07.12.2009 David Hardin - Do you ever feel stuck

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Do you ever get stuck? Like stuck in traffic but stuck in life? Stuck in your spiritual life? Jeni and I have felt stuck lately. Back in January, we left the church we had been serving for 3 years. We prayed about it and prayed about it, and felt certain it was time to move on – like, God was saying – You have done what I have called you to do…time to move on to the next thing! We moved on with excitement and enthusiasm for what that phase would be. This was November and now it is July and we are still waiting for the next thing.
“I feel like we are in a holding pattern – the plane has taken off - but not given permission to land yet. Who knows when the plane will run out of fuel!” – do you ever feel that way, stuck?
You might not be where you were – and are grateful for that – but not really moving forward either.
We each have our own stories – God working in our lives. But we have where God stirs us to do something. The journey begins with enthusiasm and excitement – and along the journey – life happens – and we find out we are stuck. 8 months and counting wasn’t part of our plan for us – it was obviously part of His plan. But it is easy to get stuck.

When I was in high school, I had to read two John Steinbeck books – first, I had to read The Grapes of Wrath. I love to read, but I don’t know if I hated a book like I hated that one. I may have gotten a D on the assignment for it. The next year, another John Steinbeck book – Of Mice and Men – and I loved it – and not just because it was short – but it was a great story – George and Lenny – Cousins – Lenny is big and strong, but like a child. They come up with this plan to save some money and get their own place and work for themselves instead of The Man. Somewhere along the line, the wheels come off. You get this feeling that they have been trying this plan for a while – they set out for this journey – the promised land in their minds. Then life happens, and they are stuck, right back where they were. It is easy to get stuck like that.
Scripture gives us a story of an individual who had a similar experience.
Genesis 11 – the tail end of the Genealogies – I know that is everyone’s favorite.
Genesis 11: 24 And Nahor lived twenty-nine years, and became the father of Terah; 25 and Nahor lived one hundred and nineteen years after he became the father of Terah, and he had [other] sons and daughters. 26 And Terah lived seventy years, and became the father of Abram, Nahor and Haran. 27 Now these are [the records of] the generations of Terah. Terah became the father of Abram, Nahor and Haran; and Haran became the father of Lot. 28 And Haran died in the presence of his father Terah in the land of his birth, in Ur of the Chaldeans. 29 And Abram and Nahor took wives for themselves. The name of Abram's wife was Sarai; and the name of Nahor's wife was Milcah, the daughter of Haran, the father of Milcah and Iscah.
(I am getting to a point, I promise!)
30 And Sarai was barren; she had no child. 31 And Terah took Abram his son, and Lot the son of Haran, his grandson, and Sarai his daughter-in-law, his son Abram's wife; and they went out together from Ur of the Chaldeans in order to enter the land of Canaan; and they went as far as Haran, and settled there. 32 And the days of Terah were two hundred and five years; and Terah died in Haran.

Terah had this vision of packing up his family and moving from Ur – the southern part of Iraq – and settling in Canaan – Israel today. He was going to God’s promised land. We think that is no big deal. But in their day – people didn’t move. If you lived in Cuyahoga Falls – you probably never made it to Akron, let alone Canton or Cleveland. But Terah was going to move his family to the other side of the desert – to the Promised Land. Forget about unusual – this was crazy – like Noah building a great big boat Crazy. But Terah had a vision – to leave where he was and travel to Canaan.

But Terah died in Haran. The only thing wrong with that – Haran wasn’t his destination. Somewhere along the way – from where he was to where he wanted to be, he got stuck

In his journey to the Promised Land – he found a place to stop along the way and settled down and stayed there.
That got me thinking how easy it is to get stuck in our spiritual lives. Some of us get stuck by doing the same thing over and over again – year after year – we don’t know what we would do without it in our lives – but the truth is, we aren’t any closer to God than when we started. It is not like following Christ for 15 years – it is like following Christ for 1 year 15 times over.
It is easy to get stuck when you are burnt out. I’m sure that hasn’t happened to you.
Serving the Lord can consume us – and we all need a break to refresh ourselves from time to time – but if we aren’t careful, that break becomes the norm and we are stuck somewhere between where we were and where God wants us to be.

It is important to be fed – but there are plenty of people who have gotten stuck there – they never miss a study or conference or small group – but that sums up their spiritual life – just one episode of being fed after another. They are taking in and taking in – but never doing anything with it. They don’t grow closer to God – they are just constipated. Some of you will get that later.
We get stuck when we lose enthusiasm.
Have you ever been to a retreat and been on top of the world – God has moved you further along the journey and you could never go back to where you were. But over time the excitement fades and life sets in – and you are no longer where you were – but you are no longer moving forward. The main way we get stuck in our lives – Life happens – probably what happened to Terah.
It is interesting – the number one reason students give for not doing more to serve the Lord – they are so busy with school and work they don’t have time.
The number one reason for 30 and 40 somethings – so busy with their kids – they don’t have time.
50-s taking care of parents
60s – Taking care of grandkids
70s and up – just too old
We spend our whole lives – there is always something going on. When the kids are older…life happens – but if we aren’t careful, life will get us stuck in our relationship with God. It is so easy to find ourselves – not where we were – but not moving any closer to that promised land.
I am convinced – like Terah, God has this plan to move us to His promised land – it is a big deal – if you try to explain it to people who don’t have faith – they will look at you like you are off your rocker. When God wants to do something in your life – it will be big and amazing and only God can do something like that.
When Terah moved – it was a big crazy thing – but could only happen if a higher power was working in your life.
God has a journey for each of us. It is easier to start that journey than it is to finish it – like Terah, we can find countless opportunities to get stuck.
I wish I had great insight – 5 ways to get out of that rut…
But God doesn’t really work that way – instead He has a very simple message for us – simple, practical – but sometimes not very easy – found at the end of John’s gospel – John 21:18-22
They were out fishing – Jesus calls to them from the shore – and tells them to throw the net out the other side – and they recognize it was Jesus.
Three times Jesus asks, Do you love me?
You know everything – you know that I love you.
Feed my sheep.
Then he talks to him about what that means – how that will look in the future.
John 21: 19b And when He had spoken this, He ^said to him, "Follow Me!"
This sums up the journey from Ur to the Promised Land – Follow Me!
Peter is so much like us – immediately starts in – witth the excuses and questions.
What about him? What about these guys?!
Don’t worry about THEM – YOU follow ME! That is so much like us – what about my job? My mortgage? My kids? My parents? Jesus says – what about all that stuff? You follow ME! It is the essence of what it means to be a disciple – although it is simple to understand - I don’t need to tell you it is not simple to follow – especially in those times when we get stuck in our spiritual lives.
God has yet to give me a road map – go 2.6 miles, turn right – and you are there. It is more difficult – especially in those hard times. If you don’t feel close to God – who moved? The obvious answer is – you moved! But if I don’t feel close to God – I’m not moving – but it is not rhetorical – we find ourselves stuck in Haran because we don’t ask who moved – but maybe God moved – not that God changed – but maybe we feel stuck because we followed God to where God wanted us to be – but God moved on to the next thing and we are stuck – we don’t feel the connection – because we are still here – and God is saying – Follow ME! The very idea – Jesus saying follow me – implies that He is moving. The most boring game of follow the leader is when the leader just stands there.

Maybe God has moved a little further down the journey – down the road, saying – follow me – over here. You might say – I thought you wanted me here?! Yes, we’ve done that – now we need to move on to something else. Now I want you over HERE! Keep trusting me – allow ME to move in your life.
If we want to avoid getting stuck in Haran and find our way to the Promised Land – we need to follow that voice with a passion – a reckless abandon – with a spirit that says, I don’t care if everyone else thinks I’m crazy – if He says it – it doesn’t matter if it makes sense to everyone else.

I can almost guarantee you – it won’t be where you think it will be. I remember my mother-in-law tells about telling God she will go anywhere but Africa – you probvbably know how that turned out.
If we really want to follow God – you’ll hear his voice saying – over here. But you might not hear him on your timetable. But when we want to follow Him – that promised Land – He will speak and when he says, over here – come follow me – that journey will be more exciting than anything else you will ever do in this life. The destination will be greater than anything you can imagine. It is easy to get stuck. To end up somewhere between where we were and where God wants us. But when we are willing to listen, on His time, we will hear His voice say, come, follow me – and the destination is truly out of this world.
It has been neat to watch Grace Summit from a perspective of someone not totally part of this church for the past 3 years. What will we do when we have the building paid off? Will we move? It is exciting to see a church asking those types of questions – but it is exciting to see a church asking, Wheere is God calling us to follow?
Habukkuk 1: 5 "Look among the nations! Observe! Be astonished! Wonder! Because [I] am doing something in your days-- You would not believe if you were told.
That is the kind of vision God has for this church. It is that awesome. When you hear that voice – follow it with a reckless passion. There are a lot of churches in this country that are stuck. It is neat to be part of a church that is not one of those. Hold on to that vision – let it consume you and drive you – abandon everything that gets in the way of you – when He says – Follow Me.
At some point – you can step back – and look around and be astounded by what God is doing in and through you.
Will you pray with me?...