May 7, 2017

“Trust the Process”Larry Thorson

Acts 20:22-2422 “And now, compelled by the Spirit, I am going to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there. 23 I only know that in every city the Holy Spirit warns me that prison and hardships are facing me.24 However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace.

New International Version

This is the third week of our series Divine Direction based on Craig Groeschel’s new book Divine Direction which is based on what the Word of God says about decision making. Today I want to talk about trusting God's process in decision making and not jumping ahead of him.

I want to start with an example of God’s process for us in decision making as it was demonstrated by the Apostle Paul in Acts 20 where he wrote about an emotional decision he had to make. Paul was living in a Greek city called Ephesus and he loved it there. There was nowhere else he would rather be. Those folks were his folks. This was his place. He felt at home there. He could have spent the rest of his life doing what he was doing. He was very, very happy.

But one day Paul felt prompted by God to leave Ephesus and go to Jerusalem. So he called in the elders of the church and explained it this way in Acts 20:22-24; "Now, compelled by the Spirit, I'm going to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there. I only know that in every city the Holy Spirit warns me that prison and hardships are facing me. However, I consider my

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life worth nothing to me. My only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me, the task of testifying to the good news of God's grace."

Looking closer at this story there seems to be four steps in God's process for decision making that Paul applied here. The first is what we’ll call the Spirit's prompting. He wrote "Now compelled by the Spirit, I’m going to Jerusalem..." The Greek words for “compelled by the Spirit” is, deo ho numa. Deo means wrap. It's like being wrapped with a cord that can be used for pulling you in a direction. Numa means spirit, or breeze, or current. Deo ho numa can be translated as a cord that the Spirit is pulling.

Paul may say "I love it where I am, but I'm experiencing something that's pulling me in another direction." Deo ho numa. Paul may say I wasn't seeking this out, but I'm pulled by the Spirit. Now here’s the thing, I don’t see “deo ho numa as being reserved just for the big stars like Paul. I believe if we’re a Jesus follower, we’re going to have deo ho numa moments. It could be something really, really big, where the Spirit completely redirects our life. Or it could be something seemingly insignificant but still have a bigger impact.

Let’s throw a couple of examples out there. Maybe you’ve been prompted to get out of your comfort zone and fellowship with other believers in a life group. Or maybe start a business. Or start a ministry. Or write a book. Why not? Why couldn’t the Spirit compel you if he compelled Paul? There’s no reason he wouldn’t.

So the first thought in God's process of decision making is the Spirit's prompting. Remember that word prompting. God’s Spirit prompts all of us somehow and someway. The second thought is what we’ll call certain uncertainty. Again we read "Compelled by the Spirit, I'm going to Jerusalem," and then Paul says, "Not knowing what will happen to me there." In other words, Paul was saying I know I'm called to go, but I don't know any details about the go. That’s certain uncertainty.

Of course not having details about the go is what makes decision making so uncomfortable. But then again, if God shows us all the details of a decision, including all the pain we’ll have to go through, we’d most likely veto every idea. What God seems to do is lead us step by step as we are able to handle the progessive steps.

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Psalm 119:105 says God's word is a lamp to guide my feet. It's a light for my path. God's word isn’t exactly a spotlight to the details of the future. It's a lamp to guide our feet step by step. A light for a lamp can’t show us steps four, five and six. That would take a spotlight far into the path. But God is almost always going to say, "I'm not going to show you steps four, five and six, until you take steps one, two and three." We say “But I want to plan my life.” No, the Lord is to determine our steps. Paul wrote that he knew he was called to go, but he clearly didn’t know the details. In essence, God says "All I'm going to do is show you the next step." That’s called certain uncertainty.

I remember my early days here in 2014 when people would still ask me, "Pastor, what's your plan for the future direction of our church?" What I realize now is my plan for a church can rarely be about a very far future. My plan has to primarily involve being obedient today because none of us can see the future. And what all of us can do is be faithful to take the next step.

Here's the certainty God gives us; God will never, ever leave us. He will never, ever forsake us. God will guide us step by step. If you're not living with a little uncertainty every now and then, you’re just not living by faith, and if you're not living by faith, the Bible says you can’t please God. So remember these words: certain uncertainty.

The third part of God's decision making process for us is what we’ll call predictable resistance. Whenever you follow the compelling leading of God expect God’s enemy to resist what you’re being led to do. Paul wrote in verse 23; "I only know that in every city the Holy Spirit warns me that prison and hardships are facing me.”

God forbid that this would ever happen here in America but it happens in many countries. What if you were compelled to talk to someone at work about Jesus and then you got written up for doing it. But then imagine police appearing at your desk to escort you not just off the premises but off to jail for who knows how long. That was pretty much Paul’s situation and many today. God warned him that if he served Jesus, there would be opposition and some of it would be real difficult. We have to understand, if you are not ready to face opposition for your obedience to God, you’re not ready to be used by God. Virtually everything significant we do that matters, is going to be met with resistance. We’ll call that predictable resistance.

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But don’t think that when things get tough God must not be in it. We live a soft life here in America and especially in California. Sure we have a lot of traffic and expensive housing but realize the majority of the world lives in war, poverty, famine and natural disasters. God is in the lives of those people going through their challenges just as he’s with us in our traffic jams.

But when does the enemy usually attack? Is it when you're not doing anything for the glory of God? Of course not. God’s enemy attacks when we’re doing something for God. Resistance is not necessarily a sign that we're out of God's will. Resistance is often a sign that we're doing exactly what God called us to do. Predictable resistance.

So in decision making we will be compelled by God to go and do something. We won’t know all the steps so there will certain uncertainty about what’s going to happen when we go. And thirdly, there will be predictable resistance to our going.

That brings us to the fourth and final step. In the early days before Paul was a follower of Jesus, he was probably the most dangerous persecutor of Jesus followers of his day. He hated everything about Christians and often had them stoned in a painful form of death. Then he meets the resurrected Jesus and has this powerful awakening.

So what happens to him this powerful awakening? Surely then he got to do exactly what he wanted to do, right? Surely he got to do what he was passionate about. He got to make a difference and make a lot of money, because isn't that what God wants for all of us, right? It's got to be just like we want it. It's our calling, our career, our passion. Certainly that's what he got didn’t he?

Well it’s a little fuzzy, but here's what appears to have happened to Paul after his awakening. It looks like right after he became a Jesus follower, he spent three quiet years in obscurity in a hot Arabian desert, most likely studying but longing even more to preach. For three, long years.

But we know he preached in his old home base of Damascus. That’s when his first sermon was so good, they all tried to kill him. How is that for a great start to your ministry? They're coming after you with knives and bows

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and arrows, or whatever.

So he runs for his life. Now he's struggling to pay the bills. Then more time goes by. He still longs to preach, but what's he actually doing? He's actually making tents for a living. Tents. One of the most decorated and educated men of Israel and he’s making tents. Some of you right now, in your world, you're making tents. You want to do something else, but you're making tents.

Then about eight years or so goes by. Still nobody wants the guest speaker famous for killing Christians in their pulpit. Pastors would say “We heard he's changed, but I'm not putting him up at my church right now.” Finally, Barnabas vouches for him and gives him some credibility, and suddenly the door starts opening for ministry. But what had to happen first? Studying, waiting, praying. Trying to preach. Running, making tents, making more tents, making boring tents. Wanting to preach. Waiting, waiting, waiting. That’s where I say we just have to trust God's process. He's doing something in you, because He wants to do something through you. Trust God's process. We’ve got to become who God wants us to be, so we can do what God wants us to do.

He says this, "Even though there's going to be bad and difficult times, and even though I don't know the details. However, I consider my life worth nothing to me. My only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me. My only goal is to finish the task of testifying to the good news of God's grace. I consider my life worth nothing to me if only I can serve Jesus exactly where I am."

Going forward, what did the Apostle Paul do? He wrote the biggest portion of the New Testament that we have today, God's inspired word that changes our lives. He started churches across Asia Minor and Europe. How did he do all this?

Paul didn’t have a plan for the future but he had a plan to obey the Spirit today. He had some things he hoped for, but he followed the Spirit's prompting one day at a time. Step by step. He didn’t know the details. He knew it wasn’t going to be easy, but he was certain God wanted him to glorify Jesus wherever he was. If I'm preaching to a big crowd, I'm going to talk about Jesus. If I'm locked up in prison, I'm going to write about Jesus. If I'm locked up

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to a prison guard, I'm going to try and lead him to Jesus. If they're beating me and leaving me for dead, I'm calling on Jesus. Why? Because I am absolutely and completely confident that it's not all about my career, but I have a heavenly calling to glorify Jesus everywhere that I am.

Where am I supposed to be? If you're making tents, serve Jesus by making the best possible tents you can. If you're waiting tables, serve Jesus waiting tables. If you're a stay at home mom, serve Jesus as a stay at home mom. If you're a graduate student, serve Jesus there.

How am I going to get from here to where I want to be? First of all you don't even know if where you want to be is where God wants you to be. In fact, if you want to make God laugh tell him your plans, because God has plans that are exceedingly, abundantly more than you could ask, think or imagine, according to His power that is at work within you. Plans that will glorify him through the church for generations to come.

Here's what's so cool about Paul. In the early days, he's like so many of us. What are we about? Let's be honest. Me. Be honest, call it what it is. What do we want to make? A name for ourselves. Why? Because it's all about me.

Then he progressed. Let's not make a name. Let's make a difference. Then it wasn't about me. I need Barnabas and I need Peter, and together we can do this. When it eventually became all about Jesus, Paul didn't make a name for himself. He also didn't just make a difference in this world. He made history for the glory of God.

When you get to that point, what happens? You don't have to worry so much about the future. You just have to be obedient today. When you're obedient today, you're not worried about missing out on something better, because you're doing exactly what God wants you to do. It also means you trust that He will lead you to where He wants to lead you, so your life will glorify Him. That's how we discern divine direction. Step by step, we make our plans. The Lord determines our steps.

As you're praying today try to notice when God is prompting you. Maybe you need to reach out to someone. Maybe God's going to prompt you to tithe for the very first time. For some of you God's going to prompt you to serve somewhere. Others, God's going to prompt you to pray for someone, to talk to

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someone, to take them out to dinner. Just watch and you will see and sense the Spirit of God prompting you.

God, give us ears to hear your voice. Eyes to see your will. A heart submitted to what you want for us. Guide us, God, and we know you won't show us all the details, and we thank you, because you'll show us what we need to do what you want us to do, and, God, when it gets difficult, we understand that if we follow you, we will be persecuted, and, at the same time, God, give us confidence, uncommon confidence, that wherever we are, we can serve you there. We consider our lives worth nothing if only we can share your goodness with everybody that we met.

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LIFE GROUP DISCUSSION GUIDE - Week Three

Series: Divine DirectionMessage: Trust the Process

Key Scripture

“And now, compelled by the Spirit, I am going to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there. I only know that in every city the Holy Spirit warns me that prison and hardships are facing me.  However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace.” Acts 20:22-24 NIV

Trust the Process

1. Spirit’s PromptingAnd now, compelled by the Spirit, I am going to Jerusalem … Acts 20:22 NIV

2. Certain Uncertainty… I am going to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there. Acts 20:22 NIV

Your word is a lamp to guide my feet and a light for my path.Psalm 119:105 NLT

3. Predictable ResistanceI only know that in every city the Holy Spirit warns me that prison and hardships are facing me. Acts 20:23 NIV

4. Uncommon ConfidenceHowever, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace. Acts 20:24 NIV

Start talking. Find a conversation starter for your group.

• How decisive are you on a scale of 1-10? Why do you think you’re that way?• What was your last difficult decision to make? How’d you make it?

Start thinking. Ask a question to get your group thinking.

• Read Acts 20:22. Describe what it means to you, right now, to be compelled by the Spirit. No wrong answers.• Revisit Acts 20:22-24. What can you learn from Paul?

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Start sharing. Choose a question to create openness.

• Talk about a time you were prompted by the Spirit of God to do something. How’d you know it was the Holy Spirit? What did you do?• Revisit Acts 20:22-24. What can you learn from Paul?• What decision do you need to make right now that will require significant faith?• How can you glorify God in your daily tasks with uncommon confidence?

Start praying. Be bold, and pray with power.

God, we want to be compelled by Your Holy Spirit. Holy Spirit, we invite You to rule our decisions, especially when we don’t know what’s ahead. And, we need Your comfort when we face resistance. Give us an uncommon confidence to glorify You with even our smallest decisions. We love You. Amen.

Start doing. Commit to a step, and live it out this week.

• How can we challenge each other to really live compelled by the Spirit’s prompting to share God’s good news for His glory?

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TO LEARN MORE

Join a Life Group 510/657-3133

To learn and encourage one another

IF YOU’D LIKE TO KNOW HOW TO GET STARTED IN FAITH

1. Recognize that everyone has sinned and fallen short of God’s ideal Romans 3:23-24

2. Know that the wages or payment for sinning is death Romans 6:23

3. But God loved us so much that He sent His only Son to die for usRomans 5:8

4. It is our responsibility to accept Jesus Christ as our Savior and allow Him to become the master of our life

Romans 10:13

Invite Jesus into your heart by praying something like the prayer below… “Dear Lord Jesus, in many ways I have sinned against you. I am sorry and want to turn from my sinful ways. I invite you to come into my heart and begin to make me like yourself. I commit my life wholeheartedly to you now. Thank you for saving me.”

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