The Word For Today

Closing the Gap

Dear friends, The gap has never been wider. Recently the church has been in the headlines for all the wrong reasons. The distance between the average Australian and God’s Word has perhaps never been as great as today. Add in busy lifestyles, a persuasive entertainment culture, and ‘always on’ media and you have a population …Read More

Sharing Gospel-seeds Throughout Australia

Dear friends, SEEDS are amazing, aren’t they? So tiny, yet one seed can produce a massive tree that gives us air to breathe, food to eat, shade on a hot day, and materials for tools and shelter. They stabilise the soil and provide a home for the birds and other wildlife. In the 231 years …Read More

Draw Closer to God, Through His Word

Dear friend, Would you say that you hear from God? Often times we might think God is silent because we haven’t seen that big bold sign we’re looking for. But often we miss what He’s trying to tell us because we’re too busy! The real question is—are we actually listening? The best place to start …Read More

One Step Closer to a New Home base for Vision

Dear friends, Absolutely stunned! That’s the best way to describe how we all feel about your generosity and God’s faithfulness, following our Visionathon Radio appeal. I must admit that I had questioned whether we would reach the million dollar goal within the allotted 4 days, but through the generosity of His people, God has just given …Read More

A Problem and an Opportunity

Dear friends, I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the future. Or at least, what it might look like given the changes we see all around us. I’ve also been thinking about the responsibility we have to ensure future generations have the opportunity to hear the gospel, and how what we do now will lay …Read More

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Through The Wilderness

‘The people of Israel came to the wilderness.’ Exodus 16:1 ESV

The Israelites discovered that for them, the way into the Promised Land was through the wilderness. This is God’s furnace of refinement. To survive in the desert, we have to follow His lead, stand firm in faith and lean into Him for daily manna. As we cast our cares on Him—because, frankly, there’s nowhere else to turn, the stumbling blocks which keep us from a deeper relationship with Him will begin to crumble to dust. Our self-sufficiency as well as our pride in ourselves and our own achievements start to be stripped away.

The wilderness is a silent place. No distractions. No signposts to the nearest oasis. No cellphone coverage to point you to the closest road. That means God can finally get your attention—sometimes He’ll want to talk about besetting sin, sometimes about the calling He’s placed on your life, sometimes about a gift He’s given you that you’ve overlooked. And once you’re listening to God, you start to realise He’s the only way out of the wilderness as well as the only door into your calling. The wilderness is the place where we learn dependence on God. We learn to trust Him, to rely on Him and to exercise faith in Him.

So, if you’re going through a wilderness experience, don’t think God is punishing you or that He has forsaken you. He’s just allowing some things to die so that other things can be born in you and grow into fruitfulness. Be encouraged; you will come through this! By God’s grace you’ll get to your destination. The truth is, the only way to reach the destination God has planned for you is through the wilderness.

SoulFood: 1 Sam 5:1–6:16, Rev 11:15–19