Intro
Good morning Real Life… Happy New Year!
My name is Curtis and I’m the Connections Director and it’s great to be here with you all this morning.
So here we are… It’s almost the new year. You probably have one more party before the new year begins. Not sure how you guys are but I love this time of year up until now. I love the holidays, I love the build up to Christmas. But then it all ends, it’s over and January hits. And it’s all over, it’s just the worst. Once new years day hits, it just gets a little bleak for me. The next few months are the worst of the whole year.
This afternoon I”m going to be taking all our Christmas decor down, putting the lights away until next year. It’s going to be cold and it’s dark for 18 hours a day… And it just feels like there’s nothing to look forward too… Except the Patriots.
It’s kinda like when you host a Christmas party… Maybe some of you did that this past week… But there’s all this anticipation and preparation for this party. All these people show up and eat, drink, and be merry. And the last person leaves and you shut the door and turn around to what? A mess… Right? And now the party is over and you have nothing left to look forward to except clean up duty.
My guess is that’s how a lot of us are feeling as we approach this new year.
Tension
Some of us we are ready to take this new year by storm, 2018 is going to be awesome. Things are going to be different. I’m going to lose weight, make more money, make better decisions, kick that habit, fix my marriage, my football team is finally going to be good this year… Some of you are ready to go…
Yet there are others of us here that we just barely got through 2017 on fumes. It took everything in us to get out of bed this morning. And 2018, eh, it’ll probably be more of the same.
This time of year is really just a metaphor for our lives. Maybe you are stoked because of all the things you are going to do in 2018. Or maybe you are beat up because of all the things that happened in 2017… Or maybe you are somewhere in between…
We all have these areas where we put all this hope into, and right now most of us are either in a funk from last year or stoked for what’s coming. There this big build up for whatever… And then it comes and goes. You’re left thinking, what is there to look forward too?
Here’s a good question for you motivated people if you get what you are after in 2018… Will it really be enough? Will whatever you are after really satisfy you? Or at the start of 2019, once you got what it is you are after, are you going to have that same feeling where the party ends, the door closes, and all you have to look forward to is cleaning up the mess. Because once again you put your hope in the wrong things. Will it really be enough?
Here’s question for those of us that are in that kind of funk… If we don’t put anything in this year, do you really think next your will be any better? If you don’t take any steps forward, will your life really just change?
Here’s a question for all of us… What can we do to put our hope in the right things this year?
Truth
Fortunately for us the Bible isn’t silent on this. The bible is full of real people facing real issues, and feeling real emotions. When you read the stories you will find people dealing with every emotion that you are and I face today.
The reality is the Bible isn’t a self help book. It’s not a 3 easy steps to you best life. That’s not what it is. It’s more about Jesus doing for us what we could NOT do for ourselves. With that disclaimer I want to turn to what is a relatively well known part of the Bible, the book of Psalms. Psalms literally means a collection of songs. And these poems and songs express the range of human emotion. From anger to sadness, to happy. Whatever you are going through there’s a good chance that the book of Psalms deals with it.
So the Psalm I want to look at today is Psalm 42… Not by David.
As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God? My tears have been my food day and night, while people say to me all day long,“Where is your God?” Psalm 42:1-3
If you grew up in the church you’ve probably heard this before. Maybe you remember signing that hymn that was about this. Or maybe you seen this painted as picture or on a coffee mug. Ever since I was a kid this is the picture I had (show Bambi)… But that’s not really the picture the Psalmist is painting. The picture that he is painting is of a deer that’s on the verge of death. Staging around, tongue swollen. Desperately looking for water. We see right after he gives the illustration of the deer the psalmist says yeah that’s me… Where are you God?
The reality is that’s some of us in the room… This passage hits home for some of us doesn’t? Maybe it was a bad decision or maybe life just happened. Now that 2017 is over your sitting there now thinking God where are you?
And for the rest of us, maybe that’s not you yet. But it will be if you put your hope in something that is going to let you down. Maybe not over night. But you will become more and more thirsty. Until you find yourself in a situation like this.
The reality is everyone in this room is either currently in this situation, will be in situation, or has been in this situation. Some of us it’s due to our own actions, we put our hope in the wrong things. And for others of us, life just happened. Or life will happen, or life DID happen. And it left us wondering where God is. And what to do next.
Here’s a tough truth for a lot of us today… This is the path many of us are on. We are on our way towards this type of thirst. This type of burn out. One day we are going to wake up the harsh reality that the party is over.
But our culture does SUCH a good job at distracting us doesn’t it? We can just hop from one party to the next and not even realize what’s happening. There’s always some other achievement, some other thing to buy, some other relationship, some other tv show to watch. There’s always that next thing to do when for when our current thing ends. There’s always that next party to go to when our current ends.
So we can trick ourselves into thinking that the party is never going to end. And listen those things aren’t bad things… Jobs, family, promotions, money, goals… Those are all good. But those good things can become distracting things. Those good things can keep us from focusing on the ultimate things.
My guess is… That’s many of your thoughts this morning. You’ve been bouncing from thing to thing, party to party. And now you are onto that next thing. Maybe a raise, lose some weight, fix that relationship… And right now you are thinking… What do I need this for? I’m doing just fine. I don’t feel like I’m panting for water. I feel fine. Better than fine actually… I’m doing great.
The reality is when you build your foundation, you put your hope, you get your worth. In anything other than God you will eventually find the party ends. You will eventually be like that deer. Maybe not today. Maybe not this year. But it will come.
So the question is what can we do?
This Psalm isn’t over yet. The Psalmist goes on to tell what we can do in this situations when they happen. And how to get from God what we cannot do for ourselves. We are going to look at what else the Psalmist writes to see how he gets himself out of this…
These things I remember as I pour out my soul: how I used to go to the house of God under the protection of the Mighty One with shouts of joy and praise among the festive throng. Why am I discouraged? Why is my heart so sad? I will put my hope in God! I will praise him again— my Savior and 6 my God! Now I am deeply discouraged, but I will remember you even from distant Mount Hermon, the source of the Jordan, from the land of Mount Mizar. Psalm 42:4-6
The first thing he does is he Reflects on the Past. He’s at a point where he’s questioning God and whether or not He’s there and whether or not he cares. And the first thing he does is he reminders himself that God has been faithful in the past. All those weird places and locations held meaning and memories. They were both distant in time and location. But he’s remembering when he was there and what God did then. ??Remember and reflecting is important, but we don’t like to do that. It’s always onto the next thing in our culture. But we must reflect on where we’ve been.
Story of 2017 not being a good year… It’s important for me to reflect on the past. Because the present wasn’t good and it was tempting to take my trust away from God.
He continues…
The Second thing he does is he Declares his Confidence in God. Look back at verse 5… I will put my hope in God… Catch this… Even though his circumstances are bad.
I’m tempted to base of faith, and my level of trust in God. Based on how good my life is. But the problem is sometimes life isn’t good.
Now I don’t have time today to answer this question… But come back for this next series “God Can’t Handle This…”
We might not call it this… But a lot of our faith is based around Karma. You do good you get good, you do bad you get bad. We don’t call it that, but that’s what it is. Listen that’s not our faith. Our faith is that you get the opposite of what you deserve.
Faith shows the reality of what we hope for; it is the evidence of things we cannot see. Hebrews 11:1
Declaring your confidences is just saying that you believe that what God says is true… Even when it doesn’t make sense.
I heard faith described this way once… Think of it as a tapestry… Look at the back, it’s just a mess.
That’s faith… That’s what it means to have confidence. That even when life doesn’t make sense, that you will trust that God can see what you cannot. And that he will guide you through it.
He ends with…
Why am I discouraged? Why is my heart so sad? I will put my hope in God! I will praise him again— my Savior and my God! Psalm 42:11
The final thing that he does is he Anticipates the Future. He reflects, he displays his confidence, and then he anticipates the future. If God can do all this in the past, surely he can work out the future.
Maybe you can relate to me… But this last step is hard for me… I know God has been good to me in the past. The only reason I am who I am today is because he’s got me here. But I doubt that he has the best intentions in mind for my future…
Application
So what do we do with all this?
If we were to take a poll of this room right now we would find a lot of different approaches to the new year. Some of you are on fumes, 2017 beat you down, you barely got here, the party ended a long time ago and it’s been rough. Some of you are ready to hit the ground running and you have a long list of goals to get your there, the party is just starting for you. Others you’ve been hopping from party to party for awhile and 2018 for you is shaping to be the same.
But here’s the reality. Wherever you are, however you approach 2018, if you don’t put God at a priority in your life, the party is going to end. You are going to be left to clean up the pieces.
What God is offering us is offering is not a life in which the party never ends. He’s not offering an easy life. He’s not offering that if you trust him you will get what you want. He does offer you peace in the midst of the storm. He does promise to never leave you. And he does promise that at the end of the day, that he’s got it all under control. Nothing surprises him and nothing happens without his knowing.
So what can you do this year to live this way? What can you do this year to live as the Psalmist lived?
Prioritize Your Life
We always say you have to make God first in your life. And if you actually sit down and think about that, that doesn’t really bring any clarity.
Accurately prioritize your life. Your family is important. Your job is important. But don’t let a good thing, become an ultimate thing.
Here’s a good tool to figure out what’s most important in your life. What do you think about most? What’s the first thing on your mind in the morning and the last thing at night? There’s a good chance that that thing is the most important thing in your life.
Make sure that the most important things are getting the most attention. That doesn’t mean you ignore everything else. But often we give the most important things are leftovers and spend the most time on things that don’t matter. Flip that around.
Place Your Ultimate Hope in God
You will be let down this year. Something will go wrong. And if you put your hope in that next thing, that next party, you will be let down.
It’s so easy to put your hope into the next thing isn’t it? Or let your hope be dashed by your circumstances. ??So often what I have to do is raise my head about by current circumstances and remind myself what God has said. How do I do this?
That’s not to say you will never be let down, we all will. But when you place your hope in God you will never be destroyed.
Conclusion
We have one final party in 2017… And it’s going to end… That’s not up for debate. The question is where will you find yourself after the party ends?
I know… There’s always something else to do. But those pursuits will leave you thirsty. If you’ve been going, going, going… for a long time now. and now you are ready to go for the next thing. You got a long list of things to do in 2018. Maybe this year you focus on putting God at the top of that list.
Maybe for you, your just on fumes… Maybe you need to pull your head above your circumstances, remind yourself of what God’s done in the past, and place your hope and trust for 2018 in him.
We are all standing on something. WE are all putting our hope in something. But if we put our hope in anything other than God we will be let down.
Prioritize your life… Put your hope in God this year. That won’t equal an easy life, that’s not God’s promise. But he does promise to not only be with your through whatever comes, but to sustain you through whatever comes.
