No Time Is Wasted Transcript

We continue on this journey of purpose. One of the things that we often get tripped up on is when it takes time. When it feels like we're wandering or it feels like we're lost. We want to get to where God wants us to be. We want to get to where we think we want to be or where we're heading. And we'd like to do it as quickly as we can so that our journey ends and we can find rest. But more often than not, when we journey with God, we feel like we're wandering. Or we feel like we're sitting for too long.

Now sometimes we think that this is a bad thing. I don't know about you, but when I was growing up, for some reason I got it into my head, whether through my dad or through teachers or whatever it may be, that if I was sitting too long, I wasn't getting work done. If I was sitting too long, I wasn't fulfilling what I needed to get done. Sometimes we think it's lazy if we sit and rest. And I'm still living through those lessons today. a month ago, I was wondering how I was going to preach. And it felt awful to have to call somebody up and say, Will you preach for me? Because if I wasn't actively doing what I was supposed to be doing, what I was called to be doing, what I was paid to be doing, then obviously I was... I was failing. I in Scalath, we went on a hike. And we didn't exactly know where we were going, which was intentional. It was more orienteering. We were trying to learn how to use our compass and a map to get from where we started to where we were heading. And at one point, we got horribly lost. Somebody made a wrong calculation. We turned the compass wrong. You turn the dial, and then there's an arrow on it, and you lay it on a map, and you figure out where you're going. And at one point... At one point, one of the Scalaths, perhaps me, I don't remember exactly, just did it wrong. And we headed off in the direction that we thought we were supposed to go. And once we realized we were wrong, we had to sit. We had to figure things out. We had to wait. We had to stop wandering. One of the first lessons that they teach you is when you get lost is not to continue heading in a random direction. Because you're just going to... You're going to get further lost. if we just keep walking, I think if we go in this direction, we'll be okay. And I remember thinking that because I was getting frustrated with having to sit too long to figure out what we were supposed to do. My natural inclination, my natural desire, was to at least walk in some direction. No matter whether it was the right one or not.

Am I describing anything that you can relate to? Do you have this desire to be at work doing something? Whether or not it may be the right thing, as long as you're doing something, you're heading in the right direction. But what we hear, and we hear this in today's passage as well, the Israelites had been wandering. In this journey, if you look up Google Maps and you look up from Cairo, Egypt to Jericho, the first city on the other side of the Jordan that the Israelites went to, it's about a seven-day walk. Maybe seven and a half. Now, that's walking straight, so we'll double that. Say, okay, well, you rest at night, you're only walking half the day. Okay, that's an 18-day. Let's be generous. An 18-day journey to get from Cairo to Jericho. All right, let's slow it down. Whenever you're traveling with more people, the more people you're traveling with, the slower. The things tend to take. And this was a multitude of people, including men, women, children, and the infirm. So let's extend that even further. Let's triple it. 21 days, 30-some days. Take a day off on the Sabbath where you're not walking. 40 days, 50 days in the wilderness. they had been traveling eventually for 40 years on a journey that Google Maps says should only take about eight days. And they were struggling. They were starting to grumble. They were hungry. They wanted meat and bread. They were hungry, and they were like, and they thought, like they often did, God should have left us back in Egypt, where yes, we were slaves, yes, we were put to death, yes, we had no ability to choose for ourselves, but at least we had food, at least we had meat, at least we had bread, and at least we could die in comfort instead of dying out here in the wilderness. how many times in the story of this journey did they say, I wish we could go back. I wish God had left us there. I wish God would just kill us now. I wish God had just left well enough alone. They didn't like being on the journey. It was hard. They walked a lot. They weren't just, they weren't heading right to where they needed to go. like me, I get the sense that this wandering was wearing them down. only they could head straight back to where they started, or head straight to where they needed to go. But that was not the journey that God wanted to take them on. It wasn't the journey that they needed. They had to deal with this idea that it isn't about getting to where you're going to end up. It isn't about getting to your destination all the time. There's growth in the wandering. There's growth in the journey. How many times have you been stumped by life? How many times have you been wondering where you needed to go, but you didn't want to sit and figure it out? You didn't want to spend that time in prayer. You didn't want to spend that time wondering what it is that you're supposed to do. You wanted to be on the journey. You wanted to take the steps. You wanted to make progress to the end. doesn't matter where you ended up as long as you were getting there. As long as you're not wasting time. As long as you felt like you had a sense of certainty, of solutions, and of direction.

How many of you, when you were stuck in that time of uncertainty, wondered where God was? was just wasting your time. That God was nowhere near to be found and you're just wasting your lives waiting.

But scripture is filled with stories of people who find God, not as they go from this place to that place with direction, but they are wandering and waiting. many times in the scriptures do we see this wandering and waiting, not as a waste of time, not as a sign that God is distant and not present, but as a spiritual practice? do remember those times where yes, I didn't have a destination that I wanted to get to. There was no place that I needed to be and I was just on a journey. I think my grandmother and my mother used to call these Sunday drives. Back when gas was a little cheaper and you used to be willing to take those drives out into the middle of nowhere. You don't have a destination in mind. You don't know where you're going to end up. You don't know what you're going to see. as a family, you took the journey. Or a vacation, perhaps, you took. Maybe you remember. I know, I think Rebecca's family would take these drives and they would start the next day. They would start the day not exactly sure where they were going to end up as they traveled out west. And it wasn't until later in the day that they started calling hotel rooms to figure out where they were going to stay. But they traveled and they journeyed And saw amazing things. we see wandering as a spiritual practice, then we can take time where we are. We can take time on the journey. We can find rest. And we can see that this wandering of not heading to a specific place can help us understand who God is help us rely on him further. Not unlike the Israelites in today's passage. The reason why a nine day journey or seven day journey or a fifty day journey turns into a forty year journey is because God knew the people of Israel were not ready to enter the Promised Land. They had not yet learned to rely entirely on him. They had not yet learned what it meant to follow God and do as he commanded. And they knew that as soon as they were in a plentiful and bountiful land they knew they would not have to rely on God as they went about their daily lives. They could ignore him. But in the wilderness where food was scarce in the wilderness when the heat was driving down on them in the wilderness where there was no bread and no meat they would have to rely exclusively on God and learn how to do that before they got to where God wanted them to be. We saw that in today's passage. Moses tells them collect only what you need for the day. The manna will be there. You will have what you will need. Some collected more. Some collected less. But at the end of the day everyone had what they needed. And yet there were some among them who said what if this doesn't come back tomorrow? What are we going to do then? And so they collect twice as much as they need. They collect more than what they need and they plan on hoarding it and setting it aside so that they'll have something tomorrow to eat.

They had not yet learned to rely on God's provision. God's help. They had not yet relied on God's faithfulness in the wilderness.

Eventually they do. Eventually they realize that if you collect more than what you need don't do what God has commanded you to do it will rot and turn to stink and you will not like the outcome that happens next. So rather than rushing ahead and collecting more than what they need a day's worth, two days worth, three days worth a week's worth they had to learn to trust on God. Rely on His provisions and timing.

They wanted to get to the finish line of the promised land. We want to get to the finish line of the promised land of where God wants us to be and we want to get there quickly. And the pressure to get there quickly is certainly there. Certainly one that I feel. It is hard to wander. It is hard to feel like you're not making progress. It is hard to there are so many things that I could be doing right now we could be doing right now that we could be putting into place. Conversations that need to be had. Building changes that need to happen. Whatever it may be. And we just need to make those steps and those journeys. And it's easy to get ahead. is hard to slow down. It is hard to take baby steps. It is hard to sit still.

It is hard when you don't see the path clearly from where you are to where you want to be. It is hard to rely on God. And God's provisions. It is far easier to look at what we have and what we bring and say what can I do with that? Rather than trusting in God. And yet this time of wandering and the story of the manna and the birds tell us that God will provide. Tell us that God will be faithful each day. Tells us that we can rely on Him. In these moments of feeling still. In these moments of feeling like we are wasting time. stories of scripture tell us the moments that we feel like we are wasting time. When we feel like we are inactive. When we feel like we are lost and wandering. doing His most powerful work. Where we can grow to trust in Him and rely solely on Him so that when we get to where God wants us to be. When we get to see the future that God hasn't we don't abandon Him thinking we have done it on our own. We don't abandon Him and His will for us. We don't abandon Him focus on only what we want.

So where do you feel stuck right now? Do you feel like you are wandering? Do you feel like you are wasting time? Do you feel like we are wasting time? Are you in a period of uncertainty?

But do you see it as a time of exploration?

As you talk about figuring out your purpose and what God wants and has in store for you and your lives. Are there things that you like to do? Things that engage your sense of wonder and creativity might point you in the right direction.

Perhaps it is okay to not know yet. To not know your way. To not know your path. Perhaps you are closer than you think.

Because there are these places where God is doing something new in your life right now showing you His calling on your life.

If you are willing to look. If you are willing to spend time in that sweet hour of prayer. If you are willing to sit rest to learn and to set aside that inner voice saying you are wasting your time.

Do you feel like we as a church are stuck right now?

Are you unsure of where our path is?

What's next? How we are going to get from where we are now to a sustainable future that is blessing the lives of our community and reaching out and sharing the good news.

But what if we doubled down in these moments in prayer fasting reading the scriptures doubled down on this time to say God we must learn to rely completely on you together so that when things do turn around when we are growing when we are reaching new people we don't do so because we think we did it on our own and we don't abandon the very things of prayer and spiritual practice that got us there to begin with once we get there and the journey is done.

My hope and prayer is that we will enter into times of prayer together we will enter into times of exploration and creativity together that we will seek God's guidance God's provisions so that we may learn to do it now when things are hard we will be moved and continue it when things get easier if we learn to trust him if we learn to set aside wandering as a waste of time we learn to focus our trust on him and his provisions life will be still difficult there are still significant challenges and things that we have to do but we will do them knowing that our God is faithful and will provide and we will grow grow more in love with God and more in love with those around us as we wander in the journey wander in the wilderness and seek to grow