Something To Hang Onto When You Think You've Got Nothing Left

What do you do... When God feels distant? When God doesn't cooperate? When God seems late?

A little something you should know about Scott and me is that we are sermon junkies. We love to hear us a great sermon straight from God's Word. We love gifted communicators. It's no secret that Beth Moore has been one of my favorites for many years and I credit her with mentoring me into a love for God's Word and presence.  For Scott, it's Andy Stanley.  In fact, I like to refer to Andy as Scott's Beth Moore. Does this make us weird to you?

 Andy Stanley answered those questions above in a dvd series Scott and I just watched called When God?.  Watch trailer here.

It couldn't have come to us at a better time. (Naturally, God knew that.) We've been in what we could call a season of waiting for quite a while now.  The questions hit close to home. Andy's teaching really encouraged me so I want to share some of it with you in case you find yourself not wanting to ask those questions but you wouldn't mind hearing the answers.  

A lot of this will be direct quotes from the notes I took.  

"God's lack of cooperation (in our lives) is not an argument for or against His existence. In the Old Testament and New Testaments there are men and women who experienced God's inattentiveness, uncooperativeness and lateness but it's not a reflection on His feelings for them."

Well right of the bat I liked hearing that.  I guess I hadn't thought about this much lately. Of course there are plenty of men and women in the Bible whom God loved, knew their names and had a plan for their lives, but He still didn't necessarily rescue, heal or say yes to their prayers. Consider the lives of John the Baptist, Paul and Lazarus.

The good news here is that I'm in good company.  And so are you. Just because God hasn't answered our prayers (yet), or rescued us, and perhaps has said no for now (or forever), doesn't mean He isn't here. He still loves us. Still knows our names. Still has a plan for our lives. PHEW!  Did you need to hear that too?

He tells us that Paul asked God to remove the thorn in the flesh that God Himself gave him. It was a nuisance to him, painful, and even hindered Paul from doing what God called him to do.  Do you know what God answered?

Part 1.  "But He said to me, 'No. My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.'"*  Andy contends the answer is also for us. 

What are you asking God for?  The answer may be....No, but My grace is sufficient for you.

Grace - ability to put one foot in front of the other; ability to endure the unknown for one more day

Sufficient - adequate; more than enough

Part 2.  "for My power is made perfect in weakness."

He says, "We're all about giving glory to God through our strengths, success, talent, opportunities but none of us jump up and volunteer for giving glory to God through our weakness, our failure, inabilities or lack of opportunities."  OUCH.

Well, that's a hard pill to swallow but I regretfully admit it describes me. I've never wanted to be that Christian, do you?

"God will....God has....God is....going to showcase His strength in our weakness if we learn to take NO for an answer realizing it has nothing to do with His love for us, His compassion for us or His presence in our lives."

And get this...."His strength in our weakness IS His presence in our lives."

Let's remember that we have permission to ask God to remove our thorns and He has permission to say no.

Remember the definitions of grace and sufficient?  Call it sustaining grace. "You can't experience God's sustaining (His strength in my weakness) grace by refusing to take no for an answer (resisting His will)."

Oh boy. Deep breath before continuing.

"Sustaining grace begins with the prayer 'Not my will, but Yours be done.'"

This one likely may be my favorite quote:  "Into the gap between what I want, what I deserve, what God owes me, what He does for everyone else and what God has decided to do is the sufficient, sustaining, empowering power of God."

In the book of John, Jesus said to Lazarus's sister Mary, "Did I not tell you that if you believe you will see the glory of God?"**  He said that seconds before He glorified God by raising Lazarus from the dead.  Raised from the dead.  I'd call that glorious.

Well my friend, you've read all the way to the end because this has struck a chord. I'm so glad you're getting the same good news I got today. Even if it doesn't feel like a warm, cuddly blanket just yet, Andy says that while this kind of message isn't emotionally satisfying (doesn't really fix our situation), it gives us something to hang onto. Yes, that's what I'm looking for. Something to hang on to.

I want to see the glory of God in my situation.  I think you do too. Our job is to believe.

Always underneath this hard teaching I remember, God loves me. He sees me. He knows my name. He has a plan for my life. Jesus called John the Baptist the greatest man who ever lived. Paul was called to change the world with his preaching and write most of the New Testament. Lazarus was referred to as 'the one Jesus loves'.  Still, John was not rescued from prison or beheading, Paul was told no and Lazarus died because according to his sisters, Jesus was late. Yes, I too can trust Him.

So I end with this prayer. Lord, I don't know if this is ever going to change. I don't know if I can go another day, but God's grace is sufficient for me. In my weakness, He is strong. If this is what you've chosen for me...not my will, but yours be done.  Amen. Bring on the glory.



P.S.  You can imagine I highly recommend this series. You'll get much more from it. You won't have any trouble finding it to purchase on the internet.  Do it.  All noted quotes in this blog are from Andy Stanley

*2 Corinthians 12:7-10
**John 11:40