Sermon Central
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High Tide & Low Tide
Contributed by John Gaston on May 10, 2023 (message contributor)
Summary: Life has its seas and turbulence, it’s ups & downs. There are times when everything is going right and other times when it seems everything is going wrong. The good news? God has set limits on the tides of life!
HIGH TIDE & LOW TIDE
INTRODUCTION
A. HUMOR
1. It sounds like a made-up story, but it’s true. Some years ago a church in Carter County, Tennessee had an attorney draw up a deed for their property. He wrote the deed naming The Lord God Almighty as the owner.
2. That was fine until some years later the church wanted to sell the property and relocate. They went back to the same lawyer. He said it would not be a problem. The court could issue them a new deed. But as part of the process of writing such deeds, it is necessary that it be determined that the previous owner could not be found.
3. So the Sheriff was given the papers to sign. He swore that “The Lord God Almighty was not to be found in Carter County, Tennessee.” The newspapers picked that up and saw in it a story. The headline read, “Lord God Almighty Not to Be Found in Carter County.” (The article went on to say that His Infernal Satanic Majesty, however, could most certainly be found in Carter County, Tennessee.) [Robert Shannon, Preaching; March/April 1998]
4. We’re going to see that there’s no place where God is not!
B. TEXT: Job 38:8-11
8 “Who shut up the SEA behind doors when it burst forth from the womb, 9 when I made the clouds its garment and wrapped it in thick darkness, 10 when I fixed limits for it and set its doors and bars in place, 11 when I said, “This far you may come and no farther; here is where your proud waves halt?”
C. THESIS
1. This refers to the third day of Creation, when God said (Gen. 1:9), “Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and it was so.”
2. We’re going to look at the tides and the turbulence which affects the world and see how it parallels the turbulence that comes to our lives. We will find that the same God Who rules the one rules the other!
3. The title of this message is “High Tide & Low Tide.”
I. TIDES: OF OCEANS & OUR LIVES
A. IMPORTANCE OF TIDES
1. 71% of the surface of our world is covered by water. There are 324 million cubic miles of water. That’s a lot of water!
2. The term “tide” is a generic term used to describe the movement of sea/ocean water as it is affected by the gravitational forces of the sun and moon.
3. For those who stay and work on LAND, the movement of the tides has little influence. But if you work on or near the OCEAN, the tides are very important to include in all your calculations.
4. If you’re a navigator on a Navy ship, or you’re building a bridge, or you run a fishing boat, or even if you just go surfing – the tides must be taken into account.
5. There’s a lot of variation in tidal rise. The smallest amount of tidal rise in the world is in the Mediterranean Sea – only one foot of rise. The greatest amount of DAILY rise is in Canada in the Bay of Fundy, which rises and falls 56 feet every day!
B. GOD LIMITS TIDES
1. Job 38:8-11 tells us that from the beginning of the world, God spoke to the oceans and gave them decrees & laws. God set limits which the waters can’t pass.
2. The same thing is true of our lives. Life has its seas and turbulence, it’s ups & downs. There are times when everything is going right and other times when it seems that everything is going wrong.
3. The good news is that God has set limits – God has given orders to the variables of life – the highs and lows. 1 Cor. 10:13, “There has no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not [allow] you to be tempted above that you are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that you may be able to bear it.”
4. GOD HAS LIMITED THE STRENGTH AND FREQUENCY OF WHICH THE DEVIL CAN TEMPT US! GOD HAS SET LIMITS THE DEVIL CANNOT PASS! PTL!
II. GOD WILL NOT LEAVE YOU AT LOW TIDE!
A. LOW TIDE WILL HAPPEN TO ALL OF US
1. Remember this – God will never fail you or forsake you. You may be at a “low tide” situation. Remember – it can’t go any further down, but it IS going to come back up! Someone said, “If you want the rainbow, you’ve got to put up with the rain!”
2. Don’t quit or become discouraged. Don’t say, “I’m stuck in a bad situation. I’m stuck on a sandbar and can’t get off!” It might be your HEALTH that’s gone out; it may be your FINANCES, or your RELATIONSHIPS that are effected, or your WALK with the Lord. Remember – the tide is coming back in! Your “boat of life” will get moving again!
