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The Destination Matters- Minister Max Lucado · Max Lucado Daily Sermons

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  Speaker 1: Hi friends, I'm Max Locato. Welcome to Fresh Hope. I'm
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  Speaker 1: so glad you've joined me for the final episode in
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  Speaker 1: this series that's based on my book In the Eye
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  Speaker 1: of the Storm. Some storms in life are short, lasting
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  Speaker 1: only a day or a week, but some storms linger,
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  Speaker 1: They rage for months, even years. What do we do
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  Speaker 1: when we are weary from the rain battered journey? I
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  Speaker 1: learned something about this many years ago, and I'd like
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  Speaker 1: to tell you that story. When my daughters were young,
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  Speaker 1: we used to drive to my mom's house way out
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  Speaker 1: in West Texas for Thanksgiving. Most of those miles on
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  Speaker 1: the road with three little ones are hazy in my memory,
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  Speaker 1: but one particular year I remember well. About three hours
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  Speaker 1: into the six hour trip, I realized I was in
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  Speaker 1: a theology lab. A day with a car full of
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  Speaker 1: kids will teach you a lot about God. A journey
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  Speaker 1: is a journey, whether the destination be the Thanksgiving table
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  Speaker 1: or the heavenly one. Both the man patience, a good
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  Speaker 1: sense of direction, and a driver who knows that the
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  Speaker 1: feast at the end of the trip is worth the
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  Speaker 1: hassles in the midst of the trip. The fact that
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  Speaker 1: my pilgrims were all under the age of seven only
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  Speaker 1: enriched my learning experience. While on the road, Denon and
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  Speaker 1: I discussed the similarities between these earthly and heavenly journeys.
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  Speaker 1: Here are a few we noted. To reach the destination,
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  Speaker 1: we have to say no to some requests. Can you
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  Speaker 1: imagine the outcome if a parent honored each request of
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  Speaker 1: each child during a trip, We'd inch our bloated bellies
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  Speaker 1: from one ice cream store to the next. Our priority
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  Speaker 1: would be popcorn, and our itinerary would read like a
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  Speaker 1: fast food menu. Go to the cherry malt and make
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  Speaker 1: a rite. Head north until you find the chili cheeseburger,
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  Speaker 1: Stay north for thirteen hundred calories, and bear left at
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  Speaker 1: the giant Pizza. Can you imagine the chaos if a
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  Speaker 1: parent indulged every indulgence? Can you imagine the chaos if
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  Speaker 1: God indulged each of ours. No is a necessary word
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  Speaker 1: to take on a trip. Destination has to reign over
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  Speaker 1: the dairy Deluxe ice cream Sunday First, Thessalonians five and
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  Speaker 1: verse nine says for God has not destined us to
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  Speaker 1: the terrors of judgment, but to the full attainment of salvation.
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  Speaker 1: To our Lord Jesus Christ. Please note God's destiny for
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  Speaker 1: your life salvation. God's overarching desire is that you reach
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  Speaker 1: that destiny. His itinerary includes stops that encourage your journey,
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  Speaker 1: and he frowns on stomps that deter you. When his
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  Speaker 1: sovereign plan and your earthly plan collide, a decision must
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  Speaker 1: be made. Who's in charge of this journey? If God
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  Speaker 1: must choose between your earthly satisfy faction in your heavenly salvation,
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  Speaker 1: which do you hope he chooses me too. When I'm
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  Speaker 1: in the driver's seat as the father of my children,
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  Speaker 1: I remember that I'm in charge. But when I'm in
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  Speaker 1: the passenger's seat, as a child of my father, I
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  Speaker 1: forget he's in charge. I forget God is more concerned
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  Speaker 1: with my destiny than my belly, and I complain when.
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  Speaker 2: He says no.
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  Speaker 1: The request my children made on the road to Grandma's
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  Speaker 1: weren't evil or rebellious. In fact, we had a couple
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  Speaker 1: of cones and cokes, but most of the requests were unnecessary. Now,
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  Speaker 1: my then four year old daughter would have argued that fact.
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  Speaker 1: From her viewpoint, another soft drink was indispensable to her happiness.
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  Speaker 1: I knew otherwise, and so I said no. A forty
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  Speaker 1: year old adult would argue that fact. From his standpoint,
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  Speaker 1: a new boss is indispensable to happiness. God knows otherwise
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  Speaker 1: and says no. A thirty year old woman would argue
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  Speaker 1: that fact. From her standpoint, that man with that job
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  Speaker 1: and that name is exactly who she needs to be happy.
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  Speaker 1: Her father, who is more concerned that she arrived at
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  Speaker 1: his holy city than at the altar, says, wait a
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  Speaker 1: few miles, there's a better option down the road. Wait,
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  Speaker 1: she protests, how long do I have to wait, which
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  Speaker 1: takes us to a second similarity between the two journeys.
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  Speaker 1: Children have no concept of minutes or miles. I told
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  Speaker 1: my girls we'll be there in three hours. How long
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  Speaker 1: is three hours? Jenna asked. How do you explain time
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  Speaker 1: to a child who can't tell time?
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  Speaker 2: I tried.
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  Speaker 1: I told Jenna three hours is about as long as
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  Speaker 1: three episodes of Sesame Street. The children groaned in unison
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  Speaker 1: three Sesame Street. That's that's forever, and to them it is,
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  Speaker 1: and to us it seems that way too. Isaiah fifty
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  Speaker 1: seven and fifteen describes God as he who lives forever,
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  Speaker 1: and this God has placed himself at the head of
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  Speaker 1: a band of pilgrims who mutter like the Psalmist, How long,
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  Speaker 1: O Lord, how long? Psalm eighty nine, in verse forty six.
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  Speaker 1: How long must I endure this sickness? How long must
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  Speaker 1: I endure this spouse? How long must I endure this paycheck?
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  Speaker 1: Do you really want God to answer?
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  Speaker 2: He could.
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  Speaker 1: He could answer in terms of the here and now.
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  Speaker 1: With time increments, we know and understand two more years
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  Speaker 1: of the illness, the rest of your life in the marriage,
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  Speaker 1: ten more years for the bills. But he seldom does that.
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  Speaker 1: He usually opts to measure thee here and now against
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  Speaker 1: the there and then, and when you compare this life
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  Speaker 1: to that life, this life ain't long. First Chronicles twenty
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  Speaker 1: nine point fifteen says our days on earth are like
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  Speaker 1: a shadow. Psalm thirty nine point five says each man's
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  Speaker 1: life is but a breath. James four or fourteen says
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  Speaker 1: you are a mist that appears for a little while
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  Speaker 1: and then vanishes. It's a short journey. I tell my
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  Speaker 1: children we're almost there. I know I've been there before.
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  Speaker 1: I've driven this road. For me, it's no challenge, but
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  Speaker 1: for the children it's eternal. So I try another approach.
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  Speaker 1: I tell them to think about how good it will
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  Speaker 1: be when we get there. The turkey, the dressing, the pie.
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  Speaker 1: I promised them the trip will be worth it. But
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  Speaker 1: they still grown, which takes us to a third similarity.
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  Speaker 1: Children can't envision the reward. For me, six hours on
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  Speaker 1: the road was a small price to pay for my
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  Speaker 1: mom's strawberry cake. I don't mind the drive because I
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  Speaker 1: know the reward. I've had decades of Thanksgivings under my belt. Literally,
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  Speaker 1: as I drove, I could taste the turkey, hear the
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  Speaker 1: dinner table laughter, smell the smoke from the fireplace. I
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  Speaker 1: could endure the journey because I knew the destiny. My
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  Speaker 1: daughters had forgotten the destiny. After all, they were young
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  Speaker 1: children easily forget. Besides, the road was strange, and the
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  Speaker 1: dark night had come. They couldn't see where we were going.
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  Speaker 1: It was my job, as their father to guide them.
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  Speaker 1: I tried to help them see what they couldn't see.
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  Speaker 1: I told them we'd feed the ducks at the lake,
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  Speaker 1: that we'd play on the swings. I told them how
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  Speaker 1: we would spend the night with their cousins. We spoke
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  Speaker 1: of sleeping on the floor and sleeping bags and staying
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  Speaker 1: up late since there was no school, and it seemed
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  Speaker 1: to work. Their grumbling decreased and their vision cleared as
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  Speaker 1: their destiny unfolded. Perhaps that's how the apostle Paul stayed motivated.
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  Speaker 1: He had a clear vision of the reward, as he
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  Speaker 1: said in Second Corinthians chapter four. Therefore we do not
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  Speaker 1: lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, Yet inwardly
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  Speaker 1: we are being renewed day by day, for our light
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  Speaker 1: and momentary tru are achieving for us an eternal glory
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  Speaker 1: that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes
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  Speaker 1: not on what is seen, but on what is unseen.
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  Speaker 1: It's not easy to get three girls under the age
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  Speaker 1: of seven to see a city they can't see, but
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  Speaker 1: it's necessary. It's not easy for us to see a
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  Speaker 1: heavenly city we've never seen, either, especially when the road
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  Speaker 1: is bumpy and the hour is late, and companions are
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  Speaker 1: wanting to cancel the trip and take up residence in
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  Speaker 1: a motel. It's not easy to fix our eyes on
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  Speaker 1: what is unseen, but it's necessary. One line in this
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  Speaker 1: Second Corinthians passage makes me smile. Our light and momentary
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  Speaker 1: troubles I wouldn't have called them that if I were
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  Speaker 1: the apostle Paul. According to Second Corinthians eleven Versus twenty
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  Speaker 1: three through twenty seven, he was imprisoned, He was beaten
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  Speaker 1: with a whip five times, he faced death, beaten with
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  Speaker 1: a rod three times, stoned once, shipwrecked three times, stranded
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  Speaker 1: in the open sea, left homeless, in constant danger, hungry
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  Speaker 1: and thirsty, long and trying ordeals, perhaps arduous and deadly afflictions, okay,
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  Speaker 1: but light and momentary troubles. How could Paul describe endless
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  Speaker 1: trials with that phrase? He tells us he could see
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  Speaker 1: an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. Can I
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  Speaker 1: speak candidly for a minute for some of you? The
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  Speaker 1: journey has been long, very long, very stormy. In no
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  Speaker 1: way do I wish to minimize the difficulties that you
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  Speaker 1: have had to face along the way. Some of you
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  Speaker 1: have shouldered burdens that few of us could ever carry.
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  Speaker 1: You have bid farewell to lifelong partners. You have been
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  Speaker 1: robbed of lifelong dreams. You have been given bodies that
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  Speaker 1: can't sustain your spirit. You have bills that outnumber the paychecks,
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  Speaker 1: and challenges that outweigh the strength, and you are tired.
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  Speaker 1: It's hard for you to see God's city in the
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  Speaker 1: midst of the storms. The desire to pull over to
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  Speaker 1: the side of the road and get out entices you.
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  Speaker 1: You want to go on, but some days the road
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  Speaker 1: seems so long. Let me encourage you with one final
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  Speaker 1: parallel between your life's and the one our family took
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  Speaker 1: those years ago. It's worth it. As we sat around
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  Speaker 1: the Thanksgiving table that holiday, no one spoke of the
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  Speaker 1: long trip to get there. No one mentioned the requests
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  Speaker 1: I didn't honor. No one complained about the late hour
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  Speaker 1: of arrival. We were all stuffed and content. Yesterday's challenges
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  Speaker 1: were lost in today's joy. That's what Paul meant. God
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  Speaker 1: never said that the journey would be easy, but he
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  Speaker 1: did say that the arrival would be worthwhile. Remember this.
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  Speaker 1: God may not do what you want, but he will
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  Speaker 1: always do what is right, and he will always do
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  Speaker 1: what is best. He's the father of forward motion. Trust him.
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  Speaker 1: He'll get you home and the trials of the trip
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  Speaker 1: will be lost in the joys of the feast. Thanks
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  Speaker 1: so much for joining me in this series based on
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  Speaker 1: my book In the Eye of the Storm. We all
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  Speaker 1: face storms, we all face stress. But no matter how
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  Speaker 1: stormy your day or restless you're night, please remember God
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  Speaker 1: knows how you feel.
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  Speaker 3: You don't have the stay close. As long as there's
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  Speaker 3: somewhere out there, that's enough for me. I don't need
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  Speaker 3: to hold you near me. The only promises to keep
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  Speaker 3: just the thought that.
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  Speaker 4: You are breathing somewhere in this world I see, even
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  Speaker 4: if I'm not beside you, even if you never know,
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  Speaker 4: there's a quiet kind of comfort.
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  Speaker 2: Just in knowing you still glow.
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  Speaker 4: I don't need forever, I just need you to exist.
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  Speaker 2: You don't have to stay with me. You don't have
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  Speaker 2: to feel the same.
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  Speaker 5: Just as long as you're still out there, calling softly.
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  Speaker 2: Through my days. You don't have to look my way.
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  Speaker 2: You don't have to be in my home.
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  Speaker 4: It's enough to know where you're living in a world
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  Speaker 4: I'm not alone. I won't chase it through the distance,
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  Speaker 4: won't disturb your chosen life. I'll just keep you in
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  Speaker 4: my silence, like a star that shines at night.
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  Speaker 2: Through the darkened, through the blue.
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  Speaker 5: I still think of you. You don't have to stay
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  Speaker 5: with me, you don't have to feel the same. Just
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  Speaker 5: as long as you're still out.
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  Speaker 4: There, calling softly through my days.
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  Speaker 5: You don't have to look my way.
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  Speaker 2: You don't have to be in my home. It's enough
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  Speaker 2: to know you're living in a world. I'm not alone.
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  Speaker 2: I don't need to be your light. I don't need
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  Speaker 2: to cross your mind. All I need is just the
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  Speaker 2: truth that you're somewhere, still alive.
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  Speaker 5: You don't have to stay with me, you don't have
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  Speaker 5: to feel the same. Just as long as you're still after,
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  Speaker 5: calling softly through my days.
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  Speaker 2: You don't have to my way. You don't have to
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  Speaker 2: be my home. It's enough to know you're living in
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  Speaker 2: a world. I'm not alone.