Kerry Shook - From Disappointment
A classic science project in junior high is the egg drop challenge. How many of you know what I'm talking about? Yeah. Of course, the egg drop challenge involves each student attempting to devise a contraption that will protect an egg from breaking when it's dropped from up to 28 feet. So I thought it would be fun for our tech team to take a crack, pun intended, at the egg drop challenge. So they came up with some very interesting and expertly engineered designs and, right here, right now, we're gonna have the first ever Woodlands Church Egg Drop Challenge. Are you ready? And this is exciting stuff, yeah. You gotta get pumped up. There's no gambling on it but get pumped up.
So now one of them made a classic, the army parachute. Here it is. And so I don't know what you are thinking but I'm not real confident in the army parachute guy. And we've got people all up in the catwalk and they're gonna drop these down upon you and I know most of the people on our tech team have engineering minds and they're brilliant and so I know that you're not gonna get egg on your face. So get ready. No, we're gonna do it right up here. So, we've got someone up there to test it out. So, you ready? How many of you think that the army man with parachute is gonna survive the drop? Okay, y'all aren't confident at all on that, except for one guy who's got a lot of faith over here. Positive attitude is good, sir, but naivety is not. So anyway, three, two, one, drop! Yeah, that's about right. Okay, we have a fail. Epic fail.
Okay, the next one is kind of a classic. A lot of kids do this: straws. Yeah, they put it together with straws. So we're gonna try the straws. Three, two, one, drop! That was poorly made. That was a half-hearted effort. My goodness, whoever that is, maybe you can find another place to volunteer other than a tech team. I'm not real confident in you. No, I mean, they tried. Okay, this next one is very unique. Someone got an Olaf from "Frozen" and used that. And you see sweet Olaf, he's holding that egg so gently. How many of you think Olaf is gonna do it, because he always comes through in "Frozen"? Yeah, I believe in you, Olaf. Three, two, one, jump! Let's see what happened with Olaf. Olaf's fine, but the egg is destroyed. You didn't mean to do that, did you, Olaf? I'm just glad you're okay, Olaf.
But the egg is totally destroyed and it's not the real Olaf, c'mon. It's not the real Olaf. I don't need any emails about Olaf, okay? That's just an effigy of Olaf and it felt really good. So, anyway, all right now, we have somebody who, kind of a smart Alec, because he came up with what's called a bed of nails, the RIP drop. Yeah, so not real confident in this. Three, two, one, drop! There's a splash down on the front row. I'm so sorry. That was ridiculous. I'm not very confident in our tech team anymore. Now here is a tissue box and I think this is gonna work because they tell me that in this tissue box there's bubble wrap and all in there, tissue, and so hopefully this one will work. Three, two, one, drop! Oh, that sounded really not as promising as it should have. Let's see what we got.
All right, now, there's something... Okay, never mind. It kind of worked, you know? Hey, every junior high student, just before dropping their egg, has high hopes that their design will triumph and overcome the egg drop challenge. But usually in less than a second, their egg and their hopes have been cruelly crushed. And sometimes, life feels like an egg drop challenge epic fail, where our hopes get crushed and we're just left dealing with a deep disappointment. Sometimes, the things we're expecting and planning come crushing down. Sometimes, the people we're counting on let us down. And deep disappointment feels soul-crushing in those moments.
Well, today, we're concluding our series, "New Day, New Way". And we're gonna see how even our deepest disappointments lead to a new day, but we have to deal with disappointment in a whole new way. Now the Bible tells us that every setback is really a set-up. God uses the setback to set you up for a new level of success, a new depth of character, a new purpose, more blessings. A setback is always a set-up. So I want us to look at Moses in the Old Testament today because Moses was someone who was very familiar with disappointment, but God used that disappointment to take him to a new day. He was a great leader who led the Israelites out of slavery from Egypt after 450 years, and the Bible says he was the most humble man on the face of the Earth at the time. He was this humble servant leader who depended on God's direction.
He loved the people he was leading but the people he loved and was leading, the Israelites, were always quick to turn on him and criticize him and blame him for everything bad in their lives. Their philosophy was: when in doubt, criticize the leader, blame the leader, question his motives, doubt his decisions, challenge his leadership. I can't even imagine how disappointed Moses must have been at times in the people that he was giving his life away to. The people were bragging on him one moment and betraying him the next. He's given his life away for these people he loves and is serving, and they turn on him time and time again. And folks, nothing crushes us more than when someone we care about, someone we counted on, betrays us. That kind of disappointment cuts deep.
So I want us to look at Exodus chapter 15 to see how God can turn our disappointment into a new day of healing. So let's look at Exodus chapter 15, beginning with verse 22. Would you stand in honor of God's Word?
"Then Moses led the people of Israel on from the Red Sea, and they moved out into the wilderness of Shur and they were there three days without water. Arriving at Marah, they couldn't drink the water because it was bitter (that is why the place was called Marah, meaning "bitter"). Then the people turned against Moses. 'Must we die of thirst?' they demanded. Moses pleaded with the Lord to help them, and the Lord showed him a tree to throw into the water, and the water became sweet. It was there at Marah that the Lord laid before them the following conditions, to test their commitment to him: 'If you will listen to the voice of the Lord your God, and obey it, and do what is right, then I will not make you suffer the diseases I sent on the Egyptians, for I am the Lord who heals you.' And they came to Elim where there were twelve springs and seventy palm trees; and they camped there beside the springs".
You can be seated. It says that Moses led Israel from the Red Sea and into the desert of Shur. Now what happened at the Red Sea? Only the greatest miracle in the history of the Israelites: God parted the Red Sea and he brought them from certain death to safety. God brought them from no way to a new day. God brought them from no hope to overwhelming hope. And Moses told them that God was going to deliver them and now they see that their great leader was right all along. When they crossed the Red Sea, Moses led them into the desert of Shur and the people felt sure that God would take care of 'em. They felt sure and secure in Moses's leadership. He was a great leader. They thought he was the greatest leader of all time.
Look what he did: he led us through the Red Sea. But after following Moses for 3 days in the desert with no water, they weren't so sure anymore. It seems like the Israelites were always having problems with water. First, there was too much water at the Red Sea, then there was not enough water in the desert and then they come to bitter water. After 3 days in the desert, they're dying of thirst, and they come to a place called Marah and they see this big pool of cool water and their hopes are lifted and then they take a big gulp and find that it's bitter, toxic, undrinkable. And their hopes are crushed. They find themselves not at the oasis they were expecting, but in this desert of disappointment, so discouraged. And we've all tasted the bitter waters of Marah. Your Marah is anything that was once sweet but has now turned bitter. Marah is anything you counted on, put your hope in, but has crushed your heart and left you bitterly disappointed. Ultimately, though, our Marah is a deep disappointment with God.
When God doesn't do what we're expecting, when God doesn't answer our prayer the way we've wanted him to, when God allows someone to hurt us deeply, when God allows a problem into our lives that we didn't ask for, cause, or deserve, if we're being honest today, and let's be honest, we're in church, we've all at times been disappointed with God. Now God never fails but it sure feels like it at times. At Marah, Moses probably felt like God had let him down. He probably was disappointed in God because he knew God had led him to this bitter place and all the people were griping at him and he didn't do anything wrong. He had to be really disappointed also in the people he loved and was trying to lead because the first thing they did when they experienced disappointment was to blame Moses.
Look at Exodus chapter 15 and verse 24, as we see that "the people turned against Moses. 'Must we die of thirst?' they demanded". They said, "Why did you lead us out here to die? You're a terrible leader. Why did you lead us to this bitter place"? But Moses didn't lead them there. It was God who led them there. He just used Moses, but God led them to Marah. Why? Well, Exodus 15:25 tells us why: "And there the Lord tested them". And there the Lord tested them. Marah was a test. God was testing their character. And God's character is revealed in the big crisis in life, but our character is revealed in the small crisis in life.
See, God showed his character and his power at the Red Sea, but it was Marah, the place of disappointment, that showed what the people were really like, and they failed the test. They griped, blamed, and complained. They didn't trust God. So how many of you are going through a test? How many of you have been going through a test lately? Hurts and disappointments are a test. God is allowing your character to be tested. Now, God already knows what's in my character. He allows the test, not so he can discover what's inside me. He already knows. God allows the test so I can discover what's really inside me. So I can't deny it, I have to face it and realize how much I need him to change me and heal me.
I love Romans 5:5. This is the verse I want you to put to memory. Meditate on this verse this week: "And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love". Did you get that? "This hope will not lead to disappointment," so what hope is that that won't lead to disappointment? Jesus Christ. We place all our hope in God, we won't be disappointed. Sometimes, in the middle of it, we'll feel disappointed. We'll feel like God has let us down. But when it's all said and done, we'll realize God didn't let us down, he was the only one holding us up.
You see, it's at the place in Marah that we find out he's our only hope. People will disappoint you, people you love will let you down, people you trust will betray you. You will experience some crushing disappointment in life and most of you know that. But even at the place of your deepest disappointment, even when your hope and heart have been crushed, we can find our real hope: the healer of our hearts, the Savior who will never leave us. So what do you do when you're disappointed? When a huge disappointment comes into your life, what do you do with that hurt? Well, let's look at what Moses did, because he did the right things here that bring us from hurt to healing. Moses first in Exodus 15:25, it says: "Moses pleaded with the Lord to help them".
So Moses went to his only hope. He cried out to God for help. He didn't hold on to the hurt. He didn't say, "Man, I'm so sick of you people. I am trying to do something good for you, I'm trying to lead you. I didn't even want this job. I was a reluctant leader. But all I'm trying to do is obey God and, really, I'm not leading. I'm a servant leader. I'm trying to serve you. I'm trying to lead you, and so, I'm so tired of you blaming me. Okay, if you can do better, you lead. I'm out of here. Good luck finding your way out of the desert without me". That's what we feel like doing when we're disappointed. We're hurt, we wanna hold on to the hurt. We wanna take it out on someone. But don't hold on to your hurt; take it to the healer.
That's the first thing you've gotta do when you find yourself in the desert of disappointment. When you're at your Marah and you need a miracle, don't hold on to that hurt. You take it to the healer because if you keep score, try to settle the score, it just prevents your healing. It doesn't hurt anyone but you. When I try to settle the score, God stops working on my behalf. So don't complain, grumble or blame or gripe to yourself or to other people or to line everybody up on your side or gossip about that other person. Don't take it out on someone. Instead, take it to God.
We'll look at Exodus 15:26 because God tells them about healing here. "If you will listen to the voice of the Lord your God, and obey it, and do what is right, then I will not make you suffer the diseases I sent on the Egyptians, for I am the Lord who heals you". For, you see, the Lord tells the people, "I am the healer and I want to bring healing to you". God says, "I brought you to Marah so that you could learn to depend on me. I'm testing you so I can teach you to depend on me and obey me, even when it doesn't make sense, even when you feel disappointed. I'm trying to teach you that you can trust me, that I can heal your deepest hurts. I can meet your deepest needs.
You see, I want you to see that even when you don't understand it, even when you don't feel like it, even when you feel so disappointed and let down by others and by me, if you'll just take another step of faith, you'll see that I will come through for you. I'll give you the power to take one more step and one more step. You'll see that I will come through for you, and you can learn to trust me because I want to bring healing to you. I wanna give you a new day. I wanna turn the bitterness into sweetness in your life".
So the first thing I do when I'm disappointed is don't hold on to the hurt, take it to the healer. The second thing is don't dwell on the disappointment, look for his appointment. You see, when you're disappointed and hurt, it's just natural to focus on it. But don't rehearse it over and over again. Focus on how God wants to work in it. Now you have to face the hurt, you have to grieve over your loss and your disappointment. You can't ignore it, you have to deal with it so you can heal from it. You deal with it, but you don't dwell on it. Have you noticed that every time you review a hurt, it just gets bigger and hurts more? Every time you think about it over and over again, it just gets bigger and bigger. Make the choice to change your focus from the hurt to how God wants to use it in your life.
Of course, the difference between the word "disappointment" and the two words, "his appointment," is just one letter. Every time God allows a disappointment into your life, there's always a divine appointment hidden in it. Disappointments are his appointments in disguise. But we need to understand this next verse, Exodus 15:25: "Moses pleaded with the Lord to help them, and the Lord showed him a tree to throw into the water, and the water became sweet". So God shows Moses this tree that had fallen. Moses throws it into the water and the water goes from bitter to sweet, and God can even take the bitter hurts in your life and bring sweetness and good out of them. God could even take evil that happens to you, that someone inflicts upon you, and he can bring sweet goodness somehow out of it.
Now, the Bible doesn't say all things are good. It says all things work together for good to those who love God and are called according to his purpose. So, so many things are bad, wrong, evil, and God doesn't cause them but God can even take them just like he took the Crucifixion, the worst event in all of history, the most evil event in all of history, and it became the greatest, most powerful, most loving event, that changes our lives. So God wants to turn your Marah into a miracle. But notice that the thing God used to work the miracle was there all along. When Moses prayed, God didn't just create that tree and go, "Look, Moses, I just made a tree for you there. It's fallen down there. Just take that wood and throw it in".
No, it was there at Marah all along, and if Moses would have wallowed in self-pity or kept thinking about how bad he had it in life or how mistreated he was, he would have never noticed the tree. He wouldn't have seen the solution. And when we get stuck focusing on our disappointment, we miss God's appointment for us that's right in front of our face. When I get my eyes open, when I ask the Lord to open my eyes and I get my eyes on the Lord, he opens my eyes to the miracle that's right under my nose. That's what happens so many times in Scripture.
You see, when God wants to work a miracle in your life, he starts with what you have to give you what you need. He starts with what you have to give you what you don't have. But we're always looking outside of what's right in front of our face and it's because we're focusing on the wrong things but when we look up to God, he opens our eyes to see that the miracle is right there all the time. You see, when you give to God the little that you have, he multiplies it and he gives you what you don't have. But if we're afraid to give to God the little that we have, then he can't multiply it and work the miracle. He says, "What have you got? I can work with that. What have you got? A little bit of talent, a little bit of resources? What have you got? A little bit of time"?
God says, "Great, you give it to me, and I'll work with that and I'll multiply it. I'll take what you have and give you what you don't have". So first, don't hold on to the hurt; look to the healer. And don't dwell in the disappointment; look for his appointment. And then don't retreat in fear. Keep walking in faith. When we experience disappointment, it's just human nature to retreat, to kind of go into our shell, to kind of just fold inward and to build a wall of protection around us to keep from being hurt again.
Of course, to rebuild a relationship with someone who wronged you requires them to patiently be willing to build trust back with you. I'm not talking about that. What I'm talking about is don't let the disappointment keep you from living in fear. Don't let the disappointment keep you living in fear. Don't let the fear paralyze you. You keep walking in faith. Don't let the fear keep you from risking, loving, trusting, living. In Exodus 15:27, that's what he does for Moses and in mercy to the people. "After leaving Marah, the Israelites traveled on to the oasis of Elim, where they found twelve springs and seventy palm trees. They camped there beside the water".
You see, after they left Marah, God leads the Israelites to this oasis in the desert called Elim, and it's a beautiful place. Where they used to have no water, now they have abundant water, overflowing water. Now, do you know how far Elim is from Marah? Five miles. So, what if the Israelites would have just given up at Marah in their desert of disappointment? They would have never made it to Elim. It was just around the corner. And when we're in the desert of disappointment, we give up too soon. We throw in the towel when the oasis is just around the corner.
And God takes us through that 5 miles so that he can build our faith, so that we realize, "Wow, God, are you gonna come through? I'm gonna keep taking steps of faith. I'm gonna take another step of faith, I'm gonna take another step of faith". And then we get to Elim and go, "God, you're amazing. You always come through. Thank you for giving me the power to take another step. I'm so glad I didn't stop and quit in the desert of disappointment. I just took another step, took another step, took another step".
When we find ourselves in the desert of disappointment, we feel like quitting. But the only way to get from the place of bitterness to the place of sweetness is to keep going. Keep taking another step in faith, whether you feel like it or not. Don't quit. Don't quit on your marriage, don't quit on your dream, don't quit on obeying God. Elim is just around the corner. Don't quit in the desert when God has 12 springs of water just waiting for you. Don't quit when you're in the breakdown when God has a breakthrough that's waiting for you.