Divine Direction Pt 1: Power To Become

April 23, 2017                                            NOTES NOT EDITED
Divine Direction:  Power to Become

1Kings 18:16-39

Series in a Sentence:  Our lives become the sum of each decision we make, so Divine Direction is absolutely necessary to eternal well-being.

Sermon-in-a-Sentence:  The most challenging decision we must make in life is not “what” to do, but “who” to become.

One of the most successful managers in a particular company was a wise, gentle, older man.  One day, the Department Head asked the manager, “What is the secret to your success?”  The man answered quietly, but confidently, “Two words.  Right decisions.”  The Department Head asked, “How do you make right decisions?” Again, the older gentleman answered with quite confidence, “One word.  Experience.”  Intrigued by these answers, the Department Head asked excitedly, “How do you get the experience.”  Without hesitation, and in the same gentle, confident way the manager answered, “Two Words.  Wrong decisions!”

Choices (decisions) have consequences.  Some good.  Some bring difficult circumstances even when they are good decisions. Some decisions just bring bad consequences. 

A young boy, about eight years old, was at the corner "Mom and Pop" grocery picking out a pretty good size box of laundry detergent. The grocer walked over, and, trying to be friendly, asked the boy if he had a lot of laundry to do.  "Oh, no laundry," the boy said, "I'm going to wash my dog."   "But you shouldn't use this to wash your dog. It's very powerful and if you wash your dog in this, he'll get sick. In fact, it might even kill him."  But the boy was not to be stopped and carried the detergent to the counter and paid for it, even as the grocer still tried to talk him out of washing his dog.  About a week later the boy was back in the store to buy some candy. The grocer asked the boy how his dog was doing. "Oh, he died," the boy said.  The grocer, trying not to be an "I-told-you-so", said he was sorry the dog died but added, "I tried to tell you not to use that detergent on your dog."
"Well, the boy replied, "I don't think it was the detergent that killed him."  "Oh? What was it then?"  "I think it was the spin cycle!"

The Bible is full of stories describing people making decisions:  some good, many very bad decisions.  Today, we will look at two very godly, and decisive men:  Elijah and Joshua.  First let’s read about Elijah and a decision he made one day to become a champion for God.  READ 1Kings 18:30-38.

I want to use Elijah’s story as a backdrop to understanding the relationship between making good decisions and becoming a godly person.  We all have a “story.”  The chapters are written with a pen dipped in the ink of our decisions.  Our lives are the sum total of our decisions.  The better decisions we make, the more blessed our lives.  So, today we will look at the Who, What, and When of becoming a godly decision-maker.  First, more than anything else, finding Divine Direction in life is related to

1.  Who we are much more than What we do (16-24).

¹⁶ Obadiah went to meet Ahab and told him. Then Ahab went to meet Elijah. ¹⁷ When Ahab saw Elijah, Ahab said to him, “Is that you, you destroyer of Israel?”  ¹⁸ He replied, “I have not destroyed Israel, but you and your father’s house have, because you have abandoned the Lord’s commands and followed the Baals.  ¹⁹ Now summon all Israel to meet me at Mount Carmel, along with the 450 prophets of Baal and the 400 prophets of Asherah who eat at Jezebel’s table.”  ²⁰ So Ahab summoned all the Israelites and gathered the prophets at Mount Carmel. ²¹ Then Elijah approached all the people and said, “How long will you hesitate between two opinions?  If Yahweh is God, follow Him. But if Baal, follow him.”  But the people didn’t answer him a word.  ²² Then Elijah said to the people, “I am the only remaining prophet of the Lord, but Baal’s prophets are 450 men. ²³ Let two bulls be given to us. They are to choose one bull for themselves, cut it in pieces, and place it on the wood but not light the fire. I will prepare the other bull and place it on the wood but not light the fire. ²⁴ Then you call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of Yahweh.  The God who answers with fire, He is God.” All the people answered, “That sounds good.”

Godly character leads to good decisions which leads to blessed outcomes.

Ahab was the King of Israel—and not a good one.  He, and all of Israel were suffering from an “identity crisis.”  They had lost sight of “who” they were and “who” God wanted them to become.  Israel loved to speak of their storied history, of how God led them out of Egypt into the Promised Land.  They liked to tell the stories of the grand patriarchs of the nation, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.  They knew their history, but lost their identity.  God had told them,

⁷ I will take you as My people,  and I will be your God. You will know  that I am Yahweh your God, who delivered you from the forced labor of the Egyptians.

Elijah reminded Obadiah of this fact.  Unlike Ahab and the nation, Elijah had a strong sense of both “who” he was, and “who he was becoming.”  Notice in 24 that Elijah’s identity was tied inseparably to Yahweh, the God of Israel. 

²⁴ Then you call on the name of your god,

and I will call on the name of Yahweh.

Baal or Yahweh.  Who do you identify with?  The god of this world; or the God of the Word?  Yahweh is the “personal” name of God in the Bible.  It is the name God, Himself, gave to Moses.  It was the name of the “All-Consuming Creator God, and Sustainer of the Universe.”  It was a powerful name by which God, through Moses, brought Pharaoh, the most powerful man on the earth—a god in the eyes of the Egyptian people—to his knees.  Elijah’s identification with Yahweh, gave him the boldness to become “who” God wanted him to become.  It gave Elijah the power to stand tall for God in the face of insurmountable odds.

“Who” we are is always more important than “what” we do.

2.  Why we do something is more important that What we do (37).

Someone once said, “There are two reasons we make any decision.  The reason we want to believe, and the real reason.”  We can rationalize why any decision we wish to make is the “right” decision. 

Insurance companies see this phenomenon all the time when people try to rationalize why an accident is not their fault, when it is obvious it was their fault.  Consider these explanations given to insurance companies:

1.  “The pedestrian hit me and slid under my car.”
2.  “The guy was all over the road.  I had to swerve several times before I hit him.”

3.  Here’s one that is sure to get your insurance agent shaking his head:  “An invisible care came out of nowhere, struck my vehicle and vanished.”  How does an invisible car, vanish?

4.  Sometimes, our rationalizing sounds more like a confession:  “The pedestrian seemed to have no idea where to go, so I hit him.”

If we are not very careful, and willing to look deeply at our motives, we can rationalize almost any decision we make.  God is concerned about “why” we do what we do as much as “what” we do.  Motives matter to God.

Verses 20 through 36 give the details of what took place when the Prophets of Baal tried to call down fire from heaven, and what Elijah did in response.  Verse 27 describes how Elijah mocked the prophets of Baal suggesting that perhaps Baal was “thinking about what to do, or Baal had wandered away.  Elijah suggested that maybe Baal was taking a nap.  This infuriated the false prophets, so they shouted louder and cut themselves with knives.  After being at it nearly all day, with evening now come, Elijah took his shot at calling down fire.  First, however he drenched the altar and wood twice until water filled the trench around the altar.  Now, he would put his life on the line by praying to Yahweh.  God honored Elijah’s faith, and sent down fire.

So why did Elijah set up this challenge in the first place?  Was it to draw attention to himself as a “great miracle-working prophet?”  How many religious charlatans are their performing miracles on T.V. to boost their offerings?  There are many—too many.  These religious frauds, like Benny Hinn and many others, have the wrong motives.  Even if someone genuinely gets healed in one of their services—and I think that is quite possible—what they are doing is wrong because their motives are wrong.  Their focus is upon themselves and how they can increase their ministry.  Not so with Elijah.  Look at vs 37:

³⁷ Answer me, Lord! Answer me so that this people will know that You, Yahweh, are God  and that You have turned their hearts back.”

Elijah was all about giving glory to God and bringing revival to the land.  Elijah was a “Kingdom Expander.”  All he said.  All he did.  He did to bring glory to God and expand God’s Kingdom on earth.  This was Elijah’s only motive.

Anytime we are preparing to make any decision—however small or insignificant it might be, from what car we buy to whether or not we go to China as a missionary—we need to shine a bright light of scrutiny on our motives.  Do we really need a new car?  Is God really calling me to be a missionary?  Will a particular decision bring glory to God and help expand His Kingdom on earth? 

Why we make a decision is as important as what decision we make.  Motives matter to God.

Before I go on to the issue of “When” decisions should be made, let me say something about “what” decisions we make.  Though “why” matters more than “what,” what we do DOES matter.

So, what was Elijah’s plan in regard to all the water he poured on the altar?  The Prophets of Baal didn’t take such actions. First, everything in Elijah’s plan worked together.  By making fun of the Prophets of Baal when their god didn’t not answer, Elijah made sure the people took note of the failure.  He didn’t take anything for granted.  His plan was to show that Yahweh, and Yahweh alone, was the one true God.  A good plan has a very narrow purpose, and well stated goal.  Second, Elijah made sure that there could be no denying that when the altar caught fire, it was a supernatural intervention by God.  So often, we pray and act in such a general way that we would not know if God answered our prayer.  A good decision must be based upon specific, identifiable aspects that can be measured as to the probability of success or failure.  Why we do what we do is more important than what we do, but what we do is also very important.

There is a final consideration in regard to becoming all that God wants us to become by making godly decisions.  Knowing “Who” we are in Christ, empowers are decision-making.  Critically evaluating “Why” we are making a particular decision empowers our decision-making and helps us become all that God wants us to be.

3.  When we make decisions is critical to becoming who God wants us to be in life (21) .

Notice how this story makes reference to time.  In verse 21 Elijah asks the critical question, “How long will you hesitate between two opinions?”

There is an expiration date on every decision-making situation in your life.  There is a terminal point when indecision becomes the decision.  Let me illustrate this by having you wait for the 310 Train from Yuma. That’s Yuma, Arizona.  It pulls into the station precisely at 3:10 p.m. every day of the week.  In 100 years since it started running, the 310 from Yuma has never been even a minute late.  You have decided to wait for the train by standing in the middle of the track.  As you see the train approaching from the horizon you are thinking to yourself, “When will I step off the track?”  Here’s where the principle that every decision-making process has a time it will expire.  You can decide to get off the track at 3:00 p.m.  You can decide to get off the track at 3:05 p.m.  You can even wait to get off the track as late as 3:09 p.m.  But, if you have not made the decision by 3:10 p.m., the 310 From Yuma is going to make it for you.

Many people make decisions too hastily.  Many people wait too long and their indecision becomes the decision.  How we use our time matters in regard to “Who” we become in Christ.  Notice some other references to time in this story.

Verse 27 says, “At noon Elijah mocked them.”  Verse 29 says, “All afternoon they (the prophets of Baal) kept raving.”  Then, verse 36 says that Elijah’s turn came, “At the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice.”

A very critical factor in “who” we become in Christ, and “what” we do as “Kingdom Expanders,” has to do with how we deal with our time.  Paul says in Ephesians 5:15-16:

¹⁵ Pay careful attention, then, to how you walk—not as unwise people but as wise— ¹⁶ making the most of the time, because the days are evil.

One of the biggest contributors to failure in the Christian community is a “misuse” of time.  People “plan” to do more for God.  People “intend” to do more for God someday; but someday never seems to come.  The opportunity (the word for “time” in Ephesians is one of two Greek words referring to time which best translates, “critical time or opportunity), to become a disciple of Christ, or to become a better disciple of Christ, and to discover more perfectly God’s Divine Direction for your life is always, “today.”  Paul reminds us,  warns us actually, Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion (Hebrews 3:15).

If you waste “today,” you have no guarantee of a tomorrow.

All of us are characters in God’s story.  God has a plan for our lives.  We have access to Divine Direction that can help us make good decisions in our lives and realize the blessings that come with those decisions.  Every question has an answer.

One of the most often asked questions put before pastors by people is this: “What would God have me do?”  Life is so full of uncertainty.  Uncertainty breeds anxiety.  Anxiety unchecked turns into fear.  Fear paralyzes people into inaction.  There is so much about life that is uncertain.

Just the other day I contemplated the question:  “Why do refrigerators hum.”  If you have ever been awakened in the dead of night, and perhaps made your way to the kitchen for snack or glass of water, you have heard that eerie, but familiar hum of the fridge.

I have deduced the answer.  I wouldn’t call my revelation Divine Direction, but it does answer the question, “why do refrigerators hum?”  It is quite simple:  “Because they don’t know the words!”

OK.  That’s a bad joke.  But, discovering God’s perfect will for our lives through His Divine Direction is no joke.  It is also, no great mystery.  We need to realize that “Who” we are, and “Who” we are becoming is much more important that what we do.  “Why” we do what we do is more important than what we do.  Finally, “When” we do something is more important many times, than what we actually do.

Divine Direction is not a “hit and miss” proposition.  Finding God’s will for our lives is not like searching for the proverbial “needle in a haystack.”  God WANTS to give us Divine Direction.  God wants us to be effective in bringing down the false prophets of Baal and reestablishing altars of worship to the One True God.  God wants us to discover Who He is, and beyond that discover “who we are in Christ.”

The Bible tells us something very important about Divine Direction in Romans 12:1-2:

Therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, I urge you  to present your bodies as a living sacrifice,  holy and pleasing to God; this is your spiritual worship.  ² Do not be conformed to this age,  but be transformed by the renewing of your mind,  so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will  of God.

Did you catch the key to Divine Direction in these verses?  Divine Direction—the discovery of God’s “perfect will”—comes not as a result of our ingenuity, religiosity, or even spiritual quest.  Divine Direction comes “by the mercies of God!” 

The key to the power to become a “champion fire caller of God” like Elijah is to start making godly decisions—the first being a decision to surrender to God and devote your life to becoming a Kingdom Expander (my new word for, “Christian,” or “disciple”). Until you understand “Who” God is, and “who” God is calling you to become, you will never have Divine Direction in your life.

You need to make that decision—and you need to make it NOW!   

The idea of Divine Direction is what theologians call Providence.  One preacher describes Providence, or Divine Direction, as “the Hand of God in the glove of history” (Tony Evans).  He goes on to add this about Divine Direction: 

“It is God sitting behind the steering wheel of time.  Providence refers to God’s governance of all events so as to direct them toward an end. It is God taking what you and I would call luck, chance, mistakes, happenstance and stitching them together to achieve His program.”

Is God the “Hand” inside the glove your life? 

That’s the Power to Become a better decision-maker and Kingdom Expander.