God, Where Are You?! With John BevereНамуна

Victory in the Wilderness

The wilderness is a place we visit, not our ultimate destination. If handled correctly, you will experience victory in the wilderness.

As a youth pastor in the late 1980s, I’d been in my passion-drained wilderness for what seemed to me way too long. I was beginning to wonder if any change would come to my struggle. 

Shortly before trouble began with my direct boss (who would try to discredit and fire me) and while I was in prayer one day, the Spirit of God revealed to me that change was coming. “You will be removed from being youth pastor,” He said, “and I will send you to churches and cities from the east coast to the west coast of America; from the Canadian border to the Mexican border; to Alaska and Hawaii . . .”

I told Lisa what I’d heard from the Spirit, and the two of us pondered all of this in our hearts. We didn’t share it with anyone else (except for a pastor in a different state). God had said He would do it, and I knew that if it was truly Him speaking, I wouldn’t have to “help Him” accomplish this dream.

But it didn’t happen the next day—or even that week! In fact, several months passed. Then one day, my pastor walked into a meeting and said that the Lord had shown him that one of his pastors (there were eleven of us on staff) would be traveling full-time soon and would no longer serve on our church’s staff. “John Bevere, that man is you,” he said.

More time passed—six months, to be exact—of pressing through an intense desert experience. Then, in a period of only three weeks, I received seven invitations to preach—one was an hour from the Canadian border, one was on the east coast of Florida, another was an hour from the Pacific Ocean, and one was on the Mexican border! I walked into my pastor’s office to ask him what to do about them. He laughed and said, “John, I told you the Lord had shown this to me; looks like your time has come.”

A short time later in January 1990, the pastor laid hands on Lisa and me during a dedication service, and we have been traveling full-time ever since! It’s safe to say that we have seen much (and I can’t overemphasize the word “much”) more fruit manifest by waiting on God’s timing than if we had launched ourselves years before, when I thought I was ready. 

I long to see the same results for you in your life calling. Trust God through the process. Promotion is coming! 

Did you enjoy this reading plan? I encourage you to continue on in your journey by checking out my book God, Where Are You?!