Over a month ago, we asked you, our church community, to submit questions, and many of you wrote great questions on a wide range of topics. While this is the third week of this series, this is actually the first week that we are diving into actual questions.
As our pastoral team was processing the list of questions and asking where to start, it quickly became obvious that two foundational realities should be processed first. One is that being community with people that are not clones shouldn’t be just tolerated, but is our strength. We are better together, loving and being community with people that have different perspectives. The other is why we should care what Jesus thinks. Following Jesus is not just doing but having a foundation of why we should care what God thinks. We spent two weeks processing these foundational realities.
We can bring our doubts and questions to Jesus. My faith says that the process is safe and Jesus is ready to meet you in it. The complexity of that–Jesus connecting with us–is at the heart of the topic and questions we will be processing today.
How do we connect with God?
How do we connect with His reality and who He is; with His different traits and attributes that we see in Scripture? How do we connect with Him in our own shortcomings, hurts, and doubts? How do we connect with Him by hearing from Him?
Let's start with three dialogue questions.
We all have different responses to different things. People respond differently to praise, with embarrassment or pride or thankfulness or shyness or deflection or confidence. People respond differently to conflict, by hiding or fighting or avoiding or blowing up. People respond differently to stress, by freezing or by pushing forward, with anxiety or anger or crankiness or efficiency. People respond differently to success, with pride or humility or confidence or insecurity or dissatisfaction or greed or generosity.
There are endless reasons why people respond to different things differently. It might be because of having a different temperament or personality, being in a different season of life, having different experiences or worldview, being a different age or having a different stress level or attitude.
But now we are going to come to you and how you respond.
How do you respond, internally and externally, to being told that you are failing?
Let me ask you a more focused version of the question:
What is the impact, internal and external, of being told you are failing at connecting with God?
Here’s a final question before we jump into some Biblical text. Maybe you could feel this question coming:
What is the impact of telling yourself that you are failing at connecting with God?
Today I am going to try to summarize three moments in Scripture that give us some insight into the struggle to connect with God: a moment of struggling out of personal failure; a moment of struggling out of feeling scared and alone; and a moment of struggling out of trusting anything other than God.
The first story is of David and a moment of struggling out of personal failure.
David carries quite the accolade:
“But now your kingdom will not endure; the Lord has sought out a man after his own heart and appointed him ruler of his people, because you have not kept the Lord’s command.” (1 Samuel 13:14)
Wow–David was called a man after God’s own heart. He was a shepherd, the youngest brother, the one annointed by Samuel to be the next king. He was defeater of Goliath, hated by King Saul, and a strong leader with great military prowess. In spite of incredible hardship and opposition, he became king–and was seen as a great king
But David was not perfect. Far from it. David had many issues. This is actually so encouraging, because I don’t know if you have met… me. His failure is a huge part of his story.
In 2 Samuel 11-12, David as king stayed home one spring when it was custom for the kings to go off to war (this is a cultural context that is hard to wrap our heads around. This was an era of kill or be killed, defeat or be defeated, conquer or be conquered).
While David was home one evening while walking on his patio, he saw a beautiful woman bathing and sent someone to find out about her. She was Bathsheba, married to Uriah. Knowing who she was and that she was married, David sent for her. She came, and he–in a position of overwhelming power (this is part of the terrible failing)--slept with her. It happened–there is a tone in the story that it seems as if David planned that it would just be over–fail but move on–no one will know and no one will care. But Bathsheba was pregnant.
So David, in coverup mode, sent word off to the battlefield to have Bathsheba’s husband Uriah come to him. After an awkward conversation, he told Uriah to go home and wash his feet (WINK WINK). But Uriah, being loyal to his comrades on the battlefield, slept at the entrance of the palace.
So the next night David got Uriah drunk. Surely (WINK WINK) he will go home. But again Uriah didn’t go home, didn’t cover David’s failure. So David sent Uriah back to the battlefield with a note: Put Uriah in the place where the fighting is most intense, and abandon him there to die. And as David had hoped, Uriah did die on the battlefield
In chapter 12, we see Nathan the prophet call out David for his failing with Bathsheba and for his killing of Uriah. There is so much more to this story, but in this moment of being crushed by the weight of failure, David prays:
Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me. (Psalm 51:10-12)
Hold on to this narrative. This was not David trying to be poetic. This was David in the weight of extreme failure.
The second story is of Elijah and a moment of struggling out of feeling scared and alone.
Again this is a moment of summarization, of 1 Kings 17-19. You need to read this narrative–it is amazing. Elijah bursts onto the scene in 1 Kings 17 and makes a prophetic declaration from God: “As the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, whom I serve, there will be neither dew nor rain in the next few years except at my word.”
God’s people, the Israelites, were not serving God. They were worshiping other gods. And Elijah's declaration was an attention-grabber in judgment of this.
Elijah walked away and went and hid in the Kerith Ravine. It didn’t rain, so he drank from the stream and ravens brought him food. Eventually, the river dried up. He went to Zarephath and found a widow who was collecting sticks to make her last meal for herself and her son before they die because of the great drought.
He told her to make him some food. What?! Don’t worry; trust God. She did, and the little flour and oil that she had did not run out and the three of them lived on it for an extended period of time. Then the widow's son died and she was ticked–obviously–God, you provide just so my son can die now?? Elijah prayed for the boy and he lived again.
And now in the THIRD YEAR since the declaration against the rain, Elijah comes out of hiding. King Ahab is ticked: You troublemaker!! So Elijah again stated the problem:
“I have not made trouble for Israel,” Elijah replied. “But you and your father’s family have. You have abandoned the Lord’s commands and have followed the Baals.” (1 Kings 18:18)
And Elijah calls for a showdown–let’s see the reality of God or the reality of Baal.
The prophets of Baal are assembled. They make an offering to Baal to be burned, but they don’t light it. They call out to Baal to come down and consume it. They scream, they mutilate themselves, they are frantic–but nothing happens. Elijah taunts them, maybe he is sleeping!
Finally, they give up and it is Elijah's turn. Elijah aleo sets up an offering to God to be burned but doesn’t light it. He actually soaks it with enough water to also fill a trench that surrounds the offering. Then Elijah simply prays:
At the time of sacrifice, the prophet Elijah stepped forward and prayed: “Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, let it be known today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant and have done all these things at your command.” (1 Kings 18:36)
The offering, the water, the altar–all are consumed by the fire that comes from God.
Elijah is pumped. He says that rain is on its way and runs ahead of King Ahab's chariot. But then word comes from the king's wife Jezebel:
So Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah to say, “May the gods deal with me, be it ever so severely, if by this time tomorrow I do not make your life like that of one of them.” (1 Kings 19:2)
And in that moment, all of Elijah’s ‘pumpedness’ disappears and he runs away crushed and afraid. He runs into the wilderness fearing for his life. And God meets him.
And the word of the Lord came to him: “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
He replied, “I have been very zealous for the Lord God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, torn down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.”
The Lord said, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.”
Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave.
Then a voice said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
He replied, “I have been very zealous for the Lord God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, torn down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.”
The Lord said to him, “Go back the way you came, and go to the Desert of Damascus. When you get there, anoint Hazael king over Aram. (1 Kings 19:9-15)
In a whisper: What are you doing here Elijah? Go back.
Hold on to that narrative too. Here’s one more:
The third story is of Moses and a moment of struggling out of trusting anything other than God.
Moses was saved from the genoside of Pharaoh and raised in the privilege of Pharaoh’s home. He tried to stand up for his people and murdered a slavedriver, but in doing so, he didn’t gain the respect of his people the Israelites, and Pharaoh wanted him dead. He ran away and after 40 years had the burning bush moment where God called him back to lead his people out of the slavery in Egypt. There were the plagues and the crossing of the Red Sea on dry ground, and there was freedom from slavery–but struggle in the wilderness.
Moses met with God on the mountaintop and God gave him the commandments. Meanwhile the people thought Moses was gone forever, and they brought together their jewelry and melted it down, and Aaron, Moses’ brother, formed it into the shape of a calf.
They have been quick to turn away from what I commanded them and have made themselves an idol cast in the shape of a calf. They have bowed down to it and sacrificed to it and have said, ‘These are your gods, Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.’ (Exodus 32:8)
Moses came back down. The tablets were broken. God was ticked and said, “Fine. Go to the promised land–but I’m not coming with you.”
Then the Lord said to Moses, “Leave this place, you and the people you brought up out of Egypt, and go up to the land I promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, saying, ‘I will give it to your descendants.’ I will send an angel before you and drive out the Canaanites, Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. Go up to the land flowing with milk and honey. But I will not go with you, because you are a stiff-necked people and I might destroy you on the way.” (Exodus 33:1-3)
NO!!
Moses said to the Lord, “You have been telling me, ‘Lead these people,’ but you have not let me know whom you will send with me. You have said, ‘I know you by name and you have found favor with me.’ If you are pleased with me, teach me your ways so I may know you and continue to find favor with you. Remember that this nation is your people.”
The Lord replied, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.”
Then Moses said to him, “If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here. How will anyone know that you are pleased with me and with your people unless you go with us? What else will distinguish me and your people from all the other people on the face of the earth?”
And the Lord said to Moses, “I will do the very thing you have asked, because I am pleased with you and I know you by name.”
Then Moses said, “Now show me your glory.” (Exodus 33:12-18)
Moses makes this huge ask. What will God do? What will it be like? What will Moses see?
And the Lord said, “I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the Lord, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live.”
Then the Lord said, “There is a place near me where you may stand on a rock. When my glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft in the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed by. Then I will remove my hand and you will see my back; but my face must not be seen.” (Exodus 33:19-23)
Hold onto this narrative, and let’s process. David felt disconnected from God because of his failing. Elijah felt disconnected from God out of fear. Moses felt disconnected from God out of being part of a culture that trusted anything other than God.
What do you think causes people in your world (or yourself) to feel distant or disconnected from God?
Church and Christian culture can be a world where there is a lot of pressure to look or sound very connected to God, no matter what is happening on the inside. I love that connection to God was a theme in the questions and topics that were submitted. My prayer is that Corner Church–our community–is a safe place to process this.
There is a common story in Christendom: my relationship with Jesus has changed, and I don’t think it is good. It’s not like I remember, not where I want it to be, not like it used to be. I just don’t feel it anymore. Life has happened, good and bad, and now–I just don’t know anymore.
There’s a moment that leaves us thinking, where do I go from here? With David, it was a moment of desperate pleading for restoration and connection. For Elijah, it was a simple nudge to go back. For Moses, it was an unwavering commitment to be with God even when everything was a wreck.
We have talked about what distances people from God, but today we end with a conversation of connecting.
God’s presence is the next step.
This is one of those moments where it can be easy to give a hundred answers, but giving just one can be where the value is and what is truly challenging.
How do people connect with God? It’s easy to rattle them off: Pray. Read the Bible. Fast. Go to Church. Meditate. Serve. Help. Listen. Worship. I could go on and on. But what is the one, for you?
Our prayer is that this is a God-led moment, ike the moment for David or Elijah or Moses:
What is one thing that will help you connect with God?
Take It Deeper Questions
- Read 1 Kings 19:9-18.
- Have you had a moment when you saw something that could not be explained?
- How do you respond to a discouraging turn in life?
- What are some common ways people want to interact with God?
- What are some common ways people think they can interact with God?
- How does God interact with you when life has you down?
- How are you challenged, encouraged, focused, and/or confused by this text?
Bible Reading Plan
- 2 Kings 11
- 2 Kings 12
- 2 Kings 13
- 2 Kings 14
- 2 Kings 15