The Fear of What Might Be
Ahead
Dr. Larry Thorson*
Matthew 11:28-30
1 …"28 "Come to me, all you who
are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and
learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for
your souls.”
Genesis 12:1-3
"' 1 The LORD
had said to Abram, "Go from your country, your people and your father's
household to the land I will show you. 2
"I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make
your name great, and you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless
you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be
blessed through you." So Abram
went, as the Lord had told him; and
Today’s New
International Version Copyright © 2001, 2005 by International Bible Society
What keeps you up at night? Maybe you’re one of those blest people who
never has any problem sleeping. I’m not
one of those. Ever have one of those
nights where there was a thousand different things rushing through your head?
Or you were upset over something and you couldn’t get to sleep? You kept
replaying that something in your mind?
Or maybe you had or have a neighbor like
we had once years ago in
Research tells us almost twenty percent
of the adult population in the United States today suffers from some sort of
clinical anxiety disorder, and that doesn't even conclude the pervasive, sort
of day-to-day worrying that many of us experience all the time. Some of you
walked into this room this morning with something on your mind that you simply
cannot shake loose, something on your heart that you simply cannot move out.
Maybe you're thinking about it even
now…a problem at work or an unresolved conflict in your life. A struggle with
an addiction. A serious illness. Maybe it's a friend or a family member in
crisis. Maybe it's a stack of bills that keeps piling higher or a situation of
debt where you feel like you keep sinking deeper.
And our hearts slip into this state of a
perpetual tossing and turning, whether we’re trying to sleep or not. It makes for long nights and tiresome days. It makes us work hard at finding ways to find
rest and peace, particularly on those sleepless nights.
Here are a few suggestions for what’s
available on the market to help you sleep.
You can buy a pressure-point reducing mattress for those aches and pains
that keep you awake. There are white noise sound machines you can place in your
house to drown out barking dogs. There are prescription medicines your doctor
can give you that will put you to sleep but I’d be cautious if you have Michael
Jackson’s doctor. I like melatonin. It’s natural, inexpensive, available over the
counter and it relaxes me. The only
drawback is I should never take it when I have to drive a long distance the
next day because it keeps my mind in a more relaxed state of mind for 24 hours and
that’s not a good thing on the 101.
Scripture also offers
some good help. Listen to these words of
Jesus in Matthew 11:28-29…"28 "Come to me, all you who
are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and
learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for
your souls.”
Now, many of you have heard these words
before, maybe numerous times. According to Jesus, this rest is not just a
possibility; it's a promise. You shall find rest for your souls. But you've
been thinking, I've been there, done that. I've heard that before. Sounds
nice. But why is it when we hear these words and we know these words that
we still have this nagging anxiety and tension and stress and fear?
For the next few weeks, we are going to
pursue God's promise of rest and peace with a series called Insomnia - What
keeps you up at night? There’s not much Scripture can do about
barking dogs behind your fence or chronic pain that keeps you awake, or a
spouse that needs care during the night.
What Scripture can address is some of the primary catalysts for insomnia;
fear, anxiety and tension in our lives.
Today we start with the fear of what’s
ahead. Fear or dread of the future is
one of the biggest contributors to insomnia.
How many of you remember a film called Back
to the Future? If you've seen it, Michael J. Fox plays a character named Marty
McFly. Marty is a teenager living in the year 1985, and Marty travels back in
time 30 years in a time machine built out of a 1981 DeLorean.
Marty tries to get back to the future and he inadvertently bumps
into his parents before they meet. And
he mistakenly messes up the way his parents would meet, and then fall in love,
and then have children, which of course, puts his own future existence in
jeopardy. And the way the film portrays Marty's uncertain future is a
photograph of his siblings with the pictures on it slowly disappearing
throughout the film. And for the rest of
the movie, Marty is rushing around in a near panic, trying to secure this
picture of his future, which except for being trapped in the past, is a lot
like how many of us live out our lives today.
Each of us including elders in this
church has some kind of picture in mind of the future we hope for;
relationships, career, home, achievements. As a church we hope that ten years from now
we’re still big enough to be a viable witness in the community. All these things fill out the picture of our
future, but we live with this nagging tension and fear that maybe these things
are disappearing, or maybe we'll never even find them. And if we have them,
what if we lose them? Ever feel like all
the stuff you are so desperate to have is also all the stuff you are so
consistently worried about?
There is a story in the book of Genesis
of God coming to a man named Abraham who, like you, was working on his own
picture of his future. Abraham had a career. He was educated. He had a family.
He had accrued material wealth. He was probably thinking about how to provide
for his own retirement while providing for his family. He was probably managing
a number of different tasks and issues of his life.
I imagine for Abraham
there were also a few restless nights where he wondered about where his life was
going. And perhaps it was during one of those sleepless nights when God
interrupted his life with these incredible words in Genesis 12:1-3… "' 1 The LORD had said to Abram, "Go
from your country, your people and your father's household to the land I will
show you. 2 "I will make you into a
great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will
be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I
will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you." So Abram went, as the Lord had told him; and
I want you to notice there that God
gives Abraham two words to live by…I will. I will. In fact, seven times God says in some way or
another, "I will." Seven times God says, "I will do whatever it
takes to get you where you need to go. I will." Just think about all the phrases this phrase
isn't. God doesn't say, "I might." God doesn't say, "I
can't." God doesn't say, "I'll try my best." God doesn't say,
"I'll think about it." God doesn't say, "You will." God doesn't
say, "You have to." God doesn't say, "It's only up to you."
God defines God by a promise, "I will."
Promise is a big word for us. Insurance companies try to lure us with
promises of comfort using phrases like "Guarantees for the 'if' in
life." or, "Take away the risk and you can do anything" or "Cash
if you die; cash if you don't." Or
the most famous one.. "You're in good hands…with?
Whose hands are you actually in? Who holds your
future? You? Your spouse? Your parents?
Your children? Your retirement account? Your financial advisor? Your insurance company? The truth is, there is only one true source
of insurance. One true source of assurance. One true source of safety and
security in this entire universe. The only good hands belong to the God who interrupts
our world with these two important words…I will. I will.
Abraham didn't even ask for it. He was
minding his own business. God interrupted his life and said, "From now on,
your life is safe and secure in My hands, and I will get you where you need to
go." And if we take this seriously
for ourselves, we have absolutely nothing to fear. It's like the most common
command in Scripture. Do not be afraid.
For those of you facing discouragement
or heartache, God says, "I will give strength when you need it." For those of you facing sickness or health
issues, God says, "I will heal and bring hope." For those of you facing financial distress,
God says, "I will provide as you need."
Now, as good as this sounds there is a
catch. God says you have to trust Him.
God says to Abraham, "You now have to trust Me with all of the details of
that picture of your future you hold so tightly." And guess what? This kind
of trust is going to feel risky because there are a lot of unknowns. There are
a lot of uncertainties. There are a lot
of twists and turns. There are a lot of paths that we are called to take where
we do not see how these things will turn out.
Look back at what God calls Abraham to
do. God says, "Go." Abraham
says, "Where?" God says,
"To the land I will show you."
Abraham says, "Where is that?" God says, "You'll have to
wait and see." "Wait and see? Wait
and see? This is my life here. Wait and see?"
In the last year I’ve heard and read
some horrid stories about people losing their homes to foreclosure, their car repossessed
in the middle of the night and running out of places to apply for jobs. "When is it going to end? When is God
going to intervene? How long do I have to wait and see?"
This kind of faith is risky feeling.
It's difficult. And if you keep reading the story of Abraham, you find that
when Abraham finally gets to this land God has shown him, there are Canaanites
living there…aka, there is no vacancy. And he has to keep moving. And he ends
up in the wilderness in the middle of nowhere.
And the Bible says he is calling on the name of the Lord…and he's
probably calling God all sorts of names at this point. And then there is a
great famine in the land. He ends up in
Life did not turn out the way Abraham
expected. Life, as you know, probably
for you has not turned out exactly the way you expected. And in fact, much of
what Abraham had, much of what gave him security and confidence, much of what
allowed him to feel comfortable and content, God said, "You need to leave
that behind. You need to trust Me. You need to stop clinging to it with all
your might and open your hands and trust Me with it." And we all face situations
in life where we have to choose whether or not we're going to do that. You see,
trust is a choice.
Most of us can't handle the waiting, the
uncertainty, all the what-if's. And we start to go out and look for ways we can
fill in the blanks and help God. We make
sure we have a way to sort of compensate for God if He doesn't come through.
Fill in for God's promises if they don't come through the way that we hope for,
which is exactly what Abraham did. This is a fascinating moment.
Look back at verse
Abraham is basically saying, "God,
I know You promised to take care of me. It all sounds really great, but things
here on earth, things here in my life, they don't look so promising. The
circumstances don't look so great. And I'll sleep a lot better if I deal with
this child of promise in my own way, in my own time, as I see fit."
And of course if you know the story,
every time
Where does that question hit home for
you right now? What if God doesn't come through for you? What does that mean in your life today? What is the heavy burden you carry? What is
the anxiety that is deep down in your bones? What makes you chase after God's
promises in your own way? Where are you afraid God won't come through? It might
be a different thing for every person in this room, but in some way or another,
it's part of a picture of our lives that we cling to for dear life, thinking, This
is the only way I'll be happy and whole. This is the only way that I'll be
peaceful and content.
But we all need to hear again the words
of Jesus, "Come back to Me, you who are weary and carrying heavy burdens.
Let go of that picture of your life you think you cannot live without, and
instead, take on My purpose. Take on My direction. Take on My care. Take on My
provision. And you shall find rest with Me and Me alone."
See, the truth of the matter is, there
is no lasting peace or joy or contentment in this life without Jesus at the
very center of our lives. And if you have tried any other tactic other than
Jesus, then you know well the restlessness I've been talking about. But it
doesn't have to be that way. It can be different. You can be different. And all it takes is a moment where you, as
Abraham did, relinquish your grip over that life, that picture of your future
that you have, and say, "Jesus, I want to trust You with that. Even if it
means risking all the stuff I think valuable, I want to trust You with
that."And God may already be putting something on your heart that you know
you need to let go of, or at least hold with open hands today and this week.
First suggestion would be this: Start
listening for God to speak to you in the present. Start listening for God to
speak to you here and now. At the very core of Christian spirituality is a God
who speaks. Abraham's life is changed
because God spoke to him, and he was listening. And the same can be true for you
today, this week.
We serve a God who has life-changing
words for us all the time every day. The problem is, when it comes time to
pray, we tend to do all the talking. We tend to have a lot to say, a lot of
requests to make about all this stuff, and we don't have any space to listen.
We don't have a place to say, "For a moment, God, I'm going to turn the
page on this. I just want to start fresh. I just want to hear what You have to
say about where my life is going. And I'm going to take 15 minutes this day and
listen."
Doesn't sound
so hard, does it? It could change your life. It could absolutely change your
life. It changed Abraham's forever. We have a God who speaks, and we need to
take time to listen.
A second thing…we have to look for ways
to serve God in the present. The God who says, "I will make sure you get
where you need to go," also says, "On the way, you need to pay more
attention to the present moment, to today, and start serving Me in it."
Jesus puts it this way. He says, "So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or
'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the pagans run after all
these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them."
Note that Jesus didn’t say, "Your
heavenly Father doesn't care about this stuff." Your heavenly Father knows
that you need this. And since He knows, here is the word for you. "But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness,
and all these things will be given to you as well." Seek first the kingdom. And the key
word is first. Not second. Not just on weekends. Not just at church.
First means first, every day. And that
means we must be just as diligent about finding a place to serve and bless
others as we are about planning out our tomorrows.
God will provide for your tomorrow as
you are faithful with your today. And sometimes you have to step into that
promise to receive it. So, seek first the kingdom and just watch what God does
in your life next. So, be listening to
God for Him to speak. Be seeking to serve Him in the present. And one final
practice to help you trust God with your future this week, and that is you need
to make time to celebrate. You need to
make time to
celebrate.
Find a way to celebrate life this week.
That's right. Your pastor just told you to make sure you have fun amidst all
the things that lead us to worry. There
is a line in the Old Testament that God's mercies are new every…what? Every
morning…which
means, God
will be faithful again tomorrow. And you get to celebrate that, and serve in
that, and listen to Him and listen for Him in that today. And when it comes to
your future, He has it all in good hands.
I want to invite you just to stand for a
moment. And as you stand, I would like to ask you to bow your head and close
your eyes with me just for a moment. And
with your eyes closed and in the quiet of your heart, I want you to imagine
that picture of your future. The picture
you have, all the details on it. And instead of imagining it, holding it
tightly gripped in your hands, I want you right now just to put your hands in
front of you. Maybe open them up. Hands upward towards God and receive these
words in light of all the fears you have about your future.
"'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares
the Lord, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and
a future.'" And you can trust Him for that.
Jesus, help these words ring true in our
hearts today, and help us trust You with our future in practical ways today and
this week. Help us hold with open hands the very things that we would cling to,
the things that we worry about, knowing that You are the God who says and
promises, "I will." We pray this together in Your name, Amen.
*Sermon adapted from a sermon
preached by Scott Scruggs on