God's Got You

FINAL EDIT Soft Intro: how we doing? We doing ok? Let’s talk some hope today, that sound good? Let’s talk about how God is there for you and wants to do great things in your life. He is your ever present help in time of need.. He’s got you. You know that phrase?

INTRO: I got you. often pronounced I gotchu. What does it mean when we hear this phrase? It’s almost always a positive thing to hear, at least that’s been my experience. Well at least it turns out positive, the invoking of the phrase I gothcu is typically a response to what is a seemingly negative situation or at least a situation where we need help. I locked my keys in my car, I’m going to be late for work. I Gotchu… I’ll give you a ride. Hey let me get the check, oh man i forgot my wallet… don’t worry bro, I gotchu. I actually discovered this week that a bathroom attendant might be referred to as an “I gotchu bro.” If you’ve never had the experience of interacting with a bathroom attendant, this is someone that hangs out in the bathroom potentially hoarding everything that you need to manage your bathroom experience, looking for a tip when they provide all the necessary things that you need to complete your sanitary transactions. While I’ve frequently been thankful that in life there have been people that got me, the bathroom is one place I’ve always been good not getting got. Whatever of my feeble attempt at humor this morning, there are big things in life where we need to someone to get us, and in those times, God’s got us.

Text: Exodus 14:1-14

Intro: I’m going to share with you out of Exodus 14 this morning and as you find your way to the passage …jut keep in mind that we will be moving towards communion at the end of the service, Communion is a place where we remember that God definitely got us in what Jesus did in the work of the cross.

Transition to text: He’s got the whole world in his hands. Remember that song? He’s got the whole world in his hands, he’s got you and me brother, he’s got you and me sister, he’s got the little tiny babies in his hands. Those were part of the song, but then you could do this... he’s got you and me fill in the blank, he’s got all my anxiety… in his hands. He’s got my financial situation… he’s got it all. We’re going to jump back to the Old Testament today and look at a few lessons the Israelites learned that we can learn from as they headed out Egypt and towards the Red Sea. Exodus 14

TEXT: Exodus 14:1–5 “Now the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Tell the sons of Israel to turn back and camp in front of Pi-ha-hiroth, between Migdol and the sea; you shall camp in front of Baal-zephon, opposite it, by the sea. For Pharaoh will say of the sons of Israel, ‘They are wandering aimlessly in the land; the wilderness has shut them in.’ And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and he will chase after them; and I will be honored through Pharaoh and all his army, and the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord.” And they did so. When the king of Egypt was told that the people had fled, Pharaoh and his servants had a change of heart toward the people, and they said, “What is this that we have done, that we have let Israel go from serving us?”” Exodus 14:6–10 “So he had horses harnessed to his chariot and took his people with him; and he took six hundred select chariots, and all the other chariots of Egypt with officers over all of them. So the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and he chased after the sons of Israel as the sons of Israel were going out boldly. Then the Egyptians chased after them with all the horses and chariots of Pharaoh, his horsemen and his army, and they overtook them camping by the sea, beside Pi-ha-hiroth, in front of Baal-zephon. As Pharaoh approached, the sons of Israel looked, and behold, the Egyptians were coming after them, and they became very frightened; so the sons of Israel cried out to the Lord.” Exodus 14:11–14 “Then they said to Moses, “Is it because there were no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? Why have you dealt with us in this way, bringing us out of Egypt? Is this not the word that we spoke to you in Egypt, saying, ‘Leave us alone so that we may serve the Egyptians’? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness!” But Moses said to the people, “Do not fear! Stand by and see the salvation of the Lord, which He will perform for you today; for the Egyptians whom you have seen today, you will never see them again, ever. The Lord will fight for you, while you keep silent.”” PRAY

It’s a pretty familiar story, but worth reviewing a few high points, and I guess some low points as well. For starters the people of God had been in bondage and forced to do slave labor for 430 years in Egypt. Through God’s providential plagues against the people of Egypt, Pharaoh sent them away after the angel of death took his son, and now the Israelite people were free to make the voyage to the promised land led by the fearless or perhaps fearful leader Moses. In our text today they are stuck between a rock and watery place. Pharaoh determined to kill them or bring them back to Egypt on the one side, and an impassable body of water on the other. While we didn’t read this part of the story today many of us know that God would part the waters long enough for his people to cross on dry land, but no so long as to let their enemies, and the sea would swallow up the Egyptians, and God would receive the glory. God had their back, and their front and He’s got you too. He really does. So we are going to look at our story here today for three supporting thoughts that surround this truth. The first that we need to understand is that…

God’s Glory Is Always The Plan (Goal)

In verse 4 God said, I will be honored through Pharaoh and all his army, and the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord.”

I hope a few days ago that you considered the action that is described in the name of the holiday which we celebrated. Thanksgiving. I hope you gave thanks. Giving thanks is a time of reflection. Sometimes reflection leads to evaluation. I’m quite the goal setter and last Sunday night I realized I had 6 weeks left in the year, and decided to make 6 goals for the last 6 weeks of the year. I love a plan, and I like to be the one that makes it. But I was reminded this last week, that the goal always needs to be God’s glory. Whether we make it the goal or not, it still is, because God’s glory is always the plan He has in mind.

I wonder what the Israelites thought the plan was? With over a million people, there were undoubtedly a million opinions of what that might have looked like. Can you imagine a million people weighing in, and every single one of them being wrong? Man, that would have been a horrible board meeting. Regardless of how strong, intelligent, reliant, or spiritual any of them would have been, when they all threw their ideas into the hat, nobody had, “Maybe God is going to stand the water up like walls so we can walk through and then it will come back down just in the nick of time to swallow up our enemies.” I can hear the rest of the board members now. Who let this crazy youth pastor come to our meeting?

What happens though is we make our planning about lesser things. We get too wrapped up on the how or the what instead of the WHO and the Why. We talk about the financial sense the decision makes, we talk about who the decision might upset, we avoid jumping in until the plan can be perfect, only to see that we need to change the plan again. Sometimes I can come up with a list of reasons as to why things won’t work out. Let me tell you I’m human, I’m a rationale thinker, and sometimes there are a lot of compelling points as to why something won’t work. But sometimes when God is speaking to you as a leader, let me correct that, every single time when God is speaking to His leaders, people will doubt it, they will throw cold water on it, intentionally, maybe unintentionally. But if you fold to those who are doubting God’s hand in a situation you will be proving that YOUR glory, YOUR reputation, and YOUR name is more important to you. But if it’s about HIS glory, HIS reputation, and HIS name, you keep moving forward with the plan. Then you trust that because you are more concerned about His glory than yours, that He’s got you. He’s got you and He will take care of the details.

Transition: He’s got you because He is going to make His glory known through you. Next then, we see that our position is providential.

Your Position Is Providential

If we look back at our text, we can deduce that God didn’t need the Egyptians to pursue the Israelites in order for the miracle of the Red Sea to take place. He wouldn’t have needed to do that if His only purpose was to show Himself to His people, but His plan was bigger than that. You can see in the first few verses of the chapter that God told them to camp out where he did, 3 For Pharaoh will say of the sons of Israel, ‘They are wandering aimlessly in the land; the wilderness has shut them in. 4 Thus I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and he will chase after them; and I will be honored through Pharaoh and all his army, and the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord.”

Too many times I fear that we limit God’s purpose. Sometimes we are trying to guess or rationalize what he’s doing, we might even try to wrestle with the why. God’s not just building up His kingdom, He’s also tearing down the enemy’s. You could say yeah big deal Jonathan who cares what the Egyptians thought of what God was doing as they were all going to be swimming with the fishes anyhow. Fast forward 40 years to Joshua chapter 2 and when the Israelites were going to take over the promised land that the Jericho people were trembling at the approach of the Israelites because they had heard of a God who dried up the sea and then swallowed up the Egyptians. Listen to what Paul wrote to the church of Corinth about the matter in 2 Corinthians 10. He said, 4 the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. 5 We are destroying arguments and all arrogance raised against the knowledge of God. Is this not applicable today? Don’t we see arrogant arguments against the knowledge of God? He has you positioned not just to bring Him glory but also to defeat and overcome the enemy. How can we be afraid of an enemy who is afraid of our God? REPEAT? 40 years after God shows His glory to our enemy, it is still impacting the work He is going to do in the future generation. Are you ok with that? He’s Gotchu today. Are you ok with understanding that God has you right where he wants you, but in order for that statement to have value in your life…

You Have to Let God Work

That’s our third thought today surrounding the fact that God’s got you.

God knew they were going to look back to Egypt. Do you believe that? He knows we are going to look back. Sure we are. All the time. It’s one of our favorite things to do when there is a temporary hardship or setback. We like to criticize the current leadership or situation we are under, and romanticize the past. Moses was doing exactly what God told Him to do, but it didn’t make any sense to anyone else, so he was the bad guy. They knew best, and he ruined everything they had going for them. Listen to what a recent article in the New York Times said about this idea of looking back.

Researchers have observed that memories associated with negative emotions fade more quickly than those associated with positive emotions. This phenomenon is known as fading affect bias. It’s a coping mechanism. “You have to carry your past with you. If a memory hurt every time that you recalled it as much as when you experienced it, that would be unbearable.”… So in that sense it’s a blessing that God gives us. There are aspects of the past that we enjoy thinking about that tend to stick with us over time, while elements we don’t think about fade away. Our general tendency to recall positive memories over negative ones is especially pronounced when we feel discomfort in the present. A Christian should always see the present as the greatest moment they are living in because the Holy Spirit is dwelling with them in the here and the now. When we begin to recall the past as better than the present, or the prospect of the future, we are trying to avoid responsibility for our current attitude rather than to take ownership of some negativity or bitterness that we need to see resolved in ourselves.

In other words, we romanticize the past, because we don’t like the reality that we are living in. What this ultimately leads to, is us pursuing feelings over healing. REPEAT In Israel’s present state in our story today, Egypt represented a feeling, but the promised land represented their healing. In Egypt they had food, water, lodging, and the security of knowing what tomorrow held, even if it was unpleasant. Isn’t that wild that many of us remain enslaved to unhealthiness, unhappiness, or pain just so we can remain in control? But if we want to move from feeling to healing, we need to be ok with God wrecking our plan.

He knows you are going to look back…He knows you aren’t going to see the plan.. And… He knows.. THAT’S HOW you are going to see... He’s... God.

He’s Got you but you have to let Him get you… He’s Got You, If You Will Let Him Get You

The Israelites didn’t have a clue what to do in the situation they were in. They weren’t warriors, and they weren’t world class swimmers. Even Michael Phelps couldn’t have made it across The Red Sea that day. We live in a social media culture that has allowed us to believe we are somehow experts on things that we don’t have any business commenting about. (LIGHTLY) While most of us didn’t win a pee wee football championship when we were kids, we still know what coaching decisions would have helped win the game yesterday, right? Too soon?. But undoubtedly if we are of the opposite political party of whoever is in office, we would do a better job running the country than they would. I really think God must be weary of us thinking we know so much when we truly know so little. The scriptures teach us that God has knowledge for us that we don’t even understand, but from our story today what does God ask us to do to receive it??? God probably wouldn’t tell us to shut up but verse 14 of our text says, 14 The Lord will fight for you.... The Lord will fight for you.. while you keep silent.”

Lately in my prayer life, I’ve continued to hear God share this thought with me. Jonathan, will you just let things unfold? In other words, in the places where you don’t know what to do, don’t know what’s going to happen next, will you stand still, be quiet, and trust that I’m going to get you? God’s got you, but you have to let Him get you.

(INVITE TEAM) We are going to transition now to a time of communion… if you were unable to receive the elements today but would like to take part, if you will slip up your hand we will have someone get those to you. As we prepare for communion I wonder how we might tie today’s message into communion, a time of remembering the work of Christ on the cross. In John 12 Jesus looks ahead to his death and says that his soul is troubled, and rather than asking the Father to save him from that hour of death, He instead says that for this hour He came to fulfill His purpose. Then in John 12:28 He says, “Father, glorify Your name.” Then a voice came out of heaven: “I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again.”” Through Jesus death burial and resurrection we se glory brought to the name of God. We could say that Jesus’ death was a different thing all together and of course it was, but in John 21 Jesus says that Peter’s crucifixion would be the death that brought glory to God. We just like Peter are common men and women called to bring glory to His name. This morning as we take the cup let’s remember His suffering, let us consider our present suffering, and know that as we might suffer for the sake of righteousness that it is not in vain, as it is bringing glory to God’s name. Let’s take the cup together.

Let’s look to the bread... to the body. Jesus told the disciples that with great desire he desired to take the passover meal with them. Jesus was the epitome of presence. I wonder if we would long to be in His presence the way He desires to be present with us. Your position this morning is providential, you are right where He wants you if you will let Him begin or continue to do His work in you. You have to let Him work but it won’t look like how you would have done it. None of us would have been ok with what they did to the body of our Lord, but that was the plan. The cross isn’t how any of us would have went about it, but it was perfectly and completely the will of God. As we take the bread today, it’s not enough to simply remember what Jesus has done for us, but we are also called to share in it. I invite you if you feel led this morning that as we take the bread, to perhaps just pray, Lord I will share in it. Lord I will share in it. Let’s take the bread.

PRAY

INVITATION TO STAND AND WORSHIP AFTER COMMUNION

He’s got the whole world in his hands. What part of your world hasn’t moved from your hands to His? Today’s message was a message on trust, it’s a message on faith, it’s a message on humility, and submission. It means He’s got you if you will let Him get you. It means believing He is who He says He is and He’s going to do what He says He’s going to do. He’s done it before and He’s going to do it again. He never stops working on your behalf. All day, all night, He’s hanging out with the Father talking to Him about you, about me, about us. That’s pretty incredible.

As we take the next couple of minutes to worship and reflect, ask him for strength to keep going, ask him to forgive your lack of trust, turn it over to him. He’s got YOUR WHOLE WORLD in His hands, but only if you will quit holding on to it so tightly. No matter who you are, what your situation is, I can assure you that all of your stress, anxiety, and issues come from your struggle to relinquish complete control to God in one or more areas of your life. I really believe I can say that will all confidence, because when we turn it over to Him, He’s always got a plan for it. And all His plans towards us are always for our good. Or just as we sing this song, O the Blood, you could take the next few minutes to reflect and remember communion as we worship. Let’s worship.

POST SERVICE

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