A sentence that I’ve had running through my mind recently is “I’m bringing my people from grief to glory!” Now that sounds great, but what does it mean? Well here’s a thought! It’s a bit like moving from a wilderness season into a season of restoration and purpose.

Now, have you ever thought much about the wilderness?

I don’t mind revealing that it’s not a place I long for. It’s a place many of us fear and, given half a chance, we would gladly pass up the opportunity. It evokes thoughts of a dry and thirsty land, hosting many small and creepy critters. A place hosting thorny, spiked growth upon an endless blanket of infertile, parched land. The stillness of the atmosphere is isolating and broken by merciless, howling winds that carry swirling masses of irritating granules of sand that imperil vision and blisters the skin. What little life there is, is often impoverished, fighting hard to stay alive, always waiting those precious few drops of water that will bring another day’s survival. Hardly an inviting picture! Yet friend, the wilderness is unavoidable; it’s a principle of God. He created us to move through spiritual seasons, just as He created the earth to move through physical seasons. And whether we like it or not, some of our seasons will be in the wilderness.

In this blog I want to comment on three ways that wilderness seasons occur. First like Christ’s experience, we enter through obedience to God’s leading. After His Baptism, Jesus was led by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted. His obedience in the wilderness defeated Satan’s plans to disqualify Him, and from the wilderness He was released into His ministry.

Friends it’s in the season of being in the wilderness through obedience, that we willingly follow our Lord into suffering. We do this in order that we might defeat the enemy; to gain what we need to move out of this wilderness experience in victory, and in power move into God’s next assignment for us. Therefore in obedience, always return from your wilderness experience in victory and in power.

The second way that a wilderness season can occur is through personal sin. Remember in the Old Testament how the Israelites after leaving Egypt found themselves in such a position? They had entered into the wilderness out of obedience to God, yet while there, they sinned grievously against the Lord. He then promised them, that before they would enter their promise land, He would purge that sinful generation from them. Their wandering in the wilderness took them 40 years. A whole generation had to pass before the promise could be fulfilled.

God must purge sin issues from our life before we can enter into the fullness of His promises for us. This applies individually as much as it does corporately. Are there sin issues holding up your God given promises? How you respond in the wilderness will determine your next season and assignments in God. Remember that if Moses had not disobeyed the Lord in the wilderness, he would have been allowed to enter the Promised Land.

The third way we enter wilderness seasons is being thrust into them through situations and circumstances beyond our control. Many I’m sure can relate to this, where through no fault of your own, you find your circumstances beyond your control. Such was the case of a man called Job. Job experienced incredible loss, pain and personal hardship, not as a result of sin or a choice he made, but rather as a result of being, ‘tested by God’. There have been at least four or five times in my life like this. Times where I’ve had to trust myself and those around me; to hold to my personal faith and my unshakeable trust in the God I knew, and in the way I’ve lived my life before men.

Now not every loss in our life is due to some ‘cosmic – wager’, as it was with Job. However, God and Satan do watch our personal choices and responses when we are in these wilderness seasons. Both God and Satan are looking for a chance. God is looking for His big chance to single you out so that He can pour Grace into you, to restore, to release and to bless. Satan, on the other hand, is looking for a chance to bring disappointment, loss of vision, loss of hope and confusion, and through bondage keep you from moving forward in obedience and trust in your loving Father.

Remember Moses experience in the wilderness? He never entered into the promise land. How you respond in your wilderness season, determines your next season. Obedience and making the tough decision to trust God and participate with Him in the wilderness will enable you to walk in God’s plan and purpose for your life – even if you can’t see fully the road ahead.

Therefore don’t be overcome with grief, disappointment or immobilised through loss in wilderness seasons, as they are often an emotional but unavoidable part of life. Hosea, speaking on behalf of God says, I will allure her …bring her into the wilderness and speak comfort to her. (Hosea 2:14 NKJV) If you listen, during your times in the wilderness, you will hear God speaking to you, breathing life, hope and comfort into your spirit.

Friend take it from me, it’s important to walk through the painful reality of these wilderness experiences: to participate fully with God’s plan for your life and let Him restore you and move you forward into your next season.

Right now across my city of Brisbane, tens of thousands of volunteers are out in suburbs helping the thousands that have seen their homes, business and communities, devastated by the recent flooding of the Brisbane River, a one in a hundred year flood. Anna Bligh, Queensland’s Premier, has likened it to a war zone and compared the work needing to get the city and region back to normal, to a post-war reconstruction that will cost billions. It has been said that the economic impact of the flooding on the Australian economy is expected to be bigger than the impact of Hurricane Katrina on the US economy.

My wife and I were out last weekend helping, like so many, total strangers in communities that we rarely if ever visit. The sense of community spirit, good will and practical assistance amidst such total devastation was quite something to beheld. It was deeply moving as it was overwhelming in the magnitude of the carnage that one encountered. News reporters called it “Brisbane’s salvation Saturday”, another, “Sunday muddy Sunday”.

Much is still to be done. The effects of the floods will take months and in many cases years to overcome. However in the coming weeks and months, as people start to feel the deep sense of grief, loss and emotional dislocation, people will need people. As the Christian community we need to do two things; pray for all those affected to have strength to endure, and to be on hand to be the Body of Christ demonstrating in loving and practical ways, God’s touch to lives so traumatized by this disaster.

We also need to pray for those who are engaged in coordinating the relief and rebuilding effort, making the long-term decisions re the cities future, that they be granted the ability to make the right decisions amidst the confusion that ineligibly arises at times like this.

What we see happening through people across our city and region right now, Christian and non-Christian alike, is, the common grace of a loving God at work. In reality, His kingdom characteristic of love, encouragement, service, mercy, compassion and cheerful giving, flowing from person to person, home-to-home, street to street. The one fact that make us all equal; we are all made in the image of a loving God and it’s His nature which is being seen as people reach out to family, neighbours and total strangers who are in need.

People are being motivated by that deep inner sense of goodness and love for others, the true stuff that builds community. I heard a young child’s mother say today, how her daughter said, “Mum, I’m so proud of our community, this is a great place to live.” What a legacy to come out of such a time as this.

Now let me share some kingdom thoughts with you.

There’s not a day that goes by where people do not connect with and move in and out of God's kingdom as it breaks in around them. Therefore we need to observe it, learn to read it, and then find ways to individually connect and collaborate with it in the lives of people and all of creation.

Let me explain what I mean. The kingdom is at work! It is definitely sin stained, fragmented, marred and distorted in the lives and the world of the unredeemed. It is there nevertheless. ‘Really?’ I can almost hear you say. We must never forget that regardless of who they are or what their life is like, they are made in the image of God. (James 3:9) Our commission as disciples of Jesus is to connect with this kingdom reality. We do this by embracing it, engaging with the good of God that you see in the lives of others, seeking to bring the light, truth and love of Jesus into their world in a diversity of ways. In this way, we begin to recognize and then affirm the kingdom at work in the lives of people.

For instance, a woman desiring to be a good mum—that's kingdom. A man wanting to provide for his family—that's kingdom. A student refusing the pressure of drugs—that's kingdom. The employer who shows care for his workers and seeks their good will—that’s kingdom. Someone passionate about the environment, the plight of the poor and disadvantaged: child trafficking or in not exploiting creation for profit—that’s kingdom.

As we discover ways to engage with God’s kingdom at work, in society and creation, to care for and show love to those around us, we are better placed to share the sacrificial love of Jesus.

The kingdom is! (Matthew 13) We are its witnesses. It is both the gospel of Jesus (incarnate) and the gospel about Jesus (evangel).

And as you seek to engage with your inheritance in all of creation, the Holy Spirit brings you more and more into the fullness and richness of the image and nature of Jesus Christ. This is the image that all creation is longing to see burst forth; one that will finally answer the cry of creation, setting it free from bondage and decay and bring it into the ‘glorious freedom of the children of God.’ (Romans 8:21 NIV)At such a time as this, may many encounter the real Jesus and His loving embrace!