Embracing Growth in Life's Wilderness Experiences

Richard and Judy Pettis and their family have actually been members at the Springs for 15 years. And so man we're excited and Coach we're coming your way. And there are so many people that are talking about next week down there. Right. And so it's going to be, it's going to be historical. Not hysterical, historical. But be praying for everything that goes on. It's going to be a powerful weekend. You know we're in this whole Uncharted journey and this series we've been in Uncharted and the season that we are stepping into is Uncharted. And this week we're talking about we're following the nation of Israel. [00:00:31] (49 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


This week, we're talking about going off map. Now, when we say going off map, going off map literally means there is no map. You know, there are no clear roads, nobody's been there before, and we're off map. It's kind of like, to put it in some of our vernacular, maybe some of you would understand, it's kind of like man versus wild, Bear Grylls. How many of you remember that? Both of you? Okay. It's like, I mean, seriously, Bear Grylls, this guy, right? He had a different skill set, and going off map requires a different skill set, but most of us don't want to ever use his skill set. [00:01:25] (53 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


But going off map requires you to do things you've never done before. And how do we get through? The nation of Israel, they went off map and entered into the wilderness. And the wilderness was definitely off map. They spent 40 years in the wilderness. And I don't know, have you ever... Have you ever been there? I mean, have you ever gone off map to a place that you'd never been before and you didn't ever think you would be? What does that look like in our lives? [00:03:24] (37 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


It's like walking into a rehab facility for the first time when your addiction has taken you to the bottom. It's like walking into a counselor's office with your... spouse because your marriage is unraveling and you don't know what to do. I mean, it could be about like a life transition that you move to a new city or a new state and you have a new neighborhood and maybe it's a new school that you're going to. It's, there's a little bit of excitement about it, but there's also this level of fear. Like, what do I do? How do I build a life? [00:04:01] (49 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


you're gonna do another lap in eighth and i think the same thing is true for christ followers it's like you know what if you don't take the test or you don't or you keep failing the test you're going to do another lap in the wilderness because that's exactly what the Israelites did. They were failing test after test. Here's a question that we all need to ask in our own wilderness. God, what do you want me to learn? And we're not looking to learn anything usually. We're looking for a way out. But God's way out is learning. [00:07:15] (42 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


And, and that's what we need to know in our life and our relationship with God. Because how does, if we feel that way about our kids, how does our heavenly father feel about us when we say, I don't feel like it, or, you know, I don't think I'm going to do that. Or, you know, I got a better idea. Delayed obedience is disobedience. And, and that's, that's where they were constantly, you know, saying no, no, no. And, and yet Christianity is always, it's based on obedience. It's not based on feelings. And when we learn that we grow because we're trusting God more with more and more often. And that's where your faith grows. That's where you realize that he really is trustworthy. [00:11:25] (51 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


Quicksand will take you down. There is some, it's very rare, but if you find it, it will take you down, but it will not take you out because your lungs have a buoyancy to them. And, you know, so what, but, you know, the truth is it is a trap and entitlement will take you down. It will lower your standard of living. It, uh, because entitlement is the mindset. I deserve it. It's, uh, you know, and one of the warning signs, if you want to know whether you're struggling with entitlement, one of the warning signs is complaining. If you're a complainer, you're probably entitled. [00:13:48] (47 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


constant complaining and complaining doesn't change a thing complaining just amplifies frustration it spreads disunity and discord and that's why i think paul wrote in philippians 2 because it's it's a problem then it wasn't a new testament it is today philippians 2 14 says do everything without complaining and arguing so that no one can criticize you don't don't be a whiner nobody wants to hang out with whiners right we we all get that and uh i used to think that people complained because they had a lot of problems but what i've realized is that people have a lot of problems because they complain and it's like when we complain what we're saying is i am the king of my universe my needs are more important than your needs and i have rights and i deserve what i want and that's i mean that that's entitled and even here's the crazy thing even with all the entitlements and all the whining and complaining they did here's the crazy part god still provided for them everything they needed god still sent manna god still sent quail god still gave water manna god still sent manna god still gave water [00:17:00] (85 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


manna quail and water every day for two million people for 40 years i mean that when you understand that now here's the thing god god always promised to meet their needs he didn't promise a feast he promised enough for each day and he still does matter of fact there were some that disobeyed and they said ah man we're going to get as much as we can and we're going to store it we're going to hoard it but after a day it rotted and started smelling because god said every day i want you to trust me every day in every way and he still says that i mean god god gives us when jesus taught the the lord's prayer he said give us this day our daily bread you know what what we need and philippians he said god will meet all of your needs according to his riches and glory not not your wants i mean he's it's like this constant god i'm dependent on you god i trust you and he wants us to learn in our wilderness to trust him every day for everything and so then the the third [00:19:49] (84 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


lesson we take away from the wilderness is discovery of the treasure. There's a treasure in every wilderness. And we, I don't know, I don't know if y 'all are like us, but like when we're watching TV and you read an article and somebody discovered a treasure. And it was like, when Teddy and I, I don't know how many years back, decades probably, we were watching like the antique roadshow stuff. And I watched as these people brought something to this professional and said, hey, I found this like in my grandmother's attic. I don't even know what it is. And they said, oh, it's worth $4 million. [00:21:12] (47 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)