Does anybody in here know what it’s like to FEEL OUT OF PLACE?
I do....
One day a few years back....When I was working in the Retail Business....
We had driven to Memphis, TN for a Hardware Convention.....
Bobby and Teresa were in their SUV leading the way.....
.... and Debra and I were following them in a Truck with a 26ft van box on the back.....
We’re just riding along in downtown Memphis....
....when folks began STARING and POINTING as us.....
....and the other drivers were giving us some really STRANGE LOOKS.....
Come to find out...We were driving the WRONG WAY down a ONE WAY street....
Talk about feeling OUT OF PLACE......I Did.....
...It wasn’t MY FAULT....of course.....
I was just FOLLOWING Bobby.......He led me the wrong way.....
He said "I can’t believe you just followed me down that one way street."
but see the problem was this.....
I didn’t KNOW where I was going.....
and when you don’t know where you’re going....It’s EASY to go the WRONG WAY.....
It’s easy to just go with the flow and do what everybody else is doing....
and If you’re not CAREFUL....
you’ll not only NOT GET WHERE YOU WANT TO BE....
but You’ll end up going the wrong direction Altogether.....
And you don’t to be LOST to do it....
I wasn’t LOST ...technically........I knew where I was.....
I was in Downtown Memphis
But I didn’t know How to Get to Where I wanted to Go.....
Some of you hearing this message today are in that same Place SPIRITUALLY.....
You know WHERE you are....but you don’t know HOW to get where you want to go.....
And You FEEL OUT OF PLACE.....
...Maybe you Feel as if you, are in a STRANGE LAND
Maybe because of circumstances or situations around you.....
...you are feeling Insecure, confused or even Rejected....
...Maybe you feel inhibited, stifled or even paralyzed.....
and Maybe You’ve lost all hope that It can be BETTER.....
...some of you have all but stopped trying....
That’s what happened to God’s People when Psalm 137 was written....
Let’s read the first 4 verses.....
Psalms 137:1-4 By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion.
2 We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof.
3 For there they that carried us away captive required of us a song; and they that wasted us required of us mirth, saying, Sing us one of the songs of Zion.
4 How shall we sing the LORD’S song in a strange land?
God’s people had been taken hostage and NOW they were slaves in a foreign land.....
...the land of Babylon....
Babylon is the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew word Babel....and it means CONFUSION.....
So the people of God were held in bondage in CONFUSION......(think about that)
and as they thought about how things "Used to Be.....how they OUGHT to Be"......
..they just sat down and wept.....
These were God’s people and they were used to the good life....
They had been living in God’s Promised Land....
...they were used to singing and rejoicing.....
...they were used to being free and living in God’s Blessing.....
But now, they had lost their Homes and their freedom......
And they had forgotten who they really were.....
They were stuck in a STRANGE LAND of Confusion......
And they did what so many folks do when they don’t know what to do......
they Paralyzed their future while they longed for the past....
and all it did was make them MISERABLE......
They said in verse 1 "we wept, when we remembered Zion."
To them Zion was JUST a place....
To the Israelites Zion represented a Way of Being.....
It was their place of Strength, Security and Honor.....
It was their place of Pride and Self Satisfaction.....
....but Zion is MORE than a JUST a Place.....
It was the place that represented the Presence of God......
Isaiah 8:18 talks about the "LORD of host which dwells in mount Zion"
It’s not that He LIVED there and there alone.....but.......
God had chosen to meet them at Zion........
He had put His Presence there......
It was their Point of Contact.....
Zion was to be their point of Communion with God.....
It’s where they should have gotten Acquainted with Him.....
...to learn the HOW and the WHY of His ways.....
Zion was to them what Jesus is to us.....
He is our Way to the Father’s Presence.......
In Jesus we come into Contact with God.........we see God and learn about Him.....
Through Jesus we come into RELATIONSHIP with God Himself.....
and it’s In Christ we Live and Move and Have our Being.....
John 1:4 In him was life; and the life was the light of men.
They had been living in Zion but Zion was never Living in them.....
In their minds ....They were missing the PLACE and Position.....
But....What was really MISSING.....
....what they really needed was that Fellowship with the God that gave them that Position.....
People do the same thing today.....
Some look for a Wealthy or a Healthy Place....
They say "Oh if I just had enough money....... if I could just be well......"
Some are looking for a Successful Place.....
they say "I just need another big Investment...another promotion....a Bigger House or a Better Car....."
.....THEN I will Concentrate on what’s really important.....
but it’s NEVER ENOUGH.....
Still others say "If I just had more time...." or "....If I could just have this thing or that...."
THEN I Could be really HAPPY....
.....then I can Sing Again.....then I could be a Joyful person....
....maybe even then I could be a Christian.....
But THOSE THINGS aren’t going to MAKE YOU any different....
They may make your CONDITIONS seem better for a while.....
But If you are Discontented and Empty when you are poor....
When you get money....You just be a Wealthy Discontented Person.....
Outward Things Don’t have the Ability to CHANGE what needs to be changed in our lives.....
You say "it will mine,....You just don’t know what I’ve been through...."
No I don’t ....but God Does.....,
And the Bible says in 1 Cor 10:13 it says There has no temptation taken you but such as is common to man....
The truth is ....You and I are just like everybody else in what we go through.....
We may go through it at different times or stages in life....
but the problems of life are basically the same for everyone.....
and Jesus is the Way out of ALL of them.....
It’s satan that wants you to think that YOURS is a SPECIAL CASE....
because then he can get you to EXCLUDE yourself from the answer.....
....then you can have an EXCUSE for why you don’t do what you MUST DO to change your situation.....
The Israelites said in verse 4 "How can we sing the Lord’s song in a strange land."
You may be thinking the same thing....
How can I Worship God from where I AM?.....
How can I live for God without this or that in my life......
How can I get from Where I am to Where I really Need to Be?
HERE’S HOW.....
1st.......You need to Know what Israel had forgotten....
It doesn’t matter WHERE you are BUT WHERE YOU ARE FACING......
Paul said "Looking UNTO Jesus the author and finisher of our faith....." Heb 12:2
God is not Restrained TO ......NOR can He be Contained IN a certain PLACE....
Psalms 139:7-10 Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence?
8 If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there.
9 If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea;
10 Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me.
God is Omnipresent....He’s Everywhere....
Solomon said in 2 Chronicles 6:18 ..... Behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain You. How much less this temple which I have built!
Solomon went on to say..... in verse 20 That God would .... hear the prayer which Your servant prays toward this place.
We have to TURN toward God and Call on Him from Where we are.....
and trust that even where we are HE CAN STILL REACH US if we Call out to Him.....
2nd.....You have to Start Doing What you KNOW to Do....RIGHT WHERE YOU ARE....
Listen to what God told Israel to do while they were in Babylonian Captivity.....
Jeremiah 29:5-6 Build ye houses, and dwell in them; and plant gardens, and eat the fruit of them;
6 Take ye wives, and beget sons and daughters; and take wives for your sons, and give your daughters to husbands, that they may bear sons and daughters; that ye may be increased there, and not diminished.
Don’t say, "when I get all my bills paid off....then I’ll start giving like I know God wants to give...."
"....when I can Retire, I’ll take time to read my Bible Pray more...."
"....when I can get my work caught up around the house, I’ll start to work for the Lord...."
And this is the WORST one....
"When I can get myself straightened out so I won’t be a Hypocrite....then I’ll become a Christian."
It will NEVER HAPPEN......
You will die a sinner and split hell wide open....
Getting from WHERE you are to WHERE you WANT TO BE requires STARTING where you ARE....
....not where you wish you were.....
3rd......You have to Turn Away from the things that brought you to Babylon (Confusion)
If you get from where you are to where you want to be....
You will have to Do some things Different....
I’m not saying that God will MAKE you give up things....HE WON’T....
BUT......He does Expect You Consider HOW you got WHERE you are....and make the NECESSARY changes YOURSELF....
Haggai 1:5-7 Now therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts; Consider your ways.
6 Ye have sown much, and bring in little; ye eat, but ye have not enough; ye drink, but ye are not filled with drink; ye clothe you, but there is none warm; and he that earneth wages earneth wages to put it into a bag with holes.
7 Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Consider your ways.
We need to Understand that it’s not GOD’S WAYS that get us into the Problems.....
It’s OUR WAYS that are the Problem.....
We blame the devil and anybody else we can for our sin....
but James 1:13-15 says.... Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man:
14 But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.
15 Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.
We need to Consider the End of our Actions.....
If every time we Talk to a certain person WE END UP GOSSIPING about someone....
We need to STOP it or NOT TALK to that person .
If We are in Constant FINANCIAL Trouble and YET ....
....we are ALWAYS buying NEW CLOTHES....or Guns...or Magazines or Whatever.....
The devil is not STEALING your money....You are WASTING it.....
We need to just STOP BUYING the NON ESSENTIALS.....
If we end up in a FIGHT every time we go to a ball game....DON’T GO to the BALL GAME.....
Other things Maybe will be things YOU HAVE TO DO instead of NOT DO....
but if we would just STOP....THINK....and Weigh our actions....
much of the Junk in our lives would Go Away......
You need to know that ....God doesn’t just Want you to have to be Delivered all the time....
He wants you to LIVE in the HIGH PLACES......
He wants you Living Healthy, Prosperous, Successful lives....
with....Long Life and Blessings and honor OVERTAKING you at every turn.....
and if we would just PAY ATTENTION to how we get into most of the Messes in our lives....and
...CHANGE WHAT WE ARE DOING......
Much of our Confusion and Sorrow could be Avoided.....
Not ALL of it....some things really are not your fault...but MUCH of it....
In Jeremiah 2:13 there are 2 things God said that PRECEDE our going into captivity and Confusion.....
Jeremiah 2:13 For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.
(we think there are 100’s of ways we get messed up...but God shows us right here that these 2 are USUALLY at the root)
1st...He said "they have forsaken ME the fountain of living waters.
That simply means...they REJECTED God....
All of our trouble begins with us turning away from God...by our own CHOICE....
We don’t choose the TROUBLE but we choose something over God’s Will and it always leads to trouble....
And you can’t commit the 1st evil without committing the 2nd.
....Going to broken cisterns that can hold no water.....
If God is the Source of ALL THAT’S GOOD....
and James 1:17 says that He is.....
James 1:17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.
Then when we turn away....Failure and Trouble is Inevitable because that’s all that’s left.....
One day a bunch of the folks following Jesus left because they didn’t like what He said.....
.... Jesus asked His disciple IF they too would go away....
Peter made another Landmark Statement of truth when he said.....
"Where shall we go...ONLY YOU have the words of eternal life....."
That’s the choice plane and simple....
Where ever else you go is FUTILE and USELESS.....
because Only He is the source of life....
If you’re in a Strange Land today.......
If you’re not where you want to be...but you Just Don’t quite know HOW to get there from where you are.....
Let me Invite you to do what these captives we’ve read about today did....
They CALLED on the LORD.....
and the Bible says "He heard them and He Delivered them"....Over and Over and Over again......
And He is still Delivering those who CALL on Him today....
He is the Source of LIFE in all it’s Glory....in all it’s FULLNESS.....
And He doesn’t just want you SURVIVING....He wants You THRIVING......
