Faith to Go First

If you forgot what we talked about a couple weeks ago, I don't blame you because I kind of did.

I had to go back and uh and figure that out.

We started a series at the very beginning of the year called Getting to Know God.

Getting to Know God.

That's our focus right now.

We want to get to know God all throughout this year.

I said a couple weeks ago, if you have goals, if you have things that you're trying to accomplish this year, maybe it's in relationships in your life, maybe it's financial, maybe it's career-based for some of our young people, maybe it's a school-related goal, go for it.

Get after it, knock it out, great.

But if you were to accomplish every goal that you have in life, but not get closer to the Lord, not have a closer relationship with God, not know him more intimately, all those other things would be would be a waste, truly.

Jesus put it best.

What good is it to gain the world but lose your soul?

What good is it to have to have financial security and have a great family and have a wonderful career and all these other things, but to not know God?

That that would actually be in many ways one of the biggest tragedies for someone to have so much.

But to not know God, there's nothing, truly nothing, that compares with knowing the Lord.

And all of us have the opportunity daily to be closer to God than we are right now.

We want to get to know God better.

And that is the main prayer I have in my life.

I'm in a very busy season of life.

I'm sure many of you are or have been before.

And sometimes in those busy seasons, the reality is God just sometimes, he's like further in the background of your mind because you have so many immediate things that are vying for your attention.

So we have to be intentional about drawing near to him and learning about him and spending time with him.

And that's the prayer that we have for the year, that all of us at the end of this year, we are closer to God than when we started.

In order to accomplish that, we're studying the life of a man in the Bible named Abram or Abraham.

He has his name changed from Abram to Abraham, and he's a man that is extremely close to God.

He actually might be the first person we see in the story of the Bible.

He shows up really early in the story in Genesis.

He's one of the first purple, uh, first people that we see.

I said purple, uh, I blended person and people together to say a color that does not make sense in any capacity in that sentence.

He's one of the first, not purple people that we see in the entirety of the Bible, who goes from sort of understanding who God is in a mysterious sense, and many of us have been there, like, I believe in God, I know he's real, I have that sense.

He even hears God speak to him, which is amazing, but he doesn't really know God.

He doesn't know what God's like, he doesn't know God's nature, he doesn't know God's character, he has thoughts, he has misconceptions.

And over the course of Abram's life, we see him bit by bit get closer and closer to God as God reveals himself to Abram a little bit at a time.

And that's what we want to experience.

We want to get closer to God bit by bit, and Abram's story helps us do that.

Abram gets closer to God, and through his story, we can get closer to God as well.

So, we've kicked this off, we've had a few conversations about him and what's happened in his life so far, and it's kind of like most people in the Bible, even the ones that are the quote-unquote heroes.

There's a lot of good, there's a lot of bad, there's a lot of like, what are you doing?

moments.

His story is, it's a challenging one.

We're gonna have some very interesting conversations in the next few months.

But today we're gonna go through the entirety of Hebrews, or rather, Genesis chapter 13.

Genesis 13 · chapter mention

We're gonna go through the entirety of Genesis chapter 13.

Genesis 13 · chapter mention

It's not that long of a chapter.

We're gonna spend two weeks on this because there's two, there's two amazing decisions, amazing moments in Abram's life that he's able to make because of his faith in God, that all of us can actually emulate in our lives, all of us can experience this, and we see it happen in a really, really interesting story.

And so, Genesis chapter 13, let's just read this together.

Genesis 13 · chapter mention

It says, So Abram left Egypt and traveled north into the Negev, along with his wife and Lot and all that they owned.

Abram was very rich in livestock, silver, and gold.

From the Negev they continued traveling by stages toward Bethel, and they pitched their tents between Bethel and I, where they had camped before.

This was the same place where Abram had built the altar, and there he worshipped the Lord again.

Lot, who was traveling with Abram, had also become very wealthy, with flocks and sheep and goats, herds of cattle, many tents, but the land could not support both Abram and Lot with all their flocks and herds living so close together.

So disputes broke out between the herdsmen of Abram and Lot.

At that time the Canaanites and Perizzites were also living in the land.

Finally Abram said to Lot, Let's not allow this conflict to come between us and our herdsmen.

After all, we're close relatives.

The whole countryside is open to you.

Take your choice of any selection of the land you want, and we'll separate.

If you want the land of the left, then I'll take the land to the right.

If you prefer the land on the right, then I'll go to the left.

Lot took a long look at the fertile plains of the Jordan Valley in the direction of Zor.

The whole area was well watered everywhere, like the garden of the Lord or the beautiful land of Egypt.

This was before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.

Lot chose for himself the whole Jordan Valley to the east of them.

He went there with his flocks and servants and parted company with his uncle Abram.

So Abram settled in the land of Canaan, and Lot moved his tents to a place near Sodom and settled among the cities of the plain.

But the people of this area were extremely wicked and constantly sinned against the Lord.

After Lot had gone, the Lord said to Abram, Look as far as you can see in every direction, north and south, east and west.

I'm giving all this land as far as you can see to you and your descendants as a permanent possession.

And I'll give you so many descendants that like the dust of the earth they cannot be counted.

Go and walk through the land in every direction, for I'm giving it to you.

So Abram moved his camp to Hebron and settled near the oak grove belonging to Mamre, and there he built another altar to the Lord.

Abram is a man of faith.

And in this moment, his faith in God allows him to make some big decisions.

And again, we're going to cover this in two weeks.

Next week we'll have a little different focus.

Today we're going to talk about the fact that Abram had the faith to go first.

Abram had the faith to take initiative and do something that clearly needed to be done.

He wasn't willing to wait for it to get out of control, out of hand.

Things were starting to get tense between his family and Lot's family, and the herdsmen were starting to fight amongst themselves, and Abram could have waited until something happened that forced his hand.

He could have waited until it got so bad that it had to be addressed, but he decided to take initiative and say, you know what?

We're going to deal with this.

We're going to fix this.

Abram had the faith to go first.

When you have faith in God, when you know who God is, and you know that he has you, you know that he's faithful, it gives you the confidence in life to go first.

It gives you the confidence in life to look at what needs to change in your life, to look at the areas of influence that you have, whether it's your family, your job, whatever it might be, and say, you know what, this isn't right, we're gonna change it.

Abram had the faith to go first.

He had that confidence.

And it's interesting because confidence and faith are closely linked together.

If you look at the book of Hebrews, it describes faith this way.

The New American Standard Version says faith is the certainty of things hoped for, a proof of things not seen.

Faith is certainty.

Hebrews 11:1 in the NIV says now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.

Hebrews 11:1

I'm sure there's many things in life that you're confident about.

Like, like I have things I'm really confident about.

Um, for example, uh, big shout out to North Carolina fans today.

Um obviously I'm a Duke fan, I'm wearing the Duke Blue.

I want to congratulate UNC on your great win last night on a buzzer beater three.

Also, I want to congratulate you on something I've never seen happen before, committing one foul in an entire half of basketball.

That's I've I didn't know that was possible.

I have confidence that if that was not the case, the game, I'm just joking.

I'm just joking.

I'm I'm being selfish.

No, I have lots of confidence in life.

I have okay, for example, anyone here likes sushi, any sushi people in the room, all right?

I am so confident in this restaurant on exit 14, which by the way, this is not, I've we've not been financially sponsored by this restaurant.

We're under no obligation to this.

Uh they are not a we don't have corporate sponsors.

We're not, I don't think churches do or should, but we definitely don't.

Uh Yun sushi on exit 14.

Like, if you've ever eaten there, oh my gosh.

If you like sushi, if you are a raw fish in your mouth person, that is where you have to go.

Like, I'm I'm so confident in that restaurant.

I'm so confident.

If you like sushi, you you gotta go.

Even if you don't like sushi, it may convert you.

If you don't like the idea, how many of you just don't like the idea of sushi?

Like, I just I'm never going to do this.

I'm telling you, it's worth a try.

I'm so confident in that place that if I have a friend, if I meet someone and they're like, oh, I I let's get lunch.

Yeah, absolutely.

Do you like sushi?

Yes, I know where we're going.

And I don't even worry about it.

I'm so confident.

Maybe you're not a sushi person, so let me use a different example.

Let's say you're someone who maybe you don't like sushi, maybe you just like life in general.

You just like life.

I am very confident that you should not move to Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, if you enjoy life.

How about that?

I'm so confident in that because I did that one time.

I moved to Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, and I lived there for two years, and no one should live there.

I'm just gonna say that.

Like, I love the people enough there that if they were to listen to this and they would feel offended, I would just say, no, no, no, move.

Leave.

I moved there in seventh grade, and it was just terrible.

Um, for all kinds of reasons.

One, the weather is so stupid there.

I to this day, I don't know why people settled.

I don't know why people said we're staying here.

It doesn't make any sense at all.

The year that I moved there, I was lucky.

It only the lowest the temperature got the year I moved there was negative 14.

That was the lowest.

The year before I moved there, it got to negative 26.

I still have days when I feel like it's cold.

I'm like, oh, it's cold.

I don't like cold weather.

I just get on my phone, I look up the weather there, and I'm like, it's not that bad.

It's not that bad.

It's always like negative something.

It can snow three feet, and as a kid, you don't get out of school.

That's the worst.

It could be negative 15 degrees and it snowed three feet, and you're still going to school because they're ready for it.

It's the exact opposite of Georgia, okay?

It is as polar.

We we can't even handle the possibility of snow.

Right?

We don't know what to do.

Just the concept of it.

Like, like it's over.

And so, you know, they made when I moved there in middle school, they made fun of the way I talked.

They talk weird.

Right?

The first day of school, they pledged allegiance to the flag of the United States of America.

I heard that.

Oh speaker.

And they made fun of me.

They would be like, say this, and I would say it, and I it was like it was in some weird Twilight Zone episode.

It was crazy.

Oh.

I've made jokes about Wisconsin before, but and it actually hurt some people's feelings, so I've decided to narrow it to Fond du Lac, Wisconsin.

Because the chances that you're from Fond du Lac, Wisconsin are low, and if you are, wow, I'm so sorry, I really messed up.

No, I'm just confident that if you are someone, I'll put it this way, I'm confident that if you were raised in the South, you should never go to Fond du Lac, Wisconsin.

I'm confident in that.

But the thing is, the confidence I have in that, or the confidence I have in a restaurant, it's not really faith.

Because that's a confidence I have that is purely from experience.

I'm confident in that sushi place because I've eaten there a lot and it's great.

And I'm confident that you should I'm confident that you shouldn't go to Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, and live there because I did that, and it was not, it was, there's better places.

But that's confidence I have purely from experience.

The kind of confidence that we can have in God, it's different than that.

It's not necessarily blind, and that the more you get to know God, the better you know him and your experience with him grows and deepens.

You have more confidence than you used to.

It's not just blind faith, but there's something about faith in God where you can get to a place in your relationship with him where you know him so well, you're so confident in him that you don't have to have all the details ironed out, you don't have to know exactly how it's gonna work out, you don't have to know exactly where you're gonna end up or how it's all gonna shake out.

You can go, you can do something, you can take a step of faith because you know God is so good that whatever he has for you, even if you don't see it clearly, you can't understand it right now, you know it's gonna be okay.

You can have confidence in what you do not even see.

And we are called to be people who have that kind of confidence.

Abram has that.

Abram takes initiative.

He doesn't know what land his his nephew Lot is gonna take.

He gives Lot the ability to pick, and Lot could choose the best or the worst, or maybe be kind enough to say, hey, let's meet in the middle and I'll take some of this good stuff.

And you that's not what Lot does.

But Abram has such confidence in God that he's able to say, even though I don't know exactly how this is gonna work out, I know that you're with me, I know that you'll bless me.

And he has the confidence to take initiative and make a decision.

It's amazing how hard that can be at times.

Like, do you have an area of your life right now, any area of your life, and you know something isn't right?

Maybe there's unresolved conflict in a relationship, maybe there's something at work that's just it's gotta change, something with one of your kids, something with a parent.

And you're you're so confident that this is not good, this is not right.

Something needs to be done, and maybe you've known that for a long time.

It's just the actually the part of where you have to do it, you have to have the awkward conversation, you have to make the big change, you have to make the big adjustment like that.

You've known it for a long time.

Something needs to be done.

I just don't want to, because it's gonna be awkward, it's gonna be hard.

So you hesitate.

We all have, I'm sure we all have stuff like that in life.

Because you know, you know that if if you were to do that thing, it would be hard.

And oh, what could happen?

And maybe it could blow up, and maybe it could go poorly, and maybe it would go wrong, and that might, yeah, maybe.

But if you if you don't do anything, if you don't make a decision, if you don't make a change, it's never gonna change.

It's never gonna get better.

Abram realized that.

Doing nothing was not an option for Abram.

Doing nothing and just watching he and Lot's families fight more and it becoming more tense and and that just kind of boiling over that that was not gonna help.

It wasn't gonna get better on its own, it wasn't gonna just go away.

He had to do something, and it's amazing how many people in the Bible get to that place.

How many examples we have in scripture of people who said, you know what, something's gotta be done about this, I'll do it.

Classic stories, like David and Goliath.

Classic story.

You know the story of David and Goliath, even if you haven't grown up in church, you know that story.

I'm not gonna read it and rehash all of it.

Uh, but the basic idea of that story is David shows up to this battle, and everyone's kind of frozen in fear because there's this guy, Goliath, and he's bigger than everybody, and he's a warrior, and he's mocking God, and he's mocking all the people, and he's making fun of God.

And he's their enemy, and he's basically saying, if anyone wants to fight me, come, but I'll destroy you.

And he makes fun of God, and David's sort of incensed.

He's like, What's going on?

Why isn't someone fighting this guy?

And they're like, Well, look at him.

And David has such faith in God, he has such confidence, not in himself, but in God, that he goes, No, this can't be.

I'll do it.

I'll do it.

And so he does, and we know how that story ends, and and Goliath falls, and David wins, and this is kind of this big launch pad moment in David's life.

But it started with a decision.

It didn't start with a battle, it started with a decision.

Understand that.

Yes, it led to a battle, it led to a fight, it led to a victory, but it started with a decision.

Something needs to be done, and I have to have the faith to do it.

Jesus made decisions like that all the time.

One of my favorite moments in Jesus' life is John chapter 18.

John 18 · chapter mention

He's just finished praying.

In fact, last year we went through the entirety of John 17 together, his prayer for us before he's arrested.

And then in John 18, it says that Jesus knew all that was going to happen to him.

He was very aware of what was about to take place, that he would be tortured, that he would be beaten, that he would be crucified and killed.

And he sees the men coming to arrest him, so it says he got up to meet them.

I love that.

That Jesus took initiative.

That he didn't wait for something to happen to him.

He went out and met them where they were.

Jesus always did that.

In fact, he once told his disciples, remember, you did not choose me, I chose you.

God is an initiator.

He's a creator, right?

He initiates.

And I want to get into like a really deep theological discussion on free will versus predestination, and do we have a choice and all that?

Some of you maybe you don't know what that means and look it up and have fun.

Uh, some of you have have been in those battles, you know, you've been in those conversations with friends.

It's hard because I totally believe we have a choice, but I think also God does a lot more choosing than we may realize.

It's kind of like I have I have kids and they like to go to the fridge and choose their snack, but we chose what was in the fridge.

So it's like, who really made that choice?

You know?

Kind of blows your mind when you think about that.

It's like, I chose this, you chose nothing.

We chose everything.

We have choices.

God gives us choice for sure, but then he also initiates, he sets things up, he creates opportunities, he creates moments.

And he does give us the free will in those moments to choose or not choose.

But he is often the initiator of the most important things in our life.

Listen to what the book of Hebrews actually says about us following Jesus, keeping our eyes focused on Jesus.

In Hebrews chapter 12, verses 1 and 2, it says, Therefore, since we're surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up.

Hebrews 12:1

Let us run with endurance the race that God has set before us.

We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith.

Jesus, he initiates our faith.

He came for us.

He starts it.

And he also finishes it.

We're called in scripture in Ephesians chapter 5 to be imitators of God.

Ephesians 5 · chapter mention

And one of the ways that we can imitate God is by being decisive people.

People who look at problems and we look at areas in our life that aren't the way they should be, and we go, I'm gonna do something about this.

I'm not gonna wait, I'm not gonna put it off, I'm not gonna avoid whatever it is because it's awkward and hard.

I'm just gonna decide to get something done, to do something.

You can have the faith to go first.

So again, I'll ask, is there any area of your life that you can recognize this needs to change?

And do you have the faith to make a decision?

Now I'm gonna give a few caveats and then hopefully some helpful direction.

Uh, caveat.

I'm not talking about making stupid, reckless decisions using faith as a shield for that.

I've known people who have done that, I have done that at times.

If you're kind of impulsive, some of us, let's be honest, some of us are really measured people.

Like, like who here is a um a measure twice cut once person?

You're like, I am careful, I think through all the possibilities.

Who's like, let's see what happens?

Yeah, that's me.

That's me.

One of my favorite examples of that, and it worked out in the end, but a couple years ago, I really felt strongly like we were supposed to go through the entire story of the Bible in a year.

And so I decided the best way to launch that was just to announce that we were gonna do that before having any idea of how we would actually do that.

And so the order of that was I announced on a Sunday, hey, we're gonna go through the entire story of the Bible this year, starting in February.

I announced that in like the second week of January.

And then I went and met with Matt, uh, who does all of our graphics, and I said, Hey, I need you to create 14 different graphics for message series that are covering the entire story of the Bible.

Let's go.

And then I met with like some other people and said, Hey, we have to plan out the entire year and we have to go through the whole story of the Bible.

I don't know how we're gonna do that, but I said we would.

You know, that was like that, it may have not been the best way to do it, but it worked out, you know, because I had faith.

I had, yeah, confidence.

Well, pretend like that was wisdom.

Um, there there are moments in life where if you're wired a certain way and you hear this message, you're like, yeah, I'm about to go blow something up in my life because I kind of want to.

You know, you know what I mean?

Like, that's how life can be sometimes, especially if you're an impulsive person.

You're like, hey, you know, you've been doing the same thing for too long.

It's time to make some moves, and you can just make a decision, change your job, change something big in your life.

And it's easy sometimes to use faith in God as almost a covering to do that.

Like, I'm doing it because God.

We are not called in the Bible to be reckless.

In fact, Satan sometimes tempts us to do that.

Sometimes we'll even use our faith in God as a temptation for that.

Like in the book of Matthew, Jesus gets tempted by Satan himself.

And the second temptation of the three that Jesus is presented with, it says in Matthew chapter 4, verses 5 and 6 the devil took him to the holy city, Jerusalem, to the highest point of the temple, and said, If you're the Son of God, jump off.

Matthew 4:5

Jump.

Jump off the highest point of the temple.

And then he he presented a promise from the scriptures because the Bible says that he will order his angels to protect you.

They'll hold you up with their hands, you won't even hurt your foot on a stone.

So this is Satan going, jump off the top of a tall building, Jesus.

And you know, if God's really with you and he's gonna protect you, you won't hurt your foot even when you land.

And everyone will see that and they'll be like, wow, this must be the Messiah, because look, he just jumped off the building and landed.

Which is such a weird idea.

Like, that's how Jesus is gonna introduce himself to the world.

He's like, hey guys, watch this.

Boom.

You know, he like lands it perfectly, does the whole Olympic thing when gymnasts land.

Like that's just that's dumb.

But Satan is using in that moment, he's using the faith that Jesus has in the Father and the Father's love for him and protection for him as temptation to do something reckless.

And what I'm saying is when we talk about being decisive, when we talk about going first and making a big decision in your life, if it needs to be made, we're not talking about being reckless and foolish, and don't ever let faith be your covering to do something like that.

No, no, no, no.

It doesn't have to be reckless.

It doesn't have to be impulsive.

Like that's what I was kind of saying about the series I did on the whole story of the Bible.

It was a lot of fun, but I'm telling you, I had some really smart people behind me that had to help me figure out how to do what I said I was gonna do.

And sometimes I can be impulsive.

And I've learned those lessons, hopefully.

We're not talking about being reckless, we're talking about being decisive.

And it's different.

But we have to be like this.

We have to be people.

If we're gonna have successful lives, if our lives are gonna be as blessed as they're meant to be, and we're gonna be able to have the kind of influence that we're meant to have, we have to be people that are willing to make hard choices, like Abram did, to make the decision, to have the awkward conversation, to get what needs done done.

So that we don't just live and linger in this state of like, oh, I don't like this, and man, I wish this could change, but ooh, I don't want to have that conversation, I don't want to make that decision because ah, what if this, what if that?

We if we live there for our whole lives, we live these anxiety-driven lives where nothing gets done, and we just sort of sit in those emotions, and and that's it.

No, we're called to be decisive people.

And sometimes, guys, sometimes just hesitating, just hesitating to make a decision that's important can cost you.

There are moments in your life where a decision has to be made, and it has to be made now.

And if you were to hesitate, it can have a cost.

When I was 16, I started driving like most 16-year-olds.

And uh, three weeks into having my license, I got in a wreck.

That was fun.

And it wasn't because I was driving recklessly, it wasn't because I was trying to gun it and see how fast my car could go, it wasn't because of anything like that, it was because I hesitated.

I was at a green light and it wasn't a green arrow, and I was turning left, and I thought I had room to make the turn.

There was a car coming, and I just I was young, I was inexperienced as a driver, and so I turned left and I see a vehicle coming, and I was like, ooh, uh-uh, and I just froze.

And what was coming toward me was a 1970s El Camino.

Uh those things were made out of solid iron, I think.

And my 1995 Ford standing still was not a match for that.

It wasn't a match, and it was the most like unnecessary accident that could possibly happen.

In fact, I remember the police officer standing next to me as I was explaining what happened, and he just said, Well, this should not have happened.

And my dad also said that, but in a different way.

Um, he was fine.

My mom's first question when I called was like, Are you okay?

My dad's first question was, Was it your fault?

That was the first question.

And that's just the difference between moms and dads.

Moms and dads.

So, yeah, I just hesitated.

I had a moment, and if I would have just gassed it, it would have been fine.

If I would have just kept my foot on the gas, it would have been fine.

But out of a moment of fear, I hesitated and it cost uh me and my family a good bit.

Cost my parents financially, it cost me what every time I left the house for like two years, my mom would say, Don't get in a wreck.

And so uh I had to like, just you have to own that.

Oh, there's moments where you have to make a decision, you can't hesitate.

So, how do we actually go about that?

How do we go about being people who have maybe you have the confidence, you believe, yes, okay, God, I do have faith in you.

I do have faith that even if I don't know exactly how it's all gonna work out, I'll make this decision, I'll I'll make this step.

How do you go about it in a way that is best?

And I've got some thoughts.

Number one, pray.

It's kind of basic.

But but I'll just pray.

Ask the Lord.

One of the most annoying things in my life is being married to an incredibly godly woman.

Okay, I want that to sink in for a second.

Let me tell you why that's it's amazing, truly.

My wife is incredible.

Here's why it's annoying.

Because there'll be, I'm a very like go, go, go person to a fault, and there'll be times where I'm like ready to do something, and my wife will be like, Have you prayed about it?

And I'm like, No.

You know?

Kind of.

Kind of.

I actually have to catch myself sometimes when you grow up in church, and especially if you're in a role like this where you're, you know, uh pastor, it's really easy to throw out God language kind of haphazardly and say things like, you know, I've been thinking and praying about this, but really, if that was a percentage, you've done like 99% thinking and 1% praying.

And I have to catch myself sometimes, and I'll, I'll, I'll, it's like, no, if I haven't really prayed about it, don't act like I have.

It's just easy to use that language really, really flippantly.

And so the first thing you should do, if you've got a big decision in your life, you've got something in your something in your life needs to change, a decision has to be made, but you don't even necessarily know what it is, but something's got to be done.

First, you go to the Lord.

You pray.

We're told in Psalm 55, morning, noon, and night, I cry out in my distress, and the Lord hears my voice.

You pray.

Jesus tells us in Matthew chapter 6, why worry about your clothing?

Matthew 6 · chapter mention

Look at the lilies of the field and how they grow.

They don't work or make their clothing, yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are.

And if God cares so wonderfully for wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for you.

Why do you have so little faith?

So don't worry about these things, saying, What will we eat?

What will we drink?

What will we wear?

These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers.

Your Heavenly Father already knows all your needs.

Seek the kingdom of God above all else.

In other words, seek God first and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.

The first thing you do, the very first thing you do is you go to God.

If there's a decision that you need to make in your life, something needs to change, some area of distress or pain, something's got to be done.

You go to God.

God, what do you want me to do?

God bless this.

Go ahead of me.

Give me wisdom.

Help me have this conversation, help me make this decision, Lord.

Help me have the faith to do it.

You go to God first.

Next.

You seek wise counsel.

Scripture is very clear on this.

Proverbs 15, 22, plans go wrong for lack of advice.

Many advisors bring success.

Proverbs 11, 14, without wise leadership, a nation falls.

There's safety in having many advisors.

Proverbs 24, 6, don't go to war without wise guidance.

Look, sometimes the decisions you have to make feel a little bit like going to war because it's going to create conflict.

And that's the truth.

Sometimes hard decisions create conflict.

Victory depends on having many advisors.

Have many advisors.

I have known people who have made a big decision and actually said that God told them to do it.

So they they they did the prayer part.

But we have to understand, guys, that even if we're passionate about the Lord and we know the Lord, like our filters aren't always perfect.

Sometimes I can think that I've heard from the Lord, but maybe my flesh kind of got in the way of that a little bit, and I need some confirmation.

And so I've known people who have said, hey, God told me to do this thing, and it's a big thing.

And give them credit, they're being decisive, for sure.

And I've had this happen many times in people who've who've decided to quit a job, like to just quit a career.

And it's like God told me to.

But as they talk to me about it, I'm like, man, this doesn't seem right.

And I've changed careers in my life, I'm not afraid of that.

But it just doesn't, this doesn't seem right.

This doesn't seem wise, this doesn't seem like the right approach.

Have you talked to anybody else about it?

And oftentimes they haven't, and maybe they don't want to because they know what those people will say.

And so I've seen this happen where they've made that decision against the advice of people that have wisdom around them, godly people who have faith, or they've just tried to circumvent that whole step because they don't want to hear from other people's perspectives.

And I've seen that go terribly wrong.

Terribly wrong.

Because we are called to have advisors.

So when you feel like God is telling you something and it's a big thing and it's it's decisive, and you've got to make a decision, you gotta make a change in your life, man, run it by a few people you know.

They could even be here at the church.

Just say, hey, I've got this big decision to make.

Can you pray with me about this?

Go to the prayer room and get prayer for it.

Go to God.

And then open yourself up to some advisors.

Like open yourself up to the wisdom of some other people in your life that know the Lord and have wisdom and see what they say and be willing, if they have major pause, be willing to pause.

That's hard to do sometimes, especially when you're like, I want to do this, I'm ready to do this, and they say, I think, I think you should think about it more.

It's like, uh, but I have learned the hard way at times how important it is to do that in my own life.

So seek godly wisdom.

Next, count the cost.

Count the cost.

Jesus, uh, in some ways, you look at Jesus sometimes, you're like, man, you're an interesting salesperson.

Because he has this amazing ability to be like, hey, you should follow me.

By the way, it's gonna take everything and you're probably gonna die.

Who's right?

Who's ready?

Like, who's up?

Listen to Jesus make the sales pitch here in Luke chapter 14.

Luke 14 · chapter mention

If you do not carry your own cross and follow me, you cannot be my disciple.

But don't begin until you count the cost.

For who would begin construction of a building without first calculating the cost to see if there's enough money to finish it?

Otherwise, you might complete only the foundation before running out of money, then everyone will laugh at you.

They would say, There's the person who started that building and couldn't afford to finish it.

Or what king would go to war with another king without first sitting down with his counselors to discuss whether his army of 10,000 could defeat the 20,000 soldiers going against them.

And if he can't, he will send a delegation to discuss terms of peace while the enemy is still far away.

You cannot be my disciple without giving up everything you own.

Jesus says, takes everything.

Following Jesus, it takes everything.

He wants your whole life, all of it.

All of it.

And he says, before you choose to follow me, count the cost.

Before we make any decision in life, any big decision, we pray, and then we get we get wise counsel and then we count the cost.

Is this worth it?

Now, I have had times where I have done that.

There's something that isn't right, this relationship, especially in relationships, this isn't right, this isn't the way it ought to be, and I've and I've prayed about it, and I feel like, yeah, something needs to change, and I've talked to some counselors, and they've given me their perspective, and then I've had to sit down and go, okay, let me count the cost.

Would the damage this could do, would the conflict this would create, be worth the result?

Would it be worth it?

And I've had times where I'm like, yes, it would.

It would.

I know that this is the right thing to do.

I've I've gotten advice from other people, and I've counted the cost, and and I've had some decisions, I've made some boundaries that I've set before in relationships, for example, that have come with the cost.

But I determined that the cost was worth it.

And it doesn't make it easy, and it wasn't painless.

But I counted the cost and I decided that the gain is worth the loss.

I've had other times where that's not the case.

I mean, truly, I've got to that point where I'm like, I'm ready to have the conversation, I'm ready to make the decision, and it's like not worth it.

And there's silly examples of that.

It's kind of like why I don't love extreme dieting trends, like exercise.

Like, there's there's people out there who are like, if you don't ever eat like this kind of food ever again, and you work out really hard, I'm like, then what?

Like, how much longer will I live?

And if it's five more years, I'm good.

You know what I mean?

Because like you don't see people saying you'll live 50 more years.

It's like you might you might live five more years.

And I'm like, that's not worth never eating pizza again.

That is not like I know where I'm going.

So, like, I'll take those five.

That's probably foolish on some part to say it this phase of life, but whatever.

Yeah, it's like it's just not worth it.

The cost is not worth the result.

In more serious terms, you know, I had a really awesome mentor in my life when I was younger, and there was a season of life where he actually was really frustrating me.

And some stuff that was going on in his life was actually making my life really hard.

And I prayed about it, and I felt like, yeah, this is something's gotta give here.

This is there's a frustration happened in my life.

And I talked to some friends about it, and I got some wise counsel, and one of my friends, I'm really grateful for this one counselor.

This is why you want to have many counselors, because a few of the guys were like, Yeah, go have that conversation and you know, have at it.

And this one friend of mine just said, you know, Justin, life comes in seasons, and up to this point, you've only ever experienced this guy in one of the best seasons of his life, and you have been blessed tremendously by that.

Maybe don't be hasty to have some big blow-up conflict with him just because he's in a hard season of life.

Maybe let this season play out a little bit.

And so that's what I did.

Because I got to the point where I counted the cost.

I was like, okay, if I have this conversation, even though I feel like I'm justified and I've prayed about it and I feel like, yeah, this is right, it's not wrong for me to have this conversation.

This does need to change.

That friend of mine was like, I don't know if the cost of what you might lose in this relationship is worth what you would gain.

Because sometimes the main thing we're trying to gain is feeling right.

Isn't it awesome to feel right?

Like yesterday, okay, I'm I'm gonna roll this out fast, okay?

This wasn't in my notes.

So I'm coaching a fourth grade basketball game.

Okay?

And we won.

I'm just gonna say, okay, it's important.

Our team only had one loss, their team only had one loss.

Last regular season game of the year.

And so, you know, sometimes you just get a vibe from opposing coaches, and it's just this little bit of like a I don't like you.

Um and early in the game, early in the game, this coach was like just saying some pretty, it's just like little comments that were extra, you know, like after a call was made, like he'd say something.

And we run this little play for my fourth grade boys' team where they set a screen, and he kept saying that we were setting a moving screen, which to be honest, in fourth grade basketball, every screen is a moving screen.

Okay, there's no such thing as a fourth grader who has mastered the art of screening, it's very difficult.

And so he just keeps saying that, and he and he says really loud, like at this one moment where it was quiet, he's like, they've been doing that all game.

And I just decide to engage uh in that moment, not in a bad way.

I just go, hey man, we've only run that play twice.

And he goes, Well, you're 0 for two.

I was like, all right.

So then we win.

In my mind, I was like, when I get to his hand, you know, in the handshake line, I just so badly wanted to say, Well, now you're 0 for 1.

And maybe me even telling the story right now is a weird way of me satisfying that petty desire in my heart.

So forgive me.

I just realized that.

Probably is.

I'm sorry, Lord.

Forgive me.

But I didn't say it to him.

I said it to a thousand people the next day.

So it's better.

I'm sorry.

I actually did realize that's probably not good.

So I almost had a win in life, and then I didn't, and then I ruined it at church.

Uh but there are those moments where, you know, you can say the thing.

The reality is, in that moment, and maybe right now, the only thing that I was really motivated by was the desire to feel right.

To say my peace and be like, yeah, I was right.

And that's just never worthy.

That feeling of just, I want that person to know that I was right and they were wrong, that's never worth it.

If that's the motivator, and that really, in that conversation, going back to what I was actually talking about, in that mentorship relationship, that really would have been the win.

The win would have been me being like, just so you know, you're wrong.

I'm right.

So, there.

And my wise friend who asked me to count the cost, was like, is that worth the damage that could be done in your relationship?

And it was absolutely not.

And so in that moment, even though I felt justified and and I'd prayed about it and felt like, you know, the Lord, I had freedom in there to do that because of the situation, and it was felt serious to me, and I had I counted the cost, and I said, you know what?

No.

And I let that play out, and he and I to this day have a super close relationship, and I I would have just been so petty and silly and foolish to go about that.

Sometimes the decision you you have to make is like a wait.

But if you've prayed about it and you've gotten wise counsel and you've counted the cost and you've decided that it's worth it, you have to do something.

You have to make a decision.

You have to go.

And this morning, we're gonna wrap up by taking the Lord's Supper here in a second.

I'm looking at the clock.

It's been two weeks, so I'm a little off my game timing-wise.

I'm sorry.

If the decision needs to be made, you have to make it.

So I'm telling you guys, you can be like Abram.

You can have the faith to go first.

If there's anything in your life that isn't right, it's not good, it's something personal, it's something in a relationship, whatever it might be, and you know it, you know something has to change.

Pray, seek counsel, count the cost.

And maybe you decide that, yeah, the cost isn't worth it, but if you know, no, it is worth it, because I can't take this any longer, this has to change.

I won't stand for this, I won't allow this to happen.

Count the cost.

And then do something.

Make a decision.

Be like Abram.

Have the conversation, embrace the awkwardness, take the risk.

Worst case scenario is you're wrong.

And God's got you.

See, that's why Abram was able to make that decision.

Because he understood who God is.

Psalm 139.

Verse 5 says, You go before me and you follow me.

You place your hand of blessing on my head.

God is ahead of you, he's also behind you.

Elsewhere it says that just as the mountains surround the people of the Lord, in the area they live, they had mountains all around them.

He says, so the Lord surrounds his people.

Like God surrounds us, he's with us.

Abram understand that he understood that in that moment, yeah, if Lot chooses the best, God will bless me.

And by the way, it's not gonna work out well for Lot.

Abram knew who God was enough to go first, to make a decision, to take some decisive action in his life.

Is there one area of life right now that requires that of you?

Have the faith to go first, trust the Lord with it, do something.

Pray about it, get some counsel, count the cost, but do something.

With that, we're gonna take Lord's Supper.

And it's amazing how often these just connect.

I don't really plan this part out, I kind of let the Lord just lead this.

But I mean, you want to talk about initiative?

God looked at our state as people.

If you're new, by the way, we take this meal every Sunday and there's tables at the back, you can grab it if you missed it on your way in.

Um, but definitely next week, grab it if you miss this.

This meal represents the sacrifice Jesus made for us on the cross.

This bread is his body, and this juice is his blood.

You want to talk about making a decision, going first?

God looked at the state of the world and our distance from him, understanding our inability on our own to be righteous, our inability on our own to avoid sin and to deal rightly with our sin, our inability to just live the life that he's asked us to live.

You know, he gave us the Ten Commandments.

They're not that, it's like just don't be a terrible person, is basically how you could sum up the Ten Commandments.

And we're we struggle with that.

So God decided to do something about it.

He took the first step, he sent his son.

Jesus left heaven, he left the comfort of heaven, he left the status of heaven being worshipped.

And he came to this earth and he lived and he died for us.

He gave his body to be broken on the cross, to be pierced, and he gave up his blood to be spilled as a sacrifice, but but he decided to do something.

God was not content to just let us stay in the state that we were in with no hope, striving and struggling, but never getting closer to him.

He said, I'm gonna do something about it, I'm gonna change things.

And God sent his son, and Jesus came and he followed through and he took the initiative and he changed everything.

Are we not so grateful that we have a God who goes first?

Where would we be if he hadn't?

We have to be like that.

If he was able to do this and what this represents to save us, we've got to be willing to have hard conversations and make tough decisions.

Whether it's in our own lives, it's personal convictions and changes we have to make for ourselves or for others and our family, whatever it might be.

We've got to be people who have the faith to go first.

Because he did, and look what it's done for us.

It's given us life, it's given us a relationship with him, it's given us forgiveness from sin, it's given us assurance that we belong to the Father, because without this we wouldn't have that.

So let's be like Jesus and let's have the faith to go first.

Let's be like Abram, let's have the faith to go first.

Let's live like that.

But but knowing that the reason we can is because we have a good God who goes before us and goes behind us, and even if we make the wrong decision to some degree, he's got us.

Just like he had Jesus.

Because he raised them to life and raised them to glory.

So let's pray together.

Father, we thank you for this bread and what this represents.

This is your body.

Given as a sacrifice.

You paid the price for our sins.

You didn't wait for us to figure it out.

You dealt with it.

Jesus, you went first.

Help us be like you.

We love you, Lord.

We're grateful for this.

Let's take the bread.

Now the juice.

Lord, we thank you for this juice and what it represents.

This is your blood spilled for us.

Lord, we love you.

We need you.

We recognize.

We recognize, Lord, that you're the initiator and the perfecter of our faith.

Help us be inspired this morning.

Help us have faith and trust in you so that we can do what needs done in our lives just like you did what needed done for this entire world.

We love you, Lord.

Let's take the juice.