When You Don't Know What To Do

This week, we began a new series called Here Comes Trouble. For the next three weeks we'll be looking at an Old Testament story about a king named Jehoshaphat.  Jehoshaphat was a good king. He tried to do what was right and tried to be obedient in following the Lord.

Even though Jehoshaphat was a good King, he found himself in the same kind of situation that so many of us find ourselves in from time to time. There is a modern myth in the American branch of Christianity that implies that if you are obedient ot God, you won't have any problems.  But is simply not true. Obedience is not a guarantee to a trouble-free life. Their is a major over-arching principle that we will discover this week that is much more important than our personal comfort.

Jehoshaphat was in a really serious situation and he didn't know what to do. But in this story, we discover how he was able to get out of it. If you've ever had problems, I think you'll like this series.

So, what was Jehoshaphat's situation? Let's take a look at his story. The Bible says in verses 1, 2: “After this, the armies of the Moabites, Ammonites, and some of the Meunites declared war on Jehoshaphat. Messengers came and told Jehoshaphat, ‘A vast army from Edom is marching against you from beyond the Dead Sea. They are already at Hazazon-tamar.’”

They were saying, "King, here comes trouble." Three nations formed an alliance for the specific purpose of conquering Jehoshaphat and the people of Israel. Together they made a vast army and a formidable, some might even say undefeatable, opponent.

Has that ever happened to you? Your just trying to do the best you can, tried to be faithful on your job, tried to have a good marriage, tried to raise good kids and yet it seems like every negative thing in the world has come against you? Financial problems, health problems, career problems, and relationship problems form an alliance to attack you all at once, and together they're just too big for you to handle on your own. Has this ever happened to you? Is it happening right now?

This week we are going to look at "What to do when you don't know what to do?" But more importantly, we are going to discover an over-arching principle about why good and bad things happen to us.

An Attitude of Servanthood / A Spirit of Hope

In the town of Port Hope, Canada, there is a monument erected, not for the leading citizen who just died, but for a poor, unselfish working man who gave most of his life and energy to help those who could not repay him.

Joseph Scriven was born in Dublin 1820. In his youth, he had the prospect of being a great citizen with high ideals and great aspirations. He was engaged to a beautiful young woman who had promised to share his dreams. But on the eve of their wedding, her body was pulled from a pond into which she had accidentally fallen and drowned. Young Scriven never overcame the shock. Although a college graduate and ready embark on a brilliant career, he began to wander to try to forget his sorrow. His wanderings took him to Canada where he spent the last forty-one of his sixty-years.  He became a very devout Christian. His beliefs led him to do servile labor for poor widows and sick people. He often served for no wages.

It was not known that Mr. Scriven had any poetic gifts until a short time before his death. A friend, who was sitting with him in an illness, discovered a poem he had written to his mother in a time of sorrow; not intending that anyone else should see it.  His poem was later set to music and has become a much loved Gospel song. It is said to be the first song that many missionaries teach their converts. In polls taken to determine the popularity of hymns and Gospel songs, his poem set to music is always near the top. What was his poem?

What a friend we have in Jesus, All our sins and griefs to bear.
What a privilege to carry, Everything to God in prayer.
Oh, what peace we often forfeit, Oh what needless pain we bear;
All because we do not carry, Everything to God in prayer.

Romans 15:13 says, "May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit." But an important sidebar is that the context of this hope is discovered in verses 1-2 of the same chapter: "We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves. Each of us should please his neighbor for his good, to build him up." The connection? An attitude of servanthood produces a spirit of hope. They are intertwined. You can't have hope without a willingness to please [our] neighbor for HIS good. Once we become a member of the family, our goal is always the good of others. It should never be "What am I going to get out of it."

So as we close this week looking at the Gospel of Hope, let's endure the difficulties of life, find encouragement from the Word, and seek not to please ourselves, but our neighbor.

The Encouragement of Scripture

Romans 15:4 tells us that another way to gain God’s kind of hope is through the encouragement of Scripture. "For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have HOPE."

Psalm 119:43 reinforces this truth: "Do not snatch the word of truth from my mouth, for I have put my hope in your laws." Verse 74 also says: "May those who fear you rejoice when they see me, for I have put my hope in your word." Verse 81 adds: "My soul faints with longing for your salvation, but I have put my hope in your word."

We receive hope FROM His word. The Word of God fills us with hope because it gives us examples of the faithfulness of God and the way in which He can and will work in our lives.  Whether we are reading about the Israelites deliverance at the Red Sea, David's conquest of Goliath, or Daniel's battle in the lion's den, those stories remind us of the faithfulness of God in the lives of people, who, at the time were leading pretty ordinary lives.  Yet for these ordinary people, because of their willingness to endure and remain faithful through broken relationships, fallen heroes, and crushed dream, God acknowledged a great experience for them.

When I read about His faithfulness in those stories, I am reminded of how I can trust God for the Red Seas, the Goliaths, and the lions of my life.

Struggles...Then Perseverance...Then Character...Then Hope

Romans 15:4 says, "For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have HOPE." Note that one of the ways we gain hope is by endurance. Those are to amazing terms that Paul juxtaposes with one another: endurance and hope. We don't normally associate the terms together.

But it makes perfect sense. We should know that it is God’s good pleasure to give you the desires of your heart. But, it is also God’s practice not to always give us what we want when we want it.  Thus we learn to wait upon God and learn endurance.

Why would God delay fulfilling that which we hope for? One possible reason would be so that we would gain an appreciation for what He gives when it arrives. When you have to wait for something really good, it makes it even more appreciated (think Christmas as a kid and waiting to open the gifts).

Another possibility would be our need for purification and strengthening. Romans 5:1-5 tells us: “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.  Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us." 

I personally think verses three and four provide great principles for child-raising. Notice that Paul again says that perseverance (endurance) produces character and character in turn produces hope. When we give our children everything at their whim, we deny them the opportunity to develop character. It seems as though we are giving our children more and more, yet so many of our young people are hopeless! Why? Could it be that our unwillingness to not allow our children to persevere and wait for things has created a lack of character? Could it be that our attempts to protect them from suffering is in fact blocking the ability to produce character in their lives?

Let's work the formula backwards for a moment to get a clearer understanding. We are not disappointed...because we have hope. We have hope because we have developed character. We have character because we have persevered. And we persevere because we have struggles. So we have hope when we are willing to endure struggles rather than run from them, rather than being protected from them, or rather than avoiding them.

God’s delays serve to prepare us to handle the responsibilities of our desires and the gifts we receive from God.

We Have This Hope

Robert Darling, a 56-year-old panhandler from Bradley Beach, NJ, travels once a week to Manhattan in search of a wife. His multi-colored cardboard sign reads: "I'm looking for a wealthy lady to be my wife." And he really does mean "wealthy", as in a net worth of at least $750,000, although he does add that "Ladies not yet rich but very well off will be considered." After ten years of trying, Darling hasn't had any offers yet. But he's not discouraged. "The odds may be great," he said, "but I'm still hopeful. I'll never give up." 

Hopeful...it is a really important emotion. Hope is vital for our day-to-day survival in life. In Romans 15:4, we are told: "For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have HOPE."

This is not the kind of hope that says things like, "I sure hope __________________ happens"; or "I sure hope ________________________ doesn't happen." God's kind of hope could best be described as an attitude of confidence, expectation, and trust.

In Job 6:11-13, Job says: "What strength do I have, that I should still hope? What prospects, that I should be patient? Do I have the strength of stone? Is my flesh bronze? Do I have any power to help myself, now that success has been driven from me?" Job was saying that if he had godly hope, he could be confident and he could live life with the expectation that things would be okay...in spite of how they are now. The thing is, a President, in spite of campaign promises, can't give us this kind of hope. Our bank account can't give us this kind of hope. Our family or friends cannot give us this kind of hope. This kind of confidence and expectation can only be rooted in God.

Hebrews 6:17-19, tells us: "Because God wanted to make the unchanging nature of his purpose very clear to the heirs of what was promised, he confirmed it with an oath.  God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the HOPE offered to us may be GREATLY ENCOURAGED.  We have this hope as an ANCHOR FOR THE SOUL, firm and secure...." Hope provides encouragement and is the anchor for our soul in times of difficulties and struggles. Our hope, as Christians, is built on nothing less than Jesus Christ.

First Corinthians 13 tells us that the three greatest gifts God gives us is "faith, hope, and love". So if hope is such a valuable gift from God, how can we experience it? This week we are going to zero in on Romans 15:1-4. In these four verses, Paul tells us three ways we can develop this kind of hope in our lives.

Ignoring The Undeniable; Hung-up On The Unexplainable

Today, we are going to really dive into the amazing healing found in John 9. It is such a fascinating story. It provides so much relevance for our church culture today. 

John 9, tells the story about Jesus and his disciples passing a blind man in the street. The disciples immediately want to have a theological discussion about why he was blind. Jesus basically draws them away from the discussion to the need at hand...this man is blind, he can't see, and all they could do was debate why he was blind. Was it his own sin or the sins of his parents that caused this blindness?

Are you kidding me? Why can't they see his need and recognize His power? Verses 6 – 7 says:  “Having said this, he spit on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and put it on the man's eyes. "Go," he told him, "wash in the Pool of Siloam" (this word means Sent). So the man went and washed, and came home seeing.”  The man is healed, his life is transformed, and an argument ensues.  Verse 8-9:  “His neighbors and those who had formerly seen him begging asked, “Isn't this the same man who used to sit and beg?” Some claimed that he was. Others said, “No, he only looks like him.”  But he himself insisted, “I am the man.”  His neighbors are arguing because they don’t understand how a blind man can see.  

In verse 10, the religious people join the fray, “How then were your eyes opened?" they demanded.”  I think the former blind guy is thinking, “Who cares? I’ve been a blind beggar all my life and all you want is an explanation?  I’m thinking I might get a little attention, we might have a little celebration, maybe a party, and all you want is an explanation!” Everyone else wants to discuss the theology of the healing; the blind man wants to celebrate the healing.   Verse 11 he says,  “The man they call Jesus made some mud and put it on my eyes. He told me to go to Siloam and wash. So I went and washed, and then I could see.”  But who cares?  “I can see!”  

Verse 12:  “Where is this man?” they asked him. He can see, and all they want is answers.  He then gives the catch-phrase for the whole chapter…“I don't know”" he said.”  “I don’t know who He is, I don’t know how He did it, I don’t know where He is…but I can see! Would somebody please celebrate with me?”

Then things really begin to heat up.  Verses 13-16:  “They brought to the Pharisees the man who had been blind. Now the day on which Jesus had made the mud and opened the man's eyes was a Sabbath. Therefore the Pharisees also asked him how he had received his sight. “He put mud on my eyes,” the man replied, “and I washed, and now I see.” Some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath.”  This can’t be God because this does not match our paradigm about God; therefore, we know it wasn’t God.  We read that and go, “What a bunch of narrow-minded, ego-centric, arrogant people! To think that they know so much about God, that beforehand, they know everything about what God would or would not do, could or couldn’t do.” You see, it didn’t make sense to them, they couldn’t explain it; therefore, they refused to believe it. 

But are we much different today? When God begins to work in ways that we are unaccustomed to; when other people begin to experience God in ways that are different from the ways we experience God, don't we often refuse to believe as well?

Verse 16 continues:  “But others asked, “How can a sinner do such miraculous signs?” So they were divided.”  Meanwhile, the healed blind guy has got to be screaming, “I don’t care!  Can we get a little celebration going here! Would somebody be happy for me for just a moment!”  Finally in verse 17:  “Finally they turned again to the blind man, “What have you to say about him? It was your eyes he opened.”  "I don’t know, I haven’t even seen Him yet.  I don’t even know what He looks like.  I went home to have a celebration and your asking me for theology.  I don’t know what happened.  I don’t know who He is.  I don’t know where He is.  I don’t know if your suppose to heal on the Sabbath.  I don’t know…but I can see!  I can’t explain all of that, but you can’t deny the fact that I can see! Why are we so hung up on explaining it? Why can’t we just celebrate the event?  I can see?"

Why do we have a hard time celebrating the undeniable...he is healed. Why do we get so hung on over the unexplainable...does God work outside my paradigm?

Verse 24 continues:  “A second time they summoned the man who had been blind. “Give glory to God,” they said. “We know this man is a sinner.”  How do they know that?  I’ll tell you how they thought they knew that.  They thought they knew what God God does and doesn’t do.  He’s right there in their box, and what has happened is an out-of-the-box experience; therefore they thought they knew that it was not of God. 

Then the former-blind guy gives the punch-line.  Verse 25:  “He replied, “Whether he is a sinner or not, I don't know. One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see!”  It doesn’t really matter to me if God is suppose to act that way or not.  And it doesn’t really matter to me whether Jesus is of God or not.  It doesn’t really matter to me what day it happened.  Don’t ask me anymore theological questions because I don’t know and frankly, I don’t even care. What is undeniably true for me is that once I was blind, but now I see.  

Philosophical or Experiential

In John 9, there is an hilarious story that begins with a great miracle and concludes in a theological debate. But in the midst of the story, we discover a struggle that is as relevant for the 21st Century as it was in the 1st Century. The players in John 9 discovered a truth that is really easy to miss: "You don't have to understand everything to believe in something." In other words, we don't have to have all of our questions answered to believe in something.

In John 9, we discover that there are some things that are unexplainable, but they don't disqualify some things that are undeniable. The problem is, when we focus on the unexplainable and avoid facing the undeniable, we will never have faith or trust in God. However, as you begin to embrace the undeniable, the unexplainable won’t shipwreck your faith as often times it does when we get focused on the questions that we can’t answer.  Listen to this story as it begins in verse 1:  “As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" "Neither this man nor his parents sinned," said Jesus, "but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life.”  


The story begins with a debate that was confusing the disciples as Jesus went throughout the region. It is expressed in the culturally-accepted belief that pain, disease, and suffering are a direct result of someone's sin.

So, as this blind man was listening, the disciples asked Jesus, "Who's the sinner, this man or his parents?" Isn't it amazing they totally ignore the man's needs? They are so busy being philosophical that they missed the experiential needs of the man.  He needed healing; they wanted to debate. They wanted answers, the blind man wanted to see.

What is the unexplainable in this story: Why is this man blind? What is the undeniable: The Healer is present! Is it really important why he is blind? The One who can give him sight is here!

It is important to remember that, theological revelation is important, experiential revelation is equally important. In fact, they are not mutually exclusive, but actually work hand-in-hand to bring us to a clearer revelation of who God is.

The blind man had an experience; the crowds and the Pharisees wanted to have a debate. So they debated about the debate. But we as we will see later, this wasn't the biggest debate of the day.

God Is Greater Than Our Preconceived Ideas of Him!

A defining moment is that moment in time when either a new truth or an old truth is brought front and center in our lives. And suddenly, we are forced to view all of life through this new truth, and life looks different and eventually becomes different.

The Bible says that one of the reasons why Jesus came to this earth was to present God in such a way that could not be missed and could not be denied. He wanted to present God in such a way that we would no longer be deceived into thinking God is who we want God to be rather than who God is.  You see, for most of us, we have a very difficult time letting God be something beyond our paradigm of who we think God is. Read that last statement again. When we limit God to our box of who we think He is and how we think He works, we have a difficult time letting Him be anything greater that what we can imagine or we can think.

The challenge for us is, when we are confronted with new truths about God, will we embrace it?  Or will we, as so many do, retreat to what we are accustomed to, so we can be comfortable? Will we allow our imagination to be stretched, or will we confine God to our perception of who He is.? Will we allow Him to be bigger than our preconceived ideas, or will we continually restrict His working in our lives to that which we are accustomed?

And if we only allow Him to work in the arenas with which are familiar, in the ways in which we are comfortable, doesn't He cease to be God, and simply becomes an idol that we have created?

We are going to look at a very familiar story this week which will challenge us to grapple with the truth that God reveals to us. It is an amazingly humorous story that challenges our pre-conceived notions of God and forces us to re-evaluate the limitations with which we place on Him. But if we are willing to grapple with these truths, we can experience true freedom. Jesus said in John 8:32:  “Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”