One Thing's for Sure : Life Is Uncertain [1 ed.] 9781590958490, 9781590958483

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ONE THING’S FOR SURE: Life is Uncertain

Dr. David Belk

TotalRecall Publications, Inc. 1103 Middlecreek Friendswood, TX 77546 281-992-3131 www.totalrecallpress.com

ONE THING’S FOR SURE: Life is Uncertain Published and distributed worldwide by TotalRecall Publications, Inc. Contents Copyright © 2008 by Dr. David Belk International Standard Book Numbers: Paper Back ISBN: 978-1-59095-848-3 UPC: 6-43977-58848-7 eBook: ISBN: 978-1-59095-849-0 UPC Number 6-43977-58849-4 Unless otherwise noted, Scripture quotations are from: The Holy Bible, New International Version © 1973, 1984 by International Bible Society, used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. Printed in the United States of America, Canada and England ALL RIGHTS RESERVED No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without prior written permission.

Belk, Dr. David. One Thing’s For Sure / Dr. David Belk 1. Christianity. 2. Prayer. 3. Faith. 4. Fear. 5. Uncertainty. 248.4—dc22

For Meredith, my partner in uncertainty.

TABLE of CONTENTS Before You Begin............................................................................. 1 ~ 1 ~ One Thing’s For Sure ......................................................... 5 ~ 2 ~ Been There, Done That ..................................................... 13 ~ 3 ~ Don’t Forget to Remember............................................. 23 ~ 4 ~ Assumptions .......................................................................37 ~ 5 ~ Try This Instead ................................................................ 43 ~ 6 ~ The Opportunity............................................................... 53 ~ 7 ~ When God Disappears .................................................... 59 ~ 8 ~ One Man’s Journey ........................................................... 65 ~ 9 ~ The Big Break ......................................................................73 ~ 10 ~ Then Do That ..................................................................... 83 ~ 11 ~ A Sigh of Relief .................................................................. 89 For Further Study........................................................................94 About the Author ........................................................................ 96

One thing’s for sure: Life is Uncertain

~0~

Before You Begin

Before You Begin Life is uncertain. (Yes, I have a gift for the obvious). But it is. One minute things are good. The next minute they’re not. In an instant, the circumstances in your life can change. Your spouse no longer wants to be married. Your kids won’t be coming home. The doctor’s report isn’t good. Your boss calls you in and gives you the bad news. Your financial portfolio has taken a turn for the worse…again. And so you wonder. About yourself. About your future. And even about God. You wonder if things will ever be the same again. And you ask, “What do I do now?” This book is about dealing with the uncertainty in our life. When life is uncertain, we struggle to know just what to do. In the following pages, we’ll answer the question: what do you do when you don't know what to do? Because every once in a while you won't know what to do. Sometimes it is clear what you need to do. Sometimes it is not. In fact, let me just give you a little heads-up: most of the time, it will not be. So when life is uncertain we do the only thing we know to do: we talk to God about it. We try to hear his voice, but it is very hard to hear from him. Unfortunately, God doesn't text-message. He doesn't email. He doesn't IM (that’s Instant Messaging for you non-computer folks). Most of the time in our uncertainty, God is just silent. And it's very easy to confuse his silence with his absence. We tend to look at other people’s lives and ~1~

One thing’s for sure: Life is Uncertain

circumstances, where God seems to be really active, and then look into our own and say, "I don't see him doing anything." Maybe you asked that special someone for a date and she said, “No.” Then your friend called her and she said, “Yes.” And he didn't even pray! He just called her, right? Makes you wonder, "God, what's up with that?" Maybe at work things seem to be going good for everyone else, but you. Your co-workers who don’t even believe in God get the raises and the promotions. You ask God about it and he’s silent. Maybe someone you love is sick and as a Christian, you have prayed that God would bring healing. As it stands now, nothing has happened. God doesn’t seem interested. And yet, your friend, who doesn’t even believe in God, shares the news that her loved one is doing much better. Maybe you’re thinking back to times in your life where God seemed so real and so alive. Then you look at your current circumstances and you wonder, "God, where are you?" You say things like, "God was it really even you back then? Because at the time it seemed it was you, and now I don't see you doing anything. Now I'm beginning to doubt. I'm beginning to second-guess my history with you.”

~2~

Before You Begin

There are going to be times in your life, even as Christians, where God's going to be silent. The problem is it’s in the uncertainty that we need to hear from him the most. But we don’t. And that leaves us wondering, “What do I do now?” If it hasn’t happened already, there will come a time in your life when you face uncertainty. And your first response will be to talk to God, and he’ll seem so far away. You’ll search for him and he won’t be found, and you are going to think he's absent. Or that he's not interested in helping you with your uncertainty, so it seems. I'd like to share with you what to do when that happens. I am going to share with you four key words or four things to do when you face uncertainty. Each one comes from Scripture. If you’ll do these four things, you’ll have the confidence of knowing that God is always active in your uncertainty, even when you can’t see him. That’s for sure.

~3~

One thing’s for sure: Life is Uncertain

~4~

One Thing’s For Sure

~1~ One Thing’s For Sure If you have ever flown on a commercial airplane, you are probably familiar with the “Fasten Seatbelt” sign. When the “Fasten Seatbelt” sign comes on, it usually means either you’re taking off, or you’re landing, or there is turbulence in the air. We expect the seatbelt sign to come on when we are taking off. That’s no big deal. And we do not mind it coming on when we are landing. It’s the third reason the sign comes on that gives us the most trouble: turbulence. You might find this interesting and helpful the next time you fly. I found this on the Federal Aviation Administration’s website: “While turbulence is normal and happens often, it can be dangerous. Its bumpy ride can cause passengers who are not wearing their seat belts to be thrown from their seats without warning. To keep you and your family as safe as possible during flight, FAA regulations require passengers to be seated with their seat belts fastened: When the airplane leaves the gate and as it climbs after take-off. During landing and taxi. Whenever the seat belt sign is illuminated during flight.”

~5~

One thing’s for sure: Life is Uncertain

NOW YOU KNOW The problem with being on an airplane when the “Fasten Seatbelt” sign comes on is you don’t know what is going to happen. You are settled in your seat, and then suddenly there is turbulence and you don’t know if it’s a little turbulence or a lot. In preparation for this book, I called an uncle of mine who is a retired Captain for Delta Airlines. I asked him, how did he know when to turn on the “Fasten Seatbelt” sign? Here’s the gist of what he said: If there is a turbulence report from another pilot, they turn it on. If the weather radar indicates turbulence, they turn it on. If the meteorological forecast indicates turbulence, they turn it on. If there are certain cloud formations, they turn on. If the wind shifts, they turn it on. The last two are interesting: “Gut feeling and when our head hits the ceiling of the cockpit!” Funny, eh? The other thing he told me that was interesting was if it is light turbulence, the flight attendant picks up the microphone and says, “The captain has turned on the ‘Fasten Seatbelt’ sign because we are experiencing some light turbulence.” If it is moderate to heavy turbulence, the pilot picks up the microphone and says, “’Fasten your seatbelt.” So now you know, the next time you fly and the flight attendant says “Fasten your seatbelt,” you’ll probably be okay. If it is someone from the cockpit, start praying because you’re in for a rough ride. (Aren’t you glad you bought this book?) ~6~

One Thing’s For Sure

The other funny thing is that in the pilot’s manual, it says, “You should not fly the plane into a thunderstorm.” I’m glad they wrote that in there, aren’t you? I assume pilots just know that, but the manual explains why pilots shouldn’t fly into a thunderstorm. It says, “If you cannot avoid penetrating a thunderstorm, the following are some do’s before entering the storm.” Here’s the first one: “Tighten your safety belt.”

NATIONAL TURBULENCE There is a sense in which the “Fasten Seatbelt” sign has come on for our entire nation. September 11th 2001, was a defining day for us. Everyone remembers where they were on that day. Suddenly we hit some major turbulence and the “Fasten Seatbelt” sign came on and we had no idea what was happening in our nation. There was a sense in which we felt like we lost control. The truth is we’ve never been in control, but as Americans we love to think we are. We work hard to have a lifestyle where we feel like we are in control. Then September 11 happened, and suddenly the future became different. Financially the future became different because trillions of dollars were lost in a matter of hours. People lost jobs. Companies laid off employees. Many lost their retirement income. The future became different because for thousands of families in this country, at Thanksgiving and Christmas, there was an empty seat. Since then we’ve seen brave and courageous young men and women go overseas to war. The stock market ~7~

One thing’s for sure: Life is Uncertain

continues to fall. As I write, some argue that our economy is headed into a recession that may be worse than what we experienced in the mid 1970’s. The future has become different. There is national turbulence, and we are not sure how long it is going to last. And our eyes are glued to the sign saying, “When is it going off?” We turn on the evening news and we realize maybe the sign isn’t going off for a while. The “Fasten Seatbelt” sign is on and we just don’t know what to do. What we do know is that our nation and our world is not what we thought it would be a few years ago.

PERSONAL TURBULENCE It’s not just a national thing though, is it? It’s personal. In the last few days, or weeks, the “Fasten Seatbelt” sign has come on in your life. Maybe it’s with your kids. Maybe in your marriage. Maybe in your finances. Maybe with your health. There is turbulence in your life and suddenly the future looks different. Maybe you’ve lost your job or you might soon lose your job. And you have your eyes glued to the seatbelt sign wondering, “Are things going to get better or get worse?” Ready for the good news? The Bible, which has been around for a long time, was written during times of uncertainty. In fact, did you know that every single author of the Bible wrote during uncertainty in their personal lives? Your favorite Bible story was written within the context of uncertainty. The men and women that fill the pages of the Bible were no strangers to the kind of ~8~

One Thing’s For Sure

uncertainty and turbulence that we’re experiencing personally and nationally. Every single story in the Bible is about uncertainty. It’s about stress. It’s about death and threats of death. It’s about facing enemies, famine and curses. The entire book is full of uncertainty. Everything in it was written from a context much like we face today and in most cases worse. All of that to say, that as we face our own uncertainty, and find that our lives are challenged with marriage issues, family issues, job and financial issues, we have God’s word about what to do when we face uncertainty. The difficult thing is what we want to find in the Bible isn’t there. Because what we want to find is how to have a sustained rally on Wall Street, right? We want to find three quick ways to end terrorism and the uncertainty that comes along with terrorism. Where are those verses? We ask, “God, if you are going to help me deal with uncertainty, tell me how to deal with the specifics. Show me the verses that tell me how to get a job, or a better job. If you want to help me with uncertainty, God, give me some verses.”

~9~

One thing’s for sure: Life is Uncertain

THE CONTROL MYTH I need to let you know this up front: the frustrating thing about the Scripture is that it is a constant reminder about who is ultimately in control. It reminds us in whom we can ultimately place our trust. It reminds us that we are not in control and we never have been. And that we can’t place our trust in ourselves. But in God’s word it reveals how to survive and thrive in times of uncertainty. Remember, it’s all the biblical writers ever knew. If that’s not enough, we have hundreds of years of history where men and women who put their faith in God who have survived all kinds of uncertainty and came through it with hope, faith, and peace. As we read their biographies, we would ask them, “How did you do it?” They would say, “Ah, the answer is in Scripture. If you want to know what to do when you face uncertainty, it is in God’s word.” Now, if you’re not really a religious person, or a church person or even a Christian, you probably don’t buy in to the “Bible” stuff. But the truth is the uncertainty of these times has impacted you too, right? I mean, this isn’t just a Christian problem. This is an “us” problem. So you may be facing uncertainty in your life and you’re not sure what to do, either. Well, stick with me because even though you may not buy into what I’m saying, as we open God’s word to see what he says about uncertainty in life, here is what I want you to think about: if the Bible doesn’t hold the answer, what are you going to do? Basically your options are either ~ 10 ~

One Thing’s For Sure

to worry, or to live in fear. You see, if you are not a Christian, you have a lot to worry about. If there is no God who is in control, then it is up to you to control the uncertainty in your life. And you and I both know there’s not much we can do about what’s happening in our lives. As most of us have seen and experienced, when you don’t do what the Bible says about uncertainty, eventually your fears and your worries consume you emotionally. You experience the frustration, fear and anxieties that come along when life is uncertain. If you want to escape all that, then keep reading. Let’s take a look at what you do when you don’t know what to do.

~ 11 ~

One thing’s for sure: Life is Uncertain

~ 12 ~

Been There, Done That

~2~ Been There, Done That Okay, I need to be upfront with you. This is probably not what you had hoped for in your struggle with uncertainty. The first thing you do is…(drum roll please)…pray. I know what you are thinking: I bought this book for that? Hang with me. I have no doubt that when uncertainty first hit your life, your started praying. As soon as you received the doctor’s report, you started praying. As soon as you learned of your layoff, you started praying. As soon as you heard the bad news, you started praying. The last thing you want to hear is just pray. In fact, you may be thinking, “Don’t tell me to pray David, I have already prayed and it hasn’t helped a bit. I try to pray and I am not even sure anybody is up there listening. What do you mean just pray?” Again hang with me because we’re going to peel back the surface of prayer and I’m going to try to explain somewhat of a complicated passage that holds an incredible promise when it comes to dealing with uncertainty in our lives. If you have your Bible handy, I want you to turn with me to the book of Philippians. You’ll find it located in the New Testament. Go ahead and grab your Bible. I’ll wait. Glad you’re back. Here is the context for the passage ~ 13 ~

One thing’s for sure: Life is Uncertain

we’ll look at together. Philippians was a letter written by a man named Paul. Like most of the people in the Bible, Paul wrote in uncertainty. He was a Jewish man who believed that Jesus was the Messiah. After Jesus had left this earth Paul came to believe that God wanted him to go all over the world and tell people that Jesus was the Messiah. When Paul arrived in Jerusalem, he began teaching people that they were saved by grace and not the works of the law. Well, that didn’t sit too well with the Jewish leaders and an uproar began in the city. Word of the uproar in Jerusalem reached Rome and a Roman commander took soldiers to Jerusalem to arrest Paul. After trying to plead his case, it was decided that Paul should be sent to Rome and tried as a Roman citizen. Along the way there is a shipwreck. Finally, he gets to Rome and he’s put into prison, awaiting trial.

NERO It’s important to remember that because Paul did not write this letter from a beach somewhere. He is not spouting off some country club philosophy. He is in prison. At this time, the emperor of Rome was Nero. Remember Nero? Remember how he loved Christians? I’m kidding, of course. Nero hated Christians. He built arenas in order to persecute them. He even launched an international campaign to rid the world of Christians. He fed them to lions, burned them at the stake, and conducted other horrible experiments using Christians. He was one twisted emperor. ~ 14 ~

Been There, Done That

So here is Paul, in a Roman prison, awaiting trial and Nero is the emperor. That’s the background for the book of Philippians. The reason I tell you that is because when we look at what Paul says, the temptation will be to close your Bible and say, “Well I’m so sure. Paul would not say that if he knew what was going on in my world. Just visit my life and say that. Just visit my marriage and say that. Paul you are so unrealistic.” But let me caution you at this point: be careful not to dismiss what Scripture says about uncertainty because those who wrote Scripture faced it like most of us never will. In the passage that follows, there is a secret that if we can get a hold of it, it will take us a long way down the road to finding peace in the midst of uncertainty.

GETTING IT In your Bible, look at Philippians 4:4. You’ll notice Paul starts off quite unrealistically. “Rejoice in the Lord always.” I know what you’re thinking: “You have to be kidding?” Nope. In case you were wondering if you heard him correctly, he repeats himself, “I will say it again Rejoice!” In other words, he says, “Look, you are so bent out of shape, and so worried about what’s going wrong, rejoice! Find joy in this.” Our response? How do you find joy in a situation like the one I’m in? How do you find joy in this? Paul says, “You don’t get it. You are thinking like everybody around you. Everybody around you believes things are spinning out of control. They are asking, ‘What’s going to happen? There is ~ 15 ~

One thing’s for sure: Life is Uncertain

no rhyme or reason. There’s no purpose.’” Paul says, “Have you forgotten? The Lord is near.” God has not lost control. God hasn’t gone anywhere. We can have joy in the midst of uncertainty because God is near. Paul tells us “Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near.” In other words, in the midst of your uncertainty, don’t sacrifice your character. In the midst of the pressure, don’t start doing the wrong thing in order to correct something that you cannot correct anyway. Be the person God has called you to be. How am I supposed to be a person of character in my situation? How can I be joyful in these circumstances? He goes on, “Do not be anxious about anything.” Again, we want to close our Bible and say, “Paul, you don’t get it do you? You don’t know what’s going on in my life.” The word anxious means to be distracted by the fears of the future. When you’re anxious you’re distracted by the fears of the future. You look at the uncertainty in your life and you are afraid of what’s going to happen. You are afraid of what might be. You are afraid of what could be. You are distracted by your fear of the future. We shouldn’t be distracted emotionally or distracted by our fear of the future over anything. Again, we would say, “Paul, you don’t know what’s going on in my life. How can you face this kind of uncertainty and not be anxious? Is that even really possible?” Paul, chained wrist to wrist to a Roman guard, trying to get enough slack to write, would say, “Yeah, I can tell you all about it. What you have to do is you have to ~ 16 ~

Been There, Done That

pray.” To which we say, “We have prayed and it didn’t do any good. I tried that. Tell me something else Paul.” Take everything you are anxious about and “In everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” Notice what he doesn’t say? What he doesn’t say is, “Say a prayer. Just tell God what’s going on and everything will be alright.”

TAKE YOUR TIME Paul says take the time you need, and through prayer with thanksgiving; present your requests to God. He uses very interesting wording and very interesting grammar in Greek. Literally, here is what it means: unveil the mystery of your desires to God. Your Bible might say, let your requests be made known to God. In other words, we should take some time and through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, talk to God. Which means this is not a 30 second prayer. Rather it’s a “Slow down-get alone-get on your knees, and grapple with God” thing. And in that moment, unveil or unwrap the mystery of what you long for and truly desire.

THE NITTY GRITTY In any area of your life where there’s uncertainty, there’s always something else: fear. In that fear resides a desire or a longing that you have. You may not have ever thought about it in those terms, but it’s true. For example, the reason you worry about your job is because you are afraid that your family will not be cared for. The reason you are anxious about your children is because you are afraid ~ 17 ~

One thing’s for sure: Life is Uncertain

for their safety. With uncertainty comes fear and in that fear is a desire. In the midst of uncertainty, you have to get beyond all your circumstantial prayers and grapple with the thing that you truly desire. That is what it means to unveil your request and let it be made known to God. As you identify the reason for your fear and the reason you are worried, somewhere packed in that fear is a desire, or a longing. If you can ever get to that, and hand that off to your Father in heaven, you will hear him whisper, “I can handle that. Place into my hands that which only my hands are capable of handling.” It’s not simply about your job, or your children, or your marriage, or your finances. Those are surface issues. There is something else you desire. There is something else that’s driving your fear. And once you discover it, you hand that to God. Then you will walk away with a quiet sense of confidence that God is going to be with you and will take care of you. Maybe an illustration would help. Here’s a man who’s lost his job: Here’s how the conversation might go: “Oh Lord, I‘ve lost my job. I need a job,” he says. God asks, “What are you afraid of?” “I am not afraid of anything. I just need a job.” “What are you so worried about?” asks God. “I am afraid that…” responds the man. “Aha, so you are afraid?” interrupts God. “Okay I am afraid. I am afraid that if I don’t have a job, I won’t be able to support my family.” “So what is it that you want?” asks God. ~ 18 ~

Been There, Done That

“I want to know my family will be taken care of,” he responds. God replies, “I can take care of them.”

NO FEAR So let me ask you, what is it that’s causing you to be afraid? Would you get alone with God and give him your undivided attention long enough to unpack your request? Would you be willing to take the time to unpack your fears and find out what it is you truly desire? And then would you place that in God’s capable hands? When you do, you will find peace.

PROMISES, PROMISES You can live through these uncertain times with peace. Here is God’s promise, “The peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” The peace that comes from God is not the kind of peace the world gives. The peace the world gives is this: “As long as things are great, I have peace. But as soon as something happens in my life, or my finances, or with my children or health or whatever, suddenly the peace is gone.” God gives a different kind of peace. It is the peace of God, not the peace of circumstance. It is a peace that “Transcends all understanding.” Literally it says, “The peace of God which surpasses every thought of man.” In other words, there is no way a person can explain this kind of peace. Man’s peace is tied to circumstances. The peace of God is tied to the presence and character of God. When you unpack your fears and ~ 19 ~

One thing’s for sure: Life is Uncertain

place into God’s capable hands that which only he is capable of handling, in the end, you have peace. If you will get over your 30 second prayer life of “help me, give me, and change this,” you’ll have peace. If you will get alone with God in prayer and if you’ll unpack your fears and discover what it is you truly desire, you will have peace. If you will place what you truly desire in God’s hands, then he will give you peace that will stand guard over your emotions, your thoughts, and your heart. No one will understand because it transcends all human comprehension. When it comes to praying in the midst of uncertainty, we need to get past “Oh God, help me, change it, and bless me” kind of prayers. Make the time to get alone with God and deal with whatever it is you are mad about, or upset about and uncertain about. Stay there long enough to discover, and to reveal the desire of your heart. Once you identify it, then place it in the hand of God who is more than capable of carrying it. Then guess what you will get to do? You will get to walk away with peace, knowing you have left with God that which only he can handle anyway.

~ 20 ~

Been There, Done That

KICK START I would like to sort of kick start this process for you. Some of you need this now. Others of you may need this later. I want to lead you through a mental exercise. This will help you place into God’s hands what God’s hands are capable of handling. Take a minute and reflect: What is your greatest concern right now? What are you afraid will happen if it comes true? Somewhere in that fear is what you really want. Somewhere in that fear, you will discover what you truly desire. There, in that fear, is the request that you must make known to God. Somewhere in that fear is a request that he wants you to unpack and hand to him. When you do, you will hear him whisper in your heart, “I will take care of that for you.”

~ 21 ~

One thing’s for sure: Life is Uncertain

~ 22 ~

Don’t Forget to Remember

~3~ Don’t Forget to Remember There are certain things that all of us would like to forget. There are also certain things that we cannot afford to forget. One thing we cannot forget is God’s past faithfulness in our life. Here’s why: God’s faithfulness in our past gives us hope for the future. If you or I forget what God has done for us in the past, then as we face the uncertainty of the future, we’ll experience fear. If we don’t remember God’s faithfulness in our past, we will forget to factor him into our future. If suddenly in the midst of uncertainty in your life, whether it is in your family, or your finances, or with your job, if you look into your future, and you forget to factor in God, it will seem bleak. If you look into your future and forget God’s past faithfulness, it will seem hopeless. There is uncertainty. And that kind of uncertainty and that sense of hopelessness and helplessness have the power to drive us into all kinds of unhealthy arenas.

~ 23 ~

One thing’s for sure: Life is Uncertain

I CAN’T JUST SIT HERE Let me show you. Think of your biggest regret. Chances are you allowed fear to drive you into that regret. It could have been a relationship, or a financial decision. You knew at the time, it wasn’t the best thing or wise thing to do, but you were afraid. You looked into the future and had so much anxiety and so much fear, you made a bad decision. Now you regret it. You felt like, “I can’t just sit here. I have to do something.” Uncertainty causes us to fear and that fear drives us to do things we would not ordinarily do. In fact, we would counsel other people not to do what we are considering doing. When we forget God’s faithfulness in the past, we’ll forget to factor him into our future.

THE MAN WHO FORGOT For the next few chapters, we are going to look at the story of a man who forgot God’s past faithfulness. As we read his story, you will find yourself asking, “How could he forget? Look at all God had done in his life.” This story reminds us of ourselves. In the midst of our day to day living, with family stuff, and money stuff and job stuff, we find ourselves afraid, and overwhelmed with worry. God looks down and says, “After all I have done for you how could you be so afraid?” It’s simple: because when I forget God’s past faithfulness, I forget to factor him into my future and then I am overcome with worry and anxiety. His story is found in 1 Kings 17 in the Old Testament. Allow me to set up the story. The first King of Israel was Saul. Following Saul was King David, and then after David ~ 24 ~

Don’t Forget to Remember

was Solomon. At the end of Solomon’s reign as the king of Israel, the nation was divided into two parts. The northern country retained the name Israel, and the southern country became the nation of Judah. (When you are reading the Old Testament, sometimes the two can be confusing.) Israel and Judah functioned independently. Sometimes they were at odds with one another. Other times they came to each other’s aid. This story happened after the nation had been divided. In the years that followed, both nations had a series of wicked kings. (Occasionally they were ruled by a good king.) The king we are going to read about was the 8th king of Israel, and his name was Ahab.

A GIRL NAMED JEZEBEL You may not have heard of Ahab, but I imagine you have heard of his wife, Jezebel. Not a name we use a lot. In fact, I don’t know anyone named Jezebel, do you? Ever had someone say to you, “This is my daughter. We named her Jezebel”? Me neither. You do not hear that because Jezebel is associated with many negative things. This story is how all that came to be. Here is what happened. Ahab was king of Israel and he was a terrible king. He married outside of Israel which God said, “Don’t ever do that.” He married a girl named Jezebel and brought her into Israel. But she didn’t come alone. She brought her foreign, pagan gods with her. After a while, every one stopped worshipping the one true God and started to worship Jezebel’s god, Baal. It wasn’t too long before Jezebel started to run the country. ~ 25 ~

One thing’s for sure: Life is Uncertain

Ahab, her husband, was a weak king and did pretty much whatever Jezebel said. (Wimp.) The Bible says Ahab did more evil than all the other kings before him. So God sent Elijah the prophet which he would typically do, to say to Ahab, “You need to get your act together, or some bad things are going to happen.” So Elijah comes to Ahab and says, “Here’s what God says: ‘because of your sin and the wickedness of the worship of Baal throughout the nation, I am going to stop the rain.’” Here’s how the story reads in 1 Kings 17. “Now Elijah the Tishbite, from Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab, ‘As the LORD, the God of Israel, lives, whom I serve, there will be neither dew nor rain in the next few years except at my word.’ Then the word of the LORD came to Elijah: ‘Leave here, turn eastward and hide in the Kerith Ravine, east of the Jordan. You will drink from the brook, and I have ordered the ravens to feed you there.’” So Elijah delivers this message to Ahab and then he leaves town. “Sometime later the brook dried up because there had been no rain in the land. Then the word of the LORD came to him: ‘Go at once to Zarephath of Sidon and stay there. I have commanded a widow in that place to supply you with food.’ So he went to Zarephath.” God provides Elijah everything he needs and when there is no water, God sends him to the home of a widow. What’s interesting is this widow lived in the hometown of Jezebel. A little ironic because we find out later in the story, Ahab is upset with Elijah because of his prophecy that there would be no rain. Sure enough, there was no rain. In fact, it would not rain for three years! ~ 26 ~

Don’t Forget to Remember

So Ahab is very angry and he sends people out all over Judah and the surrounding nations searching for Elijah. All the while, God is hiding Elijah in Jezebel’s hometown. Kind of ironic, don’t you think?

IS IT RAINING YET? “After a long time, in the third year, the word of the LORD came to Elijah: ‘Go and present yourself to Ahab, and I will send rain on the land.’ So Elijah went to present himself to Ahab. Now the famine was severe in Samaria.” God sends Elijah back to Ahab and says, “Okay to prove I am the Lord God, I will send rain.” “So Obadiah went to meet Ahab and told him, and Ahab went to meet Elijah.” Let me tell you what this is all about. Elijah is on his way to meet Ahab and he runs into a fellow named Obadiah who was in charge of Ahab’s palace. He says, “Hey Obadiah. I have come to meet with Ahab. Would you please go tell him I would like to meet with him?” Obadiah says, “Hold on a minute. Do you realize Ahab is trying to kill you? If I go tell him I found you and I come back and you are gone, he will be so angry he will kill me.” Elijah says, “Do not worry. Tell king Ahab I want to meet with him because I have a message from the Lord.”

WATCH WHAT HAPPENS (Remember Ahab had not seen Elijah for three years and he’s mad.) “When he saw Elijah, he said to him, ‘Is that you, you troubler of Israel?’ I have not made trouble for Israel,’ Elijah replied. ‘But you and your father's family have. You have abandoned the ~ 27 ~

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LORD's commands and have followed the Baals. Now summon the people from all over Israel to meet me on Mount Carmel. And bring the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal and the four hundred prophets of Asherah, who eat at Jezebel's table.’” Ahab meets Elijah and Elijah tells him, “I have a message from the Lord. Meet me on Mount Carmel and bring all the prophets of Baal and the prophets of all the other pagan gods you have been worshipping and we are going to have a “God” contest. I am going to prove once and for all that the God of Israel is the only true god.”

LET THE GAMES BEGIN Elijah and the prophets of Baal arrive at Mount Carmel and begin to build an altar to Baal. Get the picture: eight hundred prophets of Baal are building this incredible altar. Then Elijah makes this challenge, “We will build two altars with wood and place the animals on the altar like we are going to sacrifice them to our gods. But let’s not light them on fire. Let’s ask our gods to light them on fire. You go first.” The prophets of Baal and the prophets of Asherah begin to pray and to plead with their god to light the altar and demonstrate to all the people Baal is the true god. Hundreds of them are praying and going through all these rituals trying to convince their god to light the altar. Well this becomes kind of humorous to Elijah because this has been going on a half a day. “At noon Elijah began to taunt them. ‘Shout Louder!’ he said. Surely he is a God! Perhaps he is deep in thought, or busy, or traveling. Maybe he’s sleeping and must be ~ 28 ~

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awakened. So they shout louder and slashed themselves with swords and spears.” Elijah, sitting by himself, begins to taunt these prophets because he knows Baal is a false god. He isn’t real and Elijah knows nothing will happen, so he begins to tease them. In the meantime, 800 prophets of Baal are trying to prove their devotion to Baal by cutting themselves with knives. “Midday passed and they continued their frantic prophesying until the time for the evening sacrifice. But there was no response, no one answered, and no one paid attention.” Meanwhile, Ahab is sitting off to the side watching all this. Elijah walks over to his altar site and actually rebuilds the old altar where the nation of Israel used to worship the true God. The significance? There hadn’t been any worship of the true God in the nation of Israel for quite some time. Elijah rebuilds the old altar, puts the wood on it and then tells the people to pour water all over the altar. Now, we’re all smart people. We know you don’t pour water on an altar you’re about to light on fire. “Go ahead and pour water on it,” he said. They did. Then they add more and more water and the Bible says there was so much water flowing off the altar it filled up the trenches surrounding it. Then Elijah, reminding Israel of their history, begins to pray, “O Lord, God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, let it be known today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant and have done all these things at your command” He continues: “Answer me, O Lord, answer me, so these people will know that you, O Lord, are God, and that you’re turning their hearts back again. Then the fire of the Lord fell and burned up the sacrifice, the wood, the stones and the ~ 29 ~

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soil, and also licked up the water in the trench. When all the people saw this, they fell prostrate and cried, ‘The Lord—he is God! The Lord— he is God!’” Of course, what else can you do in a situation like that?

THE HERO Elijah then gives them this command: “’Seize the prophets of Baal. Don’t let anyone get away!’ They seized them, and Elijah had them brought down to the Kishon Valley and slaughtered there.” Ahab cannot believe it. Sure enough, there is a cloud that forms in the sky and it begins to rain. Elijah becomes a hero. If you are Elijah, you are “da-man.” He took on eight hundred of Baal’s prophets and single handedly brought them down. As a result, he began a revival in the nation of Israel that has now turned back to faith in God.

HONEY, I’M HOME Then something interesting happens, and this is where the story turns. Ahab had gone back home and guess who is there waiting for him? Jezebel. She is not happy about the story. Ahab recounts for her what happened: “You wouldn’t believe it. Our prophets cut themselves and did all that stuff you’ve taught them to do and it didn’t work. Baal never showed up. Elijah prayed this simple prayer, and fire came down and licked up all the water and then he slaughtered all of our prophets.” While Ahab is telling Jezebel the story, you can guess what she’s thinking, “Wait until I get my hands on Elijah, the prophet.” In fact, Jezebel sends Elijah this message: “May the gods ~ 30 ~

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deal with me, be it ever so severely, if by this time tomorrow I do not make your life like that of one of them.” In other words, Elijah, by this time tomorrow, you’re going to be like my dead prophets. Now, if you’re Elijah, what would you do? Okay remember, God has taken care of you for three years when there was no water. God sent ravens to feed you. Then he sent you to Mount Carmel and it is you against eight hundred prophets and you won because God sent fire from heaven. Then some woman sends you a threatening message. Are you worried? Are you afraid?

MAN ON THE RUN Elijah was. The Bible says “Elijah was afraid and ran for his life.” You read that and you think, “Afraid? Afraid of what? The King of the nation just fled in front of you. You have won. It’s over. What are you afraid of?” Elijah was afraid and in his fear, he ran to a place called Beersheba, about 100 miles away. It would have probably taken him a couple of weeks to travel there. The story continues: “When he came to Beersheba in Judah, he left his servant there, while he himself went a day's journey into the desert. He came to a broom tree, sat down under it and prayed that he might die. ‘I have had enough, LORD,’ he said. ‘Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors.’” Die? Take my life? Do you feel like you missed something in the story? What is going on with him? Elijah runs away and ends up falling asleep under a tree. God sends an angel who tells him to get up and eat. ~ 31 ~

One thing’s for sure: Life is Uncertain

He got up, ate and drank. The Bible says, “Strengthened by that food, he traveled forty days and forty nights until he reached Horeb, the mountain of God. There he went into a cave and spent the night.” Remember, he is about two months walking distance away from where all the action is. I love this next part. I want you to read this next part carefully because this is God’s question for you in your uncertainty. Think about all God has done for you. It’s easy to forget what God has done in your life, isn’t it? When you forget what he’s done for you, you find yourself making decisions based on fear and worry. You make decisions based on what’s happening in your circumstances. That leads you to panic which, in turn, leads you to all kinds of strange places. We are just like Elijah. In our fear we run and get ourselves into situations we have no business being in because we’re afraid of what the future might hold.

THE QUESTION AT HAND God asks Elijah a very penetrating question, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” Can you picture this conversation? “Elijah, you’re 200 miles away. What are you doing here? Have I missed something? Didn’t I care for you?” asks God. “Yeah,” responds Elijah. “And didn’t I provide for you when there was no water?” God asks. “Uh-Huh.” “And didn’t I send you to the widow?” ~ 32 ~

Don’t Forget to Remember

“The widow? I remember her,” says Elijah. “Weren’t you the one I saw on Mount Carmel with 800 hundred prophets of Baal and I sent fire?” “That was me alright,” says Elijah. “You’re the hero. They killed all the prophets of Baal and the whole nation was turned back to me. Wasn’t that you?” “Yes sir.” “Tell me again now, what are you doing here?” asks God. Look at his answer (he is just like us): “He replied, ‘I have been very zealous for the LORD God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, broken down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.’" (Anyone hear violins playing?) God asks, “Elijah, have you forgotten?” The story continues. “The LORD said, ‘Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the LORD.’” God says, “Elijah, there’s something you have forgotten. You have lost perspective. I want to show you something.” The Lord tells Elijah, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the LORD, for the LORD is about to pass by.’ Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake.” Can you imagine that? I don’t think that was a 30 ~ 33 ~

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second thing! That may have taken a day. From nowhere came this storm and it was not just a breeze, it was a storm that moved rocks. There stood Elijah huddled against a cave watching this incredible storm. Here is Elijah, alone on this mountain. He’s far, far from home, and he’s clinging to the side of this cave and there’s an earthquake. It is like God was saying, “Hey Elijah. I am God. I am your God. What are you doing here?” “After the earthquake came a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper.” The whisper must have said, “Elijah, come here, I want you to watch this.” “When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave.” He stood at the mouth of this cave looking over this total annihilation of the land. The landscape is completely different. There’s been a storm, an earthquake, and now a fire. God said, “Okay Elijah. Let me ask you again. What are you doing here? Remember I am God, your God. What are you doing here? Why are you so afraid? Why did you run? I know that to you your future was uncertain, and yes Jezebel made all these threats, but have you forgotten I am God? Granted if it was just you and Jezebel, you’d be in big trouble. But you’ve forgotten to factor me in. Don’t you remember? What in the world are you doing here in this place?”

~ 34 ~

Don’t Forget to Remember

~ 35 ~

One thing’s for sure: Life is Uncertain

~ 36 ~

Assumptions

~4~ Assumptions Like us sometimes, Elijah still doesn’t get it. “He replied, ‘I have been very zealous for the LORD God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, broken down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.’” Do you know what Elijah assumed that we assume when we get to these places and we are afraid because of what the future holds? Elijah assumed that since he hadn’t seen God doing much, God wasn’t doing much. Elijah assumed that because he didn’t see God acting, that God wasn’t acting. He assumed that because God seemed to be silent, that he must be still. Elijah assumed that because he couldn’t figure out what God was going to do, that God hadn’t figured out what God was going to do. And because he couldn’t figure out a happy ending to the story, God hadn’t figured out a happy ending to the story. Elijah assumed that God could see no further and had done no more than what Elijah could see. So God, in his mercy says, “Okay Elijah. Sit down and listen. I want to fill you in on everything I have been doing since you have been gone. Remember you are 200 miles away from the action. While you have been gone, I have been busy. While you have been gone, I have been trying to implement a plan. Just because you didn’t see me at work ~ 37 ~

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didn’t mean I wasn’t at work. You ran and fled because you were afraid.”

YOU’VE BEEN BUSY Then God let Elijah in on the plan. This is great. “The LORD said to him, ‘Go back the way you came, and go to the Desert of Damascus. When you get there, anoint Hazael king over Aram.’” Here’s how I think this conversation went down: “You have already picked out the next king?” asks Elijah. “Yes. Anoint Jehu son of Nimshi king over Israel, and anoint Elisha son of Shaphat from Abel Meholah to succeed you as prophet.” “You mean you are going to replace the king?” asks Elijah. “Yes.” “You mean you’ve been paying attention?” asks Elijah. “Yes,” answers God. “You don’t like Ahab any more than I do?” Elijah asks. “No,” says God. “And there’s going to be a new prophet?” “Yes. This is a new day Elijah. That’s why I am asking you, what are you doing here? There is stuff to be done. I am active. I am your God. I have not forgotten you. What are you doing here?” ~ 38 ~

Assumptions

“’Jehu will put to death any who escape the sword of Hazael, and Elisha will put to death any who escape the sword of Jehu. Yet I reserve seven thousand in Israel—all whose knees have not bowed down to Baal and all whose mouths have not kissed him.’" “You’ve been busy,” says Elijah. “Sure have,” God says. Maybe Elijah at that point finally thought: “So, uh, what am I doing here? Why am I a couple of hundred miles away from what you’re doing? Why did I run? How could I forget? Why did I panic? What am I doing here?”

GOING PLACES Any time we forget God’s past faithfulness, our tendency, when faced with uncertainty, is to go to places we have no business going. We get into relationships we shouldn’t. We make financial decisions we have no business making. Our tendency is to get some place emotionally we have no reason to be. Our tendency is to do things we would not ordinarily do, but when we forget God’s past faithfulness, our natural tendency is to run to places we have no business being. Many of you could give testimony to that. Even now, some of you are in the strangest places. Relationally. Financially. Emotionally. God’s asking you, “Why are you here?” If you’re honest, you would have to answer, “Because I looked into the future and I forgot to factor you in. I thought it was just me and my uncertainty, and I was afraid.” ~ 39 ~

One thing’s for sure: Life is Uncertain

When you forget his faithfulness in the past, you will find it almost impossible to factor him into the future. That’s why in times of uncertainty, we must remember. In times of uncertainty when we look into the future and it scares us to death, we need to look back and rehearse the goodness and the faithfulness of God. Why? Because God’s faithfulness in your past gives you hope for your future. As long as you know God has been with you, that gives you every reason in the world to face the future with confidence. He will continue to be with you. But when you allow the anxiety and the worry of the future, and when you allow your fear of what is happening now and in the future overwhelm you to the point where you forget what he has done for you in the past, you’ll run. And you run to the strangest places. From those places, because God loves you he doesn’t give up on you. Instead he asks, “What are you doing there? Why are you in that? Why are you over there? Why did you do that?” The wisest thing you can do is say, “God, I thought it was just me for myself, or me against the world, and I forgot to factor you in, and I’m sorry. I’m coming back and I am going to face tomorrow with the confidence that you will be with me tomorrow just as you’ve been with me in the past.”

~ 40 ~

Assumptions

WE MUST REMEMBER Up for some homework? Take some time today or tomorrow to go back and remember those times where God has been faithful to you. Jot them down because remembering creates the context for confidence that God will walk with you into the future. Elijah forgot and freaked out and when you forget, you freak out. Spend some time mentally rehearsing God’s faithfulness because that is the context of our lives. His faithfulness in our past is the context for what we can hope and trust in him for our future. In times of uncertainty we must remember, because if you forget him in your past, you will not factor him into your future. Elijah would tell you that.

~ 41 ~

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~ 42 ~

Try This Instead

~5~ Try This Instead There’s something else you can do when facing uncertainty. In many ways, it is the most challenging. In your uncertainty, seek God’s kingdom first, then your own. That is not intuitive, (that means it took me a while to understand it) and it doesn’t really make sense on the surface. Yet, in the passage we are going to look at in this chapter, Jesus spoke to a group of people who were in circumstances worse than ours. Something you may not know about uncertainty is that it causes us to want to back into a corner of selfcenteredness. You may push back on that a little bit, but when things are uncertain, we become concerned only about ourselves. When I am in pain, I am concerned only about me. I find myself in the midst of uncertainty worried about my job, my retirement, my 401K, my children, or my marriage. Uncertainty has a tendency to back us into a corner of self-centeredness where we have an unhealthy preoccupation with ourselves. And as we will see later, the tendency is to miss or overlook what God is doing in uncertain times. The great thing about Scripture is that it is a constant reminder that in the midst of uncertainty, God is not inactive. In fact, God is more active. But you and I make the mistake of allowing the uncertainty we face to cause us to ~ 43 ~

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become totally absorbed with our pain, or our hurt, or our future. Not only do we overlook what God may be up to around us, but worse than that, you and I miss out on the grace God wants to extend to us in uncertainty. More on that later.

BUT… The interesting thing about this passage is Jesus looks out over a crowd of people he had never met and says, “Do not worry”. I don’t know how you feel when people tell you not to worry, but when someone says that to me, that person hasn’t heard my story. I think that the only reason you are saying that is because you haven’t heard my story. If you would just let me tell you my story, you would say, “Well no wonder you’re worried. No wonder you feel the way you feel. If I were in your shoes, I would feel exactly the way you feel.” None of us want somebody to look at us and say, “Stop worrying about that.” It could be that Jesus is telling you today, “I know you are facing uncertain times. I know you are worried about your job, and finances, and family. I know, but don’t worry.” We are like, “Yeah right.” But in these verses, Jesus takes the worry that we experience in uncertainty and he says, “I tell you what. Let’s trade. You give me your worries and I will give you something in exchange.” Here is why the next two chapters are so important: God makes his grace available to us when we make the exchange that Jesus challenges us to make in this passage. The passage we’re looking at is found in the New ~ 44 ~

Try This Instead

Testament, Matthew 6:25-34. “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink.” We don’t need to worry about the basic necessities in life. That is not a big deal because for most of us, we do not come home from work at night, open up the refrigerator and wonder, “What are we going to eat?” Still we have the same kind of worry. There are things that we feel are essential: how am I going to make it without a job? How will I pay the bills? I’ve got to have this. What am I going to do? Most of the things that consume us emotionally are usually what causes us to worry. To worry means to be consumed by. It means to allow your emotions to kind of close in around those unresolved issues to where it is all you think about. Jesus says, “Don’t do that, either about the essentials, the things you have to have or about the things you really don’t have to have, but you tend to worry about.”

STACK IT ALL UP He goes on, “Is not life more important than food?” In the Greek text, the word important isn’t there. Literally it says, “Is not life more than food? He asks a difficult question that none of us want to answer because it would seem rather foolish. He says “Wait a minute. You stack up all the stuff you usually worry about--plans, relationships, finances, job, family, all the stuff you worry about--stack it all up. Then back up and look at it and ask yourself this question: Is that really what life is about? Is that all there is to life? Is that life?” All of us would say, “Well, it’s important, but ~ 45 ~

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there’s more to life than what is in that stack.” The point is this: why in the world, if you know in your heart that there is more to life than your stuff, if you know that in your heart, why in the world would you commit so much time and so much emotion to it? Jesus would say the reason is because you don’t know the right things to worry about. There are some things to be concerned about, but you have allowed yourself to become consumed with the things that you know in your heart are important, but it’s not life. He gives us an example. “Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns.” In other words, birds don’t invest, or save. They don’t have 401K’s, and “Yet your heavenly Father feeds them.” We’re tempted to believe, “No, no. God doesn’t feed the birds. It’s like nature and there’s this system. The big birds eat the little birds. The little bird eats the worm. The worm eats the dirt; it’s the circle of life. (Haven’t you seen the movie?) I mean everything just works together and everything feeds on one another.” God says, “You see, you don’t get it. I established that. I’m behind all that. That is creation by a Creator and look how incredibly well that works.” God has designed a system where all the animals are able to eat and live. The implication? Who do you think is behind the system that has sustained you so far? Who do you think has been behind this economy that has allowed you to live and eat and prosper so far? And now things are kind of crumbling and falling apart and you say, “O God, you have to do something.” God is saying, “Who do you think is behind all ~ 46 ~

Try This Instead

the good so far? Me.”

BUT I DON’T SEE HOW Then Jesus says, “Are you not much more valuable than they?” If God is going to go to the trouble to establish something that takes care of animals, how much more confidence can you have that God is going to take care of you? We respond by saying, “But I don’t see how it’s going to happen?” God says, “Don’t put your confidence in your ability to predict the future. I want you to put your confidence in me.” See this is so challenging, because when my life is wrinkle free and everybody is healthy, and doing good, and everything is great, the tendency is to think, haven’t I made things great? The tendency is to have confidence in my ability to control this wonderful life that I tried to create. Then when things begin to fall apart and there is nothing I can do about it, I say, “Oh God, are you going to do something?” God responds, “I have been doing something all along, but it’s been so good, you have forgotten. Just as I have taken care of you in the past, I am going to take care of you in the future. What are you worried about?” We worry because our circumstances are changing and we can’t control the uncertainty. The truth is God has been taking care of us all along. We really don’t need to worry. “If I take care of birds, I am going to take care of you. Trust me,” says God. “But, God I don’t know how it’s going to work out?” ~ 47 ~

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One thing’s for sure: Life is Uncertain

God says “The birds don’t know how it’s going to work out either”. “That’s true. We don’t even know if they know there is a tomorrow. They just get up and get enough food for today,” we respond. “Right! And I have blessed you with the ability to project, and plan and that’s all wonderful, but don’t depend on that. I’m God. You don’t need to worry.” Jesus continues, “Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?” What do you get for your worry? Nothing! Then stop worrying. The reality is we worry about things that aren’t even life, and then when we’re done worrying, what do we have to show for it? Nothing.

IMAGE ISN’T EVERYTHING Jesus gives a second illustration: “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow? They do not labor or spin.” For us clothes refer to our image. It’s what we drive. It’s what we wear. It’s where we live. Think about all the energy and emotion we put in to propping up our image. Most of us are trying to impress people who aren’t even paying attention. (That’s good. You may want to read that again.) Yet, we worry about our image. On your best day you can’t compete with God when it comes to fashion and variety. Now, it is not bad to be in style or to look good. Do your best, but don’t worry. Don’t stress out about your image. God will take care of you. Jesus reminds us that if we’ll just look at nature, we ~ 48 ~

Try This Instead

will see that God is in full control. The flowers that look so incredible, they don’t worry or fret. They just pop out of the dirt and grow. Yet we worry about our image and Jesus asks, “Why would you worry about something so ridiculous?” The point is well taken: God is in charge. Don’t worry. “So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’” Then he gets convicting, “The pagans run after all these things.” A pagan is a person who doesn’t believe in God at all, or worships a false God. For a pagan, all they know is this life. Life is book-ended by birth and death, so the only thing to worry about is what one sees and experiences. The pagan’s motto is, “Eat, drink and be merry.” It’s all about right now. Jesus says a person who doesn’t even believe in God worries about what they will wear, where they will live, and what they will drive. They are absorbed in worrying about these things because after all, that’s all they have. What else do they have to worry about? You get all you can now, because after this life, that’s it.

COMPARING LISTS To his followers Jesus says, “Look you’re a Christ follower. You believe in God who is the Creator God who sustains you every moment of every day. Why in the world would you allow uncertainty and fear of the future back you into a corner of self-centeredness that everybody else is huddling in? “God, if I don’t take care of me, who will take care me? ~ 49 ~

One thing’s for sure: Life is Uncertain

If I don’t work to have and get what I need, then I won’t have and get what I need.” What happens is we let our fear of the future back us into the same corner with all the pagans. Do you know how I know that’s true? If you were to make a list of the things you worry about the most, and compare it against the list of a person who does not even believe in God, the list would not be all that different. That’s his point. You are pursuing and worrying about the same silly things that people who don’t even see beyond this life are worried about. That’s why Jesus could say with a straight face, don’t worry. And your heavenly Father knows you need them. That is, God knows all your needs. He knows you need something to wear and a place to live and something to eat. He knows all that. He’s committed to meeting all your needs, so do not worry about getting your needs met. God knows and he will take care of you.

~ 50 ~

Try This Instead

~ 51 ~

One thing’s for sure: Life is Uncertain

~ 52 ~

The Opportunity

~6~ The Opportunity With all we worry about, the thing that we should worry about the most is God’s kingdom. Why should we do that? We have enough to deal with in our life. Why in the world would we be concerned about God’s kingdom and his righteousness? The answer: God is up to something in our uncertainty. I’ll explain that in about 3 minutes, but let’s make sure we understand what Jesus is saying. In times of uncertainty, seek; don’t worry. In times of uncertainty, when you don’t know how it’s going to work out and you feel like you need to take all your resources, energy, time and focus in on yourself and your needs, seek first God’s kingdom. That seems so counter intuitive, doesn’t it? But Jesus encourages us to look around and ask the question: in the midst of my uncertainty, what can I do to further God’s kingdom, not mine?

SEEK AND YOU SHALL… Do you know what it means to seek the kingdom of God? It simply means to seek God’s agenda. For us it means saying, “God, I know what worries me. What worries you? God, I know what concerns me. What concerns you? Tell me, God, and I will focus my attention there and I will let you ~ 53 ~

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deal with all the silly things I tend to worry about.” That is what he is saying. Why would Jesus mention this? Because when we seek first his kingdom, there is a grace that is available to all of us in our uncertainty. When we say, “God, instead of lying in bed at night and worrying about my stuff, I’m going to seek your kingdom first.” In those moments when tension is rising and the anxiety of the future is rising, take a breath and say, “In this moment I want to seek your kingdom and I will trust you to give me what I need. I will trust that you know what needs to be happening in my life. Someone asks, “Isn’t this living irresponsibly?” No, this is not irresponsible living. But when you begin to feel the pressure and the anxiety begins to rise within, in those moments, seek first, not your own kingdom, but the kingdom of God. In other words, ask the question, “Ok, God. What are up to?” Do you know what God is up to in the world? In your city? In your neighborhood? In your family? At your work? Today? God is focused on bringing people into his kingdom and the reason he has you where you are, and maybe, just maybe, the reason you are facing uncertainty is because God is about to do something unique in bringing even more people into his kingdom. The greatest tragedy for us as Christians is to remain hidden in our corner of self-centeredness, taking care of ourselves, and miss out on what God may want to do in and through us. Jesus says, “I will take care of your deal, if you will focus on mine.” ~ 54 ~

The Opportunity

YEAH, BUT Now if you’re like me, my first response to Jesus’ invitation is, “Yeah, but I have to get a job, and take of my family.” Jesus says, “Hey, trust me. I take care of birds. I take care of plants. Just try me and test me and seek first my kingdom. I will give you the rest, because you are so valuable to me.” So we seek and we keep our eyes and ears open to what God might want to do, not in spite of, but because of and through our uncertainty. Again, your favorite Bible stories happen within the context of uncertainty. In uncertain times, God isn’t asleep. He is more active than ever. Therefore, we can’t afford to bury ourselves under our own concerns. Now is the time, more than any other time, maybe in our life, now is the time for you and I as believers to come out of the corner and say, “Yeah I have concerns and I have worries. I have unanswered questions. But I want to leverage the uncertainty in my life for the sake of God’s kingdom. I am going to seek first his kingdom, whatever that means and I will trust him to give to me the things he knows I need whatever that might be.” All the stuff we worry about, it’s not what life is about anyway. We need to seek first God’s kingdom, and trust him to take care of all the stuff that causes us to worry. Yes there will times that are stressful and we will be tempted to take matters back into our own hands because God doesn’t seem to be worrying about it as much as we think he should. But what if all of us as Christians began to look around for opportunities to pursue and further God’s ~ 55 ~

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kingdom, instead of worrying? And every time we are tempted to worry, we remember to seek first God’s kingdom, and let him take care of everything else. Can you imagine what would happen?

THE OPPORTUNITY Now let me close this chapter by asking you a question. Is there a way through your words and your actions to further God’s kingdom? I know that’s difficult, but that’s the opportunity we have as believers in the midst of uncertainty. Think about this: the uncertainty that fills the pages of Scripture was not for the benefit of the people who faced the uncertainty. It was for the benefit of people who heard about, who later read about, and who were inspired by their response to uncertainty. Our circumstances are no different.

~ 56 ~

The Opportunity

~ 57 ~

One thing’s for sure: Life is Uncertain

~ 58 ~

When God Disappears

~7~ When God Disappears When life is good, we have no problems believing God is near. There are times when he’s close and you have chill bumps and the songs you sing about him are exciting. You open up your Bible and you’re amazed at how the words jump off the page at you. You see things you haven’t seen before and maybe experience things you never have experienced. Everywhere you look, there’s God. He’s close. You have a problem, you pray and God answers your prayer. Your kids have a problem and you encourage them to pray about it. God answers their prayer. Again, God is so close. And you’re glad that God is doing what you think he should be doing. Many of us can think back to times where God was clearly with us. If you’re like me, you grew up going to church camp and at the end of the camp, we all held hands and sang and threw our sticks in the fire. We we’re so excited about God and often sensed his presence. We came home from camp and God seemed to be in everything. We’ve all had those seasons. Then something happens. You go through a season where it seems like he disappears. You hit a bump in the road and say, “God, ok, we’ve had bumps before and I trust you to be there for me and come through for me.” And God does not respond. You are trusting God to work through your circumstances and everything gets worse. And this ~ 59 ~

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time you open up the Bible to find comfort and sense nothing. You pray prayers and stop in the middle and ask, “Who am I talking to? This isn’t helping.” Before we know it, it seems like God vacates our circumstances. He vacates our emotions. At times he seems to vacate the world. For sure he seems to vacate your life. And you look around and you think, “Where’s God?” If we stay in a “where’s God” season too long, we might begin to wonder if we are just making up all this “God stuff”. We wonder if God even exists. Or we might conclude that he exists, but he’s not a personal God. Life happens with no rhyme or reason. When life is good, we say “Oh there’s God.” And when life is bad, we say, “Where’s God?” Life gets better and we see God. Life gets worse and he disappears again. So we think maybe there is no God or maybe there is a God, but he’s not a personal God. The critics say that we have just made up this “God” thing as a filter through which to interpret all of life. We’ve created him to help us feel better about things and to better explain things to ourselves and children. Ever wonder that? You may be in a “where’s God” moment now. And God isn’t acting like you think God is supposed to act. Your faith is starting to nose-dive. You have started thinking all kinds of strange things about God. Because after all, if you were God, you know what you would do for you, right? You know how you would react to your situation if you were God. And so you’re wondering, “Where’s God?” ~ 60 ~

When God Disappears

THE DILEMMA There’s not much comfort in knowing that you and I are not the first to deal with this “where’s God” dilemma. We are not the first individuals to wonder who is crazier, us or God? In fact, if you were to read the Bible and look at the stories, you could take a pencil and write “where’s God, there’s God” down the side of almost every page. Because there were times where God showed up and then disappeared. Even Bible people were asking, “Where’s God?” Then he’d show up, “Oh, there’s God.” Throughout the Bible, you see this. Implication? This is normal. There’s nothing wrong with you. And there’s nothing wrong with God. It is his strange and mysterious way.

CERTAIN ABOUT GOD IN UNCERTAIN TIMES It is difficult to be certain about God in uncertain times, isn’t it? It is difficult to follow him in uncertain times. It’s easy to follow him when things are good because when things are good, it seems like God is close. Isn’t this true, that when things are good at home, or in your marriage, or you have money in the bank, every time something good happens, you say, “There’s God. Isn’t God good?” In uncertain times you wonder where God is. And it is difficult to follow when he doesn’t seem to want to follow. It is difficult to follow when he’s not rewarding you for being a faithful follower. It is difficult to follow when there are no tangible signs that he’s even interested in your life. ~ 61 ~

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In fact in uncertain times, the temptation is to draw the conclusion that he’s not interested in your life. Because if God were interested things would go well with you and since things aren’t going well with you, God’s lost interest in you. Which leads us to ask the question, why follow him? He’s not doing anything, and it doesn’t look like he is going to do anything, so why should I follow him?

~ 62 ~

When God Disappears

GOD’S SILENCE When I am facing uncertainty, at the end of my prayers I want to say to God, “Now what are you going to do about this? So what do you think?” And God is so silent. He is quieter when I need him to be louder? He never says a thing when I need him to say something the most. In uncertain times God can seem so distant, and it’s just difficult to know exactly what to do and how to respond. Maybe that’s where you’re at now. You are wondering about what to do. You are facing something and you aren’t sure what action to take, and you just need some direction and God is awfully quiet. He doesn’t seem to answer your prayers. You are faced with some bad news and suddenly life isn’t what it used to be. What in the world do you do when God seems to disappear and you don’t know what to do? So far we have said three things: you pray. (I bet you didn’t even write that one down did you?) That’s obvious. The second thing is you remember God’s past faithfulness in your life. That gives us hope for the future. And the third thing we said is we need to seek. There’s one more thing to do. Ready?

~ 63 ~

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~ 64 ~

One Man’s Journey

~8~ One Man’s Journey The final thing is the most practical. In a way, it is the simplest, but certainly not the easiest. What you do when you don’t know what to do is follow God regardless of what you see happening around you. The book of Genesis contains one of the longest stories in the Old Testament. It is probably the most significant, and one of my favorites. It is the story of Joseph. Joseph’s story is a little like Maximus in the movie Gladiator. He’s the favorite son who becomes a slave, who then becomes an inmate. As an inmate, he becomes the prime minister who saved a nation. The fascinating thing about this story is that is takes place over a period of thirteen years. That’s important to remember because this is not one of those stories where on Monday, something bad happened and on Wednesday, God answered his prayers. This is a story that takes place over thirteen years. The reason I chose Joseph is because he, better than anybody else in the Bible, illustrates for us how you follow God in uncertain times. The story of Joseph answers better than any other, what do you do when you don't know what to do? What do you do when it seems like God's far away and silent? What do you do when it seems like he's active in the lives ~ 65 ~

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of people you know, and you look in your own world and your own life and you wonder, “God, where are you?” It is clear from Scripture there is something to do when you don't know what to do. One last time, get your Bible and find Genesis 37. Here we find the story of Joseph. His dad, Jacob, made him a coat of many colors because Joseph was his favorite son. This caused his jealous brothers to hate him. One day the brothers are out keeping the flocks, and Jacob says, "Joseph, go check on your brothers”. So Joseph goes and after a few hours, he can’t find them. Now at that point most of us would've gone home and said, "I couldn't find them,” but not Joseph. He searches until he finds them. Eventually he sees his brothers, and as he's headed toward them, they look out and one of them says, "Here comes that dreamer."

THE DREAMER Earlier Joseph had had a dream about him and his brothers working in the fields. And as they were binding their sheaves, Joseph’s sheaves stood upright and his brothers’ sheaves bowed down to his. Well his brothers were upset because they didn’t want Joseph to rule and reign over them. And the Scripture says they hated him even more. When they see Joseph coming over the horizon, they plot to kill him. (Think you have sibling issues?) All of them collectively: "Let's kill our brother." When Joseph arrives they don't kill him. Instead, they throw him in a pit. ~ 66 ~

One Man’s Journey

So here's Joseph, a 17 year old kid, and life's pretty good for him. He's the favored son. He is wearing his cool coat. The next thing he knows, he's in the bottom of a pit. Joseph hears his brothers up around the campfire, talking about how they're going kill him. And he's saying, "Hey, guys! Ha-ha-ha! Joke’s over. Would you get me out of here?” We don't know exactly what he did, but we know he prayed, right? Because you pray when you're in a dry well and your brothers are going kill you. So we know he's praying. Then his brothers decide, "Oh, let's have mercy” (one of them had the gift of mercy). "Let's don't kill him. Let's just sell him. Yeah, let's just sell him." So they decide to sell him to the Ishmaelites, a band of merchants on their way to Egypt. These merchants hook Joseph up or chain him ankle to ankle, and they walk him 300 miles across a desert.

IT’S OVER When they arrive in Egypt, the merchants put Joseph on an auction block. And he’s thinking, "Life as I've known it is completely over. There's no one to call. There's nobody that's going to come to my rescue. Nobody is even going to know. I don't even know what these people are saying. I don't even know the language. Life, as I've known it, is over." As Joseph stands on the auction block, a captain of Pharaoh's guard walks up and says, "I'll take him". He is taken down and handed over to one of Potiphar's servants, and they march Joseph off to his home. Now all of a sudden ~ 67 ~

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he's a slave. Remember he’s the favored son who had slaves and now, he is a slave and a servant in the home of a family where he probably doesn't even know the language. Talk about uncertainty! Then here's this strange verse in the Bible, "Now, Joseph had been taken down to Egypt. Potiphar, an Egyptian who was one of Pharaoh's officials, the captain of the guard, bought him from the Ishmaelites, who had taken him there. And the Lord was with Joseph." Wait a minute. And the Lord was with Joseph? If your response is anything like mine, I'm thinking, "Oh, no he wasn't”. If the Lord had been with Joseph, he would be home with his dad. If the Lord was with Joseph, his brothers would be in Egypt, building pyramids with no quarters for the Coke machine! Anybody who is that evil and that wicked is not going to be allowed to take hold of somebody the Lord is with and sell them into slavery. "And the Lord was with Joseph". I’m glad the author told us that because if he didn't, you and I would conclude God had abandoned Joseph. Or God was mad at Joseph. Or God had decided to bless the ugly brothers instead of the faithful son. Or that God got confused. You know, something's gone awry in the universe. The author says, "No, no. the Lord was with Joseph".

~ 68 ~

One Man’s Journey

THAT DOESN’T MAKE SENSE The story continues. "From the time that Potiphar put Joseph in charge of his household and of all that he owned, the Lord blessed the household of the Egyptian because of Joseph." I wonder if Joseph thought, "God, what if you bless Joseph because of Joseph?" That makes more sense doesn’t it? God should bless Joseph because of Joseph. Instead, God is blessing the household of a slave owner, an Egyptian. God is blessing the guy who bought Joseph at an auction. How about blessing Joseph because of Joseph? Everything in the Egyptian's household prospered because of Joseph. Sometime later, Joseph’s faithfulness to Potiphar was honored by Potiphar's wife making a move on him. Remember this? You understand that this is a completely no-win situation, right? She may have been talking and flirting through a translator. Maybe by this time he's learned the language, we don't know. Here he is a teenager, far from home, nobody around, and his master's wife is making a move on him. Now, what do you do? If you say, “No”, you're in trouble because you are going to make her mad. You could end up in prison or dead. If you say, “Yes,” you are in trouble because it is eventually going to be found out or she's going to get tired of you, and you'll be dead or in prison. So it is over if you do. It is over if you don't. Joseph probably thought, "Thank you, God, for honoring my faithfulness by putting me in an absolutely no-win situation." Joseph tells her: "With me in charge", he told her, "My master ~ 69 ~

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does not concern himself with anything in this house. Everything he owns he's entrusted to me. And no one is greater in this house than I am. My master has withheld nothing from me except you because you are his wife. So how, then, could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?" Makes me wonder: Joseph, you refuse to sin against the same God who let your brothers sell you, is that the God we're talking about? The same God that stood by and let you be put in this situation? The same God who has not rescued you, or done anything for you lately, is this the God you're afraid you might offend? Is this the God you're afraid you might sin against? Is this the God that somehow you're trying to please when obviously he has no concern or regard for you? Is this the God we're talking about?

~ 70 ~

One Man’s Journey

DOES IT MATTER? See if I were in Joseph’s shoes, this is the moment when I’d be looking around going, "Does it really even matter what I do? Does it really matter if I go to bed with my master’s wife? I mean, what's going happen? God might rip me away from my family and send me into a foreign land where I don't know the language and make me a slave! Oh, he's already done that! It just doesn't matter at this point. Maybe that is you today and you find yourself asking "Does it really matter if I'm faithful to God? Does it really make any difference? Because for five years or six years in a row I've been faithful to God and what has he done for me lately? Nothing I can see. Nothing I can hear. Nothing I can sense. Nothing I can point to. Nothing that makes me feel like he's with me or active or even interested in me. Does it really matter? Could it get any worse?"

"How could I do such a wicked thing and sin against my God?" He makes the right decision. All of a sudden Potiphar’s wife starts screaming, "The Hebrew, the Hebrew!" and as he runs out of the room, she grabs his coat. Now, he's running out of the house and around the street without his coat wondering, "What is happening to me? How could this be? I've done everything right."

~ 71 ~

One thing’s for sure: Life is Uncertain

~ 72 ~

The Big Break

~9~ The Big Break Joseph is caught and arrested. He is brought before Potiphar and his wife and she accuses him of trying to rape her. Between you and me and I’m reading between the lines, but I don't think Potiphar believed her. But what is he going to do? I mean, he is kind of stuck. So Joseph, for his faithfulness, is put in the Pharaoh's dungeon. Notice what the Scripture says next. In fact, this might be my favorite verse in the whole Old Testament, okay? "But while Joseph was there in prison, the Lord was with him.” I would think that if you're in prison, the Lord is not with you. If you're in prison, it is because the Lord has abandoned you. If you are in prison, and the Lord was with you, you would've never ended up in prison, right? Here is my favorite part, ready? "And He (God) showed him kindness and granted him favor in the eyes (or eye!) of the prison warden."

THANK YOU, GOD Can you imagine? "Oh, thank you, God. You have given me favor with the prison warden." If you have a relationship with a prison warden, your life is over. You are at the bottom of the barrel. You do not even want to know a prison warden. You do not want a prison warden to know your name. You do not want to have any interaction ~ 73 ~

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or relationship with him. "And God showed him favor in the eyes of the prison warden." “Oh, God, thank you," thought Joseph. Yet, God was with Joseph. You see, that is just not how you would write this story, is it? If I was writing this story, I would talk about how God rescued him. That’s evidence of God’s faithfulness, right? I would write about how God slew the prison warden and Potiphar’s wife and then busted Joseph out of jail. That is what a faithful God would do, isn’t it? If God is faithful, your health would get better, not worse. Your marriage would get better, not worse. Your prodigal son or daughter would be closer to home instead of further away. God's faithfulness is supposed to be an upward thing. Sometimes it’s not that way.

DOING WHAT JOSEPH DID Do you know what Joseph did in prison? He did exactly what any young man would do who had been kidnapped by his brothers, sold into slavery, marched 300 miles across the desert, auctioned off to an Egyptian officer, framed for a rape and thrown in the dungeon who knew and believed that God was with him. Joseph did what anybody in his circumstances would do who was confident that God was with him. Maybe the greatest challenge in the Christian life and maybe the greatest challenge in our journey with our Heavenly Father is to ask the question: “God, what would someone who is me do now if they were absolutely confident that God was with them?" ~ 74 ~

The Big Break

JOSEPH’S BIG BREAK Joseph gets his big break. One day Pharaoh was angry with his cupbearer and his baker, and had them thrown into the dungeon. Guess who they meet? Right. Joseph is serving coffee and organizing the whole prison. Everything is being blessed. He and the warden are hanging out, singing choruses at night. Life is good down in the dungeon. They haven't seen the sunlight in three years, but that's okay. God is with him! (However that works.)

REMEMBER ME, PLEASE? One morning at breakfast, the baker and the cupbearer are talking about the dreams they had. In those days they believed that God or the gods sent messages through dreams. Apparently, they wondered what the dreams meant. Joseph says, “I can interpret dreams." Each one takes a turn telling Joseph his dream. The cupbearer goes first and Joseph says, "I've got some great news for you. You're going be restored to the right hand of the king, the Pharaoh!" The cupbearer's going, "Well, I hope you know what you're talking about. I hope you are right." Of course the baker is excited to tell his dream. "Wow! Well, let me tell you mine.” He tells Joseph his dream. Joseph says, "You know, I hate to break it to you; but you're not going be restored. It's over for you." Sure enough, just as Joseph predicted, the baker was hung and the cupbearer was released from prison. It’s easy to forget that Bible people were real people. Joseph, like us, was a real guy. The reason we know that is ~ 75 ~

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because of what he does next. Joseph calls the cupbearer over to the side as he prepares to leave and says, “Now, look. I'm not supposed to be here, okay? My brothers kidnapped me and sold me into slavery. I had to trek 300 miles across a desert. I was auctioned off and things were going pretty good. I was working for Potiphar. Everything was looking up. Then his wife comes on to me. I did the right thing. I refused her advances and ran away. Eventually I was framed for a rape. I was thrown in here. I am not supposed to be here and so look, when you get out, just remember me." "Remember you?” says the cupbearer. “As soon as I get out of here, I'm telling you, you're going places. When word gets out that there is a guy in prison that can interpret dreams and the dreams come true, don't you worry, buddy. In a couple of days when I get cleaned up and back with the Pharaoh, I will mention you to Pharaoh." Joseph is thinking, "Finally! Maybe God is not with me; but I will make this thing happen."

GO BE WITH SOMEONE ELSE The Scripture says, "The chief cupbearer, however, did not remember Joseph; he forgot him." Because the Lord was with him. At which point Joseph must have been thinking, "Okay, God. Why don’t you go be with somebody else? This being with me is about to kill me. Ever since you have been with me, my life has been a mess. Go be with somebody else. I will just be by myself. I think I would do better by myself. Why don't you go be with my brothers? Why don't you go be ~ 76 ~

The Big Break

with Potiphar's wife for a little bit? Why don't you go be with the baker who forgot me?"

FEELING FORGOTTEN Have you ever felt forgotten by God? I have. When it happens, I wonder, "God, what’s going on?" God says, "I’m still with you. Everything's great." "I don’t think so,” I say. God says to Joseph, "Everything is perfect. Things are just the way I want them. I had you sold. I had you bought. I had you framed. I had you imprisoned. It's perfect, Joseph. It's just the way I want it to be. You may feel forgotten, but you are not.” What was God doing? He was positioning Joseph to bring his family to Egypt, and to make them into a nation. Eventually they would become a nation of slaves strategically positioned in God’s plan. They would have their own land. One day, the Messiah would come and save the entire world. It would have probably helped Joseph a lot if God had shared that with him somewhere along the way, don’t you think? And then God does something unique. One night Pharaoh has a dream, and he wants to know "What's the meaning of the dream? What's the interpretation?" Everybody is running around trying to help Pharaoh understand his dream. Suddenly the cupbearer says, "Ooh! Oh, there's a guy that used to be in your dungeon. A few years ago I told him about a dream I had and he interpreted ~ 77 ~

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it for me. Maybe he could help you like he helped me." “Bring him to me,” says the Pharaoh. They take Joseph, and they shave him and they clean him up. Which means he smelled and looked like he'd been in the dungeon for years. His eyes are still adjusting to the brightness of the sun as they march him in to Pharaoh. He's heard that Pharaoh's had a dream, and he's been asked to interpret his dream. Joseph has one chance to get this right. He is standing before the most powerful man in the world, the man that can say, "You are free. I am releasing you from prison. Go home to your father.” This is Joseph’s chance. "And Pharaoh said to Joseph, 'I had a dream, and no one can interpret it. But I have heard it said that when you hear a dream you can interpret it.”

SAY WHAT? Imagine that you are Joseph. What would you do? What would you say? If you think you are by yourself, you say, "You know what, oh King Pharaoh? I can interpret your dream. Share your dream with me, and I will interpret it, because once I do, you will be so impressed with my ability, and skill that you will make me your right-hand man. I am going to be your dream interpreter. You are going to set up a little place in your palace for me asthe dream interpreter. You just call me, because I am here for you. Trust me." That’s what you say if you think you are by yourself and God isn’t with you. ~ 78 ~

The Big Break

But if you are absolutely confident that God is with you, you answer differently. Notice how Joseph answers Pharaoh. He really blows his chance for freedom. "I cannot do it.” The cupbearer interrupts Joseph. “Hold on a minute Joseph. This is life and death. This is your chance to be free. This is your ticket home, Joseph. What do you mean, you can't do it? You did it for me,” says the cupbearer. “You did it for the baker. Come on, you can do it. I told Pharaoh you could do it. We are going down if you don’t. You have to do this!" "'I cannot do it,' Joseph replied to Pharaoh, but God will give Pharaoh the answer he desires.'" That is a dumb thing to say unless…you are confident that God is with you. But what else would you say if you were absolutely confident that God was with you? Joseph says, "Okay, here's what’s going to happen. There is going to be seven years where things will be really, really good followed by seven years where things will be really, really bad."

ON A ROLL At that point the average guy would have stopped talking. But Joseph is on a roll and God is with him. Joseph says, "I'm a Hebrew. I'm not from here. I barely speak the language. I have been in prison most of my life! But let me share with all of you wise men how to save the nation of Egypt from this famine. Pharaoh, get your pen out. Let me tell you what you need to do, okay?” ~ 79 ~

One thing’s for sure: Life is Uncertain

Joseph steps way over the line, and starts telling Pharaoh how to run his own kingdom! And the cupbearer is listening to all this, thinking, "Oh, why did I even bring this up? Who is this kid?" But see, there’s nothing to fear when you are confident God is with you! Joseph finishes giving his interpretation. Pharaoh says, "You know what? I’m putting you in charge of my entire kingdom. In fact, you will be number two in command." Everyone around Pharaoh who’s trying to be number two in command is looking at each other like, "What!? He's not even from here! Did you hear that accent? Look at him! He was in the dungeon 30 minutes ago. You are putting him in charge of the whole nation?" Pharaoh's says, "Yeah, anybody got a problem with that?" "No, we think it's a great idea," they respond. "So Pharaoh said to Joseph, 'I hereby put you in charge of the whole land of Egypt.' Here's my ring. Now, go out there and get it done for these next seven years, and get us ready for the seven years that follow." Why did that happen? For the same reason he got thrown in the pit, sold, framed, put back in the dungeon, and forgotten. God was with him. Joseph was so smart. He did exactly what a 30-year-old guy would do who had spent most of their life in prison and suddenly had an opportunity to stand before a king and was given the responsibility of the nation of Egypt. He did exactly what anybody in that position would do who was confident God was with him. ~ 80 ~

The Big Break

Within 14 years Pharaoh owned everybody and everything in Egypt. Joseph made Pharaoh the wealthiest individual in the world because of the way that he handled the affairs of the nation. Pharaoh ended up being able to buy all the land of Egypt, all the livestock of Egypt, and all the people of Egypt. Pharaoh owned everything because of Joseph’s wisdom and because he applied his skill to the opportunity that God put before him. And now all of a sudden, it was a different day. What do you do with that much power? What do you do with that much influence? What do you do with that much wealth? What do you do when everybody has to do what you tell them to do? Joseph did exactly what anybody would do who was absolutely confident that God was with them.

~ 81 ~

One thing’s for sure: Life is Uncertain

~ 82 ~

Then Do That

~ 10 ~ Then Do That Joseph’s story ends with a famine that reached Canaan. His brothers and father are starving to death. Jacob sends Joseph’s brothers to Egypt to buy grain. His brothers don’t know it, but Joseph is in charge of selling and distributing grain. His brothers have to see him to make their purchase. They come in and bow before him, but they don’t recognize him. Eventually, the brothers are invited to Joseph’s home. When Joseph sees them he begins to weep loudly and says, "I am Joseph, your brother!" And they're like, “What?” “I am your brother Joseph, the one you sold into Egypt. Don’t be afraid. I’m not mad. God put me here to save you guys. The famine will get worse, so go get dad and move in with me.” Not long after that Joseph’s father dies and the brothers start to think, “Now that dad is dead, Joseph is going to come after us! They come to Joseph and they throw themselves down at his feet, and say, "We are as nothing. We are your slaves. We are your servants. We are so sorry.” Joseph says, “Guys I was serious when I said ‘Don’t worry.’ What you meant for evil, God meant for good. Throughout those thirteen years, God was with me.

~ 83 ~

One thing’s for sure: Life is Uncertain

"But Joseph said to them, 'Don't be afraid.'" Look at this next question: "Am I in the place of God?" To which all of his brothers said, "Yes, you are. You are the man. You have all the power. You have all the influence. And you have all the authority. You could have us strung up, and ripped apart. You can do anything you want. Yes, you are in the place of God. That's why we are so afraid!" Joseph says, "Am I in the place of God? You intended to harm me, but God was up to something. When you guys tied me up, threw me in the pit and sold me, you thought you were up to something. No, it was bigger than that. God was up to something. In fact, God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. So then, do not be afraid. I am going to provide for you and your children." And he reassured them and spoke kindly to them. Do you know why? Because that is what anybody with that much power and that much wealth and that much authority and that much hurt and that much memory and that much baggage and that much dysfunction would do if they were absolutely confident that God was with them.

THE CHALLENGE Here’s the challenge: if you are single mom and you are struggling financially, how do you follow God through that? You simply live as a woman who is confident that God is with you. What do you do when you have lost your job? You simply live as a man who is confident that God is with you. ~ 84 ~

Then Do That

What do you do when your marriage is starting to rattle and come apart and you are not sure what to do? You live as a person who, in those circumstances, is confident that God is with you. If you are a teenager and you’re dealing with teenage stuff and no one seems to understand you, what do you do? You simply live as a teenager who is confident God is with you. At school when no one seems to be a Christian but you, and there is no reward for being a Christian, what do you do? It’s not easy, but it is simple: you go to school day after day after day as someone who is confident that God is with you. You won’t see it. You won’t feel it. You won’t hear it. You may not even know it, but here’s the promise, “I will never leave you or forsake you. Period. Trust me. Follow me. Just do the next right thing, because I am with you.”

OH, NO YOU DON’T Do you know what God wants to accomplish through you? No, you don't. Do you know how many people God wants to influence through you? No, you don't. Do you know what God is up to in your life? No. I mean, you think you do every once in a while, but you don't know. Do you know what hangs in the balance of your decision to wake up every single day and live as somebody, who is you, who is confident that God is with them? Do you know what hangs in the balance of every one of your decisions? No, you do not. ~ 85 ~

One thing’s for sure: Life is Uncertain

But I can promise you this. You do not want to wake up one day and look back and wonder. You do not want to come out on the other side of a valley or a dip or a breakup or a health issue or a financial issue and look back and wonder. You do not want to come out on the other side and look back and think, "Hmm. I wonder what God might have done, if during that time when he seemed so silent, during that time he seemed so inactive, I wonder what God might have done or been up to if I had simply woke up every day and just done what anybody in those circumstances would do who was confident that God was with them. We do not know what hangs in the balance. That is why when you don't know what to do, you just do what anybody who was you would do if they were absolutely confident that God was with them. You just wake up every day and say, "Today God, I don't know the future. I don't know what you are up to. I can't explain this. This is a pit day. This is a setup day. This is a frame day. This is a forgotten day. Today, all I want to do is, I want to get to the end of this day and I want to have done what anybody who was me with my circumstances who was confident that you are with me.

~ 86 ~

Then Do That

God is with you. Read that again. God is with you. It's better than that. God is in you. It's better than that. If you are a Christian, you have been placed into God. There is no reason to fear, because your heavenly Father is with you. You have no idea what he is up to and you have no idea what he wants to do through you. Joseph died and he never, ever knew what God was fully up to. But somehow by God's grace, he went through his entire life and he simply did what anybody who was him would do who was confident that God was with them. God is with you. Why not live like it? God is with you. Why not decide like it? God is with you. Why not respond like it? God is with you. Final question: how would a man or a woman in your circumstances act today, if you were absolutely confident God was with you? Then just do that.

~ 87 ~

One thing’s for sure: Life is Uncertain

~ 88 ~

A Sigh of Relief

~ 11 ~ A Sigh of Relief When my daughter Micah was born, Meredith had to have an emergency caesarean section. I’ll never forget that day. Her doctors, Dr. Slocumb and Dr. Evans came in the hospital room, and after a sonogram said, “We have to do an emergency c-section.” It was a very emotional time for me. They took Meredith and rushed her off to the operating room. I asked the doctors if I could go with her and they said yes, but to wait until the nurse came for me. After what seemed like an eternity the nurse came to take me to what was a locker room. The doctors were there putting on their doctor stuff. I’m putting on my scrubs and I’ll never forget listening to their conversation. They were talking not about the surgery and not about my wife. They’re talking about the Atlanta Braves. I remember, being on verge of tears, thinking, “Guys, think about what you’re doing. My wife is about to have surgery.” After getting Meredith ready and everyone in their place, they brought me in and she is lying on the table with this big curtain draped in front of her. There was this chair that was in my way, so I pushed it away. The nurse came to me and said, “Sir, we want you to sit in this chair!”

~ 89 ~

One thing’s for sure: Life is Uncertain

So I am sitting in this chair and there is this curtain. On one side are her shoulders and head and on the other side is the rest of her where she is going to have the baby. And it’s like I’m sitting in two worlds. In one world is my wife, Meredith, and I am praying and saying, “Breathe. Let’s turn the anesthesia up to 12.” So on one side of the curtain is my wife and I’m all stressed out and she is breathing. She can’t see what’s happening. One the other side of the curtain, it’s like the Discovery Channel. I am totally freaking out. I was saying, “You can’t feel that?” They’re cutting her open and I’m about to pass out. The thing that bothered me the most was here is the woman I know and love, and over here was the Discovery Channel world, which was not my world. I am sitting there and Dr. Evans and Dr. Slocumb, two great and wonderful doctors, are just chitchatting. Dr Slocumb was talking about his dog that had run off and how he had to get another pet, and now he has a fence. Then they start talking about a fishing trip and vacation and I am over by Meredith praying, “God help us. Help Meredith. Guide these doctors,” and on and on and they’re just talking and chatting. I remember having this thought: “Hey pay attention! Concentrate. Let’s knock off the small talk and concentrate. This is my wife and we’re having a baby. Focus. Talk about medical stuff.” And the doctors are just doing their thing. Meanwhile I am praying and trying to comfort Meredith, about to pass out. A few minutes later, they bring Micah out and wow, she was so beautiful. ~ 90 ~

A Sigh of Relief

I came away from that and I thought, you know, that’s just how it is with God. Because in my uncertainty, when I’m in my uncertain world, and think “Oh this is new…I have never...O, God, what are you going to do?” God is saying, “Hey, hey, hey. I do this all the time. I am the master of uncertainty. I have brought worlds into being. I have brought good from chaos. I took the greatest tragedy in human history, the murder of my son, and I brought about your salvation. This is my world. I know how to deal with these times. I am not stressed out. I am not out of control. I am doing exactly what I need to do. I need you to sit there and trust me.” And just like Dr. Slocumb and Dr. Evans were the masters in that operating room environment, that is what they do day in and day out, two or three times a day. In the same way, your God and my God, your heavenly Father and my heavenly Father, is the master at arranging, using and squeezing good out of uncertainty. All he has asked us to do is to pray. That is, come to him and to lay our concerns before him and express to him the desires of our heart. He is calling to us to remember and think back on how so many times he was faithful, and how so many times he brought good from bad. He asks us to seek his kingdom first. And he has called us to simply get up every morning and do what anybody in our circumstances would do, who was confident that God was with us. Then at the end of the day, when we look back and reflect, like the Apostle Paul, Elijah and Joseph, we will breathe a sigh of relief and say, “Wow, He is still good. He is still faithful. He is still in charge. He is still in control.” ~ 91 ~

One thing’s for sure: Life is Uncertain

When uncertainty enters your world, now you know what to do when you don’t know what to do. You pray. You remember. You seek. And you follow. Then you’ll have the confidence of knowing that God is always active even in your uncertainty. That’s for sure.

~ 92 ~

A Sigh of Relief

~ 93 ~

One thing’s for sure: Life is Uncertain

For Further Study Uncertainty: Using the Bible as the Foundation to Face Uncertainty in Today's World, Ed Young. This sermon series can ordered from edyoung.com. Encouragement for Life: Words of Hope and Inspiration, by Charles Swindoll, Countryman, 2006. When God is Silent, by Charles Swindoll, Countryman, 2005.

~ 94 ~

For Further Study

FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH FRIENDSWOOD If you wish to write Dr. David or contact First Baptist Church Friendswood, call, click or write to: Address: 111 E Heritage Dr. Friendswood, Texas 77546 Email:

[email protected]

Phone:

281-482-7573 http://www.fbcfonthe.net

To hear sermons online, download articles, and see what other books Dr. David has written log onto www.fbcfonthe.net. There you can also learn more about First Baptist Church’s worship services, ministries and events. If you are ever in the Houston area, we invite you to one of our Sunday morning services, 9:30 & 11:00AM

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One thing’s for sure: Life is Uncertain

About the Author Dr. David Belk serves as senior pastor of First Baptist Church in Friendswood, Texas. He received a Master of Divinity with Biblical Languages and a Doctor of Ministry degree from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. He is the author of Underneath Islam’s Veil (Total Recall Publishing). He and his wife, Meredith have three children, Micah, Caleb and Meagan. They have made their home in League City, Texas.

~ 96 ~