Moving Forward

Intro: talk about anniversary with Lauren and just recap story together. We haven’t had our honeymoon yet, but we will soon. Next year. Talk about every year we are together, we learn more about each other and what makes the other person happy, or ticked or sad or happy. Every year we grow closer. Now here’s the thing about when you get to know someone more: if you aren’t fully committed to the promise you made about working through the good and the bad, when you see things aren’t going a certain way you’ll want to go back to your natural tendencies of hardening yourself, and running away, and justifying yourself and your actions. I know the majority in this room are not married, and I don’t think you need to in order to understand this principal. That if you have a friendship, let’s say a roommate, and you start getting to really know each other, and see a lot of the flaws (dishes, trash, bills), you can potentially be driven to end that friendship.

As many of you know, we spent an entire summer focusing on the theme of “change” and talking honestly about what changes we needed to make as a movement in order to better connect with God, and with the mission field he has called us to. That everyone in this room, would come to give their lift to Jesus Christ and call on his as their lord and savior, and then to go and share that to everyone on this campus and the other universities in Wichita. Is it ok if I do a continuation of those discussions we had today and try to drive home a simple, but perhaps profound point.

We are going to read just a couple of verses from everyone’s favorite book of the Bible, the book of Numbers.. Right, no so fun fact, the name numbers is sucky. The hebrew name for the book means wilderness. So more appropriate way is to say we are going to read from the book of wilderness.

I think that’s the more appropriate name that I wish the english translations would honor because it’s a book about the people God saved from slavery and their journey through the wilderness.

Read Numbers 20: 1-5

Numbers 20:1–5 CSB

1 The entire Israelite community entered the Wilderness of Zin in the first month, and they settled in Kadesh. Miriam died and was buried there. 2 There was no water for the community, so they assembled against Moses and Aaron. 3 The people quarreled with Moses and said, “If only we had perished when our brothers perished before the Lord. 4 Why have you brought the Lord’s assembly into this wilderness for us and our livestock to die here? 5 Why have you led us up from Egypt to bring us to this evil place? It’s not a place of grain, figs, vines, and pomegranates, and there is no water to drink!”

When times are tough in our lives, it is extremely difficult for us to see what God has done in our lives. Anyone with me on that? When times are tough, or we are in a season where we are just feeling dry and feeling apathetic towards everything, it can be really hard to see where God is leading you. Have you ever made a decision like a life changing decision? You remember the feelings that went through your mind? For some of you, I’m talking about leaving your family to come to Wichita State. For others, its a job, or the degree you are studying. And we are just a couple of days away from October so I know exams are happening, work is piling on, and it just doesn’t feel like like there is ever enough time in a day. It’s like when life get’s tough, we start having thoughts come into our mind like (maybe I should quit, maybe I should change my major, maybe I should go back to my easy way of living).

Run away. Or rather, Run back.

The Israelites, the people that God chose and made a promise to hundreds of years ago before this story about giving them a blessing and land. These very people who had heard those stories, but many of them had actually been born into a life of slavery by the Egyptians had come to a point in their journey where they wanted to surrender what God was doing in their lives. Can anyone relate? Anyone have a really really bad memory that they just hate to relive? Sorry if I’m rekindling some negative experiences because I know there are some of us who have experienced some really jacked up stuff. Now, I think you would probably say that you would never ever want to relive or go back to those horrible moments.

But you see that’s exactly what the Israelites were doing here. They were in a transition period, and they couldn’t see the very God who had liberated them from those bad experiences. They said life is horrible right now.. Take me back. Let me suffer again. Keep talking about this...

Transition to but look at what God had planned for the people. They had refused to take the land after they saw the people living in Canaan, they had rebelled, they hated God, and yet God kept his promise to the people. He brought them to land way beyond what they expected and he did it by the miraculous. What if you kept moving forward, believing God’s promises for your life, and remembering what He has already brought you through?

I’ve shared with the men’s group before in a small group, but my last semester of college was pretty rough and I had a horrible experience with a really good friend and roommate of mine and a girl. On top of that I had extreme fears and anxiety of stepping into a calling God had placed on my life.. So I ran away… Listen I ran away and resented God. But God was so loving and He reminded me that my story isn’t over. My plan b, c,d, e are always rewritten into my plan A if I can fully trust him and believe in what he has spoken about me.

If I had kept running, and not allowed myself to move into where God was calling me to, I would have never met Lauren.. I would have never had Noah… My loves and great blessings from God.. I would have never met you guys. You see how God didn’t plan tonight by accident and how you and I are not here by accident? Our God has an amazing story, purpose, plan for all of you! He desires for you to be reconciled to him, transformed by him, and living for him! (purpose)! Friends, perhaps tonight's message was meant to just be a simple reminder to some of you to keep moving forward. To not quit. Perhaps for others it was to remind you that where you came from (no matter what the enemy will tell you about how much better your past is then where God wants to take you) God has a big purpose for you and your life right here and now. I’ve said this before, we don’t want a crowd.. We want an army of disciple makers. I love you guys and want to continue doing this with you all no matter how hard life gets for you, or myself. We are family. We are chi alpha.

Let me pray for us and we can close out.