You know last week was a really big deal to me. I felt like that subject really ramped the intensity level up in this series as we started to really dive into some very important thoughts. I don’t know about you but that talk and that subject really resonated with me. If you remember there were some foundational thoughts we needed on the front end of that talk. Mostly I needed you to recognize that we are opposed. That we do have an enemy and that enemy is identified in Scripture many ways, but I think it’s important that we see that Jesus calls him “The Liar.” There is a spiritual war taking place, and one of the most intense battles of that war is being fought over your thoughts, perceptions, and the way you view life. Oh man, this was such an important thing to talk about because if your enemy, who is “The Liar” can get you to agree to his lies, and assume things about people that aren’t true, it can literally become your reality even if it isn’t accurate or true. Then you walk in a fake or counterfeit world, never being able to stand tall as the amazing person that God made you to be, all because you have agreed that something untrue is true and it has become your reality. This was such an important for us to see, and while I know that was a challenging talk to really grab hold of it was really my prayer that we could start to see some areas in our lives where maybe we are making some assumptions of people and things that aren’t true. This is such a big deal because as we make these agreements with our enemy it effects our ability to love others well, and we now know that our ability to love others well actually is tied to our ability to love God well too. These two things are tied together. So in just two weeks of this series we have covered a lot of ground, and I hope you are tracking with this so far! Week one we really pushed in on our own heart conditions with the relationship test, then last week really trying to see the lies, and schemes of our enemy (who by the way, has nothing but lies and deception because Jesus has already defeated him on The Cross.) And today I think the series just continues to build and I believe it is yet another Sunday that is really going to hit our hearts because we are hitting a pretty intense topic. So to get started I would like to ask you a question, which will require an honest answer.
Have you ever just wondered what in the world is God was up to?
I mean have you ever just thought, God is this it? Is this what you had in mind for me? Or maybe you thought something along these lines as you walked through a bad spot? “Really God, I would love a moment where life would just let up a bit…what are you up to with me God?” Now listen, I know we are at church, and maybe we don’t want to admit that these types of things hit our minds and our hearts but can we just talk for a moment. Life isn’t easy is it? And whether we want to admit it or not, I think we all have moments where we just can’t see or understand what God is up to…and frankly we may wonder if He is there at all, or if He cares at all, especially as we walk through difficulty and challenges…and well, just life on this planet. Last week as I read this scripture to you, it really felt important and I wanted to come back to it today and really build on this today, it’s that big of a deal.
1 Corinthians 13:12 We don’t yet see things clearly. We’re squinting in a fog, peering through a mist. But it won’t be long before the weather clears and the sun shines bright! We’ll see it all then, see it all as clearly as God sees us, knowing him directly just as he knows us! 13 But for right now, until that completeness, we have three things to do to lead us toward that consummation: Trust steadily in God, hope unswervingly, love extravagantly. And the best of the three is love. MSG
I have to tell you there have been many times in my life where I read Paul and have wondered if this guy had a time machine or something because it seems like he just came to our time period walked around for a while then went back to his prison cell and wrote these letters. This is so us isn’t it? We don’t yet see things clearly. Life is a blur isn’t it? We run around at a million miles an hour squinting in the fog and peering through the mist. Man this hits my heart, and I recognize this in my own life and I will take it a step farther. I asked you a moment ago if you ever wondered what God was up to…now let’s keep rolling with that idea, it’s tough to really see clearly on what God is up to…I think a large part of that is faith. Which is essential to our spiritual growth and really came out in our last series right? We need faith because life isn’t always easy and our faith is often challenged and stretched in the tough times, but I want to add something to the front of the question we were thinking of a moment ago, think about this…
When is it…that you find yourself wondering where God is or what He is up to?
You see I think there is a direct tie between our wondering what God is up to, and when we wonder what God is up to…and I am willing to bet you, that most of the time you aren’t asking God what He is up to when things are going the way you want them to go, but you are questioning Him and what He is up to when things are not going so well. It is one thing to believe in what God is doing in your life when things are going the way we want them to go, it’s a whole other thing when there is hurts and pain and adversity…or when things just don’t look like they are coming together the way we want them to. So there is a direct tie between this questioning of God and our circumstances. I think that is a fair statement. You see this is what I want to talk to you about today, because life is hard. Life is confusing. There are hurts and times when we can’t seem to see or understand what God is up to…I really think Paul touched on that in what we read earlier…
1 Corinthians 13:12 We don’t yet see things clearly. We’re squinting in a fog, peering through a mist. But it won’t be long before the weather clears and the sun shines bright! We’ll see it all then, see it all as clearly as God sees us, knowing him directly just as he knows us! MSG
I think this is the reality of life, and this is why faith is such a big deal. I love how Paul describes this in the Message version…I also love how this in smack in the middle of what many call “The Love” chapter of 1st Corinthians, but it’s what Paul says next that I think really is what we need to focus on…
1 Corinthians 13:13 But for right now, until that completeness, we have three things to do to lead us toward that consummation: Trust steadily in God, hope unswervingly, love extravagantly. And the best of the three is love. MSG
Well this is really what I want to get into with you today, Paul says we should trust steadily, hope unswervingly and love extravagantly. Which is awesome…but if you notice he is telling us to do that even in a time where we don’t quite get what God is up to. Can you do that? Can you trust, hope, and love even when things aren’t going the way you would want them to go in life? If you notice Paul didn’t say after you see things clearly you can start to do these things…no, he said there will be a day when we see things clearly but UNTIL that day comes, “But for right now” these are the three things we need to do.
Can I tell you something, I don’t think this is an easy thing to do. I think it is a lot easier to follow God, not question Him, and to have trust, hope, and love when things are going well! I often love watching sporting events and hearing how “classy” the power house teams are…yes they are classy because they win all the time, I’m classy when I win too! That is easy right but this is a whole other thing…trusting steadily in God, hoping unswervingly, and loving extravagantly even when things aren’t going well…well this is a whole other thing. Interesting that the guy writing this to us is sitting in a jail cell waiting to die isn’t it? So let me ask you the question again…
Have you ever wondered what in the world God was up to in your life? When does that question hit your heart or mind?
Well this is exactly what I want to get into with you, this section of the series is really addressing the power of hope, and I just kept thinking about Paul’s words that we read last week…and how important it is to trust, hope, and love as Paul would say even when we don’t see what God is up to, or the plan He has for our lives clearly which I think by this point of the talk we are all able to realize is probably when we are dealing with adversity, or pain, or when life has just thrown something at us that we were not expecting.
You know I don’t know what you are walking through in life but I do know this, and when I say it you may not be in a spot where you can receive this, or even agree with it today but I want you to know something that no one ever wants to hear but it is so important. Actually, you know what just to protect myself I’m just going to quote Pete Scazzero right from the book today, it’s much safer for me, LOL.
“God never discards any of our past when we surrender ourselves to Him. He is the Lord God Almighty! He fashions every mistake, sin, and detour we take in the journey of life into a future blessing. Much of how God accomplishes this remains a mystery. We are simply invited to trust His goodness and love.” (Emotionally Healthy Relationships Page 96)
What are we hearing from Pete here? It’s that God will use all of it for His glory, for good…and can we be really honest today. While we are walking in the pain, and hurts, and difficulties of life the last thing we want to hear is that God will spin it for good, but it is so amazingly true. It may not be what you want to hear but think about this for a moment, God will take every sin, mistake, wrong decision that we make, and He will use it for good. How amazingly redemptive is that thought. God is so much bigger than us, and thinks so far beyond our thoughts…which is why Paul would say even though we can’t see things clearly, even when they don’t make sense we must trust, hope, and love. Check out what God says through the prophet Isaiah here…
Isaiah 55:8 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the LORD. 9 “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. NIV
God says we are not going to fully understand what He is up to, which can drive some people nuts, but if you think about it, if you can fully figure out God He isn’t much of a God in the first place right? He thinks bigger. He is wiser. His plans are beyond are ability to comprehend at times. Which may be the one thing we can all agree on right? That we don’t fully understand what He is up to, and for some of us as life just pushes in harder and harder and harder we are really beginning to wonder what He is up to or if there even is a God at all. Listen, I think to question God and wonder what He is up to just means your human, so please know, it’s ok, but it’s in the difficult moments of life that those doubts, and questions really ramp up, and I believe this is why Paul really rallies us here in the love chapter to trust, to hope, and to love even when we can’t see things so clearly…what a profound thought, and what makes it even more incredible is to think that Paul writes these types of encouraging words about rallying and focusing on God in the tough times from a dark, cold prison cell. Paul is trying to help us here…and it is so hard as we walk through difficulties in life to stay focused on the fact that God is there and does love us, and will pull us through.
1 Corinthians 13:12 We don’t yet see things clearly. We’re squinting in a fog, peering through a mist. But it won’t be long before the weather clears and the sun shines bright! We’ll see it all then, see it all as clearly as God sees us, knowing him directly just as he knows us! 13 But for right now, until that completeness, we have three things to do to lead us toward that consummation: Trust steadily in God, hope unswervingly, love extravagantly. And the best of the three is love. MSG
I want you thinking about this, and really personalizing this today. When I read to you the words of Paul, how we should trust steadily, hope unswervingly, and love extravagantly even when we can’t see through the fog of life clearly how does that hit your heart today?
I think for some of us we hear this and think you know what this makes a lot of sense but Sam, you have no idea what I have walked through in my life. You have no idea what I am currently walking through in my life. Maybe you are having some issues in your home, with a loved one, maybe you are having some physical issues, or maybe right now you are thinking about many hurts that you have walked through in your life time in your past which wasn’t easy and it has you wondering why? Why or how can Sam stand up there and tell me that God can use this for good and spin all my mess, and hurts into blessing. Listen, I get it. It’s not easy to see what God is up to as we walk through pain and I can tell you that we all will or have walked through pain, this is life for all of us. But as you hear the scriptures read today I wonder if you can’t hear some truth in there too? What if it’s true, that God is so much bigger and so much wiser and has such greater plans than we can imagine that we just have to keep the faith even in the hardest moments of life? What if what Paul says is true that even though we can’t see real clearly now because of the heart ache, and pain of life we must stay focused on three very important things…Faith, Hope, and Love.
You may be sitting there feeling a real tug on your heart today as I speak through this topic because it is such a challenging one. I really wish I could stand up here today and tell you that life with Christ means you will always see clearly, and there will be no pain or hurts or adversity but that simply is not true. You were never promised a life on this side of Heaven without pain, but you were promised a companion on the journey. You get to walk through all of it with Jesus by your side. I know this isn’t the easiest subject and I fully recognize that I don’t know half the challenges you are facing in your life whether they are emotional, physical, spiritual, or relational…but I know this, God loves you. He is with you in it…and even though it is so difficult and challenging to see clearly as you work through the heart ache we must stay focused on God in all of it, because He will use these moments for good. We may not see it clearly now but we will look back on it someday and we will get it.
You know my son Jaden is really into running and I believe God really has given him a gift to run far and fast. He enjoys track, but loves Cross Country and I have really enjoyed watching my son work and train for races. This past fall was his 8th grade year of middle school Cross Country. We quietly had goals for him and those goals were to break the school record for the race and it seemed in reach, and then in the first race of the year he got hurt halfway through the race. It didn’t seem fair. He worked so hard. He is such a humble and quiet kid who was doing everything right…and now an injury not only took his season away but put him on a 5 or 6 month journey to recovery. You know for me as a father this hurt my heart…frankly it hurt my wallet too as we sifted through doctor visits and tried to figure out physical therapy. I watched his emotions go up and down. I watched him struggle and not improve. I watched him go and stand at every race and quietly cheer for his teammates knowing it was killing him to not compete…it was really tough to watch. You know what, to make a long story short through this injury we found good trainers. We learned a lot about health and how to prevent injury and Jaden has even found Olympic level marathon runners teaching him how to run with better mechanics and fundamentals…the injury was awful…but there was this moment months later where I watched my son run around the track pain free where I realized wow, he is better because he got hurt. If we never had that painful time he wouldn’t have grown as much as he has, and I just sat there amazed in that moment. It took pain and injury and money and emotions to get to a place where I could sit there and realize wow, God’s plan is just bigger and better than mine. I had a plan for Jaden and it was a good one…it was break every record and win ever award and I would sit there and cheer. My plan didn’t involve painful injuries, copays, insurance, emotions and half a year of work to get him healthy again, but I see it clearly now…God’s plan was simply better. It made no sense to me in the moment but it was better. I didn’t like it while I was in it with my son, but it was simply bigger and better for my son over time. What a humbling moment for me and another reminder that God is beyond me, and has our best interest in mind. Now I’m not trying to compare a Middle School sporting event to your hurts and pain. But I am trying to help you see that God may be doing something in you even as you struggle and hurt that while you can’t see it clearly now, it will make sense someday and the greatest thing you can do is trust, hope, and love and know that whether you feel it or not. God is with you. He is there. He does care and He is moving on your behalf. He doesn’t waste anything.
So as we leave here today I want to ask you a couple of questions and I want you thinking this through.
- What is one specific area in your life that God is inviting you to patiently trust him today?
- Can you recognize how hard it is to see God moving in the tough times of your life?
- Can you name an area of your life where you are questioning God a bit?
- Can you recognize that God is with you, that He loves you, and that He can use all of our mess for good?
Listen, if you are hearing this message and struggling with it today I want you to hear me…this means you are a human being. It isn’t easy to walk through pain, and hard times and not question or wonder what is going on. I think that really is a big point of what Paul was trying to help us and encourage us with. Life isn’t easy. Life is just flat out hard. We walk through so much pain, loss, hurts, and emotions that it makes it almost impossible to see things clearly on this side of Eternity. Which is why Paul would sit in his dark and lonely jail cell and say these words…
1 Corinthians 13:12 We don’t yet see things clearly. We’re squinting in a fog, peering through a mist. But it won’t be long before the weather clears and the sun shines bright! We’ll see it all then, see it all as clearly as God sees us, knowing him directly just as he knows us! 13 But for right now, until that completeness, we have three things to do to lead us toward that consummation: Trust steadily in God, hope unswervingly, love extravagantly. And the best of the three is love. MSG
Our job is to realize that even though we can’t see clearly God can. His ways are beyond our understanding and through all of the mess He is there, and will use it all for good. So the key for us all is to trust steadily in God, hope unswervingly, and love extravagantly even when life just doesn’t make sense.