“The God of “HOW” and “WHEN”
Nehemiah 2
So let me begin with a story that goes back 25 years ago. My wife and I were feeling led to start a brand-new church. We were serving here , locally in a larger church where I was associate pastor. The church we were serving owned some property in a different part of town and they were hoping to start a new church on that very spot. Made sense. Actually, we thought, what an opportunity that might be for us. But along the way the lead pastor made the decision to give it away to another church. He was friends with a pastor whose son wanted to start a church there as well. So long story short, the property went to him. For free. Seven acres of property.
A couple of years later, we still felt led to start a new church, so we started the adventure. The first place that was offered to us was a funeral home on Ridge Road. My initial reaction was nope, not a good idea – we want to build something that speaks life into people. A funeral home just doesn’t do that. 24 hours later God completely changed my mind. That became the first of three buildings we would eventually meet in – all on Ridge Road.
Fast forward to 2000 and 21 and the pandemic was here. Things were difficult for everyone- financially and otherwise. We had continued all those 20 years to look for a place – we easily looked at 50 different places during that time before one reason or another God was not in them. In our previous building, our landlord had raised our rent, and he told me he would do it again and basically, we would just have to deal with it. So, I already had it in mind to move and I told him so – but he never believed we would. Because he didn’t think we had any choice but to stay there. In the midst of all of this God was at work in a powerful way. Now as I said last week,
Whenever everything is taken away from you,
God is not finished.
In fact, He is just getting started.
Seemingly out of nowhere the director of the Florida Baptist Convention called me and said, “David I know you’ve been looking for a long time for property to relocate and I have an idea. There’s a piece of property that is about 10 minutes away and it’s now for sale. I think you should consider it and if you decide to move, you should move on it fast.” So, we did. Six months later we moved into this property. Now here’s the part you may not know. The property that was given away over 20 years ago to another pastor – the one we really wanted – is the very place we are sitting on today.
Whenever everything is taken away from you, God is not finished.
In fact, He is just getting started.
20 years was a long time for us, but it wasn’t for God. What’s 20 years after all to him? I heard of a man who was taking it easy, just laying out in the grass, looking at the clouds and decided to talk to God. He says, “God, how long is a million years? He says well just like a minute. He says oh well how much is $1,000,000? God says to me it’s a penny. The man said, well can I have a penny? 😊 God says, sure in a minute. 😊It Is a mistake to put God on our timetable but don’t ever give up on your dream – because God is just getting started.
Nehemiah is beginning to see that. Jerusalem has been burned down –-- it has been in ruins for literally decades, but Nehemiah still has a vision; he still has a dream. Now those dreams can seem impossible at first. After all this property was given to someone else. I wasn’t thinking about this property as much anymore and if God is in it, that’s what really matters, right? Look at this.
From the beginning, just about every vision God gives us seems impossible.
Why? God’s ways are not our ways. His thoughts are not our thoughts. And when we don’t feel capable, He is capable. Here’s some Good news. When you have this vision, it sort of fills you up and you just must share it and when you do there can be some interesting responses. You share the dream, and they sort of look at you like, “well that’s an interesting idea.” Shaking their head no. Means that’s never happening. So perhaps that’s why Nehemiah kept his mouth shut for so long. Nehemiah was a slave. He worked for the king. The temple had been torn down; the city had been destroyed – this had all happened for a reason. Because they didn’t pose a threat to anyone, now. Add to the fact the walls have been down for about 150 years. So, it seems impossible.
Think about it.
• You are married to an unbeliever, and you want a Christian marriage.
• Maybe you’re considering changing jobs but it’s a lot to tackle at once.
• You’re thinking of starting your own business. This can be overwhelming. Doesn’t look like there’s any way to pull it off.
From the beginning, just about every vision God gives us seems impossible. There are always obstacles. Remember while you may not realize it, God saw all this coming and He has been working behind the scenes the entire time. From the time Nehemiah had been a young boy, God was engineering his circumstances. He grew up to be trustworthy; and people noticed. Someone recommended him to the king and suddenly, he was the cup bearer to the king. Now, so far, we have put into place 3 building blocks. We are building the wall with Nehemiah.
Building block #1. Prayer.
Building Block #2. Start looking. Keep the vision out front.
Building block #3. God’s favor.
Building block #4. God is using your circumstances to position and prepare you to accomplish his vision for your life. Whether God is working behind the scenes or He’s out on the mainstage, He is always in control. You never know just how close you might be to a breakthrough. But God does. Now to be successful as we mentioned earlier in chapter one, we must realize what success really is. Success is when you accomplish a goal, a dream, a vision. Nehemiah was building a wall. So, when did Nehemiah feel successful? I would say he felt successful the day he laid the last brick. But it wasn’t the last brick that made him successful, it was the journey. Every single one mattered. So learn to see your success along the way. He was successful when he accepted the vision, the dream. In other words, count the progress along the way. For this: waiting time is not wasted time.
Building block #5. What God originates, He orchestrates. What God starts, He finishes. We see this all over Scripture.
1. Mary. The angel Gabriel comes on the scene and says, “Mary you’re going to have a baby.” She asked the logical question. How can this be since I am a virgin? Luke 1: 34. Verse 37. Nothing will be impossible with God. Is never a problem with God. Not up to us to figure out how to do something that God tells us to do. 2. Moses didn’t have to figure out a way to get the Israelites through the Red Sea. He led the people in that direction and God parted the waters. 3. Jesus told the Apostles to feed the 5000. They’re like, well this is all we got, how do we do this? That’s when we must remember what God originates, he orchestrates. What He starts He always finishes. If God gives you a dream, a vision, don’t second guess him as to “how” he is going to pull it off. Keep your focus on him. 4. Peter is s a great example of this. Jesus tells him to step out of the boat, walk on the water. He does and he’s fine – until he loses his focus – he takes his eyes off Jesus. If he kept his eyes on Jesus how was not the issue. God’s like, I got this. But the moment he lost focus, he’s now treading water. All these dreams we consider,
• seeing that family member get saved.
• seeing that new business take off.
• putting your marriage back together. That’s God’s specialty.
But just in case you missed it, the last 12 times I said it, “how” is not a problem for God. If God has any problem, in fact it’s us. Never think God can’t do it. Never think you can do it alone. Here is what you need to be saying to yourself.
God believes in me; therefore, my situation is never hopeless.
God walks with me; therefore, I am never alone.
God is on my side; therefore, I cannot lose.
All of us have a long list of weaknesses. We know exactly what they are. We could name them all. We have them memorized. But let me ask you, would you like to make them public today? Just tell everybody everything that is wrong with you. Type them on a piece of paper, copy it about 1000 times and pass them out to as man y as possible. 😊 How would you feel if they were posted on a billboard down on Main Street for everyone to see? There is one who knows every fault you have and still loves you more than anything. And He knows the list. Satan tries to keep a list as well. as one for sure. But listen Jesus knows what they are, He just chooses not to remind us. Satan will remind you daily. If you go to the hill of Calvary, all your flaws and imperfections and sins are listed there but no one can see them because Jesus has covered them up. Covered. Hidden. Hidden by his nail scarred hands, covered by his blood. All your sins are literally blotted out by Jesus. You might say, but for how long? How long will God forgive? How long will He cover them up? How long will He love us? Cause I keep thinking about them. They’re gone. Forgiven. Forgotten. Forever. The answer is at Calvary. On an old rugged cross. When you look at the cross there’s Jesus, crown of thorns, nails in his hands and feet, bleeding for us. The soldiers spit on Him. They punched Him in the face. He’s covered in blood, spit and soaked with our sins. No one else would ever do that for you. But guess what? You don’t need anyone else to do it. His opinion is the only one that matters. In Romans 8 Paul posed this question …. If God be for us, who can be against us? You may say Pastor there are a lot of people who against me. Always remember …… He is the ONLY ONE WHO MATTERS.
