Cornerstone Church With Dustin Bates Cornerstone Church SC

A WILDERNESS SEASON IS WHERE WE LEARN WHO GOD IS, HOW HE LOVES US, AND HOW WE SHOULD INTERACT WITH HIM
 
All relationships have rules
Friendship has rules
Dating has rules
Marriage has rules
Parenting has rules
Business partnerships have rules
Employees and employers have rules
Rules give identity and terms to relationships
What are some common rules?
No lying – Breaking trust breaks the foundation of EVERY relationship
Eyes only for that one person – Choosing each other over everyone else
No stealing – Don’t take what doesn’t belong to you

In the absence of rules, there is no freedom except for the one who is mightier and meaner than all the rest

 
God has
Reintroduced Himself – THE GREAT I AM
Rescued – From Egypt and their enemies
Provided – Food and water in the desert
All this without ANY RULES
But God is about RELATIONSHIP
Exodus 6:7
7 I will take you as my people, and I will be your God. You will know that I am the Lord your God, who brought you out from the forced labor of the Egyptians.In order for this to happen, God has to give the people:
RULES FOR THE RELATIONSHIP
 
Exodus 20
1 Then God spoke all these words: 2 I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the place of slavery.
3 Do not have other gods besides me.
4 Do not make an idol for yourself, whether in the shape of anything in the heavens above or on the earth below or in the waters under the earth.
7 Do not misuse the name of the Lord your God, because the Lord will not leave anyone unpunished who misuses his name.
8 Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.
12 Honor your father and your mother so that you may have a long life in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.
13 Do not murder.
14 Do not commit adultery.
15 Do not steal.
16 Do not give false testimony against your neighbor.
17 Do not covet your neighbor’s house. Do not covet your neighbor’s wife, his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.What do the 10 Commandants teach us?
1: They teach us about God
 
Dating & finding out you hate what they love
I HAVE to go Camping
I NEVER want to travel
I MUST have 5+ kidsRules demonstrate values
God’s rules demonstrate his values
 
We see this in the Structure
The first 4 commandments deal with the Israelites’ responsibility to God
The final 6 commandments address the Israelites’ responsibility toward each other
 
This is why Jesus said…
Matthew 22
37 He said to him, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. 38 This is the greatest and most important command. 39 The second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. 40 All the Law and the Prophets depend on these two commands.”
This has ALWAYS been what God valued
He wasn’t saying something new
 
2: God’s rules don’t strip us of our freedom
Instead, they give us freedom in their design and order
 
The right tool for the job – WASHING THE CAR
Car wash mitt vs Sanding block
Both will “CLEAN” the car
But only one will not require a lot of EXTRA work
Living in God’s laws allows us to OPERATE as he designed us
That was true then; it’s true now
If your life seems out of order, then you need to EXAMINE your life to see what must changePsalm 139
23 Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.
24 See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.
3: We don’t earn our salvation by following God’s Rules; we follow God’s rules because we are saved.
 
Wedding Vows…
Sickness and in health
Rich or poor
Imagine saying these things to someone you just met…
 
Wedding Vows only apply because the RELATIONSHIP is established
You are not EARNING their love; you are responding to it
 
This is how God’s laws work
You choose not to follow them
But then you are choosing not to be in a relationship with him
He has made the way
He has paid the price
He only asks that we respond
But we

Disappointment is more than a feeling – It’s a direction
Leads you on a path
This is important because our series is called “LOST”
A WAY out of the wilderness
A WILDERNESS SEASON IS WHERE WE LEARN WHO GOD IS, HOW HE LOVES US, AND HOW WE SHOULD INTERACT WITH HIM
Part of this learning is learning HOW to handle Disappointment
Especially disappointment with God
 
What is disappointment?
Disappointment happens when my expectations are not aligned with my real-time experiences
Disappointment is magnified in “WILDERNESS” season because we are already stressed/worried/anxious/frustrated
 

“When God’s timing seems questionable, his lack of intervention seems hurtful, and his promises seem doubtful, I get afraid. I get confused. And left alone with those feelings, I can’t help but feel disappointed that God isn’t doing what I assume a good God should do.” ~ Lysa Terkeurst

 
This is exactly where some of you are right now—disappointed with God:
You keep praying, but he keeps ignoring you.
All your friends are getting married right now, but you aren’t.
You asked him to heal, but instead, your loved one got worse.
You busted your butt in the off-season, but someone else got the starting position.
You’re killing yourself trying to make rent and feed kids, but prayer isn’t paying the bills.
You’ve done everything right in parenting, yet your kids aren’t turning out like you hoped. . . or maybe God isn’t giving you the kids you long for in the first place.
And you’re like, “God, I don’t understand! How can this be your perfect plan? How can this be good? God, I had dreams but all you’ve left me with are disappointments.”
 
The Problem with disappointment is that it’s NOT just a FEELING, it’s a DIRECTION…
 
Disappointment Directed Decisions
Examples:
Disappointed in a previous relationship, so you overcompensate in the next one
Overly Jealous
Overly Controlling
 
Disappointed with yourself, so you second guess or push yourself too hard
Never have any joy
 
Disappointed in how you were raised, so you choose to either over-control or passively parent
 
Disappointed in your life, so you look for someone to blame
 
What we must know:

Disappointment in life is unavoidable, but how we handle it matters and the story the Bible is telling has a lot to say about that…

 
Catching the story up to this point
Freed the people from Egypt
Led them through the Red Sea
God has fed the people in the desert
Manna
Quail
God has given them victory over some enemies
Taken them to Mount Sinai
Gives them the 10 Commandments
Moses goes up the mountain to hear from God
Gone for about 40 days
 
Exodus 32
1 When the people saw that Moses delayed in coming down from the mountain, they gathered around Aaron and said to him, “Come, make gods for us who will go before us because this Moses, the man who brought us up from the land of Egypt—we don’t know what has happened to him!”
1: Disappointment Leads you to FORGET
They forgot what ALL God has already done for them
 
What all had God done for them:
Fed them
Led them
Gave them water
Freed them from the greatest empire
 
But as soon as Moses was gone a little too long, they FORGOT
What God had commanded
What his purpose for them was as His people
 
Disappoint causes us to come down with…
Spiritual Amnesia
 
How do we handle disappointment?Remembering that…
GOD IS FAITHFUL
 
2 Thessalonians 3:3
3 But the Lord is faithful; he will strengthen you and guard you from the evil one.
 
1 John 1:9
9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
 
Forgetfulness is not Disappointment’s only problem…
2: Disappointment Leads you to DESIRE CONTROL
This God Yahweh is uncontrollable, different, and scary
Let’s make a God we can SEE, TOUCH, and FEEL MORE COMFORTABLE WITH
“Come, make gods for us who will go before us…”Since Adam and Eve, we have either been trying to BE

Choose Your Hard
In your health
In your relationships
With your kids
With your career
Same with Following God
Without God = HARD
With God = HARD
Choose your heard
 
Just because all things are difficult doesn’t mean all OUTCOMES are the same value
Some things, while difficult, are worth more than others
We’re talking about this because of the new series…
>>LOST: A WAY IN THE WILDERNESS
 
Being in a wilderness season is when things are abnormally…
Difficult
Confusing
Disorienting
Uphill
Just plane HARD
 
But wilderness seasons have purpose…

A WILDERNESS SEASON IS WHERE WE LEARN WHO GOD IS, HOW HE LOVES US, AND HOW WE SHOULD INTERACT WITH HIM

We are looking at the story of the EXODUS
The escape of the Israelite people from Egypt to the PROMISED LAND
Last week was about the 10 plagues in Egypt
God’s purpose for many wilderness seasons is to teach us about Himself
Today, we continue that story…Egypt finally has enough of God and his people
They let Israel Go
They send them with riches
Pharaoh has a change of heart…
Exodus 14
5 When the king of Egypt was told that the people had fled, Pharaoh and his officials changed their minds about the people and said, “What have we done? We have released Israel from serving us.”
So he gathers part of his army and pursues the people of Israel
Israel is gathered on the banks of the Red Sea
 
Exodus 14
10 As Pharaoh approached, the Israelites looked up and there were the Egyptians coming after them! The Israelites were terrified and cried out to the Lord for help. 11 They said to Moses, “Is it because there are no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt? 12 Isn’t this what we told you in Egypt: Leave us alone so that we may serve the Egyptians? It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.”
Moses responds…
13 But Moses said to the people, “Don’t be afraid. Stand firm and see the Lord’s salvation that he will accomplish for you today; for the Egyptians you see today, you will never see again. 14 The Lord will fight for you, and you must be quiet.”
 
Moses prays…
Stretches out his arms
God parts the waters
Israel walks through unharmed
Pharaoh follows them in
God releases the waters and drowns the Egyptian army
 
Through this, Israel and the world learn that…
God always makes a way for His People
God parted the waters
God gave water from a rock
God fed them in the desert
God ALWAYS makes a way
 
What does this mean for us?
God is the one who makes a way in your circumstances
In your pain
In your struggle
 
First, God introduced Himself to the people
Next, God was teaching the people to TRUST HIM
That is what wilderness seasons do
They point you back to God and teach you to trust
 
There are two important things to know about GOD MAKING A WAY
1: Following God doesn’t always mean it will be easy or make sense.
 
That is what following God can be like
You won’t always understand why
Israel didn’t know why God had brought them to the sea
“Have you brought us here to die!”
 
But God had a bigger purpose in bringing them there
We’re still talking about it today
 
When you don’t know the WHY, Focus on the WHAT
What should I be doing now?
Praying
Serving
Grow where you are planted
 
In most wilderness seasons of your life, you will not know the WHY until you are out of it
But you can know the WHAT
Back to the story…
Israel has crossed the Red Sea
Phorah’s army is gone
For the first time, they experience real freedom
In celebration, they sing one of the first recorded songs in the Bible.
Exodus 15
2 The Lord is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation. This is my God, and I will praise him, my father’s God, and I will exalt him.
3 The Lord is a warrior; the Lord is his name.
11 Lord, who is like you among the gods? Who is like you, glorious in holiness, revered with praises, performing wonders?
12

Key Question:
What Is A Wilderness Season?
A season of life where things are:
Difficult
Confusing
Disorienting
Uphill
Out of the ordinary
Wilderness Seasons are a MAJOR PART of the Christian Walk
We anticipate them

A WILDERNESS SEASON IS WHERE WE LEARN WHO GOD IS, HOW HE LOVES US, AND HOW WE SHOULD INTERACT WITH HIM

 
1 Peter 1:6-7
6 You rejoice in this, even though now for a short time, if necessary, you suffer grief in various trials 7 so that the proven character of your faith—more valuable than gold which, though perishable, is refined by fire—may result in praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.This series is about MAKING THE MOST out of these seasons
Don’t waste pain
Learn what God is teaching
 
We will be looking at the TRUE story of the EXODUS
The freeing of the people of God (Israel) from captivity in Egypt
One of the most powerful stories in human history
The story up to this point:
Joseph
400 years in Egypt
 
Exodus 1:13-14
13 They worked the Israelites ruthlessly 14 and made their lives bitter with difficult labor in brick and mortar and in all kinds of fieldwork. They ruthlessly imposed all this work on them.
 
The Exodus story is also Moses’ story
Placed into a basket on the Nile
Rescued by Pharaoh’s daughter
Raised in Pharaoh’s Household
Kills an Egyptian taskmaster
Flees to the “WILDERNESS” for 40 years
Burning Bush
God sends him BACK to Egypt
The Great RescueWe have a people who are:
Oppressed
Broken
Tired
Under Pressure
Stuck
LOST
Step 1 of God’s Rescue is:
1: God Promises Freedom
 
Exodus 6
2 Then God spoke to Moses, telling him, “I am the Lord. 3 I appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as God Almighty, but I was not known to them by my name ‘the Lord.’ 4 I also established my covenant with them to give them the land of Canaan, the land they lived in as aliens. 5 Furthermore, I have heard the groaning of the Israelites, whom the Egyptians are forcing to work as slaves, and I have remembered my covenant.
6 “Therefore tell the Israelites: I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from the forced labor of the Egyptians and rescue you from slavery to them. I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and great acts of judgment. 7 I will take you as my people, and I will be your God. You will know that I am the Lord your God, who brought you out from the forced labor of the Egyptians. 8 I will bring you to the land that I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and I will give it to you as a possession. I am the Lord.” 9 Moses told this to the Israelites, but they did not listen to him because of their broken spirit and hard labor.Israel’s freedom is found in God (Yahweh) ALONE
 
God is REINTRODUCING himself to his people
He reminds them of His promise to their ancestors
But the people DO NOT believe
They are so broken
So LOST
How will God free them from the most powerful kingdom in the known world?
 
Step 2 of God’s Rescue is:
2: God Confronts Egypt
 
Exodus 7
1 The Lord answered Moses, “See, I have made you like God to Pharaoh, and Aaron your brother will be your prophet. 2 You must say whatever I command you; then Aaron your brother must declare it to Pharaoh so that he will let the Israelites go from his land. 3 But I will harden Pharaoh’s heart and multiply my signs and wonders in the land of Egypt. 4 Pharaoh will not listen to you, but I will put my hand into Egypt and bring the military divisions of my people the Israelites out of the land of Egypt by great acts of judgment. 5 The Egyptians will know that I am the Lord when I stretch out my hand against Egypt and bring out the Israelites from among them.”
 
Egypt was the SUPERPOWER of its day
Superpowers think they are untouchable
They can do WHATEVER THEY WANT to WHOMEVER THEY WANT
 
God confronts the “gods” of Egypt through the plagues
Examples:
Turn Nile River to blood – Hapi, the bull god, god of the Nile; Isis, goddess of the Nile; Khnum, ram god, guardian of the Nile
Death

The Anxiety Cycle

Anxiety


Avoidance/Obsession


Short-Term Relief


Long-term Anxiety Growth


Over and Over….

 
This happens whether you are a Christian or Not

But we should think of anxiety differently than the rest of the world

 
The Bible Has a lot to say about Anxiety and how we should face it
 
Some people struggle more than others

We have patience and sympathy for those who do struggle


Make sure you see a professional if your anxiety goes to far

 
Let’s start by looking at anxiety as an ACTION

It’s something we do


But the answer isn’t “JUST STOP WORRYING ALL THE TIME”

 
To STOP the action of anxiety, we must START another action
3 Counter actions to stop the Cycle of Anxiety
 
Counteraction #1
1: Throwing When You Want To Hold
 
 
Some of us are “ANXIETY HOARDERS”

We stockpile things to worry about

 
This is an effort to CONTROL

They are YOUR anxieties


They are YOUR worries

 
What does Scripture say
1 Peter 5
6 Humble yourselves….
 
6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, so that he may exalt you at the proper time, 7 casting all your cares on him, because he cares about you.
 
Casting means throwing

For how much we hate our anxieties, we love to hold on to them…


We love to HOARD them

 
You can’t throw if you…

Want to keep it


Want to hold onto it


Want to fix it


Want to manipulate it


Want to control it

 
Where did Peter get that idea…

It’s been around for a LONG time


From David…

 
Psalms 55:22
Cast your burden on the Lord, and he will sustain you; he will never allow the righteous to be shaken.

Who are the righteous?


Those who live under God’s right rule

 
The lie we believe is that controlling our anxieties equals freedom. However, true freedom lies in entrusting them to God.
 
Practical Application:
When having a worried/anxious thought, we CHOOSE to take it to GOD because it belongs on His shoulders and not in our mind

Healthy, Active Prayer life


Cast your care immediately to Him

 
Counteraction #2
2: Thanking When You Want To Worry
 
For years, I did not value the practice of thankfulness

Did it out of obligations (was supposed to)


Not I do it because I see its true value

 
“During active appreciation, the threatening messages from your amygdala [fear center of the brain] and the anxious instincts of your brainstem are cut off, suddenly and surely, from access to your brain’s neocortex, where they can fester, replicate themselves, and turn your stream of thoughts into a cold river of dread. It is a fact of neurology that the brain cannot be in a state of appreciation and a state of fear at the same time. The two states may alternate but are mutually exclusive.” ~ Dan Baker, What Happy People Know
 
The Bible has said this long before modern phycology
Philippians 4:6
6 Don’t worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
 
Thankfulness is the secret ingredient in prayer

It shifts your…

Outlook


Your faith


Your determination


View of God


 
Gratitude is the practice that can change your life like no other

Why do you think atheists and others keep gratitude journals?


Because God made us to be grateful, not worrisome

 
Being thankful is a LEARNED SKILL

You get better the more you do it

 
Learn to be thankful for MORE THAN just the OBVIOUS things

The seasons


The lessons


The people


The small miracles

 
Practical Application:
Turn to thankfulness and watch anxiety disappear

Keep a list of things you are really thankful for and return to them when worry creeps in


Practice Thankfulness everyday

3: Taking When You Are Being Taken By
 
Worry/anxiety holds us captive

To a past event


In a future possibility

 
It’s a prison that we lock ourselves into

We are trapped but hold the key


The key is our own mind and what we allow in there

 
2 Corinthians 10:5
We demolish arguments and eve