Hello Collective. I’m going to share a little bit of what God has been teaching me lately. He’s been teaching me from the book of Numbers. So while the English title sounds lame, in Hebrew, this book is actually titled, “In the Wilderness” and it covers 38 years of travelling in the wilderness by the people of Israel. You see, when God liberated his people from slavery in Egypt, they didn’t go straight to the Promised Land. They spent 40 years in the wilderness to get ready for their conquest into what was promised to them.
If you heard that, you’ll know that this book was written for people who have been liberated from their past, sinful lives, and are struggling with sin and being a Christ follower on their way of becoming the individual that God created them to be. Anybody here still trying to figure out why they were placed here on this earth? Any of you struggling with resisting temptation? Any of you struggling to figure out why every time you take two steps forward, you’re taking three steps back? It’s because you’re in the wilderness.
Most of us we think wilderness, and we think desert. But I’m going to tell you that’s wrong. The wilderness isn’t the desert. The wilderness is just a place that is uncultivated and unhospitable. The wilderness can sustain you or kill you. But isn’t that most of our lives? Uncultivated and inhospitable?
My life is uncultivated and inhospitable because I can’t recognize God trying to guide me through the wilderness most days. I’m not above that. We’re there together. Honestly, I spend more time trying to figure out what I’m doing and where I am going than actually going where God is calling me. If that’s where you are: lost in the wilderness trying to figure out where God is telling you to go, don’t worry, the Israelites knew for hundreds of years where their promised land was, they just spent 400 years in slavery, and then 40 more years lost in the wilderness before they took their first step into the promise that God gave to Abraham.
I hope by now you’ll understand that in our lifetimes we are all going to spend time in the wilderness. Difference between those who follow Jesus and those who don’t is that when Christ followers are in the wilderness, they are never alone—God is always with us.
15 On the day that the tabernacle was set up, the cloud covered the tabernacle, the tent of the testimony. And at evening it was over the tabernacle like the appearance of fire until morning. 16 So it was always: the cloud covered it by day and the appearance of fire by night. 17 And whenever the cloud lifted from over the tent, after that the people of Israel set out, and in the place where the cloud settled down, there the people of Israel camped. 18 At the command of the Lord the people of Israel set out, and at the command of the Lord they camped. As long as the cloud rested over the tabernacle, they remained in camp. 19 Even when the cloud continued over the tabernacle many days, the people of Israel kept the charge of the Lord and did not set out. 20 Sometimes the cloud was a few days over the tabernacle, and according to the command of the Lord they remained in camp; then according to the command of the Lord they set out. 21 And sometimes the cloud remained from evening until morning. And when the cloud lifted in the morning, they set out, or if it continued for a day and a night, when the cloud lifted they set out. 22 Whether it was two days, or a month, or a longer time, that the cloud continued over the tabernacle, abiding there, the people of Israel remained in camp and did not set out, but when it lifted they set out. 23 At the command of the Lord they camped, and at the command of the Lord they set out. They kept the charge of the Lord, at the command of the Lord by Moses.
(Numbers 9:15-23 ESV)
If you want to move with God in your life, you need to accept this truth:
Big Idea: God is always present in your life (v16)
I don’t think I can make it more plain than that. God is always present in your life period. There are not ifs, ands, or buts. God is always present in your life. Let’s look at verse 15 and 16.
15 On the day that the tabernacle was set up, the cloud covered the tabernacle, the tent of the testimony. And at evening it was over the tabernacle like the appearance of fire until morning. 16 So it was always: the cloud covered it by day and the appearance of fire by night.
I want you to see two things: 1. God’s presence isn’t a feeling. His presence is tangible. Clouds are tangible and so is fire—meaning the presence of God isn’t imaginary. 2. God’s presence never goes away, it’s always there. What we want is to be able to identify God’s presence in your life.
That means whatever your life was like this week, no matter how loveable or unloveable or how disciplined or undisciplined, or painful or broken or joyful, whatever it was, God is present in your life and it won’t ever leave. If that’s the truth, then the question becomes, how do we recognize God’s presence in our lives?
Man, there are some days, like last Tuesday, they were absolutely the roughest? Wasn’t it? And I know you asked God because I asked God: Do you see me, do you hear me? God I didn’t see you?! I wish God showed up in my life like a cloud to give me rest from the stress of the sun during the day and like a fire at night to light my way. But wait! He does!
The reason we don’t experience the presence of God like a cloud in the day and like a fire at night is because we’re so busy taking cues from everything but the cloud of God in our waking moments and then numbing ourselves to the fire in the dark because the incandescent glow of our phones at night.
If you want to experience the presence of God like the Israelites did, then you just need to do three simple things:
- Read the Bible.
- Pray to God.
- Surround yourself with other believers.
When we do these three things regularly, you will experience the presence of God. For real, it’s that simple. I don’t mean pretend to do these things or do them when they are convenient, I mean do them with all your might and soul. Like even if it’s one verse at a time or a three word prayer. You will experience the presence of God. If you don’t experience the presence of God, then come find me so I can show you how to read the Bible, how to pray, and how to make friends who are as vested in you as you are in them.
Its clear the people of Israel knew the presence of God and even knew how to follow him. I know most of you knew those three things. The problem with us, just like with the Israelites, is that we choose to ignore God’s love for us, his mercy, his commands, his presence in our lives while we live in the wilderness.
You’re not lost if the presence of God is with you. God is your guide. The way out of the wilderness requires us to take two hard actions, we’re going to see this in verse 17.
17 And whenever the cloud lifted from over the tent, after that the people of Israel set out, and in the place where the cloud settled down, there the people of Israel camped. 18 At the command of the Lord the people of Israel set out, and at the command of the Lord they camped. As long as the cloud rested over the tabernacle, they remained in camp. 19 Even when the cloud continued over the tabernacle many days, the people of Israel kept the charge of the Lord and did not set out. 20 Sometimes the cloud was a few days over the tabernacle, and according to the command of the Lord they remained in camp; then according to the command of the Lord they set out. 21 And sometimes the cloud remained from evening until morning. And when the cloud lifted in the morning, they set out, or if it continued for a day and a night, when the cloud lifted they set out.
Numbers 9:17-21 ESV
Here’s the first hard action:
1. Obey the command of God (v18)
This is where a lot of us go wrong. What’s the point of knowing God’s presence being there and then not listening to what he is saying? There is no point. Don’t contemplate obeying God, just do it. The people of Israel moved with God because they followed the command of the Lord. Verse 18, look at it: At the command of the Lord the people of Israel set out, and at the command of the Lord they camped. The pattern we need to establish in our lives is of obeying God’s commands.
Meaning, when we’re in God’s presence and he’s speaking to us in our prayers, in our Bible reading, in our Life Groups, when we’re worshipping here, that we would obey God’s commands. Don’t just compartmentalize it—make it part of your life. Let it change you.
A few years ago, before I became a pastor full-time, I was a management consultant by day and a pastor by weekend. And I was tapped to deliver a project that was failing. I thought I could turn the project around and I wanted to prove myself, but long story short, I failed. The project went bust, and right before it went bust, people told me to spin the numbers and the story so I wouldn’t look like a failure. I was basically advised told to lie.
But instead, mostly because my wife convinced me that even white lies are lies and that wouldn’t be faithful to God’s command, you see that was the presence of God speaking to me from my wife, I just came out and said my project failed, and that my leadership was a failure.
My client cancelled my project and I was benched by my company. I was bummed out and asking God if I were in the right industry and contemplating if I had heard him wrong when he commanded me not to spin the numbers.
That’s when I got a call, not even three weeks later to go manage a bigger project with higher stakes. I was asked by my company to do it not because I was the best or most experienced, there were plenty of other people more capable than me. But they said their client heard stories about my faithfulness and that I was chosen because of that.
I can’t say that every single time I follow God’s commands faithfully it goes as well as it did. But every time I do obey God’s commands I have no regrets and I’m more satisfied than when I started.
Right now, let me ask you, what is God commanding you to do? Is he commanding you to reconcile with your former friend over there? Maybe he is asking you to talk to somebody about faith because nobody else will. Maybe he is asking you to move in faith into a role you feel is beneath you. It’s time you obey because it will leave you satisfied.
Here’s the second thing you need to do to move with God the rest of your life:
2. Abide in God’s timing (v22)
Life is all about timing. The best time is God’s time. We need to move in God’s timing. Go to verse 21.
21 And sometimes the cloud remained from evening until morning. And when the cloud lifted in the morning, they set out, or if it continued for a day and a night, when the cloud lifted they set out. 22 Whether it was two days, or a month, or a longer time, that the cloud continued over the tabernacle, abiding there, the people of Israel remained in camp and did not set out, but when it lifted they set out. 23 At the command of the Lord they camped, and at the command of the Lord they set out. They kept the charge of the Lord, at the command of the Lord by Moses.
Numbers 9:21-23
I love this in verse 22. “Whether it was two days, or a month, or a longer time, that the cloud continued over the tabernacle, abiding there, the people of Israel remained in camp and did not set out, but when it lifted they set out.”
We’re all too busy trying to get somewhere. But where is it that we’re trying to go? The promised land? The Israelites knew exactly where the promised land was. It was promised to them since Abraham. They knew the geographical coordinates, but they still spent 40 years in the wilderness. That’s not an accident. The Israelites didn’t enter because they weren’t ready for the promised land.
The reason you’re not at your own promised land is because you’re not ready for it. It’s why you’re in the wilderness doing the same things you always did and not going anywhere–taking two steps forward, and three steps back. Your timing stinks. Let go of the choke hold you have on your destiny.
God knows where you need to go, he created you, he gave you the vision of the promised land. He may have even allowed you to taste the glory of his goodness in the promised land. But we’re in the wilderness now because we need to learn how to obey his commands, number one, and number two, how to abide in his timing.
This is what you need to be learning in your time in the wilderness: how to rest in him and how to be meek in God. When we find rest and meekness in God we become ready for what he prepared for us ahead of time. Each time the Israelites moved and stopped, God moved and stopped them to teach them how to surrender themselves to himself.
- That means if you’re looking to get married because that’s your promised land, then you need to be making yourself a better marital candidate in the wilderness of singledom. Rest in your singleness and surrender yourself to God. See how God transforms you.
- If you’re looking to be promoted, then you need to be doing things to stack your resume or you need to be learning and growing for the promised land of promotion. Surrender yourself to working for God and not for man, see how God raises you up.
- If you’re looking to come out of that place of disappointment and heartache, then you need to be learning to grieve and embrace the gift of our limits because the promised land of healing requires you to be ready. Surrender your grief to God. He will put people around you to carry your burdens with you.
God’s timing is about having rest and meekness in God so we can enter the promised land ready for what he has in store for us. When we learn to abide in God’s timing, we become who God wanted us to be and will find ourselves exactly where God wanted us.
That’s the point of God always being present in our lives, tangible and accessible. So that we can learn to look for him and obey his commands and abide in his timing. It’s when we do that we are ready to get exit the wilderness and into the promise land. It took Israel 40 years to learn that. How long will it take you?
What would happen in our lives if we could choose to obey God’s commands and abide in his timing? Would we experience the fullness of Jesus Christ? Would we be filled with the Holy Spirit? Would we see things and do things in the name of Jesus greater than he did here on earth because that’s exactly what he promised us.
I told you that God was teaching me something in the book of Numbers and that the wilderness experience the Israelites had was similar to my own. I was born into a Christian family. In fact, I’ve experienced the presence of God so often that growing up that God’s presence never impressed me, the cloud that moved in the day and the fire that lite up the night never really was worth noting. I was a skeptic, agnostic, liar, faker, a worthless human being in the making. I didn’t care for Jesus. I was my own God. I was my own ruler of my own destiny. I was lost in my own wilderness. Just like the Israelites coming out of Egypt.
I was in high school doing what I shouldn’t have been doing, when a friend of mine, who was also doing what he shouldn’t have been doing saw the presence of God in his life and decided that he was going to obey the command of God and abide in God’s timing to reach me. He convinced me to ditch school with him one day so he could take me to Christian club to share the gospel with me.
I experienced the presence of God through the good news of Jesus Christ. My life was radically changed because on that day, I became aware of the tangible goodness of God’s presence, and I decided to obey his commands and abide in his timing because I knew he created me for more than the worthless life I was living. He had a plan for me.
Jesus, though he was in the form of God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage. Rather, he humbled himself, taking on the form of a human. God was with him everywhere he went, he obeyed the father and abided in God’s timing until death. He was sinless. He bore the punishment of our sins, and sacrificed himself on the cross for us. But his story didn’t end there. He died and was buried. On the third day, he was resurrected from death. What that means for us is this: just because we’re living in the wilderness, doesn’t mean we are hopeless. We have a savior who loves us and wants to show you his presence in your life.
I know some of you are here right now because somebody forced, nagged or bribed you to come to church. And none of that matters except what you do with this invitation. Will you receive Jesus Christ as your Lord and savior of your life?
Maybe you’ve already accepted Jesus, and now you need to obey him and abide in his commands, you always knew where Jesus was in your life where he wanted to take you, will you allow him to transform you and take you there?
Let’s pray.
Father in heaven, you have always been with us. We didn’t know it, and we hardly recognize it, but you are here. I ask that tonight, some of us have accepted Jesus for the very first time. We chose to accept the truth that you are here with us and that when we obey you, and your calling to be your son and daughter, that you receive us. You receive us because we acknowledge we cannot save ourselves and because we’re incredibly lost without you. Please come into our hearts and be with us in our ups and downs and journey of life and faith.
Also, father, I want to pray for those of us who are in this room, oh, I feel it, we’re allowing the wilderness of life distract us from where we were supposed to head in life. Bring us back to obedience. Allow us to be bold enough to make the decisions that honor your commands. Fill us with your Holy Spirit and show us your presence as our savior, as our king, as our hope. We want to abide in your timing and move with you in our lives. We pray all these things in Jesus name. Amen.
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