Aggressive Patience

ME

ILL- when my parents turned 40 i questioned if it was real. Was it really possible for someone to be on this earth 40 years? Did they just appear age 30 with memories, etc. It is impossible for us to understand the patience and depth of an eternal God.

Time- last 18 years was way faster than first 18 years of my life. Pace of first 18 was about who I was with. Last 18 seemed to be about what I could accomplish.

Turning my phone off for sermon prep. 15 minutes. 12 text from the same person. Assuming I was intentionally ignoring them. I’ve been there.

I see the … and then no response. I know you saw it. I know you opened it. RESPOND!!!

Waiting is the hardest part. Waiting is an opportunity to fill in the gaps with the worst thoughts.

Waiting is an opportunity to simply get angry and move on. Assume the worst.

We live in a culture of speed, life hacks, and ultra productivity. The biggest companies focus on quantity over quality. cheap, quick, and easy.

This isn’t always the pace God wants for our lives.

We’ve made physical intimacy the deepest type of relationship. But I challenge that. Jesus never married and was never in a sexual relationship. But he was in many intimate relationships. Friendships can be more intimate than a marriage. When He set out to change the world, He didn’t open a day planner or wait until the internet was ready so he could broadcast his message. He started walking around with 12 guys. Eating meals and going places.

Chuck Swindoll “speed is the demon of depth" .

It is impossible for you to know Him as well as he knows you. He knew you before he knit you in your mother’s womb.

Psalm 139:16  Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them. God has been waiting on you!

God has been patiently getting to know you way longer than you have even considered your existence. He knows you and is patient to know you more.

TODAY I WANT TO TALK TO YOU ABOUT AGGRESSIVE PATIENCE.

I heard a quote this week. A fighter said. “When a hunting lion waits behind a bush, it is not passive- it is patient. Don’t mistake my patience for passivity.”

God is aggressively patient with us. He is working when we think he isn’t moving. He is drilling deep into our relationship.

You couldn’t possibly know my wife as well as I do or me as well as she does. We have simply been together longer than any other relationship, even our parents. Our intimacy isn’t physical, it is longevity. We can detect each other’s mood by a look or a gesture and be pretty accurate. You can’t explain that or learn it any other way that putting int the 25 years of daily interaction.

My wife and I are intimate because of our friendship. wife crying in sunglasses. Asked how I could tell. I know that her skin changes a bit and her lip gets just a little more turse. I’ve seen my wife almost everyday for 25 years. That is our intimacy.

We want depth in our relationship with God, but we want it now.

We want to let go of our sinful habits as soon as we convert, but it doesn’t work that way.

We want to know God and understand him, but we want it in a week.

Expecting your life to change overnight is not how it is designed to work and expecting it will lead you to burn out.

There are churches that see hundreds of people convert, only to have them renounce their faith or stop going to church within months.

We see children that fall away in college because they didn’t understand that their parents were on a journey too. They simply looked at their parents and said, “They aren’t perfect, I’ll try something else”. They don’t realize we made that exact same assessment 20 years ago.

When is the best time to plant an oak tree? 30 years ago. When is the second best time? Today.

You must be aggressively patient for a deep relationship with God

Abraham struggled with God’s silence earlier in his life.

GOD

1 When Abram was ninety-nine years old the LORD appeared to Abram

Sidenote on Theophanies- preincarnate Christ appearances, Christophony - , the text is ambiguous.

Some regard Genesis 3 as a theophany. Some say Genesis 16 is first appearance. I am generally agnostic because I don’t presume to know. But I didn’t mean to discount it. May even change mind.

Don’t know if God wrestled with Jacob or just a messenger. Don’t know if Jesus was in the furnace “Like a son of the gods” vs “angel”

Genesis 16 says Angel, or messenger. Technically could have been a man speaking for God or a spiritual creature.

Not Christ - Hebrews 1:4. having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.

Stratis, J. (2018). Special Revelation through Visions. In M. Ward, J. Parks, B. Ellis, & T. Hains (Eds.), Lexham Survey of Theology. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.

Luke 24:25-27 And he said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! 26 Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?” 27 And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.

1 Corinthians 10:9 We must not put Christ to the test, as some of them did and were destroyed by serpents, 10 nor grumble, (Numbers 21)

Jude 1:5 Now I want to remind you, although you once fully knew it, that Jesus, who saved a people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe.

1 When Abram was ninety-nine years old the LORD appeared to Abram

Genesis 16:16–17:1 (ESV)

16 Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to Abram.

1 When Abram was ninety-nine years old the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him,

13 years of silence. Think about that. Promise, then covenant, then silence.

Time in the grind. Anything you are good at, you have spent time in the grind. Guitar. I can rattle off some riffs and chords. But if you play guitar and start jammin’ with me, you’ll quickly discover where we are. A good guitar player will quickly discern, I’ve not spent time in the grind. By myself just practicing. BJJ. Every guy thinks they can fight. I promise you, no matter how tough you think you are, your first BJJ class will show you haven’t spent time in the grind. There is just no easy or quick way. You have to know it; feel it. Same goes for any sport or skill. Swimming vs high school swimmer.

Same goes for relationships. You can’t fake a deep relationship. A middle school crush can feel sincere, but it is simply not on the level of 30 years of fears, failures, fighting, forgiving. A child will never understand that a parent would actually give our life for our child. They don’t have the experience. They didn’t grind to get there. Every great relationship is forged in the day to day grind, not just the mountain tops. Did you eat together, hang together, play together There is no other way to have a deep relationship. Abraham’s faith remained in 13 years of waiting for this promise. In his mind, he is still thinking Ishmael, but it doesn’t matter- he is patiently waiting on God.

and said to him, “I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless,

El Shaddai- I am God Almighty. This is the first time God is referenced this way. He is saying. I’ve been quiet for 13 years, but I didn’t leave. I’m still in control.

Melchizedek said “El Elyon” God most High- God gave you this victory. El Shaddai

Abraham and Sarai had messed things up. God says, “I’m El Shaddai!” you can’t stop me. There is not limit to His power. 31 out of 48 times Job says the world God, he says, “El Shaddai” Job doesn’t need any God. He needs an almighty God.

Peruvian minors- 2012. They knew they would be rescued. They saw nothing happening down there, but they knew something was happening up there. They explained not only was a rescue happening, but God was still moving for them.

When you have called on El Shaddai and it hasn’t happened yet, patience is not passive. It is like a hunting lion waiting behind a bush. Don’t mistake its patience for passivity. Something has got to happen when El Shaddai, God Almighty is moving on your behalf.

walk before me, and be blameless

Walk- don’t have to run. If you sprint- you’ll be exhausted. If you run a marathon you’ll have to recover for days, but if you walk, you actually get stronger every day. You can walk 3 or 4 miles a day and each day you’ll be stronger.

You don’t have to read the bible tonight or stop sinning today, but can you take a step. Can you read a verse. Can you pray for freedom. Can you pray for God to take off one chain of lust or bitterness.

Before- In regard to in Hebrew. It is in a relationship. This word is implies “with” - Live life in complete cadence with me- consistently everyday.

Blameless.- not sinless. Remain with me even in sin and I will bestow on you righteousness.. By the way, Abram has been doing this for 13 years apparently. God doesn’t come with a list of grievances like an old man in the sky. That is not what we find in the Old Testament.

Matthew 5:48 You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect. (God bestows his righteousness/ perfection)

2 that I may make my covenant between me and you, and may multiply you greatly.”

Same covenant. Same story. First command be fruitful and multiply. God is gonna make it happen, not us.

Every wife and parent knows you have to say things over and over again. (amen!)

3 Then Abram fell on his face. And God said to him, 4 “Behold, my covenant is with you, and you shall be the father of a multitude of nations. 5 No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham, for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations.

Why did God wait so long to change his name?

His first name, “Abram” meant “exalted father” and honored the Babylonian moon God that his father worshipped. Now it is simply change to “Abraham” which means “father of many”. But he is in his journey now. He already knows people and is known. So now people are going to ask why his name is changed and he will say. “I had an encounter with El Shaddai and he promised that I would be the father of many and he would establish a covenant

Imagine a group of traders passing by and meeting Abram- What is your name? My name is frank. Abram says, My name is Exalted father. How many kids do you have? none.

On their way back they see him. Hey Exalted father. This time he says, “My name has changed. “ I am now “father of multitudes”. must have had twins, huh?, they ask. nope, I still have no children. In faith he wears this new name!

6 I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make you into nations, and kings shall come from you. 7 And I will establish my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you. 8 And I will give to you and to your offspring after you the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession, and I will be their God.”

Covenant “to cut” -boutta get real!

Same covenant, same story- Be fruitful and multiply.

God previously commanded mankind to be fruitful and multiply. Mankind fell twice. (Adam and Noah). He tells Abraham, I will do it! I will make it happen. sometimes we need to just get out of God’s way.

English Standard Version Genesis 17:10

Every male among you shall be circumcised

This wasn’t thought of as a condition- it is thought of as a sign. It is a signifier that we are on board with God’s plan. you can get circumcised and leave the covenant. Many did over time and the Bible speaks to this-

Jeremiah 4:4 - circumcise your hearts.

Romans 2:28 For no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly, nor is circumcision outward and physical. But a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter. His praise is not from man but from God.

Circumcision means nothing if you aren’t in a relationship.

- Same covenant as always, but now you can know you are committed to it. You have a reminder.

He didn’t command an outward sign. This is an intimate, personal sign. Every son would know from their first memory that they are a part of a family blessing. Every woman would know when she married a man that we are in a covenant with God. Every mother and father would take the time to consecrate their child in an intimate manner.

YOU

God is working while you are waiting.

We grow deeper in our faith when we anticipate God in His silence.

This is never fun.

You and I are included in this covenant! (ot matters!)

Romans 4:7-12 7 Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered;8  blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin.”9 Is this blessing then only for the circumcised, or also for the uncircumcised? For we say that faith was counted to Abraham as righteousness. 10 How then was it counted to him? Was it before or after he had been circumcised? It was not after, but before he was circumcised. 11 He received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. The purpose was to make him the father of all who believe without being circumcised, so that righteousness would be counted to them as well, 12 and to make him the father of the circumcised who are not merely circumcised but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised.

Paul is saying- Abraham was counted as righteous before circumcision was given. So it can’t be a condition to God’s blessing or promises. It is a sign. So he is making a case that Abraham is the father of all who believe, not just those who are circumcised. Paul is saying we are all in this promise when we believe in Jesus, not just Jews. The Bible is for everyone.

You are not too far gone because of your disobedience or failures. His righteousness was given before He ever asked anything.

Obedience is an outward expression of an inward decision to trust God.

Wedding ring- Can I wear it and not be married. Yes. Can I wear it and be unfaithful to my wife. Yes. But it’s meaning is that you can see me and know I’ve committed my life to one woman.

Baptism- outward sign of an inward decision. It is a sign. We go into the water and it is a picture of our belief that Jesus died on the cross, was buried, and rose again. It is a sign of God’s promise to wash us clean and raise us to eternal life.

These are not conditions of a relationship- they are confirmation! Show a Baptism video