"Embrace Your Destiny"

from the book “In A Pit With A Lion On A Snowy Day,” by Mark Batterson

Sunday, January 27, 2008/ Jonah 1:1-3; Matthew 25:14-30

"Chase the Lion" Sermon Series

Introduction: The last three weeks we have been talking about different lion chasers in the Bible: Benaiah, who literally chased a lion. David, who chased the lion of sin and failure. Peter, who chased the lion of looking foolish and stepping out for God. Being a lion chaser isn’t about having it all planned out. I’m sure that Benaiah didn’t wake up on the morning of his lion encounter with every detail worked out. Being a lion chaser is about knowing that when situations arise that can cause us fear, we turn to God to give us the courage and the ability to face it.

In life, we can have a fear of uncertainty. We know that the only guarantee about life, is that there is guaranteed uncertainty. The great minister and teacher Oswald Chambers once said: “To be certain of God means that we are uncertain in all our ways, we do not know what a day may bring forth. This is generally said with a sigh of sadness; it should rather be an expression of breathless expectation.” / We shouldn’t be sad to not know what God has for us. This should cause us great anticipation, as we wonder what God will unfold in and through our lives each day that we live.

I. The Uncertainty Principle- (Jonah 1:1-3; Philippians 4:7;

Deuteronomy 29:29; Romans 8:28)

a. Embracing uncertainty- If you want to reach your God-given

potential and fulfill your God given destiny, it will mean that sometimes you have to run away from security and chase uncertainty. But lion chasers are more afraid of lifelong regrets than temporary uncertainty. They don’t want to get to the end of their lives and have a million what-if regrets… What if I would have gone after that job… What if I would have served in that ministry…What if I would have reached out to that person…

Isn’t that what Abraham did when he left his family to pursue God’s promise? This was at a time when people didn’t venture more than 30 miles away from their home. Isn’t that what Noah did when he built the ark? Don’t forget, it took 120 years to build the ark. THEY EMBRACED THE UNCERTAINTY OF WHAT GOD WAS CALLING THEM TO DO. They didn’t need to know what was coming, because they knew that God knew; God had the plan.

In 1932, a German physicist named Werner Heisenberg won the Nobel Prize for his theory of quantum mechanics. Later, he revolutionized the scientific world. For hundreds of years, physicists believed that the universe was measurable and predictable. But then Heisenberg came up with the “uncertainty principle.” This principle says: “We cannot know the precise position and momentum of a quantum particle at the same time. Why? Because sometimes matter behaves like a particle—it appears to be in one place at one time. And sometimes matter behaves like a wave—it appears to be in several places at the same time. The imprecise measurement of initial conditions precludes the precise prediction of future outcomes.” OR, to put it in simpler terms: There will always be uncertainty.

As we come to God in faith, we understand that faith doesn’t reduce uncertainty; faith embraces uncertainty. Faith accepts that life is uncertain, but we trust in a God who is constant and unchanging. We will never have all the answers. But faith has less to do with knowing, and more to do with the beauty of wonder, and trusting. The uncertainty of life can make it more complicated, but complications don’t have to be a negative idea.

For example, before I was married, my life was fairly simple and straight forward. When I got married, my life became more complex. Then, when Tami and I had children, our lives became even more complex again. Even more, being pastor of a church complicates my life. Making money complicates my taxes. Being active complicates my schedule. But these are all GOOD complications.

A relationship with God will complicate your life, but it will complicate your life in ways it SHOULD be complicated. Sin will complicate your life, but it will complicate your life in ways that it SHOULDN’T be complicated. Your life will be complicated, the choice is whether it will be good or bad complications.

b. Unscripted moments- We think we always have to know where we

are going, and what we are to do. It’s not like Benaiah had a 25 year plan:

Step 1: Kill a lion in a pit on a snowy day.

Step 2: Apply for a job as bodyguard for King David.

Step 3: Work my way up the ranks until I become the commander in chief of

Israel’s army.

This isn’t how life works. God doesn’t expect us to have it all figured out. God doesn’t want us to try and be in control of everything we do. The truth is, THE GREATEST MOMENTS IN LIFE ARE UNSCRIPTED. Some of the best things in life are unplanned. / Think about this for a moment; some of the greatest movies, are great because they have high levels of uncertainty. This uncertainty keeps us intrigued, and on the edge of our seats. This is true of life as well. The uncertainty in our lives keeps us on the edge of our seats, trying to anticipate what comes next.

Take for a moment the passage we read from the book of Jonah. When God comes to Jonah, and tells him to go to Ninevah, this was not in Jonah’s plans; Jonah had not anticipated this. On top of this, what Jonah would experience in Ninevah was uncertain as well. He was being called to go to a “wicked city” and tell them to change their ways. How would they react to this? Would his life be in danger?

However, we can know that while faith doesn’t eliminate the uncertainty of life, it can eliminate spiritual uncertainty. Because of our faith, we can have “a peace that surpasses all understanding.” Jonah could know that God was with him in this call, and that God would work all things out for the good. In fact, as the story goes, by a little coercing from God, Jonah ends up going to Ninevah, tells them to turn from their wicked ways, and they do!

Have you ever had uncertain occurrences like this that caused you some fear? Did you run away from this call, like Jonah did at first, or did you embrace it and follow this scene that was unscripted in your mind?/ It is the sovereignty of God that gives us a sense of destiny. And it is the sense of destiny that helps us to embrace the positive and negative uncertainties that happen in our lives. God is in the business of using the unexpected circumstances of life to prepare us for future opportunities.

Life is full of unanswered questions. If your kids and grandkids are anything like my kids, they are full of questions. They want to know the origin of things. And the truth is, there are many questions they ask that I cannot answer. This is true for you and me. There are many questions we ask God that we don’t have the answer to, and might never have on this side of heaven. As Deuteronomy 29:29 says: “There are secrets the Lord God has not revealed to us.”

Even when people get answers, it doesn’t seem to be enough. For example, people hear Romans 8:28- “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” Okay, we know God can use the bad in our life to bring about good. But why did this bad have to happen in the first place? This uneasy feeling is caused from both the unanswerable question, along with the unexplained experiences.

There may be uncertainty in life, but it’s not chance. Our past has meaning for our future. While our past doesn’t always make sense, it does give shape to our future. In the midst of our circumstances not always making sense, we can know that God is planning His work and working His plan. God is connecting the dots in ways that will ultimately give us a picture that makes sense. As a lion chaser, we need to humble ourselves enough to let God call the shots, and be brave enough to follow where He leads.

II. Risky Business- (Matthew 25:14-30)

a. Risk taking- This leads us into some risky business. Trusting God

will bring us into experiences that we wouldn’t plan for ourselves. But if we trust and follow God’s leading, then we will be following the advice of Mark Twain. Twain once said: “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by

the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw

off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the

trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”

If you were to scan the pages of the Bible, you would discover that God uses risk takers. Benaiah risked his life chasing the lion. Nehemiah risked his position in the Babylonian administration to rebuild the wall of Jerusalem. Jonah risked his reputation by going to Ninevah to preach a message of change. THE MORE WILLING YOU ARE TO RISK, THE MORE GOD CAN USE YOU!

b. Story of Jason McElwain- Jason took a risk. He could have been

completely humiliated at this varsity level. He could have been overwhelmed by the fast pace. He could have been injured by the contact of the game. But he took the risk, and not only did he impact his own life, he also impacted all those who saw him play, and ultimately he affected another family!

c. Parable of the Talents- When I entered college, I entered as a

computer programming major. This was mainly because I knew that computers were the future, and that this major would help me to make a good living. But in my first computer class, I struggled to understand some of the concepts. As I reflected on this class, and what it might mean to my future, I decided computers weren’t for me as a career. So then I went into music, and ultimately got a Music Education degree.

However, while I have talent in music, this wasn’t God’s call on my life. After graduating from Cal. State Fullerton, I asked myself the question: “What does God want me to do with my life?” Even though I was approved to go into the teacher credential program at Cal. State Fullerton, I felt God was calling me to ministry. So I entered Fuller Seminary, in Pasadena.

God had given me talents, and he wanted me to take a risk in how I was going to use them. It is like the Parable of the Talents, that we read from Matthew 25:14-30. The master gave the servants the talents with the expectation that they would risk growing their talents. The master wasn’t upset with the third servant because he hadn’t grew his talent, but rather because he didn’t even seek to put it to use; he just buried it away.

Too many people are afraid to take a risk, and therefore don’t ever get to live the destiny God has for them. Nelson Mandella once said: “Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate, our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.” In God, we are powerful. When we take a risk with what God has called us to do, we can do powerful things. Just like Jason McElwain made a tremendous impact with his life, you and I can make a tremendous impact in the lives of others. We can’t be afraid to “embrace our destiny” and step-out in faith.

Conclusion: Good is often the enemy of great. What we are doing in our lives might be good, but it isn’t the “great” that God wants us to experience. Sometimes taking a calculated risk means giving up something that is good so you can experience something that is great. I know that between you and your destiny is one small act of courage. Where might God be calling you to take a risk? What is God putting on your heart to do, but you are not doing it for fear of failing?

If you know the Bible at all, you know that faith is a risky business. The truth is, the greatest risk is taking no risk at all. God calls us to be righteous. Righteousness is using our God-given gifts to their God-given potential. God never promised a risk-free existence. God never even promised that we would receive the rewards on this side of heaven for all the risks we take. Remember how we talked about Peter last week, stepping out of the boat to walk on the water to Jesus, but then he sank? Even though this happened, can you imagine what Peter experienced for those few moments he was walking on water?! Could you imagine how different he might have been had he not gotten out of the boat? I bet the other disciples were upset with themselves that they didn’t take the risk!

God is calling us to be His people. What God needs is for us to be lion chasers that don’t run away from evil, but have the courage to compete for the Kingdom. If you look around, you can see that there is much that we could do to improve our world if we took a risk, and acted like a lion chaser. And God is doing just that. We are feeding hungry people. We are moving in the direction of reaching out to Hispanics who don’t have a church, and who need help. We are assisting the WomenShelter of Long Beach to help women and families who have suffered from domestic violence. We are allowing the Vietnamese to meet here so that they can get the message of Jesus out to the Vietnamese speaking people. We are assisting His Nesting Place as they are working with women who are pregnant and have nowhere to go. Let us continue to be a church, and a people who take the risks God calls us to take. And by doing this, we will embrace our destiny! Amen.