052310 PHIL Gideon Overcoming Doubts Ch 7-8

062710 TOM Micah Overcoming Idolatry

7-4 Micah: Overcoming Idolatry

We all have a tendency to "make up our own religion"... We all have different idols we serve. Micah makes it clear that he "rents" his own priest. And makes up his own path to God.

070410 CHAD Delilah: Overcoming Lust

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FNcMgGGOwzE

7-04-10 Delilah: Overcoming Lust

Close to danger, but not "in" danger

STORY: For Spring break, my family headed to Florida. While we were there, we met up with my mom and dad. And of all the activities we wanted to try. We saw an advertisement for the chance to Ride in a Swamp Boat. As we cruised across the swampy marshes, the driver came to a stop, then pointed 10 feet away at a resting crocodile. He then said, "We are not suppossed to do this, but I like to feed them to get a little closer to the boat. He then threw in some puffy marshmallows. The crocodile drifted closer to the boat. Now only three feet from my daughter who was on the crocodile side of the boat. This "crocodile expert" assured us it was safe, assured us that he knew what he was doing, since it's not mating season. But we were slightly terrorized. Part of me loved the fact that we were this close to the danger, another part of me was very nervous... Not for me. I knew the croc would eat my daughter and mom before getting to me. :) But I was worried for them. We were close to danger, but theoretically not "in danger."

TRANS: "In the swamp, we push limits, get close to danger, feed crocodiles, since "it's not mating season." I wonder how many people have been eaten with that recipe for safety. In life, we do the same thing. We are "close to danger" but not in danger. Especially when it comes to lust. After all, It's not like it's mating season. :) And we can flirt, gaze, fanatize, imagine, lean toward someone, but the whole time tell ourselves, "Yes I am close to danger, but I'm not "In" danger."

In his book, Temptations Men Face, the author shows us the stages of an affair for men and women. I read this 12 years ago, and I have been amazed to watch it play out tragically in relationships. And notice that with each stage there is a sense that you may be close to danger, but not actually in "danger". Let me give you the 12 stages, and see how far into the process you may currently be.

• Stage 1: Readiness: Something is happening in your life that has you leaning away from your marriage
• Stage 2: Alertness: You have an awareness of a particular person, you occasionally think about them or their attributes (physical or character)
• Stage 3: Innocent Meeting: During this time, there may be chance meeting or legitimate business encounters.
• Stage 4: Intentional Meeting: One person is intentionally making more frequent "chance" meetings occur.
• Stage 5: Public LIngering: In group settings, you linger longer to spend time chatting with this person.
• Stage 6: Private LIngering: Still hanging out long after others are gone from staff meeting or day at the office.
• Stage 7: Purposeful Isolating: You find legitimate business reasons to have private lunch or dinner to work on projects together.
• Stage 8: Pleasurable Isolating: Now you get together for the sheer enjoyment of being together. There may be a hand on the shoulder, the waist, and gentle touching of the hand.
• Stage 9: Passionate Embracing: Hugs, childish wrestling, tickling, and clinging when you hug good bye...

(YOU) What strikes me about these stages is that there is no physical touch at all until you are at stage 8!!! You are well into the danger zone, before you get eaten by lust. (PAUSE) What stage are you at in your marriage right now? Are you on the path to an affair? (PAUSE) Are you leaning away from your marriage right now? Away of someone else? Finding excuses to hang out, work with someone? (PAUSE) We all have seasons in our marraige that are great, hard, tough, fun, and really difficult. During the difficult times, the disconnecting times, we start this process.

TRANSITION (GOD) Today as we look at the story of Samson and Delilah, you will see the same progression. The same acceleration of bad decisions, tempting situations. Long before Samson loses his eyes... Long before he is humiliated as a grain grinder... We can see it coming. He is Close to Danger While Lying to Himself, "I'm not in any real danger... It's not mating season after all."

The Path to Danger has warning signs posted. Today, As we work through this passage, we'll see warning signs posted on Samson's path. Warning Signs that tell us we are headed toward a dangerous destination. I believe each of us can overcome the final destination of lust by recognizing the Warning Signs.

We'll discover something we all know and yet deny. The reality that every path has a destination. When you get on a certain path, it is going somewhere, leading someonewhere. We may deny it... Yes, I know I logged onto the computer late at night when I am tired and angry at my wife, but I'm fine... Yes, I know my personal trainer is a handsome man who I spend alot of one on one time with... But there isn't a problem.. Sure, I Facebook him occasionally, and text, but it's not that big of a deal. My spouse is just paranoid... And we watch, We watch someone go down a path headed toward a destination while denying they will end up at the destination.

Warning Sign #1: Grazing

^16:1 Now Samson went to Gaza

Chapter 16 opens with Samson Grazing, wandering toward Gaza, a location known to be a hangout for harlots. And Samson went to Gaza. And "I wonder what will happen in Gaza??" I wonder if he will get in trouble in Gaza?! I bet you have a higher chance of being tempted when you find yourself in a place where prostitutes hang out. Right?! The same is true for you and I, when we begin grazing in situations and circumstances that we know are unwise. It's a mile marker.

I once heard a marriage counselor says, "The Grass is not greener on the other side, it's greener where you water is." When we begin to fantasize about other people, other marriages. Greener pastures, and then intentionally graze into computer sites, graze into emotional conversations, graze into private disclosure on Facebook with an old high school sweet heard. It's a mile marker.

STORY: Iphone from Kentucky... I now never use this APP: I know it's in there. I know that if I open this APP, I will be tempted to look for it, download it, and use it. I don't want to get close to danger.. By then I'll be in danger. Just 3 weeks after making that decision, I found myself wanting to "check on an APP' and as I went to push the APP store, I knew in the back of my mind, I was planning to go look for this APP. I stopped myself at the GRAZING stage.

Warning Sign #2: Gazing

and saw a harlot there,

So, he moves from Grazing to Gazing. He looks. He sees a harlot there. He looks on her, and apparentely doesn't look away. He allows himself to look, to dwell, to fantasize. And this stage is a mile marker. You and I know where this path is going. Samson might say, "I'm just looking..." But he is on a path. And this path has a destination. In fact, the next phrase

STORY: Pornography at Lake

Warning Sign #3. Blazing

and went in to her.

^{You don't need to wonder what will happen if you graze and gaze. It's a path. Soon, very soon, your lust will be Blazing. You will fully inflame your lust when you put yourself in unwise situations, and then look onto the situation. Even Joseph, one of the most godly men in the Bible had to RUN!!! Turn around, Get out of here. But even this, one time serious infraction of purity and sexual purity is also a mile marker. It's not the final destination. It's a mile marker of deeper trouble ahead. Samson zooms right past this mile marker to number Four}

^{Warning Sign #4. Glazing}

² When the Gazites were told,“Samson has come here!” they surrounded the placeand lay in wait for him all night at the gate of the city. They were quiet all night, saying, “In the morning, when it is daylight, we will kill him.” ³ And Samson lay low till midnight; then he arose at midnight, took hold of the doors of the gate of the city and the two gateposts, pulled them up, bar and all, put them on his shoulders, and carried them to the top of the hill that faces Hebron.

Notice that Samson is so proud and arrogant, he waits in the prostitutes room. He waits until midnight. He knows there is a trap. He knows they have him surrounded. But he is so convinced that he is invinsible. So convinced that he can't be stopped. So convinced God is with him -regardless of what and how he lives... He storms out of the harlot's room, grabs the doors off the city, and walks from up to a hill facing Hebron to say, "You can't stop me. Even the walls of your city representing your entire city's defensese can't slow me down..." What is Samson doing... He is Glazing. Glazing over personal holiness. Glazing over his disobedience. Glazing over his foolish and immoral behavior. When we presume God will protect us, bless us, and keep us, even when we willingly are walking out of his will... When we are in the Glazing stage... We are really in trouble. The path is headed to a painful destination

Warning Sign #5. You're Razing

When you raze a building, you completely destroy it. You completely demolish it. Like in the poem of Shakesphere, "Find a day to massacre them all, And raze their faction, and their family, The cruel father, and his traitorous sons, To whom I sued for my dear son 's life..." The final destination of lust and immorality is a total and complete razing of your life. You see it all over the news...

• Governor of South Carolina: "Why did I do this?"
• I had a Staff member who got tangled up in an affair who began to crawl out of the lies and said to me, "How did I lose everything... Why did I take all those risks? Why was I so unwise..."
• I had a friend at Horizon whose spouse was caught in a affair ask me, "How could someone with such good morals end up in such a bad place?"
• About 2 years ago, I was with a distraught husband in my office showing him how to "reverse google a number on his cell phone bill to see who it came from..." And when the name came up, it confirmed his suspicions. When we saw the number on the phone sheet dozens of times, he was heartbroken and sobbed in my office.

How do you end up here. totally destorying your family, your faith and your future? Look at the first word of verse 4 "Afterward..." After you Graze for a while, Gaze for a while, Blaze for a while, and Glaze over all the warnings, all the bad decisions... You are headed to a destination of complete and total Razing.

⁴ Afterward it happened that he loved a woman in the Valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah. ⁵ And the lords of the Philistines came up to her and said to her, “Entice him, and find out where his great strength lies, and by what means we may overpower him, that we may bind him to afflict him; and every one of us will give you eleven hundred pieces of silver.”⁶ So Delilah said to Samson, “Please tell me where your great strength lies, and with what you may be bound to afflict you.” ⁷And Samson said to her, “If they bind me with seven fresh bowstrings, not yet dried, then I shall become weak, and be like any other man.”

Why does he take the risk? When a woman says, "Hey what could I bind your with to AFFLICT YOU!?" Here;s an idea.... RUN! Turn arouND, Why wouldn't he stop? Don't tell her.. Well, you when you get to this stage, you like the risk, the "will I get caught... Pushing the envelope.... " and there may be some sexual induendo to the language, "Hey, I'll tie you up big boy..." Whatever it is, he gives in... Flirting with disaster....

BOOK: In the book RAISING BOYS, Dobson notes that there is something in a guy that pushes the envelope. When a mother says, "You might get hurt, get down..." A boy hears that as, "Yes, I "might" get hurt unless I am clever enough, strong enough, and ambitious enough to overcome where others "might get hurt"... In other words I can get Close to Danger, without really being "in danger"... It's not mating season after all. Well this tendency in guys to feel invincible and get the adrenaline rush of being on the edge... Will lead to our total and complete RAZING! Especially in the area of immorality. And when she does tie him up, does he give up... Learn his lesson. Stop flirting with disaster. Here is a hint guys, It's ALWAYS MATING SEASON! Stay Away from Danger, Don't even get close to danger! STAY AWAY FROM DANGER!. RUN! FLEE! Not Samson, He tries it again...

⁸ So the lords of the Philistines brought up to her seven fresh bowstrings, not yet dried, and she bound him with them. ⁹ Now men were lying in wait, staying with her in the room. And she said to him, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” But he broke the bowstrings as a strand of yarn breaks when it touches fire. So the secret of his strength was not known.

Again, he pushes past the boundary markers. Pushes past the dangers... Now Delilah pulls out the big guns... She says... This is so ironic... You've mocked me and told me lies. What kind of a relationship will we ever have if it is built on lies... Hmmmm, Well, Delilah aren't you being paid to seduce this guy to have him murdered... talk about the pot calling the stove black...

¹⁰ Then Delilah said to Samson, “Look, you have mocked me and told me lies. Now, please tell me what you may be bound with.” ¹¹ So he said to her, “If they bind me securely with new ropes that have never been used, then I shall become weak, and be like any other man.”¹² Therefore Delilah took new ropes and bound him with them, and said to him, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” And men were lying in wait, staying in the room. But he broke them off his arms like a thread.

At this point, like the last, the men are "staying in the room with them" I'm not sure how that works.... I will seduce this guy, lull him to sleep, tie him up, and you 20 soldiers hide under the bed?! I'm not sure... But the point is that Danger is in his very room. His complete and total annihilation is right under his nose, but still he pushes past the markers.

¹³ Delilah said to Samson, “Until now you have mocked me and told me lies. Tell me what you may be bound with.” And he said to her, “If you weave the seven locks of my headinto the web of the loom”— ¹⁴ So she wove it tightly with the batten of the loom, and said to him, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” But he awoke from his sleep, and pulled out the batten and the web from the loom.

Now, we see that he is giving away just about everything. He mentions the locks of his head. He notes that his "hair' has something to do with it. And again, she lulls him to sleep and weaves his hair into a loom. One of those old fashioned quilt blanket makers. He awoke, spun around, and destroyed the loom... Now, shirley now, he'd say, I am messing with fire. i am on my way to my own destruction! I must turn around, Right?! Nope.

¹⁵ Then she said to him, “How can you say, ‘I love you,’ when your heart is not with me? You have mocked me these three times, and have not told me where your great strength lies.” ¹⁶And it came to pass, when she pestered him daily with her words and pressed him, so that his soul was vexed to death,

This man who could take on 1000 men at once -is vexed to death by the nagging of both the woman in Timnah as well as Delilah. He gives in. He gives it up. He tells her that his secret is that he made a vow to God. A vow he has broken by drinking at the wedding. Sleeping with prostitutes, and touching dead animals, and trying to marry Philistine woman. But God in his grace was working inspite, holding Samson back from his ultimate and complete destruction... But now God lets go, He lets Samson run down the final leg off the path he has been so set on pursuing.

¹⁷ that he told her all his heart, and said to her, “No razor has ever come upon my head, for Ihave been a Nazirite to God from my mother’s womb. If I am shaven, then my strength will leave me, and I shall become weak, and be like any other man.” ¹⁸ When Delilah saw that he had told her all his heart, she sent and called for the lords of the Philistines, saying, “Come up once more, for he has told me all his heart.” So the lords of the Philistines came up to her and brought the money in their hand. ¹⁹ Then she lulled him to sleep on her knees, and called for a man and had him shave off the seven locks of his head. Then she began to torment him,and his strength left him.²⁰ And she said, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” So he awoke from his sleep, and said, “I will go out as before, at other times, and shake myself free!” Buthe did not know that the LORD had departed from him.

This is how sin works. It mocks you. Entices you. Nags you. Lulls you to sleep. Then cuts off your connection to God, and immediately torments you for giving in to its demands. And Samson in vs 20, did not even know the Lord had departed from him. How can this be. a judge. A mighty man of God. A man who's felt his power and might... and now doesn't even know He is gone. How did he get here? Grazing, Gazing, Blazing, Glazing, and Now Razing! His complete and total destruction: Spiritually, and unfortunately Physically too.

²¹ Then the Philistines took him and put out his eyes, and brought him down to Gaza. They bound him with bronze fetters, and he became a grinder in the prison.

Here Samson finds himself back in Gaza. And now the milemarkers are full circle. He started Grazing in Gaza. And now he is blinded and conquered in Gaza. He flirted with being "near danger," and is now "eaten" by lust. There were warnings. Mile Markers the whole time he was on the path to destruction. He grazed, gazed, blazed, glazed, and then Razed his whole life...

Conclusion: How will you and I keep from the same end as Samson. how will we keep from the web of the spider Delilah in our hearts and lives? We must realize that every path has a destination! And there are mile markers on that path. And God in his grace will give us warnings, allow us to operate in his mercy for a while -even when we are in disobedience... But, at some point, he'll give us over to our desires. He'll let us have what we think we want....

1. RECOGNIZE THE DANGER SIGNS BY TRAINING YOUR INNER ALARM SYSTEM

Don't train your brain to be "close to danger" Don't train your brain and conscience to be "concerned" at stage 5... Begin to train your brain to see the path at stage 1. I want to be nervous at stage 1. When I am Gazing, or in the words of TEMPTATION MEN FACE: I want to know if I am "leaning away from my marraige." And if I am "noticing someone." WARNING WARNING WILL ROBISON! Danger Danger!!!

STORY: The first time I ever heard those 12 stages of an affair was 14 years ago when my senior pastor and boss, Peter Grant was preaching about it. I happened to be in the audience that day instead of teaching student ministry. And for whatever reason, I can't really remember why this many years later... But I was "leaning" away from my marriage. I don't know if Beth and I had a tough month, or just had a fight the night before. I can't remember. But I do remember the Holy Spirit speaking to me in that service. "Chad, You are at Stage 1" Then I looked at stage 2, "Alertness" An Awareness of Someone else. And sure enough I had seemingly innocent alertness to a woman in our church and her character qualities. There was nothing "lustful" about my thoughts, but I was aware of them. Thinking about them Comparing and Contrasting them with myself and Beth. And God used that service to reveal to me, to warn me that I may be on a path. And I doubled my efforts to lean INTO my marriage, to capture my thoughts if this person's character qualities came to my mind. And I made a "vow" to train my brain to feel and alert me -when I was at stage 1 &2. And at this point in my marriage, my internal alarms so so sensitized to Stage 1 and 2. I have never got to stage 3 or beyond. And I want it that way. I want to be keenly aware of I am evening looking down that path. Because all of us are capable of heading down a path once we start down it.

But you and I will never be able to get off this path, never be able to respond to the signs, unless we see the Only One Who completely and totally passed the test.

ADORATION: Jesus found himself with the Devil -facing fierce temptation. He didn't give in. He didn't graze with the devil's offer. Didn't look at those stones for too long. He didn't allow his appetites for food to blaze over his commitment to God. Jesus was the one who saw us headed toward our complete and total destruction. And he allowed his body. The building of his own body to be utterly and completely destroyed by God. Totally disenagrated, utterly crushed. And on that cross, if ever there was a time, he was temped to call down angels, to step off the cross, it was then. But three days later, jesus completely and totally crushed the devil, and death, and destruction. And he now lives in you and in me. And by peering into his holiness. Peering into his passion. Seeing that in him is everything you need. In him, is the beauty you are really seeking. And his Holy Spirit lives in us to bear witness to the truth. To warn and convict us when we are off track. To illuminate our conscience.

CONCLUSION:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1169032/Wife-sees-man-eaten-crocodile-attempts-swim-river-drunk-night-out.html

None of us wants to be a sad story for our family and faith. So Stay away from the Crocodiles. In 2009, a man and his wife were drunk. And this man decided to try to swim across the river at night. Yes, he knew that there had been reports of crocodiles in the river, but what's the chance the crocodile would be at this section of river at this moment of time. He was a fast swimmer, his rational brain was compromised by alcohol, and he wanted the adrenaline rush of being "close to danger" His wife and witnesses report seeing the man pulled under. Police said the 20-year-old man, who has yet to be named, had been drinking with his brother-in-law and a group of friends during the evening.Instead of heading to a bridge to reach the other side of the river, where they had been camping with relatives, they decided to swim across to the far bank. Locals said a large crocodile had been seen in the area in previous days and no-one had dared venture into the water. But after a night of drinking, said a police officer, it appeared that the two men had thrown caution to the wind and had decided to take a 'short cut' back to the camping ground by swimming across the river. And that Short Cut, That Ignoring of the Danger Signs led to the Lost of His Young Life, hurting and tramatizing his young wife, and utterly destroying his future. Lust is a Crocodile. Don't Even Get Close. Don't Take Short Cuts.

062010 CHAD Manoah: Overcoming Challenges

6-20 (FATHERS DAY) Manoah: Overcoming Challenges

“Let Me See The Whole Puzzle”

Introduction:

STORY: How many of you enjoy games and puzzles? I love them. I came from a long history of game-aholics. My grandfather had an entire room dedicated to games, trains, and puzzles. Many times we would go over to grandma and grandpa’s home, spread out the pieces all over the card tables and work ferociously to put the pieces together. Of course, as the end grew near, the last piece was always missing. Sometimes it was my brother, sometimes my dad, and if I remembered it was I… hiding that last coveted piece. Nothing made us feel more proud and awesome than being the one who put the last piece into the puzzle and announced, “WE’RE DONE!”

Everyone wants to finish the puzzle, but the hours of putting it together can be laboriously long and downright painful. Today there are puzzles that are called “Mystery puzzles.” The mystery is the fact that they do not tell you what the puzzle looks like when it is completed. The box top looks nothing like the finished puzzle. I’ve completed a few and let me tell you, “They ought to call them Christian-character-testing puzzles because they push a person’s patient and frustration to a point where it is hard to remain “spiritual.”

Life is more like those mystery puzzles than it is like the old fashioned ones. God rarely shows us the box top. He just hands us one piece at a time and says, “Trust me I picked the right one.”

This morning, for Father’s Day, I’d like to look at a man named Manoah. Samson’s father. As a Father, a Husband, and Follower of God, he faced the difficulties of manhood behind the scenes of a challenging son. He walked along side his wife through infertility, he wrestled with how to handle his son marrying a woman who was completely out of line with their priorities. His heart broke as his son got the reputation of visiting the red light district. And he and his wife saw their son enslaved, eyes poked out, and ultimately commit suicide. This was a tough haul.

And yet, He learned how to walk confidently in God’s will by understanding the Four lessons of the puzzle box.

I believe that everyone here today can walk confidently in God’s will. -Not searching for His will, or wishing about his will. or hoping to find his will. I believe each one of us can walk confidently in God’s will by understanding the lessons of the puzzle box. Turn in your Bible to Judges 13:1-21. Manoah and his wife are about to learn 4 lessons about the puzzle box.

Let me read from Judges 13:1-13.

Now the sons of Israel again did evil in the sight of the Lord, so that the Lord gave them

into the hands of the Philistines forty years. [2] And there was a certain man of Zorah, of the family of the Danites, whose name was Manoah; and his wife was barren and had borne no children. [3] Then the angel of the Lord appeared to the woman, and said to her, "Behold now, you are barren and have borne no children, but you shall conceive and give birth to a son. [4] "Now therefore, be careful not to drink wine or strong drink, nor eat any unclean thing. [5] "For behold, you shall conceive and give birth to a son, and no razor shall come upon his head, for the boy shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb; and he shall begin to deliver Israel from the hands of the Philistines." [6] Then the woman came and told her husband, saying, "A man of God came to me and his appearance was like the appearance of the angel of God, very awesome. And I did not ask him where he came from, nor did he tell me his name. [7] "But he said to me, 'Behold, you shall conceive and give birth to a son, and now you shall not drink wine or strong drink nor eat any unclean thing, for the boy shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb to the day of his death.' " [8] Then Manoah entreated the Lord and said, "O Lord, please let the man of God whom Thou hast sent come to us again that he may teach us what to do for the boy who is to be born." [9] And God listened to the voice of Manoah; and the angel of God came again to the woman as she was sitting in the field, but Manoah her husband was not with her. [10] So the woman ran quickly and told her husband, "Behold, the man who came the other day has appeared to me." [11] Then Manoah arose and followed his wife, and when he came to the man he said to him, "Are you the man who spoke to the woman?" And he said, "I am." [12] And Manoah said, "Now when your words come to pass, what shall be the boy's mode of life and his vocation?" [13] So the angel of the Lord said to Manoah, "Let the woman pay attention to all that I said.

At the beginning of our story we find people struggling with their lot in life and wondering about God’s plan. They were living in times when “people did what was right in their own eyes.” When Israel “Again” did evil in the sight of the Lord. Living for God was a distant memory to most in the society. Manoah and his wife have suffered many disappointments. The main one targeting their minds in our story is the problem of barrenness. They felt incomplete. You can imagine this couple longing, praying, and hoping for children for years only to hear the silence of the skies. Their life seemed incomplete.

Have you ever looked at your life and wondered the same things? Why is this happening? How could this be God’s will? Why doesn’t this make sense?

I. An unfinished puzzle looks incomplete

We must remember that an unfinished puzzle looks incomplete. The puzzle isn’t finished yet. Have you ever walked in on someone in the middle of putting together a puzzle? There are a few edge pieces hooked together on one corner. A person’s face is mangled together in the middle. (And is that a dog… No maybe a bear… Something hairy is coming together near the bottom corner… It looks incomplete -messed up, -disconnected. In a word, it looks like a waste -you’ve wasted a lot of time and don’t have much to show for it.

But that’s because it is unfinished. Our lives our unfinished puzzles. The will look incomplete. Christ is at work in us to bring that work to completion. So, if you feel like your life is scattered all over the card table and the dog ate your box top, welcome to the story of Samson’s birth.

In verse 3, the angel appears to the woman and says, “Behold now, you are barren and have borne no children.” Um, thanks for telling her something she didn’t already know. Think about that. “Thanks for the reminder, would you like to pour some salt in my wound too?”

STORY: Stephen and Carol

STORY: Jim M and adoption

What the angel is saying is significant. Look carefully. The angel says, NOW you are barren. Right now you have bore no children, but the next piece of the puzzle is coming. Up to this point you have had a problem (A serious one). You have not understood why you have been barren. Now, I am here to say that your puzzle looks incomplete simply because God isn’t finished with it.

but you shall conceive and bear a son. ⁴ Now therefore, please be careful not to drink wine or similar drink, and not to eat anything unclean. ⁵ For behold, you shall conceive and bear a son.

The Angel then tells her something vitally important. BUT. This is an important BUT! This is the BUT we all need. This is the promise that God is about to do something new and different. The puzzle is about to take shape: “BUT you shall conceive and give birth to a son.” That’s fantastic news! God is about to bring life where there was death, hope where there was only pain. and comfort where there was sorrow.

Do you believe that God can change you, your life and your attitudes? Whatever problem you have right NOW…Can you trust God for a BUT? Can you see that where you are is not where you will always be? Remember, an Unfinished puzzle looks incomplete.

ADORATION: There is no promise that circumstances will always get better in this broken world. But God doesn’t’ watch from a distance. He too faced the loss and pain of being both crucifed and shunned. He too cried out “WHY GOD MY GOD WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN ME” He knows what’s it like to see the picture as incomplete. His disciples knew what it looked like to think that all was lost at his crucifixion.

Transition: The angel continues in verse 4 by handing Manoah’s wife the next piece of the puzzle. That’s the frustrating thing about God sometimes. Often,

II. He hands us only one piece at a time.

We want a handful of pieces. We want to make of sense of it all. He hands us the piece we need at that time.

⁵ For behold, you shall conceive and bear a son. And no razor shall come upon his head, for the child shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb; and he shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines.”

The Angel turns to her and says, “Now, here’s the next piece, I want you to make sure that he does not drink wine nor eat any unclean thing because this child is to be a Nazarite.” (A small simple piece of the puzzle.) The angel is saying, “God’s promises are hinging on your obedience to this piece. Simply obey and God will bless.” This lesson can be hard to learn. So often, I want more than God gives me, -more direction, more guidance… More More More. God says, “Chad just act on what I have given you. “ I want more than God offers. In fact, I want to know what it means that he shall “begin to deliver” Israel. When? How much? God only hands them one piece at a time.

The same is true of Manoah. His wife runs home and tells him the news. She says, “You’re not gonna believe this, but an angel came down. And told me we are going to have a CHILD! Isn’t that great!” Manoah is overjoyed and says, "Can we get a confirmation of that."

Then the woman came and told her husband, saying, "A man of God came to me and his appearance was like the appearance of the angel of God, very awesome....Then Manoah entreated the Lord and said, "O Lord, please let the man of God whom Thou hast sent come to us again that he may teach us what to do for the boy who is to be born." [9] And God listened to the voice of Manoah; and the angel of God came again to the woman as she was sitting in the field, but Manoah her husband was not with her.

Her husband prays, entreats the Lord and applies this lesson. He says, "God you've told us that the piece you've handed us is "We are having a son" My prayer is "Teach me how to be faithful, how to do for the boy" what you want. In other words, Manoah says, Teach me how to be faithful with this one piece you've given me.... But, it' s also humorous to me that the instinct to want to more pieces is there when God shows up. He prayed, teach us to be good parents, but his first question is to request more pieces to the puzzle. Look at verse 12.

¹² Manoah said, “Now let Your words come to pass! What will be the boy’s rule of life, and his work?”

Manaoh asks the angel, “When what you said comes to pass, what shall be the boy’s mode of life and his vocation?” In other words, he is saying, “Okay we got the ‘we-are-having-a-child memo, But what I want to know is what is my son going to be doing for a living twenty years from now?

Don’t we all do this? I know I do. Lord, what do you want to do with my life long term? Many of you parents want God to answer the same question. “Lord, what are you doing in my children? Will they stay close to you? Will they know you? Will they ever find your will?” We all desperately want God to dump out the pieces to the puzzle. He hands us one and says, “Trust and obey. Act on this one.” The angel turns to Manaoh and says exactly that in verse 13,

[13] So the angel of the Lord said to Manoah, "Let the woman pay attention to all that I said.

” No more pieces! You only get one at a time. Just obey that one for now.

STORY: As a father, I felt a bit like Manoah, though Beth and I didn't struggle with the deep challenges of infertility, I was deeply surprised when Beth put her arms around me as I was looking out the window of our home in Smyrna GA and said, "Guess What?!" Of all the things, I might have "guessed" 2 months after being in our new home, the one thing I didn't have on my mind was, "A baby girl and pregnancy" I guessed... wrong. She gave me the news, and I, like Manoah wanted a confirmation. "Are you sure?" I had her do the pregnancy test twice, and go to the doctor to make sure... The doctor laughed at me and said, "those home pregnancy tests are very accurate." And I was excited about Sierra's birth but thinking, "How do we pay for this, what does this mean? How do I plan? What does the future hold?" These are ways a Father, a Provider, thinks. And if I had an audience with God, I must admit I'd want an inside peak at the future too. What does the future hold for Quinn, what will his job be, will his blindness hinder him? How about Javan? How will you maximize his intelligence and creativity and "mavrick" qualities and how do I prepare him now when his ADHD can be such a stumbling block to him. But God usually gives us only one piece at a time.

Transition: Though God rarely gives us the whole picture, he will sometimes give us the border before he gives us the details. When you put a puzzle together, the first thing you do is grab all the edge pieces and make a border or frame to which all the other pieces will connect with. God will often do that.

That’s the third lesson of walking in his will confidently

III. . The Border comes before the Details.

Thomas Merton: We do not first see and then act, we act and then see. And that is why the man who wants to see clearly before he will believe will never start on a journey

Look at verse 5, God is about to spell out the framework for Samson’s (their future son) life. He says, “He shall begin to deliver Israel.” (No hows. Or whens. Or Who will be involved? Just a border.) God says, “ I will use Samson to bring about victory and freedom for my people. “ When God says that to you, don’t you bombard him with an entourage of questions and interrogations?

It’s like a little child walking up to you while you are working on that puzzle? She says, “What’s that? What’s that gonna be? What’s the yellow blob? How long until you’re done?” God often gives us direction but not the specifics. God is beginning something in us -I want him to finish something.

I believe that God wants to begin something in each on of us. Are we willing to trust him with ambiguity? Will we walk through the foggy streets if God says little more than, “Go that way?"

In decision making, God give us the border before the details.

APPLICATION: God has given us the Borders

Drill down: Theologians call this the Moral/ Personal Will of God:

Moral Will of God refers to the dos and don’t God’s been clear about. Do not Steal. Do Not Murder. Do Not Be Angry Without A Just Cause. The

Personal Will of God refers to decisions and plans for our lives.

The more surrendered you are to the moral law of God the easier it is to discover the personal will of God. And obviously, we

don’t need to pray for guidance about the future God has already been clear about,

"Should I kill my neighbor? Shall I move in with my girlfriend?" "

Should I compromise my integrity on this?" And Surrendering to the Borders (The Known Will of God) paves the way to discovering the Details (the Unknown Will of God). Am I seeking and studying God's known will on this subject... and then wrestling with the core issue, WIll I trust God if he doesn't tell me everything I think I need.

Questions to Ask:

• Is what I’m considering outside the borders of Scripture?

• Is it the wise thing to do?

• Will this help me become who God wants me to be?

TRANSITION: We live in a world that is alot like a puzzlebox, and at all levels people are hungry for some borders. Some right and Wrong, Some sense of a moral compass. I love this piece I read in the New York Times.

“Seen from the outside, decisions may seem clear and concisely formulated…but one learns that much of what happens is the product of chaotic conditions and a great deal of personal struggle and ambiguity.”CEO OF FORTUNE 500 “I’ll be darned if I understand how we make some of our most important decisions around here”

IV. God Holds the Box Top

Judges 13:6-7 So the woman came and told her husband, saying, "A Man of God came to me, and His countenance was like the countenance of the Angel of God, very awesome; but I did not ask Him where He was from, and He did not tell me His name.

ILL: Every husband and wife I know has had this conversation. You get off the phone and share some news, and your spouse says, "Did you ask him about this? How about that? Why didn't you find out more about?" Why would you not ask about that. Men and Women think differently. We process differently. And I love it that The woman was so awestruck by the Angel of the Lord (again probably an incarnate Christ) and didn't even think to ask "Where did you come from" or what is your name? Now when the Angel appears to Manoah, he has a whole series of different questions

Judges 13:10-13 Then the woman ran in haste and told her husband, and said to him, "Look, the Man who came to me the other day has just now appeared to me!" [11] So Manoah arose and followed his wife....

[17] Then Manoah said to the Angel of the Lord, "What is Your name, that when Your words come to pass we may honor You?" [18] And the Angel of the Lord said to him, "Why do you ask My name, seeing it is wonderful?" [19] So Manoah took the young goat with the grain offering, and offered it upon the rock to the Lord. And He did a wondrous thing while Manoah and his wife looked on-- [20] it happened as the flame went up toward heaven from the altar--the Angel of the Lord ascended in the flame of the altar! When Manoah and his wife saw this, they fell on their faces to the ground.

²² And Manoah said to his wife, “We shall surely die, because we have seen God!”

Manoah says, "What's your name?" We want to honor you. We want to show you respect. We want to express our appreciation to you. And the Angel of the Lord says, "My name is too wonderful for you" You couldn't understand it, speak it, or comprehend it if you wanted to. I hold the box top to life, and it is so awesome, so wonderful. So wonderful, so beyond the comprehension of your little brains, you would short circuit if I showed it to you. But , notice all the hints the Angel of the Lord gives us. Here are his answers: "Am I the one who spoke to your wife... "I AM" (Yahweh). My name is Wonderful. Your wife saw me as very awesome. She was speechless. I will even so something now that is a wonderous thing. I will go into the fire of your offering. And he entered the fire. He stepped into the fire as they watched. He allowed himself to be worshiped. This is no "angel." An angel would not let himself be worshiped. Worship goes only to God. This is Jesus. And when Manoah and his wife see Jesus. The Jesus who is beyond comprehension. The Jesus who enters the fire of our lives. The Jesus who says, I can't explain it all to you right now. But I hold the box top. Trust me. When they begin to worship Christ for who he is... They fall to their faces in worship and say, "We have seen GOD!" The preincarnate Christ. Dwelling among them.

Conclusion:

There are two ways to handle adversity: Worry or Worship. Either I confidently walk in God's will trusting him even when the puzzle is incomplete. Even if I only get one piece at a time. Even if God gives me the borders before the details. When i see him. When I worship Him, I can trust He holds the box top, even if he won't show it to me. Even if I don't understand it. Even if I don't get it. I know. I have a heavenly father I can trust.

VIDEO: Father's Day Love Letter

SONG: Blessed