Disappointment
Moses
Hebrews 11:23-27
November 3, 2013
Disappointment is the feeling of dissatisfaction
that results from unfulfilled expectations
The sovereignty of God is the biblical teaching that all things are under God's rule and control, and that nothing happens without His direction or permission.
1. Disappointment is a part of God’s plan. V.24
2. Disappointment is diminished with perspective v.25-26
3. Disappointment is overcome by faith v.27
I believe that God is sovereign. I believe God is just. I believe that God is loving. I believe He brings adversity into my life, including disappointment, because it causes me to cling to Him more, to trust Him more, and yes, even to love Him more. While God assures me that He will one day remove all suffering and sorrow, He will do so only when it accomplishes His greatest glory, which is also my greatest good! The world has gone terribly wrong; God is going to fix it. First, for His eternal glory; second, for my eternal good.
What do you do about disappointment? Disappointment is the feeling of dissatisfaction that results from unfulfilled expectations. The pessimist would say lower your expectations. If you don’t expect, you won’t be disappointed. One of my favorite movies, is Princess Bride. There is this scene where Westly and Inigo Montoya meet for the 1st time. (clip from Princess Bride)
Turn with me to the book of Hebrews 11. If you don’t know where Hebrews is, it’s toward the back of the N.T. This morning we finish this series called “Wrecked.” We sensed the leadership of the Holy Spirit to do a series like this because frankly, for so many of us, our lives ARE a wreck! If you’re on this earth very long, you deal with the storms of life. Things are going along pretty good and then storm clouds gather on the horizon; the winds of adversity blow; the waves threaten to drown you—and you find yourself in a storm. What do you do when the storms of life come? We discussed that in week one. In week 2 we drilled down on something else we experience all too often, and that is betrayal. Perhaps you’ve been betrayed by your ex, or your boss, or your family member. How do you deal with betrayal so that you don’t end up bitter and spiteful? We talked about that. In week 3 we discussed how to survive catastrophe. In all of these issues during this series, we’ve had to come to grips with the sovereignty of God: The sovereignty of God is the biblical teaching that all things are under God's rule and control, and that nothing happens without His direction or permission. To think that we control much of anything is a huge lie. God is in control and we have to come to the place that, even in catastophe, God is still in control. Last week we worked through the issue of grief. Losing a loved one is usually excruciatingly painful. How do you deal with the grief? How can you experience hope, and even joy, in the midst of your grief? That was last week.
Now this week, we finish with a discussion about disappointment. Anybody in here love to be disappointed? Of course not. And yet, if you’re breathing, you deal with disappointment. A baby is disappointed with a wet diaper. A child is disappointed with green beans on the plate. A teenager is disappointed with his 1st car. Ben’s 1st car was a land yacht; I bought it for $500 and would barely run. He tried to act excited, but he was disappointed. As you get older, your disappointments can get more serious and consequential: you don’t get into the college you desire, your fiancé breaks up with you, your career path isn’t as satisfying as you thought it would be or it really doesn’t have the income you expected it would give you; your marriage isn’t as fulfilling as you had expected; your adult kids aren’t as mature or self-sufficient or godly as you had hoped they would be.
In our text today, we look into the life of a man who dealt with an incredible amount of disappointment. His name is Moses. Now when you think of Moses, what do you think of? Charlton Heston. Parting the Red Sea. 10 commandments. Being used of God to deliver the Jews from Egypt. Right. And yet, upon examination, you’ll see that Moses had far more disappointments than he had successes.
Do you know his story? His whole story? He was born a Jew. The Jews were proliferating so fast that Pharaoh decided to have all the Hebrew boys killed by throwing them into the Nile river. But when Moses was born, his mom hid him for 3 months and then put him in a basket, covered it with tar so it would be waterproof, then set it among the reeds on the river bank. She sent her daughter to see what would happen to her son. As it happened in the sovereignty of God, Pharaoh’s daughter was bathing nearby, heard the baby cry, and decided to raise the baby in her home.
What are the chances of that happening? 1 in a zillion, right? But when you come to grips with the sovereignty of God you realize that all things are under God’s control and there are no coincidences.
So Moses, a Jew, grew up in the house of Pharaoh. He was privileged. He was powerful. But he was isolated from his family. The text doesn’t say, but it is safe to say he didn’t get to see his family very often. But imagine the disappointment he must have felt when he saw everyone else hang with their families and he didn’t get to. I remember when I 1st moved to Houston and didn’t know anyone. The loneliest time of my life was after church when all the couples and their families would head home together, and I headed back to my apartment alone.
One day when Moses was about 40 years old, he saw an Egyptian beating a Jew, and he killed the Egyptian and buried him in the sand. When Pharaoh heard about it, he tried to kill Moses, so Moses fled to Midian. (map) Midian is in modern day Saudi Arabia. If you know anything about Saudi Arabia you know what? It’s desert. (pic of desert)
Now can you imagine the disappointment Moses experienced? Here he was living in the lap of luxury: he had all the best food—filet minon every meal. All the best friends, celebrities who would appear on TMZ; all the best entertainment, the latest version of Xbox, Nintendo, & Wii. He could see pre-releases of all the latest movies. He had everything his culture had to offer him. And he had to leave it behind and head out into the desert. Do you think he dealt with disappointment?
You bet he did. But there was more to come. After 40 years in the desert, God appears to him in a burning bush and tells him to go back to Egypt because God wants to set the Jews free. So he does that and gets the Jews, all 3 million of them out of Egypt. But within a few days, the Jews begin to grumble and complain about his leadership. I can tell you from experience that nothing, nothing is more discouraging to a leader than when the people he/she is leading don’t want to follow; when they complain and grumble.
So here’s Moses. He knows he’s been saved from drowning as a baby for one purpose: to get his people out of Egypt and into the Promised land. But these people he’s leading are hacking God off because they won’t trust God and follow Moses. So Moses ends up leading these people for 40 years on a wild goose chase. Do you think that was disappointing? Oh yeah. Day in, day out, wandering in the desert. Day in, day out, not getting to the destination that you fully believe you are supposed to get to; to experience something that you are convinced your are destined to experience.
So then after 40 years in Egypt, and 40 years of isolation in the Midian desert, and after 40 years of wandering around in the wilderness getting his backside chewed on by a bunch of ingrates, it comes time to finally enter the Promised land. Whew. Finally. The land of milk and honey. The land promised to his forefathers. Finally his journey of disappointment coming to and end. Finally, the payoff.
But wait! There’s one more disappointment in store for Moses. God takes him up to Mt. Nebo. When we go to Israel this coming May, we’ll go to Mt. Nebo which is in Jordan and look into the Promised Land just like Moses did. But God said, “Moses, you’re not going in.” Wait a minute, Lord. After all this; after all that I’ve done for you; after all this anticipation and disappointment and heartache, you’re telling me I can’t go in?” God said, “That’s right.” And Moses looked into the Promised land—and died. Deut. 34 says that God is the one who buried Moses and to this day no one knows where he is buried. We know where Abraham and Sarah were buried. We know where David and Solomon were buried. But not Moses.
So—what do we learn about disappointment from the life of Moses?
Let’s see if we can gain some additional insight from this text in Hebrews. Hebrews 11:23-27 (on screen)
1. Disappointment is a part of God’s plan. V.24
I know that sounds foreign to many of you. It says in v. 24 that “Moses refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter.” To follow God, Moses had to turn his back on the comfort that was afforded him.
I’ve said this repeatedly: God is not concerned about our comfort; He is concerned about our character. It may come as a shock to you that God’s highest value is not your comfort, but His glory. Now, if you don’t like that, get you a new God! Because this God guides us down paths that are full of disappointments. Why? So that we will persevere. So that we will develop character. So that He is glorified. Romans 5:3-5 (on screen) When you go through disappointment and persevere and God uses that, something beautiful occurs inside of you: the production of godly character.
Story
2. Disappointment is diminished with perspective v.25-26
Look at v.25 (on screen) Moses dealt with his disappointments by gaining an eternal perspective. He was able to look beyond the glitz and glitter of his culture, and see what really mattered. He chose suffering rather than comfort. He chose God’s way, even if difficult, rather than an easier path.
When we look to the things of this world to bring us satisfaction, we are going to be disappointed. If you’re looking to your spouse to fill your life, you’re going to be disappointed. If you look to your job to fill your life, you’re going to be disappointed. If you look to your money, you’ll be disappointed. These things are so temporal. But when you get a proper perspective, you see that it’s Ok to have expectations, but those expectations are based in biblical values. And ultimately, God does what accomplishes His greatest glory, which, by the way, is for our greatest good!
v.26 is interesting: “For he considered the reproach because of the Messiah to be greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt because he was looking to the reward.”
The Messiah. He was looking to the reward. If we get our eyes on Jesus, the things of this earth grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace!
3. Disappointment is overcome by faith v.27
What’s the 1st phrase there? “By faith”. In fact, all the way through this narrative that phrased is used. V.23 “By faith v.24 By faith. v.27 By faith.
Ultimately, Moses trusted God. That’s why he is included in this Hall of Faith, the 11th chapter of Hebrews. By faith, Moses believed that God was in control, that God knew what He was doing, that to choose God’s path would be infinitely more rewarding than choosing his own path. That’s how Moses persevered. That’s how he pressed on. That’s how he didn’t become bitter. That’s how he didn’t give up.
I believe that God is sovereign. I believe God is just. I believe that God is loving. I believe He brings adversity into my life, including disappointment, because it causes me to cling to Him more, to trust Him more, and yes, even to love Him more. While God assures me that He will one day remove all suffering and sorrow, He will do so only when it accomplishes His greatest glory, which is also my greatest good! The world has gone terribly wrong; God is going to fix it. First, for His eternal glory; second, for my eternal good.
Closing
