Growing in Intimacy with God in Times of Great Difficulty
Notes
Transcript
No One likes difficulty
But Is Difficulty bad?
Can difficulty have purpose?
Does God Know?
23 During those many days the king of Egypt died, and the people of Israel groaned because of their slavery and cried out for help. Their cry for rescue from slavery came up to God.
24 And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob.
25 God saw the people of Israel—and God knew.
Slavery is Bondage
Slavery is Bondage
Slavery is about bondage
A lack of freedom
Concern about the Master
It is also about discomfort
Groaning is Our Response to Slavery
Groaning is Our Response to Slavery
Everything that is difficult feels like slavery
We moan and groan
We dream of change
What is enslaving you?
The Cry of a Slave
The Cry of a Slave
What is it you desire?
Is your freedom about God?
Does freedom create intimacy?
46 And they came to Jericho. And as he was leaving Jericho with his disciples and a great crowd, Bartimaeus, a blind beggar, the son of Timaeus, was sitting by the roadside.
47 And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”
48 And many rebuked him, telling him to be silent. But he cried out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”
49 And Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.” And they called the blind man, saying to him, “Take heart. Get up; he is calling you.”
50 And throwing off his cloak, he sprang up and came to Jesus.
51 And Jesus said to him, “What do you want me to do for you?” And the blind man said to him, “Rabbi, let me recover my sight.”
52 And Jesus said to him, “Go your way; your faith has made you well.” And immediately he recovered his sight and followed him on the way.
He wanted freedom sight would bring
He wanted freedom from the difficulty
He wanted the comfort of sight
Jesus gives it to him
How Will You Use Your Freedom?
How Will You Use Your Freedom?
If you gain freedom what will you do?
Will you follow Jesus closer?
Or will you move towards more comfort?
Examples
1 They set out from Elim, and all the congregation of the people of Israel came to the wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after they had departed from the land of Egypt.
2 And the whole congregation of the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness,
3 and the people of Israel said to them, “Would that we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the meat pots and ate bread to the full, for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.”
Bondage to comfort
Bondage to your belly
A Return to Bondage
A Removal of Intimacy
30 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.”
31 Then the men who had gone up with him said, “We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we are.”
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.”
1 Then all the congregation raised a loud cry, and the people wept that night.
2 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!
Bondage of Fear
Loss of Intimacy
Loss of Blessing
Loss of Faith
Wavering Faith in Discomfort
Wavering Faith in Discomfort
When we doubt the goodness of God
When we doubt His presence
When we doubt His love
28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.
And we intimately believe
Patience in discomfort
Patience born of faith
How do we know?
25 God saw the people of Israel—and God knew.
So Powerful!
He Knows!
He Sees!
He intimately Understands!
Faith is Born of Intimacy
Faith is Born of Intimacy
The more we recognize Him
The more we understand Him
The more time we devote to Him
The less bondage we will experience
20 I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
Deep faith comes from surrender
Paul lived by faith because
He knew Jesus loved him
And had given himself for him
Does Discomfort Have A Hold On You?
Does Discomfort Have A Hold On You?
Will you cry out today?
Will that cry be a surrender?
What will you ask for today?
Is God Good, Does He Know?
Is God Good, Does He Know?