Peace on Earth - Fear Not, Despite Your Disappointments, Part 2

For many this Christmas, there's an air of disappointment. Things aren't working out the way you hoped they would. And sometimes that's been happening over and over and over. How do we come to God? What do you hang on to when you're deeply disappointed?

That's today. Stay with me. Thanks for joining us for this Edition of Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram. Living on the Edge is an international teaching and discipleship ministry focused on helping Christians live like Christians. Well, as many of you know, Chip's our regular Bible teacher for this daily program. But for the next handful of programs, he's asked his friend Tim Lundy to co-teach alongside him through our newest series, Peace on Earth. Tim is the lead pastor at Venture Christian Church in Los Gatos, California.

And today we'll hear the second half of his talk, Fear Not, Despite Your Disappointments. And to help you get the most out of Tim's teaching, let me encourage you to download our message notes. This resource is available for every broadcast and includes a helpful outline, scripture references, and lots of fill-ins to help you remember and apply what you hear. Get them under the broadcasts tab at livingontheedge.org.

Tap listeners, tap fill-in notes. Okay, let's begin in Luke chapter one, verse 13, with the powerful words of the angel Gabriel to the priest Zechariah. Fear not, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. He says, you're not just going to have a son, he's going to be the fulfillment that the world's been waiting for. He's going to be the fulfillment that the nation's been waiting for. He's not going to be a priest, by the way. He's going to be a prophet.

There's a big difference. See, the priest went and they represented the people to God. And that's what had been happening for 400 years.

They would go and they'd take the prayers and they'd deliver them to God. And now 400 years later, he says, it's time for a prophet. A prophet brought the message from God, because God's about to do something in the world. And he says, Zechariah, he's not going to be just any normal prophet.

Look what he says. He will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God. He will go before him in the spirit and the power of Elijah to make ready for the Lord a people prepared. And I don't know about you, but man, if I'm sitting there and I'm hearing that and an angel's saying that, and you've got the incense all around you in the middle of the temple, I'd get pretty fired up. Not our boy, Zech. Look at his response. Zechariah said to the angel, well, how shall I know this?

I mean, how am I going to know this is true? He kind of just goes, I'm an old man. My wife's advanced in years.

We're past that age. Even good people struggle with doubt and disappointment. It can overwhelm the best of us. And if you carry it long enough and you carry that pain long enough, you can start to put up kind of this wall of self-protection, because I just don't want to be disappointed again. I don't want to be hurt again.

And especially if you're somebody like this couple that you've gone through years of maybe your disappointment. You've carried your pain for years. It's so easy to put up that wall of self-protection, but hear me, hear me. That wall never helps. Because all you've done is put up a wall that keeps you alone with that pain.

Keeps you alone with the disappointment. Instead of trusting the God who can answer and might answer and might miraculously answer, but even when he doesn't do what we would want him to do, it gives us the one person in the universe, our savior, who can actually speak into the pain, sympathize with it, identify, and have the power to sustain you through it. When Zechariah answers that way, look what the angel Gabriel says. The angel answered him, I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God. I mean, he looks at him, he goes, I'm kind of a big deal here.

And he's not doing it as an ego trip, by the way. But he is pointing out, he is of the highest order of angels. His role is in the presence of God. And he's saying, I came straight from the throne room of God to bring you this message. This isn't my message as an angel.

I was sent to speak to you and bring you this good news. And because you stayed so skeptical in this, and behold, you will be silent and unable to speak until the days these things take place because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time. Some scholars debate, we know that he was mute, he could not speak.

Some say he was deaf too, like it was total silence. As we look at this story, and here's what I would just say to you with it, it's okay to struggle with what we hope God will do. We don't always know how God will move. We don't know if he'll answer in the way we thought.

It's okay to struggle with that, but listen to this. Never doubt what he says he will do. Gabriel came from the throne room of God. This came from the lips of God. This came as the promise of God. And you can take the promises of God to the bank. You can trust the promises of God. In fact, I would encourage you, if you're in a season right now, and maybe you don't know what God's doing, maybe it's been disappointment, maybe you've carried pain for years, I'll have people, and they come and I'll counsel them. Sometimes they want answers, specific answers, and I can't always say, oh man, I know exactly what God's gonna do. I will always tell them, and I'll tell you though, I'll always tell them, man, are you spending time in God's Word? You need to read your Bible more. You need to go through the promises that he has promised you.

Spend time with it. And sometimes you kind of get a response where people go, okay, thank you, pastor, I'm dealing with a big problem, read my Bible, thank you, that's kind of quaint. And yet, even though it feels quaint, there's nothing more powerful.

There's nothing you need more. The latest NASA rover that they sent to Mars, the Perseverance, it's named Percy, it goes along the planet, looks for life, looks for different things. When they sent it in 2020, it took a year to get there, it got to 2021 was when it arrived, and you would think this rover, this piece of technology that they're sending, that every single part of it would be the latest and greatest technology. And yet, they chose for the processor the brain of the rover. They chose a piece of technology from 1997. They went back to the G3, the G3 processor. And back in 1997, 98, remember when the Apple back was released, they had the G3 processor, and Apple nerds, man, they were like, oh, that's one of the best. And everybody thought it was so powerful at the time, I mean, it could process 266 megahertz. I mean, now your phone does what, 5G?

5 gig? Massive amounts more now. Why would they not choose what we have now to put it in there? You know why they chose it? Because the G3 is so reliable. We want what we know is proven and reliable because this mission is so important.

I know this book was written 2,000 years ago, the last parts of it. I know you can look at it and go, oh, it just seems so quaint. Hear me. In your fears, in your frustrations, in your disappointments, go back to the proven, reliable promises of God.

Some of you would do well. Get off social media. Stop watching network news. Stop watching the latest cable program. Stop watching what everybody says about going on in the world.

Stop taking in the latest fear-mongering in every level and spend more time with the promises of God. This is Zechariah who stayed in there way too long, by the way. They start getting scared, something happened to him. And then he walks out and he can't say anything.

Can't explain it. Goes home to Elizabeth and, you know, he's writing things out. I'm sure she asked him, wait, you had a message from God?

What did God tell us that we need to do? Well, we need to make a baby. Sure, she's like, oh, yeah, right. Yeah, good one.

Good try. And she gets pregnant. She just exalts.

She says, my disgrace has been removed. You feel how deep that went in her life? And if you read in this chapter, she's got this young cousin named Mary who's about to be visited by an angel too. And Mary comes and sees Elizabeth, how God wove all the story together.

I just want to skip ahead to verse 57. The time came for Elizabeth to give birth. She bore a son and her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown great mercy to her.

They rejoiced with her. On the eighth day they came to circumcise the child, they would have called him Zechariah after his father. I mean, he's going to be like dad. He'll be a priest. He'll be Zechariah. But his mother answered, no, he shall be called John.

They said to her, none of your relatives is called by this name. They made signs to his father inquiring what he wanted him to be called. And he asked for a writing tablet and he wrote, his name is John. And they all wondered and immediately his mouth was open and his tongue loosed and he spoke blessing God.

Read the remaining part of this chapter. He speaks this marvelous song. It's like out of the book of Psalms. It's this prophetic passage.

It's this beautiful passage. Now he's had nine months to think about it. Nine months where he couldn't serve as a priest because he couldn't talk. Nine months where he had to pull back from the normal stuff of life. Nine months of setback where God's preparing him and coming out of that, man, he speaks the prophetic word of God. Every season of setback is a great opportunity for spiritual discernment and growth.

Every season and you might be in one right now and you probably don't want to stay there. But I would encourage you while you were there, just stop and listen. Say, God, what do you want to teach me? God, how are you preparing me?

You're listening to Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram. We'll get back to our series, Peace on Earth, in just a minute. But quickly, I want to remind you that we're in the middle of our year-end match. Thanks to a few close ministry friends, every gift we receive until December 31st will be matched dollar for dollar. For more information about how to partner with us, go to livingontheedge.org or call 888-333-6003. Thanks in advance for your generosity.

Well, here again is our guest teacher, Tim Lundy. See, he's preparing Zechariah to be the father of a prophet. He's preparing Zechariah to come to grips with what he was doing in their lives. And I would just say, I can look back on my life, and there's several seasons of setback in it, and I would not want to go back to them, but I am thankful for them.

Because I would say I grew more in those seasons than any other time in life. And if you're in it right now, don't resent it, don't pull back from God in it, and look for what he wants to do in you and through you. In Zechariah's case, he delivers this magnificent song, and at the end of it, he ends the song addressing his son, addressing his boy. Look what he says, he says, you child will be called the prophet of the most high, for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways, to give knowledge of salvation to his people and the forgiveness of their sins, because of the tender mercy of our God, whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high, to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace. I mean, he is fully embraced that his son is not gonna be a priest, he's gonna be a prophet, and not just any other prophet, he's the prophet that was promised, he's the prophet that's preparing the way, he's the prophet that's opening the doors, he's the prophet that's pointing the whole world to the actual light that will come that they've all been desperately waiting for, that all of us need. He sees in that how God has worked, not like they thought he would, not in the timing they thought he would, but we can hold on as well, you can trust that God will give us what we need even more than what we want.

You can trust that. He wanted a son who would be a priest, just like dad. What he needed, what they needed, was a prophet, a prophet who would prepare the way, a prophet who would live a life I'm sure different than what his parents thought he would live. If you read about John the Baptist, this prophet, he's kind of a rough and tumble guy, he's a little bit different. He says that he ate honey and locust, he's kind of a wild man with it. He's dressed in a camel coat.

Now I'm not talking about your nice sport coat guys, camel coat, I'm talking about a straight off the camel coat, catch a camel, skin a camel, you're dressed coat. He roughed up and caused disturbances with a religious establishment. He would die as a young man in his early 30s, martyred for standing up for what was right. It was not the life that his parents had dreamed, it was so much more. It's what they needed. It's what the world needed. It's what God was doing. See the same is true for us, one of those great promises of scripture, Romans 8.28, we know that for those who love God, all things work together for good. It doesn't say all things work together the way we want, all things work together for our good. God redeems all things. God takes all pain. God takes even the disappointment. He doesn't say they're good, but he says, you know what, I can work them for your good.

And you can trust me for that promise. For those who are called according to his purpose, because he had a plan. He had a plan not only for Zachariah and Elizabeth, he had a plan for Israel. He had a plan that he had been during those 400 years when they kept going, God, what are you doing? God, when are the promises coming?

God, are you ever gonna move? God was preparing the world. Galatians tells us in the fullness of time, Jesus Christ came.

And here's the fascinating part. There was a population explosion that happened right after the birth of Jesus. That 98% of the people that have ever lived on this planet were born after that time.

Because there was stability with the Roman Empire, because there was a road system that went in, because there was literacy like they'd never experienced, because there was learning and the ability to share information. All of these things converge together at that time in the fullness of time that Jesus came. Because God had a plan. And he had a purpose. And even when his people step back for him, they go, God, this is not according to our timeframe.

This isn't even how we would have wanted it. We wanted a king to come put Israel in charge. And God said, oh no, I've got so much better. I've got a savior who will not just save your nation, he's gonna save all people who come to him. And that savior needs a prophet who prepares the way.

I don't know what you're dealing with here today. You don't have to gather a group very large before you start running into some real pain and disappointment. The part of your heart maybe that you've put up walls of protection. Part of it that God's asked you to live in something for a long time. And the enemy will attack and your own thoughts will attack and everything in your heart wants to pull back from him or question him.

Hear me, the story of Christmas tells us again. God loves you. He is for you. And he has a plan for you. It may not match what you would have wanted, but I promise, I promise you, I promise you, he always provides what you need, what I need. We can trust him. So I'd encourage you today, would you just let down the wall a little bit and trust him a little bit more today? Would you just rest on the promises that we know are true? Would you draw near to him in prayer and maybe share with him again your desires? But trust him that he will meet you there. Before we go on, let me extend both a challenge and an opportunity for you to respond to what Tim taught us today.

In what area of your heart or your life do you need to let the walls down? We saw a very religious man, a very godly man, Zachariah, who didn't believe. And because he didn't believe, his mouth was shut. And God wanted to teach him, Why don't you believe me when I tell you something? Jesus said he would never leave you and me. He promised he would never forsake us. He's told us he has already prepared a place for us. So what is it that is holding you back?

What is it about your money or your finances or a relationship that you just keep trying to figure it out yourself? Could I encourage you today from Romans 12, 1, offer your body a living sacrifice? In other words, on this day in the midst of this, say, God, I can't do it. Today, all that I am, all that I have is yours. God wants to work deeply in you, and that starts with this moment of surrender. Can you today say, Jesus, you are my Lord. I'll do whatever you want me to do.

The fact of the matter is you can control your life or you can give the control to Him, and when you do, you'll never regret it. That's absolutely right, Chip. Well, this is Living on the Edge. Pastor Tim Lundy has been our guest teacher for this program, Fear Not, Despite Your Disappointments, which is from our series Peace on Earth. And before we move on, I want to invite you to take a significant step in your spiritual journey. If you're genuinely interested in surrendering your life to Jesus, I highly recommend Chip's book, True Spirituality. In it, he thoughtfully breaks down Romans chapter 12, describing a clear path to becoming an authentic, dedicated follower of Christ. Grab your copy by visiting specialoffers at livingontheedge.org or through the Chip Ingram app.

Consider getting an extra copy for a friend so you can explore Romans 12 together. Don't miss the chance to enrich your faith with Chip's insightful book, True Spirituality. Well, Chip's still with me in studio, and Chip, there are a lot of issues and demands facing the body of Christ right now. But if you could step back and look at churches globally, what would you say is the most pressing need?

That is easy, Dave. The most pressing need. I mean, it just came out from the fourth Luzon Conference. It's the most extensive research that's ever been done in countries all across the world and, of course, here in America. It's discipleship. And the key behind discipleship is training and equipping pastors to make disciples, not just get people to come to a weekend service or to get involved in a program or to become a little bit more religious. It's helping Christians live like Christians. That's my definition of discipleship. And the primary way that that gets solved is when pastors and leaders get equipped. As we help pastors here in America and all across the globe, only 14% of them say, I am confident that I am good at making disciples.

Now think of that. Only 14% of pastors feel like I know how to disciple people. And as we've met with literally hundreds of thousands of pastors here and around the world, what I can tell you is no one discipled them. They may have been to Bible school, but very rarely. Often they have no theological training.

Here's what they have. They love God. They care about people.

And whatever they saw done growing up, they're doing. So we have had the privilege to follow Ephesians 4 and help pastors equip God's people to do the work of the ministry. We have introduced Romans 12 around the globe. We've helped them in crisis through the art of survival. And now we're helping them with a process to help every believer in their church learn to come before God, to do life in community, and be on mission 24-7. When you equip a pastor and you help him or her, you change the life of a whole church and then a whole community. Right now, we need your help to train pastors here and around the world. And every dollar that you give up to December 31 is doubled dollar for dollar. If we want to see long-term change, we have to go upstream and help the very people that are called to make disciples in the local church. Thank you for doing whatever the Lord leads.

Thanks, Chip. So if you believe God is calling you to encourage and support pastors with us, now is a great time to become a financial partner. As Chip said, from now until December 31, every gift we receive will be matched dollar for dollar. So to be part of our year-end match, call us at 888-333-6003 or go to livingontheedge.org. That's livingontheedge.org or call 888-333-6003.

App listeners, tap donate. As we close, would you stop for a minute and pray for Living on the Edge today? We've never seen a greater need for God's truth to go out than right now. And by God's grace, Living on the Edge has provided encouragement, teaching, and personal discipleship resources to more people than ever. So thank you to those who support us in prayer. God is doing amazing things. For Chip and the entire team here, this is Dave Druey thanking you for listening to this Edition of Living on the Edge, and I hope you'll join us next time. ...