Surprise!

Isaiah 40:28-31
Don't you know? Haven't you heard? The eternal God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, doesn't grow tired or become weary. His understanding is beyond reach.  

He gives strength to those who grow tired and increases the strength of those who are weak.  Even young people grow tired and become weary, and young men will stumble and fall.

Yet, the strength of those who wait with hope in the LORD will be renewed. They will soar on wings like eagles. They will run and won't become weary. They will walk and won't grow tired.  

2 Corinthians 12:2-10

I know a follower of Christ who was snatched away to the third heaven fourteen years ago. I don't know whether this happened to him physically or spiritually. Only God knows.  I know that this person was snatched away to paradise where he heard things that can't be expressed in words, things that humans cannot put into words.

        I don't know whether this happened to him physically or spiritually. Only God knows.  I'll brag about this person, but I won't brag about myself unless it's about my weaknesses.

          If I ever wanted to brag, I wouldn't be a fool. Instead, I would be telling the truth. But I'm going to spare you so that no one may think more of me than what he sees or hears about me,  especially because of the excessive number of revelations that I've had.

         Therefore, to keep me from becoming conceited, I am forced to deal with a recurring problem. That problem, Satan's messenger, torments me to keep me from being conceited.  

         I begged the Lord three times to take it away from me.  But he told me: "My kindness is all you need. My power is strongest when you are weak." So I will brag even more about my weaknesses in order that Christ's power will live in me.

          Therefore, I accept weakness, mistreatment, hardship, persecution, and difficulties suffered for Christ. It's clear that when I'm weak, I'm strong.  

Sermon:   “Surprise”

When I chose these scriptures, I had in mind to write about God giving us strength, or being our strength when we are weak. The Bible is full of times God chose the weak, the broken, the outcast, and most unlikely people to do mighty things. That would be an easy sermon to write.

But something happened on the way to the sermon. God forced a right turn in my thinking. I needed to take the time to focus on my own spiritual needs.

Sometimes writing these sermons is easy. It is like when it go to the word of God I'm stepping into a raging river that just overflows and overpowers me and fills me. I want to stay and play and splash and dive and exult in the vastness of God's love.

However sometimes it's like going to a dry well and all I can hear is the echo of my own voice. HELLO! Hello. hello? Nothing. Not even the chirping if crickets.

The psalms of David are remarkable. I'm sure that he would be diagnosed as manic depressive. He would go from lows where he would cry out, “(Psalms 10:1)Why are you so distant, LORD? Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?  And (Psalms 13:1-2) “How long, O LORD? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me?  How long must I make decisions alone with sorrow in my heart day after day?”

I don't feel depressed but there are days when the Lord seems to be so distant and uncaring. I know. I know. It's not true but if feels that way sometimes. And David knew that feeling and he would write these sad and beautiful words expressing his feelings of loss and abandonment.

He also knew what to do when those emotions flooded over him. Listen to Psalm 63:1-8 written by David about when he was in the wilderness of Judah.
1 O God, you are my God.
   At dawn I search for you.
       My soul thirsts for you.
       My body longs for you
           in a dry, parched land where there is no water.
2 So I look for you in the holy place
   to see your power and your glory.
3 My lips will praise you
   because your mercy is better than life itself.
4 So I will thank you as long as I live.
   I will lift up my hands to pray in your name.
5 You satisfy my soul with the richest foods.
   My mouth will sing your praise with joyful lips.
6 As I lie on my bed, I remember you.
   Through the long hours of the night, I think about you.
7 You have been my help.
   In the shadow of your wings, I sing joyfully.
8 My soul clings to you.
   Your right hand supports me.

I also feel that “my soul thirsts for you, Lord. My body longs for you in a dry, parched land where there is no water.”

I know, when I feel that way, what I have to do. That's when I have to dig a little deeper in the well, dig a little deeper in the storehouse of God's love.

I know that it's not the depth of the well that is the problem. God's well is unimaginably deep. God who filled the oceans has enough. God, the creator of the universe (or possibly universes) has no limits. He is the Alpha and the Omega. He will never run low on the living water that we need to refresh our souls.

If the well isn’t dry … which it isn’t … why am I feeling dried up inside? Have you ever felt that? Have you ever reached the limit of what you have to give? You’ve given 110% just like they asked for. And now … and now you are operating on a deficit. Your spiritual, emotional, physical, financial bank is worse than empty … it’s overdrawn.

You're so far down that you have to look up to see the bottom.

Ever felt that way?

Why do I let myself get like that, when God's storehouse is full and his well is running over?

It's the size of the bucket that I take to the well that's the problem.

Sometimes I'm so sure of my own abilities that I go to the well carrying only a teaspoon … after all, I already know what I'm going to write in my sermon.  

I forget who is the source of that living water. And I forget to take a great big drink. To drink like a camel, filling my hump.

I forget to keep my spirit, my soul, hydrated.

Once my then three year old great granddaughter came and rested her arms of my recliner, looked me in the eye and said in a concerned voice, “Grandpa, you shouldn't drink coffee. It won't keep you hydrated.” And she is right. It won't keep you hydrated.

Sometimes my spirit becomes dehydrated.

Do you know what I mean? Have you been there?

I said earlier that God forced a right turn in my thinking. Well, just to make sure I was listening, He sent a message by way of Facebook. Yep! His messages arrive in many ways. The Bible, words of a friend, sermons, songs, roadside signs, and even social media

This one arrived on Facebook from a pastor friend of mine. She wrote (and I quote):

“As I walked in the door on Friday morning, the nurse looked up and said, “I’m sorry, he’s gone”. I couldn’t believe it. I just knew I would have one last time to tell him I love him.

I stood in shock looking at his body and trying to understand but not refusing to trust God to get us through this. I thought about the times I could have called, should have called, had the opportunity to visit but didn’t.

Then my focus shifted...I shifted into Minister mode and went to prepare my Father and Aunt knowing they were only a few steps behind me. I focused on assisting everyone else to process what we were experiencing.

But in the midst of it I never allowed myself to process what I was experiencing too. I simply ministered to everyone else.

When I returned home I went right back to the normal swing of life. I got up, went to work, answered calls and texts like normal. When I was leaving work I was asked about the trip and it hit me.  

I couldn’t use ministry to push my emotions to the side and I had to stop and deal with it.

This is so common for many Pastors, Ministers, and other Christians. We focus on being there for everyone else and forget to allow ourselves time to grieve. We forget that we are human and have feelings like everyone else.

Let’s be clear, I know what God’s word says regarding grieving. But understand that he never said we aren’t allowed to. He just told us to not grieve as the world does because we know there’s life after this life. Uncle JR is in the presence of the Lord and enjoying time with his parents who knew the Lord too.

So today, I’m allowing myself time to reflect and enjoy memories. I’m allowing myself an opportunity to express the emotions of never being able to see my Uncle again. Then I’m going to stand up and bless the Lord with my whole heart and rejoice because my God is so good!

If I haven’t told you lately, know that I love you! I’m going to try to get better at not being so caught up in ministry that I miss the moments and time I’ve been allowed with family. Have a blessed day!”

End of quote.

She did a great job of sharing how we can be so busy doing the “right thing” the “good thing” that we forget to do the, ”God thing”, to stop and listen, to refresh and refuel, to return to the well and drink deeply of the living water.

So my prayer for myself and for all of you is,

“Take time to be holy, speak oft with thy Lord;

Abide in Him always, and feed on His Word.
Make friends of God’s children, help those who are weak,
Forgetting in nothing His blessing to seek.*

Amen.