Waiting
April 19, 2020

Good morning. On behalf of the people, the leaders and the elders of Cross Creek Community Church, I warmly welcome you to our time together this morning on Sunday, April 19, 2020.

Will you please join me in a prayer as we begin this special time together?
[Pray - Make sure to include protection for those working during this pandemic,
and protection for all who watch this video and their families and friends too.]

Do you like to wait? Don’t we all just love to wait?
I think I speak for most of us when I answer… no. I don’t think so.

In this culture we do not like to wait. Other cultures are much better at waiting than we are. But generally, as human beings, we do not like to wait.

What are some examples of waiting?
(Go ahead… give us some examples in your comments if you’d like…)

There’s waiting in line… at a grocery store. At a gas station. At a doctor’s office.
Of course these are all problems we encounter in this country, which don’t even exist in other countries where they don’t have grocery stores, gas stations, or doctors’ offices.

I generally don’t like to use the term “3rd world countries,” because I think sometimes the “more developed” countries are actually not as developed in other ways. Demonstrating patience is one of them.

However, for the sake of illustration, I’ll use this term.
I was with a couple of other women clergy friends, waiting to check into a hotel, a few years back, around 9 o clock at night. The reception area was very crowded. People were tired and the desk clerks looked harried. We waited. And waited. And waited.

Earlier, we had decided to go straight to the opening afternoon conference session first, instead of checking in to the hotel ahead of time.
That was the first mistake. (Note to selves, if you’re ever in a similar situation… check into the hotel first. But you probably already know that.)

So there we were waiting to check in. Finally it was my turn. I went up to the frazzled registration person, tired but confident our room would be ready, as I had booked it six months in advance! Yes! Me. A procrastinator at times. I was so proud that I had done this so far ahead of time. (Second and third mistakes… pride and booking too far in advance!)

Imagine my horror when she looked into my eyes and said, “Sorry. We have no rooms available.”
“What?!” I said in reply. “How could you not have a room ready for us?! I booked it six months ago!!! And I’ve already paid for it too!!!”
(Fourth mistake. Don’t pay ahead of time unless you absolutely have to… although this is up for debate… go ahead… tell us what you think…)

Well, she said. Sorry. There were other parties that came in earlier and if you hadn’t checked in so late…

That really did it! I’m afraid what came next was not what a person of faith says or does. My poor roommates… they were becoming embarrassed by now. And thankfully, some other friends were nearby who said we could hang out with them until we got a room the next day, etc.

I don’t even remember how it all turned out now. I do remember that I was terribly impatient and rude and self-focused and many other things.

I did apologize the next day, and later sent a card and flowers too. But that experience taught me many things. And one of them is to be more patient.
(And keep calm. Deep breath. Recite Scripture. Etc.)

We do not like to be kept waiting. Or to wait. It is tied up with our ego and pride.
I’m sorry to say it, but when we are kept waiting, we feel that someone else doesn’t think our time is important.

I’m also sorry to say it, but for those of us who run late, it’s also rude to the ones waiting on the other end. Even if we don’t mean to, our action is communicating to them that we don’t think their time is as important as ours. Gulp.

As a child, we can hardly stand to wait. Sometimes hours can seem like weeks to us. As teenagers and young adults, we can’t wait to “grow up and get started” driving and dating and everything else that goes with all that.

Waiting for a wedding feels like an eternity! (And then… suddenly… oh no! It’s only a few days away!) Waiting for a baby to come can be similar. And then sometimes being with a loved one and watching them die can involve a lot of waiting too. We also discover the sacredness of being fully present and not being able to “fix anything.”

Waiting is a human condition with which we all deal. The Bible is filled with stories and Scriptures which teach us about waiting. And patience.

We will look at some of that in a minute.
But before we do, I think we all know right now we are being asked to wait before rushing into resuming “normal life” on the other side of this pandemic.

Many of us don’t want to wait anymore. We’re tired of waiting. We’re tired of sheltering in place. We miss our friends. We miss social gatherings. We miss restaurants and going out to eat and shopping and movies. Going to the beach for something other than just exercise. Some of us even miss church setup.

But we have to be cautious and wise and not cause the curve to rise back up if we’ve actually flattened it! (Ever notice how “The curve” has taken on a life of its own.”)

As we struggle with waiting, and patience, let’s look into God’s word for stories of others who had to wait.

We don’t have to go very far into the Bible at all before we stumble upon some of those stories. Think about Noah and his family. How long did they have to wait before the flood came and all their neighbors quit thinking they were nuts? And then there was the “forty days and forty nights” of the rain. (And yes there are prophecies about this pandemic ending after that amount of time, and a little boy’s dream about the end of this month - which coincides with that number too.)

After the rain, Noah and his family and all the animals had to wait another year before the water had receded enough for them to leave the ark. Talk about stir-crazy.
Think about that the next time you feel restless with keeping these restrictions!
At least you’re not shut up with a bunch of animals… or … perhaps you are!

In Genesis, after the story of Noah, and repopulating the earth, and the tower of Babel, there comes the story of Abraham. This stretches thirteen chapters from 12:1-25:18.
Abraham, and his wife Sarah, had to do a lot of waiting. Let’s look together now at Genesis 15:1-8,17-18a. [Read] [Pray]

The beginning of this chapter starts with “After this.”
Much had occurred prior to this. And the opening words of comfort from God to Abram (his name at this point) were words of comfort in response to his fear.

Please don’t miss for a minute the fact that the Bible is filled to overflowing with many words of great comfort for us.
These words alone could be something to carry us through the rest of this remaining time of sheltering in place. As we wait.
God says to us, “Don’t be afraid. I am your Shield, your Very Great Reward.” (15:1b)

Why would Abram have been afraid at this point?
He might have feared revenge from the kings he had just defeated. (14:15)
He was afraid he would be killed by his enemies. Yes, even this great father of faith experienced fear.

But God says to him, and to us. “Don’t be afraid.”
No matter what lies ahead for us, and I happen to believe this will only make us stronger and wiser if we let it, God will stay with us. He is our Shield.

All right. Are you ready for some revelation?! (Bryan Smith… drumroll please…)
Shields are a form of defense.
The very nature of a shield is to protect!
It protects you from danger, risk or other unpleasant experiences.
It prevents something from seeing you or attacking you.

Think about that! During this time of this covid-19 pandemic, God is our SHIELD! He is protecting us! (How many people watching this video right now are alive, and not dead?!
Exactly! You are not dead. You are alive. He is protecting you!)

This Hebrew phrase for “I Am” (Ah… notice the “I Am,” more of the definition of who God is…) “your shield” means “protector, defender.”
This verse means, “I will fight for you and I will be your champion.”

As people of God, as people who have publicly stated belief in Christ and been baptized to demonstrate that belief, this promise stands true for us as well.
In fact, we can trace back our spiritual lineage to Abraham too, through Christ.

This same verse tells us the Lord is much more than a shield to us, though.
He is also our exceeding great reward. God says to Abram, "You will have your son,
and he will be a joy to you — but I will be the One who fulfills your deepest needs."

God knows all about human nature. He knew that Abraham would have a great measure of joy when he got his son. Abraham could then say, "God did it! He promised this to me, and He kept His Word." Yet God also knew that Abraham would not be totally fulfilled when the child came. He would still have an inner hunger, a restlessness,
an inexplicable need that no human could touch.

Isn't this what happens to us when we finally get the thing we have wanted so badly?
All along we think, "If only I can get this one thing, I'll be happy.
It will make my life wonderful and end all my problems."
No, it won't!
Only the Lord Himself can fully satisfy our deepest need.
(From David Wilkerson devotions.)

He, and He alone, is our “exceedingly great reward.”

Notice how verse 2 begins, “But Abram…” “But” signifies contrast. But… in contrast to God’s magnificent declaration to Abram that He is our, “very great, exceedingly great, reward, Abram goes the opposite way.

But what about my childless state, my lack of a blood heir, he asks?

According to the Jewish law, if there was no blood heir, the estate would go to his eldest servant. Abram loved Eliezer, but he wanted a son.

Abram was 75 when he left Ur in obedience to God’s call on his life.
He surely did not expect to have a son at this age.

“But God” tells Abram in verse 4 he will have a son who will be his own flesh and blood. And, to top that, God takes him outside in verse 5 and says “count the stars, if indeed you can count them.” This is how many offspring you will have.

A recent devotional said Abraham’s faith was so strong it included the fact that it was actually daylight when the Lord said these words to him. There’s no way he could have seen any stars.

The sun had not yet set. We read that later on in verse 17.
The stars must have been present but invisible at that moment. So, (don’t miss this…) God was asking Abram to have faith even when the fulfillment wasn’t evident.

Could God be asking us to have faith even as we wait for restrictions to be lifted?
Even as what is yet to be, remains unseen?

Abram was willing to fully commit to God’s plan for him. Are we?
How often do we expect our prayers to be answered on our schedule, rather than God’s?
Perhaps, in this time of “Divine Reset,” this is an area in which we can grow.
Perhaps we are being invited to let go of our timing, our expectations, and simply trust God.
From the time God called Abraham to leave Ur, until Isaac would be born, would be twenty-five years. That is a long time to wait.
Perhaps waiting a few more weeks, or even months if it has to be, may not seem so long in comparison to twenty-five years.

Genesis 15:6 says “Abram believed the Lord, and He credited it to him as righteousness.” This is so important it’s mentioned four times in the New Testament!

Although Abram had been demonstrating his faith through his actions, it was his belief in the Lord, not just his actions, that made Abram right with God. (Romans 4:1-5)

Let me just tell you right now that we can have a right relationship with God, too, by trusting Him.
Our good deeds will not by themselves make us right with God.
A right relationship is based on faith - the heartfelt inner confidence that God is who He says He is and does what He says He’ll do! [Repeat, if led]

We will be sharing a Dove International study on Colossians beginning tomorrow, online, which you’ll hear more about at the end of this message.
In this excellent study, we will discover more about who God is.
Why is this important? Because just as with any relationship, the more we know about another person and find them trustworthy, the more we know we can trust them.
So it is with God.

At the end of chapter 15 in Genesis, we read the rest of the story of what happened that day between God and Abram.
As the conversation had continued between God and Abram, (don’t miss that either… we can have conversations with God!) God reminds Abram of His promise to give Him (and his descendants) the land of Canaan.
Abram asked how he could know he would possess it?

In response, God directs Abram through a very specific ritual, formalizing the covenant promise.
There was the list of animals we skipped over.
Then, the sun set, we read in verse 17, and “a smoking firepot with a blazing torch” appeared and passed between the pieces.”
Then in verse 18 we’re told “On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram,” and promised him the land of Canaan to his descendants.

Remember, this was a man with no children yet of his own.

So why did God send this strange vision to Abram?
God’s covenant with Abram was serious business. It represented an incredible promise from God and a huge responsibility for Abram.

God kept His promise. Everything God does is true to His character.
And Abram became Abraham and followed through on his responsibility.

What about us?
Can we believe God will keep all His promises?
Can we live like covenant people who are in relationship with an all-knowing, (omniscient); all-powerful (omnipotent) God who we can trust?

We are covenant people willing to be patient and wait, no matter what, because we are in relationship with a covenant God who never breaks His promises.

While we are in this time of waiting, this “holding pattern,” (for all you aviators), we can meditate on the following four promises from God that we can embrace:
1) He is always with us. (Therefore we will not fear.)
2) He is always in control. No matter how it looks. (Therefore we will not doubt.)
3) He is always good. (Therefore we will not despair.)
It isn’t God who messes things up. It’s human beings.
4) God is always victorious. Remember Jesus said, “In this world you will have trouble, but take heart, I have overcome the world.” This is from John 16:33. This is after Jesus’ last supper with His closest friends, before His arrest, trial and crucifixion. He was offering comfort to His disciples then, and to us disciples today.

For Abraham, it would be 25 years from the time he left his hometown until his son was born, but it would be about 500 years before the promise about the land to his descendants would come true.

There was a little thing called 400 years as slaves in Egypt that had to happen first. Plus a few other things.

But God kept His promise. The long wait was finally over. And it was more than worth it.

It occurs to me that for us to wait, we need all the help we can get.
We need God’s help. We need God’s grace.

Yesterday I read a FB post from a Dove leader named Mim Hurst. It was about grace.
In fact, it was after I read her post that the light bulb moment occurred!
Grace is what it takes for us to be able to wait!

I got her permission to share her words. Please listen carefully to these words.
Here’s what she wrote:

“What’s on my heart today is grace!
Grace that is sufficient for anything we may face today.
Grace for those that think differently than me.
Grace to not judge others.
Grace for our government officials that are faced with extremely hard decisions.
Grace to accomplish.
Grace to rest.
Grace to hear and discern.
Grace to wait.
Grace.

[Pause]

In Romans 12:12, Paul tells the Romans words that still apply today:
“Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.”

We are to be patient.

David knew a lot about waiting. He was anointed king at age 16, but didn’t become king until he was 30. During those long, fourteen years, he was chased through the desert by jealous King Saul. David had to wait on God for the fulfillment of His promise to be king.
Later on after becoming king, he was chased by his rebellious son Absalom.

We are in a time of what many call, and I agree, a “Divine Reset.”
Let’s make good use of this waiting time by discovering what God may be trying to teach us.

Here are the words David wrote from Psalm 27:14
“Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.”

Let us pray. [Pray]

Now, before you go, I want to share some exciting news about a special online study from Dove on Colossians we’ll be posting tomorrow...

Waiting
April 19, 2020

Good morning. On behalf of the people, the leaders and the elders of Cross Creek Community Church, I warmly welcome you to our time together this morning on Sunday, April 19, 2020.

Will you please join me in a prayer as we begin this special time together?
[Pray - Make sure to include protection for those working during this pandemic,
and protection for all who watch this video and their families and friends too.]

Do you like to wait? Don’t we all just love to wait?
I think I speak for most of us when I answer… no. I don’t think so.

In this culture we do not like to wait. Other cultures are much better at waiting than we are. But generally, as human beings, we do not like to wait.

What are some examples of waiting?
(Go ahead… give us some examples in your comments if you’d like…)

There’s waiting in line… at a grocery store. At a gas station. At a doctor’s office.
Of course these are all problems we encounter in this country, which don’t even exist in other countries where they don’t have grocery stores, gas stations, or doctors’ offices.

I generally don’t like to use the term “3rd world countries,” because I think sometimes the “more developed” countries are actually not as developed in other ways. Demonstrating patience is one of them.

However, for the sake of illustration, I’ll use this term.
I was with a couple of other women clergy friends, waiting to check into a hotel, a few years back, around 9 o clock at night. The reception area was very crowded. People were tired and the desk clerks looked harried. We waited. And waited. And waited.

Earlier, we had decided to go straight to the opening afternoon conference session first, instead of checking in to the hotel ahead of time.
That was the first mistake. (Note to selves, if you’re ever in a similar situation… check into the hotel first. But you probably already know that.)

So there we were waiting to check in. Finally it was my turn. I went up to the frazzled registration person, tired but confident our room would be ready, as I had booked it six months in advance! Yes! Me. A procrastinator at times. I was so proud that I had done this so far ahead of time. (Second and third mistakes… pride and booking too far in advance!)

Imagine my horror when she looked into my eyes and said, “Sorry. We have no rooms available.”
“What?!” I said in reply. “How could you not have a room ready for us?! I booked it six months ago!!! And I’ve already paid for it too!!!”
(Fourth mistake. Don’t pay ahead of time unless you absolutely have to… although this is up for debate… go ahead… tell us what you think…)

Well, she said. Sorry. There were other parties that came in earlier and if you hadn’t checked in so late…

That really did it! I’m afraid what came next was not what a person of faith says or does. My poor roommates… they were becoming embarrassed by now. And thankfully, some other friends were nearby who said we could hang out with them until we got a room the next day, etc.

I don’t even remember how it all turned out now. I do remember that I was terribly impatient and rude and self-focused and many other things.

I did apologize the next day, and later sent a card and flowers too. But that experience taught me many things. And one of them is to be more patient.
(And keep calm. Deep breath. Recite Scripture. Etc.)

We do not like to be kept waiting. Or to wait. It is tied up with our ego and pride.
I’m sorry to say it, but when we are kept waiting, we feel that someone else doesn’t think our time is important.

I’m also sorry to say it, but for those of us who run late, it’s also rude to the ones waiting on the other end. Even if we don’t mean to, our action is communicating to them that we don’t think their time is as important as ours. Gulp.

As a child, we can hardly stand to wait. Sometimes hours can seem like weeks to us. As teenagers and young adults, we can’t wait to “grow up and get started” driving and dating and everything else that goes with all that.

Waiting for a wedding feels like an eternity! (And then… suddenly… oh no! It’s only a few days away!) Waiting for a baby to come can be similar. And then sometimes being with a loved one and watching them die can involve a lot of waiting too. We also discover the sacredness of being fully present and not being able to “fix anything.”

Waiting is a human condition with which we all deal. The Bible is filled with stories and Scriptures which teach us about waiting. And patience.

We will look at some of that in a minute.
But before we do, I think we all know right now we are being asked to wait before rushing into resuming “normal life” on the other side of this pandemic.

Many of us don’t want to wait anymore. We’re tired of waiting. We’re tired of sheltering in place. We miss our friends. We miss social gatherings. We miss restaurants and going out to eat and shopping and movies. Going to the beach for something other than just exercise. Some of us even miss church setup.

But we have to be cautious and wise and not cause the curve to rise back up if we’ve actually flattened it! (Ever notice how “The curve” has taken on a life of its own.”)

As we struggle with waiting, and patience, let’s look into God’s word for stories of others who had to wait.

We don’t have to go very far into the Bible at all before we stumble upon some of those stories. Think about Noah and his family. How long did they have to wait before the flood came and all their neighbors quit thinking they were nuts? And then there was the “forty days and forty nights” of the rain. (And yes there are prophecies about this pandemic ending after that amount of time, and a little boy’s dream about the end of this month - which coincides with that number too.)

After the rain, Noah and his family and all the animals had to wait another year before the water had receded enough for them to leave the ark. Talk about stir-crazy.
Think about that the next time you feel restless with keeping these restrictions!
At least you’re not shut up with a bunch of animals… or … perhaps you are!

In Genesis, after the story of Noah, and repopulating the earth, and the tower of Babel, there comes the story of Abraham. This stretches thirteen chapters from 12:1-25:18.
Abraham, and his wife Sarah, had to do a lot of waiting. Let’s look together now at Genesis 15:1-8,17-18a. [Read] [Pray]

The beginning of this chapter starts with “After this.”
Much had occurred prior to this. And the opening words of comfort from God to Abram (his name at this point) were words of comfort in response to his fear.

Please don’t miss for a minute the fact that the Bible is filled to overflowing with many words of great comfort for us.
These words alone could be something to carry us through the rest of this remaining time of sheltering in place. As we wait.
God says to us, “Don’t be afraid. I am your Shield, your Very Great Reward.” (15:1b)

Why would Abram have been afraid at this point?
He might have feared revenge from the kings he had just defeated. (14:15)
He was afraid he would be killed by his enemies. Yes, even this great father of faith experienced fear.

But God says to him, and to us. “Don’t be afraid.”
No matter what lies ahead for us, and I happen to believe this will only make us stronger and wiser if we let it, God will stay with us. He is our Shield.

All right. Are you ready for some revelation?! (Bryan Smith… drumroll please…)
Shields are a form of defense.
The very nature of a shield is to protect!
It protects you from danger, risk or other unpleasant experiences.
It prevents something from seeing you or attacking you.

Think about that! During this time of this covid-19 pandemic, God is our SHIELD! He is protecting us! (How many people watching this video right now are alive, and not dead?!
Exactly! You are not dead. You are alive. He is protecting you!)

This Hebrew phrase for “I Am” (Ah… notice the “I Am,” more of the definition of who God is…) “your shield” means “protector, defender.”
This verse means, “I will fight for you and I will be your champion.”

As people of God, as people who have publicly stated belief in Christ and been baptized to demonstrate that belief, this promise stands true for us as well.
In fact, we can trace back our spiritual lineage to Abraham too, through Christ.

This same verse tells us the Lord is much more than a shield to us, though.
He is also our exceeding great reward. God says to Abram, "You will have your son,
and he will be a joy to you — but I will be the One who fulfills your deepest needs."

God knows all about human nature. He knew that Abraham would have a great measure of joy when he got his son. Abraham could then say, "God did it! He promised this to me, and He kept His Word." Yet God also knew that Abraham would not be totally fulfilled when the child came. He would still have an inner hunger, a restlessness,
an inexplicable need that no human could touch.

Isn't this what happens to us when we finally get the thing we have wanted so badly?
All along we think, "If only I can get this one thing, I'll be happy.
It will make my life wonderful and end all my problems."
No, it won't!
Only the Lord Himself can fully satisfy our deepest need.
(From David Wilkerson devotions.)

He, and He alone, is our “exceedingly great reward.”

Notice how verse 2 begins, “But Abram…” “But” signifies contrast. But… in contrast to God’s magnificent declaration to Abram that He is our, “very great, exceedingly great, reward, Abram goes the opposite way.

But what about my childless state, my lack of a blood heir, he asks?

According to the Jewish law, if there was no blood heir, the estate would go to his eldest servant. Abram loved Eliezer, but he wanted a son.

Abram was 75 when he left Ur in obedience to God’s call on his life.
He surely did not expect to have a son at this age.

“But God” tells Abram in verse 4 he will have a son who will be his own flesh and blood. And, to top that, God takes him outside in verse 5 and says “count the stars, if indeed you can count them.” This is how many offspring you will have.

A recent devotional said Abraham’s faith was so strong it included the fact that it was actually daylight when the Lord said these words to him. There’s no way he could have seen any stars.

The sun had not yet set. We read that later on in verse 17.
The stars must have been present but invisible at that moment. So, (don’t miss this…) God was asking Abram to have faith even when the fulfillment wasn’t evident.

Could God be asking us to have faith even as we wait for restrictions to be lifted?
Even as what is yet to be, remains unseen?

Abram was willing to fully commit to God’s plan for him. Are we?
How often do we expect our prayers to be answered on our schedule, rather than God’s?
Perhaps, in this time of “Divine Reset,” this is an area in which we can grow.
Perhaps we are being invited to let go of our timing, our expectations, and simply trust God.
From the time God called Abraham to leave Ur, until Isaac would be born, would be twenty-five years. That is a long time to wait.
Perhaps waiting a few more weeks, or even months if it has to be, may not seem so long in comparison to twenty-five years.

Genesis 15:6 says “Abram believed the Lord, and He credited it to him as righteousness.” This is so important it’s mentioned four times in the New Testament!

Although Abram had been demonstrating his faith through his actions, it was his belief in the Lord, not just his actions, that made Abram right with God. (Romans 4:1-5)

Let me just tell you right now that we can have a right relationship with God, too, by trusting Him.
Our good deeds will not by themselves make us right with God.
A right relationship is based on faith - the heartfelt inner confidence that God is who He says He is and does what He says He’ll do! [Repeat, if led]

We will be sharing a Dove International study on Colossians beginning tomorrow, online, which you’ll hear more about at the end of this message.
In this excellent study, we will discover more about who God is.
Why is this important? Because just as with any relationship, the more we know about another person and find them trustworthy, the more we know we can trust them.
So it is with God.

At the end of chapter 15 in Genesis, we read the rest of the story of what happened that day between God and Abram.
As the conversation had continued between God and Abram, (don’t miss that either… we can have conversations with God!) God reminds Abram of His promise to give Him (and his descendants) the land of Canaan.
Abram asked how he could know he would possess it?

In response, God directs Abram through a very specific ritual, formalizing the covenant promise.
There was the list of animals we skipped over.
Then, the sun set, we read in verse 17, and “a smoking firepot with a blazing torch” appeared and passed between the pieces.”
Then in verse 18 we’re told “On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram,” and promised him the land of Canaan to his descendants.

Remember, this was a man with no children yet of his own.

So why did God send this strange vision to Abram?
God’s covenant with Abram was serious business. It represented an incredible promise from God and a huge responsibility for Abram.

God kept His promise. Everything God does is true to His character.
And Abram became Abraham and followed through on his responsibility.

What about us?
Can we believe God will keep all His promises?
Can we live like covenant people who are in relationship with an all-knowing, (omniscient); all-powerful (omnipotent) God who we can trust?

We are covenant people willing to be patient and wait, no matter what, because we are in relationship with a covenant God who never breaks His promises.

While we are in this time of waiting, this “holding pattern,” (for all you aviators), we can meditate on the following four promises from God that we can embrace:
1) He is always with us. (Therefore we will not fear.)
2) He is always in control. No matter how it looks. (Therefore we will not doubt.)
3) He is always good. (Therefore we will not despair.)
It isn’t God who messes things up. It’s human beings.
4) God is always victorious. Remember Jesus said, “In this world you will have trouble, but take heart, I have overcome the world.” This is from John 16:33. This is after Jesus’ last supper with His closest friends, before His arrest, trial and crucifixion. He was offering comfort to His disciples then, and to us disciples today.

For Abraham, it would be 25 years from the time he left his hometown until his son was born, but it would be about 500 years before the promise about the land to his descendants would come true.

There was a little thing called 400 years as slaves in Egypt that had to happen first. Plus a few other things.

But God kept His promise. The long wait was finally over. And it was more than worth it.

It occurs to me that for us to wait, we need all the help we can get.
We need God’s help. We need God’s grace.

Yesterday I read a FB post from a Dove leader named Mim Hurst. It was about grace.
In fact, it was after I read her post that the light bulb moment occurred!
Grace is what it takes for us to be able to wait!

I got her permission to share her words. Please listen carefully to these words.
Here’s what she wrote:

“What’s on my heart today is grace!
Grace that is sufficient for anything we may face today.
Grace for those that think differently than me.
Grace to not judge others.
Grace for our government officials that are faced with extremely hard decisions.
Grace to accomplish.
Grace to rest.
Grace to hear and discern.
Grace to wait.
Grace.

[Pause]

In Romans 12:12, Paul tells the Romans words that still apply today:
“Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.”

We are to be patient.

David knew a lot about waiting. He was anointed king at age 16, but didn’t become king until he was 30. During those long, fourteen years, he was chased through the desert by jealous King Saul. David had to wait on God for the fulfillment of His promise to be king.
Later on after becoming king, he was chased by his rebellious son Absalom.

We are in a time of what many call, and I agree, a “Divine Reset.”
Let’s make good use of this waiting time by discovering what God may be trying to teach us.

Here are the words David wrote from Psalm 27:14
“Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.”

Let us pray. [Pray]

Now, before you go, I want to share some exciting news about a special online study from Dove on Colossians we’ll be posting tomorrow...

Waiting
April 19, 2020

Good morning. On behalf of the people, the leaders and the elders of Cross Creek Community Church, I warmly welcome you to our time together this morning on Sunday, April 19, 2020.

Will you please join me in a prayer as we begin this special time together?
[Pray - Make sure to include protection for those working during this pandemic,
and protection for all who watch this video and their families and friends too.]

Do you like to wait? Don’t we all just love to wait?
I think I speak for most of us when I answer… no. I don’t think so.

In this culture we do not like to wait. Other cultures are much better at waiting than we are. But generally, as human beings, we do not like to wait.

What are some examples of waiting?
(Go ahead… give us some examples in your comments if you’d like…)

There’s waiting in line… at a grocery store. At a gas station. At a doctor’s office.
Of course these are all problems we encounter in this country, which don’t even exist in other countries where they don’t have grocery stores, gas stations, or doctors’ offices.

I generally don’t like to use the term “3rd world countries,” because I think sometimes the “more developed” countries are actually not as developed in other ways. Demonstrating patience is one of them.

However, for the sake of illustration, I’ll use this term.
I was with a couple of other women clergy friends, waiting to check into a hotel, a few years back, around 9 o clock at night. The reception area was very crowded. People were tired and the desk clerks looked harried. We waited. And waited. And waited.

Earlier, we had decided to go straight to the opening afternoon conference session first, instead of checking in to the hotel ahead of time.
That was the first mistake. (Note to selves, if you’re ever in a similar situation… check into the hotel first. But you probably already know that.)

So there we were waiting to check in. Finally it was my turn. I went up to the frazzled registration person, tired but confident our room would be ready, as I had booked it six months in advance! Yes! Me. A procrastinator at times. I was so proud that I had done this so far ahead of time. (Second and third mistakes… pride and booking too far in advance!)

Imagine my horror when she looked into my eyes and said, “Sorry. We have no rooms available.”
“What?!” I said in reply. “How could you not have a room ready for us?! I booked it six months ago!!! And I’ve already paid for it too!!!”
(Fourth mistake. Don’t pay ahead of time unless you absolutely have to… although this is up for debate… go ahead… tell us what you think…)

Well, she said. Sorry. There were other parties that came in earlier and if you hadn’t checked in so late…

That really did it! I’m afraid what came next was not what a person of faith says or does. My poor roommates… they were becoming embarrassed by now. And thankfully, some other friends were nearby who said we could hang out with them until we got a room the next day, etc.

I don’t even remember how it all turned out now. I do remember that I was terribly impatient and rude and self-focused and many other things.

I did apologize the next day, and later sent a card and flowers too. But that experience taught me many things. And one of them is to be more patient.
(And keep calm. Deep breath. Recite Scripture. Etc.)

We do not like to be kept waiting. Or to wait. It is tied up with our ego and pride.
I’m sorry to say it, but when we are kept waiting, we feel that someone else doesn’t think our time is important.

I’m also sorry to say it, but for those of us who run late, it’s also rude to the ones waiting on the other end. Even if we don’t mean to, our action is communicating to them that we don’t think their time is as important as ours. Gulp.

As a child, we can hardly stand to wait. Sometimes hours can seem like weeks to us. As teenagers and young adults, we can’t wait to “grow up and get started” driving and dating and everything else that goes with all that.

Waiting for a wedding feels like an eternity! (And then… suddenly… oh no! It’s only a few days away!) Waiting for a baby to come can be similar. And then sometimes being with a loved one and watching them die can involve a lot of waiting too. We also discover the sacredness of being fully present and not being able to “fix anything.”

Waiting is a human condition with which we all deal. The Bible is filled with stories and Scriptures which teach us about waiting. And patience.

We will look at some of that in a minute.
But before we do, I think we all know right now we are being asked to wait before rushing into resuming “normal life” on the other side of this pandemic.

Many of us don’t want to wait anymore. We’re tired of waiting. We’re tired of sheltering in place. We miss our friends. We miss social gatherings. We miss restaurants and going out to eat and shopping and movies. Going to the beach for something other than just exercise. Some of us even miss church setup.

But we have to be cautious and wise and not cause the curve to rise back up if we’ve actually flattened it! (Ever notice how “The curve” has taken on a life of its own.”)

As we struggle with waiting, and patience, let’s look into God’s word for stories of others who had to wait.

We don’t have to go very far into the Bible at all before we stumble upon some of those stories. Think about Noah and his family. How long did they have to wait before the flood came and all their neighbors quit thinking they were nuts? And then there was the “forty days and forty nights” of the rain. (And yes there are prophecies about this pandemic ending after that amount of time, and a little boy’s dream about the end of this month - which coincides with that number too.)

After the rain, Noah and his family and all the animals had to wait another year before the water had receded enough for them to leave the ark. Talk about stir-crazy.
Think about that the next time you feel restless with keeping these restrictions!
At least you’re not shut up with a bunch of animals… or … perhaps you are!

In Genesis, after the story of Noah, and repopulating the earth, and the tower of Babel, there comes the story of Abraham. This stretches thirteen chapters from 12:1-25:18.
Abraham, and his wife Sarah, had to do a lot of waiting. Let’s look together now at Genesis 15:1-8,17-18a. [Read] [Pray]

The beginning of this chapter starts with “After this.”
Much had occurred prior to this. And the opening words of comfort from God to Abram (his name at this point) were words of comfort in response to his fear.

Please don’t miss for a minute the fact that the Bible is filled to overflowing with many words of great comfort for us.
These words alone could be something to carry us through the rest of this remaining time of sheltering in place. As we wait.
God says to us, “Don’t be afraid. I am your Shield, your Very Great Reward.” (15:1b)

Why would Abram have been afraid at this point?
He might have feared revenge from the kings he had just defeated. (14:15)
He was afraid he would be killed by his enemies. Yes, even this great father of faith experienced fear.

But God says to him, and to us. “Don’t be afraid.”
No matter what lies ahead for us, and I happen to believe this will only make us stronger and wiser if we let it, God will stay with us. He is our Shield.

All right. Are you ready for some revelation?! (Bryan Smith… drumroll please…)
Shields are a form of defense.
The very nature of a shield is to protect!
It protects you from danger, risk or other unpleasant experiences.
It prevents something from seeing you or attacking you.

Think about that! During this time of this covid-19 pandemic, God is our SHIELD! He is protecting us! (How many people watching this video right now are alive, and not dead?!
Exactly! You are not dead. You are alive. He is protecting you!)

This Hebrew phrase for “I Am” (Ah… notice the “I Am,” more of the definition of who God is…) “your shield” means “protector, defender.”
This verse means, “I will fight for you and I will be your champion.”

As people of God, as people who have publicly stated belief in Christ and been baptized to demonstrate that belief, this promise stands true for us as well.
In fact, we can trace back our spiritual lineage to Abraham too, through Christ.

This same verse tells us the Lord is much more than a shield to us, though.
He is also our exceeding great reward. God says to Abram, "You will have your son,
and he will be a joy to you — but I will be the One who fulfills your deepest needs."

God knows all about human nature. He knew that Abraham would have a great measure of joy when he got his son. Abraham could then say, "God did it! He promised this to me, and He kept His Word." Yet God also knew that Abraham would not be totally fulfilled when the child came. He would still have an inner hunger, a restlessness,
an inexplicable need that no human could touch.

Isn't this what happens to us when we finally get the thing we have wanted so badly?
All along we think, "If only I can get this one thing, I'll be happy.
It will make my life wonderful and end all my problems."
No, it won't!
Only the Lord Himself can fully satisfy our deepest need.
(From David Wilkerson devotions.)

He, and He alone, is our “exceedingly great reward.”

Notice how verse 2 begins, “But Abram…” “But” signifies contrast. But… in contrast to God’s magnificent declaration to Abram that He is our, “very great, exceedingly great, reward, Abram goes the opposite way.

But what about my childless state, my lack of a blood heir, he asks?

According to the Jewish law, if there was no blood heir, the estate would go to his eldest servant. Abram loved Eliezer, but he wanted a son.

Abram was 75 when he left Ur in obedience to God’s call on his life.
He surely did not expect to have a son at this age.

“But God” tells Abram in verse 4 he will have a son who will be his own flesh and blood. And, to top that, God takes him outside in verse 5 and says “count the stars, if indeed you can count them.” This is how many offspring you will have.

A recent devotional said Abraham’s faith was so strong it included the fact that it was actually daylight when the Lord said these words to him. There’s no way he could have seen any stars.

The sun had not yet set. We read that later on in verse 17.
The stars must have been present but invisible at that moment. So, (don’t miss this…) God was asking Abram to have faith even when the fulfillment wasn’t evident.

Could God be asking us to have faith even as we wait for restrictions to be lifted?
Even as what is yet to be, remains unseen?

Abram was willing to fully commit to God’s plan for him. Are we?
How often do we expect our prayers to be answered on our schedule, rather than God’s?
Perhaps, in this time of “Divine Reset,” this is an area in which we can grow.
Perhaps we are being invited to let go of our timing, our expectations, and simply trust God.
From the time God called Abraham to leave Ur, until Isaac would be born, would be twenty-five years. That is a long time to wait.
Perhaps waiting a few more weeks, or even months if it has to be, may not seem so long in comparison to twenty-five years.

Genesis 15:6 says “Abram believed the Lord, and He credited it to him as righteousness.” This is so important it’s mentioned four times in the New Testament!

Although Abram had been demonstrating his faith through his actions, it was his belief in the Lord, not just his actions, that made Abram right with God. (Romans 4:1-5)

Let me just tell you right now that we can have a right relationship with God, too, by trusting Him.
Our good deeds will not by themselves make us right with God.
A right relationship is based on faith - the heartfelt inner confidence that God is who He says He is and does what He says He’ll do! [Repeat, if led]

We will be sharing a Dove International study on Colossians beginning tomorrow, online, which you’ll hear more about at the end of this message.
In this excellent study, we will discover more about who God is.
Why is this important? Because just as with any relationship, the more we know about another person and find them trustworthy, the more we know we can trust them.
So it is with God.

At the end of chapter 15 in Genesis, we read the rest of the story of what happened that day between God and Abram.
As the conversation had continued between God and Abram, (don’t miss that either… we can have conversations with God!) God reminds Abram of His promise to give Him (and his descendants) the land of Canaan.
Abram asked how he could know he would possess it?

In response, God directs Abram through a very specific ritual, formalizing the covenant promise.
There was the list of animals we skipped over.
Then, the sun set, we read in verse 17, and “a smoking firepot with a blazing torch” appeared and passed between the pieces.”
Then in verse 18 we’re told “On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram,” and promised him the land of Canaan to his descendants.

Remember, this was a man with no children yet of his own.

So why did God send this strange vision to Abram?
God’s covenant with Abram was serious business. It represented an incredible promise from God and a huge responsibility for Abram.

God kept His promise. Everything God does is true to His character.
And Abram became Abraham and followed through on his responsibility.

What about us?
Can we believe God will keep all His promises?
Can we live like covenant people who are in relationship with an all-knowing, (omniscient); all-powerful (omnipotent) God who we can trust?

We are covenant people willing to be patient and wait, no matter what, because we are in relationship with a covenant God who never breaks His promises.

While we are in this time of waiting, this “holding pattern,” (for all you aviators), we can meditate on the following four promises from God that we can embrace:
1) He is always with us. (Therefore we will not fear.)
2) He is always in control. No matter how it looks. (Therefore we will not doubt.)
3) He is always good. (Therefore we will not despair.)
It isn’t God who messes things up. It’s human beings.
4) God is always victorious. Remember Jesus said, “In this world you will have trouble, but take heart, I have overcome the world.” This is from John 16:33. This is after Jesus’ last supper with His closest friends, before His arrest, trial and crucifixion. He was offering comfort to His disciples then, and to us disciples today.

For Abraham, it would be 25 years from the time he left his hometown until his son was born, but it would be about 500 years before the promise about the land to his descendants would come true.

There was a little thing called 400 years as slaves in Egypt that had to happen first. Plus a few other things.

But God kept His promise. The long wait was finally over. And it was more than worth it.

It occurs to me that for us to wait, we need all the help we can get.
We need God’s help. We need God’s grace.

Yesterday I read a FB post from a Dove leader named Mim Hurst. It was about grace.
In fact, it was after I read her post that the light bulb moment occurred!
Grace is what it takes for us to be able to wait!

I got her permission to share her words. Please listen carefully to these words.
Here’s what she wrote:

“What’s on my heart today is grace!
Grace that is sufficient for anything we may face today.
Grace for those that think differently than me.
Grace to not judge others.
Grace for our government officials that are faced with extremely hard decisions.
Grace to accomplish.
Grace to rest.
Grace to hear and discern.
Grace to wait.
Grace.

[Pause]

In Romans 12:12, Paul tells the Romans words that still apply today:
“Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.”

We are to be patient.

David knew a lot about waiting. He was anointed king at age 16, but didn’t become king until he was 30. During those long, fourteen years, he was chased through the desert by jealous King Saul. David had to wait on God for the fulfillment of His promise to be king.
Later on after becoming king, he was chased by his rebellious son Absalom.

We are in a time of what many call, and I agree, a “Divine Reset.”
Let’s make good use of this waiting time by discovering what God may be trying to teach us.

Here are the words David wrote from Psalm 27:14
“Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.”

Let us pray. [Pray]

Now, before you go, I want to share some exciting news about a special online study from Dove on Colossians we’ll be posting tomorrow...