Pastor Wayne Cordeiro
January 29, 2006 - W0605

Have you ever felt absolutely helpless? Sure, we’ve all had moments like that. I remember a time as a young pastor in Hilo when I felt totally helpless. I decided to return to the office after church one Sunday to do more work even though I felt the Lord telling me to go home. I had to open some windows since there was no air conditioning. Keep in mind, we rented an old house with windows that had counter weights in the sills in order to slide the top and bottom windows together. However, I couldn’t get the bottom window up, so I started shaking and juggling it. Just then, one of the weights broke and the top window came sliding down while my hands were still holding the bottom. It came down so quickly; it trapped my hands between both windows locking the sills together. I was in so much pain that my fingernails were dripping blood. My hands were literally smashed within this paper-thin space between the windows. After crying out to God I came to my senses and felt God say, “Use your teeth”. So I actually used my teeth to pull up the top window. I’ll never forget that feeling of helplessness. And the next time God told me to go home, I went home.

We learn some great lessons in moments of helplessness when sickness, death, or financial setbacks affect our lives. Even Moses must have felt the same way when he led over two million people out of Egypt. Yet only three days into the desert wilderness and dying of thirst, they came to a pond of water only to find it was toxic. What they thought was their last hope was suddenly gone. So they began to grumble. “…they went three days in the wilderness and found no water. And when they came to Marah, they could not drink the waters…for they were bitter…” (Ex. 15:22-23)

Ever felt like that? It may be a family situation, a financial issue, or a sickness that bring us to a point of utter helplessness. What can we do in moments like that? We first must remember these…

TWO REALIZATIONS:

·        help us realize we need GOD.

When we feel we are indestructible or believe we are in control, on top of the world, and don’t need God, we are dangerously close to becoming a fool and being destroyed. “The fool has said in his heart, ‘There is no God’”. (Ps. 53:1)

Yet it is at those moments of complete vulnerability that we begin to understand just how much we need God.

Paul says it this way: “Therefore, I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong.” (2 Cor. 12:10) When we realize we have nothing, then we see Him for who He is, the Almighty. Yet we don’t always come to that perspective right away until we are at the end of our rope – we are helpless.

The second point we must realize in times of helplessness is that it…

·        brings us to moments of decision.

Times of helplessness bring us to moments of decision about who we really are and who God is. It makes us realize just how frail and finite we are and how much we need God. It’s in those times, that our prideful, arrogant, and independent spirit begins to melt away. That is exactly what happened with the Prodigal Son. When he squandered his inheritance and found himself eating food for pigs, he came to a moment of decision. “But when he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired men have more than enough bread, but I am dying here with hunger!’”. (Lk. 15:17)

So there will be lessons we need to learn in the midst of these moments in order to make right decisions. What can we learn from Moses and the children of Israel at the pond of Marah?  Here are…

 THREE PRINCIPLES:

1.     DON’T HOLD OUT.  CRY OUT TO GOD. 

We can hold out on God as Pharaoh did in the Old Testament. However, let’s look at two different responses in the midst of helplessness. “So the people grumbled at Moses saying, ‘What shall we drink?’ Then he cried out to the Lord…” (Ex. 15:24-25) The people grumbled while Moses cried out to God. We need to choose the latter just as Moses did. When we feel like there is nothing else we can do, we must let go of pride and anything else that keeps us from crying out to God. “They cried out to the Lord in their trouble; He delivered them out of their distresses.” (Ps. 107:6) Sometimes that’s exactly what we need to do. I’ve done that when I’m hurting. I believe God hears the cries and sees the tears of His people. In fact, “You...Put my tears in Your bottle.” (Ps. 56:8) God counts every tear that we cry.

When we feel completely helpless and there is nothing else we can do, sometimes the only thing left for us to do is to groan and sigh over the injustices. “For the Holy Spirit makes intercession when all we can do is groan with groanings that are too deep for words. The Holy Spirit, who knows the mind of God, makes intercession for the saints according to His will.” (Rom. 8:26)

God hears those groans and sighs. And as the people of Israel cried out to God because of the wickedness among even the leadership, God gave this stern instruction to His angel: “He said to him, ‘Walk through the streets of Jerusalem and put a mark on the foreheads of all those who weep and sigh because of the sins they see around them…and kill everyone whose forehead is not marked…” (Ez. 9:4-5 NLT) In other words, the people who hold out against God would die. But for those whose hearts cry out, God will hear them from heaven and His Holy Spirit will move to comfort them.

“For the Holy Spirit makes intercession when all we can do is groan with groanings that are too deep for words. The Holy Spirit, who knows the mind of God, makes intercession for the saints according to His will.” (Rom. 8:26) You see, the Holy Spirit interprets our groans and brings them to God on our behalf. Then God delivers those who cry out to Him. Remember, as Paul said, “When I am weak, then I am strong.”

When we come to a point of absolute helplessness, cry out to God because He hears even our groans and sighs and the Holy Spirit intercedes on our behalf. What else can we do? The second point to remember is…

2.     obey exactly what he’s already said. 

It is in the promptings of the Holy Spirit and the whispers of His voice that He instructs us. However, sometimes we forget or ignore His commands. So sometimes the only way for us to learn is for God to bring us to a point of total weakness in order to teach us life lessons and where we will begin to heed His voice.

“…the Lord showed him a tree, and he threw it into the waters, and the waters became sweet” (Ex. 15:25) Listen carefully to this verse. God showed Moses the tree. The tree was always there. God didn’t invent it nor did he create it in that moment. It was already there. The same goes for us. In moments of helplessness…

·        START WITH WHAT YOU DO HAVE, NOT WITH WHAT YOU DON’T HAVE.

When we are too busy blaming God or other people, we won’t see the answer that is right before us. When Job lost everything, all he could do was worship God. And, he did just that. He started where he was at. In fact, starting where you are keeps you from bailing out on God. In the den of lions, Daniel was absolutely helpless, so he prayed. The same was true with Joseph when He was thrown in prison he cried out and served God.

It also applies for our lives. When we are on the brink of death or in extreme pain, crying out will allow us to hear God clearly. It’s at that time when our hearts are most receptive and open. So God will sometimes bring us to situations that we cannot see any light at the end of the tunnel. It is there we will learn that…

·        HIS LESSONS ARE FOR A LIFETIME, NOT JUST AN EVENT.

The only way our heart can remain receptive towards God is to remember those lessons we learn in those moments of helplessness. Otherwise, we’ll be like Pharaoh. Remember how hardened Pharaoh was when he kept refusing to let God’s people go? Plague after plague kept Pharaoh helpless and then he would pray to God to remove it. Yet he forgot soon after and Pharaoh’s heart grew hard again. How much are we like Pharaoh sometimes? 

“…‘If you give earnest heed to the voice of the Lord your God and …keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you which I have put on the Egyptians, for I, the Lord, am your Healer.’” (Ex. 15:26)

You see there will be some lessons that He will teach us in those moments of anguish. We cannot forget them because that’s what we’ll need to endure for the long run. And even though we hate feeling helpless, we have to trust Him that when we cry out and obey exactly what He already told us, we will be able to…

3.       leave the results up to god. 

Sometimes we may become angry and even bitter because we believe the outcome of a situation should be different. Yet sometimes God will test our hearts. It’s sort of like testing metal. If there is dross in it, they will keep heating and testing it until all the dross is removed and it is pure silver. It’s like that with us. Sometimes we need continual testing to remove any residue which is necessary for refining our faith just as silver is tested and refined for purity. “And there He made for them a statute and regulation, and there He tested them.” (Ex. 15:25)

I remember when our family was split up to live in different households. I went to live with my father on the mainland. Some time later, my mom wrote, asking me to return to Hawaii and visit her because she was dying from kidney disease. However, because my parents were fighting over custody issues, my father refused to believe it and didn’t allow me to go. Sadly, my mother died two days later and I held that against my father. As a result, I turned to drugs and all kinds of destructive behaviors. I felt so helpless. Nevertheless, through all those painful moments of growing up, I can now look back with a different attitude. I am satisfied with the way God chose to raise me. It was during those times of testing that I learned life lessons.

So trust Him for the results. Your character will be refined in those moments of testing. So cry out to God, pay attention to His promptings, and obey what He tells you. Start right where you are with what you have because the lessons you will learn will last you a lifetime. And even if you don’t understand remember…“For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts.” (Is. 55:9)

Here’s a final thought to remember. In the garden of Gethsemane, Jesus prayed for the Father to take away His cup of suffering if at all possible. But Jesus also said nevertheless Your will be done. In other words, Jesus trusted God would bring Him through that moment and we are to do the same. 

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1.      Has God brought you to the pond of Marah only to find your last hope gone? What was the result of that time and what lesson have you taken from that experience?

2.      Have you ever been like Pharaoh where God delivers you out of a situation and you quickly forgot the lesson? What have you learned today that will help you in the future?

3.      Have you ever felt so helpless that you let go of all restraint and cried out to God? How has that helped build and strengthen your faith?

4.      When you are being tested through the necessary refining process, what are your feelings? How do you feel in retrospect?

5.      What most impacted you about today’s lesson and how will you apply that to your life this week?

Mahalo to volunteer writer, Debbie Chang for this week’s summary. She’s been on a short break from serving, but is back in full swing faithfully obeying what God is whispering! Thank you, Debbie!