John Piper on What We Really Need in the Wilderness

“Everything you need has been purchased by the blood of Jesus . . . for your enjoyment now, in the midst of the wilderness, and your enjoyment, forever.” – John Piper

In his keynote message at TGCW22, John Piper describes four scenes in the wilderness of Exodus 17 that are brimming with implications for our own lives:

1. God brought his people to a waterless place in the wilderness on purpose. God commands the movement of our lives—we do not go into the wilderness by accident.
2. The Israelites did not trust that God's purposes were for saving and instead, they actually despised God. For those who do not trust God and despise him, his patience will run out.
3. God answers the people with water and more importantly, with his life-giving presence. What people need more than water is God’s presence, even today.
4. Moses memorializes the failure of the Israelites. God intends for this failure to be seen in light of the gift—God himself. “In your wilderness,” Piper says, “don’t be like them. Do not harden your hearts. Trust him.”

Piper closes by referencing how God passed over the sins of the people in the Old Testament by punishing those sins through the cross of Christ 1,400 years later. Piper says, “Every undeserved blessing you will ever taste now and forever is owing to the death of Jesus.”

Though may not understand all the reasons why God chooses to bring us into a waterless encampment, we can trust his character, his saving power, and his good purposes. When we find ourselves in the wilderness, may we thirst for more than water—finding all we need in Jesus, himself.

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