Out of the Wilderness

The creators of the wildly popular When you find yourself in a wilderness season, it can feel as if God has abandoned you. Angela Halili and Arielle Reitsma, creators and hosts of the In this encouraging devotional, Ang and Ari share stories from their spiritual journeys, enriched by Scripture, biblical insights, and guided prayers. With the same authenticity that makes • what it means to find our identities in Christ • why surrendering to God brings our greatest sense of security • how to let go of the mistakes made in the past • ways God uses wilderness seasons to draw us closer to him • how to find God’s comfort in loneliness and loss <Out of the Wilderness <contains thirty-one devotions for all the moments you seek God but feel like he doesn’t hear you. Join Ang and Ari in finding the peace, hope, and connection that only a relationship with God can bring.

Autorentext

Angela Halili and Arielle Reitsma

Klappentext

ECPA BESTSELLER • The creators of the wildly popular Girls Gone Bible podcast walk alongside you in your hardest seasons, with daily encouragement to reconnect with God and his Word to bolster your faith.

“Each page is a personal invitation to explore the promised land of God’s living, breathing Word.”—Lisa Bevere, New York Times bestselling author, speaker, co-founder of Messenger International

When you find yourself in a wilderness season, it can feel as if God has abandoned you. Angela Halili and Arielle Reitsma, creators and hosts of the Girls Gone Bible podcast, learned through their own struggles that the hardest parts of your journey might just be where you draw closest to God—and where you discover your greatest sense of purpose and joy.

In this encouraging devotional, Ang and Ari share stories from their spiritual journeys, enriched by Scripture, biblical insights, and guided prayers. With the same authenticity that makes Girls Gone Bible so popular, Out of the Wilderness explores

• what it means to find our identities in Christ
• why surrendering to God brings our greatest sense of security
• how to let go of the mistakes made in the past
• ways God uses wilderness seasons to draw us closer to him
• how to find God’s comfort in loneliness and loss

Out of the Wilderness contains thirty-one devotions for all the moments you seek God but feel like he doesn’t hear you. Join Ang and Ari in finding the peace, hope, and connection that only a relationship with God can bring.

Leseprobe
Day One

Prepare the Way for the Lord

John replied in the words of Isaiah the prophet, “I am the voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way for the Lord.’ ”

Now the Pharisees who had been sent questioned him, “Why then do you baptize if you are not the Messiah, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?”

“I baptize with water,” John replied, “but among you stands one you do not know. He is the one who comes after me, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.” —­John 1:23–­27

The one who has the bride is the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom’s voice. Therefore this joy of mine is now complete. He must increase, but I must decrease. —­John 3:29–­30, ESV

John the Baptist clarified his identity and mission in this passage in John 1. He was not the Messiah, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet. Rather, he was the one preparing the way for the Messiah—­Jesus. John’s mission was to call people to repentance and baptize them as a symbol of their commitment to change. His role was to ready people to receive Jesus and his message, fulfilling the prophecy of Isaiah and pointing to the greater work that Jesus would accomplish (Isaiah 40:1–­9).

In these verses from John 3, John the Baptist expressed his joy and fulfillment in seeing Jesus’s ministry flourish. Using the wedding metaphor, he illustrated his supportive role as the friend of the Bridegroom (Jesus), rejoicing in the success and presence of Jesus. John’s declaration, “He must increase, but I must decrease,” is evidence of his humility and understanding that his purpose was to prepare for Jesus, and now that Jesus had come, John’s role would naturally decrease as Jesus’s ministry took center stage.

From Angela

Just as John knew his purpose, we, too, possess a deep yearning and essential need to have and know our purpose in life. Chasing empty ideals can leave us feeling unsatisfied, and a lack of purpose will lead to deep depression and a lifetime of emptiness. But as Christians, our purpose is clear: to know Jesus and to make him known. While some may think that sounds cheesy, I know now it is what God wants for me, just like he did for John the Baptist.

While I haven’t always walked according to God’s Word, I have been someone who prays. But honestly, even though I prayed my heart out in my younger days, my prayers were selfish. Back then, I begged God to fulfill my greatest needs and desires. I told him things had to go exactly the way I envisioned or else I’d just die.

But that all changed one day when I was twenty-­five and God spoke clearly into my heart and told me that I had my relationship with him backward. He reminded me who was God (him) and who was not (me). He reminded me that I am to serve him, not the other way around. I had been treating my relationship with God transactionally, ignoring that he is the giver of life and creator of all, and I am but a servant. That interaction was one of the greatest moments of maturity in my faith walk. Incredibly humbled, I realized I had a big heart change to make.

Since then, every morning when I wake up, I drop to my knees and ask Jesus what he needs from me. I offer him my day, saying, “I dedicate every moment of today to you. Where do you need me to go? Who do you need me to talk to? How can I serve you in all I do and everywhere I go?” I am now completely Christ-­focused, which has changed my life forever. I have the most beautiful relationship with Jesus, in which I know my place as servant and his role as master.

In my submission to God, I found security. And joy. And peace. I discovered purpose like I’d never known before. I soon found a mentor who discipled me and helped me learn more about God and the Bible. But the knowledge I gained wasn’t for me alone. It was for me to then go out and make more disciples (Matthew 28:19) by sharing what I learned. I began proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ to everyone, telling them what God did for my life and trying my best to articulate that he could do the same for them. I’ll explain more about the origins of Girls Gone Bible (GGB) in a later devotion, but the seed of its existence was planted in my heart at that time. I want my entire being, my entire existence, to be a means to prepare the way for the coming Lord. Serving God and his people fills my soul to overflowing.

The Bible says the first commandment is to love God, and the second is to love people (Matthew 22:37–­39). Although I’ve always been a lover of people, loving Jesus expanded my heart’s capacity for loving others to an extent I didn’t even know was possible. Scripture also says that we love because he first loved us (1 John 4:19). This is why loving Jesus is a prerequisite to loving people the way he intends for us to. When I fell in love with Jesus, I could no longer be passive or indifferent about people. Behind every set of eyes is a soul that Jesus cares about. And since Jesus cares for them, so do I.

In Decemb…