The Trouble With God  Acts 4:23ff

 Sermon by Pastor Dennis Gleason -- February 18, 2007

The purposes of God often develop slowly because His grand designs are never hurried.

 
The great New England preacher Phillips Brooks was noted for his poise and quiet manner. At times, however, even he suffered moments of frustration and irritability. One day a friend saw him feverishly pacing the floor like a caged lion. "What's the trouble, Mr. brooks?" he asked. 

 

"The trouble is that I'm in a hurry, but God isn't!" Haven't we felt the same way many times?

 

The trouble with God is that God is never in a hurry. At least it seems that way.

RuthAnn has always enjoyed putting jig saw puzzles together. I don’t particularly have the interest or the knack for doing it. Even seeing the big picture on the box doesn’t help me much. But a jig saw puzzle does give us an illustration of how God works in the world. God is putting together a puzzle before eyes of world. God sees the big picture. Most of the time we only see the pieces. We are not sure how the pieces relate to each other. Like border pieces, some pieces of our puzzle are easy to figure out. Sometimes we given more pieces and visualize part of the picture. Some pieces are dark, hard to understand, maybe even painful to try and visualize how in the world they can fit into the rest of the puzzle?

 

Some pieces must be put aside until other pieces are in place before they can be seen as having a significant part.

Whenever we have to wait upon the Lord – it is always for a good reason. God is working on many fronts at the same time. You may not know “Why?” during this lifetime.

 
Someone once said, “When you can’t see the hand of God, will you trust His heart?” 

The religious opposition to the disciples of Jesus and those who begin following them in the faith continues. Again and again the disciples are arrested, brought before the Sanhedrin and threatened or physically attacked. They are under the intense scrutiny of the ungodly religious leaders of Israel. Surely God knows this. Why doesn’t God do something about them? After all they had Jesus killed. Don’t they deserve to be judged and removed from the power they relish so much? Why doesn’t God do something about them?

Think if you will about God.

God is Omniscient. That means that God knows everything past, present and even the future. He is never going to be surprised by anything. But ff he knows everything, why does he allow things to continue on as they are?

God is All Powerful. He can do anything. If this is true, then why does God usually allow his followers to be outside the normal power channels in society? If this is true why can’t God do something about those things that I am powerless to do? There are those “needs” I bring to him. We pray and pray and there seems to be no answer. We need it now, but we wait. Why?

I spoke with someone this week whose family is in turmoil. They have a child, a young adult, whose life is out of control. They pray and pray and nothing happens. The frustration they are experiencing threatens to destroy their marriage. Why won’t God do something about this for us?” they wonder.  “God is God. Why can’t he do something about this?”

God is omnipresent. He is everywhere all at the same time. We don’t understand how this is possible, but there are those times when we wonder: “Where is God?” “If he is here with me, why do I feel so alone?” “Why do my prayers sometimes seem to be such duds?” “Why am I waiting for God to do something?” He surely knows what I am going through.

Why isn’t God in a hurry? It can’t simply be that he has all eternity to accomplish what he intends to do.

 What is God doing in our personal experience that requires patience and waiting on him? If we were to stop and recount those things, we would find that this is something that is common to us all.

God wants us to see results as we work for Him, but His first concern is our growth. That's why He often withholds success until we have learned patience. The Lord teaches us this needed lesson through the blessed discipline of delay. 

Jesus had to wait for thirty years for God to let him start the ministry for which he had come into the world. And then he worked at it for about three and a half years before he completed it on the cross and in the resurrection from the tomb.

Moses had to endure weeks of confrontation with Pharaoh as he challenged him to let the people of Israel go. And then he had the experience of 40 years in the Wilderness at the head of a rebellious group of people who were never satisfied with anything.

David had to wait years before he was accepted as king over all Israel. Here was what the scriptures tell us is a “man after god’s own heart…” who is waiting for God to move.

The trouble with God is that God seems always to delay.

It would seem that with the power of God in the presence of the Holy Spirit, opposition to the faith so clearly stated by Peter, as he preaches here in the early stages of the Church in Acts, would simply disappear. One would expect the Holy Spirit to overcome the objections and challenges presented by people who have vested interests in the power structure that prevails in the age of Pentecost. While many new believers join the fledgling church, opposition simply gets worse. Why?

The trouble with God is that he knows us very well. If we don’t learn patience and how to wait here in this life, we will never get it.

To those Christians who are always in a hurry, here's some good advice from the 19th-century preacher A.B. Simpson:

"Beloved, have you ever thought that someday you will not have anything to try you, or anyone to vex you again? There will be no opportunity in heaven to learn or to show the spirit of patience, forbearance, and longsuffering. If you are to practice these things, it must be now." Yes, each day affords countless opportunities to learn patience. Let's not waste them.”

In Acts 4 we find that in spite of the opposition, the church is growing. God has been working in their midst and he has protected them, as the opposition begins to gather steam. The response of the disciples and the new followers of Jesus is seen in these words:

“Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness. Stretch out your hand to heal and perform miraculous signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus.” Acts 4:29-30

We find that all the believers were one in heart and mind. (Acts 4:32) In fact our text shows us that no one claimed that his possessions were his own, but they shared with each other what they had. What was received was distributed to anyone in need.

The trouble with God is that what he could do, he doesn’t do. 

These believers are discovering their true oneness in the face of need. God could have provided for them as he did in the Wilderness with the manna. But he didn’t. Why? We could say that this is the trouble with God. What he could do, he often does not. And we could say, what he could do to save us a lot of trouble, he often does not. Why?

God wants them to learn that they have resources given by Him to be used for the good of all without selfishness. Use the resources now while you have the need and the opportunity. God knows that persecution is coming. The day will come when people will no longer have the peaceful use of their possessions. Persecution will drive them from their homes out into the world that needs Jesus. They will lose their jobs because of their faith. When the day of persecution comes Possessions will only get in the way. So use them now for the Glory of God and the needs of God’s people. Use them before you lose them.

There is nothing wrong with having wealth so long as it is available for God to use. You and I have received much from God. What God now wants us for us to be willing to give it back to him for the needs of others.

Again, the trouble with God is that he doesn’t see things our way. God won’t simply take charge and do away with evil once and for all, right now. He could. But until the appointed time, He won’t. The day will come when he will, but for now we have to patiently wait. Our waiting is not passive. It is active. We are in the process of living and learning and growing in the Holy Spirit. And like the child who must learn to do things for himself, we are in the process of growing spiritually, and learning about the love, mercy, grace and power of God. And in the process, we discover that we trust in ourselves a lot more than we should. God simply says: trust me. Trust my understanding, trust my heart toward you. I do love you and want the very best for you.

The testing of our faith produces patience. God will test it. He must test it. He wants to know if it is real. 1 Peter 1:6-9 tells us this: “In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have suffered grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith-of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire-may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.”

In Acts 4:34-5:10, People began bringing money they had received from their property that had been sold. They would turn it over the disciples so that the needs of people might be met. At this time there were probably thousands of people who had come to faith in Jesus Christ still in Jerusalem. The pilgrimage they had undertaken to be in the temple for the feast at Weeks had been extended. They won’t go home. They are having the spiritual experience of their lives and to go home now is simply not possible. But they will run out of money to meet their basic necessities of food, and shelter. They don’t want to miss anything and so they stay in Jerusalem. Needs always cry out for attention. And the Spirit of God is leading them into a loving unity of faith and trust that will have an impact on the whole world. And Ananias and Sapphira lie about what they old and gave to the church. They make it sound like they received only so much for it, when they received more. Their lie was a direct attack on the unity of the church and the trustworthiness of the individual members of the church body. And God acted. Their lives were taken as an example to the whole church.

The trouble with God is that he expects too much. The church is new and the people who are becoming part of it, part of this living organism called the church. Direction is being set by the new leaders.

What does God want from us? What does he expect from us? Holiness and obedience, faith, trust.

Well, the Apostle Paul will later say: “For me to live is Christ and to die is gain.” (Phil 1:21)

From imprisonment in Rome he writes to the believers in Philippi: “Now I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel. As a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone else that I am in chains for Christ. Because of my chains, most of the brothers in the Lord have been encouraged to speak the word of God more courageously and fearlessly.”

The trouble with God is that he is more concerned about how we respond to the challenges we face than what actually we go through in this life.

Paul went on in his Philippians letter to say: “If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet, what shall I choose? I do not know! I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far; but it s more necessary for you that I remain in the body….whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ.” (Phil 1:22-25,27)

 

The trouble with God is that he never gives up!

 The trouble with God is that God is never in a hurry.

The trouble with God is that God seems always to delay.

The trouble with God is that he knows us very well.

 The trouble with God is that he expects us to obey him and his word.

The trouble with God is that what we think he could do, he doesn’t do. 

Again, the trouble with God is that he doesn’t see things our way.

 The trouble with God is that he expects too much.

The trouble with God is that he is more concerned about how we respond to the challenges we face than what actually we go through in this life.

When you can’t see what God is doing….

When the pieces of the puzzle of your life don’t seem to fit together or make any sense….

When it appears as if God has abandoned you or doesn’t hear you…

When it seem as if God expects too much of you…

 “When you can’t see the hand of God, will you trust His heart?”

 He can be trusted!

He loves you with an everlasting love.

He wants you to grow and mature in your faith.

He wants you to serve and advance the gospel where you have influence.

For you see, the trouble with God is that He is determined to get us safely through this life and this world and prepare us for the next. And he is determined that we touch the lives of others with the gospel message that He loves them and has a wonderful plan for their lives.

 --Dennis Gleason