THE DANGER OF WAITING: --- SPIRITUAL RUST!
By Wade Martin Hughes, Sr. Kyfingers@aol.com This is part #3 on Waiting on the Lord.
1. Waiting and Patience -- the dirty words? ; 2. Habakkuk’s Waiting Room; 3. Danger of waiting and spiritual rust;
4. The five levels of waiting; 5. Waiting with Joy and gladness 6. Long waits and sudden answers; 7. TEPID WAITING; 8. Waiting with a fire in my bones!
TEXT:
Matthew 6:19 Lay not up for yourselves treasures
upon earth, where the MOTH and RUST doth corrupt,
and where thieves break through and steal.
20. But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven,
where neither MOTH nor RUST doth corrupt, and where
thieves do not break through nor steal.
21. The light of the body is the eye: if therefore
thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of
light.
THREE GREAT DANGERS OF IDLENESS, WAITING, DELAY, BEING HINDERED AND SLACKING UP:
1. THIEVES: Sudden, infrequent moving stealthily or
secretly toward losing valuable resources.
2. MOTHS --- very frequent and common, usually
working under the cover of darkness, nocturnal, that
brings destruction.
3. RUST --- DESTRUCTION THAT TAKES VERY SLOW,
GRADUAL, IMPERCEPTIBLE STEPS; this is a very slow
process that moves, changes, and develops by fine,
imperceptible degrees. This slow destructive force
is SUBTLE, AND OFTEN NOT PERCEPTIBLE by the senses
or by the mind.
MANY OF OUR GREAT SPIRITUAL BATTLES ARE VERY
COMPARABLE TO RUST!
Spiritual coldness, family problems, credit card
and financial problems, getting out of church, and
backsliding can be like rust. Great damage can occur
and a person not even notice how far off course they
have really become.
SAMSON HAD SPIRITUAL RUST --- he shook himself, but
the power was gone. Samson was asleep when he got
his hair cut!
SAUL HAD SPIRITUAL RUST --- Saul slowly over a
period of time developed wrong attitudes and then
his bad behavior followed.
DAVID DID NOT GO TO BATTLE, 2 Samuel 11:1, David
should have been in active duty, but while he was
A.W.O.L., absent without leave, he watched lustfully
as a neighbor woman took a bath. This adulterous
affair would never had happened, but David was a
RUSTY Warrior.
IS SPIRITUAL RUST GROWING IN YOUR HEART?
ONE OF THE GREAT DANGERS OF WAITING IS THE PROBLEM OF RUST!
THE LESSON OF THE TIN MAN!
Remember from the story of the Wizard of Oz?
Dorothy had three friends, they were all on a journey.
Their journey was a process and progressed as they
walked together.
Dorothy was trying to find her way home.
There was a Scarecrow --- he needed a brain.
There was the Tin Man --- he wanted a heart.
There was the Lion --- appears he needed courage.
Dorothy, Scarecrow, Lion, and the Tin Man all had
their own needs, but they seemed to work well as a
team as they traveled.
The Tin Man had a terrible problem, when he would
be inactive, WAITING, --- RUST would begin to work
on him.
The Tin Man’s joints would lock and he was frozen,
until someone got the oil can and applied a generous
supply of oil and the decay of the RUST REVERSED.
ONE OF THE GREAT DANGERS OF WAITING IS THE PROBLEM OF RUST!
RUST:
Rust is usually a reddish, brown brittle coating
formed when chemically attacked by moist air,
oxidized.
Corrosive or injurious influence or effect.
TO DEGENERATE FROM INACTION, LACK OF USE, OR PASSAGE
OF TIME.
To impair or corrode by or as if by time,
inactivity, or deleterious use.
It is better to wear out than to rust out.
Eaten to death by rust... ???
The lack of use will rust the best of iron... Time
will rust the sharpest sword. UNLESS???
Too much rest and idleness makes any ministry rust.
TERMITE SWARM?
I am told if you see a termite swarm around your
house, it is too late. Damage and destruction has
already occurred.
You must prepare for termites before you see the
swarm.
OUR ENEMY IS AS SUBTLE AS RUST!
Gen. 3:1 Now the serpent was more subtle than any
beast of the field which the Lord God had made.
And he said unto the woman, He hath said, ye shall
not eat of every tree of the garden?
Our enemy is very subtle. He is sly, foxy, hardly
noticeable, clever, a skilled trap designer. He is a
Slick Willie.
He seeks our ends by devious means. He is out to
steal, kill, and destroy. He lurks in the shadows.
The enemy used the BANANA THEORY, he got Eve off by
herself. She might have been stronger and wiser
if she had been with Adam. Just as a banana is safe
as long as it is with the bunch. When the banana is
pulled off by itself, it is getting ready to be
skinned.
One of the tools of rust and subtlety is isolation.
Our enemy’s greatest work is done subtlety, hidden
in the midst of a spirit of gradualness.
TWO MESSAGES FROM A ROOSTER?
Jesus asked his three elite to watch and pray. They
slept, the sleep was slow and gradual. Peter had
boasted of his great strength and that he would
never leave Jesus. Through the slow process of sleep
and a lack of spiritual preparation Peter denied
Jesus.
The second message of the rooster hit a nerve in
Peter’s heart. Peter cried, How could I? How could I
have denied my Master? Easy --- spiritual rust!!
LET’S SURVEY SOME RUST CAUSING AGENTS THAT CAN SAP OUT THE VICTORY OF A CHILD OF GOD!
1. AS WE WAIT WE FACE THE DANGER OF THE RUST OF STRESS.
Gal. 6: 9 And let us not BE WEARY IN WELL DOING: for
in due season we shall reap, IF WE FAINT NOT.
We live in a very stressful society. Seems like we
are being drained on every side. Everybody wants
something?
Forces seem to be pushing us against our wills.
Tension harms us physically, spiritually,
emotionally, and mentally.
What should bring joy becomes a weight.
Psychological pressure can cause heart problems,
elevated blood pressures, digestive tract problems,
and many health problems.
WE LIVE IN A TIRED CHURCH WORLD?
Some stress may be given birth because one refuses
to change one’s mind or thought patterns.
There is a problem we address as FUTURE SHOCK ---
this is the shattering stress and disorientation
that we induce in individuals by subjecting them to
too much change in too short a time frame. The
information age in which we live is ever changing
and we must learn change is not all bad.
Stress puts the danger of great harm to the body,
spirit, emotions, and mental condition of man.
We face mental and psychological stress at work, at
home, and seems we can’t compete with the TV.
We must learn to accentuate the positive.
Rust is so slow that the damage gradually harms. While we wait, we must not yield to the slow rust process that stress can bring.
Stress and Weariness, fatigue, boredom, wear down,
excessive weight, disgusted and completely out of
patience.
A preacher friend of mine said: I am not burned out,
I am burned up.
There is a Bible story on how rust hindered
ministry:
A Certain Samaritan was hurt, his hurt came
suddenly. - - But how many were hurt in this lesson
by the rust of bitterness?
Luke 10:33 But a certain Samaritan, as he
journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him,
he had compassion on him.
1) One in this Bible story was hurt suddenly, a
Certain man, let’s call him, Mr. Hurt.
2) Rust seemed to be working on a Certain Priest,
somehow he had rusted in his spirit that he refused
to minister to his hurting brother. I call him: Mr.
Burned out, he saw the problem and passed by, doing
nothing; rust had hindered him just as the Tim Man!
3) Rust had so corroded a Certain Levite, I call
him, Mr. Longnose, he stopped and looked at the
hurt, but rust hindered the Levite from helping.
4) Rust was not growing on a Certain Samaritan,
let’s call him --- Mr. Love, he had compassion, and
he did something.
Rust has imprisoned many ministers, as they waited
on the Lord, they refused to minister to their
neighbor in need?
2. RUST OF CRITICAL - JUDGMENTAL SPIRIT
Many accept injury of critical spirit.
Rom. 2:3 And thinkest thou this, O man, that
judgest them which do such things, and doest the
same, that thou shalt escape the judgment of God?
Mat. 7:1 Judge not, that ye be not judged. 2: For
with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged:
and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured
to you again. 3: And why beholdest thou the
mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest
not the beam that is in thine own eye?
Cannibalistic Confidence, there seems to be little
shame in people judging others.
Gal. 5:15 But if ye bite and devour one another,
take heed that ye be not consumed one of another.
I am amazed at Art Critics, they have never painted
a picture, yet they will pick a work to pieces?
Seems critics don’t focus on the good, but the
imperfections. I guess, if you can’t be an artist be
a critic?
CRITICISM: If we’re wrong - repent; if they are
wrong - keep comments and attitudes without judment.
3. AS WE WAIT THE RUST OF GREAT EXPECTATION, UNREAL GOALS CAN HURT.
Mat. 25:15 And unto one he gave five talents, to
another two, and to another one; to every man
according to his several ability; and straightway
took his journey.
Acts. 11:29 Then the disciples, every man according
to his ability, determined to send relief
unto the brethren which dwelt in Judea.
WE ALL HAVE DIFFERING ABILITIES. We most accept
this and not compare ourselves to each other.
Must Christians grow a: FIX IT MENTALITY, we want
to make everything better. We want to take the
thorns off the roses? We want to take the sting out
of bees? We see broken homes, we desire to fix it.
We cannot forget the role that the individual plays
in the problem. If you could get some people debt
free, and pay all their bills, they would be back
in debt by tomorrow night.
We dream of healing for every sick person. We dream
of restoration for every home. We dream to provide
relief from every financial problem. Dreams must be
subject to reality checks.
We cannot be the savior to all. You cannot fix
every problem. You cannot fix every problem quickly!
THE WORK OF A LIFETIME
Life’s constant waves battering the dirt and sand at
the foot of a lighthouse leads to a slow destructive
force. Someone could have stopped the erosion by
digging a little trench.
Because of erosion, slow, unnoticeable for many
years, the historic Cape Hatteras Lighthouse was in
peril of washing into the Atlantic Ocean.
So Congress appropriated $12 million for the
National Park service to move it 2900 feet to safety.
With a combination of care, expertise, patience and
raw power, The Expert House Movers of Sharptown,
Maryland moved the 208 foot tall, 9.7 million pound
structure to its current home.
The option of moving the lighthouse was first
proposed in April of 1982, but the light wasn’t lit
at its new location until November 13, 1999. 17
years, 17 years of waiting, 17 years of study and 23
days of moving later. Why did it take so long?
Small things can be moved quickly, but big things
take time.
Most people tend to overestimate what they can do in
a week and underestimate what they can do
in a lifetime. -- From Fresh Illustrations --
Contributed by: James Wilson
Some will produce nothing, some 30, some 60, some
100. We can’t compare, but do what we can.
4. AS WE WAIT THE RUST OF DISCOURAGEMENT CAN GROW AND THRIVE!
A. Even sons of promise go through lean times:
Moses, Elijah, David, Paul.
B. Learn to speak little when discouraged.
C. Beware of self pity.
D. Don’t take your discouragement out on others.
E. Take a hike.
You cannot delegate your encouragement into the
hands of others.
1 Sam. 30:6 And David was greatly distressed; for
the people spake of stoning him, because the soul
of all the people was grieved, every man for his
sons and for his daughters: but David encouraged
himself in the Lord his God.
Life’s constant waves of discouragement and tears
can destroy.
REMEMBER: THIS TOO SHALL PASS. Problems are
temporary. Nothing is as bad as it first appears.
Good comes out of bad.
5. WATCH A SPIDER? A SPIDER DOES NOT IDLY WAIT LIKE THE GRASSHOPPER.
Have you ever watched a spider?
The spider will spend many hours, days, in great
effort spinning a web.
As the spider spins the web, the key factor will
become patience.
Many hours after the web is completed, the spider
waits and waits.
The spider must be very still and quiet.
The spider has a plan, but the plan can never
develop without patience.
As the spider waits, he waits days or maybe weeks,
then one day it will feel
the web moving -- the food has come suddenly.
But there was nothing sudden about it. It was
patience released, that sustained the spider.
Are we busy spinning a web and waiting? Or are we
rusting?
While God feeds the birds, He does not drop worms
into their nest!
Don’t rust! The best sword left idle will dull and
rust away.
Would have? Should have? Could have?
Either you are changing where you work? Or where you
work is changing you?
Either you are changing where you live? Or where you
live is changing you?
Grow a goal that is bigger than you and enlist
others to help you accomplish what God can do.
Don’t rust away as we wait upon the Lord.
His servant, Wade Martin Hughes, Sr. Kyfingers@aol.com
Join my team and help me, pass this on to others? This is Part #3 on waiting on the Lord.
