Pastor Wayne Cordeiro
October 26, 2014 - W1443

Today we are going to talk about being in the storm, and being in the stillness. During these times, God will always be working; however, you must understand His ways, or you will not be able to cooperate with Him. This is because you may think what He is doing is negative and hurtful, and these thoughts may steer you away from your issues.

 There was this story of a child who was afraid of people, and got lost in the forest. People set out to look for him - searching high and low; however, they could not find him because he was hiding under a stump. Later, when they found him, he told them that he did not come out because he thought they were mad at him which prompted him to hide even more.

 If you do not understand the ways and voice of God, then you will think that he is going to harm or demean you, rather than to help you or build you up. This is why I am going to talk about the “ways” of God, using Saul who later became the Apostle Paul as an example.

 Has God ever gotten your attention? God wants your attention. “The eyes of the Lord move to and thro throughout the earth, looking for those whose hearts are set on Him.” 2 Chronicles 16:9

 A lady named Bea Taba is seventy-nine years old, and has been at our church for many years. One day, while she was attempting to back her Lexus out of a fourth story building, she accidentally put her car in drive, rather than in reverse. As a result of this, her car plunged four stories down, and landed on its roof. Bea only walked away with a few bruises, and she is fine. Do you think God got her attention? – Yeah!

 Especially when you are cutting corners, compromising, or settling for less, God will get your attention because He loves you so much. He sees your potential, and will wake you up when He sees you going sideways in life.

 Fred Smith, a business man once said, “You know what hell for me is? It is one day God showing me all that He could have done in my life, if I would have just followed Him better.

 God got Saul of Tarsus attention because He knew the possibility and potential of Saul becoming Paul the apostle. Saul and the Pharisees wanted the Jewish religion to be pure, which in their thoughts meant getting rid of Christian backsliders. Thinking he was serving God, Saul went with zeal from church to church to purge Christians; however, this all came to a halt when God appeared in a blinding light. Saul then hears the voice of God, and God got his attention.

 “As he was traveling, it happened that he was approaching Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him; and he fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, ‘Saul, Saul why are you persecuting Me? And he said, ‘Who are You, Lord?’   And He said, ‘I am Jesus whom you are persecuting…” (Acts 9:3-5)

 Today, God is still trying to get your attention in so many ways. Ebola, HIV, earth quakes, flooding, hurricanes, stress attacks, physical infirmities, injured relationships. During the week He is trying to get your attention. If I get sick, I go to my knees and repent. Although I know that God is not causing it, He gets my attention. God gets my attention by starting with a nudge. If I do not listen, He then goes to a two by four. If I still don’t listen, He gets His club. Finally, if I am still stubborn, He drops his car on me.   How many people go home sooner than they should?

 Sometimes God has to grab you by your collar and shake you. God has done this to me so many times, that they call me rubber neck! This is better than being like the stiff necked and rebellious Israelites.

 God’s ways are always perfect. We never want to compare God’s ways to fallen man’s ways.

 When God wants the best for your future,

1. GOD WILL GET YOUR Attention.

 The question is how will you respond? The Israelites grumbled, the Pharisees rationalized, the Jews ignored the signs, and we make excuses. You need to know when God is getting your attention. “And His voice shook the earth saying, ‘Yet once more I will shake not only the earth, but also the heaven.’ This expression, ‘Yet once more,’ denotes the removing of those things which can be shaken so that those things which cannot be shaken may remain. Therefore, let us show gratitude…for our god is a consuming fire.”(Hebrews 12:26-29)

 God tries to get your attention in many ways. He may want you to change your heart, change your character, change the way you think, or watch what you say. If you get numb and cavalier about these things, God may speak to you with a loud voice and shake you, but you will not recognize Him.

 When I was twelve and really bad kolohe (rascal), I was sitting down eating shaved ice next to my brothers Jerome and Gary. Well, Gary was giving me a hard time, so I picked up a twig and reached over to mess with Jerome’s ear. Several times Jerome thought that Gary was doing this, and got mad before telling Gary to knock it off. I thought this was cool, until Gary discovered that I was doing it and nailed me.

 Sometimes you have to know where things are coming from, or you might make mistakes. God will then grab you by your collar and shake you to get your attention.

 I recently attended a horse training clinic taught by a three time world champion horse trainer. I watched him telling a woman how to hold the reins in a certain way. However, she insisted on holding the reins a different way because this was the way she had learned, and because she was more comfortable doing so.   The trainer did not like her reasoning, and told her goodbye! How many times do you make excuses when God gets your attention?
 

When God speaks to you and shakes you, are you an Etch A Sketch screen or a Polaroid photo? When God shakes you, do you develop a little bit more, and things get clearer? Does a picture start to emerge for God’s plan in your life?

 An Etch A Sketch screen is used for drawing. It is made up of a screen, with knobs that are turned to draw pictures on the screen. When the Etch A Sketch is shaken, all the designs disappear. Some Christians are like Etch A Sketches – everything is lost when God shakes them. By contrast, we shake a Polaroid photo to help it develop.

 God shook Paul up on his way to Damascus. When Paul asked God who He was, He responded by saying that He was Jesus who Saul was persecuting. God shook Paul up by blinding him, and by being silent.

 A while ago I was so confused that I spent the entire night on the North Shore crying out to God for His answer. By 6 a.m. the next day, I was very discouraged, because I expected an answer, but there was only silence. This is exactly what happened to the Apostle Paul. God shook him up and blinded him, and He was silent.

 God does not say things because:

2. GOD WANTS YOU TO LOOK within IN ORDER TO SELF-DISCOVER.         

“God left Hezekiah alone only to test him, that He might know all that was in his heart.”(2 Chronicles 32:31)

 The scales on Paul’s eyes were so thick that he could look in no other direction, but within himself. God showed him things that he would not have seen, if his eyes were open. Saul had to look within to change, and to fulfill God’s promise for his future.

 Sometimes God will make the scales so thick on our eyes that the only direction that we are able to look is within. If God does not do this, we do not always look within where the problem lies. Instead, we may look to everyone else.

 God will not answer you if your heart is bad. Sometimes God is silent - He “delays” what you can do in order to develop you and your faith by looking within.

 The Bible says, “This means tremendous joy for you. I know, even though you are temporarily harassed by all kinds of trials and temptations. It happens to prove your faith which is infinitely more valuable than gold.” (1 Peter 1:6-7).

 Scripture says, “Removing of those things which can be shaken so that those things which cannot be shaken remain. Therefore, let us show gratitude…for our God is a consuming fire.” (Hebrews 12:26-28)

 God will burn up the chaff that is within us. Therefore, be thankful, and grateful, that our God is a consuming fire.

 When God has not spoken to you, there is a reason for His silence – look within, find out what needs to done, and change it. When you are fed up with a situation, don’t get mad, but remember that God is just beginning His work. When God shakes you, decide whether you will be an Etch A Sketch screen or a Polaroid photo. Cooperate with God and be grateful, because there is nothing greater than to understand His ways. Then God will begin to do His deepest work within you. Let us be that kind of people.

 Questions:

• What do you need to work on and change to be a Polaroid photo?

• When God gets your attention, how do you react? What should you do-what have you done in the past?

• When God is silent, what should you do?