Embrace the Tension - Pastor Danny Green
10.27.2024 Pastor Danny Green
◦ This the quote from “God Knows” by Minnie Louise Haskins is inscribed on a plaque at St. George’s Chapel in Windsor Castle. This chapel is a significant site associated with the British royal family, and the inscription honors King George VI, who popularized the poem during his 1939 Christmas broadcast.
◦ “I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year: ‘Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown.’ And he replied: ‘Go out into the darkness and put your hand into the hand of God.That shall be to you better than light and safer than a known way.’”
◦ We encounter, the life we plan and then there’s the life that actually happens!
◦ Faith creates a tension…Yes, Mountain Moving Faith creates tension
◦ We say…I know God can and then we say I hope He does. Our walk requires us to embrace this tension.
✓ Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see
✓ Hebrews 11:6 And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.
✓ Mark 9:23 If you can’?” said Jesus. “Everything is possible for one who believes.
◦ Either we don’t believe God can be trusted or we need to learn to live by that Mountain Moving Faith. Are you playing it safe when being obedient to God?
✓ But know…We need to remain anchored, because being in God’s hands is the safest place we can be!
◦ HE IS ALL WE NEED TO GET THROUGH !
◦ 1 Samuel 14:6 Jonathan convinces his armor-bearer to join him by expressing faith in God’s power, saying: “Come, let’s go over to the outpost of those uncircumcised men. Perhaps the Lord will act in our behalf. Nothing can hinder the Lord from saving, whether by many or by few.”
◦ 1 Samuel 14:7 His armor-bearer replies with loyalty and trust: “Do all that you have in mind,” his armor-bearer said. “Go ahead; I am with you heart and soul.”
◦ This story illustrates Jonathan’s faith in God’s ability to deliver, regardless of the odds, and his close bond with his armor-bearer, who supports him wholeheartedly.
◦ Jonathan offers two propositions: I know God is able! And I hope He does…but I’m not completely certain how it’s going to play out!
◦ Faith in God’s PROMISES are bigger than your PERHAPS!
◦ Not sure how it’s going to be at the end of this situation but by His stripes we are healed!
◦ Daniel 3:17-18 If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and He will deliver us from Your Majesty’s hand. But even if He does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.”
✓ EVEN IF HE DOESN’T…I will keep my life in God’s hands!
✓ Sometimes you are asking God to rescue you from what you’re going through…when actually God wants you to FIGHT THROUGH what you’re going through!
◦ It’s in the STRUGGLE when the good things are developed in YOU! It’s the Grit, Fight, and The Will to go on that develops.
◦ Life is not simple and unfortunate things will happen that we can’t explain but know we have a good God!
◦ Courage and Faith take and require risk.
◦ Faith is what we hope for and the courage to be obedient EVEN when it doesn’t make sense.
◦ Some people go through a thing and it lingers on them for years…like divorce, job loss and people get conditioned to live in it forever and can’t let it go…but REMEMBER not even the smell of SMOKE were not on Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego! You’ll get through it.
◦ There was not the smell of smoke! “Go and SERVE” Jim anyway! Remember, we bless to be a blessing. We have a choice to make when it’s difficult and a lot of times we need to swim upstream, But Christians, WE NEED TO TAKE THAT STAND FOR CHRIST! He won’t fail you!