rd, the splendor of our G-d. Strengthen the feeble hands, steady the knees that give way; say to those with fearful hearts, "Be strong, do not fear; your G-d will come….

Water will gush forth in the wilderness and streams in the desert. The burning sand will become a pool, the thirsty ground bubbling springs. In the haunts where jackals once lay, grass and reeds and papyrus will grow….

And a highway will be there; it will be called the Way of Holiness. The unclean will not journey on it….But only the redeemed will walk there, and the ransomed of the L-rd will return. They will enter Zion with singing; everlasting joy will crown their heads. Gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away." Isaiah 35

"They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the L-rd for the display of His splendor." Is. 61:3

"Be strong; do not fear; your G-d will come; He will come to save you."