“Directed by the Lord”

Sunday, August 5, 2007

Proverbs Series: Proverbs 20:18-24

Introduction: If you have ever played checkers, you probably know there are 2 kinds of players. On the one hand, you have those who play for fun. They don’t come into the game with any real strategy. They make each move almost independent of the other moves. Each time it is their turn, they try and move in a way that doesn’t get themselves in trouble. The fun is in playing, not in winning or losing. ON THE OTHER HAND, you have those who are more competitive. They have a strategy. They try and think 2 and 3 moves ahead. They refuse to move their pieces off of the back line, unless it is absolutely necessary. Their goal is to win.

Now, somewhere in the middle of these 2 ways of thinking, is a good strategy for life. This morning, as we continue our sermon series in the book of Proverbs, we look at how it is important to allow God to direct our ways; to give us a strategy for life.

I. Taking Advice- (Proverbs 20:18; Luke 14:31; 1 Peter 5:8)

a. Seeking Advice- Our passage starts off in Proverbs 20:18

with these words: “Plans are established by taking advice…” One of the great tragedies in life is to think that you can make it on your own. In fact, there is nothing more discouraging than to be in trouble, and to not have anyone to whom you can turn.

DEMONSTRATION: Invite someone forward to shoot a ball into a basket. If you make it, you will receive $5.00. Just before they are to throw it, stop them, and then ask the congregation: “She isn’t just throwing for fun, she is throwing to make some money. Do you think she should just walk up and throw it, or should she ask for some advice about the best possible throwing strategy?…Explain a strategy, and then allow her to throw the ball.

In life, when we can gain knowledge from others by seeking their advice, this is advantageous. To think that we have to know everything ourselves, without any help from anyone else, is foolishness. Seeking advice is wise behavior.

So, who should you seek advice from? Well the answer to this will differ from situation to situation. If you have a health problem, you don’t go to the gas attendant, you go to a doctor. If you have a financial problem, you don’t go to a doctor, you go to a financial consultant. If you have a spiritual problem, hopefully you don’t go to an electrician, but to your pastor, or someone who is mature in the Lord! To get advice, you seek out those who have experience in that area.

b. Waging War- The Proverb goes on to say: “…wage war by

following wise guidance.” A war is a serious event. Lives are at stake. So, you don’t enter into a war without much information. Jesus Himself even talked about this in Luke 14:31- "Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Will he not first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand?” When a king sits down in this way, it is not by himself, but with his many advisors. And as they contemplate whether or not to go to war, they consider whether or not they have the manpower and the means to be victorious should they decide to go to war.

Life is like a war in many ways. I’m not talking about people, as much

as the spiritual battles and spiritual enemies we face. Whether we realize it or not, Satan is at war against us. Many places in the Bible it tells us that Satan is seeking vengeance against God by coming after God’s people. 1 Peter 5:8 tells us: “Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.”

If Satan is at war against us, then we should make ourselves ready to be at war against Satan. Most people forget we are in a spiritual war, and so they do not prepare. And in this war, we cannot do it on our own. We need to seek wise guidance. That is why the proverb tells us to follow “wise guidance.”

But on top of all of this, we are at war against God with our sin. Some of our sin is “sin of omission,” meaning that we sin without really realizing it. But most of our sin is willful sin; meaning that we know we are sinning, and we choose to do it anyway. We know what God wants us to do, and how God wants us to live, but we choose to ignore this information, and follow the path of sin. It is like a defiant child, who knows what is right and wrong, but chooses to do the wrong. When we are in our sin, we are at war with God because God cannot work His will and His way in us.

II. Waiting for the Lord- (Proverbs 20:22; Ecclesiastes 7:8;

Colossians 1:11, 3:12; Isaiah 40:31)

a. Patience- They say that “patience is a virtue.” Or maybe you

have heard the saying “Good things come to those who wait.” Have you ever found out a gift before it was time to open it? EX. I remember a few Christmases ago, I was sitting with my kids, and a commercial came out for a movie that I had asked for, for Christmas, and the commercial talked about how it was coming out on DVD. At the end of the commercial it said: “Be the first in your neighborhood to own it.” And one of my kids shouted out: “We got that.” And then they realized that I wasn’t supposed to know…..When you find out a surprise like this before you are supposed to know, then it takes away some of the joy.

In life, God has designed it so that part of the joy of life, is having to wait. Patience is included in the fruit of the spirit; it is 1 of the nine. The Bible talks a lot about the importance of patience; here are a few examples:

Ecclesiastes 7:8- “The end of a matter is better than its beginning, and patience

is better than pride.”

Colossians 1:11- “being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience.”

Colossians 3:12- “Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.”

These are just a few of many verses that remind us that God desires for His people to have patience, and to live with patience.

Patience is another part of the plan that God has for our lives. That is why it tells us in Proverbs 20:22, “Do not say, ‘I will repay evil’;…” For those who don’t have a plan in life, they tend to be more reactive. When they are wronged by someone, their tendency is to seek revenge. When life is a struggle, they want to quickly see it go away. When they pray for something, they expect God to answer it right away, and answer it with the answer they expect.

People without patience are people who will struggle in life. They will struggle to enjoy life, because their idea of a good life is having everything nice, and good, and tidy. But life is the struggle; life is the heartache; life is the trials.

EX. Let’s say you are going on a hike. You drive to the start of the trail, park your car, put on your backpack, and start off. You know that the hike will take a while, and will be physically challenging. When you have finally finished the hike, and returned to your car, you are tired, and sore, and sunburned. If given the choice of going on the trail on a motorcycle, would this person have chosen this route? I DON’T THINK SO! (Well, maybe some of you would J)You see, part of the experience of the hike was the struggle it took to do it. If you take away the struggle, you take away a major part of the experience…..It is the same with life. Life can be challenging, but if we accept this as part of the experience, and gain some patience through it, then we will enjoy life so much more, and gain so much more out of it!

b. The Lord’s Help- But another part of patience, is that it

leads us to trust the Lord. TO WAIT ON THE LORD TAKES PATIENCE. Isaiah 40:31 is a good reminder of why we should do this: “but those who hope in the LORD, will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.” Learning patience in life helps us to have patience in the Lord. As we learn how to wait for the Lord, we will be able to see how the Lord does renew our strength; but it takes time. The Lord does help us to not grow weary, but to persevere; but it takes time. The Lord helps us to not faint, and to keep going; but it takes time.

As Proverbs 20:22 says: “…wait for the Lord, and he will help you.”

POEM: Ruth Harms Calkin wrote a poem entitled “Could You Hurry a Little?”:

“Lord, I know there are countless times when I must wait patiently for You.

Waiting develops endurance. It strengthens my faith

and deepens my dependence upon You.

I know You are Sovereign God—not an errand boy responding to the snap of my finger. I know Your timing is neatly wrapped in Your incomparable wisdom.

But, Lord You have appointed prayer to obtain answers! Even when David

the psalmist cried with confident boldness: ‘It is time, O Lord, for You to act.’

God, on this silent sunless morning when I am hedged in on every side, I too cry boldly.

You are my Father, and I am Your child. So, Lord, could You hurry a little?”

(….the Tardy Oxcart, Swindoll, p. 427)

Our tendency is to want God to hurry. It is indeed difficult to wait on the Lord. But trust me, there is much good that will happen when we wait. When we wait on God, we will build our trust in Him, and not in ourselves. When we wait on the Lord we will develop an enduring spirit. When we wait on the Lord we will see the Lord being able to help us, because we hold back doing it ourselves.

III. Let the Lord Order Our Steps- (Proverbs 20:24)

a. Our steps are ordered- As we get to the end of our passage,

we see verse 24 telling us: “All our steps are ordered by the Lord…” This is a common theme in scripture as well, that God knows about our life and orders our life. Psalm 139 tells us in verses 1-4 and verse 16: “¹ O LORD, you have searched me, and you know me. ² You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. ³ You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. ⁴ Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O LORD. ¹⁶ Your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me, were written in your book before one of them came to be.”

So why is it that we don’t always live according to the ways that God has for us? For the answer to this, we have to go back to our sin. Because we choose sin over God, we choose to not live out the days that God has for us to live. This is why people are so lost in life. This is why people struggle so much. This is why people feel a lack of purpose. It is because they are not living the life God created them to live!

Illus. A number of years ago I was working as the Youth Director at Bel Air Presbyterian Church. I struggled to fit into that church and the job I was asked to do. Out of frustration with the job, I left after only 15 months. I was so frustrated by what I experienced, I began to question whether or not to even stay in ministry. At the time I was in seminary, seeking to become ordained. Instead of looking for another ministry position, I went on a vacation to Japan (to see some friends), and then when I got back I went to work for my dad painting and varnishing boats. After about a month of doing this, I realized that I truly missed ministry. After a couple months of searching, I was hired as the Director of Youth Ministries at Trinity Presbyterian Church in Camarillo, CA. Once I was back in ministry, I knew that was where God wanted me to be.

b. Understanding- I believe these are the questions everyone is

asking: Where does God want me to be? What does God have written for my life?

A couple of years ago we started a process called “Focused Living.” It was a 2 year process to help individuals in the church, and to help the church itself, discover God’s will. For those of you not familiar with it, it seeks to help bring clarity to our future by understanding how God works in our past. God is always there, always calling out to us to join Him in what He is doing. But sometimes we can get lost in the things of life. When we do this, we become unfocused to the will of God.

So, we took the time to write out timelines of the past, and analyzed these timelines to see how God worked in our lives, and shaped us, through the good and the bad of life. From this, we sought to understand that the purpose for our existence is to know God, and be in relationship with God. This is difficult to understand, because we are so trained to think that we are loved for what we do. But until we understand that God loves us as His creation, for who He made us to be, we will not be in the right place to live for Him.

After this, we began to learn about the important values we need to have in our lives. Since our values shape our behavior and our decisions, it is vital that we have values that lead us to live the life God created for us.

Lastly, we sought to understand the vision that God has for us. This goes along with Proverbs 20:24, “…how then can we understand our own ways?” And the answer is that we can only do this by understanding who God is, and how God is seeking to order our lives. Through understanding what gifts we have, and the passion that God gives us in our life, we can then began to get an understanding of who God is calling us to be, and how He wants to order our steps.

There are many of you who have gone through this process. In fact, some of you are currently going through this process now. But it isn’t enough to just go through it. At the end of the “Focused Living” seminar, it talks about the importance of having a mentor or a coach. A mentor is someone who seeks to help you stay focused, and continue to live out your vision. A mentor is someone who lovingly keeps you accountable in your walk with God.

Those who went through the Focused Living process, are you still living it out?

Are you still focused on the vision God has for you?

If not, then I encourage you to get a mentor, so that you can continue to understand and let God order your steps….. And if you haven’t gone through this process, I encourage you to talk to me about going through it. Because it is very helpful in helping you to live the life God created for you. It is very helpful in taking you to that place that allows God to guide you forward.

Conclusion: The truth is that we need to have a constant dependence upon God. When you really think about it, all of our natural actions depend upon God’s grace, and God’s presence, and God’s power. The best person is only as good as God makes him or her. And God can only make us into what God wants us to be when we humble ourselves before God and let God mold us. We cannot see the future, and so we cannot understand much about our own way. But God can see far beyond what we see. Therefore, we need to commit our way to the Lord. Don’t think that you have to know it all yourself. Don’t think that you have to live your life alone. Don’t think that there is no future… Seek after God, and let God direct Your ways. Seek after God, and let God straighten your path. Seek after God, and let God help you. Wait on the Lord, and let the Lord do some of the work. Amen.