Sunday Morning June 28, 2009
Bel Aire Baptist Church
Series: Pot Holes [#1]
WHO IS DRIVING?
1 Samuel 8:1-22
Introduction:
Recently, while driving through a rain storm, I hit a pothole that I was unaware of and just about wrecked my car. If you have ever hit a pothole, you know what I am talking about. You’re just driving down the road with no problems and all of a sudden things go wrong quickly. Life is like that sometimes also- Things are going well and all of a sudden you hit a pothole and life is “turned upside-down”.
In this series, we are going to look at some potholes in life and how we can avoid them and deal with them.
It was just a few week ago after Church, that several of the girls ran over to me to inform me that Tharon was driving on the parking lot. The news that a 16 year old boy was driving would normally not make you too nervous, but a 16 year old blind boy driving can change your thoughts on the subject. I ran over to see Mark walking along the side of my vehicle with the windows rolled down and Tharon driving. While that was pretty safe, I have heard of Tharon driving with his brother sitting next to him while giving him instructions- Not cool. Why isn’t that cool? He can’t see!
This morning I would like to ask you, “Who is driving you through life”?
1 Samuel 8:1-5 (NIV)
“When Samuel grew old, he appointed his sons as judges for Israel. The name of his firstborn was Joel and the name of his second was Abijah, and they served at Beersheba. But his sons did not walk in his ways. They turned aside after dishonest gain and accepted bribes and perverted justice. So all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah. They said to him, "You are old, and your sons do not walk in your ways; now appoint a king to lead us, such as all the other nations have."
The people wanted a king, but why? They had God as their King- Why would they want to replace God? Why would we want to move God out of the driver’s seat?
We move God out of the driver’s seat because we have decided that…
1. God is out of time.
God didn’t deal with Samuel’s sons like they thought He should have. They were tired of waiting on God. They wanted Joel, Abijah, and Samuel out of office now!
We just get tired of waiting on God to do something that we already have an answer to. Why should God make us wait, when we can solve it now with our brilliant plan? We just move Him out of the driver’s seat and start going our own way. Be careful, God knows where the potholes are- You on the other hand, may not.
We move God out of the driver’s seat because we have decided that…
2. Other people have it better than we do.
They wanted to be like other nations who had a king. Those other nations were unified and had one strong army, (or so they thought). The grass is always greener on the other side- Isn’t it? Let me tell you the obvious- Until you have lived in “other people’s” shoes, you don’t have a clue. As I watch people, I have noticed that in their life which would seem to make my life easier and better isn’t always the case once I try it out. I thought at one time that having a job that paid a lot of money would make my life easier because I could get whatever stuff everyone wanted. What I didn’t realize was that there was a heavy price to pay for all of the time it took me away from my family in order to make that money.
Just maybe God didn’t give us someone else’s life on purpose? When you move God out of the driver’s seat so that you can go in the direction that was meant for someone else, you are going to hit a pothole. God has been preparing them to travel that path and know what to avoid, not you.
When I went to college, I had decided I would be a pharmacist- Why? Simple, Pharmacist make a lot more money than ministers. I had pushed God out of the driver’s seat and let me tell you that the next several years of my life didn’t go so well. In fact, when at West Texas State University, I had began to pursue a teaching degree and after I had observed Kindergarten, 3rd grade, 5th grade, 8th grade, and 11th grade; I realized that I didn’t like any of them. I called dad and said, “Dad, I don’t know what to do. I can’t find any grade that I like.” My dad’s reply, “Son, that may be because that’s not what you’re supposed to be doing.” Stop trying to be like other people, and be who God is making and molding you to be.
We move God out of the driver’s seat because we have decided that…
3. We want someone to do our part for us.
1 Samuel 8:19-20 (NIV)
“But the people refused to listen to Samuel. "No!" they said. "We want a king over us. Then we will be like all the other nations, with a king to lead us and to go out before us and fight our battles."
Did you hear that? They really didn’t want a king in order to have someone lead them; they wanted a king to go fight their battles for them. They didn’t want someone to tell them what they were supposed to be doing, they wanted a puppet. There is a word for that- Lazy.
If you move God out of the driver’s seat so that someone else can drive, you better watch out. I will guarantee you that will be like letting the blind kid drive your car down the interstate- It may not end up so well.
So what was God’s response to all of this?
1 Samuel 8:6-9 (NIV)
“But when they said, "Give us a king to lead us," this displeased Samuel; so he prayed to the LORD. And the LORD told him: "Listen to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king. As they have done from the day I brought them up out of Egypt until this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are doing to you. Now listen to them; but warn them solemnly and let them know what the king who will reign over them will do."
God knew that they were rejecting Him as King; but this wasn’t the first time they had done that. When we ask God to “scoot over there” so we can drive, how does He respond?
God responds by…
1. Listening to us.
God heard their cries and He told Samuel to listen to them. God really does care about our concerns and worries. He will listen.
God responds by…
2. Warning us.
God wanted them to understand that there were some things that they had not considered. God will warn us when we are about to make a bad decision. You may say, “He doesn’t warn me”. If you think that, you are wrong because the Bible warns us of many things. If you choose not to study the Bible and to live by it, that is your decision; but God gives you an escape from bad decisions.
God responds by…
3. Letting us have it.
1 Samuel 8:21-22 (NIV)
“When Samuel heard all that the people said, he repeated it before the LORD. The LORD answered, "Listen to them and give them a king." Then Samuel said to the men of Israel, "Everyone go back to his town."
If you keep on, God will say, “Fine, but I warned you”. The Nation of Israel would regret this decision they made over and over again for years.
Conclusion:
So I ask you, “Who is in the driver’s seat of your life? If you have been driving and you’re tired of hitting everything in your path- Move over and let God drive.
You’re going to have to decide today who is going to drive you through life.
