Welcome to Delight in Grace. The Teaching Ministry of Rich Powell. pastor of Grace Bible Church in Winston-Salem. You're listening to part four of a message titled, The Lord Your God Goes Before Us. It was first preached on april fourteenth, twenty seventy.
Mm-hmm. Or, thirdly, Christ is not preeminent. in my attitudes and my ambitions. my affections and my attitudes. Christ is not preeminent in my affections and my attitudes.
In other words, I am not occupying myself with thinking God's thoughts and loving what He loves. I think I know better. And I'm going to pursue what I want. That's self-preeminent, not Christ preeminence. All right, I'm glad you wore your steel-toed shoes this morning.
Let's bring this home. Let's bring this home. You may be Probably many of you are this morning facing what you think is an impossible path. And it might look impossible to you right now. From this side of things, it might look impossible.
I can't do this. I want to talk about three approaches. To this impossible path that lies in front of you. And again, I can look out in the congregation, and just about every one of you, I can look, say, Boy, there's a tough path in front of them. There's three approaches.
Two of them are natural, and one of them is spirit-led. God oftentimes leads us to do hard things. Hard things. to endure difficulty. That difficulty may be a relational difficulty.
Again, I can look out here and say That's you. Or that relational That that difficulty might be a material-physical difficulty.
Some of you here today, or some of you watching today, are suffering physically, and you've suffered. for a long time and you continue to suffer. That's a hard thing.
Some of you may have to experience emotional difficulty. you're experiencing an emotionally hard thing to do. You know what it is. Just a little warning here.
Okay. Beware of our tendency towards paganism. What do I mean by paganism? Paganism is just simply this: the gods. are unhappy with me, therefore I'm suffering.
That's paganism. And even though we believe in one God, we can still think the same thing, can't we? God is unhappy with me, therefore I'm suffering. Don't go there. Don't go there at all.
Just because things are challenging and difficult, it does not mean that you've fallen out of God's favor. Here is the truth. Here is the truth. You ready for this? God ordains hard things to develop our trust and our character.
Remember what I said before.
Sometimes our adversity comes from bad choices or a bad priority in our life. Christ is not preeminent. I'm more self-focused than I am Christ preeminent.
So sometimes the adverse and so we need to we need to make that honest assessment in our own lives. Did I bring this on myself? Have I been foolish? in my affections and my attitudes. Or Or What part of this, in what part of this, how can I understand that God ordains hard things to develop my trust in my character?
If you have any question about that, read. Romans chapter 5. beginning of the chapter. and James chapter 1. Mm.
Both of those sections make it very, very clear that God ordains Hard things. for our development.
Now, let's talk about two natural approaches to. This This what might be an impossible path in front of us. And we learn from the Israelites, what did they do? They go in, they search out the land. Oh, this is a good land.
I would really love to have this, but. I can't do it. We cannot do it. God, we don't trust you. We don't think you care about us enough to trust you.
to get through this hard path. And so the first approach is to settle for the comfortable in a lack of trust. Settle for the comfortable in a lack of trust. I can't do this. I give up.
I isolate myself or I complain. And for a long season, I'm going to be complaining about what I don't have or can't have. I've said this before, let me say it again. A complaining Christian is a contradiction in terms. We forget what God has promised or done.
We forget the gospel, we forget the love of God, we forget Romans 8, we forget Ephesians 1 to 3, we forget John 14 to 16. Or if I have never read them, how could I even forget them, right?
Well, we won't go there. Statistics are showing that Christians are reading, people, American people are reading their Bibles a whole lot less than they used to. don't be part of that statistic. Scripture. read huge chunks of scripture.
You know, it could be. In your lack of trust, it could be that you've compartmentalized your life. Like this part of my life, this hard path, God doesn't even, how does God even fit into this? God doesn't apply to this. Nothing.
could be further from the truth. There is no part of your life where God does not apply. In him you live and move and have your being. You exist for him. There's no part of your life that he doesn't care about.
And what happens when we pull back? In lack of trust, we settle down, we isolate, or we complain, or. We just give up. We allow the obstacle or the adversity to start to define us. Are you defined?
By an adversity in your life? We need the Need to look to trusting God and remembering. Here's the second approach, or the first approach is to settle for the uncomfortable in a lack of trust. The second approach is to. engage in manipulation and control.
And I know none of you have ever done this. I'm alone on this, right? What have I said about Christians? We are all what? Recovering.
Control addicts. Every Christian is a recovering control addict. Because you were born with a problem of self-preeminence. Self-preeminence means I am the greatest and most important reality. It's my life.
I will do it my way. That's why your kids desperately need parents. Because that's your number one lesson to teach them. That ain't true. But In a difficult path, and from not trusting God, I will begin to manipulate and control.
Manipulate what? Circumstances. And control what? People. And we use tactics like deception, coercion, pretext.
or even preoccupation. And we double down, we say, if it's going to be, it's up to me.
Now, that sounds like a really good business mantra, doesn't it? Doesn't work in the kingdom of God, I'm telling you right now, okay? If it's gonna be, it's up to me. that does not work in the kingdom of God. Jesus said it very clearly: Without me, you can do what?
Let's learn that. Let's learn that. We can be very. Bent on all the promises that I've made, God. God, I'm just gonna try harder to do better.
And bless God, I'm gonna do better today. And we're banking on our promises. When we've not even checked out his promises and learned to trust him. You've been listening to Delight in Grace, the teaching ministry of Rich Powell, pastor of Grace Bible Church in Winston-Salem. To hear this message and others, check out WWW dot delight in grace dot com.
to discover how to live by grace Tune in with us on weekdays at ten AM.
