Introduction: A couple of months ago I showed you a short film from the Nooma series by Pastor Rob Bell called “Lump.” It was about his son, and a little white ball, and hitting his brother, and to top it all off lying to his parents. Do you remember the young boy curled up under the covers on his parent’s bed in shame and how His Father reached out to him and gave him the opportunity to find forgiveness and healing? At the heart of that message was the question, “What are you hiding from?”
Because I got several positive responses to using the film, I want to use another of Pastor Rob’s videos today. This was actually the first one he made, and I must say it remains one of my personal favorites. I thought the theme would be especially appropriate since today is Father’s Day. It’s called “Rain.”
Video: Nooma 001—Rain
I don’t know about you, but that image of a Father carrying his son really resonates with me. I guess part of it is the fact that I have spent so many years preaching my “Emmanuel” message—God with us. I love hearing Rob say over and over, “Hang in their buddy…I’m right here…I’ve got you buddy….” That is the same message that I hear our Heavenly Father saying throughout the generations of man.
We all face storms. The rain is going to come, that’s a given. What isn’t a given is how you and I are going to respond to the downpour when it hits. Do we trust God enough to hang on to Him, to follow Him, to do what He asks us to do in the midst of the storm? Sometimes I wish we were in a backpack being carried by God and that we couldn’t do anything but hold on. Surely then we would learn to trust Him, right? Maybe.
Maybe not. Let me read you a passage of Scripture from Deuteronomy chapter 1. Rob mentioned it in the film, and I want to use it as my challenge for us today. Before I read let me set the stage for you.
It had been over 40 years since used Moses to lead His people out of Egypt. In their disobedience they had lost the chance to enter the Promised Land and instead an entire generation had to pass away before the Lord would give them a second shot. The Book of Deuteronomy is all about preparing them for that second shot.
In the opening chapter Moses reminds them of the choice that their Father’s had made and the tragic results. Listen to Moses’ reminder of what he told the people 40 years earlier as the contemplated choosing their way instead of God’s way:
Deuteronomy 1:30-32
30The LORD your God who goes before you will fight for you, just as you saw Him do for you in Egypt. 31And you saw in the wilderness how the LORD your God carried you as a man carries his son all along the way you traveled until you reached this place. 32But in spite of this you did not trust the LORD your God,
As a man carries his son, the LORD carried His people.
He still does!
God is still a God of deliverance—you can have freedom from both the penalty and power of sin.
God is still a God of compassion—you can experience the closeness of a personal relationship with Him.
God is still a God of 2nd, and 3rd, 4th chances—others may have given up on you, and you may have given up on yourself, but I can assure God has not!
The real challenge is avoiding the mistake of the Israelites, and the mistake far too many of us have made time and again—in spite of [all He has done, we do] not trust the LORD [our] God.
Does God still have to prove Himself to you?
Is there more He must to do show you how great is love truly is?
If giving His Son isn’t enough, then what would be?
If He made you rich will you trust Him?
If He gave you everything you ask for will you trust Him?
What does He have to do to earn your trust?
The Children of Israel refused to enter the Promised Land because they didn’t TRUST God. The result—40 years of wandering, and a lost opportunity for an entire generation. From their perspective the problems ahead of them were bigger than the power behind them. And while I’d like to really blast them for their lack of faith, I don’t think we are all that different today. There in the midst of their storm—and in their eyes it was a “giant” of a storm—they had to make a choice: Will we trust the LORD our God?
We are faced with the same choice today. And I would like to propose that the God who carried us this far is not going to let us down now!
For those of us who know Jesus as our Lord and Savior, He has been carrying us since that moment we put our life in His hands. There hasn’t been a single minute that we have been out of His loving care. I know that there have been times it seemed like the storms were going to overtake us, in fact, you may feel like that right now. But let me assure you of this fact:
The power behind us is far greater than the problem ahead of us.
Conclusion: I want to draw us to a close today by sharing a story with you. It’s a story about trust, and storms, and how we often are so short-sighted in our view of God.
It had been a long day. The pressures of the mission trip were beginning to take its toll. The days were longer, and the needs greater than any of us could have imagined. Our team leader kept us focused on why we were there—the importance of reaching the lost, building up broken lives, planting seeds that others might reap. But frankly, all I wanted to do right now was get in the boat and head back across the lake for the night.
As we made our way into the night I began to wonder why I had said yes to being a part of this trip. Why me? Certainly there were others more qualified, but here I was, tired, and dirty and now to top it all off it was beginning to rain. Great! We are going to get thoroughly soaked before we get across this seemingly endless body of water.
It wasn’t long before the rain was the least of my concerns. The wind picked up, and before we knew it we had waves actually crashing over the side of the boat. I reached down to pick up my backpack when I realized just how much water was in the boat. The reports of boats going down in storms began to fill my mind and my frustrations quickly were replaced with fear.
Everyone was scrambling for something to bail water out of the boat while we continued to plow through the onslaught of wind and waves. Well, almost everyone. In the midst of this raging storm, with our very lives hanging in the balance, I looked up into the little cubby at the bow and realized he was sleeping! How was that possible?
Looking back I realize how crazy my response was, but it seemed perfectly natural at the time. I snapped! “Hey!” Get up and get a bucket! Were taking on water here and we’re all going sink if we don’t do something right now! I didn’t come on this stupid mission trip to drown in some lake in the middle of nowhere!”
I stood there for a moment, doing my best to keep my balance, and slowly he opened his eyes and looked at me. “What?” I wanted to say; “Just get up and doing something, anything.”
He got to his feet, and stepped towards me, he scanned the boat, the waves, and then with a voice that mimicked mine he yelled, “Hey!” And then with a whisper that echoed even louder than his shout he put his finger to his lips and said, “shh.” And it was quiet—and the waves were still—and the winds stopped—and I stood there in awe.
I looked around and everyone on board was as stunned as me. What on earth had just happened? Then I felt it—he was looking at me—I could sense it—and so I slowly turned to face Him. And He looked me right in the eye—again—and Jesus asked me, “Why are you so scared? Don’t you trust Me?”
We don’t have to have it “all together” to have a relationship with God, but we do have to trust Him. So when the storms come, when rains of life beat down upon us and we find ourselves crying out to Him, remember, God both sees and hears us in our time of need.
Let me remind you again:
The power behind us is far greater than the problem ahead of us.
God’s power was displayed in its fullness when He raised His Son Jesus Christ from the dead, and that power is sufficient for anything we face in our lives today.
