Our Way Or God's Way Series

Read Isaiah 55:1-9.

A few years back, McDonalds had an ad that talked about a “Big Mac Attack.” The implication was that your craving could be satisfied by getting two all beef patty, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame seed bun. A whopper wouldn’t do.

It’s been said that everyone has a God-shaped hole in their heart. We can choose to fill the hole our way or God’s way.

I. Our Way.

We can try to do it our way. We can try to fill the “God-shaped” hole in our own way. There are two problems.

A. Our way is not what it SEEMS. (Verse 2a)

Have you ever wanted something; only to get it and find out that it was not as good as you thought it would be?

Computer basketball game.

B. Our way doe not SATISFY. (Verse 2b)

Have you ever noticed that some foods just don’t satisfy in the long run? Chinese food is like that for me.

Ultimately trying to fill the “God-shaped hole” in our life is like trying to cure a “Big Mac Attack” with a Whopper.

II. God’s Way.

It’s when we realize that we can’t filled the hole on our own that we decide we should probably do it God’s way. There are five things in this passage related to God’s way.

A. LISTEN to God. (Verses 2c, 3a, and 3b)

Three times we are told to listen to God. Listen diligently (2c) is listen, listen. Emphasis by repetition.

“Incline” means to stretch our ear. Kind of like cupping it.

Again in verse 3 we are told to “hear, that [our] soul may live.”

We listen as though listening for a distant train whistle.

B. SEEK God. (Verse 6)

Verse six says, “Seek the Lord while he may be found; call upon him while he is near.”

Not one of us is guaranteed another day on this planet. There is no reason to delay our search for God. 2 Corinthians 6:2 says, “Now is the day of salvation.” Today is the best time to seek God.

C. Turn from SIN. (Verse 7a)

The word “forsake” means “to leave, abandon, reject or desert.” Like an abandoned car on the side of the road.

D. Turn to GOD. (Verse 7b)

When we turn from one thing, we have to turn to another thing. The word “return” means “to turn back, turn to, return.”

Luke 11:24-26 says, "When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, and finding none it says, ’I will return to my house from which I came.’ And when it comes, it finds the house swept and put in order. Then it goes and brings seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and dwell there. And the last state of that person is worse than the first."

If we don’t turn to God, we will eventually turn back to sin. We must replace sin with God.

E. ACCEPT God’s gifts.

How many of you like to receive gifts? There are four gifts that are outlined in this passage. They all relate to what Jesus does for us through his death on the cross.

1. He QUENCHES our THIRST. (Verse 1a)

Have you ever been so thirsty you’d drink anything? Canistota water.

Jesus is the only way to truly quench our spiritual thirst. John 4:13-14 says, “Jesus said to her, ‘Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty forever. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.’”

2. He SATISFIES our HUNGER. (Verse 1b, 2d)

Have you ever been so hungry you’d eat anything?

In the same way that Jesus quenches our spiritual thirst, he also satisfies our spiritual hunger.

John 6:35 says, “Jesus said to them, ‘I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.’” He satisfies us in ways we can’t explain.

3. He has COMPASSION on us. (Verse 7c)

Jesus looks on with compassion. He went through what we go through. He was hungry and thirsty. He was tired. He was tempted. He was brokenhearted.

Mark 6:34 says, “When he went ashore he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd.”

4. He will PARDON us. (Verse 7d)

Like prisoners are pardoned. Pardon and forgiveness are synonyms.

Ephesians 1:7 says, “In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace.”

5. He gives these gifts FREE. (Verse 1c, 8, 9)

It is all for free. Ephesians 2 says, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”

Conclusion

Are you trying to do it your own way? Let God have his way. That is the only way you will every find true satisfaction.