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_Running-ahead-of-God-Msg-8-22 · INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living

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Speaker 1: No doubt a novice would wonder why in the world
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Speaker 1: we would spend time on a life that was neated
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Speaker 1: way back some four thousand years ago. What in the
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Speaker 1: world could something from a place that ancient have to
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Speaker 1: say to people who live in this high tech era. Well,
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Speaker 1: the truth is more than we will ever have time
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Speaker 1: to dig out. The Bible is an inexhaustible storehouse of
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Speaker 1: truth that is not only ageless, but it's timeless. And
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Speaker 1: whether we're dealing with something out of the life of
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Speaker 1: Abraham or the journeys of Paul, or some truth tucked
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Speaker 1: away in a letter of the New Testament or an
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Speaker 1: account in the Old, there are always applications that tie
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Speaker 1: into our world. And it is my task as an
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Speaker 1: expositor to help you see what is already relevant right
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Speaker 1: here in the text of Scripture. Amazingly, black words on
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Speaker 1: white pages speak in colorful and meaningful ways to all
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Speaker 1: of us today. My words are dedicated to all of
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Speaker 1: us who have run ahead of God, and that's everyone
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Speaker 1: in this room. At one time or another, in an
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Speaker 1: impatient moment, we acted in the flesh, and we reacted
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Speaker 1: against the predicament, and we later live to regret it.
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Speaker 1: This is an account that follows that line of thinking.
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Speaker 1: This story from Genesis chapter sixteen. If you have a Bible,
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Speaker 1: please turn there. I'll read a few excerpts from this chapter,
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Speaker 1: and maybe together stand for the reading of God's word.
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Speaker 1: Genesis sixteen begins Now Sarah, Abram's wife, had borne him
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Speaker 1: no children, and she had an Egyptian maid whose name
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Speaker 1: was Hagar. So Sarah I said to Abram, now, behold,
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Speaker 1: the Lord has prevented me from bearing children. Please go
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Speaker 1: in to my maid. Perhaps I shall obtain children through her.
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Speaker 1: And Abram listened to the voice of Sarah. After Abram
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Speaker 1: had lived ten years in the land of Canaan, Abram's wife,
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Speaker 1: Sarah took Hagar, the Egyptian maid, and gave her to
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Speaker 1: her husband Abram as his wife. He went into Hagar,
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Speaker 1: and she conceived. And when she saw that she had conceived,
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Speaker 1: her mistress was despised in her sight. And Sarah I
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Speaker 1: said to Abram, may the wrong done me be upon you.
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Speaker 1: I gave my maid into your arms, but when she
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Speaker 1: saw that she had conceived, I was despised in her sight.
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Speaker 1: May the Lord judge between you and me. But Abram
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Speaker 1: said to Sarah, behold, your maid is in your power.
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Speaker 1: Due to her what is good in your sight. So
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Speaker 1: Sarah I treated her harshly, and she fled from her presence.
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Speaker 1: Now the Angel of the Lord found her by a
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Speaker 1: spring of water in the wildern. By the spring on
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Speaker 1: the way to sure He said, Hagar, Sarah's maid, where
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Speaker 1: have you come from? And where are you going? She said,
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Speaker 1: I am fleeing from the presence of my mistress Sarah.
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Speaker 1: Verse eleven. The Age of the Lord said to her. Further, behold,
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Speaker 1: you are with child, and you shall bear a sun,
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Speaker 1: and you shall call his name ishma Al. Because the
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Speaker 1: Lord has given heed to your affliction. He will be
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Speaker 1: a wild donkey of a man. His hand will be
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Speaker 1: against everyone, and everyone's hand will be against him, and
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Speaker 1: he will live to the east of all his brothers.
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Speaker 1: Verse fifteen. So Hagar bore Abram a son, and Abram
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Speaker 1: called the name of his son whom Hagar bore Ishmael.
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Speaker 1: Abram was eighty six years old when Hagar bore Ishmael
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Speaker 1: to him, you may be seated, I feel like saying,
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Speaker 1: after reading that you think you've got problems. The message
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Speaker 1: today is dedicated to all of us who have run
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Speaker 1: ahead of God and lived to regret it. It occurs
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Speaker 1: to me that you may be running behind, and that
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Speaker 1: might explain why you've had such a difficult time finding
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Speaker 1: peace in your soul. The Lord has been tapping you
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Speaker 1: if you will ill on your heart, hoping to get
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Speaker 1: your attention in one way or another, but you've resisted.
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Speaker 1: This would be a great day for you to release
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Speaker 1: the resistance and turn to Christ as your own savior
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Speaker 1: and Lord. Perhaps, even as I pray, you will do that.
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Speaker 1: Maybe bow through life, our Father, we realize that there
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Speaker 1: are those special occasions when we feel the need for You,
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Speaker 1: and no doubt there are many sitting in this room
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Speaker 1: today who are right there. So I remember them in
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Speaker 1: prayer today. Whatever may be the need, whatever may be
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Speaker 1: the epe, whatever may be the predicament, may have become
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Speaker 1: clear sooner rather than later, that you are in the
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Speaker 1: nucleus of the answer. You are God and we are not.
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Speaker 1: You are God alone, and as was sung for us,
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Speaker 1: our words of exaltation are directed to you, for you
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Speaker 1: alone are worthy of our praise and our worship. We
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Speaker 1: thank you, our Father, for your role in our lives,
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Speaker 1: for the plan, in our conception, in our mother's womb
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Speaker 1: for shaping us within that womb for those nine months
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Speaker 1: to become the person we are. With our personality, set
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Speaker 1: of interest, gifts, strengths and weaknesses, we are who you
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Speaker 1: designed us to be. But we find ourselves incomplete without
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Speaker 1: the Savior. So we are thankful to day our Lord
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Speaker 1: that Jesus is a friend of sinners, does not come
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Speaker 1: as the judge of sinners, but comes with arms wide open, welcoming,
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Speaker 1: with words like, come to me, All who are weary,
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Speaker 1: broken hearted, burdened down, Come to me, and I will
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Speaker 1: give you rest. May le rest occur in lives to
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Speaker 1: day who hear the truth of your word here as
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Speaker 1: well as in other places around this vast world where
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Speaker 1: the truth is being taught. Speak to us, our Father,
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Speaker 1: as we participate in this extended time of worship, in
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Speaker 1: giving you our gifts, May we remember that the Lord Jesus,
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Speaker 1: who though he was eminently rich for our sakes, became poor,
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Speaker 1: that we, through his poverty, might be enriched out of
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Speaker 1: the riches of your provision. We find delight in giving
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Speaker 1: for the glory of and in the name of Christ,
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Speaker 1: the friend of sinners. We pray, and everyone said, Amen,
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Speaker 1: life is downright messy. It's just messy. We don't like that.
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Speaker 1: We want it to be tidy and neat and organized,
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Speaker 1: but it's not. It's full of potholes, of predicaments we
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Speaker 1: can't seem to get ourselves out of, and ultimately those predicaments,
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Speaker 1: if they're not resolved, impale us on the proverbial horns
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Speaker 1: of a dilemma. Predicaments lead to dilemmas. A predicament occurs,
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Speaker 1: for example, when we are dealing with something embarrassing and
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Speaker 1: troublesome and we cannot find the solution for it. I
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Speaker 1: read this past week that a predicament occurs when an
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Speaker 1: attorney who specializes in medical malpractice lawsuits find himself in
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Speaker 1: need of major surgery. That's a predicament. A dilemma usually
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Speaker 1: follows predicaments. It's the frustration of having to make a
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Speaker 1: decision between two alternatives when we really want to choose both,
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Speaker 1: but we can't, and in choosing one, we forfeit the
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Speaker 1: freedom to choose the other. It's called having your cake
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Speaker 1: and eating it too. That's impossible. We have to decide.
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Speaker 1: Most often we rush into the decision and then we
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Speaker 1: look back and go, why, oh, why did I do that.
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Speaker 1: Let me give you an official definition for a dilemma.
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Speaker 1: It is a situation that requires a choice between two
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Speaker 1: evenly balanced alternatives. It's a situation that requires a choice
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Speaker 1: between two evenly balanced situations alternatives illustration. There can be
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Speaker 1: occupational dilemmas. You have a job here, you are fairly
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Speaker 1: well paid, your family settled here, and you find out
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Speaker 1: that you can make a lot more money in another
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Speaker 1: job and it's available to you. Problem is, it's a
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Speaker 1: gnome Alaska. Okay. Now you've got to decide on whether
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Speaker 1: you want forty below zero or one hundred and ten
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Speaker 1: degree summers. You also have to determine is it worth
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Speaker 1: it uprooting my family to live where it's long time
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Speaker 1: light and long time dark in a place that we've
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Speaker 1: never lived before, or whatever it may be. You've got
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Speaker 1: yourself in a dilemma. There's an academic dilemma. Or did
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Speaker 1: a PhD program? You're excited about it. The problem is
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Speaker 1: you realize you have several small children who need you
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Speaker 1: around the home as much as possible. So what do
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Speaker 1: you do? Do You pursue your degree knowing that if
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Speaker 1: you postpone it, chances are slim you'll go back to it,
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Speaker 1: but you realize you really ought to be at home
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Speaker 1: with the kids a part of their growing up years.
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Speaker 1: It's a dilemma in the area of academics. You could
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Speaker 1: beat me to this one. There's a romantic dilemma. You're single,
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Speaker 1: you're not getting any younger. You're going with an individual
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Speaker 1: who would love to marry you, but there are some
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Speaker 1: things about him or her that give you pause. Nothing
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Speaker 1: huge you you just are uneasy about the risk of marrying.
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Speaker 1: Should you go ahead or do you run the risk
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Speaker 1: of losing that person by putting it off? One more
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Speaker 1: financial dilemmas are very common, especially around Christmas time. We
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Speaker 1: have a budget we live with we have to deal with.
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Speaker 1: It's tight, but it works. But you have found this
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Speaker 1: perfect gift for the one you love so much, and
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Speaker 1: it's way out of your budget. So hey, there's money available.
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Speaker 1: Do you go there? Or do you settle back into
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Speaker 1: your crummy budget? What do you do? What do you do?
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Speaker 1: All of us face life dilemmas. Actually, for the believer,
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Speaker 1: of all life's dilemmas, none is worse than the spiritual dilemmas.
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Speaker 1: Do we keep waiting on God to work or do
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Speaker 1: we move ahead, claiming that great verse God helps those
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Speaker 1: who help themselves, not from the Bible, but everybody quotes it.
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Speaker 1: So maybe we should help ourselves and not wait any longer.
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Speaker 1: After all, I'm pretty bright, I've been around the block.
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Speaker 1: I don't know how to solve this situation, and in
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Speaker 1: doing so, we run ahead of God. So easy to do,
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Speaker 1: so commonly done. You know what, You never grow too
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Speaker 1: old to run ahead of God. In fact, I don't
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Speaker 1: believe age helps all that much, because we will see
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Speaker 1: of rationalization, we talk ourselves into it. We get better
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Speaker 1: at that the older we get. Now, all of this
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Speaker 1: brings us to a classic example of human impatience when
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Speaker 1: we open our Bibles to Genesis sixteen. To cut to
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Speaker 1: the chase. This is a chapter about two older people.
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Speaker 1: He's eighty five, she's seventy five. They've been married a
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Speaker 1: long time. God has clearly said, and I'll add repeatedly said,
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Speaker 1: I am going to give you and your wife a son.
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Speaker 1: I will bring that son to you, and from that son,
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Speaker 1: there will be a multitude of people in the years
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Speaker 1: to come, and they will form this magnificent, large nation.
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Speaker 1: I know what I'm doing, and I promise it will happen.
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Speaker 1: He even has cut a covenant with you, and you
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Speaker 1: know in your head that's what God says. But now
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Speaker 1: you're waiting and waiting and waiting. Your wife isn't getting
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Speaker 1: any younger. Nobody knows that more than she does. A
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Speaker 1: predicament occurs because you've shared this with several friends, and
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Speaker 1: every year they want to know, now, is Sarah pregnant?
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Speaker 1: You've told us it's going to happen. Where's the baby?
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Speaker 1: So the embarrassment grows. This troublesome situation that a dilemma
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Speaker 1: is what do we do? What do we do? Now?
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Speaker 1: We sit in this comfortable place, and it's so easy
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Speaker 1: to make that decision. Every one of us knows what
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Speaker 1: the script ought to be. We are all aware of it,
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Speaker 1: and we cluck our tongues. This man and his wife
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Speaker 1: who jump in and mess things up. Careful now, don't
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Speaker 1: get too arrogant. Just remember the messages you've made here.
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Speaker 1: They are facing this impossible situation. Sarah is tired of waiting.
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Speaker 1: Enough is enough, so she the wife of Abram, who
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Speaker 1: has borne him no children. The narrative begins, has an
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Speaker 1: Egyptian made whose name is Hagar. Wow, look at the
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Speaker 1: beginning and ending of verse two, Sarah said to Abram
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Speaker 1: last sentence. Abram listened to the voice of Sarah. Now,
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Speaker 1: before you jump to conclusions and get yourself in trouble.
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Speaker 1: Today you and I realize that a spouse is often right.
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Speaker 1: One of the benefits of living is two rather than one.
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Speaker 1: Is you have the benefit of that other person. And
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Speaker 1: you've heard me say, with tongue in cheek, it's awful.
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Speaker 1: It's amazing how much your wife's voice sounds like the
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Speaker 1: Holy Spirit. And she says something, and more often than not,
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Speaker 1: she's right. I hate that, but it's true. They're often right,
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Speaker 1: and so here she is, Sarah says to Abram. But
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Speaker 1: nobody says anything to God. The absence of prayer is eloquent.
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Speaker 1: There's no seeking of the Lord's mind in any part
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Speaker 1: of chapter sixteen none. There's no altar built, there's no
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Speaker 1: discussion with God. There's no admission. Lord. It's getting long,
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Speaker 1: and it's getting hard to wait. We wonder if this
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Speaker 1: pleases you. I think it's good the wife had the
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Speaker 1: freedom to suggest something very creative. I think that's good.
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Speaker 1: Says a lot for their marriage. She's thinking outside the box.
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Speaker 1: And before you cluck your tongue and think how wrong
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Speaker 1: they were to do this. You show your ignorance because
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Speaker 1: you don't know the custom. It was a custom in
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Speaker 1: that day if the wife could not bear a child,
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Speaker 1: nothing worse for a jewess than being barren, then she
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Speaker 1: could choose her servant and have her husband marry the servant,
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Speaker 1: and the result would be this surrogant parent, and the
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Speaker 1: result would be the child would become hers. Listen to
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Speaker 1: the words of the Bible Knowledge commentary. In the legal
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Speaker 1: custom of that day, a barren woman could give her
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Speaker 1: maid to her husband as a wife. The child born
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Speaker 1: to that union was regarded as the first wife's child.
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Speaker 1: If the husband said to the slave wife's son, you
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Speaker 1: are my son, then he was the adopted son and heir.
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Speaker 1: So Sarah I suggested, was unobjectionable according to the customs
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Speaker 1: of the time. But I should add God often repudiates
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Speaker 1: social customs. Some things today are not against the law.
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Speaker 1: You're not put under arrest because you do something unusual.
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Speaker 1: It's not objectionable in the eyes of the law. But
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Speaker 1: you and your heart know, and you know from your
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Speaker 1: study of the scriptures, this is not what I ought
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Speaker 1: to be doing. There's no directive at all. There's not
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Speaker 1: even a hint from God that his he's in the plan.
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Speaker 1: It's inexcusable that Abram would entertain such a scheme, even
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Speaker 1: though she's very polite. Look how she puts it. Please
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Speaker 1: go into my maid. Perhaps we don't know, but please
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Speaker 1: let's do this. By the way, reminds me of a
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Speaker 1: conversation that another husband wife had in the scriptures when
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Speaker 1: she says to him, you need to curse God and die.
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Speaker 1: In the New Living translation these words appear. His wife
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Speaker 1: said to him, are you still trying to maintain your integrity?
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Speaker 1: Curse God and die? But Job replied, you talk like
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Speaker 1: a foolish woman. Should we accept only good things from
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Speaker 1: the hand of God and never anything bad? So in
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Speaker 1: all this, Joe said, nothing wrong? What a difference between
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Speaker 1: the two husbands. Job answered, you speak as one of
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Speaker 1: the foolish women. How could I possibly do such a thing?
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Speaker 1: God is in all of this? I understand. Her husband
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Speaker 1: was covered with sores. They had just stood beside ten
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Speaker 1: fresh graves of all ten of their young adult children
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Speaker 1: who had died. They're bankrupt, They've lost everything. She says
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Speaker 1: to him, Oh, honey, I just sees suffer like this,
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Speaker 1: just curse God and die. I think she meant well.
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Speaker 1: I don't think she was of the devil. I do
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Speaker 1: think she was foolish, however, and Job says, so this
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Speaker 1: is not from the Lord. I've gotten no green light
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Speaker 1: along those lines. Now, then Abram could have handled it
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Speaker 1: like this. You know, sweetheart, you get an A for creativity,
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Speaker 1: but real low marks in theology. I appreciate your thinking creatively,
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Speaker 1: and even though it's appropriate for us to do this
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Speaker 1: in the custom of our day, I know it's not right.
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Speaker 1: Because the Lord has said you're the one they's supposed
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Speaker 1: to have the baby. You miss it. I understand how
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Speaker 1: that could work physically, but you and I know that's
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Speaker 1: running ahead of God. But understand, when you are in
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Speaker 1: a predicament that has led to this kind of situation,
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Speaker 1: you don't think clearly. Unless you are very strong of heart.
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Speaker 1: The one with whom you are most closely related will
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Speaker 1: gain a hearing, and it takes strong character to say
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Speaker 1: no if it's wrong. But Abram doesn't do that. His response, okay, okay,
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Speaker 1: why not now look at the rationalization that no doubt occurred.
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Speaker 1: Abram married her. He went into Hagar, she conceived supper
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Speaker 1: table that night. Isn't it amazing? Honey? How the Lord
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Speaker 1: is pleased with our decision? I mean he would have
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Speaker 1: never let her conceive if he hadn't been in this
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Speaker 1: kind of like a Jonah. Look at this, a ship
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Speaker 1: available for Tarsish. How great? What about that if the
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Speaker 1: Lord weren't in that, there wouldn't be a ticket? Oh
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Speaker 1: that that ship would be full, wouldn't be any room
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Speaker 1: for me? Oh, we all rationalize. I looked up the
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Speaker 1: definition of rationalization. Get this to devise a self satisfying
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Speaker 1: but incorrect reason for one's behavior. This is self satisfying,
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Speaker 1: but it's incorrect. The consequences kick right in. It's not
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Speaker 1: long after Haglar has taken a pregnancy test discovered that
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Speaker 1: she's in fact carrying the baby, says when she saw
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Speaker 1: that she had conceived into verse four, her mistress was
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Speaker 1: dispised in her sight, just despised. Strong word, isn't it.
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Speaker 1: I don't know exactly how it came out, but no
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Speaker 1: doubt she was very proud of her pregnancy, and she
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Speaker 1: looked upon the older woman not being able to get pregnant,
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Speaker 1: and it was a little uh tit for tat there,
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Speaker 1: and it got ugly really quick. By the way, when
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Speaker 1: this activity is prompted by the flesh and gains the
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Speaker 1: upper hand, life doesn't just get messy, it gets ugly ugly.
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Speaker 1: This is an ugly scene. Haygar despises Sarah. When you
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Speaker 1: read on Sarah resents Hagar the maid and look at this,
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Speaker 1: Sarah says to Abram, May the wrong done me be
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Speaker 1: upon you. All he had done was going okay, May
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Speaker 1: the wrong be upon you. I gave my maid into
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Speaker 1: your arms when she saw that she had conceived. I
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Speaker 1: was despised in her sight. May the Lord now she
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Speaker 1: brings the Lord into it. May the Lord, when we serve,
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Speaker 1: judge you for doing that. Don't elbow too hard there,
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Speaker 1: Men women who were married, careful. It's a long cold
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Speaker 1: night ahead of you tonight if you start doing that.
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Speaker 1: Ab from sending Sarah. Behold, this is sound just like
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Speaker 1: a man. Behold. Your maid is in your power. Do
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Speaker 1: to her what is good in your sight. Hope you
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Speaker 1: know what, Sarah. You came up with the idea, You
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Speaker 1: made your own bed. Deal with it. I'm busy watching
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Speaker 1: the ball game this afternoon. You can take care of it.
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Speaker 1: I've done my part. Now let's see. Let's see what
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Speaker 1: you're going to do. Great time to remember Galatians sixty seven.
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Speaker 1: Put it in the margin of your bible. Be not deceived.
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Speaker 1: God is not mocked. For whatever a man shows this,
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Speaker 1: what he will also reap. The NLT says, you will
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Speaker 1: always harvest what you planned. So let me tell you,
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Speaker 1: on the front end or in the middle of the
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Speaker 1: mess you're in, whatever it may be, you will harvest
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Speaker 1: what you plant. It won't be right away, but it
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Speaker 1: will be there. It'll be waiting for you around the corner.
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Speaker 1: Maybe a matter of days, may be a matter of weeks.
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Speaker 1: One of the prophets says, we sow the wind, we
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Speaker 1: reap the whirlwind. This is whirlwind's stuff. Suddenly, this home
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Speaker 1: that was once harmonious and willing to trust God and
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Speaker 1: wait for him, is now harvesting what they planted. The
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Speaker 1: harmony is gone. Can you even imagine supper table that evening,
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Speaker 1: the distance between the two, the resentment of each other,
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Speaker 1: if not harsh words, at least harsh thoughts toward the other.
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Speaker 1: Some of you live your life in your marriage like that,
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Speaker 1: neither willing to take responsibility for your wrong in whatever
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Speaker 1: the disease. Vision was you're just ready for another chance
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Speaker 1: to blame your partner. What a terrible way to live.
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Speaker 1: And so Hagar can't take it. Into verse six, she
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Speaker 1: fled from them, from the wife Sarah, she took off.
30:25
Speaker 1: In verses seven through fourteen, we have the first account
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Speaker 1: of God's dealing with an abused woman. We have the
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Speaker 1: first account and scripture of God dealing with a single parent.
30:38
Speaker 1: We could call her that. I know she's married by custom,
30:40
Speaker 1: but you know what I mean by that. Here's Hagar
30:44
Speaker 1: disillusioned in many ways, if you will, an innocent victim.
30:51
Speaker 1: She didn't ask for this. She was busy doing her work,
30:55
Speaker 1: and the next thing she knew, she's wearing a wedding
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Speaker 1: ring and marching off to a honeymoon with his eighty
30:59
Speaker 1: five of your old guy. She's, okay, that's what my
31:06
Speaker 1: mistress wants, then I must do it. And now look
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Speaker 1: at the mess in her life. She fled from her presence.
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Speaker 1: Where did she go? She went anywhere. When you're running
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Speaker 1: from abuse, the destination isn't all that important. The escape
31:28
Speaker 1: is synth And I have a very dear friend whose
31:34
Speaker 1: daughter married about a year ago against the wishes of
31:37
Speaker 1: the parents. Yep, you guessed it. Abuse has occurred, and
31:43
Speaker 1: now she's living in the backwash of the abuse. She's
31:46
Speaker 1: gone back once the abuse returned, and now she's escaped.
31:53
Speaker 1: Where does she go? Should he stalk her, kill her?
32:02
Speaker 1: It's terrible. I mean, the anger that Hagar ran from
32:08
Speaker 1: is palpable. It's terrible. So anywhere is better than there.
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Speaker 1: So she finds herself by a spring in the wilderness,
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Speaker 1: and she looks up, and how merciful and gracious of
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Speaker 1: our God to meet her. The Angel of the Lord
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Speaker 1: Verse seven found her by a spring of water in
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Speaker 1: the wilderness. By the spring on the way to sir may,
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Speaker 1: I say to you, who are escaping for your life.
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Speaker 1: You will never get out of the sight of your God.
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Speaker 1: He will be there for you, and who knows who
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Speaker 1: he may use to help you as you recover and
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Speaker 1: go through this time of rescue. My heart goes out
32:52
Speaker 1: to you. And so the Angel of the Lord says
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Speaker 1: to her, Hagar, Sarah's made. Where you come from and
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Speaker 1: where are you going? You understand angels are not omniscient.
33:05
Speaker 1: He doesn't know the whole story. He just finds her there.
33:08
Speaker 1: He's set with the Lord to help her, and she said,
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Speaker 1: I'm fleeing from the presence of my mistress Sarah. The
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Speaker 1: Angel the Lord said to her, return to your mistress
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Speaker 1: and submit yourself to her authority. The whole point is implied,
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Speaker 1: I'll watch over you. I know you, I know what
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Speaker 1: I'm doing in this case. I believe this is best. Moreover,
33:31
Speaker 1: verse ten, look closely. The Angel of the Lord said
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Speaker 1: to her, I will mark that. So the angel said
33:39
Speaker 1: what he will do. I will multiply greatly your descendants,
33:45
Speaker 1: so that they shall be too many to count. The
33:49
Speaker 1: Angel the Lord said to her, behold, you're with child.
33:52
Speaker 1: You shall so. Now it's about her. You will bear
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Speaker 1: a bear a son, and you will call his name
33:59
Speaker 1: is Ail. The Hebrew word means God. Hears, because the
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Speaker 1: Lord has given heed to your affliction, name him Ismael.
34:11
Speaker 1: And now, having said I will and you shall, he
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Speaker 1: talks about the birth the boy. He will look at
34:20
Speaker 1: this first reference to the Arab Israeli conflict comes even
34:25
Speaker 1: before the birth of Ishmael. He will be a wild
34:30
Speaker 1: donkey of a man. His hand will be against everyone,
34:34
Speaker 1: and everyone's hand against him. It's the picture of aggression, antagonism, assertiveness,
34:42
Speaker 1: a wild nature, wherever he goes, there will be conflict, conflict, conflict.
34:49
Speaker 1: You will never be able to bring shalom in the
34:51
Speaker 1: midst of this conflict. We will try, we will work
34:55
Speaker 1: at it. It will never happen till the Lord himself
34:59
Speaker 1: becomes king of kings and the Lord of lords, and
35:03
Speaker 1: you will give birth. She called the name of the
35:06
Speaker 1: Lord who spoke to her. You are a god who
35:09
Speaker 1: sees There's a lot of relief in that. You've seen me,
35:15
Speaker 1: you know I'm here. The implication is you care, you
35:20
Speaker 1: care for me. I'm so grateful, But she said, have
35:26
Speaker 1: I even remained alive after seeing him? She is so
35:30
Speaker 1: grateful to just have breath in her lungs. She didn't
35:33
Speaker 1: know how she was going to survive. And she's heard
35:37
Speaker 1: from the Lord, and she's grateful, And so she names
35:41
Speaker 1: the place. Look at the strange name verse fourteen, mier
35:45
Speaker 1: lahairo e. That means a well of living the living
35:51
Speaker 1: one who sees me, A well of a living one
35:55
Speaker 1: who sees me. I'm going to name this stream a
35:58
Speaker 1: well of the living one who I'm going to place
36:01
Speaker 1: a name on it, because God is not only heard
36:04
Speaker 1: from my lips, and I'm to name my son Ishmael.
36:08
Speaker 1: God hears, I will never forget this place where God
36:12
Speaker 1: met with me and saw me in my need is
36:15
Speaker 1: between kuttash and buried. So the chapter skips ahead quickly
36:22
Speaker 1: for almost nine months to term, and we read in
36:25
Speaker 1: verse fifteen, she bore Abram's son, and Abram named the
36:31
Speaker 1: boy Ishmael. Abram's eighty six years old when Hagar bore
36:37
Speaker 1: Ishmael to him, and the conflict Ishmael brought to that
36:44
Speaker 1: home was constant, constant. We won't go there. We'll go
36:51
Speaker 1: there later on, but for right now, I'm intrigued by
36:54
Speaker 1: his age. By the time the boy is born, Abram
36:58
Speaker 1: is eighty six. Now they hurried up with the plan
37:02
Speaker 1: so that they could solve the problem. They're tired of waiting.
37:07
Speaker 1: They ran ahead of God. And now Abram's eighty six.
37:11
Speaker 1: Let's see about the Lord's response at all this. Let's
37:14
Speaker 1: see when he brought Isaac. Turned to twenty one, chapter
37:19
Speaker 1: twenty one, verse five. Let you do a little math.
37:25
Speaker 1: Twenty one five, same book, Genesis twenty one five. Now
37:30
Speaker 1: Abram was one hundred years old when his son Isaac
37:36
Speaker 1: was born to him. Isaac, there's the promised son that's
37:41
Speaker 1: the promised seed. What interests me is the age. He's
37:47
Speaker 1: eighty six when Ishmael is born, He's one hundred when
37:54
Speaker 1: Isaac is born. You know what I get from that.
37:57
Speaker 1: Here's a principle. I hope you'll never forget. Our running
38:01
Speaker 1: ahead does not hurry up, our God. I'm not ready,
38:07
Speaker 1: it's not time. You have so much more to learn.
38:12
Speaker 1: You're going to trust me, and I'm not going to
38:15
Speaker 1: explain why. The reason I make such an issue out
38:20
Speaker 1: of it is because that is exactly where many of
38:23
Speaker 1: you find yourself right now, and you want an answer,
38:29
Speaker 1: and you are praying that great American prayer. Lord hurry up.
38:36
Speaker 1: I want to know now I've waited, my goodness eight
38:41
Speaker 1: weeks or eight months, eight years. He knows that your
38:51
Speaker 1: great temptation will be to rush ahead and get this
38:56
Speaker 1: thing solved. Why. Because you want relief, want you want
39:02
Speaker 1: this thing resolved. You're dealing with this dilemma and you're
39:07
Speaker 1: tired of it. I dedicate my closing words to you
39:14
Speaker 1: who are right there, and there's a lot of you,
39:16
Speaker 1: I know. Following the first morning service, there was a
39:20
Speaker 1: lot of people, and almost every one of them said
39:22
Speaker 1: the same thing. I needed to hear that each one
39:26
Speaker 1: is waiting for something else. Each one okay, until God
39:34
Speaker 1: gives the green light, and it's obviously his will that
39:37
Speaker 1: you make this decision and you move ahead. What is
39:40
Speaker 1: my counsel. I've got the word weight written out here
39:44
Speaker 1: on our outline. Wait, let me give you a word
39:47
Speaker 1: for each one of those letters. W. Walk a little slower,
39:56
Speaker 1: just as Cynthia often says to me when I'm hot
39:58
Speaker 1: to trot, cool your jets. Just slow down. When you
40:06
Speaker 1: find yourself saying, you know, we've got to do this.
40:08
Speaker 1: We've got to we we got to get an answer
40:11
Speaker 1: to this. Hold on, hold on, Holy Holy Wait, you're
40:15
Speaker 1: not going off a cliff. You're beginning to panic. Walk
40:20
Speaker 1: a little slower, Take a deep breath, deliberately restrain yourself
40:26
Speaker 1: from such a fast pace and the panic of a
40:29
Speaker 1: fast pace. Slow down, walk a little slow. The A
40:38
Speaker 1: represents ask ask God for increased patience. I know you prayed,
40:48
Speaker 1: and I know you've begun to do some of that,
40:49
Speaker 1: But I'm talking about really and intensely seeking God's mind. Lord,
40:56
Speaker 1: here's where I find myself as if he didn't know,
41:00
Speaker 1: but sometimes it's therapeutic to tell him. So you explain it.
41:03
Speaker 1: You describe to him you're worry, your fears, some things
41:10
Speaker 1: that are on hold because the decision hasn't been made.
41:14
Speaker 1: And you say, Lord, right now, I do need you
41:18
Speaker 1: to give me patience, help me, help me with my
41:23
Speaker 1: self control. I need the wisdom of waiting, So I
41:28
Speaker 1: ask for that. The eye is the word. Imagine. Imagine
41:35
Speaker 1: the worst case scenario. Instead of running ahead, stop and
41:41
Speaker 1: think ahead. What's the worst case scenario in their case,
41:45
Speaker 1: Abram and Sarah. Disharmony in our own home, a regret
41:50
Speaker 1: that will dog our steps for the rest of our lives.
41:54
Speaker 1: The birth of a child will bring disharmony to our
41:58
Speaker 1: home and even to our our only son that will
42:01
Speaker 1: be born later. Imagine the worst case scenario. Refuse to
42:07
Speaker 1: rationalize and justify your decision. There is no decision that
42:12
Speaker 1: you can't justify. We are very creative people, and may
42:16
Speaker 1: I say this age doesn't help you just get better
42:20
Speaker 1: at it. You get a little more creative as you
42:24
Speaker 1: live a little longer. So imagine the worst case scenario.
42:28
Speaker 1: If you did go ahead and marry her, what's the
42:31
Speaker 1: worst scenario. It's not hard to figure out. If you
42:36
Speaker 1: did jump ahead and break your budget, and you bought
42:38
Speaker 1: this that's more than you can afford. Go there and
42:43
Speaker 1: think it through. And the fourth I think is worth
42:49
Speaker 1: all the other three. It's the t Think. Think of
42:53
Speaker 1: others who will be impacted by your decision. There's always
42:58
Speaker 1: collateral damage when we run ahead. You have small children
43:03
Speaker 1: you'll be bringing with you to Noam, Alaska on that job.
43:09
Speaker 1: Or you jump into a partnership because you're financially strapped
43:12
Speaker 1: and you've ignored the fact that your partner is a
43:15
Speaker 1: lost individual. Now you're partnering with one who doesn't know
43:19
Speaker 1: the Lord, and you have just begun to experience misery.
43:24
Speaker 1: Right now, everything's great because he too wants a partner.
43:28
Speaker 1: Think of others who will be impacted unfairly by your decision.
43:34
Speaker 1: The tragedy of running ahead, it's always revolves around the
43:41
Speaker 1: innocent individuals. We're all members of a family, and our
43:47
Speaker 1: decision affects the members of our family. We are all
43:52
Speaker 1: surrounded by friends. Our decision affects the friends and our
43:56
Speaker 1: friendships we're all a part of. And a decision that
44:02
Speaker 1: results in your running ahead and leads you to a
44:05
Speaker 1: dreadful conclusion could impact this church. Think about that. I
44:10
Speaker 1: mean I mean, Hagar seriously found herself in a situation
44:17
Speaker 1: that she didn't volunteer for. I've appreciated the words of A. V.
44:26
Speaker 1: Raymond Edmund in a little book titled The Disciplines of Life.
44:32
Speaker 1: How many times I've read it. I pulled it off
44:35
Speaker 1: the shelf of my study this past week and turned
44:39
Speaker 1: to the discipline of delay. Listen to Edmund, former president
44:45
Speaker 1: of Wheaton College. We have been told that God's disappointments
44:51
Speaker 1: are his appointments, that God's delays are not his denials.
45:00
Speaker 1: But do we believe what we hear? Delay, with its
45:05
Speaker 1: apparent destruction of all hope, can be a deep discipline
45:09
Speaker 1: to the soul that would serve the Lord Jesus. And
45:13
Speaker 1: we live in restless, impatient days. We have little time
45:18
Speaker 1: for preparation and less for meditation and worship. We feel
45:22
Speaker 1: we must be active, energetic, enthusiastic, and humanly effective, and
45:26
Speaker 1: we can't understand what inactivity, weakness, weariness, and seeming uselessness
45:32
Speaker 1: should become our lot. I was thinking about this. We
45:36
Speaker 1: live in such a fast time. I get back to
45:38
Speaker 1: at the moment. We like things fast, you know, we
45:43
Speaker 1: like our table at the restaurant fast. We don't want
45:46
Speaker 1: to wait for a table. We like getting on bullet trains.
45:50
Speaker 1: I rode on one over two hundred miles an hour
45:53
Speaker 1: across China. I'm thinking this is cool till I thought,
45:58
Speaker 1: what if something's on the track up there, a little
46:01
Speaker 1: further along? Why do I like the speed? We're like
46:04
Speaker 1: fast cars, we like fast foods, were like fast meals.
46:10
Speaker 1: Why could we don't want to wait? We don't want
46:16
Speaker 1: to wait. As one man put it, we don't want
46:18
Speaker 1: to miss one panel of a revolving door. I find
46:22
Speaker 1: that true sometime in my life. I hurry up to
46:25
Speaker 1: get into one little panel. I could have waited for
46:28
Speaker 1: the next one. It's going to be right there, you know.
46:31
Speaker 1: So that's his point here. The discipline of delay he
46:35
Speaker 1: continues is written large in the life of God's people,
46:39
Speaker 1: as we could observe in Abraham's long waiting for the
46:43
Speaker 1: Son of Promise, and then he rushes many years ahead.
46:49
Speaker 1: Hudson Taylor knew the testing that tempers the steel of
46:53
Speaker 1: the soul invalided home. At twenty nine, after sin years
47:01
Speaker 1: of intensive service in China, he settled with his little
47:06
Speaker 1: family in the East End of London, outside interest lessened
47:14
Speaker 1: friends began to forget, and five long hidden years were
47:19
Speaker 1: spent in the dreary streets of a poor part of London,
47:25
Speaker 1: where the tailors were shut up to prayer and patience.
47:32
Speaker 1: From the record of those years, it has been written quote.
47:37
Speaker 1: Yet without those hidden years, with all their growth and testing,
47:40
Speaker 1: how could the vision and enthusiasm of youth be matured
47:44
Speaker 1: For the leadership that was to be. Faithfulness, devotion, self sacrifice,
47:51
Speaker 1: unremitting labor, patient, persevering prayer became their portion. There is
48:00
Speaker 1: the deep, prolonged exercise of a soul following heart after God.
48:08
Speaker 1: Listen to these words, the gradual strengthening here of a
48:14
Speaker 1: man called to walk by faith, not by sight. As
48:20
Speaker 1: the years of obscurity progressed, prayer was the only way
48:25
Speaker 1: by which the burdened heart could obtain any relief. And
48:30
Speaker 1: when the discipline was complete, there emerged the China Inland Mission,
48:39
Speaker 1: at first only a tiny route, but destined of God
48:44
Speaker 1: to fill the land of China with gospel fruit. I
48:52
Speaker 1: want to speak to all of you very directly, you
48:57
Speaker 1: who are on the cusp of making a us stupid
49:00
Speaker 1: decision by rushing stop, consider the sovereign hand of God.
49:09
Speaker 1: He doesn't need your help. Heaven is not waiting for
49:15
Speaker 1: you to act. God's able to move you when he's ready.
49:21
Speaker 1: Edmond ends with these words. In every life, there's a
49:25
Speaker 1: pause that is better than onward rush, better than hewing
49:31
Speaker 1: or mightiest doing. Tis the standing still at sovereign will.
49:38
Speaker 1: There's a hush that is better than ardent speech, better
49:42
Speaker 1: than signing our wilderness crying. Tis the being still at
49:47
Speaker 1: sovereign will. The pause and the hush sing a double
49:53
Speaker 1: song in unison, low and for all time long, Oh
49:58
Speaker 1: human soul, God's word working plan goes on, nor needs
50:02
Speaker 1: the aid of man. Stand still and see, be still
50:13
Speaker 1: and know what's about together. I realize I'm speaking today
50:26
Speaker 1: to very efficient people. You even enjoy fast decisions. You
50:32
Speaker 1: live your life in the fast lane. After all, it's
50:37
Speaker 1: paid off for you. Just look at what you've built.
50:40
Speaker 1: But now you have come to that impasse, and you
50:45
Speaker 1: have to wait and wait and wait and wait, walk
50:54
Speaker 1: a little slower, ask for increased patience in the process. Imagine,
51:09
Speaker 1: imagine the results of rushing ahead, the collateral damage that
51:16
Speaker 1: will come should you race on and innocent people get hurt.
51:23
Speaker 1: Take time to think about that, our father, what will
51:29
Speaker 1: it take to slow us down to the point where
51:35
Speaker 1: we again listen for your still small voice. It's amazing.
51:41
Speaker 1: You never scream your will. It's always very quiet. It's unobtrusive.
51:52
Speaker 1: Sometime coming in the middle of the night when sleep
51:55
Speaker 1: is hard, and occasionally in the very early morning dawn
52:00
Speaker 1: when no one else is awake, sometime over a long walk,
52:07
Speaker 1: occasionally when we come to you with our bibles open
52:12
Speaker 1: and we we ask you to speak, and you speak
52:21
Speaker 1: Forgive us for the rush and the habit of having
52:28
Speaker 1: to hurry everything along. Teach us the value of patience.
52:36
Speaker 1: Not only was roam not built in the day, your
52:39
Speaker 1: will wasn't ever carried out in a hurried moment. You
52:45
Speaker 1: have a plan, and may we remember that you don't
52:49
Speaker 1: adjust your pace to ours. On the contrary, we are
52:54
Speaker 1: to adjust ours to yours. Give all of us what
53:02
Speaker 1: we do not have in ourselves, and that is a restraint,
53:10
Speaker 1: a willingness to wait, and give us a confidence that
53:15
Speaker 1: in the waiting you are not absent, but you are
53:19
Speaker 1: at work deep within us, changing us, preparing us for
53:26
Speaker 1: what is ahead. I remember those on the cusp of
53:31
Speaker 1: a decision and ask that you would give them patience.
53:37
Speaker 1: So they wait for your direction. Give them the strength
53:41
Speaker 1: to shun the voices of many who would hurry them along.
53:47
Speaker 1: May we learn from his lesson out of the lives
53:50
Speaker 1: of Abram and Sarah, a couple that wound up at
53:53
Speaker 1: each other's throats. Teach us Lord the value of waiting
54:02
Speaker 1: on God. In the name of Christ, I pray everyone
54:09
Speaker 1: said Amen. The preceding message, Running Ahead of God was
54:18
Speaker 1: copyrighted in twenty twelve and twenty fourteen, and the sound
54:22
Speaker 1: recording was copyrighted in twenty fourteen by Charles R. Swindall Ink.
54:27
Speaker 1: All rights are reserved worldwide. Duplication of copyrighted material for
54:32
Speaker 1: commercial use is strictly prohibited.