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Transcript

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 learned
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  Speaker 1: something about this many years ago, and I'd like to
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  Speaker 1: tell you that story. When my daughters were young, we
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  Speaker 1: used to drive to my mom's house way out in
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  Speaker 1: West Texas for Thanksgiving. Most of those miles on the
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  Speaker 1: 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 a
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  Speaker 1: theology lab. A day with a car full of kids
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  Speaker 1: will teach you a lot about God. A journey is
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  Speaker 1: a journey, whether the destination be the Thanksgiving table or
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  Speaker 1: the heavenly one. Both demand patience, a good sense of direction,
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  Speaker 1: and a driver who knows that the feast at the
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  Speaker 1: end of the trip is worth the hassles in the
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  Speaker 1: midst of the trip. The fact that my pilgrims were
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  Speaker 1: all under the age of seven only enriched my learning experience.
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  Speaker 1: While on the road, Dillon and I discussed the similarities
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  Speaker 1: between these earthly and heavenly journeys. Here are a few
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  Speaker 1: we noted. To reach the destination, we have to say
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  Speaker 1: no to some requests. Can you imagine the outcome if
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  Speaker 1: a parent honored each request of each child during a trip?
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  Speaker 1: We'd inch our bloated bellies from one ice cream store
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  Speaker 1: to the next. Our priority would be popcorn, and our
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  Speaker 1: itinerary would read like a fast food menu. Go to
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  Speaker 1: the Cherry Malt and make a right, head north, until
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  Speaker 1: you find the chili cheeseburger, stay north for 1,300 calories,
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  Speaker 1: and bear left at the giant pizza. Can you imagine
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  Speaker 1: the chaos if a parent indulged every indulgence? Can you
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  Speaker 1: imagine the chaos if God indulged each of ours? Know
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  Speaker 1: is a necessary word to take on a trip. Destination.
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  Speaker 1: has to reign over the Dairy Deluxe Ice Cream Sundae.
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  Speaker 1: 1 Thessalonians chapter 5 and verse 9 says, For God
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  Speaker 1: has not destined us to the terrors of judgment, but
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  Speaker 1: to the full attainment of salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.
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  Speaker 1: Please note God's destiny for your life. Salvation. God's overarching
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  Speaker 1: desire is that you reach that destiny. His itinerary includes
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  Speaker 1: stops that encourage your journey and he frowns on stops
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  Speaker 1: that deter you. When his sovereign plan and your earthly
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  Speaker 1: plan collide, a decision must be made. Who's in charge
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  Speaker 1: of this journey? If God must choose, Between your earthly
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  Speaker 1: satisfaction and your heavenly salvation, which do you hope he chooses?
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  Speaker 1: Me too. When I'm in the driver's seat as the
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  Speaker 1: father of my children, I remember that I'm in charge.
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  Speaker 1: But when I'm in the passenger's seat as a child
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  Speaker 1: of my father, I forget he's in charge. I forget
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  Speaker 1: God is more concerned with my destiny than my belly.
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  Speaker 1: And I complain when he says no. The requests my
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  Speaker 1: children made on the road to grandma's weren't evil or rebellious.
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  Speaker 1: In fact, we had a couple of cones and cokes.
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  Speaker 1: But most of the requests were unnecessary. Now, my then
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  Speaker 1: four-year-old daughter would have argued that fact. From her viewpoint,
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  Speaker 1: another soft drink was indispensable to her happiness. I knew otherwise.
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  Speaker 1: And so I said no. A 40-year-old adult would argue
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  Speaker 1: that fact. From his standpoint, a new boss is indispensable
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  Speaker 1: to happiness. God knows otherwise and says no. A 30-year-old
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  Speaker 1: woman would argue that fact. From her standpoint, that man
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  Speaker 1: with that job and that name is exactly who she
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  Speaker 1: needs to be happy. Her father, who is more concerned
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  Speaker 1: that she arrive at his holy city than at the altar, says,
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  Speaker 1: Wait a 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? I tried. I
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  Speaker 1: told Jenna, three hours is about as long as three
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  Speaker 1: episodes of Sesame Street. The children groaned in unison. Three
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  Speaker 1: Sesame Streets, that's forever. And to them, it is. And
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  Speaker 1: to us, it seems that way too. Isaiah 57 and
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  Speaker 1: 15 describes God as he who lives forever. And this
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  Speaker 1: God has placed himself at the head of a Band
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  Speaker 1: of pilgrims who mutter like the psalmist, How long, O Lord,
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  Speaker 1: how long? Psalm 89 in verse 46. How long must
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  Speaker 1: I endure this sickness? How long must I endure this spouse?
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  Speaker 1: How long must I endure this paycheck? Do you really
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  Speaker 1: want God to answer? He could. He could answer in
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  Speaker 1: terms of the here and now with time increments. We
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  Speaker 1: know and understand two more years of the illness, the
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  Speaker 1: rest of your life in the marriage, 10 more years
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  Speaker 1: for the bills. But he seldom does that. He usually
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  Speaker 1: opts to measure the here and now against the there
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  Speaker 1: and then. And when you compare this life to that life,
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  Speaker 1: this life ain't long. 1 Chronicles 29 15 says, Our
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  Speaker 1: days on earth are like a shadow. Psalm 39 5 says,
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  Speaker 1: Each man's life is but a breath. James 4 14 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 children.
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  Speaker 1: We're almost there. I know. I've been there before. I've
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  Speaker 1: driven this road. For me, it's no challenge. But for
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  Speaker 1: the children, it's eternal. So I try another approach. I
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  Speaker 1: tell them to think about how good it will be
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  Speaker 1: when we get there. The turkey, the dressing, the pie.
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  Speaker 1: I promise them the trip will be worth it. But
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  Speaker 1: they still groan. 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 2 Corinthians 4, Therefore, We do not lose heart.
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  Speaker 1: Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are
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  Speaker 1: being renewed day by day for our light and momentary trouble.
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  Speaker 1: are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs
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  Speaker 1: them all. So we fix our eyes not on what
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  Speaker 1: is seen, but on what is unseen. It's not easy
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  Speaker 1: to get three girls under the age of seven to
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  Speaker 1: see a city they can't see, but it's necessary. It's
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  Speaker 1: not easy for us to see a heavenly city we've
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  Speaker 1: never seen either, especially when the road is bumpy and
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  Speaker 1: the hour is late and companions are wanting to cancel
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  Speaker 1: the trip and take up residence in a motel. It's
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  Speaker 1: not easy to fix our eyes on what is unseen,
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  Speaker 1: but it's necessary. One line in this second Corinthians passage
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  Speaker 1: makes me smile. Our light and momentary troubles. I wouldn't
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  Speaker 1: have called them that if I were the apostle Paul.
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  Speaker 1: According to second Corinthians 11 verses 23 through 27, he
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  Speaker 1: was imprisoned. He was beaten with a whip five times.
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  Speaker 1: He faced death, beaten with a rod three times. stoned once,
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  Speaker 1: shipwrecked three times, stranded in the open sea, left homeless,
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  Speaker 1: in constant danger, hungry and thirsty, long and trying ordeals, perhaps,
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  Speaker 1: arduous and deadly afflictions, okay, but light and momentary troubles?
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  Speaker 1: How could Paul describe endless trials with that phrase? He
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  Speaker 1: tells us, He could see an eternal glory that far
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  Speaker 1: outweighs them all. Can I speak candidly for a minute?
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  Speaker 1: For some of you, the journey has been long, very long,
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  Speaker 1: very stormy. In no way do I wish to minimize
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  Speaker 1: the difficulties that you have had to face along the way.
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  Speaker 1: Some of you have shouldered burdens that few of us
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  Speaker 1: could ever carry. You have bid farewell to lifelong partners.
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  Speaker 1: You have been robbed of lifelong dreams. You have been
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  Speaker 1: given bodies that can't sustain your spirit. You have bills
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  Speaker 1: that outnumber the paychecks and challenges that outweigh the strength.
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  Speaker 1: And you are tired of It's hard for you to
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  Speaker 1: see God's city in the midst of the storms. The
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  Speaker 1: desire to pull over to the side of the road
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  Speaker 1: and get out entices you. You want to go on,
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  Speaker 1: but some days the road seems so long. Let me
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  Speaker 1: encourage you with one final parallel between your life's journey
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  Speaker 1: and the one our family took those years ago. It's
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  Speaker 1: worth it. As we sat around the Thanksgiving table that holiday,
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  Speaker 1: no one spoke of the long trip to get there.
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  Speaker 1: No one mentioned the requests I didn't honor. No one
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  Speaker 1: complained about the late hour of arrival. We were all
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  Speaker 1: stuffed and content. Yesterday's challenges were lost in today's joy.
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  Speaker 1: That's what Paul meant. God never said that the journey
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  Speaker 1: would be easy, but he did say that the arrival
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  Speaker 1: would be worthwhile. Remember this, God may not do what
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  Speaker 1: you want, but he will always do what is right,
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  Speaker 1: and he will always do what is best. He's the
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  Speaker 1: father of forward motion. Trust him. He'll get you home,
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  Speaker 1: and the trials of the trip will be lost in
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  Speaker 1: the joys of the feast. Thanks so much for joining
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  Speaker 1: me in this series based on my book In the
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  Speaker 1: Eye of the Storm. We all face storms. We all
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  Speaker 1: face stress. But no matter how stormy your day or
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  Speaker 1: restless your night, please remember, God knows how you feel.
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  Speaker 2: You don't have to stay close.
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  Speaker 1: As long as you're somewhere.
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  Speaker 3: Out there That's enough for me I don't need to
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  Speaker 3: hold you near me Don't need promises to keep Just
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  Speaker 3: the thought that you are breathing Somewhere in this world
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  Speaker 3: I see Even if I'm not beside you Even if
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  Speaker 3: you never know There's a quiet kind of comfort Just
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  Speaker 3: in knowing you still glow.
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  Speaker 2: I don't need forever I just need you to exist.
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  Speaker 3: You don't have to stay with me You don't have
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  Speaker 3: to feel the same Just as long as you're still
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  Speaker 3: out there Calling softly through my days You don't have
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  Speaker 3: to look my way You don't have to be my
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  Speaker 3: home It's enough to know you're living In a world
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  Speaker 3: I'm not alone I won't chase you through the distance.
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  Speaker 3: Won't disturb your chosen life. I'll just keep you in
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  Speaker 3: my silence like a star that shines at night. Through
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  Speaker 3: the dark and through the blue. I still think of you.
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  Speaker 3: You don't have to feel the same Just as long
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  Speaker 3: as you're still out there Calling softly through my days
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  Speaker 3: You don't have to look my way You don't have
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  Speaker 3: to be my home It's enough to know you're.
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  Speaker 2: Living I don't need to be your light I don't
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  Speaker 2: need to cross your mind All.
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  Speaker 3: I need is just the truth That you're somewhere.
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  Speaker 2: Still alive.
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  Speaker 3: You don't have to.
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  Speaker 4: Stay with me You don't have to feel the same
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  Speaker 4: Just as long as you're still out there Calling softly
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  Speaker 4: through my days You don't have to look my way
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  Speaker 4: You don't have to be my home It's enough to
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  Speaker 4: know you're living
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  Speaker 1: In a world I'm not alone.