Be Careful What You Ask For... Series

Sermon Brief

Date Written: September 13, 2006

Date Preached: September 13, 2006

Where Preached: OZHBC (Wed - PM Service)

Sermon Details:

Series Title: Basic Bible Study

Sermon Title: Be Careful what you ask for… you may get it!

Sermon Text: Judges 14:1-3

Introduction:

In the book by C.S. Lewis, The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe, he writes about how the White Witch played on Ed’s cravings for pleasure and importance.

She magically gives him enchanted Turkish Delight, and the more he eats, the more he wants.(anybody been there?) She promised to make him a King of Narnia, and then he could eat all the Turkish delight he wanted. (Sound familiar? Gen.3:5-6) there’s another thing about sin; it is always a distortion of God’s good plan.

For we know that Edmund was always destined to be a King of Narnia and the witch knew it! But we can see that the Witch promised him the same thing, but by the wrong route.

In a similar way, we go looking for good things, but in all the wrong ways, contrary to God’s design. Sin is our rebellion vs the recipe of God.

So often we think that we have God all figured out and we try to place Him in a box all neat and tidy, and we try to do things OUR way!

But what we cannot grasp as humans is that God is so much more OTHER than us that we cannot comprehend His wisdom and plan…

We may look at what He says and does and think to ourselves,

“I sure would have done that differently!” But in the end we can rest assured that our way will always lead to trouble and trial and disappointment, but God’s ways are always good and right.

The prophet Isaiah knew this and he wrote these words some 700 years before Jesus walked this earth…

8 "For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways," declares the LORD. 9 "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts. Isaiah 55:8-9 (NASB)

The apostle Paul wrote about this as well, but from a different perspective…

In Phil 4 he writes, “…11 for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. 12 I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need…” Phil 4:11-12 (NASB)

He also wrote the church in Rome, “…28 And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose…”

Romans 8:28 (NASB)

I say all of this to introduce our Scripture for tonight. Tonight I want to speak on how we need to be careful what we seek after because we may get it… it may be what God wants for us, but we may go the wrong path to obtain it…

Now in the overall scheme of things this story fits into God’s plan on restoring Israel by using Samson to judge the Philistine people.

But we can see that Samson did not go about becoming a judge of Israel by the path of God’s commandments. He chose to go his own way, even against the advice of his parents.

And although Samson was not the righteous judge we all think he should have been (because he was constantly messing up and getting himself into situations that led to pain in his life) This is because Samson’s faults and frailties were his own desires that he sought after! He did not seek God’s face…but trusted on his own judgment.

Let’s read our passage Judges 14:1-3

1 Then Samson went down to Timnah and saw a woman in Timnah, one of the daughters of the Philistines. 2 So he came back and told his father and mother, "I saw a woman in Timnah, one of the daughters of the Philistines; now therefore, get her for me as a wife." 3 Then his father and his mother said to him, "Is there no woman among the daughters of your relatives, or among all our people, that you go to take a wife from the uncircumcised Philistines?" But Samson said to his father, "Get her for me, for she looks good to me."

Judges 14:1-3 (NASB)

And just like Samson we are all called by God to serve, but we find ourselves struggling with our human tendencies to seek after our own desires and wish for the things that catch our eye.

We need to understand that God does not call perfect people to serve Him… because there are none in this world. God has only the choice to use imperfect, fallen, and broken vessels to carry forth the message of the Gospel.