The following post is the 3rd sermon in our waiting rooms series. For audio of this sermon, go to www.theridgechurch.ca and click on downloads.
Waiting Rooms, Part 3
Acts 7:23-38, NLT2
Sunday, June 26th, 2016-MRWC
ILLUSTRATION- I hate waiting. Always have, probably always will. Nothing about the process makes me happy.
I’m not prejudice against waiting either; by that I mean, it doesn’t matter if I’m sitting in a waiting room, or waiting for the next iPhone to come out, I don’t like waiting.
If I see something that I want, it generally means I want it, yesterday.
It’s a good thing I’m not an elephant—stay with me--- It takes about 22 months for an
unborn elephant to mature to birth! 22!!!
The shark, known as the spiny dogfish has a pregnancy duration of up to 24 months.
And at elevations above 4,600 feet, the alpine salamander endures a gestational period of up to 38 months!
It’s a good thing I’m not any one of these animals, I don’t think my family could live with me!
Waiting is not something I do well at all. I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone who loves to wait—we all want something sooner rather than later.
Yet, in God’s economy, waiting is a good thing.
Flip through the pages of Scripture and you find bible character after bible character in a season of waiting. From Job, to David, from Paul to John, they all had to wait for something at some point in time.
In the previous sermons in this series, we looked at, first of all, the paralyzed man whose story is told in Mark chapter 2.
This man, you may remember, was unable to get to Jesus on his own. His friends knew this, and so they took him to Jesus.
In fact, they ripped off the ceiling tiles of the house where Jesus was teaching, and they lowered this man down, and placed him “right in front of Jesus.” (Luke 5:19, NIV84)
The lesson we learnt that day was that we all need someone who will take us to Jesus.
We all need someone who, when we are having a bad day, will take us and place us “right in front of Jesus.” (Luke 5:19, NIV84)
The second message in this Waiting Rooms series focused on the man who had been born blind. His story is recorded for us in John chapter 9.
This man was born blind so God could tell His story through this man. And that story is that you can either be bitter at God, or you can be better for God.
These are the only two options you have. You can be bitter at God, or you can be better for God.
ILLUSTRATION- I think you should know that this is exactly where I’m at in my journey with Jesus.
I’m working really hard on not being bitter at God for placing me in a waiting room. It’s a choice that I am making to be better for God and allowing Him to tell a better story through my busted and broken life.
Life in a waiting room is no fun; but can you imagine being in a waiting room for 40 years?
ILLUSTRATION- We’ve been in a waiting room full time now for almost 3 years…. And I’ve gone almost nuts because of it.
I can’t imagine being in a WR for 40 years before being able to do what you were created to do.
We are going to take a quick glimpse into the life of Moses this morning, and we’re going to pick up his story by looking at the book of Acts.
The book of Acts isn’t typically where one would go to learn about Moses, but the author, Luke, does a great job of capturing his life, thanks in part, to a man named Stephen.
We will pick up our reading in Acts 7:23- “One day when Moses was forty years old, he decided to visit his relatives, the people of Israel.
24 He saw an Egyptian mistreating an Israelite. So Moses came to the man’s defense and avenged him, killing the Egyptian.
25 Moses assumed his fellow Israelites would realize that God had sent him to rescue them,
but they didn’t.
26 “The next day he visited them again and saw two men of Israel fighting. He tried to be a peacemaker. ‘Men,’ he said, ‘you are brothers. Why are you fighting each other?’
27 “But the man in the wrong pushed Moses aside. ‘Who made you a ruler and judge over us?’ he asked.
28 ‘Are you going to kill me as you killed that Egyptian yesterday?’
29 When Moses heard that, he fled the country and lived as a foreigner in the land of Midian. There his two sons were born.” (Acts 7:23-29, NLT2)
Up until this account takes place, Moses had been living the dream. He had been brought up in Pharaoh’s mansion, and had the best of the best.
He had been living it up for 40 years, trained as an Egyptian, and had servants wash his chariot and had other servants take him to Olive Garden for lunch. Moses was living the dream.
Then one day, all of that changed. When Moses was 40, he decided to take a walk and he stumbled upon a fight, and he immediately went all Captain America on the Egyptian who was laying a pounding on a Hebrew, one of Moses’ own people.
Moses thought that the Hebrews would be glad that he defended them, but instead of being glad, they got mad and as a result Moses fled Pharaoh’s Castle and went to live in the desert of Midian, a place that he would call home for the next 40 years.
What kept Moses in a waiting room for 40 years? After all, his parents recognized that he wasn’t your typical child--- I know all parents say that about their kids—but Hebrews 11:23 actually
proves that Moses was special:
“It was by faith that Moses’ parents hid him for three months when he was born. They saw that God had given them an unusual child, and they were not afraid to disobey the king’s command.” (NLT2)
Moses had been set apart for something special… yet he still had to spend 40 years in the desert. For what reason?
God left Moses in a waiting room so Moses could learn what he needed to learn.
Think about it for a moment. There was absolutely no way that Moses—who grew up with an Egyptian education---could learn the ways of the desert; how to survive—to know what to eat and what not to eat—unless he spent time in the desert.
Google hadn’t been invented as of yet. He couldn’t jump on his iPad and learn all he needed to learn about desert survival.
Moses actually had to go into the desert to learn what he needed to learn.
Max Lucado, in his book “Second Chances” has this to say; “Forty-year old Moses was a city boy. Octogenarian Moses knows the name of every snake and the location of every watering
hole.
If he’s going to lead thousands of Hebrews into the wilderness, he better know the basics of Desert life 101.”
“Family dynamics, for another. If he’s going to be traveling with families for forty years, it might help to understand how they work.” (Lucado, 2013, 67)
When God places you or me in a Waiting Room, it’s so that we will learn what we need to learn.
Don’t forget our key thought of this entire series: “While we wait, God is at work.”
When we find ourselves in a waiting room, God is using that time to transform us into the men and women He intends for us to be.
Think about it like this:
You can’t learn patience any other way than by being placed in a situation that demands patience.
You can’t learn compassion any other way unless you’re confronted with a situation that demands you to have compassion.
You’ll never become a peacemaker unless you’re placed in an environment that demands a peacemaker.
God places all of us in a Waiting Room for a reason: to learn what we need to learn. While we wait, God is at work.
God wants us to trust Him while we wait. It’s as Rick Warren says: “Waiting for God’s promises to be fulfilled is part of trusting Him. No matter how long the delay, we must wait for Him.” (Transformed journal, day 10)
As the writer of Hebrews promises us, “Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep his promise.” (Heb. 10:23, NLT2)
Our key verse reminds us that:
“Those who hope in the Lord…” (Isaiah 40:31, NIV84)
“Those who trust on the Lord…” (NLT2)
“Those who wait on the LORD Shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint.” (NKJV)
As we wait upon the Lord; He will be working in us—on us--- to transform us into the men and women He wants us to be.
We need to remember, that "while we wait, God is at work."
Billy Graham shares the following story with
us:
ILLUSTRATION- I have a friend who during the Depression lost his job, a fortune, a wife, and a home. But he tenaciously held to his faith—the only thing he had left.
One day he stopped to watch some men doing stonework on a huge church. One of them was chiseling a triangular piece of stone. “What are you going to do with that?” asked my friend.
The workman said, “See that little opening away up there near the spire? Well, I’m shaping this down here, so it will fit in up there.”
Tears filled the eyes of my friend as he walked away, for it seemed that God had spoken through the workman to explain his ordeal through which he was passing, “I’m shaping you down here, so you’ll fit in up there.” (from my files)
God was at work in Moses’ life during his waiting room experience. The 40 years he spent in the desert were not a waste. God was teaching Moses what he needed to know in order to survive the next chapter of Life.
Which, I might add, began when Moses was 80 years old!
Flip back to the Book of Acts 7:30 and on: “Forty years later, in the desert near Mount Sinai, an angel appeared to Moses in the flame of a burning bush.
31 When Moses saw it, he was amazed at the sight. As he went to take a closer look, the voice of the Lord called out to him,
32 ‘I am the God of your ancestors—the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.’ Moses shook with terror and did not dare to look.
33 “Then the Lord said to him, ‘Take off your sandals, for you are standing on holy ground.
34 I have certainly seen the oppression of my people in Egypt. I have heard their groans and have come down to rescue them. Now go, for I am sending you back to Egypt.’
35 “So God sent back the same man his people had previously rejected when they demanded, ‘Who made you a ruler and judge over us?’ Through the angel who appeared to him in the burning bush, God sent Moses to be their ruler and savior.
36 And by means of many wonders and miraculous signs, he led them out of Egypt, through the Red Sea, and through the wilderness for forty years.” (NLT2)
Exodus 7:7 tells us that: “Moses was eighty years old, and Aaron was eighty-three when they made their demands to Pharaoh.” (NLT2)
Moses and Aaron were old men when they stood before Pharaoh and eventually led the people of Israel out from under the oppressive hand of Pharaoh and led them in the wilderness for 40 years.
Deut. 34:7 tells us that: “Moses was 120 years old when he died, yet his eyesight was clear, and he was as strong as ever.” (NLT2)
It seems clear to me that God had used Moses more in the 2nd half of his life than in the first half of his life.
While Moses wasn’t without his issues, Moses listened to God and God used him in a mighty way.
I can honestly tell you, friend, if God places you in a waiting room of any kind, there is a particular reason for it… so you will learn what you need to learn.
God isn’t finished with you yet.
Psalm 138:8 reminds us all that: “The LORD will fulfill his purpose for me; your love, O LORD, endures forever-- do not abandon the works of your hands.” (NIV84)
As long as you have breath in your lungs, you are a walking, talking instrument for God to tell His story through you.
ILLUSTRATION- There was a period of about 6 weeks that I don’t remember from my last transplant.
I do, however, remember focusing on several passages of Scripture. Many of these
verses would get me through the day.
One of these verses was Philippians 4:13. “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” (NKJV) I would recite this verse as I was learning how to walk again.
Philippians 1:6 was another verse: “being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”(NIV84)
While we spend time in a waiting room, we need to know that God is still at work. What is the key thought of this series? “While we wait, God is at work.”
If we allow Him, God will do whatever needs to be done in our lives; He will teach us what we need to learn, just as He did with Moses, so we can tell His story.
When God appeared to Moses, He told him to “go”. Look again at Acts 7:34: “I have certainly seen the oppression of my people in Egypt. I have heard their groans and have come down to rescue them. Now go, for I am sending you back to Egypt.’”(NLT2)
After his training was over, God sent Moses to lead His people out from under the hand of Pharaoh.
ILLUSTRATION- I have had many opportunities to share about Jesus since my ordeal began, probably more opportunities than if I hadn’t gone through this.
I can remember one night in particular. I was getting my dressing changed and I was sharing about Jesus to 3 different nurses! At Mid-night!
I have also had the opportunity to share about Jesus with my physicians.
I probably would never have had these opportunities to share about Jesus, any other way than by being in a waiting room.
God can redeem any situation; God can use any situation, especially our waiting room situations.
“He who began a good work in you will carry it on….” (Ph. 1:6, NIV84) While we wait, God is at work.
So, what do I want you to do with what you’re hearing?
1. Trust the process. By that I mean, Trust that God knows what He is doing.
Our key verse reminds us that: “But those who trust in the Lord will find new strength. They will soar high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint.” (Is. 40:31, NLT2)
God will give you strength for the journey. He will give you just what you need—when you need it—
He gave Moses what He needed to speak to Pharaoh and to lead the people out of Egypt and He will give you “new strength” as you endure life’s waiting rooms.
God will give you what you need to get through, but you need to trust Him. Proverbs 3:5&6 remind us to: “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; 6 in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.” (NIV84)
While we wait, God is at work. We need to trust that God knows what He is doing, and trust that He is leading us down the right path. We must trust the process.
2. We must also pray for endurance.
Moses needed help for his new journey. He told God he couldn’t speak, told God that the people wouldn’t believe him and several other reasons why he couldn’t do what God had been asking Him to do. So God sent Moses a helper to fulfill his calling in life, his brother Aaron.
As we’ve already said, you and I are going to need someone who will stand by us when the going gets tough.
We need someone who will take us to Jesus, and if you haven’t found someone as of yet, there is no better time in right now; because life in a waiting room is hard.
Moses wanted out more than once, we will too. Because of this, we need someone who will help us endure the trail of a waiting room.
So pray, not only for endurance, but for someone who will help you get through a waiting room.
Life in a waiting room is no fun, but waiting rooms are necessary, because they teach us things that we need to learn on our journey with Jesus, and as we wait, God is at work.
If you find yourself in the wilderness today, we want to help you get through this. MRWC is a safe place and you will only find grace for your journey with Jesus.
We can depend on the promise of this Scripture: “For I will be with you as I was with Moses. I will not fail you or abandon you.” (Joshua 1:5, NLT2)
AS we do life in a WR; God will do His work in our lives… the only question is: Will you let Him?
Will you let God teach you?
Will you let God lead you?
Will you let God mold you?
AS the band comes back, we want to give you the time you need to respond to what you’ve just heard…. We’re going to sing The Potter’s Hand, and if you need a touch from God, if you need help in trusting God, or want Him to mold you, then tell Him so.
You may want to come to the Front, you may want to stand where you are, or you may want to remain seated and talk to God there.
God sees and knows your heart, so as we sing, you respond as you see fit.
Life in a waiting rooms is no fun, but we need to remember that While we wait, God is at work.
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