Sojourn, Crossing the Wilderness by Faith
Sojourn, Crossing the Wilderness by Faith
Wilderness adventures are fun....if they are planned. But what about those unplanned treks through the wilderness when a desert of iron beneath your feet and heaven of brass above threatens to crush you on its anvil? Where is God in the wilderness? Where is the well of water my soul so desperately seeks? What is it about the wilderness that God sent so many of His servants there?
Crossing the wilderness, surviving the wilderness, seems impossible—the wilderness of disillusionment or separation. Grief. The wilderness takes me into the Valley of Death itself—and that’s where I find Jesus, the Savior who crossed the wilderness ahead of me. His footprints are already there, pressed into the hardpan of the desert. I step into those prints, those bloodstained prints—and learn how to walk by faith.
This book is not a survival manual exactly, but a companion of sorts reminding me that crossing a wilderness is a faith walk ordained by God to sanctify His purposes and will in me.
150 pages
CONTENTS
Wilderness of Alienation
Wilderness of Sacrifice
Wilderness of Detours
Wilderness of Disillusionment
Wilderness of Desperation
Wilderness of Disappointment
Wilderness of Disability
Wilderness of Fear
Wilderness of Waiting
Wilderness of Separation
Wilderness of Persecution
Wilderness of Unanswered Prayer
Wilderness of Grief
Sample Chapter: Wilderness of Persecution Excerpt
Excerpt from Sojourn, Crossing the Wilderness by Faith: (un) Answered Prayer
All my prayers, the ones I think God has forgotten or has ignored or voided or canceled—all those prayers anticipate the kingdom age when all hopelessness, all impossibilities will be no more. No more sin. No more sorrow. No more pain. My prayers for my niece Kelly anticipate the day when she will leap with joy in the presence of her Lord and Redeemer. I know because He’s storing all our prayers in golden vials held close to His heart. I can’t wait for the day when He makes all things new. Including Kelly, my niece who was paralyzed with a brainstem stroke at age 16.
When I see Kelly’s healing answered in His time, in His way, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, I’m walking by faith. When I know for sure her healing is real because I know Jesus is real, I’m walking by faith. I know God is working all things for our good, especially the good of restoring Eden. Especially the good of restoring Eden in Kelly. In all of us.
I want to walk by a faith that believes there is no such thing as unanswered prayer. It’s only prayer that waits in anticipation of that moment when God makes all things new, when He takes my pathetic cries of the heart, pours them out in a golden stream from His presence, and sets them on fire from the altar, transforming these miserable words into a resounding, triumphant victory cry over His restored heaven and earth. Paradise regained. IT. IS. DONE.
About Sojourn, Crossing the Wilderness by Faith
Sojourn, Crossing the Wilderness by Faith is about what God is up to when He sends so many of His servants into the wilderness. Even Jesus experienced the searing trial of the wilderness. The full book (and individual chapters) gives reasons why God sends us into the wilderness and how to let God consecrate the pain. The entire book or individual sections are valuable resources for your counseling ministry.