Message Series: In the Wilderness
Week 1 | Don't Waste in the Wasteland
Scripture: Deuteronomy 8:2-16
Group Check in:
How is it with your soul?
Prayer Request? Praises?
How has God shown up in your life this week?
Icebreaker:
There are 3 types of fun. Share an experience/memory with one of the different types of fun. What did you learn from those experiences?
Type 1: Fun to do, fun to remember
Type 2: Not fun to do, but fun to remember
Type 3: Not fun to do, and not fun to remember
Biblical Teaching:
Wilderness is vast, rugged, little water, land without grain, limited permanent settlement (no food/water), few travelers (no food/water), land without borders (no one lives there, nor is anyone trying to conquer it). It’s a land that lacks everything.
Jeremiah 2:5 - the lord brought us out of Egypt and led us through the barren wilderness, through a land of deserts and ravines, a land of drought and utter darkness. A land where no one travels and no one lives.
When God’s people leave Egypt, we expect them to move directly back to Canaan. Instead, God turns them south into the wilderness for 40 years.
Deuteronomy 8 tells us why God did this. "Remember how the Lord your God led you all he way in the wilderness during these forty years in order to humble and test you...causing you to hunger, feeding you with manna...He did this to teach you that man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord."
Overview:
The biblical wilderness- a barren place that lacks everything necessary for survival, yet also a place into which God led His people for a purpose. It was in this setting- the most challenging and difficult setting imaginable- that God’s provision, goodness and salvation came into remarkable clarity for God’s people. And it’s a place that stands even to today as a reminder that the wildernesses of our own lives provide the same opportunity to see God at work. They’re aren’t simply to be endured, they are to be explored.
When ever you see “in order to” in the Bible. Go back to the beginning of that sentence and read it again. Here is where you most likely will find God's response/reasoning.
This picture of the wilderness reminds us of one of the most difficult periods of time in the history of our people, and how God brought them through it. It’s a reminder that even in places like this- physical and spiritual- God has a special way of showing up for his people. This picture, or more accurately, the wilderness that is pictured here, has so much to teach us about how God works in our lives.
God uses the wilderness in 3 ways: to humble, to test, and to teach.
To Humble:
- God hates arrogrance: before the wilderness, Hebrews were in Egypt- easiest place to live. It had the Nile river, ample technology, food, and architecture. It celebrates and encourages arrogance.
- The wilderness fosters humility. It offers nothing and the only survival is by God’s hand
To Test:
- God can ask in this place, will you trust me in this place without grain, water, other people? - Numbers 20:4- they quarreled with Moese and said if only we had died when our brothers fell dead. Why did you bring us into this place?
To Teach:
- Wilderness makes you hungry, thirsty, tired. It shows us our limitations. Deut. 8 - he humbled you, causing you to hunger, THEN fed you with manna. He waited until wilderness hunger had built inside them so that he could teach us that man does not live on bread alone.
- God provided manna and water for his people to teach them that he would provide- either by natural or supernatural means in order to demonstrate that he is not only capable, but trustworthy. It’s a lesson best-learned in wilderness
- God disciplines- read: teaches/trains- us like a parent disciplines, teaches, trains their children.
- Wilderness seasons are for more than just survival! We do not need to run through it as fast as possible to just get through it. We need to go through the wilderness so that God can humble us. During these seasons of life, we will be tested, but we will also be given the opportunity to learn from God and to grow with God.
Discussion Questions:
Have you ever felt like you were in the wilderness? Did it cause you to question God or grow closer to Him?
Why do we tend to forget God when life is good and running smoothly?
When do you tend to learn the most about God? Is it when things are going well or when things are going poorly? Why do you think that is so?
As the Israelites wandered through the wildnerness, God continued to provide for them in miraculously ways: protection, water, and manna from heaven (Deuteronomy 8:15-16). However, there are times when we don't experience that same kind of blessing. Why should we continue persuing God even when his provisions don't feel adequete to us?
Have you ever had an experience where you felt God was humbling you and trying to teach you? If so, please share with your group.
Read Deuteronomy 8:3. What would it look like in your life to "live by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord?"
Which do you find most difficult in your life when you are stuck in hard times (the wilderness)? Listening, remembering, or obeying God's word? Why?
What is a practical way you can remember God in all that you do this week?
What is a clear way you can integrate God's commands into your life today?
Share with your Groups:
FOR OUR NEIGHBORS
SUMMER CHALLENGE
There is something about summer that just brings the life out of us, isn't there? Well, those sun-filled days are here and of course you will be looking for some adventure this summer. We have you covered! We have crafted a list of activities that you, your family or a group of friends can do together this summer. Take this opportunity to get to know your neighbors!
Join our Facebook Community Group so that we can share stories and swap ideas as we go along. We also heard there might be some PRIZES given away in our Facebook group!