Your Wilderness Is Not a Waste: God's Purpose in Suffering and Struggles

by Dustin Crowe

Publisher:

Moody Publishers

, 2025

Overview

The wilderness can be scary—a place full of peril and desolation. And it can feel meaningless. But when we read the Scriptures, the wilderness is also the place God reveals Himself and cares for the people He loves. Pastor Dustin Crowe explores the biblical theme of the wilderness, helping readers counter the harsh, seemingly hopeless seasons in their lives with hope and courage.

The wilderness is often the place where God grows our faith and proves His faithfulness. But to grow, we must be intentional about listening and leaning into His provision. Looking to wilderness stories of the Bible—including Hagar, Moses, David, Elijah, and Jesus—Your Wilderness Is Not a Waste shows who God is and how He’s at work. Readers will find encouragement in His good purposes as they experience God’s sustaining and shaping grace in their lives.

The wilderness has a dual nature, with both threats to our faith and opportunities to grow in faith. As we depend on God, we discover how to worship in our wilderness rather than waste it. Whether you’re in a season of significant transition, spiritual apathy, heartbreak, waiting, or a time of trial and testing, God invites you to come close—to experience His provision and power—Your Wilderness Is Not a Waste shows us how.

Praise for Your Wilderness Is Not a Waste

“We tend to view a spiritual wilderness as a place to circumvent, often praying for a different road we can take to bypass the dry seasons of waiting, confusion, and suffering. But God doesn’t do anything arbitrarily, so when He draws us into a wilderness, He has much for us there. In Your Wilderness Is Not a Waste, Dustin Crowe shows us the blessings of running to the Lord rather than away from Him in our wilderness wanderings. Rather than waste the lessons and growth we find in the desert, we cannot only survive the wilderness road—we can worship on it. I loved this book and recommend it to anyone who has asked the Lord for a different path.”
—GLENNA MARSHALL, author of The Promise Is His Presence, Everyday Faithfulness, Memorizing Scripture, and Known & Loved

“In our broken world, no one can avoid walking through seasons in the disorienting wilderness. We feel the pain and uncertainty for many reasons. Sometimes we lack direction. Other times we lack resources. Sometimes we’re fighting sin or anxiety or a heavy burden. One thing remains: we need wisdom for the wilderness seasons. Dustin Crowe’s Your Wilderness Is Not a Waste will help you and those we love to keep our eyes on God as we walk through hard seasons.”
—RUSH WITT, pastor and author of I Want to Escape and Diehard Sins

Product Details

• Title: Your Wilderness Is Not a Waste: God's Purpose in Suffering and Struggles
• Author: Dustin Crowe
• Publisher: Moody Publishers
• Print Publication Date: 2025
• Logos Release Date: 2025
• Pages: 200
• Language: English
• Resources: 1
• Format: Digital › Ebook
• ISBNs: 9780802470515, 9780802435286, 0802435289, 0802470513
• Resource ID: LLS:9780802470515
• Resource Type: Monograph
• Metadata Last Updated: 2026-02-28T02:04:48Z

About Dustin Crowe

DUSTIN CROWE (B.A. Moody Bible Institute; M.A. Trinity Evangelical Divinity School) serves as the pastor of discipleship at College Park Church Fishers, just outside Indianapolis, IN. He has written for websites such as The Gospel Coalition, Gospel-Centered Discipleship, Fighter Verses, and contributed a chapter to </>Make, Mature, Multiply. Dustin and his wife have a two-year-old daughter. You can follow his blog www.indycrowe.com or find him on Twitter or Instagram (@indycrowe) and Facebook (Dustin Crowe).