Are You Sure Lord?

New Living Translation Chapter 49

1 Listen to me, all you in distant lands!

Pay attention, you who are far away!

The LORD called me before my birth;

from within the womb he called me by name.

2 He made my words of judgment as sharp as a sword.

He has hidden me in the shadow of his hand.

I am like a sharp arrow in his quiver.

3 He said to me, “You are my servant, Israel,

and you will bring me glory.”

4 I replied, “But my work seems so useless!

I have spent my strength for nothing and to no purpose.

Yet I leave it all in the LORD’s hand;

I will trust God for my reward.”

5 And now the LORD speaks—

the one who formed me in my mother’s womb to be his servant,

who commissioned me to bring Israel back to him.

The LORD has honored me,

and my God has given me strength.

6 He says, “You will do more than restore the people of Israel to me.

I will make you a light to the Gentiles,

and you will bring my salvation to the ends of the earth.”

7 The LORD, the Redeemer

and Holy One of Israel,

says to the one who is despised and rejected by the nations,

to the one who is the servant of rulers:

“Kings will stand at attention when you pass by.

Princes will also bow low

because of the LORD, the faithful one,

the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you.”

(NLT)

1 Listen to me, all you in distant lands!

Pay attention, you who are far away!

The LORD called me before my birth;

from within the womb he called me by name.

2 He made my words of judgment as sharp as a sword.

He has hidden me in the shadow of his hand.

I am like a sharp arrow in his quiver.

3 He said to me, “You are my servant, Israel,

and you will bring me glory.”

4 I replied, “But my work seems so useless!

I have spent my strength for nothing and to no purpose.

Yet I leave it all in the LORD’s hand;

I will trust God for my reward.”

5 And now the LORD speaks—

the one who formed me in my mother’s womb to be his servant,

who commissioned me to bring Israel back to him.

The LORD has honored me,

and my God has given me strength.

6 He says, “You will do more than restore the people of Israel to me.

I will make you a light to the Gentiles,

and you will bring my salvation to the ends of the earth.”

7 The LORD, the Redeemer

and Holy One of Israel,

says to the one who is despised and rejected by the nations,

to the one who is the servant of rulers:

“Kings will stand at attention when you pass by.

Princes will also bow low

because of the LORD, the faithful one,

the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you.”

I will never forget the day that I was called to ministry. It was the single worst day of my life and the best day of my life up to that point. It was the single worst day because I knew that from that moment on I would not be in charge of the rest of my life. From that moment on I would have to live where God called me to live, depend totally on him for all of my needs financially and in every other way.

We have all been where Amy was in her story...

I will never forget the day that I was called to ministry. It was the single worst day of my life and the best day of my life up to that point. It was the single worst day because I knew that from that moment on I would not be in charge of the rest of my life. From that moment on I would have to live where God called me to live, depend totally on him for all of my needs financially and in every other way.

I also knew but not to the extent that it has taken place that my family would have to sacrifice for my calling as well. In short me and my family would have to live the scripture in ,

57 As they were walking along, someone said to Jesus, “I will follow you wherever you go.” 58 But Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens to live in, and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place even to lay his head.”

58 But Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens to live in, and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place even to lay his head.”

Even though I knew this was going to be true every time we have had to transition this has been a very difficult thing to work through...

Pastor vulnerability time…every time we have transitioned there has been a time in that ministry where I have though exactly what the servant in this passage was thinking.

...“But my work seems so useless! I have spent my strength for nothing and to no purpose....

I know this shatters the superman identity we like to give pastors and evangelist that have lived their whole life in obedience to God. But it is true…not only for me but for every person I have every met that has answered the call to full time ministry.

I have spent my strength for nothing and to no purpose.

This is also a place where many of in not all of you have been at any given moment in your walk.

Yet I leave it all in the LORD’s hand;

I will trust God for my reward.”

In these times of doubt it can be hard to hear from God because there is usually something going on or we are in the midst of a series of negative outcomes to our obedience to God.

Someone is upset with you, you are sacrificing while others seem to be thriving, you name it things are just going bad and you are suffering out of obedience to God…your crying out and wondering if he cares about you at all.

It is important during these times to remove yourself from the business of ministry and allow God to speak his truth into your life....just like He is speaking into the life of the servant in this passage.

6 He says, “You will do more than restore the people of Israel to me. I will make you a light to the Gentiles, and you will bring my salvation to the ends of the earth.” 7 The LORD, the Redeemer and Holy One of Israel, says to the one who is despised and rejected by the nations, to the one who is the servant of rulers: “Kings will stand at attention when you pass by. Princes will also bow low because of the LORD, the faithful one, the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you.”

I will make you a light to the Gentiles,

In other words you are part of somthing greater than your current problem. God is not ignoring you…God is not punishing you…God is not indifferent to you…God is in fact using your sacrifice to do even more than you can see on the surface.

When things are difficult remember you are part of a movement of God not just a moment with God.

Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.”

and you will bring my salvation to the ends of the earth.”

We are called for such a time as this not just this moment…When we internalize this awesome truth we bring our current difficulties and doubts into perspective. Instead of all consuming we see them for the temporary issues they are.

7 The LORD, the Redeemer

Romans 8:18

(NLT)

Romans 8:18 NLT

18 Yet what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory he will reveal to us later.

New Living Translation Chapter 8

18 Yet what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory he will reveal to us later.

New Living Translation Chapter 8

18 Yet what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory he will reveal to us later.

and Holy One of Israel,

You and I are commissioned to be part of a movement of God. You and are commissioned to build the kingdom of God on earth as it is in heaven. What and incredible honor to be on this mission with God....

says to the one who is despised and rejected by the nations,

One of the most traumatizing childhood rituals there are is the dreaded picking for teams during recess. Usually the more aggressive or the ones that teachers picked ahead of time were captains…then we would all line up and the torture would begin.

It has to be a feeling akin to being a first round draft choice in the NFL, MLB, WNBA or the NBA. We wait to see who is picked first as if we are going to get a multi million dollar contract....after the first pick we just wait and hope that we are not picked last....if there is an uneven number we then move to just wanting to be picked.

It is a terrible feeling not to be picked or to be picked last....but when it comes to mission we are not picked first of last…we are not the lesser of two evils…God picks all of us to use the gifts that He already knows we have…because he created them in us.

New Living Translation Chapter 2

10 For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.

We are…you are the masterpiece of God and He has transformed us for a purpose greater than this moment only…He intentionally transformed you into an integral part of His greater plan.

I want you to know that even if you are in the midst of loneliness, pain of any kind or just plain wondering if what you are doing even matters…You matter. Your presence matters in the struggle to bring the message of God’s salvation and transformation to this world.

This world is not beyond redemption as long as God’s people continue to spend themselves in the cause of building God’s kingdom on earth.

There will be a day where everything will be made right…hold on to this truth no matter the struggle you find yourself in this moment…

Remember you and I were made for a movement of God not just a moment with God.

Tomorrow is MLK day. Some of you will have time off of work

James

Communion gives us an opportunity to respond with joy to this wonderful truth in our lives.

Communion:

to the one who is the servant of rulers:

The crazy thing is that God has chosen us to work with him.

“Kings will stand at attention when you pass by.

Princes will also bow low

because of the LORD, the faithful one,

the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you.”