A. How many of you saw the movie Castaway staring Tom Hanks?
1. Many people found the movie a little slow and boring because of lack of action and dialog.
2. Tom Hanks plays the part of Chuck Nowland, an executive with FedEx, whose fast-paced work took him on flights all over the world.
a. Chuck Noland is a manager who demands that everything must be on time and travels the world to make sure punctuality is on top of everything else.
b. He has a girlfriend, Kelly, with whom he is deeply in love with and family he hardly sees.
c. While flying aboard a freight-heavy 747, he experienced the worst of his fears – the plane crashed in the Pacific Ocean not far from a tiny, uninhabited island.
b. Chuck was the lone survivor, and washed ashore, bruised and shaken, but thankfully, alive.
c. Little did he know, but that he would live on that small island, totally alone, for four years.
3. The changes that occurred within him came slowly, but were ultimately extensive.
a. He went through great bouts within himself, struggles too deep for words.
b. He eventually came to peace and learned to live on the bare essentials of island existence.
4. Back home, he was given up for dead and there was a funeral in his honor.
a. Life sped along without him, as it always does.
5. How Chuck escapes is fascinating, but the good news is he is picked up by a ship and gets to go home.
a. After a bittersweet welcome-back reception, Chuck discovers that his girlfriend, Kelly, has married another man and has children.
b. He discovers that he no longer fits into the fast paced life he once had.
c. For all of his life his objective and focus had been his work, but for the past four years his only purpose had been survival.
d. The changes that transpired within him are so radical, he finds himself a different man – much deeper, much more observing, and much less demanding.
6. His transformation occured in a place of solitude, quietness, and obscurity.
B. Truth is, that’s where God does some of His best work in our lives.
1. A survey of the Scriptures reveals that those God greatly used were often prepared for their assignments during periods of solitude, quietness, and obscurity – just like the Castaway.
2. Take for example the case of Moses.
a. Having grown up in the prestigious environment of Pharaoh’s palace, Moses positioned himself to embrace a remarkable political future.
b. But after murdering the Egyptian slave-driver who was beating a fellow Hebrew, Moses fled to the desert.
c. Moses spent the next 40 years tending his father-in-law’s sheep in lonely and arid places.
d. It wasn’t until he was 80 years old that God plucked him out of obscurity and employed his leadership qualities and knowledge of desert survival.
e. Moses wasn’t ready for leadership until he experienced God in a desert retreat.
3. Likewise, consider the story of David.
a. David was anointed king of Israel as a teen, but he didn’t assume the throne until age 30.
b. David spent 13 years as a fugitive, hiding out in caves, trying to escape the grasp of King Saul who had become insanely jealous of David.
c. It was during those years of solitude and obscurity that David learned to rely on God.
d. It was in the crucible of the desert retreat that God prepared David to lead Israel.
4. Let’s consider one more example – the story of Joseph.
a. Joseph was the favored son of the 12 sons of Jacob.
b. Betrayed by his brothers, he was sold into slavery in Egypt.
c. After serving faithfully in Potiphar’s house, and after resisting the seductive advances of Potiphar’s wife, she falsely accused him and he was thrown into prison.
d. Joseph surely felt abused and abandoned – during the 2 years of his confinement, he must have wondered if he would ever see the light of day.
e. But it was through his unfair prison confinement that God prepared Joseph to become the leader of all Egypt.
C. I am convinced that those sustained periods of preparation are what fueled the future effectiveness of each of those servants of God.
1. Through their periods of solitude and obscurity each of them learned the value of growing deep in their relationship with God.
2. Each of them likely thought they could be God’s servants without going through their prolonged retreats, their periods of preparation.
a. At 40 years of age, Moses thought he was ready to liberate Israel from Egyptian slavery, but he wasn’t.
b. At 17 years of age, David thought he was ready to be king of Israel, but he wasn’t.
c. At 17 years of age, Joseph thought he was ready to carry out the dreams God had revealed to him, but he wasn’t.
3. Our problem is that we are blinded to ourselves and our own inadequacies.
a. We often see ourselves as resourceful, talented, articulate, responsible and efficient.
b. We see ourselves as ready to accomplish what is before us.
c. Why should we pause? Why should we take a break to be with God? Why should we get more training and schooling? We think we are ready!
4. I remember thinking those very thoughts as a young man of 18 years of age.
a. I thought I was ready to serve God and just learn on the job.
b. Why go to college and waste all that time and money?
c. How foolish I was to think those things!
d. What a mistake it would have been for me to not go to N.C.J.C. and then Harding University, and then Harding Graduate School!
e. Even after graduating from college, I thought I was ready to come back to the Northeast, but I wasn’t!
f. Thankfully, God knew I needed to 3 ½ years in little El Dorado, AR, population 25,000.
g. God knew that I needed to serve in healthy church with many elders, and a senior minister named Dan Williams, from whom I learned so much.
D. With all this in mind, I want us now to turn our attention to the story of Saul of Tarsus.
1. In the last sermon from our series on Paul, “Follow Me As I Follow Christ,” we witnessed the turning point in Saul’s life.
2. When we first met Saul, we watched him standing proudly in his Jewish tradition, and we watched him persecuting followers of Christ.
3. On his Hitlerian march toward Damascus to persecute more Christians, God interrupted his journey by knocking him to the ground and removing his sight.
4. For the first time in his adult life, Saul found himself totally dependent.
a. He had to be led by hand into Damascus and there he had to wait for God’s further instructions.
5. In less than a week, God had transformed Saul from a vicious, Christian-hating murderer into a passionate believer and preacher of Jesus.
6. Was Saul ready at that point to become the Apostle Paul or did he need a time of preparation?
7. Let’s investigate what happened in Saul’s life and I think you are going to be surprised by what we discover.
E. We have to turn to the letter to the Galatians to learn something of this period in Saul’s life.
1. Paul begins: 10 Am I now trying to win the approval of men, or of God? Or am I trying to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ. (Gal. 1:10)
2. Notice the phrase “still trying to please men.”
3. That phrase insinuates that there was a time when Paul had been trying to please men.
4. A large part of what had driven him earlier in life was the affirming nod of the Sanhedrin.
5. Saul of Tarsus had lived for their approval.
6. The Sanhedrin had certainly been impressed and pleased by Saul’s efforts to eradicate the followers of Jesus.
F. Let’s continue reading from Galatians 1: 11 I want you to know, brothers, that the gospel I preached is not something that man made up. 12 I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it; rather, I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ.
13 For you have heard of my previous way of life in Judaism, how intensely I persecuted the church of God and tried to destroy it. 14 I was advancing in Judaism beyond many Jews of my own age and was extremely zealous for the traditions of my fathers. 15 But when God, who set me apart from birth and called me by his grace, was pleased 16 to reveal his Son in me so that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I did not consult any man, 17 nor did I go up to Jerusalem to see those who were apostles before I was, but I went immediately into Arabia and later returned to Damascus.
18 Then after three years, I went up to Jerusalem to get acquainted with Peter and stayed with him fifteen days. 19 I saw none of the other apostles - only James, the Lord's brother. 20 I assure you before God that what I am writing you is no lie. (Gal. 1:11-20)
1. In verses 13-14, Paul reminds us of his status among the Jewish “up-and-comers” of his day.
a. The ladder of religious success was his to climb and climbing it was what he was doing.
b. He was climbing faster than anyone and everybody had better stay out of his way!
2. But God brought that climb to an end and knocked Paul right off the ladder.
a. God set him apart to preach the very Gospel that he had tried to silence.
3. Paul deliberately mentions two things that he did not do after his conversion.
a. First, he didn’t immediately consult with flesh and blood - that is other people – he didn’t go searching about Damascus seeking others to shape his theology by consensus.
b. Second, he didn’t rush to Jerusalem to present himself to the apostles – the very men who had walked with Jesus and been trained by Him.
c. It was important for Paul to emphasize these points.
4. Commentator Leon Morris explains: This emphatic disclaimer of any contact with earlier believers and their leaders makes it clear that Paul did not derive his understanding of the Christian message from any who were Christians before him. Specifically, he did not learn from, nor was he commissioned by, those who had been apostles before him…It is of primary importance for Paul that he had been directly commissioned by Jesus.
5. So, if he didn’t consult with other Christians or their leaders in Jerusalem, then where did Paul gain all his insight into the nature of God’s call and the reality of the Gospel?
a. I believe that he received all of that, and much more, from God during his period of solitude, silence and obscurity when he “went immediately into Arabia.” (vs. 17)
G. No one knows exactly where Saul went in his Arabian retreat.
1. As you can see on the map on the screen, Arabia is a large area stretching from as far south as Sinai near Egypt all the way north to the lower boundaries of Syria.
2. So where Saul went may not have been that far from Damascus, since the northernmost part of Arabia is only a hundred miles from Damascus.
3. But make no mistake, that area was a vast expanse of desert, it was a barren wilderness.
4. For the most part, it was deserted, except for a few Bedouins.
5. Perhaps Saul lived among those desert dwellers.
H. We not only don’t know the “where?” of Saul’s Arabian retreat, we also don’t know the “why?”
1. Whenever the Bible is silent on a subject, people love to fill in the holes with theories.
2. Early church fathers believed that Saul traveled to Arabia as a missionary bringing the gospel to those desert dwellers.
3. Some believe that Saul fled to Arabia to protect himself from the Jewish leaders who wanted to silence the testimony of this convert – that certainly is a possibility.
4. Others have suggested that Saul needed the same amount of time (3 years) that the disciples had when learning from Jesus – that is not a bad theory.
5. Truth is, we don’t know – all we know is that Paul says, “three years later I went up to Jerusalem to become acquainted with Peter and stayed with him 15 days.” (vs. 18)
I. So, for perhaps as many as three years, Saul lived somewhere in the desert, cut-off from his former manner of life – in solitude, quietness, and obscurity.
1. During that time, I believe he spent his time thinking, praying, wrestling, and listening to the Lord.
2. If Saul had been addicted to popularity, he lost the urge to pursue it during those years in the desert.
3. If at one time Saul had become enamored with his own spiritual significance, then that self-inflated pride melted away in the warmth of God’s presence.
4. In that desert escape, one by one, Saul tossed away his polished trophies and his resume of religious credentials, and replaced them with one longing – to know Christ.
5. It was there that he came to understand what he wrote to the Philippians: 7 But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. 8 What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ - the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith. (Phil. 3:7-9)
6. Charles Ryie said, “In Arabia, he was alone with God, thinking through the implications of his encounter with the risen Christ on the Damascus Road.”
7. F.B. Meyer wrote: “Month after month he wandered to and fro, sharing the rough fare of some Essene community, or the lot of a family of Bedouins; now swept upwards in heavenly fellowship, and again plunged into profound meditation. Deeper than all was God’s work in his soul. Grain by grain his profound self-reliance and impetuosity were worn away. No longer confident in himself, he was henceforth more than content to be the slave of Jesus Christ. We all need to go to Arabia to learn lessons like these.”
J. Just imagine…Saul had been so religious…so busy, active, engaged, advancing, and zealous, but he had been so wrong.
1. The same words might be descriptive of many of us Christians today.
a. It’s not that we are busy doing all the wrong things or even a few terrible things.
b. We are likely not persecutors or destroyers, but if the truth be known, we may be busy working for God, but we really don’t know God, or have a close relationship with God.
2. Think about this for a moment: chances are good that your life has grown more complicated than it was 10 years ago, or for that matter, even five years ago.
a. Over time we tend to collect more and more stuff, we engage in more and more activities, we take on more debt, and we accept more and more responsibilities.
b. All of this doesn’t necessarily make us unhappy, but it can leave us empty and dry.
3. If we hope to grow stronger and deeper, then we must find a solution to this maddening pace.
4. The good news is that God doesn’t require geographical isolation to teach us the lessons learned through solitude.
a. So none of us need to book a flight to Arabia just yet.
b. I believe that we can grow deep during times that we set aside times for quietness, soul searching, confession, mediation and prayer.
5. I would like to share with you three strategies that I am trying to practice in my own life to help me grow deeper in my relationship with God.
K. First, instead of speeding up, slow down and rethink.
1. Unfortunately, many don’t do this until the doctor says, “You have six months to live.”
2. By then it is too late to really benefit from a deep spiritual life that helps us to live in a way that focuses on what truly matters.
3. Imagine Saul’s time in Arabia.
a. I can’t imagine him making a list each day that said: “To Do Before Sundown.”
b. I don’t picture him buying the bestseller “Six Fast Steps to Success.”
c. I picture him walking slower.
d. I picture him thinking deeply about his past, and about his experience on the Damascus Road.
e. I picture him waiting upon the Lord for insight and direction.
4. I want to encourage each of us to carve out some time each day to slow down and rest and reflect in the Lord.
a. We might do it first thing in the morning. We might do it at lunch time. We might do it just before we go to bed.
b. Whatever time is best for you will work just fine.
c. These moments of solitude strengthen our connection with God and put us in a position to receive God’s direction and empowerment.
L. Second, instead of talking more, be quiet and listen.
1. We are bombarded by words and sounds – they’re everywhere.
2. They blare at us from the radio, the television, and from our phones and computers.
3. They blare at us from billboards, web banners, magazines and newspapers.
4. Silence is rarely tolerated in our culture – there’s even music in elevators!
5. Even in most worship services, there is little time for quiet reflection – that’s why I appreciate our Lord’s Supper time each week.
6. How often do you turn off the radio in your car and just drive in silence?
7. How often do we turn off the TV at home, or does it drone on all day long?
8. How often do we talk just to keep there from being any silence?
9. The discipline of silence allows us time to think, time to listen, and time to talk only when what we have to say will benefit those who listen.
M. Third, instead of seeking the spotlight or a place of power, be content to humbly serve behind the scenes.
1. Saul was so used to power, control and the spotlight, so God took him to the place of obscurity and humility.
2. I don’t know what assignments, if any, God had for Saul in the desert, but whatever they were, few people would ever know about them.
3. When we learn to serve in secrecy and behind the scenes, then we know that what reward we receive will come only from the Lord.
4. Richard Foster wrote: Today we have forgotten the importance of this hidden work of God. As a result, we immediately thrust people into notoriety, bestowing on them unbelievable power, and then we wonder why they are corrupted. Unless we are ready for it, power will destroy us.
5. The story of Jesus washing his disciples’ feet is so powerful, and Jesus has told us to follow his example, but have we cultivated that kind of serving spirit?
6. One group of guys I read about was trying to put this principle into practice.
a. Their goal in any situation was to try to take the lowest place.
b. When they ate together, no one was allowed to serve themselves, nor could they ask anyone for anything, they had to wait for someone to serve them – so each person was watching out for what someone else might need.
7. What if each of us cultivated the habit of looking around to see who needs to be served?
a. And what if we started to meet people’s needs before they even asked.
b. That would make us much more Christ-like, wouldn’t it?
N. In Richard Foster’s classic book, Celebration of Discipline, he wrote: “Superficiality is the curse of our age. The doctrine of instant satisfaction is a primary spiritual problem. The desperate need today is not for a greater number of intelligent people, or gifted people, but for deep people.”
1. A life marked by depth can only be cultivated in protracted periods of time spent in solitude, quietness, and obscurity.
2. These three things I have talked about today are simple disciplines that will help us grow deeper and stronger with God.
3. The call of solitude and silence and service will prepare us to make a difference in the world for Jesus.
4. But the difference we make starts by us being different.
5. May God begin with and in you and me.
6. May God cultivate within us a deep knowledge of Him and a deep rooted dependence on Him.
7. May God forge in us a character that comes from our time spent with Him in solitude and silence and service.
8. It worked for Moses, David, Joseph, and Saul of Tarsus, and it even worked for the Castaway, so I believe it will work for me and for you.
Resources:
Paul: A Man of Grace and Grit, by Charles Swindoll, Word Publishing, 2002, Chapter 4.
