Now before the other leaders in the room start feeling anxious that I’m about to fill you with the false hope that placing your faith and trust in Jesus means you won’t ever have problems, that life will always go smoothly, and fear they’ll have to spend the majority of your time during small group un-teaching what I’m about to tell you, let me clearly state, for the record, that is absolutely not the case. You will have trials, obstacles, pain, heartache, and disappointment. But I can guarantee that applying this principle will ensure no matter what life throws your way you will have a constant source of joy and hope.
Sound good? Let’s get started then…
I want you to go back with me to the time Jesus walked the earth. If you have your Bibles with you, turn to Mark 11:1-11
As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage and Bethany at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two of his disciples, saying to them, “Go to the village ahead of you, and just as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. If anyone asks you, “Why are you doing this?” tell him, “The Lord needs it and will send it back here shortly.” They went and found a colt outside in the street, tied at a doorway. As they untied it, some people standing there asked “What are you doing, untying that colt?” They answered as Jesus had told them to, and the people let them go. When they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks over it, he sat on it. Many people spread their cloaks on the road, while others spread branches they had cut in the fields. Those who went ahead and those who followed shouted, “Hosanna!” “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” “Blessed is the kingdom of our father David!” “Hosanna in the highest!” Jesus entered Jerusalem and went to the temple. He looked around at everything, but since it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the Twelve.
Rejoice O greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
This is a story of unmet expectations. The people clearly thought they needed a political king. I mean it makes sense doesn’t it? They were under great oppression by Rome and God had promised to provide them a king. They expected God to bring them a physical king like the other nations had. God even went as far as to specifically say how this delivering king would make his entrance! They believed they knew what they needed and their plans seemed reasonable enough.
But God didn’t deliver like they expected him to. It wasn’t that He misled the people, quite the contrary actually. One commentary I was reading explained that throughout the book of Mark there are at least 9 examples of Jesus going out of his way to correct these incorrect expectations and interpretations. Multiple times he commanded secrecy in regards to his miracles in order to avoid a popular movement that would make him into a political “freedom fighter” and subsequently blocking his path to suffering and dying to save his people. They thought the fulfillment of God’s promise to them would be seen in the defeat of Rome but we know now that it was fulfilled though the defeat of Satan, sin, and death.
When their expectations weren’t met they called for his death. Seems rather harsh but really the reaction of anger and rejection isn’t all that far off from how we can react when God doesn’t answer our prayers like we think he should.
So here’s the big question of the day.
How are you going to react when you realize that God does not intend to answer your petitions and request the way you think they should be answered?
How often do we bring our plans before God and proclaim “Here ya go God! I have GREAT plans for you!” only after what seems to be silence begin to ask “Where is He” “He just doesn’t get it does He?”
Your plans and requests probably aren’t unreasonable. They may even make a lot of sense and seem like smart, responsible requests such as,
- Wanting the parent that isn’t behaving as a parent to be the parent that they’re supposed to be
- Wanting to make the dance or sports team you’ve worked so hard for
- Wanting admittance to the college you really want to attend
- Wanting the relationship you’re in to work out
- Wanting someone that’s sick that you love to be healed
- Wanting your parent to quickly find a new job to replace the one they lost
- Wanting peace and the pain you’re feeling to go away
- Wanting to be loved, desired, and cared for
Like I said, reasonable right? And since God is a loving God why wouldn’t he answer such reasonable requests in the way you think he should?
The answer is pretty simple actually. God IS good and he IS loving. In fact, through those seemingly reasonable requests we’re actually seeking things like love, acceptance, importance, and companionship. Because he is good and loving God provides all those things for us through a relationship with him and additionally through relationships with others but if he tells us “No, I’m not going to meet that need in the way you’re asking” we’ve gotta realize something that so many refuse to accept.
He is God. You are not.
It seems obvious but our actions and decisions often show us who the god in our life is really is. This can especially be challenging as you find yourselves in a stage in life where you’re gaining more independence, getting to know who you are, how you think, and what you believe. You’re in a place in your life where you want to make your own decisions, where you want to take control of things.
Even though it’s a natural time in your life to seek independence some of you were thrust into independence because a parent let you down, because you had to grow up faster than you should have.
To be honest, whether you’ve been let down and found yourself unwillingly in a position to rely on yourself or you’re just hungry, chomping at the bit for your freedom, this is not the time to transfer the dependence you once had on your parents to dependence on yourself.
The joy and fulfillment and hope I was talking about earlier, is only found in complete dependence on the one true God.
For some of you this is just a reminder. For others, you may have never been told that you can depend on God. And for some, you’ve been told but you don’t believe it. All you know is a God who seems unreasonable, who doesn’t take care of you like you think you need to be taken care of, a God who doesn’t answer your prayer like you think he should. After all you’re being reasonable…
And that makes you mad.
I get it. I get being frustrated with God over my reasonableness and deepest desires and God’s seemingly all too silent response.
In fact there was something I wanted sooooo bad a few years ago. It was my deepest desire and I prayed “God please please please and if your answer is no give me peace!” Every time another month would go by and my prayer went unanswered I was heartbroken. I remember specifically driving in my car asking God rather adamantly “Where’s my peace!?!”
I remember him specifically answering “You don’t have peace because you’re not asking for the right thing.”
It dawned on me. I had been asking God to “gimme gimme gimme and if I don’t get my way make me ok with it” NOT “God you know my deepest desires and longings. You know how bad I want this but God more than anything I want what you want WHEN you want it because your ways are not my ways. Your plans are not my plans and anything you have planned for me is better than anything I could possibly plan for myself. God I trust you with my desires and I ultimately want what you have planned for me”
There was my peace…
And you know what? He not only gave me peace AND hope, but in that particular situation, 3 months later he answered my prayer.
While waiting for him to fulfill my request, the desires I had didn’t go away but the priority they had in my life changed. God’s plans for me ranked higher. I got over myself and I found peace and I had hope in his plans.
So how do we know when we’ve begun to accept the truth that He is God and we are NOT??
When we begin to shift from OUR plans for God to God’s plans for us.
The difference for me though, I had been armed with the truth that God is good ALL the time, even when I don’t understand what’s going on. His words and promises are trustworthy. Get that with me. He can be trusted based on what He has said.
How do you know your trust, dependence, and expectations have shifted??
When we begin to want most what God has already offered us.
Do you have any idea what God has offered you? What you have already been promised? I can tell you all day how great God is and how he’s promised you good things but some of you will need to see it for yourself. He clearly tells us in the Bible who he is and what he’s promised.
Here are just a few characteristics of the God you can place your trust in.
- Compassionate (2 Corinthians 1:3, 1 Peter 5:7)
- Powerful (Psalm 93:1-2 Corinthians 12:9-10, Ephesians 6:10)
- Ever Present (Hebrews 13:5-6, Matthew 28:20)
- Loving (John 3:16, Romans 5:8, 1 John 4:9-10)
- Approving (John 6:27, Colossians 3:3)
- Listening (Psalm 55:17)
- Awesome Protector (Exodus 15:11. Psalm 99:3)
- Victorious (Zephaniah 3:17, Romans 8:37)
- Honorable (Philippians 2:9)
- Good (Psalm 34:8, Psalm 106:1)
- Just (Deuteronomy 32:4, Romans 2:11 )
- Forgiving (Psalm 103:10-12, Hebrews 10:17)
- Protective (Psalm 91, Psalm 118: 6-9, 2 Thessalonians 3:3)
- Sufficient (2 Corinthians 9:8, 2 Corinthians 12:9, Ephesians 3:20)
- Kind (Psalm 103:13, Romans 2:4, Ephesians 1:5)
- Faithful (Numbers 23:19, Psalm 89:1-2, 5, Lamentations 3:23)
He has promised you such GOOD things. You know our heart has shifted from trusting in ourselves to trusting in Him when we are convinced that God only does us good and we want HIS good for us no matter what that means!
I’ve been attending a Beth Moore Bible study on Tuesday nights and 2 weeks ago she reminded me just how good God is. Let’s see what the Bible says about God’s goodness.
- Romans 12:2 reminds us that God’s will for us is good.
- Philippians 2: 13 tells us that God’s purpose for us is good.
- Philippians 1:6 says God’s work in us is good.
- 2 Thessalonians 2:16 says The hope God has given us is good.
- Ephesians 2:10 tells us The works God created us for are good.
- James 3:17 says The fruit God produces in us is good.
- James 1:16 says The gifts God gives us are good.
- Hebrews 13:21 says Indeed, God equips us with everything good.
- And finally, Romans 8:28 promises God works all things together in our lives for good!
God is GOOD ya’ll!
I get it. Some of you are really hurt and really mad and you probably have a lot of legitimate reasons. But I’m going to be pretty blunt here. You are just a human being. You are finite. You don’t know it all and even if you’ll admit that, you probably wouldn’t admit that maybe you don’t even always know what’s best for you.
I went for a hike in Memorial Park a couple of weeks ago. I went down a trail that I had no idea how long it was or where it would take me. As I was walking along listening to my music, talking to God I got to thinking how even though I don’t really know what I’m doing or where I’m going,
I know God certainly does.
So often in my life I’ve gone down a path and he’s given me clear markers
When I’m actively seeking his direction for my life the signs can be pretty obvious.
Sometimes I’m walking along and the signs are a little less obvious
BUT if I’m actively engaged in listening and knowing God my father, what may confuse some people might not confuse me and I keep going, trusting that I’m to continue on the path he started me on.
Sometimes the path can be a little messy and unpleasant even
But that’s just part of the journey and backs up the claim found in Romans 5:3-4.
We rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope.
Through our suffering we can obtain hope found through a personal faith in Jesus.
Maybe you’ve had the wrong idea about God. Maybe you’ve thought of him as some sort of genie that grants your wishes. And when he doesn’t you get mad because he‘s let you down. Maybe you’ve thought of him as the way to get to heaven but you’ve never sought out a relationship with him or even fathomed letting him have control of your life. Maybe some of you have never even heard that God is good, that he loves you, that he has plans for you, that he desires a relationship with you, or that he’s offered to wipe your slate clean and give you an undeserving grace and eternal life.
So what is God’s response to us as believer’s when we’ve failed him, when we’ve treated him like a genie, when we’ve gotten mad, when we’ve accepted him as Savior but not Lord of our life? James 4:6 tells us that he gives us more grace.
Do ya’ll know what grace is? Grace is getting something good that you don’t deserve. It’s like being on a team and getting a trophy at the end of the season just for playing, not because you did anything to earn it.
What should our response be to God once we know the truth and the error of our ways? What should our response be once we’ve finally heard about the king who humbled himself by riding on a donkey as a precursor to his death? A death and subsequent resurrection just so he could claim his place on the throne of our hearts? Our response should be one of humbleness and repentance. (To repent is to make a change.)
If anyone has any questions about what you’ve just heard, would like to take the step today to make Jesus lord of your life, or if you need prayer, I encourage you to talk to me or your leader.
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