The Posture of Obedience Pt 8 "When God show back -up"

What do you do when God goes silent for thirteen years — and then suddenly shows back up with a promise He made you when you were a different person? In When God Shows Back Up, Pastor Lindsey Jones takes you into the silence between Abraham's promise and its fulfillment, and reveals what God was doing in the quiet. Expect a powerful word on El Shaddai, the difference between worship and laughter, and the dangerous prayer of "Lord, let Ishmael live." If you've been waiting on a promise that feels overdue — this one is for you.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:01

Turn with me to the book of Genesis. The book of Genesis. The first book of the Bible. There you will find me in chapter number seven. Chapter number seventeen. And we'll be reading. Hold on one second, my system is acting up. Bear with me one second. I don't know why it's my system is acting up right now. Bear with me for one second. There we go. Think I got it now. Yes. Acts. I mean sorry, Acts. Genesis chapter number 17. Genesis chapter number 17. And we're beginning to read verse number one. And then we're going to jump down to verse number five. Genesis chapter number 17. And it reads as thus. And when Abram was 99 years old, or 99 years and nine, the Lord appeared to Abram and said unto him, I am the Almighty God, walk before me and be thou perfect. And another translation it says, Walk before me and be thou blameless. Jump down with me to number five. It says, Neither shall thy name anymore be called Abram, but thy name shall be called Abraham. For I, for a father of many nations, I have made thee. Put your Bibles down and let's talk to our Heavenly Father. Heavenly Father, first we want to say thank you. Thank you for watching over us. Thank you for this moment in time where you have allowed us to sit in your presence. Now, God, I ask that you forgive us. Forgive me for everything that was said, did, thought about that was not like you. Forgive me, God, and cast it in the sea of forgetfulness and remember it no more. We don't want anything to stop or hinder what you're going to say on today to your people. God, I yield my body, my mind, my spirit, everything about me belongs to you, God. Use me for your glory. Hide me behind the cross. Don't let them hear me, don't let them see me, but God, let them hear and see you only. Touch my heart, my mind, my spirit, God. Let everything that you've placed in my spirit, God, to speak to your people come out with power and authority and with love. That will push us to another level in you. That will push us to another faith in you. That will push us to another dimension in you. Draw us closer to you right now. And God, I ask that you bless the ears of the hearer, that they may receive the word, God. I pray that it takes root in their heart. And then God, I ask that you water it that it may grow into the people that you have called us to be. Deal with us, God, right now, in the name of Jesus, right where we're at. So that we can become the disciples that you have called us to be to this dying world. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen and amen. I would like to continue with the thing, the posture of obedience. With a word or the thought of the day when God shows back up. When God shows back up. I would like to start this discourse or this message off with two quotes. The first quote is by A.W. Tulser, who states this denial or delay is not denial. God's silence is not God's absence. The second quote comes from Charles Spuriart or Spurger. When God seems silent, he is not. He said, He is not. Just to recap, where we left off the last time we gathered together. We walked through one of the most painful chapters in Abram's life. We saw how unbelief, impatience, and a little bit of help from the culture turn a promise from God into a problem in the house. Hagar conceived Ishmael was born. And the lessons we walked away was with this, that simply a heavy thought, but a reminder that God's promise did not need your help. But I want you to notice something as we shift into today's message. That after all the unbelief, after the bad decisions, after the household drama, after Hagar and Ishmael, something happens. God goes silent. From Genesis, the end of Genesis 16 to the beginning of Genesis 17, God stopped speaking to Abraham, to Abram. Thirteen years Abram did not hear a word from God. Ladies and gentlemen, I must stop here and give you this warning. Don't allow your disobedience to cause God to go silent in your life. Have you ever received a word from God, but because of your spiritual immaturity? You tried to fix what God promised already. And here you are listening or sitting in silence, wondering if God will ever speak again. You are left to ponder what if I just obey God? What if I just trusted Him a little bit more? What if my faith would have endured? Now Abram is now sitting in a place of loneliness and despair, asking himself these same hard questions. He's sitting there reevaluating his past decisions. But watch this. This act of God going silent was necessary. Because in silence, God was molding you. In silence, God was shaping you. I know it may sound strange, but it is in those moments when God seems silent and distant that He's developing who you are, He's developing you for the journey because He's about to reveal something to you. I'm gonna repeat that again. I think someone needs to hear that one. I need to hear that myself. In the time that God is silent and distant, He is developing you for the journey He's about to reveal to you. It is not the time to get out of character, it is not the time to turn your back and forget about the promise He made you. In other words, don't put God on the back burner. This is the perfect time to repent for your disobedience. This is the perfect time to get your house in order. This is the perfect time to rehabilitate your posture of faith and your posture of trust. This is the time to deal with the posture of your obedience. Why? So when God shows up and when God breaks the silence, and He will, He'll find you in the right posture. I can hear you asking a question. How do you know God will break his silence? Let me answer your question with my own question. Did God make you a promise? Did that promise come to pass? The Bible tells us in Hebrew 10, 23, let us hold fast to the confession of our hope without wavering. For he who promised is faithful. Ladies and gentlemen, God promises do not come without trials. God promises do not come without affliction. But everything that God takes you through has been designed to get you back in the right posture. Why? Because something greater is coming. Look at your neighbor and tell them something greater is coming. For those who are online, type it in the chat, say something greater is coming in my life. Ah, for thirteen years. Thirteen years have now passed, and that number is significant. The number thirteen represents transformation, thirteen represents renewal, and thirteen represents new beginnings. Oftentimes, God will break us to bring about transformation. God will break us to bring about renewal. God will break us to bring us to our new beginnings. And God does all of this through silence. Look at your neighbor and tell them, don't worry if God is going silent on you, just keep moving forward. Don't worry about if you can't hear God now, just keep moving forward. As we look at our texts, here in chapter number 17 of the book of Genesis. Abram is now ninety-nine years old, and his wife Sarah is eighty-nine years old. God breaks his 13-year silence in a way that will change how Abram and Sarah see God and how he they look at God for who he really is. Ladies and gentlemen, has God ever showed up in your life in a way that changed your perspective about his greatness? Has God ever showed up in your life that changed your perspective about his love? Has God ever showed up in your life that changed your perspective about his grace? God has a way of showing up at the very moment when things seem impossible. He has a way of showing up when you have hit rock bottom. He has a way of showing up when you are about to give up. But yet he shows up to remind you, I'm still here. I'm still in control, and I still love you. So when you are going through something, thank you, Father, and you feel like God is silence. Hold on just a little while longer. He's coming to give you a word. Hold on just a little while longer. He's coming to reveal something to you. Hold on just a little while longer. He's going to remind you that he's still here, he's still in control, and that he still loves you. When God shows up to Abram thirteen years later, watch what he says. He says, I am God Almighty. He says, I am God Almighty. When you hear this statement, it is powerful all by itself. But when you look at the origin of the name, it takes on a different perspective. Because you have to understand that it carries death that goes beyond human comprehension. The word Almighty comes from a Hebrew name Al Shaddai. This is actually two words. Each word holds a specific meaning. But when you put them or combine them together, you get one powerful word that can and will change who you are. That can and will change your life forever. The depth emerges when you examine the component parts. The Hebrew word Shaddai, S-H-A-D, means breast. Just as a mother's breast is sufficient for her newborn child for nourishment. God is saying He's all sufficient for His people. I don't know where you caught that, but that blessed me. Why? Because I look at when a mother breastfeeds their child, they get all the nourishment they need. All we gotta do is feed on the word, and we get all the nourishment we need for us to survive. Ah, so when you combine L to the Almighty, or you combine it with the word Sheda, you're looking at the one that says, I'm all the sufficient one. The result is a picture of an Almighty God who pours out substance, provision, and blessings to all his people. Ah, ladies and gentlemen, when God says, I am the Almighty one, He is saying, I am all sufficient. I'm all that you need, I'm all that you can go after. And when you get me, you have everything you need. Ah, look at your neighbor sitting right there in a house with you and tell them, I'm going after the all-sufficient one. He's all that I need. I don't need anybody else. All I need is Jesus. Why? Because he's all sufficient, he's all powerful, he's almighty, and yet he's nourishing me at the same time. I don't know who I'm preaching to, but God is telling me to tell somebody you don't need that person that is going to strip your life, you don't need that person that's going to aggravate you, you don't need that person that's going to put pain on you. All you need is Jesus. All you need is all the sufficient one, one who has you in his hand, one who has you on his mind, one who will take care of you, one who will provide for you, one who will love you, one who will give you grace, one who puts favor on your life. All you need is God, the sufficient one. Ladies and gentlemen, when the El Shaddai shows up, all things are possible. When El Shaddai shows up on the scene, atmospheres must shift. When the el Shaddai shows up on the sea, people will have to back up and say, Who's that? You say, Jesus is my all-sufficient one. When the el Shaddai shows up, they demons can't stand in his presence. When the el Shaddai shows up, you will stand in authority, you will stand in power, you will stand in grace when all sufficient shows up. Oh, I have what I need. When the El Shaddai shows up, what seemed or what is impossible suddenly becomes possible. With one statement, God is declaring to Abraham and declaring to you and I, I'm all that you need. Look at your neighbor, type it in a chat, tell them God is all I need. I don't need anybody else. As long as I got Jesus, I'm alright. As long as I got Jesus, I'm doing just fine. As long as I got the all-sufficient one, I have everything I need. Notice. Right after God tells Abram, I'm the Almighty. He gives Abram a command. He tells him, Walk before me and be blameless. This meant that Abram was to walk with God with his whole heart. His faith posture had to come up to a different level. His obedience had to come up to a different level. God was saying to him, Everything I promised you over the last 24 years ago is now on the horizon. Your heart posture is right, your faith posture is right. Your obedience posture is right. Now is the time for me to move. Now is the time for me really to show you who I really am. At this moment, God reestablishes his covenant with Abram. And he, in doing so, he changes his identity. Ladies and gentlemen, when your faith posture and your heart posture and your obedience posture is right, God will change your identity. He will change who you are. Your identity does not come from the outside working inward, but it starts on the inside privately. God will work on you behind the scenes. He'll work on you when nobody's watching. He'll work on you while you are Home, come work with you in the middle of the night. Come work with you in the corners of your heart. God will change who you are on the inside. Ah, and that's between you and God. Then He will show the world who you are publicly. And the world will look at you and be like, You was not that person I met two years ago. You were not that person I saw just a year ago. No, God changed me. God changed who I was. God changed my identity. So that I look, I no longer identify with what you used to call me, but I identify myself as a child of God. I identify myself as a king of kings. I identify myself as with Jesus who sits on the throne as a son and daughter of Jesus Christ. That's who I identify with now. Where everyone can see who God made you to be. So don't worry about when God starts working on you. Don't worry about what people are saying about you. Let God do his work on the inside. Because sooner or later they will realize something changed about you, and you can say, God did it. Look at your neighbor and say, God did that. God changed my heart. God changed my life. God changed who I was. And now I'm made free. I'm set free by the power of Jesus Christ. He changes his name. And the name Abram now means father of multitude or father of nations. He also changes Sarai's name to Sarah, which means princess. Sarah's name can conveys her position of influence and authority. Qualities, qualities that would characterize her role as a patriarch of God's covenant people. Here is what's so powerful about this moment. God changes their name before the promise is fulfilled. I'm gonna repeat that again. He changes who they are before the promise that he promised them 24 years ago is fulfilled. Abram does not have a son yet. Sarah is still barren, the nations are not yet in view, but God changes their names because he wants you to walk in it before you can see it. Now I'm blessing myself. See, God will change who you are from the inside, and then he will give you what he promised that will line up with what he placed in you 24 years ago. Ah I'm blessing somebody right now. I know I am because God is telling me so. But God is saying, when I change who you are on the inside, I will change who you are, walk you through to your promise. Because your promise is waiting for you to line up with what you see, and what you're seeing in the future is where I placed you at. But he said your faith has to line up, your posture has to line up. I changed who you are now. Walk in that first, then now walk into your promise. Ah, ladies and gentlemen, God has made you and me promises that we are still waiting for. But because we are visual people, meaning it must be tangible for us to go after it, we struggle to move until you can see it. Yet, God is constantly working on our posture because He wants us to move without seeing, He wants us to walk by faith and not by sight. So, why is it so hard for us? Also, why is it so? Why is it that we have so much of a hard time moving when God speaks? I believe the reason we don't move is because we don't understand that God is enough. Ah, let me explain what I mean. When you walk into a room and you go sit down in the chair, do you examine the chair first? Do you check the legs? Do you test the screws? Do you weigh it to see if it will hold you up? No, you just sit down. Why? Because you understand that the makeup of the chair, you understand that the inventor of the chair designed the chair to hold weight. You believe that the builder built the chair in a way the inventor intended it. And because you trust the design and you trust the builder, your faith, you have faith that the chair will hold up, ladies and gentlemen. Why can't we see God the same way? The Bible tells us in Hebrews 12 and 2 that we look, that we are to look unto Jesus, who is the author and finisher of what our faith. He designed the promise, he prepared the promise, he built the promise with you in mind. But yet, because we don't understand the design, and because we can't see it with our natural eyes, we don't move. But watch this. We have trusted people who couldn't hold our weight. We have leaned on relationships that gave way. We'll put faith in jobs, faith in friends, faith in families, and the chair broke. So we approach God the same way. We approach God just as we approach a wobbly chair. We hesitate, we sit half. What does that mean? We don't put our full weight on the chair, we keep one foot on the floor just in case the chair doesn't hold. But hear me today. God is not the chair that breaks. The Bible reminds us is this, the Bible reminds us in Romans 20 and 4. I'm sorry, 20, Romans 4, 20, and 21. He did not waver at the promises of God through unbelief, but he strengthened his faith, giving glory to God and being fully confident that what he promised, he's able to perform. Jesus is the chair that was designed by heaven, prepared by the Father, and built by hands that will never fail. He helped every saint who came before you, and he will still hold you now. Ladies and gentlemen, the chair may not hold you up, but I know God will. But church, I want you to see something honest in the word today. Even when your posture is right, even when your heart posture is right, even when your faith posture is right, even when your obedience posture is lined up, there is a part of us that struggles to believe God and what he says. If you don't believe me, look at what Abraham did in Genesis chapter 17 and verse 17. Abram fell on his face and laughed. Now watch this. Earlier in chapter, in the same chapter, verse number three, Abram fell on his face, but this time it was to worship. Now he fell on his face and laughed. Same man, same posture, two different reactions. And I tell you something powerful here. Even when your relationship with God is right, your humanity still shows up. Abram wasn't rebelling, Abram wasn't walking away. Abram was just being honest. He was a hundred years old. Sarah was 90. And what God had and what God had just promised didn't line up to what they were seeing naturally. Ladies and gentlemen, yes, God made you a promise. Yes, you have to believe his promise. But the human element still has an effect on us. As long as we live on this earth, there is something we're going to have to struggle with for the rest of our lives. The tension between our spirit, which is under the control and the influence of God, and our flesh, which wants to do what it wants to do based on what we see and how we feel. That's exactly what Abraham, or that's exactly what's happening to Abraham at this moment. His spirit bowed down before the eld Shaddai. His spirit received the covenant. For the lust of the flesh against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh, and they are contrary one to another, say they do not wish to do what you wish to do. Ladies and gentlemen, what Paul is saying here is that the flesh and the spirit are warring inside of you, pulling you in two different directions. And it is it is why it is this is why it's even more important that your posture is right. Even when your heart is right, even when you say you believe God, there's still a moment where your flesh wants to laugh at what your spirit just received. This is a war every believer fights. This is a war that I believe every non-believer fights as well. Why? Because they feel God's spirit pulling on them, but yet they feel their flesh pulling against them. And the only way to win this is to keep walking in the spirit, or to to to to fight the flesh and be like, I'm going after the things of God. You do this even in while your flesh is trying to take over. In the midst of Abraham's laughing, watch what God does, or watch what Abram does. Sorry, he puts Ishmael back into the conversation. He says, God, all that Ishmael might live before you, ladies and gentlemen. I have to stop here. Many of us will disobey God and then turn around and ask God to bless the outcome of our disobedience. And when we make a wrong decision, and then we and when we make that wrong decision, we ask God to anoint it. We ask God to put a stamp of approval on it. We move outside of his will, and then we ask God to honor it. We birthen Ishmael out of disobedience, out of impatience, and out of sin, and we walk back in in our prayer room and ask God to make Ishmael the promise. Ladies and gentlemen, hear me today. God is not gonna validate your sin. I'm gonna repeat that again. God is not going to validate your sin. You can bring you can't bring your sin before the el Shaddai and accept, expect him to accept it. He said, Walk before me, blameless. That does not mean perfect, but it means that you are striving for perfection. And how can you walk before a holy God, offer him anything less than total obedience? Listen to what God said to Abram. He said, No, your wife, Sarah, will give you a son, and his name shall be called Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him. Don't worry about Ishmael. I already blessed him, but my covenant is with Isaac. Ladies and gentlemen, don't God did not despise Ishmael. God still blessed Ishmael, but God refused to make Ishmael the promise or the covenant keeper. He refused to let Ishmael take Isaac's place. Because what God put what because of what you produced in your flesh can never replace what God promised you in the spirit. I'm gonna repeat that again. And you cannot, what it says, wait, because you can't you can't produce in your flesh and never replace it with what's promised in your spirit. In other words, what you do in your flesh can never replace what God has placed in your spirit. God placed the promise in your spirit, and your promise is always going to override what's in your flesh, so you cannot bring back to God what's in your flesh, tell him to anoint it and make it your promise. God said, No, no, no, no. The promise is in your spirit. I promise you this, this is going to happen. Don't bring me that mess in your flesh because I reject it every time. Ladies and gentlemen, stop asking God to bless your Ishmael. Stop asking God to bless your mess. Start trusting in God for your promise. Start trusting God for what He has promised and placed in your spirit. As I bring this message to a close, let me remind you where we've been today. We started with silence. Thirteen years of God not saying a word. We watched God show back up as the El Shaddai, the Almighty, the all-sufficient one. Who declared to Abram, I'm all that you need. We learned that God will change your name before he fulfills the promise. Why? Because he wants you to walk in it before you see it. And he wants you to walk in it before you can walk into it. We saw that even though your posture is right, your flesh will try to make you laugh at what God said. And we discovered that God's will will not validate your sin. So here's the question for you today What posture will God find you in when he breaks to silence? Will he find you trying to fix the problem all by yourself? Or will he find you still holding on to Ishmael, the one you produced in your disobedience? Or will he find you on your face, surrendered, repentant, and ready to receive what the El Shaddai has promised. Ladies and gentlemen, watch what God does. After God told Abraham, My covenant is with Isaac, He didn't leave him guessing. He didn't say someday. He gave Abram or Abraham a set time for the promise. Genesis 18 and 4. God goes back and sit at Abraham's tent under the oak tree at Mar and says, Is there anything too hard for God? At that appointed time, I will return to you according to the time of life. And Sarah will have a son. Ladies and gentlemen, hear me and hear me clearly. God has an appointed time for your promise. He has not forgotten about you. He hasn't changed his mind about you. The 13 years of Sinus didn't cancel the covenant. The laugh didn't cancel the covenant. Ishmael didn't cancel the covenant. God still has an appointed time with your name on it. And at that appointed time, God will show back up. Not to scold you. But not to scold you. Not to remind you of your failure. But to deliver what He has promised. So don't let your faith posture fail. Don't let your trust posture stop believing. Don't let your posture of obedience get distracted by what you see. Release the Ishmael. Release the sins in your life. And trust God for Isaac. Or trust God for your promise. Because something greater is coming. Let us pray. Heavenly Father, we want to say thank you. Thank you for this opportunity we had to hear from you on this morning. God, I thank you for your anointing that's on my life. Thank you for allowing me to speak what you have placed in my spirit to your people. Now, God, I ask that you let the word hit me first. Let me live out what I just ministered to your people. And as the word hit me, God, let the word sink deep into their hearts. Onto good ground. That when they face issues this week and they face struggles this week, God, that they can fall back and say, God promised me this. God made a promise to me about this. And my faith posture and my heart posture and my obedience posture, going to trust the promises of God. Let them ward off or pay no attention to the distractions that's going to come their way. God guide them in the spirit that they could continue to walk. By your spirit. Lead and direct them, God. Do it right now in the name of Jesus. And God, bring this word back to their remembrance. That when they feel something is off, they can go back to their closet and to their secret place. And say, God, change me from the inside out. Change my heart. Change my mind. Do it right now in the name of Jesus. And God, as we walk through this week, remind us that if we don't hear from you, that you're still shaping us, that you're working from the background, and that you are shaping us for something greater that is coming. Don't let us get out of character. Don't let us lose our composure. But let us hold on to our faith unwavering, knowing that if we hold on, you're going to put us in a position to receive our promise. And we thank you for this. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen and amen. I want to say thank you for being with us on today.