Finding God’s Way in Life’s Wilderness
Psalm 25:1-9 (New International Version)
1To you, O LORD, I lift up my soul; 2in you I trust, O my God. Do not let me be put to shame, nor let my enemies triumph over me. 3No one whose hope is in you will ever be put to shame, but they will be put to shame who are treacherous without excuse.
4Show me your ways, O LORD, teach me your paths; 5guide me in your truth and teach me,
for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long. 6Remember, O LORD, your great mercy and love, for they are from of old. 7Remember not the sins of my youth and my rebellious ways; according to your love remember me, for you are good, O LORD.
8Good and upright is the LORD; therefore he instructs sinners in his ways. 9He guides the humble in what is right and teaches them his way.
INTRODUCITON: Looking for the Right Path.
During Superbowl 37, FedEx ran a commercial that spoofed the movie Castaway, in which Tom Hanks played a FedEx worker whose company plane went down, stranding him on a desert island for years. Looking like the bedraggled Hanks in the movie, the FedEx employee in the commercial goes up to the door of a suburban home, package in hand.
When the lady comes to the door, he explains that he survived 5 years on a deserted island, and during that whole time he kept this package in order to deliver it to her. She gives a simple, “Thank you.”
But he is curious about what is in the package that he has been protecting for years. He says, “If I may ask, what was in that package after all?”
She opens it and shows him the contents, saying, “Oh, nothing really. Just a satellite telephone, a global positioning device, a compass, a water purifier, and some seeds.”
Like the contents in this package, the resources for growth and strength are available for every one who will take advantage of them. Such resources for growth are found in a living relationship with Jesus Christ. Back in the Old Testament, a leader named David discovers that even amidst life’s pressure, confusion, failure and daily living, God provides a way through life’s wilderness. Today let’s look at 4 situations that show how God leads through life’s wilderness.
SITUATION 1. When you are in distress, TRUST God to PROTECT. Elbert Hubbard in his essay, “A Message to Garcia,” defined faith “as the effort to believe what your common sense tells you is not true.” Sounds more like a good definition of superstition than faith.
People sometimes do not realize how big a part faith plays in every day life. It takes faith to eat in a restaurant. It takes faith to deposit money in a bank or in a mutual fund. It takes faith to sign a contract, drive on the highway, or get on an airplane or elevator. The Journey of Faith isn’t some kind of religious experience for the elite, it’s the glue that helps hold people’s lives together. But remember, faith is only as good as its object. If we trust people, we can what people can do; if we trust money, we get what money can do. If we trust ourselves, we get what only we can do. If we trust God, we get what God can do.
When the pressure is rising in King David’s life, when his enemies are after him, he puts his faith and trust not in other people, not in wealth, not even in himself, he puts his trust in God. He says in Psalm 25:1-3, 1LORD, I give myself to you; 2my God, I trust you. Do not let me be disgraced; do not let my enemies laugh at me. 3No one who trusts you will be disgraced, but those who sin without excuse will be disgraced. -- (New Century Version)
We are saved not because of who we are, but who God is. We are saved not because Jesus waited for us to make it where He is, but comes to us where we are. Jesus comes into a world filled with distress and offers Himself and what He can do, and even more what He did do on a cross to make us our own.
In another Psalm, David lays out this challenge in Psalm 27:14, Trust in the Lord. Have faith, do not despair. Trust in the Lord. -- (Today’s English Version)
SITUATION 2. When you are in confusion, SEEK God to guide. I recently received an e-mail that took a closer look at the word guidance.
When I meditated on the word GUIDANCE, I kept seeing “dance” at the end of the word. I remember reading that doing God’s will is a lot like dancing.
When 2 people try to lead, nothing feels right. The movement doesn’t flow with the music, and everything is quite uncomfortable.
When 1 person releases and lets the other lead, then both begin to flow with the music. One gives gentle cues, perhaps with a nudge or by pressing lightly in one direction or another. It’s as if two become one, moving beautifully.
Dance takes surrender, willingness, and attentiveness from one person and gentle guidance and skill from the other.
My eyes drew back to the word GUIDANCE. When I saw “G,” I thought of God, followed by “u” and “i.” “God, “u” and “i” dance.” This statement is what guidance means to me. As I lowered my head, I became willing to trust that I would get guidance about my life. Once again, I became willing to let God lead. Asking God to lead and for God to Guide is David’s prayer request in Psalm 25:4-5, 4Show me how you work, God; School me in your ways. 5Take me by the hand; Lead me down the path of truth. You are my Savior, aren’t you? -- (The Message)
Billy Graham noted, “Faith is the avenue of salvation. Not intellectual understanding. Not money. Not your works. Just simple faith. How much faith?
The faith of a mustard seed, so small you can hardly see it. But if you will put that little faith in the person of Jesus, your life will be changed. He will come with supernatural power into your heart. It can happen to you.”
What a great desire of God that in the midst of our confusion, He wants us to seek Him as our guide. David declares in Psalm 27:11, Point me down your highway, God; direct me along a well-lighted street; show my enemies whose side you’re on. -- (The Message)
SITUATION 3. When you sin, ASK God to FORGIVE. Notice I said “when,” not “if.” It’s not a question of “If I sin …” The reality is “When I sin …” And unfortunately, that process begins early in life. A recent study discovered the 8 Rules of Toddler Ownership:
1. If I like it, it’s mine.
2. If it’s in my hands, it’s mine.
3. If I can take it from you, it’s mine.
4. If I had it a little while ago, it’s mine.
5. If it’s mine, it must never appear to be yours in any way.
6. If I’m doing or building something, all the pieces are mine.
7. If it looks just like mine, it’s mine.
8. If I think it’s mine, it’s mine.
Did you notice the key word is mine? Sociologists discovered that the key question Americans use to evaluate life is, “What’s in it for me?”
I am surprised. I thought that “What’s in it for me?” had been the question since the world first fell into sin, and needed God’s forgiveness. In Psalm 25, David on 3 occasions asks for forgiveness. The first time is recorded in Psalm 25:6-7, 6Remember, O Lord, your kindness and constant love which you have shown from long ago. 7Forgive the sins and errors of my youth. In your constant love and goodness, remember me, Lord! -- (Today’s English Version)
In December 1974, ten-year-old Christopher Carrier was abducted by one of his father’s ex-employees, David McAllister. McAllister stabbed young Christopher with an ice pick, shot him in the head, and left him in swampland in Florida. Incredibly, Christopher survived, but was blinded in one eye.
For years, he struggled with fear and anger over the attack. The police just couldn’t make the case stick against McAllister. But as a teen, Christopher found spiritual healing in his church. He went into youth ministry, and became a very effective counselor to teens. But deep in his heart, Christopher wondered what he would do if he ever met McAllister again. In 1996, police finally coaxed a confession out of Christopher’s attacker. They also offered Christopher a chance to meet with McAllister. Over the next few weeks, Christopher forgave his attacker, and led him to Christ. The next day, David McAllister died. Can God forgive like that? The shocking but good news is that He can. It’s why God shares his desire to forgive by saying in Isaiah 43:25, But I wipe away your sins because of who I am. And so, I will forget the wrongs you have done. – (Contemporary English Version)
SITUATION 4. When you live, FOLLOW God to SIGNFICANCE. David says in Psalm 25:8-9, 8The Lord is good and glad to teach the proper path to all who go astray; 9he will teach the ways that are right and best to those who humbly turn to him. -- (The Living Bible)
Corrie ten Boom was a courageous Dutch woman who was interned in a Nazi prison camp during World War II because her family helped to hide Jewish people from the Gestapo. During her imprisonment, Corrie endured some of the worst degradation a person can experience. Her sister, Betsy, died in the camps. But through all her suffering, Corrie never lost her faith in God. She defined faith as:
F antastic
A dventuring
I n
T rusting
H im
Life lived with God is a daring adventure that God through His Son Jesus Christ invites us to have and to experience. God is the path to eternal success and lasting significance. Sometimes we wonder which we should go, and what God would have us to do. So James reminds us to ask God for help in James 1:5a, If you need wisdom—if you want to know what God wants you to do—ask him, and he will gladly tell you. -- (New Living Translation)
CONCLUSION: You must become part of me.
Years ago a tightrope walker named Blondin stretched a 2-inchsteel cable across the gorge of the Niagara Falls, attracting a large crowd. “How many of you believe that I can carry the weight of a man on my shoulders across this gorge?” he asked.
The crowd shouted and cheered their belief that he could do it. Sure enough, Blondin picked up a sack of sand weighing about 180 pounds and carried it across the falls.
Then Blondin asked, “How many of you believe that I can actually carry a person across the gorge?” Many people in the crowed indicated that they thought he could do it. Then Blondin called out, “Which one of you will climb on my shoulders and let me carry you across the falls?”
Suddenly there was silence. Everyone wanted to see Bondin carry a person across the gorge and many believed that he could. But nobody wanted to put his life in Blondin’s hands.
Some time later Blondin carry a man across Niagara Falls. The man was Blondin’s manager, who had known the tightrope walker personally for many years. “You must not trust your own feelings, but mine,” Blondin told his manager, as they prepared for the crossing. “You will feel like turning when we don’t need to turn. And if you trust your feelings, we will both fall. You must become part of me.”
This is what faith in Jesus is: knowing Him personally and entrusting our eternal life into His hands. We must become part of Him. Trusting Him in life’s wilderness to lead us no matter the situation nor the circumstance. By faith in Christ, He becomes part of our lives leads us on each day. Amen.
