GOD IS A WAYMAKER
God Makes a Way Where There Seems To Be No Way
Isa. 43:16-21
INTRODUCTION
A. HUMOR: Prison Breaks
1. I heard that two prisoners escaped from Ellis 2 prison. One is seven feet tall and one is four feet six. The police are looking high and low for them.
2. Why did all the prisoners at the AT&T prison escape?
Because they had no bars on their cells!
3. We’re going to look today at how God is our WayMaker!
B. TEXT
This is what the Lord says— He who MADE A WAY through the Sea, a path through the mighty waters, 17 who drew out the chariots and horses, the army and reinforcements together,
and they lay there, never to rise again, extinguished, snuffed out like a wick: 18 “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. 19 See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am MAKING A WAY in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland. 20 ....because I provide water in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland, to give drink to My people, My chosen, 21 the people I formed for myself that they may proclaim My praise. Isa. 43:16-21
C. THESIS
1. What God is talking about here is how He made a way for the Israelites. HE MADE A WAY... out of Egypt (by the 10 plagues) ... for them to cross the Red Sea (pushing back the waters) ... a way for them to cross the wilderness (providing food, water, heat & cloud-cover), and ... to enter the promised land (giving victory over their enemies).
2. Just as God made a way for THEM, He’ll make a way for YOU! Aren’t You glad we serve a God of great power? Our God is the same, yesterday, today, and forever! He doesn’t change, neither is there a shadow of His turning! No matter what your problem, God has the solution!
3. How many of you know that GOD WILL MAKE A WAY, WHERE THERE SEEMS TO BE NO WAY!
4. We’re going to look at three impossible situations where ‘God will make a Way’ – 1). First, for Broken-Hearted People, 2). Next, for people facing severe Temptations, and 3). And lastly, to meet your Impossible Needs!
I. FOR BROKEN-HEARTED PEOPLE
A. LIFE HAS SOME TERRIBLE HURTS
1. “So David and his men wept aloud until they had no strength left to weep” 1 Sam. 30:4. Some can identify w/ that.
2. [Say slowly] Loss can come many ways: the death of a loved one; a broken marriage; your children may remain lost or estranged from you. Maybe you made a bad decision that wrecked your life & hurt your reputation. The result?
3. Your life has become overwhelmed by sorrow. There seems to be no way to escape from the dark cloud that has parked over you. Time stopped, when the terrible event took place.
4. Question: How can you ever be whole again? “Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there?” Has God lost the power to deliver people from sadness and grief? Is there no fixing what has been broken? Is OUR God so small that He doesn’t have the answer to our shattered life?
B. HOPE FROM THE WOUNDED SAVIOR
1. When Jesus taught in the Capernaum Synagogue, He quoted from Isaiah 61: “The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to preach the Good News....to proclaim liberty to the captives & the open of the prison to them that are bound...”
2. But did you know the next verse? He said He came “to comfort all who mourn, [to bind up the broken-hearted, vs. 2], 3 and provide for those who grieve in Zion—to bestow beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, and a garment of praise instead of the spirit of despair.” Isa. 63:1-3.
3. God anointed Jesus not only to heal the sick and deliver the demonized, but to bring healing to the grieving, to the broken-hearted, to the sad and the despairing! So, my hurting friend, there IS healing for your wounds! There is hope.
4. God says, “I will turn their mourning into gladness; I will give them comfort and joy instead of sorrow” Jer. 31:13. GOD IS GOING TO MAKE A WAY FOR YOU!
5. Next, we see God makes a way...
II. FOR THE TEMPTED SOUL
A. HOW TO RESPOND TO YOUR TEMPTATION
1. “There has no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer 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” 1 Cor. 10:13.
2. “But Pastor, I’m just too weak to beat my temptation!” You’re right! YOU are too weak, but you need to let God give you HIS STRENGTH! He said, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness” 2 Cor. 12:9.
3. ILLUS. Martin Luther was asked how he overcame the Devil. He replied, “Well, when he comes knocking upon the door of my heart, and asks ‘Who lives here?’ the dear Lord Jesus goes to the door and says, ‘Martin Luther used to live here but he has moved out. Now I live here.’ The Devil, seeing the nail-prints in the hands, and the pierced side, takes flight immediately.” Every life and every home needs to have Jesus as a permanent resident!
4. What’s the key to victory in temptation? Leslie Duncan said, “I learned a lesson from a dog we had. My father used to put a bit of meat or biscuit on the floor near the dog and say, “No!” and the dog knew he must not touch it. So the dog never looked at the meat; he knew that if he did, the temptation to disobey would be too great, so he looked steadily at my father’s face.” That’s the lesson: when tempted, we need to keep looking into our Heavenly Father’s face!
B. ILLUS.: LET THE LORD CLEANSE YOU!
1. A little boy came running into the house after playing outside. His mother stopped him and asked what was on his right hand. He replied, “Oh, just a little mud.”
2. His mother then asked if he was planning on getting it off. He thought for a moment and said, “Sure, Mom. I’ll just wipe it off with my other hand.”
3. There was only one problem with the plan, one dirty hand plus one clean hand equals two dirty hands. The trouble today with many people is they have dirty hands because they haven’t gone to the Lord to get cleansing!
4. Like the old song says, “What can wash away my sins? Nothing but the blood of Jesus! What can make me whole again? Nothing but the blood of Jesus!”
5. AREN’T YOU GLAD THE BLOOD OF JESUS HAS NEVER LOST IT’S POWER? Lastly, God will make a way...
III. FOR YOUR IMPOSSIBLE NEED
A. THE GOD WHO’S BIG ENOUGH!
1. Some of you may be facing insurmountable troubles. You may face giants of health problems, a rising tide of trouble at work, or a financial mountain may loom before you.
2. One Israelite, named, Zerubbabel, faced such an obstacle. God told him, “What are you, mighty mountain? Before Zerubbabel you will become level ground! It’s not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord Almighty.” Zech. 4:6-7.
3. God often puts you in a situation over your heads so that you can meet the God who’s way over your heads! George Muller said, "Faith does not operate in the realm of the possible. There is no glory for God in that which is humanly possible. Faith begins where man’s power ends!" [Rowell, 60]
4. The Israelites were trapped between the Egyptian Army and the Red Sea; there was no way out! BUT GOD’S SPECIALTY IS TO MAKE A WAY OUT WHEN THERE IS NO WAY OUT!
5. Satan wants you to believe that there's no way out and the walls are closing in, but God has a plan! God’s not caught off-guard by your situation. Take His hand, ask for a miracle, and walk with Him in the impossible.
6. EXAMPLES OF GOD MAKING A WAY....
B. GOD PROVIDES BY A DOG
1. John Craig (ca. 1512-1600) was a contemporary of John Knox, and lived in a time of great religious persecution. He was arrested by the Inquisition. On the eve of his scheduled execution, Craig was able to escape.
2. But while fleeing through the Italian backcountry, he ran out of food and money. Suddenly a dog approached him with a purse in his mouth. Craig tried to drive the animal away, but it persisted in bringing the purse to Craig. In it was enough money to take him to freedom. [Nelson’s Complete Illus., p. 383]
C. DELIVERANCE THROUGH A SPIDER
1. Robert Bruce of Scotland was running for his life, fleeing an army. He ducked into a small cave, and a spider immediately appeared and spun a web over the opening.
2. Bruce's pursuers fanned across the landscape, knowing he was near. Two of them approached the cave, and one of them started to go in. The other one stopped him, saying "He could never have gotten in there without breaking that spider's web."
3. Bruce breathed this prayer, "O God, I thank Thee that in the tiny bowels of a spider you can place for me a shelter." [Nelson’s Complete Illus., p. 383]
D. ANSWER TO A WIFE’S PRAYER
1. In April, 1912, a Christian housewife began to feel a tremendous burden of prayer. God impressed her to pray for her husband who was out in the Atlantic Ocean, on his way back from Europe, a passenger on the Titanic.
2. At that moment, her husband was one of the doomed hundreds of men who were frantically trying to launch the life boats full of women and children. No room was left for men.
3. When the ship sank, he was pulled down in the whirlpool and began swimming back toward the surface of the icy waters. When he reached the surface, he was right by an upside-down life boat. He and others climbed aboard.
4. At 5 a.m. in the morning, they were picked up by another life boat and were finally safe – the very time peace came to his praying wife! God made a way! [Paul Lee Tan, Encyclopedia of 7,700 Illus., # 4583].
5. Do you have a problem that’s humanly impossible to change? Then it’s time to put it into the hands of the Living God. He who could multiply the widow’s oil, cause the fish with the coin in its mouth to bite Peter’s hook, and stop the winds and the waves – He’s able to meet and supply every need that you have and to do it abundantly!
CONCLUSION
A. ILLUSTRATION
1. A tribal chief once came to David Livingstone with this request. He said: “Please give me some medicine to change my heart; it’s so proud, uneasy, and oftentimes angry.”
2. He had seen what the missionary had done for those who were sick in body and had mistakenly concluded that medication would do the same thing for his soul.
3. Livingstone then tried to explain that the Lord Jesus alone could bring about the needed transformation in his life. But the man refused to listen, saying, “No, no, I want medicine!”
4. Many people want to choose their own way to be freed from their sins. Having to surrender their life to Christ seems like a steep price. But friends, there is no salvation outside of Jesus!
B. WHO IS THIS JESUS?
1. He was the Garden of Eden’s tree of life. He was Abel’s acceptable Lamb. He was Noah's Ark of salvation in the flood. He was Abraham's RAM offered in the place of Isaac.
2. He was Israel's Passover lamb, protecting them from the death Angel in Egypt. He was Moses rod with which he divided the waters.
3. He was the Tabernacle in the wilderness. He was Joshua's captain of the armies of the Lord. He was Rahab's Scarlet cord in the window; He was Gideon’s sword and David's sling and stone.
4. He was Daniel's lion tamer and the fourth man in the furnace of fire. He was Isaiah's "Wonderful, Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace" (Isaiah 9:6).
5. He was Zechariah’s fountain for cleansing opened in the house of David (13:1). That's what we can sing, "There is a fountain filled with blood, drawn from Immanuel’s veins; and sinners plunged beneath that flood lose all their guilty stains."
6. He is Malachi's Sun of Righteousness with healing in His wings (4:2). He’s the Rose of Sharon, the Bright and morning star, the Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End. He is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords!
C. THE CALL
1. Sing the Song, “WayMaker, Miracle Worker, Promise Keeper, Light in the darkness...”
2. If you have a big need, something you need God to do for you, would you stand up? Take one more step and come to the front and let’s pray together.
3. I’m going to pray the Sinner’s Prayer. How many of you have a question about your salvation, and want to be included in that prayer? PRAYER.
