WE'RE WHERE GOD WANTS US TO BE, AND THAT'S GOOD!
Sermon Version
Psalm 131
Philippians 4:10-14
Railroad Bridge at Fort Madison, Iowa
It's interesting watching what comes down the Mississippi in the spring and during flooding. There's lots of tree snags, but this year, I saw a boat house, bits and pieces of docks, ruined boats and even an ice fishing shanty. Down the river they went, riding the swift current, headed to who knows where.
Sometimes, life is like this great river, trying to sweep me off my feet and into deep midstream. Ever feel that way, like you're paddling as fast as you can to keep your head above water and avoid having your life capsized by passing debris?
It's times like we have been promised that Christ is our rock and the solid ground upon which we can stand secure amid the rising flood. I remember what is true and well-proven about God: God is our fortress, our defense and protection.
But sometimes, God is the river carrying me to places I don't want to be. Surely, if God had consulted me first, God would see things my way, and I wouldn't be tumbling among the rocks of the rapids of a particular time in my life.
Truth is, the rocks I was trying to cling to were ones of my own making. They were the stones erected to the false idol of self -- me-first and my way. I was spending so much energy swimming against the current of God's will for my life that I experienced very little peace of mind and of heart.
What a contrast to the peace and contentment of the feminine voice of the writer of Psalm 131. She is as content as the child she cradles to her breast. She is so happy and peaceful where she is at in her life.
She let go.
"God, I'm not trying to rule the roost,
I don't want to be king of the mountain.
I haven't meddled where I have no business or fantasized grandiose plans."
Psalm 131:1 The Message
She surrendered the throne of her life to God. She gave up her desire to always be first at the expense of the needs of others. The writer stopped trying to manipulate and control everyone else and turned control of her life over to God.
I think the Apostle Paul learned to find contentment by letting go and going with the flow of God's will. Paul's ministry was far from a peaceful drift down a quiet stream. He was beat up, stoned, and run out of towns. He survived a shipwreck and the bite of a poisonous snake. At the writing of the letter to the Philippians, Paul is in prison, but yet he wrote:
“I’m glad in God, far happier than you would ever guess—happy that you’re again showing such strong concern for me. Not that you ever quit praying and thinking about me. You just had no chance to show it. Actually, I don’t have a sense of needing anything personally. I’ve learned by now to be quite content whatever my circumstances. I’m just as happy with little as with much, with much as with little. I’ve found the recipe for being happy whether full or hungry, hands full or hands empty. Whatever I have, wherever I am, I can make it through anything in the One who makes me who I am.”
Philippians 4:10-13 The Message
Paul realized that, despite the hardships, that when we're in the place God wants us to be, it's a very good place to be. Because God was there with him, making it possible to handle whatever came his way.
Not only could he be content in prison, Paul was also very excited about how God was using him.
He wrote the Christians at Philippi that because people knew he was imprisoned for the sake of the gospel, guards and other curious non-Christians visited Paul to find out more about Jesus Christ. Also, believers, emboldened and inspired by Paul's imprisonment, were preaching the good news with great zeal and fervor.
It took me a long time to learn this lesson. When I choose God's will over my own and let go and go with the flow, I end up in places where I gain so much more than what I left behind.
Being where God wants us to be blesses us with grace sufficient for our needs and frees us to experience God's amazing power working in us and through us. There is peace and strength in the place God wants us to be, because with God is there with us.
God is a river, so let go.
Psalm 131
Philippians 4:10-14
Railroad Bridge at Fort Madison, Iowa
It's interesting watching what comes down the Mississippi in the spring and during flooding. There's lots of tree snags, but this year, I saw a boat house, bits and pieces of docks, ruined boats and even an ice fishing shanty. Down the river they went, riding the swift current, headed to who knows where.
Sometimes, life is like this great river, trying to sweep me off my feet and into deep midstream. Ever feel that way, like you're paddling as fast as you can to keep your head above water and avoid having your life capsized by passing debris?
It's times like we have been promised that Christ is our rock and the solid ground upon which we can stand secure amid the rising flood. I remember what is true and well-proven about God: God is our fortress, our defense and protection.
But sometimes, God is the river carrying me to places I don't want to be. Surely, if God had consulted me first, God would see things my way, and I wouldn't be tumbling among the rocks of the rapids of a particular time in my life.
Truth is, the rocks I was trying to cling to were ones of my own making. They were the stones erected to the false idol of self -- me-first and my way. I was spending so much energy swimming against the current of God's will for my life that I experienced very little peace of mind and of heart.
What a contrast to the peace and contentment of the feminine voice of the writer of Psalm 131. She is as content as the child she cradles to her breast. She is so happy and peaceful where she is at in her life.
She let go.
"God, I'm not trying to rule the roost,
I don't want to be king of the mountain.
I haven't meddled where I have no business or fantasized grandiose plans."
Psalm 131:1 The Message
She surrendered the throne of her life to God. She gave up her desire to always be first at the expense of the needs of others. The writer stopped trying to manipulate and control everyone else and turned control of her life over to God.
I think the Apostle Paul learned to find contentment by letting go and going with the flow of God's will. Paul's ministry was far from a peaceful drift down a quiet stream. He was beat up, stoned, and run out of towns. He survived a shipwreck and the bite of a poisonous snake. At the writing of the letter to the Philippians, Paul is in prison, but yet he wrote:
“I’m glad in God, far happier than you would ever guess—happy that you’re again showing such strong concern for me. Not that you ever quit praying and thinking about me. You just had no chance to show it. Actually, I don’t have a sense of needing anything personally. I’ve learned by now to be quite content whatever my circumstances. I’m just as happy with little as with much, with much as with little. I’ve found the recipe for being happy whether full or hungry, hands full or hands empty. Whatever I have, wherever I am, I can make it through anything in the One who makes me who I am.”
Philippians 4:10-13 The Message
Paul realized that, despite the hardships, that when we're in the place God wants us to be, it's a very good place to be. Because God was there with him, making it possible to handle whatever came his way.
Not only could he be content in prison, Paul was also very excited about how God was using him.
He wrote the Christians at Philippi that because people knew he was imprisoned for the sake of the gospel, guards and other curious non-Christians visited Paul to find out more about Jesus Christ. Also, believers, emboldened and inspired by Paul's imprisonment, were preaching the good news with great zeal and fervor.
It took me a long time to learn this lesson. When I choose God's will over my own and let go and go with the flow, I end up in places where I gain so much more than what I left behind.
Being where God wants us to be blesses us with grace sufficient for our needs and frees us to experience God's amazing power working in us and through us. There is peace and strength in the place God wants us to be, because with God is there with us.
God is a river, so let go.
Excellent. This will run in Friday's Fort Madison (IA) Daily Democrat
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