"Faith in the Waiting" | Sermon by Gray and Jen Gardner

Introduction

Set up series, based on Hebrews 11 “Hall of Faith” — specifically looking at some more obscure characters listed

Read Hebrews 11:32-34

Comments on Samuel being mentioned, how victorious all these were through their faith.

Read Hebrews 11:35-40

Note the change to faith in the midst of waiting and suffering

Same faith results in drastically different outcomes.

Abel: gave his best, was murdered.

Enoch: gave his best, was taken up into heaven.

We see also that sometimes the difficult situation is the soil in which faith must grow. That’s the story we want to focus on today.

Snapshot of Samuel

In Heb. 11:32 Samuel is mentioned.

Samuel lived way back in the Old Testament days. He was actually the prophet and priest who anointed the first kings of Israel, Saul and David.

Samuel was also a judge of Israel. Before the days of Israel’s kings, they had judges who ruled over them. In fact, in the book of Judges, we get a view of what this dark period of Israel’s history looked like. “Everyone did what was right in their own eyes.” Here’s the deal — that wasn’t a good thing.

Israel was in shambles. They were irrelevant as a nation. Divided. Following false God’s instead of YHWH who led them out of Egypt, through the wilderness, and into the promised land. And they had a series of awful judges, with a few good ones sprinkled in, who failed to lead them appropriately.

Israel was in a dark place.

In the story of Samuel — in fact, in the first of the two books that bear his name (1-2 Samuel) — we see Samuel’s “origin story,” and we recognize that not only was Israel as a nation in a dark place, but so was a young woman named Hannah.

Snapshot of Hannah

Hannah was the wife of a man named Elkanah

How do you walk by faith when you’re in a season of waiting, hurting, suffering?

Conversation with Jen

Tell the story about how we got into that place of infertility, waiting on God.

Newly married, found out we were expecting our first baby (surprise!). Shortly after experienced a miscarriage. Moved across country. Follow up appointment found out that conceiving and sustaining a pregnancy would be difficult.

That started a really dark season for me.

What was your faith like going into that experience, and what was most difficult?

Mature believer, strong faith going into this. Miscarriages and infertility are difficult on their own, but I was also grieving the loss of the future family I always thought God would give me. Share a little bit about past with family.

How was your faith tested in this experience?

Talk about questions that were raised that you had never had before.

Future family was an idol. I felt like God owed me a family. I wanted children more than I wanted God during that experience.

A good thing became a God thing.

What lies were you tempted to believe in this season?

I need to have more faith, but realizing I can’t just conjure that up.

Maybe this is somehow my fault.

If God is good, he wasn’t good to me.

That God owed me this based on what I’d already gone through — I was faithful through hellish childhood. I deserved a child.

How were you able to maintain faith even in the midst of this?

I wish I could say I did perfectly.

Allowed yourself to feel what you were feeling.

Asked God the hard questions, didn’t run from them.

I knew all the intellectual truths about God being good, sovereign, that he loved me, and I had to come to terms that in that season I wasn’t necessarily going to feel that.

Not the season where I necessarily felt the closest to God in the midst of it.

“Your feelings are a great indication of what you believe to be true, but they’re not always a great indication of what is actually true.”

Were there any practical things you did that helped?

Continued study the Bible, pray, attend church services, live in community.

Community was really hard in this season, being around a lot of women with babies or who were pregnant. Would have a good cry after.

Also great community of trusted friends and older mentors — more like family — who supported us. Listened.

Worship music. Audrey Assad. “Good to Me” and “I Shall Not Want.”

Obviously our story didn’t end there. Share a little bit about how our family eventually grew.

Several years of fertility treatments trying to grow our family. We were told that it was the only way, we would not get pregnant without them.

We now have three children, all of them were complete surprises after failed treatments. Miracle babies.

We’ve learned that God is the author of life, which is why our third daughter’s name is Joelle — Jehovah is God.

Looking back, what have you learned about walking by faith?

My faith would not be what it is today without the hard seasons. There’s a maturity and depth because I’ve asked the hard questions.

God is faithful even when we are not faithful.

This is not a story of God blessing us because we showed tremendous faith. It has nothing to do with us. It’s all about God’s grace.

Walking through something hard has given me confidence that I can trust in God and his faithfulness in the future when things happen. Not always going to be pretty or easy, but I know we can trust him.

Faith is not easy, not all butterflies and cupcakes. There may be seasons that are really hard and difficult and test your faith. You’re not going to walk through these seasons perfectly. But God can use your “mustard seed” faith to move a mountain. (Think about Hannah hanging on by a thread)

God truly gives you the grace you need in the moment. There are things I can’t imagine trusting God if they were to happen, but I’ve learned that in the moment he gives the grace we need to follow him.

As we close, what would you say to those who are waiting on God today?

I’m sorry.

Not promise any certain outcome. Think Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego — we don’t know the outcome, but either way, God is good.

Run to God and to community, not away. Isolation is killer.

Be gracious with others. People will try to help out of great intentions and might say the wrong thing that ends up hurting. Try to show grace.

Gospel tie-in to close

The greatest person who has ever lived — the only person who has lived a perfect, unwaveringly faithful life — suffered the worst outcome imaginable: crucifixion, betrayal by his closest friends, and separation from God the Father.

1 Cor. 10:13