Letting Go of Our Agenda

Introduction

Not many people enjoy going to the doctor, but according to Reuters, in 1994, one London accountant took that to an extreme. The sixty-three-year-old man knew he needed bladder surgery but he could not overcome his fear of doctors and hospitals. So he self-reliantly did what had to be done: He tried to perform the surgery on himself. Tragically he got an infection from the self-surgery and later died. The coroner said, “Unfortunately, [his] drastic remedy went wrong. A simple operation would have solved the problem.”

Just as this man didn’t trust doctors or hospitals, many people don’t trust God. In their self-reliance, they destroy themselves.

Scripture Introduction

Judah’s last kings were constantly seeking help from each other against the Babylonian threat

Potential Impact

When you know you are in God’s will, you can power through the tough times for you are sure you are where God wants you.

Connection: Everyday, we make multiple choices between trusting human wisdom or trusting Yahweh’s wisdom.

Take Home: To discern insight from Yahweh, first, let go of your solutions, then, gather wisdom from God.

Message Focus: How do we forsake human wisdom and draw from Yahweh’s wisdom.

First, Let Go of Your Solutions vv. 5-6

Jeremiah 17:5 “Thus says the Lord: “Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart turns away from the Lord.”

Blind girl running cross-country. As they obey the commands, they are able to negotiate the course and cross the finish line.

In this world we are blind on what course to take. We must rely on discerning the will of God, as He is the one who can see it all. Discernment from Him gives us the directions we need to finish well.

We need to be watchful of any human solution, but really, when we put it into practice, it now has become our solution.

Man גֶּ֙בֶר֙: Mighty man; height of his power (competence and capability).

Man אָדָ֔ם: Earthy man

Heart: Intellect

The problem is not with our flesh, but our intellect

Both routine and familiar, and life-changing decisions

Illustration

Jeremiah 17:6 “He is like a shrub in the desert, and shall not see any good come. He shall dwell in the parched places of the wilderness, in an uninhabited salt land.”

Not see any good come

Roots are not deep enough to get water. When rain comes, it just soaks past them through the sand.

Enablement- Letting Go

Remove any idea of a plan forward. Remove any idea of what options are available. We need to give God a blank slate.

You will probably need to keep coming back to this step.

Then, Gather Wisdom from Yahweh vv. 7-8

Rollercoasters. If we trust the design and maintenance, there is nothing to fear.

Our ability to feel secure and taken care of in the midst of the messiness of life is a measure of how much we trust Yahweh.

Jeremiah 17:7 ““Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord.”

Man

Mighty man must be combined with wisdom, which comes from God.

Trusts in Yahweh

Not belief, but hope. A sense of well-being and security. Because God is trustworthy and able.

Trust is Yahweh

Illustration

Jeremiah 17:8 “He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit.””

Sends out its roots

The tree is active. It is pursuing the nourishment of the water.

Not anxious in the year of drought

Though droughts come, a tree planted by water will still survive.

Application

Trust- Trust is authenticated by action.

Send out its roots- Be planted in Jesus and draw from Him.

Heat & drought- Trusting Yahweh effects your earthly walk as much as it relates to your eternal salvation.

When you know you are in God’s will, you can power through the tough times for you are sure you are where God wants you and He is in control and works all things for good to those who love him and are called according to his purposes. This is not the case when we go off of human wisdom. We can’t help but know we might have strayed from God.

Enablement- Sends out its roots

Look at the purpose of a passage laid on your heart is one of the most safeguarded ways of hearing from God (no proof texting; what does the passage really say in context?).

If we only pray about it, we giving a lot of room to our intellect.

Remember, Your Thoughts Can Be Misleading v. 9

Jeremiah 17:9 “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?”

Heart: intellect

Jer 6:14 tells us what happened in Jerusalem with the false prophets. People believed them, because this is what they wanted to hear.

Will you be a shrub or a tree? Will you trust human wisdom or trust Yahweh. If Yahweh, then you need to be drawing from His wisdom.

Summary

To gain insight from Yahweh, we must first relinquish our preconceived notions and personal solutions that cloud our judgment. Only then can we open ourselves to receiving the divine wisdom that God imparts.

A Possible Next Step

Avenues to Connect with God

Outdoors

Intellect

Blessing Someone

Senses

Solitude

Cause

Contemplate

Pattern

Enthusiast