This weekend it was great to have Simon Warren from City Church Newcastle with us.
Life is a wilderness
We, like the Israelites in Exodus, have been freed from captivity but are on a journey to the promised land and are currently in the wilderness. The wilderness is a place where you can't grow enough food and things to support life; it was only by God's miraculous intervention that they could / we can live.
If you look for fulfilment from the things of this life, or assume "if only life was like this, then I'd be happy" you'll be constantly disappointed. Instead, the Bible says "Get real, even the best things, the best relationships, the best jobs won't satisfy. Everything here is temporary; things break down like a Sunday dinner left out for days, weeks and months".
There's a rock in the wilderness
The rock is mentioned in Psalm 81:16, but also referred to in Psalm 81:7; Psalm 78:14-16; Deuteronomy 32:3-4
It's in the wilderness times that we really meet with God (Which was also the case with Moses, Elijah & Jesus) Maybe it's because in the wilderness you run to the rock where water flows.
There's honey in that rock
Bringing good out of bad doesn't mean it's not bad! 'All things working together for good' is different to 'every cloud has a silver lining or is a blessing in disguise'. Some things are just plain bad. Jesus wept when Lazarus died even though He was going to raise him from the dead later on and thus glorify God and reveal the Kingdom Power.
Jesus is the rock
There's an IF - it's only if we turn and go to the rock that we get the honey! We don't always pass the test and go to the rock, and neither did the Israelites. However, Jesus went into the wilderness and passed the test fully.
When the people accused God angrily at Meribah, Moses was worried that God would smite them. In fact He told Moses to strike the rock with his staff (which was a sign of proclaiming judgement), but instead of wrath, water came forth.
1 Corinthians 10:4; 2 Corinthians 5:21