This was the title of Pastor Tim Haugen's sermon (re: link, podcast should be loaded soon) yesterday in Church. It spoke to my heart and seemed to be a direct continuation of What Kim Jeffries was teaching on at the women's conference the day before. (See my previous post on lamenting vs. grumbling.)
Where is God in the midst of pain? Many of us have asked that question. Especially when we don't understand how we came to be in the place we're at. We may wonder if God's forgotten us, or if life's seemingly random detours and obstacles are some kind of cruel joke that no one's let us in on. I imagine that the Israelites felt that way as they wandered through the desert. But Exodus 2:23-24 tells us that the "Israelites groaned in their slavery and cried out... and God heard their groaning and remembered His covenant." Pastor Haugen reminded us God leads His people out of captivity, but that He doesn't always lead in a straight line. The Israelites could have had a much shorter journey to Caanan, but God led them on a much much longer path, a detour if you will--for their own good! If He had taken them on the shorter route, they would've encountered war with a people group they were not ready to fight against. (God knew that spending 40 years as slaves had left their battle skills a bit rusty!) He was actually protecting them but they didn't know it at the time.
God also wanted the Israelites to learn to trust Him. He wanted them to "learn to desire Him more than the blessings they sought from His hand." (Quote from Haugen.) This is what leads us to true freedom!
Have there been any detours in your life? Any times when you didn't understand what God was up to, but later you were able to look back and see God's faithfulness and goodness through it all? Having to move to Indiana was one such time for me, as was going through a time of infertility years ago. I planned on blogging about some of that...I guess I'll need a part II (or III)! More later...
4 comments:
I too LOVED this sermon - and that identical quote stuck with me... What a blessing to have a gifted teacher so skilled in working with word pictures. Welcome back, Pastor Haugie!
KJ - love when you share about your faith and walk...
It must be "that time". Our pastor at Open Door just did a remarkable sermon about the same topic. (If you want to, you can watch a podcast at www.thedoor.org click on the sermon link.)It seems like a timely topic for my life, so I may have to check that out.
inthestory, good to hear from you. I might check out that link. :) And BTW, you are also a friend in my life who does a great job at being honest about your struggles and yet all the while hanging onto your hope in God. Wanted you to know that. Love you friend, and thankful for your example!
I am also listening to the podcasts of Open Door sermons, and I highly recommend it to everyone.
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