Confidence amid Uncertainty

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A lot of you have probably been in the same boat where you realize how irritating it is to be in the car and have children asking you over and over and over and over and over and over, are we there yet? I’ve discovered that one of the fun ways to get back at them for this is to not tell them where there is. My kids frequently, I love road trips, and we go on them as much as we can until I started having to sell the kids for gasoline.

but I don’t really do that. That’s a joke. But we would get in the car and the kids would say, where are we going today?

And more often than not, Benjamin, what would I tell you? America. I’m not lying.

We’re going to America. At one point, I thought it was funny when they asked, because they already knew I was going to say America. Instead of answering them, I just put on Neil Diamond’s They’re Coming to America.

And it got eventually where the kids knew all the. . .

don’t know if they still do, but they knew all the words to that song and would sing it along. Today! Yeah, they were going to America.

One time before we moved here, Benjamin asked me, where are we going today? I said, maybe America, maybe Saturn. And we ended up, our plan was to come down here and eat at McKinsey’s.

And to this day, Charlie still thinks McKinsey’s is called Saturn. So if you ever hear him talking about Saturn, that’s what that’s about. But it drives the kids crazy.

I know we’re going to America. Where else? Is that not enough?

I mean, America’s a pretty big place. They don’t like it because there’s, and usually I’ll eventually clue them in as we get closer, but they don’t like the uncertainty. And I get it because one of the most uncomfortable things I can do is walk into an unpredictable situation.

If Stella were here this morning, she could tell you about her having to talk me down off the ledge, metaphorically speaking, because the city clerk’s office called and asked if I would give the opening prayer at the city council meeting that week. And Stella said, would you do it? And you kind of feel guilty about saying no to that because that’s sort of part of the job.

And plus, if anybody needs prayer, city council. But immediately I start thinking, I’ve never been to the city council meetings here. Maybe I should, but we don’t live in city limits.

So it’s just never occurred to me. I don’t know where the room is. I don’t know what I’m walking into.

I don’t know what they do there. And I start thinking about all the things I don’t know. And I made myself physically ill.

And even I was up there like this when it was time to pray. And I’m walking back across the street here afterwards going, I talk to more people than that every Sunday morning. I don’t know what the problem is.

It was because it was an unpredictable situation. Unpredictable situations make us uncomfortable. I’ve learned if I want to ruin my wife’s day, Tell her at the last minute, hey, I have an idea, you know, because she’s got her schedule planned out.

We don’t like, most of us, unless you’re just a rebel, most of us to some extent don’t like unpredictable situations. They’re uncomfortable for us. That’s just part of human nature.

But when it touches especially on some kind of life-altering issue, unpredictability can be overwhelming. It can paralyze us. And in Philippians, Paul talks about how he dealt with this issue of unpredictability.

How he dealt with just the day in, day out, not knowing where he was going or what was going to happen to him when he got there. And yet he still faithfully served Christ anyway. Instead of being overwhelmed and paralyzed by the fear and the dread of the uncertainty, Paul forged ahead and said, I may never know how this is all going to turn out, but I’m going to serve Jesus anyway.

And we’re going to look this morning in the book of Philippians at some things that Paul says about that. So if you turn with me to Philippians 1 in your Bibles, if you’re using a device, there’s a link in your bulletin that will get you there. It will also be on the screen.

But once you find it, if you’ll stand with me, if you’re able to do so without too much trouble, we’ll read together from God’s Word starting in Philippians 1. 19 and going through verse 26. Paul says, For I know that this will turn out from my deliverance through your prayer and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, according to my earnest expectation and hope that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ will be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death.

For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. But if I live on in the flesh, this will mean fruit from my labor, Yet what I shall choose, I cannot tell. For I am hard-pressed between the two.

Having a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better, nevertheless to remain in the flesh is more needful for you. And being confident of this, I know that I shall remain and continue with you for all your progress and joy of faith, that your rejoicing for me may be more abundant in Jesus Christ by my coming to you again. And you may be seated.

and one of the first things that we’ll notice from the life of Paul whether we’re reading in Philippians or or anywhere else one of the first things that we’ll notice about his life is that it was unpredictable Paul often did not know from from day to day where he was going to be what he was going to be doing we see instances where he he really felt compelled he was going to go to a particular town and preach and then the Holy Spirit just sort of slammed the door and said no you’re not going that way you’re going that way and so he’d try another way and the Holy Spirit would say no going this way. Paul’s life was unpredictable. And we need to understand that life can be unpredictable even when we’re serving Christ. We get an idea of this unpredictability here beginning in verse 21, where we see the unpredictable nature of his own situation.

He was in prison, and folks, he literally had no idea whether he was going to live or whether he was going to die. It doesn’t get much more unpredictable than that. You and I deal with situations all the time where we don’t know what’s going to happen, but very rarely are we in a situation where we’re looking at it going, there’s a 50-50 shot I die today.

And that’s where Paul was. In this imprisonment, he did not know if he was going to live or if he was going to die. And he spells that choice out in verse 21, where he says to live is Christ, to die is gain.

Those were his options. The Romans might have released him at any time, or they might have executed him. And he wasn’t going to know until it happened.

And apart from that, Paul knew that even though he didn’t really have a choice in the matter, he didn’t know which one he’d prefer if he did have a choice. Now, verse 22 says, Yet what I shall choose, I cannot tell. That doesn’t mean Paul’s sitting there going, it’s up to me.

Do I want to die? Do I want to live? I think the English translation is a little unclear here.

He’s not saying he actually has a choice in the matter. it’s more likely here he’s saying, if I had a choice, I don’t know which one I would choose. I’m not sure if that makes the situation better or worse.

To be in a situation where not only do you have no idea how it’s going to turn out, but you don’t even know how you feel about whichever option it is. You don’t know whether each option is good or bad so that when it does happen, you don’t know whether to be happy about it or not. Paul says, I’m torn here.

I don’t even know what I would pick at any given moment. Now, for him, living meant the opportunity to continue in ministry, which is a good thing. He said in verse 22, but if I live on in the flesh, this will mean fruit from my labor.

He’s talking about his ministry among groups of people like the Philippians, that he would be able to serve Jesus Christ and he would be able to work among these people. He’d be able to watch them grow. He’d be able to see God use his ministry to change people’s lives.

And he very much looked forward to that. But continuing on in ministry also meant continuing on in the kinds of suffering that he had endured up to this point. So even though it’s a good thing, it’s hard to make that choice, especially when on the other side, there’s the seemingly bad choice of being executed, but he says, hey, I get to be with Jesus.

So the pain of the execution, it only lasts for a little bit, and then I get to be with Jesus. He says in verse 23, he had a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better. Far better for him.

He says it’s far better for you, for the Philippians that I remain here with you. And he realized too that even though his presence there was beneficial for these people. That’s why he says in verse 24, nevertheless to remain in the flesh is more needful for you.

And so we can see this back and forth that Paul has. He does not know whether he’s going to live or die any given day. He doesn’t know, is he going to remain in prison another day or is today going to be the day the Romans either release him or release him for good.

Release him to the Lord. He doesn’t know. And while he has time to mull that over, he’s saying, and I don’t know which I prefer anyway.

In one case, I get to continue in ministry. In one case, I get to be with Jesus. Still, if I don’t get to be with Jesus, I know that’s better for you.

And he’s torn. Do you see the tension here? The uncertainty going on in Paul’s life.

And folks, even when we’re being faithful to God, even when we’re serving Jesus, there’s going to be unpredictability in our lives. There are going to be unpredictable things that trouble us. And we’ve all had circumstances where we wrestle with knowing what the right thing is, what the right outcome is, what we want to happen.

Even when we know we don’t get to decide. I’m real bad about this. There are situations where I know I’m not in control of it anyway, but I sit there and try to figure out what the best option is.

It doesn’t matter because I don’t get to choose anyway. But I think we’ve probably all been in situations like that. Now, there’s a lot in our lives that we have, well, there are some things in our lives that we have control over, particularly how we react to things, particularly whether we’re going to do the right thing or the wrong thing.

There are some things that we have control over. There’s a lot that we don’t have control over. And in these situations where the unexpected pops up, the unpredictable pops up and we feel like things are just going crazy.

Those things tend to trouble us, not just because of the uncertainty about it, but also because if you’re like me, you start to think you’re doing something wrong. Somewhere along the way, didn’t we get this idea that if we’re doing the right thing, if we’re being faithful to the Lord, if we’re serving Jesus, that everything should turn out wonderful, right? Somewhere we got that idea, and I don’t know where from.

I’ve told you before that I remember here in a testimony time, I think it was in a youth group years ago. Somebody talking about coming to Christ and life’s been wonderful ever since. Well, that’s weird.

And then somebody else got up and said the same thing. And just like her, life’s been wonderful ever since. And two or three people said the same phrase and I thought, why didn’t I get that plan when I signed up?

That’s not how this works. And I think we’ve done people a disservice to make them think that when you trust Jesus as your Savior, everything’s going to be wonderful from then on out. Because when what Jesus said inevitably comes true, that you will have trouble in this world, we start to think that there’s something wrong with what we’re doing or the path we’re on.

You read through the Bible, you read through the stories, go through the stories that we’re looking at on Wednesday nights, and you can see, first of all, there’s a lot of people who were in trouble because of dumb decisions they made. But there were also people who were being incredibly faithful. They were being amazingly faithful.

They were demonstrating faith and obedience that I aspire to have someday when I grow up. And yet they still had incredible trouble. All while they were being faithful to the Lord.

So I want you to understand, look at Paul’s example. He was out preaching the gospel. He was out telling people that Jesus Christ rose from the dead and it got him in prison.

Modern day health and wealth theology would say, well, clearly he was doing something wrong. No, no, no, no, friends. He was doing exactly what God told him to do.

And that’s where he ended up. Even when we’re being faithful to God, We’re going to have unpredictable things in life, and some of them are going to be troubling to us. By the way, I don’t want it to sound all like doom and gloom, because sometimes the unpredictability can be very exciting.

Serving Jesus has trouble and has difficulty, but it can also be a great adventure. Sometimes you get to see the Lord do something, and it’s thrilling to watch Him work in somebody’s life. It’s incredible to watch as He changes somebody.

It’s amazing to see how He changes you over time when you notice what He’s done. It’s just incredible. Some of the things that he orchestrates.

I can trace my coming here back to coming down for a lunch meeting with Troy Taylor just to visit with him. And he told me about this church and I sent in a resume, had no plans of coming this way. Now, Charla and I had talked about retiring to Lawton one day, which people act surprised when I tell them that.

But we’ve just always liked this area. But I didn’t know this church existed. And yet God worked all of that out.

And I wake up and almost have to pinch myself sometimes about where God has put me. I love what I get to do and I love you and I don’t say that insincerely. Some of y’all ask me, are you still glad you came?

I’m living the dream, all right? I love you all. You are.

. . And I tell other people that too.

So that’s not just something I’m saying in front of you. Other preachers ask me, how’s your church? I just can’t say good enough things about you all.

But anyway, the Lord did all that. That wasn’t my plan, but it’s been incredible. So I don’t want you to think it’s all doom and gloom with the unpredictability, but we do people a disservice if we’re not up front about the fact that there’s going to be some trouble.

And it doesn’t necessarily mean you’re doing something wrong. It doesn’t necessarily mean you heard God wrong. Because we can have trouble and unpredictability and instability even when we’re serving Him.

sometimes especially when we’re serving Him. And so that’s what Paul was wrestling with. Here he’s been faithful to the Lord, and yet he’s got these big questions about what’s going to happen to him, where he’s going.

But in the midst of this, there was one thing Paul was certain of. And amid the uncertainty, we can be certain of victory in Christ. Paul expressed confidence in this passage about a few different things. In verse 19, he says, I know that this will turn out for my deliverance through your prayer and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ. Now that word deliverance is the same word that’s used for salvation, but it’s a word that covers a lot of things, of God saving us from a lot of things.

And so I don’t think Paul, some translations will say it works out for my salvation. I don’t think it’s talking about his salvation in the sense of his eternal life with the Lord. Everything I read in Scripture tells me that once we’ve got that, we’ve got it as much as we’re going to get it.

Paul didn’t have to keep working for it and hope that it came through. He had it. I believe he’s talking about his deliverance, his salvation from the situation he’s in.

However this turns out, I know that I’m going to be saved from this situation. And he says in verse 20, according to my earnest expectation and hope that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but with all boldness as always, so now also Christ will be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death. He says he’s confident when he’s talking about this deliverance in verse 19.

He’s convinced that he’s either going to be delivered from death or through death. Now we might say delivered through death. He’s going to die.

That doesn’t sound like deliverance. But if you’re where Paul is and saying, if that happens, I just get to go be with Jesus. then you understand his point here.

He doesn’t know what God’s plan is, but he knows ultimately at the end of the suffering, at the end of the instability, at the end of the uncertainty, there’s something good and he knows that that’s coming. He knows that one of two things is going to happen. He’s either going to be released or he can go continue doing ministry for Jesus, or he’s going to be released and get to go be with Jesus.

So he’s certain of the deliverance. He’s certain here in verse 20 with what we just read that no matter which of those options happens, no matter which thing happens Jesus Christ is going to be glorified. He said in my body whether by life or by death.

And then he says in verses 25 and 26 I know that I shall remain and continue with you all for your progress and joy of faith that your rejoicing for me may be more abundant in Jesus Christ by my coming to you again. So what he said in these three things here is that even though he has no idea how his circumstances are going to turn out even though he has no idea whether he’s going to remain in prison one more day, if he’s going to be set free, if he’s going to be executed. He does not know what’s going to happen.

But he knows three things. He knows, first of all, that God is going to continue to use him in ministry as long as he’s here on earth. We see that in verses 25 and 26 where he’s talking about if he remains, he knows that he’ll continue, he’ll get to watch their progress and joy, that their rejoicing may be more abundant.

He knows that as long as he’s here, God’s going to use him. folks in the midst of our uncertainty we need to make peace with the fact that whatever we may be going through right now as long as we’re here God is going to continue to use that for something good to happen whether we get to see the end result or not Paul was certain that God God’s not up there surprised by what’s happening to us God knew God was intimately aware and God had a plan God was already working that plan for the good of the kingdom and so he’s certain that whatever he’s going to deal with, as long as he’s here, God was going to use that. And then second, he was certain that he was going to be delivered from these circumstances in God’s time and in God’s way.

Again, he didn’t know whether it was going to be from walking out of prison or whether it was going to be the executioner’s blade. He didn’t know, but at some point, the suffering he’s in will come to an end. And this sentiment, as I’m telling you about it this morning, it reminds me of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego telling King Nebuchadnezzar, the Lord will deliver us.

Or maybe more accurately in the Hebrew, the Lord can deliver us. But even if he does not, we still will not bow. They were trusting not in their circumstances, not that we know it’s going to get better and everything’s going to be fine.

We know that God’s will is going to be done. And either he’s going to deliver us out of this fiery furnace or he’s going to deliver us through this fiery furnace to go be with him. But either way, we’re not bowing to your stinking statue.

And that’s sort of Paul’s attitude here. I know that God can get me out of this prison. I know God can take me home.

But either way, I’m not going to stop serving Jesus Christ and I’m not going to stop speaking the gospel. And then the third thing here is what I read in verse 20. He was certain that he would glorify Jesus regardless of how the circumstances turned out by remaining faithful.

He talks about his boldness and talks about glorifying Jesus Christ. Jesus being magnified in his body whether by life or by death. So he’s certain that as long as he remains faithful, as long as he remains loyal to Jesus Christ, that whatever happens, whether he walks out of the prison or whether he’s executed, whatever happens, he’s trusting that God is going to use those things so that Jesus Christ will get the glory he deserves. And that’s why Paul’s in this ministry to begin with.

That ought to be why you and I live every day of our lives to begin with. To glorify Jesus Christ. and in that regard the suffering takes on a different significance the uncertainty takes on a different significance I don’t like suffering either don’t misunderstand nobody likes I don’t think anybody likes suffering if you do we need to talk later because I I think there may be an issue but to paraphrase a preacher friend of mine that’s it’s not supposed to be enjoyable that’s why they call it suffering and not disneyland which with the lines and the prices and the heat sound like the same thing to me, but whatever.

I’m not telling you suffering is fun, but I’m telling you if we can get to the place where we understand that our role here is to glorify Jesus Christ and honor Him out of thanksgiving, out of an overflow of gratitude for all that He’s done for us, if we can get to the point where we are motivated by that more than anything else, then we can come to the point of realizing whatever I suffer, whatever I deal with, whatever happens, whether it’s good or bad, I know that as long as I’m faithful to Him, God is going to use it to bring glory to Jesus Christ. Well, that’s mission accomplished right there. That’s what we’re here to do. And so Paul understood that no matter what happened, Jesus was still in control.

He was still Lord, like I shared with you last week from Philippians about Paul saying, my chains are in Christ. The Romans weren’t in charge of his chains. He was there because Jesus allowed it. Jesus was still in control.

He’s still Lord. he was still going to work things out for Paul’s good and for his own glory. And you and I can have the same confidence.

I know we’re in a different situation from what Paul was, but we serve the same Lord. And so we can have the same confidence that even if our situations, even if our circumstances and our suffering, even if all these unpredictable scenarios, even if they don’t turn out the way we anticipate, even if they don’t turn out the way we hope, in the end we can still be victorious in Jesus Christ. I could tell you stories. I’m not going to this morning because I don’t want to keep you all day.

But I could walk you through some of the darkest days of my life, some of the worst things that have ever happened to me, the most painful experiences, and things that, to be honest, here’s a peek behind the curtain. I’m not inherently more spiritual than you are. I didn’t enjoy them, and looking back, I still wish they hadn’t happened to me.

All right, I’m just going to be honest. I mean, not that I’ve been dishonest up to this point, but just be transparent with you. I’m not so super spiritual that I’m going to say, oh, all the suffering was lovely because of how it turned out. No, I still would rather God had taught me these lessons another way.

But some of the worst things that have ever happened in my life, I didn’t understand at the time why I was going through any of this. Sometimes I still don’t understand why I went through it. Why it happened, why somebody would treat me that way.

But it’s incredible to look back and see how God has used each of those circumstances. How Jesus has been glorified in those circumstances as I just tried moment by moment to be obedient, even when it was hard. And I won’t say that I did that perfectly, but just tried moment by moment to do what I thought He expected of me.

Even if it wasn’t the easy option, even if it wasn’t the fun option. And Jesus was glorified through that, and God grew me through those experiences. God taught me to rely on Him in a way that I had not before.

And I look at that, I look at something that glorifies Jesus. I look at things that have drawn me closer to Him. I look at things that have helped me understand His love and His mercy and His grace and His holiness in a way that I did not previously understand.

And I can’t call those things anything but a victory. And He can use your circumstances to bring you to victory. If Jesus is being glorified, if you’re growing closer to Him, if others are having the opportunity to hear about him because of what you’re going through that’s victory it may not feel like victory but since when are we supposed to be governed by our feelings anyway your feelings will lie to you most of us in this room either are teenagers or have been teenagers right your feelings lie to you we we figure this out eventually there are things that are true whether we feel them or not 5 45 this morning my wife shook me awake I did not feel like it was morning or should be morning, but you know what?

It didn’t change the fact that it was. We can’t go by our feelings. We go by what God’s Word says is true.

And Paul was certain. He was absolutely certain. Look at verse 19.

He was absolutely certain that this was going to turn out to his deliverance. He’s talking about having victory over this situation. And the reason for this is that we are not driven by our circumstances either.

Our hope is not in, oh, things will turn out better because they don’t always turn out better on paper. Things don’t always get easier. It’s a bright sunny day this morning, so I guess I’m going to be the dark little rain cloud for a few minutes.

Things don’t always get easier. Sometimes things get more complicated as we go on. And if our hope was determined by our circumstances getting easier, our hopes would be dashed quite often.

Instead, our hope is in the fact that Jesus Christ is who He is and is who He always has been regardless of what our circumstances are. We don’t cling to our circumstances. Jesus Christ is all we have that is worth clinging to.

And that’s why Paul was able to summarize that with his statement in verse 21, for me to live is Christ and to die is gain. He had come to the point where the thing that mattered more than anything else, really the only thing that mattered was Jesus Christ. He said, if I live, I get to devote that time to knowing Jesus and serving Jesus. If I die, I get to experience Jesus.

I get to experience the final fulfillment of the promises He’s made to me. I get to go be with Him. Now that may sound abstract and super spiritual to somebody who’s struggling with a circumstance here on earth.

But Jesus is the only thing we have worth clinging to. I’ve been there. When you’re alone in your darkest times, there is no one else to cling to.

There’s still Jesus. And He will walk with you through that darkness, through that suffering, in a way that nobody else can. And oftentimes we make our struggles harder because we’re focused on managing our circumstances to make ourselves more comfortable and to make ourselves more at home in this world.

We think that’s what we’re supposed to do, and that’s not what God intended for us. Trouble is a fact of life. Jesus promised we were going to have it.

Change is a fact of life. Sometimes change is good, sometimes change is scary, but sometimes change is bad, but change is usually scary when it’s on the horizon and you’re not there yet. Suffering is a fact of life.

Uncertainty is a fact of life, but Jesus never changes. Everything around us may change. Jesus never changes.

And because He never changes, His promises never fail. And so ultimately, Paul’s hope and his trust, his rest were in Jesus and His promises. And so he could look at the prison situation.

He could look at the uncertainty he was going to live or whether he was going to die and say it really doesn’t matter because to live is Christ and to die is gain. All I need is Jesus because he had that certainty of a relationship with Jesus. He had the certainty of eternal life.

He had the hope because Jesus had promised it. And Jesus makes the same promise to us as well. When he died on the cross, he had already told us that his mission here on earth was to seek and to save that which was lost. And he was talking about us because we’re separated from a holy God.

And He died on the cross and He announced it is finished. He didn’t just mean His death was finished. He meant the payment that He was making on our behalf because we’ve sinned and that sin separates us from God.

Somebody had to pay for it. And we could spend eternity separated from God and still never make a dent in the debt we owe. Jesus paid it all.

And because of that, we can be certain today, Just as much as Paul was certain that he was going to get to be with Jesus, we can be certain of our future with Jesus as well. And it’s very simple. We don’t get there by going to church.

We don’t get there by performing religious rituals. We don’t get there by giving money. We don’t get there by being good enough people.

Oh, just leave out of here and work harder and try harder and be better. That’s not how we get there. It’s simply the realization that Jesus Christ died for our sins and rose again to prove it.

Believing that He is our one and only Savior because of what He did for us and asking for the forgiveness that God offers. We’ll talk tonight out of the book of Mark about faith. That’s what He expects from us.

That’s what Paul exhibited before this and at this point. Faith. This morning, if you believe, if you have faith, if you trust that Jesus died in your place and did what you could not and rose again to prove it, then you can ask for the forgiveness that He has promised and you’ll have it.