100 Fold #2

Waiting

there is a discipline of patience required of the Christian.

we want maturity NOW - we want sanctification NOW - we want God’s blessings NOW

but that’s not how it works all the time - there is a progression - a moving forward - and that requires patience.

if you were at our Wed Night Study on Genesis this week - God spent time creating - he didn’t have to - he could have snapped his fingers and everyting would have been in existence

but he chose to operate within the constraints of time and space to CREATE

and he did so over the course of a week - he didn’t need a week.

he did it that way to teach us important lessons about life - there is a progression - a moving forward - a growth

and that takes time - and as a result - means we gotta wait.

this was part of the temptation of Adam and Eve - the fruit was the easy way out. The quick solution - take the fruit. You’ll be like God and have all this knowledge

rather than maturing and building and progressing over tiem

this was Israel’s demand for a king - they weren’t ready to wait for a shepherd boy - they wanted a king like the other nations NOW.

this was Israel in waiting for Moses to come off the mountain and instead turning to false gods of their own making.

in this WAITING God sanctifies us, and also we are tempted. we are tempted with the quick fix.

but we must look to the Bible and learn our lessons

the be sanctified means to be sanctified over time. to be changed over time.

we don’t clamor for a false king, we wait on the real one

we don’t rush the fruit - we wait for it to ripen.

we don’t run to false gods because the true God isn’t working out the way we wanted - we WAIT.

BUT WHEN YOU LEARN TO WAIT - and trust the Lord - there is more to do.

If your desire is to reap in this life more for the kingdom of Christ - then that means as a faithful steward you don’t just “wait for the chicken to fly into your mouth” as Martin Luther says.

You learn to sow. With patience.

Galatians 6:6–10 “Let the one who is taught the word share all good things with the one who teaches. Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.”

Patience, sowing - agriculture metaphor - farming ain’t fast.

it’s also a ton of work - don’t get the idea that farmers just plop down next to their crop and wait for it to come up. If you know any farmers you know that when it’s season they’re up before the sun and working into the night.

I say this to say - we ought not think of patience as passive - no, it’s very active.

And that activity is largely sowing - and some occasional reaping.

But what is SOWING? What does it mean?

Deuteronomy 6:10–12 ““And when the Lord your God brings you into the land that he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give you—with great and good cities that you did not build, and houses full of all good things that you did not fill, and cisterns that you did not dig, and vineyards and olive trees that you did not plant—and when you eat and are full, then take care lest you forget the Lord, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.”

we’re pretty familiar with these passages. A great deal of patience here is required.

think all the way back to the original promise to Abraham. (Gen 12:7)

a lot has happened since then. and even there in deuteronomy, hundreds of years later, the promise still hasn’t fulfilled itself.

that’s a great degree of patience. Of faithful living in the meantime. Of maybe even struggling to have faithful living. And several seasons of falling away.

but then… Joshua 1:1 “After the death of Moses the servant of the Lord, the Lord said to Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ assistant,”

Joshua 1:5 “No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you or forsake you.”

Joshua 1:6 “Be strong and courageous, for you shall cause this people to inherit the land that I swore to their fathers to give them.”

finally - after all that time - all that patience - all that sowing - now it’s about to happen - the land will be theirs.

but… who’s going to do the work? Joshua and the warriors. They’re going to take the land.

God made a promise - that promise will be fulfilled by God - and he will work through his people to do it.

The chicken doesn’t just fly into your mouth.

I think that carries a strong testimony to the work of the Lord in our lives.

he takes time. intentionally. and he works THROUGH HIS PEOPLE to accomplish his promises.

when your children are in the little years there may be seasons, mom and dad, where you feel like all you do is spank kids and change diapers. but be patient. trust his promise. there will be return on your investment.

you are raising them up in the fear and admonition of the Lord - fruit will come. God’s promises will be fulfilled.

when you’re just getting into the work force and you have to take one of those “entry level” jobs. “I don’t want to do this! I want to change the world!” I want to make a solid living now!

well good - I’m glad you want to change the world - be faithful in the little things - sow.

youve got to start somewhere, so start well. the promotions come. the career comes. trust the Lord and do the work he’s given you to do faithfully. He will work through it.

ill: my son can’t wait to start a family. we talk about it a lot. he wants six kids and a wife and a house and all the trimmings - and we applaud and encourage his good and Godly goal - but … he’s six. he’s got a minute. he’s got to wait.

but what does he do in the meantime? he learns to clean his room. he learns to control himself. he learns the good discipline of working hard. he learns excercise and good eating habits. he learns to think and reason well. he learns how to learn, so that one day he can continue to educate himself… because to be a good leader you have to.

why? so that one day he can be a good father and husband one day and take care of his family.

he’s got a lot of sowing to do before he can reap.

If you sow - you will reap.

If you trust the Lord - if you obey him and follow his ways - he will keep his promises.

Another way of saying it - Proverbs 21:31 “The horse is made ready for the day of battle, but the victory belongs to the Lord.”

God gives the victory - God pours out his blessings on his people - but if you don’t train the horse… if you don’t suit it up correctly … you see where we’re going?

We have a lot of work to do as we continue to advance Jesus’ kingdom here in Opelousas.

and to be honest - I want it to be done now - I want to see it all fulfilled now.

but we gotta be patient - and we’ve gotta be faithful - to sow as the Lord gives us opportunity to sow.

be faithful with where he’s given you influence now - then wait and see.

if you sow his truth - you will reap his promises.

if you obey his commands - he will pour out his blessings.

this is one of the fundamentals of gospel proclamation. if we proclaim God’s law, our guilt, and the news of Jesus Christ dying and making a way - the Bible says God will give growth.

1 Corinthians 3:6 “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth.”

you might not see the return. you might not see anything. but God promises to do it.

think of all the people who sowed into your life. God worked didn’t he. He grew you. The older I get the more I realize how wrong I was in my twenties when I had “everything figured out” - I didnt want to listen to those that were trying to sow.

don’t make that mistake. listen. heed. folks are sowing into your life.

But also - there is another principle in this life

John 4:37–38 “For here the saying holds true, ‘One sows and another reaps.’ I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor.””

There is an understanding that we will also reap where we have not sown.

That’s how I feel about my wife. And how we should all be fighting to raise up our children to be.

She had some Christian parents and they knew they needed to raise her Christianly. I’m still reaping that benefit, and our children are too.

In other words - it’s not ALL dependent upon your sowing. God surprises us along the way. In the midst of our wrestling and waiting and sowing… think of it like an allie-oop.

but it was be a pretty serious mistake to think that you just need to sit around and wait for those moments.

Also - we should make it clear - that what you sow matters.

what you sow - you will reap - so if you reap sin and calamity you will reap the same.

think of David and Bathsheba - they reaped death - but God did give them grace to draw them out of their sins and failures.

but the laws of sowing and reaping still played true.

But I thought it was all GRACE?

it is all grace. God saves you by grace, he changes you by grace.

but grace doesn’t mean that you’re passive and only God is active.

he could have left you alone and let you roll off to hell and die - but he interceded by his grace.

God gives the growth - that’s grace.

God gives you the gift of self control - that’s grace.

God gives you work - grace.

God sends you trials to refine you - grace.

SO - what are you sowing? Have you been?

Sow what the Lord would have you and trust him for the results.

he may surprise you - he may not - but he will be gracious.

Trust him. Let’s pray.