"Flatlining: When Faith Falters"

Hi, this is John Ozanting, the pastor of Evolved Church, and this is the Evolved Church Podcast.

Thanks so much for tuning in.

We hope that you find today's message encouraging and full of hope for wherever you're at.

Well, um, this week I am dreaming about sunny places, especially as I've come to cold Edmonton.

Yesterday morning, five degrees without a jacket, hanging out, going to Donut City, donut party.

What party?

Party with the donuts.

It was a good way to start the day.

And we were all feeling temperate and happy.

And then the devil moved in.

I don't know what is going on with we by the time we got out of West Edmonton Mall, it was like negative 21 degrees or something.

I get the cold, I get the temperament, but I don't get the like degree of uh like speed to which we get from one to the other.

You live in an amazing place, let me tell you.

And I don't know who I first saw when we walked in here putting the flags out, but I'm not lying to you.

In my church, no one would be putting flags out in negative 20.

I don't care how much they love Jesus, they know there are more important things.

Survival.

And so they wouldn't be doing that.

But you guys are out here in beautiful Edmonton faithfully putting out the flags of the Lord.

And I just applaud that and celebrate uh your teams and all of that.

But I love dreaming of sunny places, especially because in the last couple years, let's be honest, most of us have not had the opportunity to get to any of them.

I get this weekly travel zoo email in my email box, and I have this little deal with myself that whenever I get it in my day, I will stop and take about three to twenty minutes.

Um, and just dream of sunny places.

You know, look at the little thumbnail picture.

Oh, that's what Cuba looks like.

Take me, Jesus, right now.

I want to go to Cuba, you know.

Oh my goodness, the Maldives.

I don't even know where that is, but I want to know, you know?

And just looking through all of these places.

The last time we were in a sunny location, believe it or not, it was March of 2020.

And uh my family and I, with all of my extended family for the first time ever, went on this trip to Mexico to this all-inclusive resort, and it was awesome.

And it wasn't uh more than a day that we had been there than we had the announcement that we were all supposed to find our way home immediately because COVID had struck.

And we all know what's happened since then.

And it was a little chaotic because now we kind of know and understand and and and have some sort of education and awareness, but at the time we kind of forget now, nobody knew if the world was coming to an end.

Like it was scary to be in a foreign place.

It wasn't quite as scary because it was all inclusive, you know.

It was like, if we have to die anywhere, I mean, this is the place to be.

We actually talked about what do we just stay forever?

Like, can we?

But we went from not being able to get home, so we ended up staying there for uh the full week, which wasn't all bad, but from a place the resort was about 70% at capacity, and the weekend was coming.

It was the beginning of spring break, and they were expecting to be at 100% capacity.

We went through that week to see that resort go to about 5% capacity and shut down the day we were leaving.

It was weird.

It was weird to be in this space and place.

And I remember we went to the airport, nobody was wearing masks.

They told us they wouldn't be serving water on the plane.

There was like mad rushes to the little corner stores in the Mexican airport to buy water.

Um, I elbowed a few sweep.

I didn't really, but we got water.

Like, it was just a strange time.

And you know, none of us are exempt from unexpected storms in our lives, right?

Like, we all have moments where we think things are going great, like life is just moving the way we always dreamed it would, and suddenly a storm hits.

Suddenly something happens in our life.

And and they're not usually, if I'm being real, as pleasant as an all-inclusive resort.

There's not that backdrop of them.

They hit and they hit hard.

And they don't just hit us circumstantially, they hit us emotionally, they hit us in our relationships, sometimes our finances, and oftentimes, if we're being real, if we are Jesus' followers in the room today, they hit us in the place of our faith.

They make us question and doubt the goodness of God.

Maybe it's just me.

Maybe my faith is a little more fragile than yours.

But honestly, when I go through hard stuff, I feel my faith shake.

And today I want to talk about that.

I want to talk about flatlining faith.

The idea of moving along, doing well, feeling that vibrant heartbeat of life in your spirit, knowing things are well, but then all of a sudden hitting something, and you start feeling your faith falter.

You start questioning the goodness of your God.

You you start wondering if you can trust God while you walk through this particular storm.

And we all walk through them.

A boss gives us notice, a doctor gives us a diagnosis, an investment fails.

A partner walks out the door.

We go through relationships that we're built on trust, and suddenly there's a betrayal.

And on and on and on.

And it hurts and it's hard.

And it makes us at times wonder where God is and even shake our fists at a good and holy God.

And so we want to talk about that today.

We want to talk about the reality of what we do in the storms of our life, what we do when our faith falters, what we do in crisis, because I want you to know today, if you take anything from this message, whoever had an actual notebook out this morning, I love you.

There is a good way to take notes on your phone, but there is a great way to take notes in a book.

I don't know.

I still like the pen and paper.

This is just the one thing I want to leave you with leave with you today.

We're gonna talk about a little bit more, but here's the main thought is that when faith falters, grace remains.

When faith falters, grace remains.

There's hope in Jesus even in the darkness of our storm.

Lord, I pray that as we look at your word today, it would bring us strength, it would bring us joy, it would bring us hope, and give us courage if we are in a moment right now where we resonate with flatlining faith.

That we would look to Jesus in a fresh way.

Amen.

Amen.

Well, listen, I want to tell you to start at our crisis moments in our faith.

Don't take Jesus by surprise.

We're gonna look at a story in Matthew chapter 14.

Matthew 14 · chapter mention

It's one of my favorites.

It's a it's a classic story if you're a Jesus follower.

We're gonna pull a couple of thoughts out of this this morning that can give us context to how we can have faith that flourishes in the moments of flatlining faith.

Matthew chapter 14 and verse 22 starts here.

Matthew 14 · chapter mention

It says, Immediately he, referring to Jesus, made disciples, made the disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side while he dismissed the crowds.

Let me give you a little context as to where we're picking up this story here.

A few uh verses or chapters ago, Jesus had just done something really unusual with his disciples.

He took these 12 men and he split them into two and he prayed for them and he commissioned them.

And for the first time ever, he said, I am physically gonna stay here.

I'm going to send you with my spirit to minister in my name.

So I'm not gonna be present with you, pointing to the time that we're currently living in, but I'm gonna put my spirit on you and in you, and you are gonna go minister in the same spirit, in the same power that I did.

And so these guys go out two by two, and they go, and to their great delight, you know what happens?

God's spirit goes with them.

People are healed, there's revelation that comes, demons are cast out, cast out.

It's a radical time.

And these guys come back together and they're like, Jesus, it worked, you know?

Like we we dehumanize these people because they're on our scriptures, they're in our stories, they've been there for thousands of years.

But these guys are thrilled.

They're like, I can't believe it.

I prayed for someone and they stood up, you know?

I prayed for someone blind and they saw Jesus.

What kind of power is that?

And so they're talking about this, and all of a sudden a messenger comes in and says, Guys, you're not gonna believe this.

One of our closest friends, Jesus' cousin, John the Baptist, has just been taken by Herod the King and beheaded.

And suddenly these guys who feel invincible in this moment of we felt God's power work through us, suddenly realize that there's a threat to following Jesus.

And they're afraid.

And so Jesus says, hey guys, let's go away for a little bit.

You've just been on this ministry trip, we've just got this bad news, let's go process it together.

And they're on their way when hundreds of people, thousands of people find Jesus and say, Hey, teach us, show us, minister to us, help us understand this thing called the kingdom of God that is invading the reality of our world in this moment.

And Jesus looks at them and says, Hey, sheep without a shepherd.

I feel compassion.

And he teaches for not one, not two, not three days.

Now put yourself in the position of these disciples for a moment.

They're probably thinking, Yeah, it's nice that you're hanging out with these people, but uh I need some time here, Jesus.

Stop.

Can't you see that I'm hurting?

And Jesus says, Here, take this basket and hand out food.

And then he says, Okay, let's go now, and we're gonna do this, and now I'm gonna send you ahead.

I'm gonna go do stuff, and then we're gonna meet up later.

This is where we pick up this story.

And here's what I want you to see if your faith is flatlining, if you're struggling, if you're in a circumstance today, here's the first thought I want to drop in your heart today that Jesus is more committed to our growth than he is our comfort.

And that's not an easy point to make.

A God of my choosing, a God of my creation, would not be this God initially.

I'd want a God who is like, you know, salakadoo, la michakabula, bibbidi bobbity, you know, whatever you need, Todd, in the moment.

New car, perfect job, good friends, you know, like that.

That's the God that if we could choose really quickly, that's the God we want, right?

That's the God, the God who's like the fairy godmother.

Just come on down.

And hey, if you don't mind when things are going good, if you could just hang out over there so I can do whatever I want over here, and then when I need you, I'll just call you.

See, that's the God we would choose in our humanity.

But see, that's not the God we serve because God's good enough to give us not what we need, but what we, but not what we want, but what we actually need.

Because I don't need a God like a fairy godmother.

I actually need a God who's a little bit more like a coach.

A couple years ago, I decided to get a personal trainer.

I know you're looking and saying, well, good try.

But um, I did.

And I didn't know much about lifting weights, and so I thought this would be a good thing in my 40s to figure out.

And then you're thinking, wow, he's in his 40s.

Oh, maybe you weren't thinking that, but I was yeah, I am well into the 40s.

Okay, so I think I gotta learn about this.

I wanna be healthy for the rest of my life.

And I'll tell you what, I didn't like my personal trainer all the time, but he was an awesome guy.

He was encouraging, but he pushed me.

He pushed me past my comfort into a position of growth.

And aren't you thankful, even in your darkest days?

Come on, church, that you have a God who doesn't just feed you potato chips when you need a snack.

A God who doesn't just say, Yeah, you go ahead and sit in your self-pity and your grief.

Oh, he'll comfort you in your hard times.

But he also says, Come on, we're gonna step through this, we're gonna grow, and your faith might be flatlining, but there's a moment in this thing that even though you're in the midst of a storm, I'm gonna give you what you need and you're gonna grow.

And your faith isn't actually gonna falter in this moment.

You're gonna discover that this circumstance is the catalyst for your faith to flourish.

Because it's in the striving, it's in the bending, it's in the pressing that God truly meets us and transformative faith is experienced.

And the verse goes on.

Jesus says, after he has dismissed the crowds, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray.

Now here's my next question for you something to think about.

What do you think Jesus was praying for in this moment?

What do you think was on his mind?

Knowing as he was, a good God who promises never to give us more than we can handle, but a loving God, who sees he's about to send these guys who are in a really tough time, these 12 disciples, into the midst of yet another storm, a high, high, a low, low, a high, high, a low, low, and here they are going into a storm again.

What do you think he's praying for?

We don't know.

Scripture doesn't tell us.

But we can look at other places in scripture, like John chapter 17, where we see Jesus' prayers recorded.

John 17 · chapter mention

And you know what?

Most of what he prays about is his followers then and his followers today.

Literally, he prays for us today in John chapter 17.

John 17 · chapter mention

In Romans chapter 8 and verse 34, it says that there's this picture of Jesus now, his life, death, resurrection, and ascension taken care of, that he's now standing before the Father, making intercession for you and I.

Romans 8 · chapter mention

So I'd like to suggest, maybe in this moment, as he went away to pray, knowing his followers were in a difficult position, that he would have been praying for them.

And here's the second thing I want you to know if your faith is flatlining, if you're in a crisis, that you have a God who is contending in heaven for you.

Jesus is contending for you.

So when we sing songs like, I've never walked alone, I've never been abandoned, you are my inheritance, you are my strength and shield, and I have confidence.

We're making declaration that I don't know where you are right now.

You don't seem present in my immediate vicinity, but I have confidence you go before me.

I know that you're present in the midst of this.

I know you're contending before me, contending for me, even though I know I can't feel you in this moment.

I can have that faith, and it's in that moment our faith expands.

Because even though I don't know exactly where Jesus is, we can rest assured Jesus knows exactly where we are.

He sees you, friend.

He sees the storms.

He sees the days you're walking through.

He sees those wounds in your soul that don't seem to heal year after year after year.

And he doesn't need you to just settle with the fact that this is who and how you always will be.

I'm contending for you.

This storm doesn't have to sink you.

This challenge doesn't have to take you out.

Scripture goes on and it says, When evening came, Jesus was there alone.

But by this time, but the boat by this time was a long way from the land, beaten by the waves.

For the wind was against them.

Notice that, we're gonna just come back and talk about the wind uh in a little bit, but the wind was against them.

It goes on and says, And in the fourth watch of the night he came to them walking on the sea.

But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, wait a minute, let's just stop for a minute, because some of us have read this a few times.

We know where the story's going.

Jesus is walking on the sea, like that's kind of cool, right?

Like, that's amazing.

It's there's a supernatural reality here.

And and and because it's such a, let's just be honest, kind of ridiculous moment, like it seems so far-fetched.

A lot of people try to take it out of reality.

This is this is a story that if we have faith in a supernatural God, if you're a Jesus follower today, that means that uh you have faith in a God who who your whole your whole foundation of faith is based on a supernatural act, the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

His life can give you confidence, his message, his words can give you confidence, but there is a place that you must go to follow Jesus.

It's a place of faith that he is the resurrection and the life, that he died for your sins, but he did not stay dead.

He was supernaturally resurrected by the power of God.

So is it so far-fetched to imagine a God who can conquer death, can conquer and walk on a few waves?

No, it's not.

And everybody said, uh-huh.

Thanks, whether you wanted to or not, I appreciate just following me there.

So here he comes on the fourth watch of the night.

The fourth watch is the darkest part of the night.

It's the hardest place of the night.

If you were a soldier serving on the fourth watch of the night, it was the space where it was the hardest to stay attentive.

If you were a sailor in a boat contending in a storm, you were tired, exhausted, and wanted to give up in the earth watch of the night.

And this is where Jesus shows up in the darkest point of the storm.

Friend, can I encourage you with that thought today?

That you might be in the darkest point of your life, and Jesus might show up in a radically uh in supernatural way that you could never have imagined.

He might do it as practically as an arm of a friend around your shoulder.

He might do it in a way that is a message like this.

It might be a moment where you open your Bible, it might be an encounter, just as you sit alone in your car listening to some worship song.

But Jesus will come near in the fourth watches of our storms.

I like also that it says that he came to them.

You know, sometimes we're in the midst of those moments and we're like, God, where are you?

When are you?

I can't find you.

You can know that not only is Jesus more committed to your growth than your comfort, not only is he contending for you, but he will show up and he will initiate your rescue.

And then he's walking on the sea.

The supernatural reality that we've talked about.

It says the the response of the disciples were they were terrified.

I would be too.

I would be freaked out if some person was walking on the water, coming toward my boat in the middle of the storm.

And remember, these are fishermen, so they've seen a lot of it.

At least some of them were fishermen.

And they were terrified and said, It is a ghost, which cracks me up because I don't know what the Hebrew equivalent to cuss words would have been, but I feel like maybe they were redacted for script.

Like if you saw somebody looking like a ghost coming towards you, you know, like it's like, ah, it is a ghost.

I don't think so.

It's a little too Shakespearean for me.

I think, I think there would have been some words.

These were rough men, not all of them were articulate and polished.

They were freaking out.

It is a ghost.

Uh, okay, read into that a little bit.

And they cried out in fear.

It is a ghost.

But immediately Jesus spoke to them.

I love this.

Immediately, before they got themselves into many more cuss word troubles here.

Jesus spoke to them, saying, Take heart, take heart, take heart, take heart.

Some of that's all you need to hear today.

Take heart, take heart.

It's I.

I'm here.

Do not be afraid.

The waves still waving, the wind still winding, the storm still present, take heart.

I'm here right now.

I got this.

And Peter answered him, Lord, if it's you, command me to come to you on the water.

What?

Like, again, let's just pause.

You know, let's start.

Cool.

Can I come too?

Like, that wouldn't have been my response.

I love Peter's radical faith here.

Radical faith in the middle of a storm.

He's like, hey, that looks cool.

Can I try?

It's like a three-year-old like borrowing a toy from his friend in the nursery.

I want to try that play-doh-making thing.

You know, sure, come.

And Jesus, what's his response?

He says, come.

Come.

You know, sometimes it's only in the storms of life that we glimpse the true power of our God.

And they're hard to go through.

I'm not belittling storms.

I'm not just saying, suck it up, princess.

Just tough it out.

Prince.

But there is something to knowing a God who meets you in the middle of a storm.

And seeing him in a way you've never seen him before.

This is this is a water walking God.

Wow.

Add that to his resume.

That literally he will suspend the natural laws that govern the physical universe he created to find his way to his people.

That's the kind of God that we glimpse in a storm.

And the storms are hard and our faith flatlines at times.

But if we let it, there's something, there's a spark there.

There's something that Jesus can show us about who he is and how he is that we could never see in the times of peace.

In the times that are easy.

And so he says, come.

So Peter got out of the boat and he walked on the water.

Man, imagine that.

It'd be like me stepping off the stage, and I'm just like stepping into the air.

And just like walking over, you know.

Okay, it's a bad.

If you're at home watching, you probably couldn't have seen that.

I just did a really bad thing that was poor, a poor example.

So ignore that.

Just imagine, just suddenly.

No, I'm not.

I was gonna try to do it again.

There were imaginary stairs, and I'm walking.

Okay, we're gonna be done there.

But here's God, and he loves radical faith.

So what does he say to Peter?

Sure, come.

Come, give it a try.

I can imagine Jesus delighting in this kind of request.

That in the midst of the storm, here's one of his 12 guys saying, I want to exercise some radical faith.

I want to try that.

I don't get it, I don't understand it, I know it's impossible.

But if I see you modeling it, then maybe I can have that kind of posture too.

And radical faith has some incredible results, doesn't it?

Here's Peter.

He's walking on water, also defying the natural laws of the universe.

But then he sees the wind.

It says, when he saw the wind, he was afraid.

And beginning to sink, he cried out, Lord, save me.

And Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him.

I like that phrase when he saw the wind.

It's worth reflecting on in your life.

I talked about how the wind was against them earlier in this story, and here we see when he saw the wind.

Peter was a fisherman.

See, Peter understood that the waves weren't his problem.

Peter understood that the waves were a symptom of a greater reality, of something he couldn't see.

They were caused by the wind.

And so often for us, when we walk through storms, we make the mistake that our problem is the waves.

That the thing that we're facing is actually the thing that feels most obvious.

Whereas there often is not a symptom, but a root cause of something that God's after.

See, Peter got it.

He saw the wind.

He was a seasoned fisherman.

He knew his problem wasn't the big waves that were threatening to swallow him up.

He knew it was the wind that was coming against him.

And sometimes, friends, we get caught in a storm and we cannot find our way out because we're trying to address symptoms of a deeper root cause that God is trying to address in our hearts.

And if you're in a storm right now and you see the circumstance around you and say, God, get me out of this.

Can I encourage you to ask yourself another question?

Can I encourage you to say, God, is there something in me that you're needing to address?

Is there a root of something in me that you want to deal with?

Just recently, God started to challenge me about a root of anger in my life.

And it's funny, I haven't seen it for a lot of years.

I saw it when I was 20 years old.

I'm a pretty happy guy, always have been.

My daughter's even nodding and saying, Yes, thank you, Anna.

I appreciate that.

Generally, I'm pretty easy to be around.

I'm pretty happy.

It's easy to be, and that's my demeanor.

But there is something I'm seeing in myself recently.

It's something I don't like.

There's something in the rootedness of my soul.

And it used to be a problem when I saw those things.

I used to think, oh dear God, I gotta fix this fast.

But I've walked with Jesus for long enough now that when I see those kind of things, you know, my heart does this, it responds by saying, Oh, okay.

I've walked through enough of these moments where I felt the conviction of God's spirit.

And I know what the outcome is now.

It's a good outcome.

He wants to take me deeper into relationship with him.

He wants to give me a greater sense of who he is.

He wants to invite me into fellowship with him in a way that I've not experienced it before.

And so when I see that root of anger, it's like, okay, God, where are you taking me next?

You know, sometimes the symptoms, that feeling that I feel, is are not the thing that I need to deal with.

Sometimes it's not the waves, it's the wind.

And Peter understood that, and he starts to sink as a result of the wind.

See, even great faith falters at times.

And I want to give you just permission, even if you're a person of great faith, that you also may have moments where your faith may falter.

You you might not like it when they come, I don't.

But you may also find yourself in a moment that you have to reconcile that your faith isn't as rock solid as you want it to be.

Why is that?

Because faith originates from us.

Faith is a response to who Jesus is and what Jesus has done.

Now, the Holy Spirit in unseen ways draws us and enables us to express that faith towards God, but we still have a catalyst of that in spite of his spirit to express and extend that faith and decide to build a life on it.

But even when faith falters, grace remains.

And that's why the firm foundation of your relationship with Jesus is not faith, it's grace.

Grace is the starting point.

Check this out.

Romans chapter 5 says this Through Him we also have obtained access by faith.

Romans 5 · chapter mention

Everyone say faith.

If you're at home watching, say faith, very good, into this grace in which we stand.

And we can rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.

Ephesians 2.8 says, For by grace you have been saved through faith.

And this is not your own doing, it's the gift of God.

The point is that if you see it this way, grace is the home you live in in relationship with God, but faith is the doorway into it.

You need faith.

Faith accesses grace.

Grace is the experience of God's undeserved favor and the place you get to live.

But even that doorway, even when great faith falters.

And in that moment, we sometimes wonder, is God good?

Let me tell you, He still is, because grace remains in your faltering faith.

Grace is resolute.

Grace does not change.

It still invites you, it still draws you, it still says, Come on in, even when your faith is shaking.

And I love it.

Peter calls out, Lord, save me.

And no, we see this picture of grace in this moment as Jesus reaches out his hand, as he lifts him out of the waves.

It says that in Matthew chapter 14 and verse I think 30, it says, Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him, saying to him, Oh you of little faith, why did you doubt?

Matthew 14 · chapter mention

I struggle with that.

Can I just be real?

Like there's 11 other guys in the boat.

I feel like they should have got the OU of little faith prior prior to the guy who who at least made the effort.

But see, can I can I make this point here that Jesus saw who Peter was called to become?

Jesus saw what was in Peter.

He knew that Peter one day would be the person who preached the first message that birthed the first church that we sit in as a response over 2,000 years ago, today, presently, to that message in Acts chapter 2.

Acts 2 · chapter mention

He knew the cost it would take for him to face his own weakness and his own sinfulness, his own betrayal of God, and come in humility and repentance and receive the Holy Spirit and preach that message and become the rock, the revelation that God gave him.

It might seem mean-spirited or tough, but again, we don't serve a fairy godmother.

We serve a holy God who sees us and he calls us past our present and into our potential.

Even in these hard moments, Peter, you almost had it.

Next time.

Next time, you got this.

Don't doubt next time.

You need that.

You're gonna need that to get through the next thing.

I'm gonna call the worship team up.

I want you to know that Jesus, if you're sinking today, if your faith is faltering, He, like the good God He is, his faith reaches, His grace reaches down to you at just the right time, and He's gonna lift you out.

He will not let you fail.

He will not abandon you in the midst of those storms that you face.

You may feel like he's distant today, but I want you to know he's contending in heaven for you before the Father.

In the last two years, I've walked through some of the darkest days of my life.

And sometimes I think even though Jesus promises in the Bible, He'll never give us more than we can handle, He also, I always think, man, you must trust me a lot to give me all that you've given me.

To have me walk through all of those storms.

But he is faithful in those moments to me.

As my faith faltered, as I walked through really difficult reality of what we had to walk through, and and and details I don't need to get into today, but I'll tell you what, people like John O and Nicole, they were like a picture of who Jesus was to us.

We saw Jesus through them.

We felt his love, felt his arm lift us up.

And others.

And in dark moments we knew that we had never walked alone, that we would never be abandoned, that his spirit would sustain us.

And you know what he did?

I'm almost, almost ready to say thank you, God, for the storm.

Not quite, but I'm getting closer.

I think God gets that.

I think he's okay with the fact that I'm not praising him for the hard things.

But I'm okay.

We're okay.

We made it through the toughest storm.

There might be a tougher one to come as the toughest one we faced.

And we can say thank you, Jesus, because we never walked alone.

Thank you so much for listening to today's message.

If you're ever in the Edmonton area, pop by for a visit.

And if you need any more information, visit EvolveChurch.com.

We hope to see you soon.