Wasteland: Encountering God in the Desert

By Mike Pilavachi

Mountaintops can be invigorating, but there’s growth in the valleys.
 
How do we understand and stay close to God when things may not always go right? In Wasteland Mike Pilavachi explores those difficult times in our lives when our dreams are unrealised and our spirituality feels dry and lifeless. Drawing from characters in the Old and New Testament, he puts together a biblical survival kit, so that hope shimmers on the horizon like a distant oasis.
 

• Language: English
• Publisher: David C Cook
• Release date: Jan 20, 2020
• ISBN: 9780830781973

Book preview

‘The theme of the desert is found constantly throughout the Scriptures, yet many of us have failed to grasp its significance for our lives. In this timely book Mike Pilavachi takes us on a journey into the depths of the desert, unearthing important truths for our everyday walk with Christ.’

Matt Redman

MattRedman.com

‘The more deeply we know the Lord, the easier it will be to read his face and sense what he desires us to do. Mike Pilavachi draws on his own experience and the Bible to infuse faith, hope and love in us and to inspire us on our journey.’

J. John

Philo Trust

‘Refreshingly honest and personal stuff – Mike Pilavachi has learnt the hard way that the desert is the place where we meet Jesus. And he writes with a passion for Christians to go into the desert places themselves and find the reality of God that is there.’

Pete Broadbent

Bishop of Willesden

‘Wasteland? is a brilliant guide book for us all. It teaches us how to live through the tough times and to dignify the trials. It reminds us that every anointed ministry will bear the scars that can only come through the tough times. It is a gem of a book!’

Lyndon Bowring

Executive Chairman, CARE

Wasteland?

Encountering God in the Desert

MIKE PILAVACHI

WASTELAND?

Published by David C Cook

4050 Lee Vance View

Colorado Springs, CO 80918 U.S.A.

Integrity Music Limited, a Division of David C Cook

Brighton, East Sussex BN1 2RE, England

The graphic circle C logo is a registered trademark of David C Cook.

All rights reserved. Except for brief excerpts for review purposes, no part of this book may be reproduced or used in any form without written permission from the publisher.

The website addresses recommended throughout this book are offered as a resource to you. These websites are not intended in any way to be or imply an endorsement on the part of David C Cook, nor do we vouch for their content.

All Scripture quotation unless otherwise noted, are taken from the Holy Bible: New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, by International Bible Society.

ISBN 978-1-84291-138-9

eISBN 978-0-83078-197-3

© 2003 Mike Pilavachi

The right of Mike Pilavachi to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act of 1988.

First Edition 2003

Dedication

To Tim Hughes, for your loyalty, forgiveness and partnership in ministry.

To Pete Hughes, I so believe in you and look forward to all the crises we still have to share together.

To Matt, and Beth Redman, Maisey Ella and Noah Luca. My friends for life.

Contents

Foreword

Acknowledgements

1. Entering the Desert

2. The Desert – God’s Crucible

3. Finding Myself in the Desert

4. Finding God in the Desert

5. A Voice Not an Echo

6. The Mountaintop and the Valley

7. Investing in Obscurity

8. Life’s a Bitch but God Is Good

9. The Desert of Obedience

10. Joseph – Life’s Not Fair!

11. The Purpose of the Desert

Foreword

Mike Pilavachi is a remarkable and very lovable man. He is so honest and wonderfully open. I love his self-deprecating humour and his unpretentious attitude to himself and his ministry. Thousands of young people hang on every word he speaks. They recognise he is the genuine article. Because he lives it out, he speaks with great authority. And because he writes as he speaks, this book is not only immensely readable but packed full of wisdom and valuable insights.

Nicky Gumbel

Holy Trinity Brompton

Acknowledgements

Idon’t seem able to do anything without involving my friends, whether they want to be involved or not. So once again I am indebted to my long-suffering partners and friends in the ministry who have had to put up with my obsessive requests to ‘just read it again’. I value you all more than I can say and to do what I do without you would be unthinkable.

So thank you to Andy Arganda, Liz Biddulph, Catherine Berry, Tim Hughes, Pete Hughes, Martyn and Emily Layzell, Ali MacInness, Ken and Jeannie Morgan, Matt and Beth Redman, Rachel Shorey, and Ruth Yule for reading the manuscript (often more than once!) and giving such honest and constructive feedback.

Thanks to Richard and Diana Scott and the extended ‘Cole family’ for your hospitality and generosity. Thanks Diana for helping to write the book, Richard for the Chardonnay (or was it a Cabernet?) and David for making me laugh. I do not refer here to your sense of humour.

From across the pond I would like to thank Bill Greig III for encouraging me to write this book in the first place. You are a gentleman. Thanks to my friends Alan and Rachael Siebenhaller for your encouraging and helpful comments.

Also my thanks go to all my friends in the Kingsway/Survivor family. To Les Moir and Malcolm du Plessis for your friendship and partnership, Dave Roberts, Richard Herkes and Carolyn Owen for putting it all together, and John Pac for your generous spirit.

Most of all, I want to thank the church I have the privilege to pastor, Soul Survivor Watford. You are an amazing bunch of people and I know I don’t deserve you. I love you very much.

1

Entering the Desert

The urgent need for the church today is not for more clever people to explain Jesus better. It is not for more attractive people who by their looks and personality will make Christianity suddenly more trendy and appealing. It is not even for more committed and disciplined people who will advance the cause of the kingdom of Jesus by grit and hard work. The great need today is for deep and authentic people.

British evangelist David Watson said something like this about twenty years ago. I believe it is truer today than it was then. In a superficial world that demands instant pleasures and then discards them just as quickly, the church is in great danger. In our attempts to be ‘culturally relevant’ we could, if we are not careful, become as shallow as the surrounding culture. That would be a great shame. These are days when growing numbers of people are becoming weary of hype, gimmicks and the quick sell. This generation is increasingly asking if there is something deeper than the slogan, something more permanent than this year’s instant celebrity.

Jesus came to usher in another way. He called it the kingdom of God. More than that, he came to announce that he is the Way, the Truth and the Life. He came to invite the world back to reality. He came to take us deeper. Many in the church recognise that we are called to live in the real world in such a way that we make a difference. And so we must. We must engage with our neighbours and take a genuine interest in their lives. We have to listen to their stories and not just tell them our own. We must love them unconditionally. If any people have a mandate to care for this planet it is surely Christian people; children of the creator. The Lord shouts from the Scriptures again and again that the agenda of caring for the poor, the marginalised and the hurt is the Christian agenda. He tells us that he hates, even despises our religious feasts if we do not let justice roll down like a river, righteousness like