Sermon Central
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Wanted: Ditch Diggers Series
Contributed by Kent Kessler on May 12, 2007 (message contributor)
Summary: And that leads me to another question, “When the things that were expected are interrupted or even stopped, what do you do? What do you do when your expectations go unfulfilled? Have you had to deal with some unfulfilled expectations recently? I believe a
I got myself into remodeling an apartment’s bedroom into a bathroom. I thought the cost would be about $400-$500. It turned out to be closer to $1200.
Ever get involved with something that turned out to be more of a hassle than it should have been?
I think we all can testify to getting ourselves into things that later we are left wondering, “How did this happen? What am I doing this for again? How long did you say this was going to take? I don’t remember signing on for this part of the scenario.”
And that leads me to another question, “When the things that were expected are interrupted or even stopped, what do you do? What do you do when your expectations go unfulfilled? Have you had to deal with some unfulfilled expectations recently?
Israel dealt with some unfulfilled expectations—the flow of their security was coming in just fine, but something happened that messed that up! Now they had something additional they needed to do, something that wasn’t planned, wasn’t accounted for, wasn’t saved up for, wasn’t even on the radar, BUT before they could reach their goal, go further, gain more, and accomplish more, this NEW and unasked for situation needed to be dealt with.
They heard Catherine Zeta-Jones’ call to “GET MORE” but there was a hurdle…an interruption…an unexpected extra step that merged into their life from an unsuspected on-ramp that now needed to be taken care of before the original pursuit could be carried out.
I believe as we look at how God helps Israel to deal with unfulfilled expectations in their history we can learn how God wants to work with the unfulfilled parts in our own lives.
1. [4-8] The first thing we find is that “Moab rebels.”
This event brings the King of Israel a VISION = to crush his enemy! There is no rent for free! No security for nothing! So the question Israel deals with is:
Q. “What do we do about this unexpected problem?”
They shouldn’t have to be dealing with this right now, BUT Moab rebels! Moab cannot be predicted, cannot be controlled, cannot be kept in a pattern. People always provide mystery! And people are an unending source of unfulfilled expectations.
So Moab’s seeking an opportunity of freedom, their idea to fight and break away from their contractual agreement has put Israel into a place they didn’t ask for. Am I speaking to anybody here today?
--A husband who never asked for an unfaithful wife; a wife who never asked for an abusive husband; parents who never asked for foolish teenagers; employees who never asked to be laid off; employers who didn’t ask for dishonest workers; churches who never asked for unfaithful members.
There is a saying that goes something like this, “You can’t stop the birds from flying over your head, but you can keep from the building a nest in your hair.”
Listen, I don’t know where this message finds you today, but some of you need to stop doing some of the things you have been doing. You need to stop making the sinful choices you have been making. You need to STOP allowing the Devil to run all over your life and start making HIM pay for a change!
You need to ask yourself this question: Am I going to allow the enemy to live around me for free?
The Bible says the enemy blinds the mind of those who don’t know Jesus from hearing the good news. But we need to remember that people who do not know Jesus Christ are people God loves, YES, but are also living blind and deceptive lives. They are still living in rebellion against the very thing they need—God’s love that can ONLY be obtained through Jesus Christ! And we as believers still need to be on our guard against their influence in our lives.
If you work in a sinful environment make the Devil pay! How? PRAY! Speak words of love and kindness often! Be positive always and moral too; but be a holy presence in that place! Make the DEVIL pay for being around you as one of God’s children!
You are God’s child. You are the child of a King, and that makes you royalty. You are bought with the precious blood of Jesus Christ and that makes you worth something.
You’re not junk, you’re not worthless, you’re not trash as the world makes you feel sometimes; you are chosen, picked first in God’s eyes, the head and not the tail, at the front of the line and not at the back, you are an important part of the body of Jesus Christ on the earth—the greatest force on this planet is still the Church of Jesus Christ and nothing will EVER change that! And if you belong to that church, then you will go places my friend that this world will only dream of going!
