Speaker 1: 0:00

So we are in a series called God, just Tell Me. And who in here? If you're searching for your purpose, you're trying to figure out God. What do you want me to do? Who in here wants God just to speak it loud and clear, like we don't want to do any guessing games, we don't want to try to figure it out, we want it to be crystal clear. Okay, here you go. I got a good story for you, because sometimes I think God is clear and sometimes it's hard to navigate what God is saying. That's what we're going to talk about today.

Speaker 1: 0:30

But to lead into this, there is this one time that our niece Bella, that our niece Bella, we were at this farmhouse with my family and my brother's family nine total kids between both of the families, so a lot. And we're at this farmhouse because I got this dream one day of becoming a farmer. That's my retirement plan. Aaron thinks I'm going crazy, but. And so we went to this nice farmhouse, had all these animals and stuff, and so anyway. So we go out and Farmer Greg is there, and Farmer Greg is telling the kids how to treat the animals, how to pet them, how to take care of them, and he says to all the kids. He says here are the donkeys, you can pet them like this Whatever you do, don't put your finger by their mouth. And so our niece God bless her Bella says like this, and she sticks her finger out and Pilgrim the donkey goes chomp and she screams and we thought we're about to nickname her Nine Finger Bella. So Isaiah grabs her, dad grabs her, pulls her out of Pilgrim's mouth and luckily all of her fingers were there still, but you know she was hurting.

Speaker 1: 1:40

So the moral of the story is sometimes you get direction, but sometimes we don't listen. Sometimes we get direction but we think maybe it's not as clear as we wish. And when it comes to understanding God's will for our life, sometimes it feels like man. God, if you were just a little bit more clear, I would do what you want me to do. And so we want to look at that today. How can we understand God's will? Let me show you how God often directs our lives in simple, everyday ways. And we're going to look at the Apostle Paul and we're going to see this surprising but very common way that God often led the Apostle Paul.

Speaker 1: 2:24

Now, if you knew the church, here's a quick backstory. Paul went from persecuting Christians, went from hating Jesus followers and all the way to being radically transformed by Jesus. He went on to plant most of the early churches that we see in the New Testament and wrote most of the New Testament scriptures. Paul absolutely experienced the supernatural presence of God, but a lot of the time God led him through ordinary moments and in ordinary ways, and I believe God wants to do the same for us still, that God wants to lead us through ordinary moments. In fact, when you look at Paul's life, you can see four key ways God would regularly guide him, and I believe that key ways God would regularly guide him, and I believe that's how God wants to guide us today too. Okay, so we're going to look at these four ways, and these are the four ways that God guided Paul, and I believe he still guides us and it's through open doors, through closed doors, through frustrated plans and everyday choices and everything open doors, closed doors, frustrated plans and everyday choices. Okay so let's look at this, let's jump right into this. We'll see how God led Paul through an open door.

Speaker 1: 3:34

Here you go there in Paul's third missionary journey. This is what Paul said. He said I'm going to stay at Ephesus until Pentecost. Why is he going to stay? Because a great door for effective work has been open to me. And then he says and there are many who oppose me, okay, so wait a minute, let's wait a second here. God gave him an open door. That's good news. But then there's many who are opposed to him, many that don't want him there. So why did he stay there? God didn't give him a supernatural dream. There wasn't a prophetic word. There wasn't an angel that came and visited him. There was just a wide open door and a nudge from the Holy Spirit. There was a wide open door and a nudge from the Holy Spirit. There was a clear ministry opportunity and God opened the door.

Speaker 1: 4:19

And some of you you have your own version of this in your life. There was a job that came up out of nowhere and God just gave it to you. You said, man, that must have been a God thing. There was a word that you received. You're listening to a message and you're like man that spoke directly to me in my season of life. God just showed up. It was an open door. It was an open door and you stepped into it.

Speaker 1: 4:41

Maybe you've been praying. Maybe you've been praying. Maybe you're praying for God to give you some clarity about next directions in life and then, bam, someone gives you an opportunity. Or maybe you've been thinking about man. How can I serve the church? And then the pastor comes on the stage and says man, we sure could use some help during the setup team. Sure I could use some help during the setup team. Oh, that was from the Lord. Okay, anyways, that's not a coincidence, that's a God-ordained open door. But just because it's a great opportunity, that's what I want you to get, though. Just because it's a great opportunity, just because God opened the door, it doesn't mean it's going to be easy. It doesn't mean it's going to be easy. It doesn't mean it's going to be easy.

Speaker 1: 5:29

Paul said God opened a door. It was God's will. And then he said but there are a lot of people working against me right now. There's a lot of people working against me. Many oppose me. What can we learn from this principle? We can learn that an open door doesn't guarantee a smooth path. Amen.

Speaker 1: 5:48

An open door doesn't guarantee a smooth path. God opens the doors, he gives us opportunities, and when a door opens to serve Him faithfully, be aware your spiritual enemy is very likely going to push back. He's going to push back. I'll actually even say this the bigger the opportunity, the greater the opposition. The bigger the opportunity, the greater pushback you're probably going to get. I would actually say this if your Christian walk has been just like smooth sailing no hiccups, no relational issues, no problems, no relational issues, no problems I would be concerned if you're actually following God's will, because oftentimes, when we're doing the things of God, the enemy doesn't want us to move forward. The enemy will only attack if we're a threat, and so this is what happens. So this is what we're seeing. And so and this is where a lot of us get mixed up Some of you may be right here saying God opens the door.

Speaker 1: 6:45

You say this must be God's will, and you begin to walk through the door, and it's not easy. And it's not easy. Someone's not being nice to you. You hit an obstacle, you try to get something done and everything seems to go wrong. You walk through the door and then, all of a sudden, you've got problems everywhere, and so you think, well, is this God's will then? Is this God's will? Just like I said, just remember, the devil doesn't waste his time fighting those who want to threat. So here we go.

Speaker 1: 7:14

And then I want to say this okay, if you're facing opposition, if you feel like you're going through the door that God opened and you're facing opposition, I want you to remember this. God's purpose for us isn't just the thing that we do, it's the who we become. And often opposition is the way that we can fulfill what God actually wants for us. His will for us is to be holy. It's in moments of opposition where we have to step back and surrender and say, god, I don't understand what's happening and I'm going to seek you more. It's an opposition, it's in trial. James tells us count it pure joy when we face trials of many kind. Why would we count it pure joy? Because God is shaping you and forming you into the likeness of his son through your opposition, through the things that you're going through. And so that's because again remember, it's not about the do, it's about the who, it's about who we're becoming, who we're becoming. So here we go. How does God guide us? God opens the door. Let's look at another way that God guides us. God actually may close a door, he'll close a door. He may even close the door that you perceive as the best door possible, but it gets closed. It continues.

Speaker 1: 8:28

Paul and Silas travel through the area of Phrygia and Galatia because the Holy Spirit check this out, because the Holy Spirit had prevented them from preaching the word in the providence of Asia. At that time, the Holy Spirit prevented them from preaching Asia. At that time, the Holy Spirit prevented them from preaching. That's interesting, is it? It wasn't the enemy, it wasn't a scheme of the devil. The Holy Spirit said don't go there. The Holy Spirit did it. But what does this mean? Okay, so maybe the road was closed, maybe someone got sick, maybe someone opposed them, whatever it was, paul and his team saw that the Spirit was closing the door. It continues.

Speaker 1: 9:07

They come into the border of Mysia. They headed north for the province of Bethesda. I think I said that right. But again, the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them to what? To go there. To go there. And I want you to catch this. They weren't running from God, they weren't caught in sin, they weren't being selfish. They were trying to preach the gospel. They were trying to do God's will. They were trying to go to Asia Minor, and God said no. They were trying to go to this place and God said no. Their hearts were right, their motives were pure and they thought they were doing God's will. And still God closed the door. And it shows us clearly that God's no is still God's direction. God's no is still God's direction, it's still his direction.

Speaker 1: 10:02

And this should be comforting for some of us, because I know for me personally, I can be stubborn at times and sometimes I want something so badly that I project it on God and that's what God wants for me too. Of course you want me to win that Powerball last night, god, because then I can tithe 10% to the church. Right, I didn't win no, no, but for real, for real, we do this. We can project it on God, but I want but what I want is not always what God's will is. Sometimes my motives can be very pure. Sometimes my flesh could be just like God. Can you just do this? I want this so bad and that, but that's not God's will, just because it feels like it, just because you feel like it doesn't mean it's what God wants for you, and I love that God loves me enough to protect me from me. I love that God loves me enough to protect me from me.

Speaker 1: 10:55

None of us like hearing no, you know none of us and let's be honest, we like to be told no. None of us like to be told no. We don't like hearing no. But it's comforting that God. He's a loving Father, and a loving Father will tell His kids no. Like, for example, my kids. They love dessert. They love they'll eat it every, they'll eat it all day and I wish I can give them dessert all day. I love when they eat dessert. They're so happy and peaceful when they eat dessert and I wish I could give them dessert three times a day and every time they ate it. It was nutritious, it was good for their teeth, it didn't get them hyped up. You know I wish, but I know that's not the case, right? So what do I have to do? I have to tell them no and I got to say eat your broccoli, even though I make some good roasted broccoli, but anyways. But you got to do it. It's not because I don't want to give them that, but because I know what they need and it's comforting to know that our Heavenly Father loves us enough that way.

Speaker 1: 11:50

Actually, I want to share with you that God just recently told our church no to something. God told our church no to something and it was challenging, it was confusing. Some of you might have heard at least may have heard some of the whispers that we were on our way to getting our own free, permanent building. We were in the process of getting our own permanent location and the beginning of this year we were approached by an older church with a more seasoned congregation and they wanted to partner with a newer, growing church like ours, and they proposed that we could take over their property within three to five years. And so here you go.

Speaker 1: 12:29

Here's what happened. This other church came to us. They said to us we want you to have our building for free in three to five years. Then they said and we want you to move into our building now and be rent free while you're there. And then they said after we're all done, we want you guys to have our legacy gifts and all of our funds in our bank accounts. It's not a good dream. Come true, right. I was like that sounds good. And so here you go as a leader. I sought wisdom.

Speaker 1: 12:55

I talked to other pastors who I actually knew had similar situations like this happened to them, talked to our team, our kids and our youth team. They were so excited they were sketching out youth areas and kids areas and they were ready. We even brought some of our team down to walk through the premise, the church, the other church. Their board members loved Aaron and I. We thought they were going to join our church with us. You know, then one morning in prayer I can't make this up one morning in prayer I'm praying, I'm praying about this and very clear, I felt like the Holy Spirit said, no, that's not it. And then I was like, but God Zillow says, yes, this is some good property up in Richmond, lord. And then I just felt like the Lord kept saying no and I was kind of like I don't know. Then there was even a guy who is kind of on a. We had a little team that's looking for permanent locations and he said, man, I just got gut feeling, this is a no and I was like, okay, okay, I took it into consideration. And then here you go. So Aaron and I we ended that meeting.

Speaker 1: 13:56

Everything fell through. Nothing bad, no harsh, you know, conversation. We left the meeting in good terms with them, but everything started to fail through. They took away the guarantee of us having the property Then in our kids and youth area, which is going to kind of be like our selling point to you guys. We discovered there was asbestos in all those areas and it would had been a fortune to repair it and we didn't have the guarantee to have the property anymore. And so here you go. So we were devastated. We were devastated.

Speaker 1: 14:26

It was like man, we were looking forward to this, we started planning for that, we were getting our hopes up so high for that and then it happened and suddenly this golden yes turned into a giant no and honestly, like I said, we were confused, we were frustrated, we were disappointed, and even people on our team, we begin to lose. We got mission drift from it because we started to say, oh man, that was it. But here's what God reminded me and what I told our team Our mission is not accomplished by a permanent location. Our mission is accomplished when we help everyday people learn how to become Jesus followers. And if that happens at mid-low middle, let's go. If that happens at men's groups that meet at Wegmans, let's go. If that happens, as we're in the process of believing for God to do things and my dining room is still the church office, let's go. Let's do it because God's no is going to lead us to something better. God's no will lead us to something better, and this is what I want you to get.

Speaker 1: 15:28

God can close the wrong doors to get you to the right place. God can close the wrong doors and the door may seem so right to you. They may seem like that's it, that was what I wanted, and God's like no, it's actually not. But we got to trust Him and believe in Him and trust Him, and I think someone needs to hear that today. You wanted to go there. You were hoping for God to do this, and God closed that door and he has you here for a reason. He has you at this place and this time for a reason, and he wants to make you holy and show you His purpose. So how did God guide the Apostle Paul? Sometimes it was an open door, sometimes it was a closed door and sometimes it's what we will call frustrated plans. Sometimes it's what we will call frustrated plans frustrated plans.

Speaker 1: 16:17

And now this morning, when I was reviewing this message, I feel like the Holy Spirit stopped me here on this portion of the message frustrated plans and I felt like, as I was reviewing it, the Holy Spirit was saying there's some people in here, man, your plans have been really frustrated and it's not just like, oh, I'm mad, it's like, oh, that hurt, that one hurt. I didn't see that one coming. That one caught me by surprise. I thought this is what we were going, this is where we were going, and it changed. And it changed and it changed and I felt the Holy Spirit very clearly say there's some people in here you are upset with God, you are really mad at Him, you're mad and you've kind of like tried to logically power your way through it. Power your way through that thought process of like you know we'll be all right, god's good all the time. All the time God's good. But no, god said he wants your honest frustration, he wants your honesty and he's serious that he wants to know you and know where your pain is coming from.

Speaker 1: 17:41

No-transcript, it went a different direction For some of you in here. You knew you were going to go to that school and you couldn't. You knew you were going to take that job and you were excited. And then it changed. You thought you were going to marry this person, you got married to this person and then the relationship changed, things changed. The door shut, the plans broke down. You thought you were certain and you wonder God, did I miss it? You wonder God, are you mad at me? And you say, god, I'm mad at you for this.

Speaker 1: 18:24

Let me say something about expressing our anger to God. He can handle it. He can handle it, he wants to hear it. He wants to hear it. He wants your honest truth. You don't got to pretend, you don't got to perform, you don't got to make it look all good. He wants to hear what you have to say and he wants to talk to you in that thing. The door's shut, the plans broke down, frustrated plans and here's what I want you to say Frustrated plans can bring us closer to God if we allow it, if we allow it.

Speaker 1: 19:02

And I want to show you what the Apostle Paul did. Check this out and we see kind of we see two common mindsets that Apostle Paul had Paul was not, paul's not certain and Paul's not nervous. We see this often with Paul he's not certain about what God's doing, but he's also not nervous about what God is doing and he's kind of caught in this tension of okay, I don't know everything that God is doing, but I know he's good, he's been good and I can trust Him even when I am not certain. So check this out. Oh, we see this repeatedly In 1 Corinthians. It says this After I go through Macedonia I will come to you, for I will be going through Macedonia, but check this out.

Speaker 1: 19:39

Then he says perhaps I like this word, perhaps I'm not really sure. God hasn't shown me yet. I don't really understand the plan that God is doing. I know Scripture says he has plans for me, plans to prosper me and give me a hope in the future, but I don't really see that it's a good thing to put on a Hallmark card, but I don't feel it in this situation. I don't see His good plans for me yet in this. So perhaps perhaps I'll stay here with you for a while. I'll spend the winter with you because I know winter is coming and so that you may help me on my journey wherever I go, for I do not want to see you now and make only a passing visit. I hope to spend some time with you, if the Lord permits.

Speaker 1: 20:29

Guys, this is the Apostle Paul talking. He wrote most of the New Testament and he's still going through his everyday life saying I think this is what God's doing. I mean, perhaps this is what God has going on. I mean, if God permits it, then sure, I want you to get this, guys, because this is the man who said for we walk by faith and not by sight. We trust in the Lord. He directs our steps. I don't have to know it all, I don't have to have it all figured out. I don't have to have the one, two, three, four, five steps to believe that God is good and that he will direct me. He wasn't certain, but he wasn't nervous. He wasn't certain, but he wasn't nervous because he trusted in God's goodness. And I'm going to say this you might not be certain on what God is doing, but you can still trust in the goodness of God, who hasn't failed, and he won't start with you. He didn't need absolute certainty to live with absolute trust, and you don't have to know the next five steps to trust God with the next step right in front of you.

Speaker 1: 21:37

And because the problem is this most of us, we want a whole map. We say, god, show me a map and God's like I'll give you a lamp. Map and God's like I'll give you a lamp and God's like I don't want a lamp, I want a map, I want to see the whole thing. And God's like yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, I see you want a map, here's a lamp. What am I going to do with a lamp when I need a map? And the thing is this I think if God showed us the whole map, we would actually say no to the map, I'm telling you in 2019, if God showed me the map to LVC, I would have said COVID and all that, nah, I'll just stay back in Virginia Beach where I know I'm not supposed to be, but at least I'm comfortable. And I got some friends. See, see, see, sometimes we want a map. And God again it's like well, well, I can't give you a map, but I can give you a lamp. And you're like. You're like what do you mean? You can give me a lamp.

Speaker 1: 22:45

The psalm writer says this your word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. See, here's the problem. The problem is, we want the spotlight on the map and God's like I just want you to take a next step. God's like I just want you to take a next step. And because we want the spotlight, because we want to go back and fix the things we can't fix, and then we want insurance of the things that we don't know yet. But God's like you can't go back and fix that and you don't know what's going to happen next. But you can take this walk right now and you can trust my word and you can trust that I'm good and you can trust that I'm for you. And we want the map. And God's like I don't got a map, I got a lamp and it will light your path. It'll light it.

Speaker 1: 23:38

And when you're frustrated and when you're frustrated, come on. This is a word for someone. When you're frustrated, jesus says come to me, come to me all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Sometimes God comes through an open door, sometimes God closes door, sometimes God shows up in frustrated plans. And the last point I'll say is this Sometimes he just wants you to choose. Sometimes he just wants you to choose. Sometimes he just wants you to choose. He just wants you to make a choice.

Speaker 1: 24:15

Again, watch what the Apostle Paul describes. Actually, let me hold on before I say that Double-mindedness. Being double-minded, knowing when God has called you to do something and then someone kind of tries to swoop in and tells you a bunch of sweet nothings, it makes you double-minded on what the Holy Spirit's already told you, and a double-mindedness it's not from the Lord. It's good to evaluate situations I'm not saying that but we gotta watch out for double-mindedness. Here you go, the Apostle Paul.

Speaker 1: 24:50

He wanted to know how to move from one place to another, and he didn't hear this. He didn't say and the Holy Spirit spokeeth unto me no, no, he said this. Titus 3, 12. I decided to stay there for the winter. He just made a decision. He looked at the situation. Check this out First. Thessalonians. It says this when we could stand it no longer, we just decided to stay. He got to where he was. He said no, I think the best decision is if we just stay at the Holiday Inn. This is good. Acts 15. Let's go back and let's just see how they're doing. Let's see how they're doing. Not, god told us to go back and check on you. No, he said, let's just go back, let's just see how they're doing.

Speaker 1: 25:40

And this is the point I want you to get, because when we spend daily time with God, when we prioritize our time with God, when we prioritize our intimacy with God, when we prioritize our responsibility to God and our relationship to Him, we begin to see and navigate His choices and what he wants for us more clearly. I believe that God speaks so clear today and again I've said this before but we have so many notifications that block us from God's voice, so many to-do lists. We think to ourselves I can't spend 30 minutes in the morning with God, but I can spend 30 minutes scrolling on Instagram. It's not that we don't have the time, it's the priority of responsibility. And so when you begin to do that, it becomes easier to understand where God is moving.

Speaker 1: 26:34

And then you become about the Father's business, and so you may say God, you want me to move here. God, do you want me to take this job? And God might just say back to you hey, I'm not that concerned about if you live in this city or that city. I'm not really that concerned if you take this job or that job. What I'm really concerned about is your character, and if you take this job or move to this city, we'll help you become more like my son. Can we be honest today? Because what we want is for someone to tell us what to do and what God keeps saying back to us. It's not about a do, it's about a who. It's about who you're becoming and this is what we all know.

Speaker 1: 27:17

You can be in some drama, you can be in some trouble and you say, okay, I'm going to go to this next place, I'm going to leave this, I'm going to go to this. We all know drama follows because you never address the who, you're trying to address the do, and Mountain Dew is not good for you. My wife tells me I have dad jokes now Like a disease I can't get rid of. There you go. You may say, okay, I'm going to trust God, I'm going to take a next step. But what if I get it wrong? What if I totally blow it? Here's the good news.

Speaker 1: 28:01

Paul also tells us this, for we have received an inheritance from God. Us this For we have received an inheritance from God he makes everything work out according to His plan. How good is that, even if we make a mistake. Let me tell you about my God. He's so good that he works all things for good for those who love Him, who are called. According to His plan, he takes the open doors, the closed doors, the things we wanted in our frustrated plans. He takes our wise choices, and even the not so wise choices and he invites us into the story of renewal and redemption and he works all things to bring about the good, not to those who are perfect, but those who love God and those who are seeking His heart. So if you want a map, he gives you a lamp. If you want certainty, listen.

Speaker 1: 28:47

Faith, faith, you can't have faith. If you don't have faith, you can't please God. It's impossible to please God without faith. You want a more detailed plan and God said I gave you something better. I gave you the person of the son Jesus, who is the good shepherd, who guides the sheep. The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want he makes me lie down in green pastures. Some of us. We need to lie down and stop thinking we're God. We need to lie down in green pastures and allow the presence and the power of the Holy Spirit to refill our souls and refresh us, and that only happens when we prioritize daily time with God and the power of the Holy Spirit to refill our souls and refresh us. And that only happens when we prioritize daily time with God. He restores my soul. Goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life.

Speaker 1: 29:39

So if God gives you a yes-no option. What he's saying to you is this will you trust him? Will you trust him and Psalm 32 says this I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go. I will counsel you. I love this with my loving eye on you. Sometimes it's supernatural. A lot of times it's an open door, a closed door, it's frustrated plans and everyday choices.

Speaker 1: 30:08

And so my plea to you, as everyday people who are learning how to become Jesus followers, is just to take the next step. For some of you, it might be signing up for a small group. For some of you, it might be going to local bases. For others, it's calling someone and saying sorry. For some of you, it's just coming up front for prayer today. For some of you, your next step is praying God. Show me my next step, but you're not sure what it is.

Speaker 1: 30:40

But here's the thing that we know His will for you is for you to be holy, and holy is another way of saying he wants to know you. It's for you to be holy, and holy is another way of saying he wants to know you. He wants to know you, he wants to hang out with you. He wants you to experience the rhythms of His grace. So, god, jesus, holy Spirit, we thank you for your love, we thank you for your goodness. God, we give you our frustrated plans.

Speaker 1: 31:22

Come, holy Spirit, we're not in a rush. You are a way maker For some of you. Your heart is broken and devastated over loved ones, the pain they're going through. You're frustrated with God, not that your plans are frustrated, you're You're frustrated with God, not that your plans are frustrated. You're actually just more frustrated with God. Come, holy Spirit. Holy Spirit wants you to sit in that frustration for a second. You don't have to hide it, you don't have to bury it, you don't have to perform your way out of it. Come, holy Spirit, he's the good shepherd.

Speaker 1: 32:29

Hmm, I feel like the Holy Spirit just gave me an image of when you were a kid, when you would get frustrated. People would just tell you it's okay, it's fine, don't worry about it. Yep, okay, holy Spirit. And so now you perceive that to God, you're frustrated, you're angry and you think God's just like just get over it, it's all right, it's okay. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. I feel the Holy Spirit saying no, no, no, no, no, no, no. I feel the Holy Spirit saying no, no, no, bring those frustrations to Him, bring it to Him, make that your offering to Him.

Speaker 1: 33:28

Come, holy Spirit. He wants to heal you today. He wants to talk to you, he wants to know you Again. That's for the Holy Spirit saying he is not an angry, a dismissive, a disconnected parent. He's a loving Father who says get up in my lap. I feel, specifically for some men in here today, that Father God wants you to get up in his lap. God wants you to get up in his lap and let him hold you. Come on, come Holy Spirit. He fights for you. So, jesus, we just hand you that, we give you that, lord, and we thank you, lord, that you are good God. We trust you with the lamp and we just take a next step towards you. We love you and we need you. In Jesus' name, the church says amen, amen, amen, amen.