{"id":745,"date":"2023-09-20T16:10:36","date_gmt":"2023-09-20T16:10:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chuckhilltoday.com\/?page_id=745"},"modified":"2026-02-25T05:13:36","modified_gmt":"2026-02-25T05:13:36","slug":"finding-god-in-the-wild","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/chuckhilltoday.com\/index.php\/finding-god-in-the-wild\/","title":{"rendered":"FINDING GOD IN THE WILD"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

FINDING GOD IN THE WILD!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Exodus 2:23-24<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Life is often described as a journey, with seasons that shift like landscapes. Some days feel like lush valleys\u2014peaceful, vibrant, full of growth. But then come the wilderness seasons. The wild places. Those long stretches where nothing seems to work, hope feels distant, and God seems silent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The wilderness can show up in many ways\u2014financial struggles, relationship tension, health crises, emotional emptiness, spiritual dryness.
For some, the wilderness lasts days. For others, months. And for some\u2026 it feels like years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2014 For Moses, it lasted 40 years.
\u2014 For Israel, it lasted centuries.
\u2014 Even Jesus experienced the wild\u2014for 40 days in the desert.
And in His darkest moment, Jesus echoed the psalmist\u2019s cry:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You may recall the words of David from Psalm 22, where he asked: \u201cMy God, my God, why have you forsaken me?\u201d<\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jesus would express these same words as He cried out from the cross in Matthew 27:46. As Matthew states: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAbout three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, \u201cEli, Eli, lema sabachthani?\u201d (which means \u201cMy God, my God, why have you forsaken me?\u201d).\u201d <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, even Jesus encountered the WILD in His own life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While I don\u2019t pretend to know your story \u2014 nor the depth of WILDERNESS<\/strong>, I do know that no matter what you\u2019re facing in life, God wants to bring you through it. He wants to reveal Himself and deliver you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maybe your wilderness has to do with with your job, or maybe it\u2019s your finances. Maybe it\u2019s your family, or a struggle with a friend. Maybe for you, your wilderness right now, has to do with the struggle of sin \u2014 maybe a habit that\u2019s enslaving you. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But, whatever the cases, God wants you to experience deliverance and freedom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m reminded of the words of Isaiah 43<\/strong>, where God says,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“For I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it? I will make a pathway through the wilderness. I will create rivers in the dry wasteland.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Isaiah 43:19 <\/strong>(NLT)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s God\u2019s promise \u2014 but where is God in the midst of our pain? Where is God when things don\u2019t go our way? Where is God when life gets hard and things get bad? I submit to you that during those times, God is present, He\u2019s aware, and He\u2019s ready to respond to your cry for help. And, that\u2019s really the context of the passage I want to look at today. So, if you have your Bible, turn with me to Exodus chapter 2.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

TEXT & CONTEXT: EXODUS 2:23\u201324<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let\u2019s open to Exodus 2<\/strong>, near the end of the chapter. Moses is in Midian\u2014a dry, desolate desert\u2014hiding as a fugitive. The people of Israel are still enslaved in Egypt, under the whip of cruel oppression. And in verse 23, we read:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

23 <\/em><\/strong>Years passed, and the king of Egypt died. But the Israelites continued to groan under their burden of slavery. They cried out for help, and their cry rose up to God. <\/em>24 <\/em><\/strong>God heard their groaning, and he remembered his covenant promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. <\/em>25 <\/em><\/strong>He looked down on the people of Israel and knew it was time to act.<\/em> (Exodus 2:23-24, NLT<\/strong>)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As we dive in to this passage, I want to point out something that we might overlook if we\u2019re not careful. And it\u2019s the words at the beginning of verse 23<\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As it opens, it says: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

23 <\/em><\/strong>Years passed,<\/em> and the king of Egypt died.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Moses writes \u2014 \u201cYears passed\u2026\u201d <\/em>He speaks of that time of some forty years. That phrase covers decades\u2014forty years, in fact. A generation waiting in pain. A people groaning under slavery. Moses exiled in obscurity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And here\u2019s the sting: when the old Pharaoh died, maybe there was hope.
Maybe this new king would bring mercy\u2026 maybe things would get better.<\/em>
But they didn\u2019t. The next Pharaoh was worse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So yes\u2014\u201cyears passed.\u201d But God was still at work.
He was preparing Moses to become a deliverer\u2014and preparing His people to be delivered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And here\u2019s the good news: what God did for them, He wants to do for you. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Understand, God\u2019s goal was not simply to remove the people from Egypt, but to remove Egypt from his people! And so, as Exodus 2 ends, that story of hope and deliverance begins!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MESSAGE:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here\u2019s some lessons for us. So truth to help you continue to trust God during times of trouble.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And the first thing I want to point out is this:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. GOD IS ALWAYS PRESENT IN YOUR PAIN.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The wilderness is not a place where God abandons us; it’s a place where He often draws nearest. When we feel lost and uncertain, when life’s trials overwhelm us, it’s precisely in those moments that God is working in us and through us. In the wild, God refines us, strengthens our faith, and prepares us for the journey ahead. In verse 23,<\/strong> we\u2019re told \u2014 they cried out to God for years. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

23 <\/em><\/strong>\u2026the Israelites continued to groan under their burden of slavery.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n