GOD WILL MAKE A WAY
Isa. 43:11-19
INTRODUCTION
A. HUMOR: The Preacher & the Ghost
1. A new preacher wanted to rent a house but the only one available was rumored to be haunted. That didn’t bother the preacher since he didn’t believe in such things. He went ahead and rented the place. Soon the ghost made its appearance.
2. The preacher told his friends about the ghost, but they didn’t believe him. They told him the only way they’d believe was if he took a picture of the ghost.
3. So the next time the ghost appeared, the preacher pointed his Nikon camera and flashed a picture. But when he re-examined the photo, the ghost wasn’t there.
4. So the next time he saw the ghost, he asked why it hadn’t appeared in his photo. The ghost replied, “Well, I guess the spirit was willing, but the flash was weak.”
B. TEXT
11 “I, even I, am the Lord, and apart from me there is no Savior. 12 I have revealed & saved & proclaimed—I, and not some foreign god among you. You are my witnesses,” declares the Lord, “that I am God.” 16 This is what the Lord says—He who MADE A WAY through the sea, a path through the mighty waters, 17 who drew out the chariots and horses, the army and reinforcements together, and they lay there, never to rise again...18 “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. 19 See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am MAKING A WAY in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland” Isa. 43:11-12, 16-19.
C. THESIS
1. As you study the history of Israel, you will find out that God always made a way for them – A way out of Egypt, A way across the Red Sea, A way in the wilderness, and a way into the promised land.
2. Just as He made a way for them, He’ll make a way for us. I’m glad I serve a God of infinite power!
3. Today, we’re looking at how “God Will Make a Way” for You. He will...
I. BECAUSE HE’S YOUR HELPER...
The Bible says, “...draw near to the throne of grace, that [you] may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need” Hebrews 4:16.
A. IN THE TIME OF TROUBLE
He’s a PRESENT HELP IN EVERY TIME OF TROUBLE! God says, “Call upon Me in the day of trouble: I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me” Ps. 50:15.
1. TROUBLES HAPPEN TO EVERYONE
a. You might say, “Preacher, I don’t have any troubles.” Well, then put this message in your pocket, because you’ll need it sooner or later.
b. Two great men, Job and Paul, both experience numerous troubles, but they found that God made a way for them.
2. ILLUS.: IT’S DARKEST JUST BEFORE DAWN
a. The story is told of an only survivor of a shipwreck who was thrown on an uninhabited island. After a while he managed to build himself a hut, in which he stored the little that he had saved.
b. He prayed to God for deliverance, and anxiously scanned the horizon each day for any passing ship. One day, returning from hunting for food, he was horrified to find his hut in flames—all he had had gone up in smoke. What else could happen to this poor man? But what seemed bad was really for good.
c. The next day a ship arrived. “We saw your smoke signal,” the captain said. The destruction of his temporary hopes was the means of his permanent salvation. God “works all things together for good” (Romans 8:28).
3. ILLUS.: HOW THINGS WORK FOR GOOD. David said in Psalm 138:7, “Though I walk in the midst of trouble, You will revive me; You will stretch out Your hand against the wrath of my enemies, and Your right hand will save me.” NKJV
a. Wallace Johnson, builder of numerous Holiday Inn motels and convalescent hospitals, said, “When I was forty years old. I worked in a sawmill. One morning, in a fit of temper, my boss shouted, ‘You’re fired!’
b. Depressed and discouraged, I felt like the world had caved in on me. During that dark time, my wife & I greatly needed my small wages. I went home & told my wife what had happened.
c. She asked, ‘What are you going to do now?’” I replied, ‘I’m going to mortgage our little house, and start a construction business.’ My first venture was the construction of two small buildings. Within five years, I was a multi-millionaire!
d. “Today, if I could locate the man who fired me, I would thank him. At the time it happened, it seemed like the worst thing, but later, I saw that it was God’s favor on me to push me into the way of His choosing!”
B. GOD WILL MAKE A WAY IN TIME OF YOUR TEMPTATION
1 Cor. 10:13, “There has no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that you are able; but will with the temptation also MAKE A WAY TO ESCAPE, that you may be able to bear it.”
1. LEAD ME NOT INTO TEMPTATION
a. Alexander, a little boy, was trying to save all the money he could to buy a baseball bat. But money was hard to come by. One night, as he said his prayers, his mother heard him pray, “O Lord, please help me save my money for a baseball bat. And, Lord, please don’t let the ice cream man come down this street!”
b. Temptation often comes -- not at our strongest -- but at our weakest moments. Even Jesus was tempted. Our steadfastness in temptation can speak louder than all that we can say. Conversely, one compromise can spoil a lifetime of witness.
2. HOW TO OVERCOME TEMPTATION
a. Leslie Dunkin says, “I once learned a lesson from a dog we had. My father used to put a bit of meat or biscuit on the floor near the dog and say, “No!” and the dog knew he must not touch it. But he never looked at the meat. He seemed to feel that if he did so, the temptation to disobey would be too great, so he looked steadily at my father’s face. There is a lesson for us all. Always keep your eyes on the Master’s face. [Leslie E. Dunkin]
b. Martin Luther told how he responded to temptation; “When [the devil] comes knocking upon the door of my heart, and asks ‘Who lives here?’ I have the Lord Jesus answer the door, and He says, ‘Martin Luther used to live here but he has moved out. Now I live here.’ When the Devil sees the nail-prints in His hands, and His pierced side, he takes flight immediately!”
c. It’s good for every believer to have Jesus as a permanent resident. Putting Jesus in charge of your life will ensure the devil stays under your feet!
C. GOD WILL MAKE A WAY OVER CONFLICTING CIRCUMSTANCES
1. Psalm 34:6 “This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles.” Prayer & faith in God will turn the tide when you’re opposed.
2. ILLUS.: PRAYER FOR THE RAIN TO STOP
a. It was almost time for the “Old-fashioned Revival Hour” to go on the air. The broadcast was originating in a tin-roofed tabernacle in Waterloo, Iowa.
b. As Dr. Charles Fuller stood on the platform before the microphone, a heavy rain began to fall and pound upon the tin roof, making it impossible for the broadcast to go forth with its Bible-saturated message.
c. Dr. Fuller prayed, “Lord, if You don’t stop the rain, the Old-fashioned Revival Hour will not be able to go out over the air. For Jesus’ sake, please stop the rain!”
d. Within three minutes, the rain stopped suddenly, and the program went out without the slightest interference. But five minutes after the close of the service, the torrential downpour resumed. PTL!
3. GOD WILL MAKE A WAY...
II. BECAUSE HE CAN – HE’S GOD!
A. IS ANYTHING TOO HARD FOR THE LORD?
1. Some of you may be saying, “I don’t know; the problems I’m facing are so big or complicated, I don’t think even God can get me out of this mess!”
2. That’s where you’re wrong! The Mighty God says, “I am the God of all flesh; is there anything too hard for Me?” Jer. 32:27. No matter how impossible the situation looks, nobody else can do what God does! He’s in a class all by Himself.
B. WHY EGYPTIAN STATUES HAVE NO NOSES
1. Edward Bleiberg, an overseer of Egyptian art, was surprised when he was asked why the noses or ears were uniformly missing from the statues of ancient Egyptian gods. He thought, “Over time they must have been damaged.” But he discovered another reason.
2. Ancient thieves believed that the statues, placed around burial sites to protect them, were actually gods. So the thieves thought that if they knocked off the noses with a hammer, the god could no longer exhale its spirit. If they knocked off its ears, the god could no longer hear what they were doing when they robbed the tomb. They were limiting their god’s abilities!
3. Aren’t you glad the True God is not like idols? He sees all and has all power; “I’m the God of all flesh; is there anything too hard for Me?” This means YOUR GOD can handle whatever comes your way!
4. Lastly, “God Will Make a Way....”
III. BECAUSE HE LOVES YOU & HAS PROMISED
A. HE’S MOTIVATED BY LOVE FOR US. God’s greatest motivation to save us is because He loves us. Love can always find a way to do what it wants to. JESUS’ LOVE FOR US WILL NEVER FAIL!
B. FALSE & TRUE CLAIMS OF LOVE
1. Many CLAIM to love us, but nobody loves you like Jesus! In 1991, a story surfaced from Operation Desert Storm about a soldier who got a "Dear John" letter. While others around him were getting wonderful love letters from their girlfriends back home, this poor guy got a letter from his girl that said they're through.
2. She was getting married to someone else back home and, adding insult to injury, she asked him to return the picture of her that he had. She wanted to use it as the picture she put in the newspaper of her engagement to the other guy!
3. The poor guy was devastated. When his buddies found out, they hatched a plan. Soldiers from all over the camp handed over photos of their girlfriends. There were hundreds of photos.
4. The jilted soldier put all the photos in a shoe box and mailed it home with a note. "Please find your picture," he wrote, "but please return the rest. For the life of me, I can't remember exactly which one you are!"
5. Aren’t you glad God doesn’t just talk about loving us, but He’s demonstrated it with the most raw humility – being born as a baby, living among us & suffering death for us!
6. “WHO IS A GOD LIKE UNTO THEE?” Mic. 7:18. Who is like our God? What God has died so His followers could go to Heaven? Yet our Jesus has – it’s historical fact! God loves you with an everlasting love!
CONCLUSION
A. ILLUS.: CAN YOU SLEEP THRU A STORM?
1. It’s like the man who applied for a job on a farm. The farmer asked him what his qualifications were, and the man said, “Well, I can sleep through a storm.” The farmer thought that was a strange answer, but he needed a farm hand, so he hired him.
2. One night a couple of weeks later the farmer woke up and heard the rain pouring down and the wind howling. He got up & went to check on the farm.
3. He found that the barn was closed up tightly and all the animals were alright. All the equipment was in the shed where it belonged, and in general, everything was in good shape.
4. It was then that it dawned on the farmer what his new farm hand had meant when he told him he could sleep through a storm. He meant that he did his work so well when he was supposed to, that he didn’t need to worry if a storm blew up in the middle of the night.
5. We need the kind of relationship with God so that we can “sleep through a storm:” to approach spiritual things with a sincere & serious attitude and examine all the proofs of Jesus’ life & resurrection, until we reach the place that we have a confident faith. You can start that journey this morning!
B. THE CALL
1. I am thankful that God can make a way in the time of troubles. How many of you need some intervention from God in some areas of your life?
2. Have you been thinking that God can’t see or hear what you’re doing? You need to repent, because nothing’s hidden from Him!
3. Do you need an assurance of God’s love for you? We can pray that God may help you personally experience His love. He wants you to feel His love.
4. PRAYER
