How to get through Delays (2)
How to get through what you are going through • Sermon • Submitted
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Several months ago, my family came to visit us from Wales and when my brother and his family left they had to be in San Francisco at 9:00 am in the morning to catch their flight back home… We left Richvale nice and early around 4:30am in the morning, thinking that we had given ourselves enough time to get to the airport. When hit the San Francisco just before the tolls there were 10 lanes of traffic travelling bumper to bumper and they are just crawling along… In 30 minutes, we moved less than a mile… When we looked at the GPS we were now within a 40-minute window of getting to the San Francisco airport on time. Until this point we were doing fine and we had even stopped for a cup of coffee… feeling kind of relaxed. But when we saw how much we had been delayed in the traffic we started to get a little worried and regretting our stop… Every minute counted…Fortunately, the traffic cleared up after the toll and we managed to make up some time and catch the flights.
How to get through Delays
How to get through Delays
How to get through Delays
Several months ago, my family came to visit us from Wales and when my brother and his family left they had to be in San Francisco at 9:00 am in the morning to catch their flight back home… We left Richvale nice and early around 4:30am in the morning, thinking that we had given ourselves enough time to get to the airport. When hit the San Francisco just before the tolls there were 10 lanes of traffic travelling bumper to bumper and they are just crawling along… In 30 minutes, we moved less than a mile… When we looked at the GPS we were now within a 40-minute window of getting to the San Francisco airport on time. Until this point we were doing fine and we had even stopped for a cup of coffee… feeling kind of relaxed. But when we saw how much we had been delayed in the traffic we started to get a little worried and regretting our stop… Every minute counted…Fortunately, the traffic cleared up after the toll and we managed to make up some time and catch the flights.
We are in a sermon series entitled ‘getting through what you are going through.” This morning we are going to talk about getting through delays…
What is a delay? Delay can mean a few things –
it can mean that something is postponed to a different date. We have all had to change our plans because something unexpected came up… still happening but the timing has changed.
Delay can also mean that things are slowing down…. you are going in the the right direction—but you are loosing momentum … you are at the airport.. looking for your flight on the tv and it comes us as delayed..
Delay can also mean you have completely stop, to hinder or detain…Frank and Shirley recently experience this on their trip… where there flights weren’t just delayed and when they looked again they were cancelled..
One of the challenges of encountering a delay… are the feelings of disappoints and frustration… hopelessness.. we need to remember that DELAYS Are not DENIALS -- God is often working his purposes… in the middle of our delays…
Delays can be those times of strengthening and renewal…
but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.
Isais
but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.
but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.
Last week we talked about David’s mighty men turning on him at Ziglag --- his men wanted to stone him and the scriptures says But David Strengthened himself in the Lord..
Last week we talked about David’s mighty men turning on him at Ziglag --- his men wanted to stone him and the scriptures says But David Strengthened himself in the Lord..
The PROPHET Habakkuk talks about waiting for the appointed time..
For still the vision awaits its appointed time; it hastens to the end—it will not lie. If it seems slow, wait for it; it will surely come; it will not delay.
Delays can be times of vision holding onto what God has spoken in the past. …. we can find ourselves in a Period between now and not yet.. There is an appointed time for fulfillment of the vision.. even though it seems slow wait for it… these are times when we can grow in our faith… Abraham the patriarch of faith …waited patiently and obtained the promise.
For still the vision awaits its appointed time; it hastens to the end—it will not lie. If it seems slow, wait for it; it will surely come; it will not delay.
:3For still the vision awaits its appointed time; it hastens to the end—it will not lie. If it seems slow, wait for it; it will surely come; it will not delay.
Delays can be times of vision holding onto what God has spoken in the past. …. we can find ourselves in a Period between now and not yet.. There is an appointed time for fulfillment of the vision.. even though it seems slow wait for it… these are times when we can grow in our faith… Abraham the patriarch of faith …waited patiently and obtained the promise.
Sometimes we feel that we have been out on the bench for the season… we are out of the game.. DELAYS are not DENIALS rather they can be times and seasons of preparedness for something greater… preparing us for greater service or greater impact..
There are basically two kinds of Delays… there are human delays and Divine Delays…what we have to do is discern the difference…
T/S There are three questions to ask when facing a delay. The first question to ask is:
1. What is Causing the Delay?
1. What is Causing the Delay?
One of the reasons we can experience delays is that we have lost our vision for the future. We see this in the life of Israel..
The book of Numbers is the record of Israel journey into the promised land - It’s the story of their forty-year history From Mt Sinai to the promised land…
Moses apparently kept a “log book” - a diary of sorts where he noted significant events in their journey. There are some incredible things in Moses diary… God had led people out of Egyptian bondage - they had witnesses miracle after miracle… have gone over the Red Sea…. God has provided and sustained the nation with water, manna and quail…. they had been Lead by the Shekinah Glory… the visible presence of God….a cloud by day and fire by night…
But Moses also record the difficulties of the trip…it’s been a little like a bad road trip...… the people got hungry and thirsty ....and were constantly complaining…. They kept on wanting to turn back to Egypt…
Despite all the challenges in just 10 Days they arrive on the Edge of the Promised land…they are camped in the Desert of Paran – which runs parallel to the land of Canaan.
They are literally on the edge of what God has promised them 100’s of years before through Abraham promise ()…
This was the generation God had chosen to occupy the promised land…what a privilege to be the ones chosen by God… sometimes we need to remember how awesome it is to be chosen by God… .. Just like Israel God has called and set apart the church for mission … the Greek word for church is ekklessia chosen set apart… for purpose.
But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
we are chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, that you are to proclaim the praises of him who called you out of Darkness into Marvelous light?
we are chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, that you are to proclaim the praises of him who called you out of Darkness into Marvelous light?
So, Israel is on the Edge of the promise and God has called theminto blessing and he gives Moses the instructions ..to send men to spy out the land.
The Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
“Send men to spy out the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the people of Israel. From each tribe of their fathers you shall send a man, every one a chief among them.”
Numbers 13
The Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
“Send men to spy out the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the people of Israel. From each tribe of their fathers you shall send a man, every one a chief among them.”
ESV
The spies are on reconnaissance mission they are scout the land for forty days they are to find out what kind of people live in Canaan… they are discover the strengths and weaknesses of the people… they are to take note of how productive the land is…,they are to bring back a report of their findings
The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Send men to spy out the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the people of Israel. From each tribe of their fathers you shall send a man, everyone a chief among them.”
The spies are on reconnaissance mission they are scout the land for forty days they are to find out what kind of people live in Canaan… they are discover the strengths and weaknesses of the people… they are to take note of how productive the land is…,they are to bring back a report of their findings
What is interesting about this text: In when God spoke to Moses back in Egypt he had already told Moses that the land was good and spacious a land flowing with milk and honey....So …. why would God command Moses to send men into spy out the land? Moses already new that the land was full of abundance…
The reason is simply is that it was for Israels Benefit.
God wanted Israel as a community to get a taste of what the blessing he had in store for their future.. if we are going to get through delays we need to a vision.., a vision is a picture of a preferred future….
To have a vision means that we have this perspective of life where we are moving forward toward blessing to the way things could be or ought to be… one of the reason we left AFRICA twenty years ago.. is because of a vision of a brighter future..
Remember this generation had grown up struggling in Egypt… most of their lives they were told what they couldn’t do.. there were always boundaries in Egypt.. God is now removing boundaries of impossibilities and telling them what was formally impossible is now possible…
Everyone of us needs to have a vision
proverbs 29:18 Where there is no vision, the people perish
God’s intension was to bring Israel into His blessing… it’s the same word that Jeremiah give they…God knows the plan towards it is and it is to give us a hope and a future…
God’s intention towards us is that we would be people who are brought into blessing…. The reason God wants to bless his people is so that they can be a blessing to others..that others can see God’s goodness and graciousness in our lives
One of the reasons that we experience delays is that we have simply lost our vision..
Another reason for Delays is simply our own Disobedience
When Pam was in her last trimester about to deliver Ryan… we typical parents - bags packed and ready to go. it is your first child and so you want to get it right. Pam had the Braxton hicks so we had a few practice runs. But the day arrived… and it all happened… fast… When we arrived at the hospital the first thing they had me do is fill out all the forms for our medical insurance…
One of the forms we signed we had to declare that Pam had a “self inflicted illness” … I don’t know a about you but I have never thought about pregnancy being self inflicted…
The Delays we experience in life can be self-inflicted… A Self-inflicted delay is an obedience question…
If we are going to be people who obtain God’s promises we need to visionary but we also have to be people of faith and obedience.
InVerse 25 the 12 spies return from their 40 day mission And they give a mixed report.
At the end of forty days they returned from spying out the land.
And they came to Moses and Aaron and to all the congregation of the people of Israel in the wilderness of Paran, at Kadesh. They brought back word to them and to all the congregation, and showed them the fruit of the land.
And they told him, “We came to the land to which you sent us. It flows with milk and honey, and this is its fruit.
However, the people who dwell in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified and very large. And besides, we saw the descendants of Anak there.
The Amalekites dwell in the land of the Negeb. The Hittites, the Jebusites, and the Amorites dwell in the hill country. And the Canaanites dwell by the sea, and along the Jordan.”
But Caleb quieted the people before Moses and said, “Let us go up at once and occupy it, for we are well able to overcome it.”
Moses and the leaders of Israel hear the report and it’s a mixed review. The report about the land’s fertility is positive, but there is a general pessimism about Israel’s ability to occupy it… the land is fruitful… but the problem is that it is going to be impossible to posses the land
At the end of forty days they returned from spying out the land.
And they came to Moses and Aaron and to all the congregation of the people of Israel in the wilderness of Paran, at Kadesh. They brought back word to them and to all the congregation, and showed them the fruit of the land.
And they told him, “We came to the land to which you sent us. It flows with milk and honey, and this is its fruit.
However, the people who dwell in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified and very large. And besides, we saw the descendants of Anak there.
The Amalekites dwell in the land of the Negeb. The Hittites, the Jebusites, and the Amorites dwell in the hill country. And the Canaanites dwell by the sea, and along the Jordan.”
But Caleb quieted the people before Moses and said, “Let us go up at once and occupy it, for we are well able to overcome it.”
ESV
At the end of forty days they returned from spying out the land. And they came to Moses and Aaron and to all the congregation of the people of Israel in the wilderness of Paran, at Kadesh. They brought back word to them and to all the congregation, and showed them the fruit of the land. And they told him, “We came to the land to which you sent us. It flows with milk and honey, and this is its fruit. However, the people who dwell in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified and very large. And besides, we saw the descendants of Anak there.
The Amalekites dwell in the land of the Negeb. The Hittites, the Jebusites, and the Amorites dwell in the hill country. And the Canaanites dwell by the sea, and along the Jordan.” But Caleb quieted the people before Moses and said, “Let us go up at once and occupy it, for we are well able to overcome it.
Moses and the leaders of Israel hear the report and it’s a mixed review. The report about the land’s fertility is positive, but there is a general pessimism about Israel’s ability to occupy it… the land is fruitful… but the problem is that it is going to be impossible to posses the land
Out of twelve of the spies only two come back positive report .. Only Caleb and Joshua are confident that the land can be possessed….
Have you noticed that Faith always goes against the odds..you have to love the Faith of Caleb—let us go at once… let’s drop everything that we are doing…. Let’s occupy the land now - For we are well able to occupy the land….
Faith looks at the opportunities ….rather than all the obstacles … Abraham when was nearly a 100 years when he was told he would be the father of any nation
In hope he believed against hope, that he should become the father of many nations, as he had been told, “So shall your offspring be.”
In hope he believed against hope, that he should become the father of many nations, as he had been told, “So shall your offspring be.”
Rom:
fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised.
That is why his faith was “counted to him as righteousness.”
fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised.
That is why his faith was “counted to him as righteousness.”
God has given them a promise to inherit the land… God has laid out the vision clearly before them and they have literary seen what God is giving them… what hinders there faith is unbelief that leads to disobedience…
fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised.
Romans 4
21fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised.22That is why his faith was “counted to him as righteousness
God has given them a promise to inherit the land… God has laid out the vision clearly before them and they have literary seen what God is giving them… what hinders there faith is unbelief that leads to disobedience…
They loose their vision and they are caught up in disobedience..
t/s There are three questions we can ask when facing delays
1. What is Causing the Delay?
1. What is Causing the Delay?
1. What is Causing the Delay?
2.What is my Attitude towards the Delay?
2.What is my Attitude towards the Delay?
Our attitudes really come form what we think about –
The Bible tells us in proverbs 23:7 that as a man thinks so is he.
for he is like one who is inwardly calculating. “Eat and drink!” he says to you, but his heart is not with you.
that as a man thinks so is he.
p
Our thoughts affect the way we feel and the way we feel affects our behavior. Our attitudes are developed through our experiences and interactions in the world… our attitude is our approach to life…
In other words what we think about…is what we become…
No wonder the apostle Paul’s tells us in Philippians to have the same (mind) attitude that is in Christ Jesus..who humbled himself and took on the role of servant… our attitudes have to be guarded… it is easy to get disgruntled and bitter in times of delay…. Waiting can be a blessing…
Waiting can be a blessing…
I have a friend Jeff… who is currently in the middle of transition – he had his family moved to OR – I called him the other day..to see how he is doing.. He is using this Delay in his life for personal growth… he is refocusing of goals… I called to encourage him and he was so positive that I ended up feeling encouraged… attitude matters,
We need to ask what is my attitude towards my delay?
Do my attitudes reflect Faith or Fear?
Israel began to look at the Giants and the obstacles in the land.. as the narrative continues this becomes even more apparent. The report is given a second time before the whole congregation of Israel – this time the story has been affected by the wrong attitudes… thinking has effected their feelings and is now affecting their behavior..
Num
So they brought to the people of Israel a bad report of the land that they had spied out, saying, “The land, through which we have gone to spy it out, is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people that we saw in it are of great height.
And there we saw the Nephilim (the sons of Anak, who come from the Nephilim), and we seemed to ourselves like grasshoppers, and so we seemed to them.”
So they brought to the people of Israel a bad report of the land that they had spied out, saying, “The land, through which we have gone to spy it out, is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people that we saw in it are of great height.
And there we saw the Nephilim (the sons of Anak, who come from the Nephilim), and we seemed to ourselves like grasshoppers, and so we seemed to them.”
The second time the story is told the bad report is much worse..or some what embellished...These are incredible statements …The first report say the land is good and flowing with milk and honey… the second report saysl… “The land devours those living in it.”
Number 13:32 So they brought to the people of Israel a bad report of the land that they had spied out, saying, “The land, through which we have gone to spy it out, is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people that we saw in it are of great height. 33 And there we saw the Nephilim (the sons of Anak, who come from the Nephilim), and we seemed to ourselves like grasshoppers, and so we seemed to them.”
The second time the story is told the bad report is much worse..or some what embellished...These are incredible statements …The first report say the land is good and flowing with milk and honey… the second report saysl… “The land devours those living in it.”
The people that were normal giants have been super sized... we seemed to ourselves like grasshoppers, and so we seemed to them.”
Have you noticed that Fear often Enlarges the problem.. …the problem here is not that the Giants got bigger But that God got smaller…
Every time you move forward in life you are going to face giants…. And there is always going to be that part of us that thinks… this is too big..
But in order to inherit the promise you to move toward the giant…wrong attitudes can affects those around us.
wrong attitudes can affects those around us.
wrong attitudes can affects those around us.
We live in a day where pretty much anything is possible ..there is not too much that happens in the news that can shock us…and so it becomes easy to believe things people saying… especially with social media..
I have noticed that people have been posting fake news of famous people dying on FB …there is this kind of shock factor … then you search it and find out that it is all a rumor…
It is amazing how quickly false reports can spread! Often times we believe these reports… this is what is happening in Israel… if everyone is saying it… it must be true!
Then all the congregation raised a loud cry, and the people wept that night.
And all the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron. The whole congregation said to them, “Would that we had died in the land of Egypt! Or would that we had died in this wilderness!
Then all the congregation raised a loud cry, and the people wept that night.
And all the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron. The whole congregation said to them, “Would that we had died in the land of Egypt! Or would that we had died in this wilderness!
Why is the Lord bringing us into this land, to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will become a prey. Would it not be better for us to go back to Egypt?”
And they said to one another, “Let us choose a leader and go back to Egypt.”
ESV
The Israelite community reacted to the report of the 10 spies with fear and frenzy, they discount the credibility of Caleb’s minority report and his visionary challenge to go forth and conquer the land with God’s power and presence.
Then all the congregation raised a loud cry, and the people wept that night. And all the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron. The whole congregation said to them, “Would that we had died in the land of Egypt! Or would that we had died in this wilderness! Why is the Lord bringing us into this land, to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will become a prey. Would it not be better for us to go back to Egypt?” And they said to one another, “Let us choose a leader and go back to Egypt.”
The Israelite community reacted to the report of the 10 spies with fear and frenzy, they discount the credibility of Caleb’s minority report and his visionary challenge to go forth and conquer the land with God’s power and presence.
…I want you to take note at the progression of their emotions..… they are overwhelmed and upset… they go to bed and cry themselves to sleep… Their feelings are impacting their beliefs and their beliefs are impacting behavior they begin to grumble and complain against their leaders… They Bemoaning their current predicament.... they decide that the problem is their leaders… the leaders were not taking them where they wanted to go… solution is to choose a new leader who will take us to where we want to go... One of the reasons we get stuck in delays is that we are blaming other people for our predicament…. Here is the problem those people who we think caused the problem has moved on… You are the only one in the room.
. Faith is looking at the Facts… It’s using prudence… Faith is looking is also waiting on God and hearing what he is saying ... . Faith seeks to view the circumstances from a divine perspective.
Caleb had emphatically said, “Let us indeed go up … for we are certainly capable of it.”
Hebrew 10 tells us not to throw away our confidence…because there is a great reward.. For what you have need of endurance …. So when you have done the will of God you may receive the promise..
But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls.
But,we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls.
What happened to Israel…they suffered a major delay… because of their wrong attitude…what was meant to be a 10 day journey in the wilderness turns out to be forty years of wondering until the whole generation dies in the desert… God raises up Joshua and whole new generation who have the attitude of faith.. they conquer the land..
What happened to Israel…they suffered a major delay… because of their wrong attitude…what was meant to be a 10 day journey in the wilderness turns out to be forty years of wondering until the whole generation dies in the desert… God raises up Joshua and whole new generation who have the attitude of faith.. they conquer the land..
t/s There are three questions we can ask when facing delays1. What is Causing the Delay?
1. What is Causing the Delay?
2.What is my Attitude towards the Delay?
3. What is God doing in the Delay?
3. What is God doing in the Delay?
In the book of John …Jesus is doing his ministry in the region where John the baptist had been preaching – the people had noticed that things that John had predicted about Jesus were happening…. Great things are happening .. Jesus is performing signs and wonders --- he is healing the sick and doing miracles and many coming to faith… It is at this time that Jesus gets this urgent message from Mary and Martha that his good friend Lazarus is deathly sick….
The message is short and concise, “Lord, the one whom you love is ill”
Now, Bethany is about a day’s journey away and Mary and Martha were positive that when Jesus got the news that he would drop everything and come… instead Jesus sends the message back the illness that Lazarus has does not lead to death…
The Jesus stays another 2 days....
Jesus deliberately delays the his trip to Bethany… some of the Delays we face is that God is
Now, what is God doing when we are waiting? God is intentionally waiting!! God is not late his timing is perfect… when the two days are over he gathers his disciples to leave ….the disciples warn Jesus that there are those religious leaders in Jerusalem that would stone him if they found out that he was there..,
Then Jesus told them plainly, “Lazarus has died,
and for your sake I am glad that I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.”
So Thomas, called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.”
Then Jesus told them plainly, “Lazarus has died,
and for your sake I am glad that I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.”
So Thomas, called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.”
Then Jesus told them plainly, “Lazarus has died, 15 and for your sake I am glad that I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.” 16 So Thomas, called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him…
Jesus says he was glad he was not there…. Because he was going to show them something that is going to increase their faith.. I love the response of the disciples..
“Let us go that we might die with him”
Now this must have been a difficult time for Mary and Martha… by the time Jesus arrives in Bethany Lazarus has been dead 4 days… His body had already began to decompose a little…
he has already been placed in the tomb… When Jesus nears Bethany…about 2 miles away word gets to the sisters that Jesus is approaching.... Mary stays at home in Bethany and Martha…comes running to Jesus, (somethings never change) Martha is still trying to fix everything.
Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.
Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.
ESV
Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.
Martha saying Jesus you are too late… maybe all those other people that you were healing were more important than my issue… We gave you enough warning now he is decomposing in a tomb… in order for Lazarus to have been dead four days… Lazarus must have died on the same day that the messenger had left…
These were close friends of Jesus they knew that he was the son of God. Maybe the miracle of resurrection was possible after two days.. three days… possible… 4 days.... their is absolutely no way… Jesus you are too late… in fact when Jesus tells them to Take away the stone… of the tomb.. Mary and Martha both object because of the body is decomposing … the kjv… says..”by this time he stinketh” That makes it sound even worse..
Let’s be honest…delays in life that stink… the longer the delay the worse it seems… you are waiting on that job…,
There is not one moment in the delay that God’s love is not present… This is where the shortest verse in the Bible is located… “Jesus wept.”
We need to know that Delays are not Denials they are often Divine appointments.
Jesus assures Martha that Lazarus will rise again… Martha assumes he is talking about the the resurrection…at the end of the age… But, Jesus reminds Mary and Martha that he is the resurrection and the life… that whoever believes in him will not perish but have eternal life…
Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live,
and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?”
Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live,
and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?”
Don’t you think it is a strange thing for Jesus to bring that up--- at this particular time…
John 11
Don’t you think it is a strange thing for Jesus to bring that up--- at this particular time…
Don’t you think it is a strange thing for Jesus to bring that up--- at this particular time…
Jesus stands at the door of the tomb and cired out “Lazarus come out” —
A quaint Puritan writer said that if Jesus had not named Lazarus when He shouted, He would have emptied the whole cemetery
ESV
The man who had died came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips, and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”
Jesus used the Delay of Lazarus to teach his disciples and every generation that followed that he is the ressurection and the life,
that everyone who believes in Him shall not perish… Delay does not mean denial… Often God uses our Delays as Divine Appointments to show his Glory..