Stories from the Wilderness Part 1

To make bread, grain has to be crushed. It it has to become dakar, fine powder before it can become life for us. On Easter Sabbath, that crushed bread has a name and his name is Jesus. And before we can resist apathy we need to realize that our enough is actually met by Jesus' it is finished. When we pray, we are leaning into the strength provided when Jesus took on the ultimate wilderness. Resistance isn't about being loud, it's about being still until you hear the voice that really matters. [01:19:14] (49 seconds)  #CrushedBreadLife

It locked their savior in a tomb. Was the world's way of saying the wilderness wins, the superhero is dead and it is done. They were sitting under the broom tree paralyzed by apathy and convinced that the noise of the world had finally won. But remember that word that we read about today from Elijah. Dakar, the crushed silence on that Friday afternoon, the word of God was crushed. It was beaten small. It was broken like grain so he could become the bread of life. Jesus entered the absolute wilderness of the grave, the deepest silence of it all, so that your silence would never be empty again. [01:21:30] (49 seconds)  #GraveWasNotTheEnd

But here's the crux of the problem. Elijah was looking for the God in the spectacular while God was waiting for him in the silence. We often mistake God's silence for absence. We think that because we're in a wilderness that we're abandoned. We feel like the disciples on that awful Sabbath after the cross is gone. The tomb is sealed and the world is quiet but the wilderness isn't a sign that you have failed. I've got a message for you today. It is a sign that you are being prepared. [01:13:43] (33 seconds)  #GodInTheSilence

It describes something being beaten into fine powder. Think about it. Elijah was looking for a God who was heavy, loud, like a stone. He wanted the rock shattering power of God to show up, but God showed up like crushed silence. A voice so thin, so small that it could slide into the cracks of Elijah's broken crushed heart. The remedy for a loud scary world isn't more noise. It's a God who is willing to be small enough to meet you in your pain. God is so powerful that he can be smaller than you've ever imagined him to be. [01:17:46] (51 seconds)  #SmallButMighty

Holy honesty. Elijah's bad prayer was in fact the first step towards his healing. He stopped pretending. Resistance starts when you refuse to let the noise of the world tell you that you have to be okay. You do not have to be okay. You do not have to get it all together because there is a God who has already got it together. Elijah's breakthrough didn't happen when he was calling down fire. Sure, it was a very powerful mission trip, but it began when he was honest in the dirt. [01:16:35] (39 seconds)  #HolyHonestyHeals

The first remedy is holy honesty. Elijah had Elijah's bad prayer and I put that in quotations. You know, remember his bad prayer? I'm done, kill me now. That's his prayer. I'm done, kill me now. Elijah's bad prayer, his take my life was his first step towards healing. I don't think that God expects of you in the wilderness to throw up your hands and always praise him for him being so good and great. I actually believe that God is teaching us values through this wilderness story that the first thing you need to do is simply to be honest with God about how you feel. [01:15:54] (41 seconds)  #BeHonestWithGod

The great prophet, the one who calls fire to come down, I'm done. Kill me now he says. He's burnt out. He's even apathetic about it. He doesn't care about the mission. What it what it seems like he doesn't care about the mission. He just wants the noises to stop. Have you ever been in this scenario where you just want the noises to stop? I'm speaking to any Elijah's that are present today. Is there anyone who knows what this feels like this message is for you, Elijah? Look and see how God responds. He doesn't give Elijah a lecture. [01:02:06] (42 seconds)  #WhenBurnoutHits

We think that God is going to move. He has to do it in a way that is massive and undeniable. When we don't see the big fire, we assume that God has left the building. So we start to feel that our prayers are useless, and this is exactly where the enemy wants us. Sin doesn't always try to make you evil. Sometimes it just tries to make you indifferent. Sometimes it just wants you to stay under the broom tree convincing yourself that the story is over and there's no point. Might as well just I'll crash here. I'll be fine. It's not amazing, but I'll be alright. Or not. [01:12:59] (44 seconds)  #ApathyIsTheEnemy