In our Waiting

Good morning!!! My name is Ryan Hanson and I have the honor of serving here at The Light KC as the lead pastor. I’m so glad you’re here with us, and a special welcome to those joining us online. We hope your doing well and hope to see you in person in the coming weeks.

KIDS SERMON - Advent Week 2

Bethlehem Candle (Candle of Peace)

Explanation

The Bethlehem candle reminds us that Jesus was born in Bethlehem. It too is purple, reminding us that it was a king who was born in the manger.

Scripture

Micah 5:2 (NIV)

“But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,

though you are small among the clans of Judah,

out of you will come for me

one who will be ruler over Israel,

whose origins are from of old,

from ancient times.”

Luke 2:1–7 (NIV)

In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) And everyone went to their own town to register.

So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.

Choose child to help light the candle

ME/INTRO - Tension

Good morning again.

Last week we started our Advent series called “God with Us”, focusing on how God is with us - In our Pain, where we discussed how we may enjoy God in the mountaintops, we get to know Him intimately in the valleys. For those of you who may have missed it, we talked about how every journey or Pilgrimage we take to a good place requires that we pass through some valleys. These valleys are not places we want to be, typically full of pain and misery. But while we’re there, God calls us to keep our minds right, focusing on Him and the destination He’s given us. We’re also called to do something. God calls us to dig symbolic wells, preparing a place we believe in Faith that God will fill with His provision. And…through it all, we need to rely on God’s strength, not our own, for each step we take through the valley to the promised destination God has given us.

This week I want to dig (pun intended) a little deeper into what God calls us to do after we’ve built the symbolic wells and while we’re waiting for God’s provision to fill them.

The title of today’s sermon is “God is With Us - In our Waiting”.

Sometimes, as with my example last week, it doesn’t take long. God blessed me with a new job almost immediately after I finished my MBA.

Unfortunately, sometimes that is not the case, and God’s timing is longer than we’d hope for. Sometimes God calls us to wait for quite a long time before He provides His provision. This has been true of my life. Back in college all my friends were in serious relationships and I wasn’t. Things just weren’t clicking. I dated here and there, but most of the time I didn’t. There just wasn’t anyone who I could see myself in a long term relationship with.

I was in a valley. I wanted to be married some day. I didn’t feel that God was calling me to be single my entire life. Yet things weren’t working out. I tried to follow what we spoke about last week. I tried to keep my mind right, focusing on school, later my job, filling my free time with serving and exercise, and trying to avoid things like endless TV watching and video games. I tried to dig wells, by getting to know girls that God put in my path through the serving or exercising. Yet nothing. Year after year went by. I saw my friends get married, have kids, and I was still single, waiting.

WE - Tension

I don’t know all of your stories. I don’t know all the ways that you’ve been stuck in the valleys of your life, waiting on God’s provision, doing everything you can, but not seeing the end to your waiting.

But do I know that during our lives, if we haven’t yet, most of us, if not all of us, will at some point be stuck waiting for something. Maybe...

Healing for a medical issue for ourselves or someone we care about

Relief from financial struggles

A family, maybe that’s a spouse, kids, or reconciliation with an estranged relative

Or something else

Unfortunately, there is no magic bullet. I can’t give 3 steps to getting God’s provision now. What we can do is look at a biblical character who, like us, has tried everything he could to serve God well and when he thinks he’s done suffering, the provision he’s looking for doesn’t come, and the waiting continues.

I’m talking about Elijah. I’d like to turn to 1 Kings 18-19 and see what we can learn from Elijah on how we can navigate the waiting of life.

We’ll have the scripture on the screen, but if you have a Bible with you, or Bible app on your phone, I’d encourage you to turn to the passage and follow along. There is nothing that replaces having God’s word in your hand. As you turn there I’d like to give you a little background on Elijah.

Elijah was a prophet during the reigns of Ahab and Ahaziah (9th century BC)

Elijah’s name means “my God is Yahweh” which I think is pretty awesome given he’s a prophet

He performed many miracles geared toward presenting a proper vision of who God is, God’s power over nature, but also care for the disadvantaged

1 Kings 17:1, Elijah announces a drought

1 Kings 17: 2-6, Elijah is fed by God through Ravens

1 Kings 17:7-24, Elijah performed a miracle that made widow’s flour and oil last through drought

Elijah was known for his work to prove The LORD was superior to local deities. Specifically his opposition to Baal worship

And this is where we pick up Elijah’s story...

GOD - Text

When we meet Elijah in 1 Kings 18 he is 3 years into the drought that God had him announce in Chapter 17. He’s been ministered to by God through Ravens and seen God’s power through the miracle he performed for the widow and her son.

He’s in a valley, experiencing drought and famine, but strength by strength has seen God’s provision throughout.

BUT…in Chapter 18 Elijah sees an end to valley

1 Kings 18:1 (NIV)

After a long time, in the third year, the word of the Lord came to Elijah: “Go and present yourself to Ahab, and I will send rain on the land.”

Elijah does just that and in a dramatic display of God’s power goes head to head with the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel. Elijah challenges the prophets of Baal to a competition to show the people who the true God is. The prophets of Baal and Elijah set up an offering and the first God to answer the prophet’s call by fire wins.

The prophets of Baal setup their alter and prayed for half a day, they danced, they even cut themselves with swords and spears, but nothing happened to their offering.

Then it was Elijah’s turn

And here is when we see the faith of Elijah

Elijah doesn’t just setup the alter, he makes it nearly impossible for God to win.

1 Kings 18:33–35 (NIV)

He arranged the wood, cut the bull into pieces and laid it on the wood. Then he said to them, “Fill four large jars with water and pour it on the offering and on the wood.”

“Do it again,” he said, and they did it again.

“Do it a third time,” he ordered, and they did it the third time. The water ran down around the altar and even filled the trench.

In a competition to see which God will set the offering on fire, Elijah soaks the offering and the wood with water.

I don’t know about you, but I really respect the faith Elijah had

And in the next verse we see why he’s making it so hard for God to win this competition

1 Kings 18:36–37 (NIV)

At the time of sacrifice, the prophet Elijah stepped forward and prayed: “Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, let it be known today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant and have done all these things at your command. Answer me, Lord, answer me, so these people will know that you, Lord, are God, and that you are turning their hearts back again.”

Elijah is making a situation so unbelievable, believing in faith that God will act, so that the people will turn from Baal worship and go back to worshipping the one true God

Which begs the question of us all…

What are we willing to do for the lost?

What faith do we have in God to act to save those who don’t believe?

What is the Holy Spirit calling us to do, but we don’t, because we are afraid it won’t work out and we’ll look foolish?

Well…God did act, and acted in a huge way and the people put their faith in God

1 Kings 18:38–39 (NIV)

Then the fire of the Lord fell and burned up the sacrifice, the wood, the stones and the soil, and also licked up the water in the trench.

When all the people saw this, they fell prostrate and cried, “The Lord—he is God! The Lord—he is God!”

I found this painting representing the scene. Not sure if this is what it really looked like, but could you imagine if you were there?

[Elijah - God bringing fire to offering]

Elijah must have felt amazing. Right after God consumed the offering in fire, the Bible says Elijah climbed to the top of Mount Carmel, looked toward the sea and told his servant to look toward the sea for clouds. He asked him seven times to go to the sea and look, knowing that the rain was going to start.

Elijah’s faith seems to be so strong at this point.

And in verse 44-45 the Bible says

1 Kings 18:44–45 (NIV)

The seventh time the servant reported, “A cloud as small as a man’s hand is rising from the sea.”

So Elijah said, “Go and tell Ahab, ‘Hitch up your chariot and go down before the rain stops you.’ ”

Meanwhile, the sky grew black with clouds, the wind rose, a heavy rain started falling and Ahab rode off to Jezreel.

Elijah must have felt that he had made it through the valley. The drought was over and the Israelites had put their faith back in God.

He was literally standing on a mountaintop.

BUT...

With Elijah literally on top of the world, his waiting for an end to his valley experience is not over.

1 Kings 19:1–2 (NIV)

Now Ahab told Jezebel everything Elijah had done and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword. So Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah to say, “May the gods deal with me, be it ever so severely, if by this time tomorrow I do not make your life like that of one of them.”

Elijah was now being hunted and threatened with death.

Now remember, Elijah has personally experienced God’s power time and time again. He had shown how deep his faith was in God’s ability to do the impossible. After such an amazing experience as he just had seeing God burn up the offering, including the water and rocks, I’d imagine the threat from a singular person, even if she is the queen, would not be anything that could shake Elijah.

Well…in CH19V3, we see that Elijah’s faith had been shaken.

1 Kings 19:3–4 (NIV)

Elijah was afraid and ran for his life. When he came to Beersheba in Judah, he left his servant there, while he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness. He came to a broom bush, sat down under it and prayed that he might die. “I have had enough, Lord,” he said. “Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors.”

A commentator summarized this verse as follows:

Elijah had forgotten the lessons God had been teaching him at Kerith, Zarephath, and Carmel. His eyes were on his circumstances rather than on the Lord. His statement that he was no better than his ancestors (19:4) suggests that he was no more successful than his forefathers in ousting Baal-worship from Israel.

T.L. Constable - The Bible Knowledge Commentary

For perspective, Elijah didn’t just run away. Elijah ran away.

[Map of Elijah’s Journey]

The distance from Mt Carmel to Beer-Sheba is over 100 miles. I have on my bucket list to run a 100 miles race and it takes 24-36 hours if you’re very well trained. The average person back in Biblical times traveled 20 miles a day. He ran 5 days away from Jezebel. And if that wasn’t enough, after running over 100 miles, he had enough and feeling like a failure wanted God to take his life.

Another commentator, C.R. Wilson summarizes Elijah’s fall as follows.

The despair that was stabbing Elijah’s heroic faith was overwhelming because of an unanswered question: Was Jehovah really God when Jezebel’s power remained intact?

C.R. Wilson - Wesleyan Bible Commentary

Elijah went from valley to mountain top to an even deeper valley, where he had forgotten all of the lessons that God had taught him, lost all his faith in God’s power and sovereignty. He ran an amazing race and got tripped up at the last hurdle.

BUT…God didn’t leave him there. God sent an angel to attend to him, get him something to eat, and call him to finish the journey.

That’s right, after all Elijah had gone through

3.5 years of drought and famine

Head to head battle with the prophets of Baal

Death threats from Jezebel

Running 100+ miles

He was not done.

Does this ring true for you? When you feel like you have nothing left, you’re asking to keep giving.

When you feel like the journey should be over, instead of an exit ramp, God calls you to the entrance ramp of another expressway and keep going?

God didn’t just call Elijah to keep going, he called him to walk an additional 40 days and 40 night down to Mt Horeb (more commonly known as Mt Sinai).

That’s right, God called Elijah to go an additional 200+ miles. A journey that should only take 10 days, takes over 40 days by the path God takes him on.

[Map of Elijah’s Journey]

I can only imagine what happened over those 40 days, but I’d imagine God was working on Elijah during that time. I’d imagine God was rebuilding Elijah spiritually, re-growing Elijah’s faith in God’s sovereignty over any problem, and teaching him to have peace and comfort in the knowledge that God is right there with him, and always has been.

And yet, after 200 miles and 40 days with God Elijah doesn’t get it.

1 Kings 19:9–10 (NIV)

There he went into a cave and spent the night.

And the word of the Lord came to him: “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

He replied, “I have been very zealous for the Lord God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, torn down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.”

After all that Elijah is still blind to the pain he was feeling. Elijah knew he wasn’t the only one left. Back in Chapter 18 he was told the prophets were hidden in the caves. He saw the Israelites put their faith back in God.

I want to stop there and ask you…have you ever been hurting so bad that nothing can console you? The truth doesn’t seem to matter as the pain you’re feeling is so acute?

This is the main point I want to make today...

Your deepest need, as much as it hurts, your deepest need becomes a gift, when it drives you to depend on God

God doesn’t cause your pain, but He will be with you through it, and won’t waste it, using it to teach you what you need to learn

Elijah’s valley ends on Mt Horeb / Sinai. God has Elijah stand on the mountain. A powerful wind rushes by. An earthquake occurs. And then a fire broke out. God wasn’t in the wind, the earthquake, or the fire.

God was in the Gentle Whisper that came after the fire.

I always found this weird. God has shown himself to people in the Bible in all these forms; wind, earthquakes, and fire. So why a whisper here???

After all Elijah’s running, God wanted Elijah to know that He was close. It didn’t matter how far Elijah ran, God was right there.

You only whisper when the person you’re talking to is close.

I think God wants us all to know this.

God is close to you, he loves you, he’s watching over you.

We don’t need to run to God and we can’t run away from God, because He’s always with us.

God is close

This is not unique to Elijah. We see this theme throughout scripture

We see this in the words of David in the Psalms. As David is running from Saul, he writes Psalm 27. Starting in V7:

Psalm 27:7–14 (NIV)

Hear my voice when I call, Lord;

be merciful to me and answer me.

My heart says of you, “Seek his face!”

Your face, Lord, I will seek.

Do not hide your face from me,

do not turn your servant away in anger;

you have been my helper.

Do not reject me or forsake me,

God my Savior.

Though my father and mother forsake me,

the Lord will receive me.

Teach me your way, Lord;

lead me in a straight path

because of my oppressors.

Do not turn me over to the desire of my foes,

for false witnesses rise up against me,

spouting malicious accusations.

I remain confident of this:

I will see the goodness of the Lord

in the land of the living.

Wait for the Lord;

be strong and take heart

and wait for the Lord.

Here David gets it. He ends his Psalm with “Wait for the Lord”.

Here the word “wait” is the Hebrew work

Wait (qavah)

eagerly

expectantly

hopefully

patiently

It’s more than just waiting, doing nothing. We need to wait eagerly, expectantly, hopefully, and patiently. David recognizes that God’s timing is best and our job is to faithfully wait for God’s timing.

YOU - Takeaway

So I’ll come back to you.

What are you waiting for?

Have you already, or are you close to giving up like Elijah?

Or do you have the patient, expectant hope of David?

I came across a visual that helped me get some perspective.

Has anyone heard of how Chinese Bamboo grows?

Chinese bamboo is one of the fastest growing plants in the world. It can literally grow 90-100 feet tall in 6 weeks. You can literally watch it grow.

Here is a time lapse of 5-days of growth

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kJqRLjKlmdY&t=29s]

The thing about Chinese bamboo is that it doesn’t grow that fast right when you plant it.

It takes 5-years between when it is planted and when you start to see growth.

For 5-years the farmer needs to water and fertilize the seeds, while seeing no progress.

If the seeds aren’t tended during the entire 5-years, nothing will grow.

But if the farmer if faithful, diligent, expectant, and very patient after 5-years they’ll see a forest grow in 6-weeks.

The growth for a bamboo tree can be graphed like this

[Bamboo graph]

So what’s happening during those 5-years…The roots are growing.

Everything occuring during the 5-years is under the surface, preparing the plant for rapid growth.

The same is true of us during these times of waiting.

God is not passively sitting around doing nothing.

During our seasons of waiting, God is growing your spiritual roots.

God is doing exactly what He did with Elijah within us. He’s growing us spiritually, deepening our faith, and teaching us to be patiently comfortable just sitting in God’s presence knowing that He’s always near.

So...

What roots is God growing in your right now, while you wait to get out of your valley?

WE / JESUS - Redemptive Close - Call to Action

As we wrap up, God did get me out of the long valley of waiting. I met Andrea when I was 28 years old while volunteering at church. We dated for a year, got engaged on our 1 year anniversary, and married 6 months later.

God knew I needed to develop some roots in my life before I was ready for marriage. I needed to learn to rely on Him and not another person for validation. I had to be at peace being alone before I could be the spouse that Andrea deserved. I wasn’t ready. God was working on my roots for a long time before I was ready.

I believe God may be doing the same in your lives.

But God is not only patient when He teaches us...

2 Peter 3:8–9 (NIV)

But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.

Maybe you haven’t given your life to Christ to be your personal savior. Maybe you have but have friends that haven’t.

I find huge amounts of comfort in the fact that our God is patient, lovingly waiting for us to come to repentance and put our faith in His Son Jesus Christ.

Maybe God has been growing roots of faith in you and now is your time to break ground and say “yes” to accepting Jesus as your Lord and Savior.

If this is your day, please see me after service. I’d love to talk and pray with you.

Maybe today is your day to break ground and start a conversation with your friend, share your faith, and invite them into a relationship with Jesus.

Waiting may be hard but remember...

Your deepest need, as much as it hurts, your deepest need becomes a gift, when it drives you to depend on God

PRAYER

Will you join me in prayer...

SONG

As we enter into our final song, I want to open the steps up front as an altar to anyone who find themselves in a time of waiting. The steps are open for you to pray to the God who is with you, who loves you, you wants to give you His peace, and who wants to develop in you the roots you need for the growth He has planned for you.

You may feel a hand on your shoulder as I or one of the elders join you in prayer.

Open up front (ALTAR) for prayer during song

BENEDICTION

2 Corinthians 1:3–7 (NIV)

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ. If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer. And our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort.

This week, as we find ourselves still waiting, desperate for the provision of God, remember...

God is with you

God will never leave you

God is working to develop deep roots in you of spiritual strength and deep faith

Go our this week, with a peace that surpasses all understanding, based on the knowledge that God is in control and wants to comfort you in what ever trouble you find yourself in.

I hope you have a great week.

Go in peace.

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