Allowing God To Renew And Restore (August 12th, 2018) - Jason Lock

Hello, Harvest New Market.

Thanks for having me back today.

We're in 1 Kings chapter 19.

1 Kings 19 · chapter mention

So I'd invite you to open your Bible there together with me.

My wife and I and our daughter are very glad to be here to worship you.

We always feel warmed and welcomed when we come to Harvest New Market.

It's a privilege to worship our Lord.

Now we're going to do that through hearing the preaching of God's word.

So before we get into the scriptures, let's turn our attention towards God in prayer right now.

Our Father, thank you so much for the living scriptures.

Thank you for your Holy Spirit that enlightens our eyes so that we might understand all things that you have revealed to us.

Thank you that you have not left us as sheep without a shepherd, but your son, the good shepherd, has come to show us the way.

Father, we wander, but guide us today.

Let us hear your voice clearly today.

Jesus said that I know my sheep, and my sheep know me, and I call to each of them by name.

Lord, let your son call to us today as we hear your word, and let us have the humility and the faith to follow you whatever you might call out to us to hear this morning.

Glorify your son Jesus Christ as we consider him in the scriptures.

In his name, holy and awesome, Jesus, we pray.

Amen.

So, like many young drivers, when I first got my license, I got stuck often.

Uh, whether it was the winter, um, I was driving in the snow, and I'd think myself too courageous of a driver or too um uh good of a driver, and I would get stuck in banks often.

Um I actually had a reputation at my church uh when I got my first car of being the guy, also when in outside of the winter and during usually in the summer of the spring, who generally needed a uh jump because he left his car lights on too often.

And whether I got uh needed a jump or whether I got stuck in a rut, I always needed to do the same thing.

I needed to sheepishly, very sheepishly, walk up to someone who could give me what I couldn't give myself.

Um I got stuck myself, I left my own lights on, and I needed a push, I needed a toe, I needed a jump, I needed them to get me out.

Spinning my tires wasn't enough anymore.

Cranking the ignition wasn't enough anymore.

I could keep doing that all I want on my own strength, but I needed to humble myself and go ask for help.

In the same way, I recognize in my own life that spiritually I can get stuck in a rut.

Spiritually, I can lose power and need a jump.

Maybe you feel like that right now.

Maybe you felt like that for a long time, but you are too stubborn like me to go ask for the help that you need to get out of it.

In today's sermon, we're meeting a man, a broken man with a mangled heart who is stuck in a spiritual rut.

And he's tried to spin his tires and get himself out by running away from God and trying to fix his own problem, but in the midst of that, this man only got in a worse rut.

He ran in fear, he chose isolation, he was crippled with guilt, and he became so hopelessly depressed that one night he put his head down and asked God that he wouldn't wake up again.

Maybe you found yourself in that desperate place before.

Today we're entering into the story of the prophet Elijah, one of the greatest men of faith who ever lived, yet who also failed so desperately because of his fear.

In the spring, I actually preached uh the message that follows just before this message.

And today we're picking back up into that story of a man who needed God's intervention in his life when he was stuck.

And I pray that we all would have the humility to no longer be stubborn, but if we recognize that we've been running in fear, that in the light of God's glory today, our fear would dissolve and faith would grow.

So, what's been happening so far in the story when we jump into 1 Kings chapter 19?

1 Kings 19 · chapter mention

Well, we're going back into history and looking at an episode of the uh story of the nation of Israel.

And the spiritual climate of the nation of Israel at this time was wicked.

How wicked?

So wicked that God considered the only way out, the only solution, was revolution.

See, Israel at this time was led by wicked King Ahab and his wife you've probably heard of before.

Her name is Jezebel.

And after years of oppression under Ahab and Jezebel, after years of famine under the leadership of this God-hating idolater, finally God was about to overthrow them.

You see, God used his chosen prophet Elijah to confront 850 false prophets who were personally financed by Jezebel.

And Elijah confronted them to have a contest to see which God was the true God of Israel, Baal or Yahweh.

And at that contest on Mount Carmel, there was a decisive victory, and it wasn't for Baal.

It was for the true and living God.

And those 850 prophets were slaughtered.

As a result, now it looked like the revolution was finally about to take place.

Ahab was about to be overthrown, Jezebel was about to be dethroned, and God led Elijah to go front Jezebel next.

She was the next one, the next domino that needed to fall.

At that critical moment, when success was at hand, Elijah ran in fear because Jezebel made a threat on his life.

He ran in fear and he abandoned his calling as a prophet.

He ran in fear and he chose to isolate himself.

He ran in fear and he was crippled with guilt and forgot God's grace.

He ran in fear and became hopelessly depressed and didn't even want to live anymore.

And this is where we pick ourselves up in the story today.

And where we see this story lead us is that we're going to see God approach Elijah in his failure.

We're going to see God approach Elijah's failure from three different angles for a particular reason because God was ready to renew him and restore the work of overthrowing this wicked king.

And if you find yourself stuck in a spiritual rut today, then God is able to do the same for you.

If you and I both humble ourselves before him in his glory.

So let's read the scripture today.

And this is what it says, starting at verse 8.

And he arose and ate and drank and went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb, the mount of God.

There he, Elijah, there he came to a cave and lodged in it.

And behold, the word of the Lord came to him, and he, the Lord, said to him, What are you doing here, Elijah?

He said, I've been very jealous for the Lord, the God of hosts.

For the people of Israel had forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword, and I, even I only, am left, and they seek my life to take it away.

And he said, Go out and stand on the mount before the Lord.

And behold, the Lord passed by.

And a great and strong wind tore the mountain and broke in pieces the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind.

And after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake.

And after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire.

And after the fire the sound of a low whisper.

And when Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave.

And behold, the voice, there came a voice to him and said, What are you doing here, Elijah?

He said, I've been very jealous for the Lord the God of hosts, for the people of Israel have forsaken your covenants, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword, and I, even I only, am left.

And they seek my life to take it away.

And the Lord said to him, Go, return on your way to Damascus, uh to the wilderness of Damascus, and when you arrive, you shall anoint Hazael to be king over Syria.

What's happening here in this story?

Well, after desperately failing, God approached Elijah's failure from three different angles in order to allow him to be renewed and restored back to work.

What's the first angle that we see God approach Elijah?

We'll write this down.

God approached Elijah's heart with a question.

You see, every decision that Elijah had made thus far was directly guided by the word of God.

God said, Go and depart to the brook, and Elijah went.

Go to this city, and Elijah went.

Go to that servant, and Elijah went.

But when Elijah ran from Jezebel, he was not listening to the voice of God.

And for a long time he lingered, having chosen to go his own way rather than going in obedience.

Finally, the word of the Lord returns to Elijah, but it doesn't tell him to go somewhere and asks him a question.

What are you doing here?

I didn't tell you to go here.

What are you doing here?

This is unique.

God hasn't ever approached Elijah with a question before.

I wonder what Elijah would have said if he answered honestly.

Because he doesn't even answer the question.

If he answered honestly, maybe he would have said, um, you know, God, I'm here because I was afraid.

And my focus wasn't on you and your power.

Um I was thinking of my circumstances and the threat that Jezebel made of me.

And I abandoned you.

And I chose to isolate myself and I became crippled with guilt.

I just wanted to, I just wanted to die.

Maybe that's what he would have said if he was honest, but he didn't even actually answer God's question.

You see, he didn't answer the question with, uh, why are you here?

He answered the question really, uh, what have you done?

God wasn't interested in what he'd done, but Elijah just wanted to prove himself.

He said, he said, um, um, I've been jealous for you.

True.

Elijah had been jealous for God.

He said, and all of Israel, they've they've forsaken you.

True.

They had forsaken him.

And and and I'm the only one left.

Not true.

He actually knew that wasn't true because someone else told him that there were 50 prophets hidden in a cave.

He was deluding himself of what was actually true.

And then he says, and they, Israel, they seek my life, they want to kill me.

Jezebel wants to seek your life, but all of Israel, they're on your side now.

Don't you remember?

Don't you remember the contest for the true God on Mount Carmel?

They all said, We're with Yahweh now, we're not with Baal.

They're on your side.

He's deluding himself again.

God exposed Elijah's heart with a simple question.

What is the heart?

Your heart, my heart.

The scripture describes that our hearts is the place of our inner thoughts, our inner desires, our inner motives that reflects who you and who I really am.

What's in Elijah's heart right now?

Four things that I see, um, he's avoiding ownership.

He ran in fear.

But instead of owning his fear, he blames his circumstances.

The problem isn't inside of him, the problem is outside of him, and that needs to change.

He's justifying his failures.

Instead of owning and admitting his fear, he's justifying it.

I'm jealous for you, I'm jealous for you, I'm jealous for you, look at all the good stuff I'm done.

He's bitter.

Israel's on his side, and these are the people he's supposed to be serving, but now he's attacking the people whom he should be loving and serving.

He's doubting God.

But the fact that he ran indicates that he believed that God couldn't take care of him and he needed to fend for himself.

Elijah's heart is crooked and mangled because of his fear.

Last time I was here and I preached the previous message on Elijah, I shared this story about what happened to me in grade four.

Some of you might remember, some of you don't.

I think it's worth telling again.

When I was in grade four, I went to school one day, and my teacher looked at me with a very perplexed expression.

And she looked at me and said, Are you okay?

I was like, Yeah, I think I'm okay.

What's wrong?

And she was like, I think you should go to the nurse.

I was like, Why?

Uh I'm okay.

So I went to the nurse or whatever the nurse was, and she looked at me as soon as I got in the room, just looked one glance at me and said, Are you okay?

I was like, I'm okay.

What do you yes, I feel fine.

And then she looked at me and she said, Have you looked in the mirror recently?

I said, No.

And the little grade four boy Jason looked at the mirror, and while I thought I was okay, what looked back at me in the mirror was a little boy whose spine was crooked so that his head and shoulders were like this.

And I was walking around all day like this.

So, yeah, I'm okay.

What's there?

Nothing's wrong.

I'm fine.

Uh the reason my uh neck was so cranked like that was because I was carrying a knapsack with books in it that was probably too heavy for a grade 12 to wear, let alone a grade four to wear, and like to wear it on one shoulder only.

But I would not have seen how mangled my spine was if I didn't look in the mirror.

Thankfully, someone told me to look in the mirror.

And it took a long time for my back to heal.

It took months of seeing chiropractors for me to actually have my spine realigned to an appropriate posture.

And that's what fear can do to your heart.

It can so mangle yourself that your heart is so out of posture, it's out of posture before God, it's out of posture before others, it's out of posture before yourself, you're angry at God, you're angry at others, you're upset with yourself, and it takes time to heal.

But you need to be able to see yourself the way God sees yourself first if you're going to be renewed and restored back to the calling that he has on your life.

If we're gonna be renewed and restored back to work, then we need to open our hearts to God so that we can see Him, uh them the way that He sees them.

And frankly, just like Elijah, most of the time, we think the problem isn't inside of our hearts, it's outside of us.

It's our circumstance, it's Jezebel, it's not my running with fear.

You know, I'm not in this rut because I made a dangerous driving decision.

I'm in this rut because someone cut me off.

Yeah, that's true sometimes.

Sometimes we get in places of suffering and weariness because of what's inflicted upon us.

That's true.

And maybe that's where you are today.

Someone malicious and mean intentionally put you where you are.

But that doesn't mean that our hearts don't have some equity that we've invested into this crooked house, too.

And frankly, more often than not, it's not our circumstances.

More often than not, like me, it's what we contribute that gets us to this place.

See, this is actually a frequent challenge for me.

I often think that what needs to change is outside of me.

It's uh my workload needs to change, my spouse needs to change, my kids need to change.

My vacation needs to change.

You know, maybe, maybe things outside of us do need to change.

But what about you?

What have you contributed by your own sinful, disobedient fear, to get to the place that you are today?

Are you avoiding the ownership of your own sin?

Are you justifying your failures by saying how good of a dad you are, how good of a wife you are?

Have you become bitter towards those closest to you?

Do you doubt that God is on your side?

And you might go to church, you might go to small groups, but functionally there's no prayer in your life.

And you're coasting along like it all depends on you.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let me ask you the same question that God asked Elijah.

What are you doing here?

How did you get here?

How long has it been that you've intentionally been closing your ears to the word of God and going your own way?

If you could go back and do things differently, what would you do?

I would implore you, friends, don't close your heart to God anymore.

Don't close your heart to the church anymore.

It will hurt.

But open your heart to God and open your heart to others, because you will not be renewed or restored back to the calling that God has in your life unless you willingly expose your mangled heart to him and see it the way that he sees it.

Open your hearts to him, friends.

There's another angle that God approaches Elijah on.

He exposes his heart with a question, then God humbles Elijah's attitude with his presence.

The screen will say provoked, and God does provoke him, but really he provokes him to humble him.

See, if the heart is the inner thoughts and feelings, our attitude is the reflection of our heart in our behavior.

If our heart is our inner thoughts, feelings, motives, our attitude is the heart reflected in our behavior.

God sees your heart.

You might get a glimpse of your own heart, but you probably don't see it fully.

Your family probably doesn't see your heart, but they certainly see your attitude, don't they?

I know my family certainly sees mine.

And Elijah's attitude here in verse 11 to verse 13 is kind of like um kind of like me when I was a stubborn kid and didn't like the uh the rule that my parents gave or or the command, the thing they told me to do, and I would just stomp away over to my room and slam the door behind me and just stall because it's not fair.

It's not fair.

And you you know, you probably do this as well, but maybe not so dramatic.

Let's look at the passage of verse 11.

Verse 11, Elijah stalking in his cave, and God says, and then he said, go out and stand on the mountain before the Lord.

You see, Elijah, God doesn't want Elijah stalking in his stubborn attitude.

God wants Elijah standing before him, but Elijah's being stubborn, so God needed to humble him.

How is God gonna humble him?

By showing him the glory of his presence.

And see, God does this in a very unique and significant way.

There are three features of the manner that God approaches his attitude that are really important to see here.

First, the journey that Elijah took is significant.

Look back at verse 8.

It says, and he arose and drank and wait in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights.

To the original reader, this would have, in their mind, mirrored the forty years that Israel spent wandering the desert because of their disobedient stubbornness, not listening to the word of God.

Just like Elijah.

The journey is significant.

It reveals that he's being stubborn.

The place is significant.

It says that he went to Horeb, the mount of God.

Horeb is another name for a mountain in the Israel area that you're probably familiar with.

You're probably familiar with the second name, not Horeb.

You're probably familiar with the name Mount Sinai.

You know that place where God gave Moses the Ten Commandments?

You know that place where God told, uh Moses asked God, show me your glory.

So to the original reader here, they would have read this and be like, oh, he's going to Sinai.

Maybe Elijah's gonna see God's presence like Moses saw God's presence.

The journey is significant, the place is significant, the way that God interacts with Elijah is significant.

And it's significant because it's personal.

See, often when I hear people preach on this passage and they hear the, they talk about the low whisper, the still small voice, they really make it like uh some very mystical thing that he's trying to hear from God in some secret way.

That's not what's happening here.

Let me let's get into the text, verse 12.

After God asks Elijah, excuse me, verse 11, after God asks Elijah to stand before the mountain, this is what it says, go and stand before the on the mountain before the Lord, and behold, the Lord passed by.

And a great and strong wind tore the mountain and broke in pieces the rock before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind.

And after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake.

And after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire.

And after the fire the sound of a low whisper.

There's no indication from the text that there was any audible voice here.

What's significant about this?

The whirlwind, the earthquake, the fire?

Elijah was used to seeing grand acts of God's glory.

Elijah saw a kid raised from the dead, flour and oil spontaneously regenerated so that bread could be made every day for months.

He saw fire come from heaven.

He prayed that it wouldn't rain, it didn't rain for three years.

He prayed that it would rain and it rained.

This was like grand stuff, but maybe Elijah was lingering in his fear for so long that he was numb to the grand expressions of God's glory.

So instead of revealing himself in the grand, God shows the power of his presence in the gentle.

Other translations even say a thin silence or a gentle debris.

And that's enough to humble Elijah's attitude.

Look back at the text.

Verse 13.

It says, And when Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out.

It provoked him and humbled him to stand before God and stood at the entrance of the cave.

I'm inclined to believe that the way that Elijah responded here is what the scriptures call the fear of the Lord.

And I believe that because when God revealed himself to Moses in the burning bush on the same mountain, Moses did the same thing.

He didn't want to approach God, but then God called him to approach him, so he wrapped his face in the cloak and then approached God.

And in Exodus, when it describes Moses' account, it says that he approached in the fear of God.

And I think that's what Elijah's doing right here.

What is the fear of the Lord?

The fear of God is being consciously aware of my wretched sinfulness in the presence of a holy and awesome God of whom I am not worthy to stand before.

For the guilty sinner, when they are struck with the fear of God, it causes terror.

But for the forgiven saints, the fear of God is reverent.

Awe.

So we humbled him in the fear of God.

I don't know what your commute to work is like, but my commute to work is really short.

When I have the car and there's lots of traffic, it takes 12 minutes to get from driveway to driveway.

When I don't have the car and take the bus, it takes 30 minutes with a little walk and a little bus trip, driveway to driveway.

Some of you may work downtown or may know people that work downtown, and uh your commute is probably not 30 minutes, but like three hours in a day.

I know people who commute like that every day.

And I don't like I don't like driving into the city.

I'll avoid it as much as I can.

The only time I really found myself going into the city growing up was like Blue Jays games or Leaf games, and it wasn't very often.

And I always remembered how congested it got when the 404 turns in the DVP right at the 401, and it goes like from 12 lanes to like two lanes, and everyone is fighting for their spot, and no one's yielding to each other.

But wherever you're driving, wherever you go to work, you might still fight for your spot, yet there's one vehicle that if it's approaching you and you see that vehicle, no matter where you're trying to go or how fast you're trying to get there, the law says that when the lights of an emergency vehicle flash around you, there's only one response.

Stop fighting for your spot and yield to the emergency vehicle.

Maybe you find yourself stuck in stubbornness and you want to be renewed and restored, but you can't.

And you've been in this rut for a long time.

That could very well be because you've lost the fear of the Lord, and God is trying to get your attention for you to stand before Him, but you won't yield to Him.

Is this you?

Have you still not yielded yourself over to God in holy fear?

Do you think that He just wants to keep you under His thumb?

This isn't the God that we serve.

God is calling out to you to come out of your stubbornness and stand before Him.

And you might feel like you can't trust Him because you've been sitting in this dark cave for a long time.

And you think that where's God when my circumstances didn't go the way that I want?

Why didn't God step in then?

Why would I let Him step in now?

You may be doubting God like Elijah did.

What would it take to shake you out of your stubbornness?

Do you know why God asks that you yield himself over to you, uh yield yourself over to him?

He doesn't want to keep you under his fist, under his thumb, under his heel.

He's your loving father.

And you can trust him.

You can trust him exactly where you are right now, exactly in your stubbornness, exactly in your rut, exactly in your fear.

How can you know that you can trust him?

You might think that he didn't come through when you wanted him to come through back here, but maybe your good father is letting you go through this to prune you and transform your character.

And maybe the circumstance isn't an external problem that needs to be fixed, but it's actually in your heart.

And you can trust him now because God has given and proven that he gives us everything when we need it.

Not when we want it, not when we think we need it, but in the right time.

Romans chapter 8 says that he has given us his only beloved son, Jesus Christ.

Romans 8 · chapter mention

How much more will he not graciously give us all things?

You can trust that God is trustworthy even now where you are because of the promise of eternal life through Christ's Son.

Step back and look at the totality of your life in Christ.

Before the foundations of the earth, Christian, he called you.

At the right time, Christ died for you.

When you were wandering, he called you out.

In the future, you are secure.

You might feel lost and alone right now, but step back and looked at all that God has done for you and given you in Christ.

And recognize that the problem may not be your circumstances, but your own heart.

God is your father and he cares for you.

Yield yourself to him.

Don't sit any longer in a stubborn attitude.

You know, if you yield yourself before him, what comes next is going to be painful.

But it's absolutely needed if we're going to be renewed and restored back to the calling that he has for our lives.

You see, God exposed Elijah's heart with a question.

God humbled his attitude with his presence, and then God corrected Elijah's thinking with his word.

And this is what God needs to do to us, to you, if we are going to be renewed and restored.

Notice that Elijah hasn't changed his tune.

Yeah, he had to humble himself, and God drew him out of the cave, but his heart hasn't changed.

Verse 15, and the Lord said, Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus, and when you arrive, you shall anoint Hazael to be king over Syria, and Jehu, the son of Nimshe, you shall anoint to be king over Israel, and Elisha the son of Shapheth of Abel Mahallah, you try pronouncing it sometime later.

You shall anoint to be prophet in your place, and the one who escapes the sword of Hazael shall Jehu put to death, and the one who escapes the sword of Jehu shall Elisha put to death.

Yet I will leave seven thousand in Israel, all of the knees that have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him.

What's happening here?

This passage actually sounds very weird.

Elijah's heart doesn't change, and then God gives him some like weird commands to do, like almost ignoring the rest of what happened before, and kind of just like, all right, just m just just move on.

Is that what God's telling Elijah here?

Suck it up and move on.

No, that's not what's happening.

Elijah, his heart doesn't change, but even though his heart hasn't yet changed, God is communicating to his prophet, my work is still gonna continue with you or without you.

See, God told Elijah to anoint three people.

Anointing is a ceremonial ritual in Israel's time where God divinely designated a certain person for a certain task, and three people needed to be anointed.

A new king for Syria, a new king for Israel, and this one's interesting, a new prophet to take over Elijah's job in his place.

God was telling Elijah to pack up your bags, do one more job, and then someone else is finishing in your place.

Elijah, if your heart's not gonna change, my work is still gonna continue.

With you or without you.

And then God corrects his thinking by simply telling him that you're wrong.

Remember, Elijah said, I've been jealous for God.

True, he has.

Um they've all forsaken you.

True, they have.

Um they all want to kill me.

Nah, they're on your side.

I'm the only one left.

No, you're not.

Look at verse 18.

The Lord says, Yet I will leave seven thousand in Israel, all of the knees that have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him.

This is where we need to get if we're gonna be renewed and restored.

Elijah was deluding himself, thinking that he was in the right, and God simply tells him that you're wrong.

You think you're the only one that's jealous for me?

Elijah, I've got seven thousand other people who are jealous for me.

You think that you need to run and I can't protect you?

You're wrong.

I've been protecting these seven thousand others who are still worshiping me.

Elijah, the way you've been thinking about your circumstances is wrong.

God's work my work is gonna continue with or without you.

And God's work would continue.

But God first needed to expose his heart, humble his attitude, and correct his thinking.

I wonder, I wonder if you could think of something and maybe even share it out loud.

What are two things that complement each other, that normally come together?

This is an okay part of the message for you to be able to participate and talk out loud.

I'll give you that liberty.

Two things that normally come together, that complement each other.

I'll give you an example.

Salt and pepper.

Anyone else got anything?

You can just say it out loud.

Peanut butter and jam.

Cream and what?

Cream and sugar, I guess.

Peanut butter and jam.

That one's on my list.

Thank you very much.

I would have been disappointed if it wasn't there.

Anyway.

Ketchup and mustard, that's good.

Anything else?

Oil and vinegar, that's great.

Um it maybe, maybe this year will be different, but for my entire life it's been leaves and futility.

Just hopefully it'll be different this year.

Um, also, I'm glad we're not there right now, but another one's winter and cold, right?

But maybe if you don't like that, you or people you know like this one, like uh retirement and Florida.

That's pretty common, right?

Now, when we think about the nature of God, there are some things that often come together that complement each other.

For instance, we often hear in scripture in the New Testament epistles, grace and peace, right?

King David speaks something unique about the complementary nature of God's love.

And they complement each other.

They do, but sometimes they seem contradictory.

Speaking of God metaphorically as a shepherd, David says in Psalm 23, your rod and your staff comfort me.

The staff makes sense as an instrument of God's love.

It gently, if a sheep is going the wrong way, will tap them back and guide them the way that they should go.

The staff seems like a good explanation of God's love, but the rod, the rod is a heavy instrument to inflict pain upon the sheep if they're so stubborn that they're going their own way and won't turn back.

Yet that's the way that David describes God's love.

How can that complement each other?

How can God inflicting something upon me that hurts also be something that's loving?

Well, like a sheep, it's because that sheep is too stubborn to know that if they keep going that way, something painful is coming.

And if the shepherd doesn't inflict some form of pain to bring them back, they'll get into something even worse.

God loves you enough to completely destroy your way of thinking about your circumstances.

God loves you enough to inflict discipline upon you, like Elijah, to tell you you're wrong.

You've been thinking that the problem is an external circumstance, but it's not.

The problem isn't primarily outside you, it's inside you.

It's painful to be humbled by God and corrected by his word, but this is the place that we need to get if we're going to be renewed and restored.

You may have been stuck in a rut for months.

You may have been stuck in a rut for years, you may have been stuck in a rut since before your kids have been born and you've given up all hope, but you're still there because you're not humbling yourself before God and letting him correct your thinking.

Are you willing to recognize that your view of your circumstances may not be the accurate view?

Let God's word correct your way of thinking.

Let God's word expose your heart.

Let God's word humble your attitude.

Let God's word show you you're wrong.

Open your heart to God.

Open your heart to the church.

Let the word of God correct you, and then be willing to confess your sin.

Be willing to confess it.

Confessing is agreeing.

Agreeing that you finally see your heart the way God sees your heart, that you finally admit that your attitude has been sinful, that you finally recognize that your way, thinking about your suffering, has been wrong.

If you see it the way God sees it, then you will turn from it.

Like Elijah, if you've been walking in fear, if you've been doubting God's providence, if you've been running from his word, if you've been blind to his grace, if you've been justifying your failures, bitter towards others, even so far that you desperately just can't get yourself out of bed anymore, then confess.

Confess that your view of your circumstance isn't right.

And turn to the Lord.

Turn to God, who graciously gives us all things proven that He's given us Jesus Christ.

God loves you.

His love is proven in that he has offered you forgiveness by inflicting his wrath upon his son and not upon you.

This is the place where God is able to renew our hearts, to restore us to the joy of our salvation.

Do you want that?

Then you need to open your heart to him.

Then you need to humble your attitude before him.

Then you need to allow yourself to be corrected by his word.

Because God has a calling for you.

And because God has a calling for his church.

God is looking for useful tools who he can use to make disciples and see his kingdom come and his will be done.

But as long as you're spinning your tires and not asking for a toe, as long as you're clicking the ignition and not looking for a jump, you're going to be on the sidelines for the rest of your life.

But God loves you enough to let you feel the pain of your circumstances so that Christ can restore you by faith in his name and the joy of your salvation can be returned to you.

Don't close your heart to God and to the church anymore, open it to him.

Don't be stubborn in your attitude anymore, humble it before a holy God who loves you.

Don't think that you, your view of your circumstances is the only right view of your circumstances.

Open yourself to be corrected by his word.

And in that place, when you confess your sin, he is faithful and just to forgive us of our sin and cleanse us of all unrighteousness.

God is able and ready to renew and restore you back to work.

Will you let him do that today?