Fearlessly Courageous
Desk of Dennis Piller
7 4 2025
Audio Version
Remember the Wilderness
I heard that phrase today—Remember the Wilderness—and it stirred something deep in me. It resurrected years of memories, those seasons that could only be described as wilderness experiences. I remember the panic, the self-questioning, the aching sense that perhaps I had done something to cause the hardship I was walking through. Surely, I thought, God must be trying to teach me something.
But one thing I know for certain now:
I pray that the fear of the Lord return quickly. But most evidently in my own life.
We live in an age of compromise and lawlessness, often disguised by charisma and charm. Like the Israelites after 400 years of slavery in Egypt, we too must remember that God disciplines those He loves. He is not looking for perfection—He is looking for surrendered hearts that are fully dependent on Him.
Throughout Scripture, I’ve learned that God is always judging, always restoring, and always pouring out grace like candy from an overflowing jar. He consistently raises up a remnant to blow the trumpet and call His people to repentance and holiness. The high ground of the Lord is always marked by a return to Him and then a deeper walk with him.
Isn’t it amazing what God can do when we humble ourselves to His timing? Four hundred years of slavery seemed impossibly long, but God delivered His people at precisely the right moment. Miracle after miracle, He set them free from oppression and captivity. Yet even after His mighty hand was revealed, they still weren’t ready. They doubted at the Red Sea and spent forty years wandering the desert, grumbling and rebelling, but God provided for them every step of the way—water, food, shade, and protection. I am convinced the cloud was also there to keep them from the treacherous beating of the sun.
It proves what we sometimes forget:
The way to the promised land is never easy, but in our darkest wilderness, His light still shines.
And the journey is always under His care.
By day the Lord went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light.
—Exodus 13:21
The angel of God withdrew and went behind them. The pillar of cloud also moved from in front and stood behind them.
—Exodus 14:19
Even in our fiercest battles, His protection surrounds us.
The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.
—Exodus 14:14
But isn’t it true? Sin always takes us further than we ever wanted to go.
I have seen these people, the Lord said to Moses, and they are a stiff-necked people.
—Exodus 32:9
Like the Israelites, we often grumble, complain, and drift, unaware of how far we’ve wandered until we find ourselves on roads we never intended to travel. Complaining becomes a disease that grips our hearts, but even then—even then—God in His mercy always forgives.
There will be times when we feel forgotten, abandoned, or lost in our wilderness. But God’s promise stands:
My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.
—Exodus 33:14
How quickly we forget the lessons of the desert—the hunger, the thirst, the desperate need. But maybe that’s the point. Maybe we weren’t meant to hunger for what we lacked but to hunger for Him.
Even if you’re not in a personal wilderness today, the world certainly is.
Sin has carried it much farther than we expected it to go. The depravity is so deep and so wide. Like water finding its lowest level, it seeps into everything, destroying and rotting whatever it touches.
We must be vigilant.
We must hold fast to the God of our salvation.
The days are short. The distractions are many.
Don’t be like the five virgins who ran out of oil because they weren’t prepared.
The wilderness was not meant to destroy you. It was meant to shape you.
It was never about what you were doing without. It was always about the God who, is working goodness and his plan within you, and who was walking with you every step of the way.
Remember the wilderness.
Remember who met you there.
And hold fast. He’s coming soon. Maybe even sooner than you imagine!
Casting Crowns Only Jesus https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_eQd3K2Fxp4&list=PL3oW2tjiIxvTstLS9GlgaT_mqONT0WVDw&index=18
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