Preaching the Wilderness
People need to hear about the success that comes through the wilderness.
And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and a report about him went out through all the surrounding country. And he taught in their synagogues, being glorified by all.
Luke 4:14-15
Your people need to hear success isn’t found in up and to the right.
Hearing & Following Jesus through the wilderness does not look like success.
And yet, the barrenness of the wilderness can be the most successful thing you can do.
We are built to fight against the wilderness. Do anything we can to go around it. Make our own way. Find our own success.
When you find your own success, you miss the success of the developing of the wilderness.
Your people also need to hear you don’t sit in the wilderness.
Waiting on Jesus isn’t sitting around waiting for him to do something.
Waiting on Jesus is leaning into Who he is, how he made you and how he wants to use who he is making you into.
Lead through preaching by letting your people know life will not always look successful, but God is always working to make their life into who he wants them to be in his Kingdom.
Developing in the wilderness takes time. Lead them to lean in. Lean in to Jesus. Lean in to Hear & Follow him in the whisper of the wilderness. Because in Hearing the whisper, you can then Hear every mode God wants to speak.