Intentionally Staying

Family Moment

Today we continue in our sermon series about becoming intentional authors of our lives.

How we need to start thinking about the story want our lives to tell and start living with that end in mind.

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Let me explain for those who might be new today….because we LOVE guests at Family Church!

The reality is all of us are going to one day look back over our life.

The reality is one day all of us will look BACK over our life and ponder the story we wrote with our life.

Like I have said every week….being a pastor means I get to be there at the ends of many lives and that is such an honor….And I believe God has shown me somethings through those experiences.

Life goes by much faster than we think it will.

And if we are not INTENTIONAL with the life we live…..one day you might look back and regret a lot of the life you lived.

You will look back and regret the time you missed with your kids.,

You will look back and regret the choices you made in your marriage.

You will look back and regret the choices you made in work.

You will look back and regret the relationship choices you made.

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So, this next month we are talking about what does it look like to be an Intentional Author of our own lives.

We are talking about how our lives might look IF we lived with the END in mind.

What if we DIDN’T just let life happen to us…. But instead, we CHOOSE to be intentional about the life we lived….

So many stories fill the pages of life.

Some chapters you can be proud to tell.

Others, you would rather skip.

The day life really turns a page is when you let God be the author of your story.

Let God write your story and you'll live a story worth telling.

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We started this series talking about times in our lives were God calls us to START something.

Sometimes if we START new things, it can change the direction of our entire life!!! And we talked about that.

Last week we will talk about the opposite…..When God calls us to STOP something.

Sometimes we have things in our life that are leading us in the WRONG direction and we need to STOP it before it ruins our life.

This week we will talk about when God calls us to STAY somewhere.

To plug in where we are.

To NOT give up and go to the next job or relationship.

And so forth.

Then next week we will wrap up this series talking about when God calls us to GO somewhere.

When God says….not it is time to get a new job.

Or to get out of this relationship.

And so forth….

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No matter what is going on in your life today please here me…..Your story isn't finished yet. There's still time for edits!

For some of us we need to get out of our past and start looking to the future!

The good news is NO MATTER your past, your future story is yet to be written!!!

In this series we're talking about how the decisions we make determine the stories we write with our lives.

We established this truth and it will carry through this whole series:

The decisions that I make today determine the stories that I will tell tomorrow.

Let's just say that aloud together.

The decisions that I make today determine the stories that I will tell tomorrow.

The reality is at some point in the future you will look back and you'll tell a story about this season of your life.

At some point in our lives we will run up against some obstacle, some problem…

Maybe it's a job or class that you don't think you can endure another day, Maybe it's a relationship and you think, it's not even worth staying in any longer. When you are at that point…… you have to make a decision, do I stay the course, or do I walk away?

There is no question at times we HAVE to walk away…

BUT are times in our lives…..very important times….. and if you are taking notes, write this down:

At times the best decision you can make is to stay when it would be easier to go.

Sometimes, the best decision you can make is to stay the course when it would be easier to walk away.

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Let me give you an example from my life … I had to learn this the hard way once in my life….

When we lived in Missouri I was working full time and going to seminary full time.

I was SO busy I didn’t have time to relax ever.

I had to be super disciplined to be able to keep up with a full master’s level load, a demanding corporate Job, a wife and 3 kids!

Long story short….one day I got downsized….and that is whole long story.

But see I was NOT mad!

I was excited because I wanted to GO into ministry….I didn’t want to STAY in corporate America any more…. I wanted to be in Ministry!

So, because I wanted to GO and NOT STAY……

I started applying for Executive Pastor ministry jobs; thinking who wouldn’t want me right! Because I am I am pretty awesome! I mean the company I was with then was about a 14 Billion dollar company.

So running a church would be simple!

YES… I use to have major pride issues…..

But see God wanted me to STAY in business….

It was NOT my time to go into ministry….and I had to learn that the hard way by getting ZERO call backs on all these jobs!

Talk about learning how NOT awesome I was!

God still had to humble me and teach me who was in control.

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It took me a month or two to finally understand God had a different plan for my life and to live it out I had to STAY in corporate America and not go into ministry! And it was HARD for me!

Sometimes it is HARD to listen to God and wait on his timing in our lives!

But like we said a minute ago Sometimes, the best decision you can make is to stay when it would be easier to go.

See I had to learn how to be patient!

It is so hard to WAIT when we want to GO!

But God had bigger plans for me…..God had a different timeline than I did!

I can promise you that at some point in your life, you're going to have to make a similar decision to make.

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Remember the big question we're trying to answer in this series of messages,

How do we live a story worth telling?

How do we live our lives today so that we can tell the story tomorrow that God wants us to tell?

Let’s go back to where we started this series Hebrews 12:2

NEW PERSON BIBLE talk

Hebrews 12:2 "Let us fix our eyes on Jesus the author and perfector of our faith,"

It doesn’t say fix our eyes on the situation.

It doesn’t say fix your eyes on the best solution to the problem.

It says….fix our eyes, fix our thoughts, fix our minds on who? Jesus

How do we live a story worth telling?

We fix our thoughts and our hearts on Jesus.

Today we are going to dive into the times in our life when it is right to stay, rather than to walk away.

I know for a lot of you RIGHT NOW you are facing something in your life where you're going to have to make the decision.

Do I stay the course or do I walk away because it seems much easier?

For a lot of you, this will be the most important and most difficult discussion that you will ever make.

Some of you, right now are thinking "I don't really have any decisions like that today."

For those thinking that right now….

Hear me one day, you will, and I promise you.

At some point, you're going to hit an obstacle, and you you’re not going to want to STAY…..

If you’re not at that place today where this does not applies to you…. think of this sermon as a tool you can put in your tool box for the day it hits.

Teens….I wish I had heard a sermon like this and listened when I was your age because it would have helped me so much growing up….so keep with me.

And many of you are going to realize the right thing to do is to stay when it would be easier to go.

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There's a tremendous example of this in the Bible.

The story of the life of Naomi and her two daughters-in-law. Open your Bibles to Ruth.

Let me share a funny side note to this story as you open your Bibles there….

One of Naomi’s daughter-in-law was Orpah (WarPa).

Oprah was actually named after WarPa; true story.

But when they were writing the birth certificate, someone misspelled WarPa and wrote Oprah, which is just an amazing blessing because I could not be a fan of the WarPa show. It just doesn't sound right.

At the start of Ruth we read that Naomi's husband died and then tragically, her two sons died as well.

Now that would be hard on anyone in this room. But imagine that in a culture where women did not have jobs like they do today!

A culture where women are not safe alone like they are today…..

Naomi and the girls could not just go to Walmart and get a job.

In their time this reality would reduce them almost to the status of beggars or a little bit lower than slaves.

And so, Naomi, the mother-in law, said to the daughters-in-law,

Ruth 1:8-9 “Then Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Go back, each of you, to your mother’s home. May the Lord show you kindness, as you have shown kindness to your dead husbands and to me. May the Lord grant that each of you will find rest in the home of another husband.”

Then she kissed them goodbye and they wept aloud.”

Orpah (WarPA) left and went home…. There is nothing wrong with that….. That was the easy thing to do, that was the logical thing to do, it just made sense.

But Ruth decided to do something very different.

She decided to STAY when it would have been easier to go.

She STAYED when it was more logical to GO. She STAYED…..

Let me show you….how Naomi even tried to talk her out of it,

Ruth 1:15-16, “Look,” said Naomi, “your sister-in-law is going back to her people and her gods. Go back with her.”

But Ruth replied, “Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God.”

Even though it would be easier to GO, Ruth says ,I will STAY.

She goes beyond that and says “Your people will be my people and look in your Bible!!!! "Your God will be my God."

She decides, you know what, we're family.

I'm choosing your God, the one true god.

I'm committing to him and I'm not leaving you.

Even though it makes sense to go, I'm going to STAY.

See WarPa went home because she would have a better life….

Ruth CHOOSE to became a little lower than a slave; to became a beggar.

Talk about making the hard decision to STAY…..

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In Chapter 2 we read that now Ruth would go in the fields after the harvest was done to pick up the scraps left behind…...in the fields….

Imagine that desperation…. farmers in here have you ever seen a woman walking through your fields picking up the leftover corn, beans, wheat, or potatoes??

But see this gets us to our next point!

Sometimes when we STAY we can’t see the blessing waiting just ahead!

Repeat

See there was this rich guy named Boaz and he owned the fields she was picking up the leftover food on.

If the workers left any crops in the field on trampled some into the dirt, she got to eat and if they didn't, she didn't get to eat.

And Boaz, this amazing guy, heard about this random woman was in his fields and for some reason, had compassion on her.

He said, to the guys working in the field, “Let her pick up what is left over behind you” he said "Don't you lay a hand on her."

Because he knew that they'd take physical advantage of her and that was just the cost of being in her place in life.

Makes you question, why would this rich landowner show compassion on this no-name beggar girl?

The answer is because he had heard HER STORY.

The answer is what we have been talking about all month!!!!

Listen to what happened….as Boaz heard her story….

Ruth 2:10-12 “At this, she bowed down with her face to the ground. She asked him, “Why have I found such favor in your eyes that you notice me—a foreigner?”

Boaz replied, “I’ve been told all about what you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband—how you left your father and mother and your homeland and came to live with a people you did not know before.”

He had heard how she STAYED with Naomi when it would have been easier for her to go.

It is not done there! The blessing keeps coming for Ruth STAYING ……

Verse 12

“May the Lord repay you for what you have done. May you be richly rewarded by the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge.”

And the part that is amazing is Boaz had no idea how BIG this blessing was going to be for Ruth and for him!

Let me paraphrase what happens….. through a series of unusual events, Boaz ended up marrying Ruth

Now this beggar girl, who had no future!!!

Made the HARD decisions to STAY…

And she got blessed by marring a great man of means….but that is not the true blessing….. it got even greater….

She's one of two women who had books of the Bible named after her!

One of TWO women!!!!

All because she made the HARD decision to STAY!

But the blessing does not stop there…….. if you trace the lineage of Jesus, you will see that Jesus came from her bloodline.

What an incredible story to tell one day right!

Why do we know Ruth’s story? Why?

Because she decided to STAY when it would have been easier to go.

But DON’T miss the power of this. And I put this in your notes….

Ruth didn't STAY because she was hoping God would bless her.

Ruth STAYED because she believed it was right, and God blessed her because she did what was right.

Had she taken the easier path…..we would not be talking about her today!

All of us, at some point in our lives, we're going to come to a crossroad, and we're going to have to make a decision, "should I stay the course when it would be easier to walk away."

The big question we've been asking in this series is

“What story God want you to tell one day with your life?"

Could it be God wants you to: STAY with your family more and prioritize them.

STAY at church and stop church hopping and plug in.

STAY at your job and stop leaving every job when it gets hard.

STAY in your marriage because the grass is NOT greener.

Where does God want you to stay the course so that you can live the story that God wants you to tell.

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Let me tell you a story from my own life.

A story all of you can see the fruit from deciding to STAY.

Jenny and I went to the same college out of high school…mostly because she knew she needed to follow such and incredible stud muffin like me…..or maybe it was her running scholarship….we will never truly know the answer to that…..

But see my plan for college was to go to Huntington College for two years and then transfer out to a bigger school that had a degree in construction.

Western Michigan University had one of the best construction programs out there….so to transfer there was the logical decision…. Huntington had no construction program…..

But see my Jennykins didn’t want to transfer…..

She wanted to STAY…..

So I had a choice…..

Take the logical educational decision so I could have the career I wanted….

Or stay for a girl…

I made the choice to STAY….

And God blessed it and we got married!

But, teens, college students, young adults hear me….

God ALSO blessed me BEYOND measure in my construction career….

Without a degree in construction I got a job for the biggest builder in the country right out of college!

Then God kept blessing me and before I was 30 I was director of US operations for an multi-national company before I was 30!

There is only 1 way that happens.

LISTENING to God and sometimes taking the harder path to STAY!!!

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At some point in your life, you are going to come to a place where it doesn't look easy…

And I'm here to tell you that God is going to call you to stay the course when you would rather go the other way.

Where do you need to stay?

That tipping point could come at any time:

Some of you, you're in school right now and you think I just -- I can't make it through. It's just too hard, too time consuming, I don’t like it…..and you need to stay.

You may be working two jobs and you can’t seem to keep up…and you about to quit….but maybe GOD wants you to STAY.

Some of you might be here because you parents MAKE you come to church…you don’t like to be here…..but your here you are staying…

It might be in your business you want to expand but God wants you to wait….

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I promise you if you will just TEST me and try some of this stuff I am saying….your life will be different in a good way

Some of you give up on a relationship the minute you’re offended…..Jesus didn’t do that…. He forgave no matter what people did to him….he STAYED

Would you all like to know one of the best parts of my life?

Making a difference in this world through God’s church.

I don't just go to church; I am committed to the church and my life is different because I decided to STAY in church when many times it would have been easier to go.

My old pastor would say this and I believe it …..Making the choice to STAY in church and get involved might be the most influential thing you do in your life!

For some of you something's going to happen in your life and you don't like it.

You don't understand it and suddenly you're like:

"God, if you're going to let this happen when you could have stopped it, then forget you."

And you walk away from God….just like people all over the world.

"God, if you're going to let that happen, I can't believe in you."

And you walk away from God….. You know it is amazing…

How we can walk away from the Lord and then blame God for what is going on in our life….

Maybe the reason we get to that point is because we NEEDED God and we need to stop blaming him and start following in him!

So maybe you need to decide to STAY with God and say something like,

And then as time goes by…

You can look back at that at that time you STAYED connected to God and you might realize I didn't know it at the time but, oh, God actually used that in my life to help me!

Sometimes what the enemy meant for evil, somehow God used for good.

You might come to better understand God and his faithfulness in a way that you never have

Because you STAYED in relationship with the Lord and didn’t walk away

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Some of you, it will be in your marriage and let me spend a couple of moments here. And as I do, let me say two things before I talk about marriage.

Number one, I don't want to make you feel guilty about past chapters in your story because we can't change the past.

Number two, if you're being abused, if someone is hurting you physically or mentally, I'm not telling you to stay and be a punching bag.

BUT here is what I want us to understand we cannot listen to our culture as it relates to marriage!

In our society we are taught…..over and over is to just get out of our marriage if we are not happy. Just go ahead and start over.

he/she is not meeting my needs and the trainer at the gym, well they sure compliment me a lot.

I mean he/she didn't make me happy. I mean, we gave it a shot for a little while, but it just didn't work out.

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When your marriage gets to that point, a struggle, because they all get there because we're sinful people, you need to ask yourself what story do you want to tell.

Do you want your story to be, "Well, kids, I gave it a shot for a little while but we just weren't happy. And my secretary made me happier.”

Or would you rather one day be able to tell your kids and grandkids….

"We didn't like each other; we hated each other at points. But we didn't believe in murder so we just prayed the other one would change.

We got counseling.

We made a church a priority, and we got a small group.

And it didn't happen overnight…

But over a period of time, God started to changed us.

And we now happier than we ever have been.

And if we did it….so can you”

What story do you want to tell one day????

IN life we need to be really good at something…..it’s call FORGIVING

Ephesians 4:31-32, Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.

Jesus said this:

Matthew 18: 21-22, Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times? “Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.”

Some of your right now need to forgive someone and STAY planted!

Some of you right now, you've been faithful for a long time and you need to keep on being faithful!

Sometimes the greatest act of faith is faithfulness is staying where you're planted.

And you may not see your Boaz immediately.

Just like Ruth didn’t.

But I'm telling you what....

Galatians 6:9 says,"Do not grow weary in doing good. For at the proper time, you will reap a harvest if you do not give up.”

If What does it say?? ?

"If you do not give up."

The decisions that we make today determine the stories that we tell tomorrow. And sometimes, the best decision you can make is to stay when it would be easier to go.

Because the decisions that we make today determine the stories that we tell tomorrow.

Direction not intention determines destination in life.

If you're writing the wrong story, stop today.

Here is your life

Life Application Ask God is there an area of your life where you need to STAY, commit, press through, take the harder path.

Let’s Pray…..