Text:
1 Kings 8:54-61
March 8, 2009.
INTRODUCTION:
1) Often disappointed: Dr. Joe Stowell,
former president of Moody Bible Institute, was an avid baseball fan. Having
lived in north side of Chicago for decades, his favorite team was no other than
the Chicago Cubs. He said that the interesting thing about being a Cubs fan was
that the team had a way of letting the fans down. The Cubs had not won a World
Series since 1908. While they often had great promise at the beginning of a
season, they usually disappoint their fans in the end. One die-hard fan had it
right when he said, “If they didn’t disappoint us, they wouldn’t be our Cubs.”
I can’t agree more the way I feel about the Dallas Cowboys.
2) Never disappointed: Thankfully, God is not like
the Chicago Cubs or the Dallas Cowboys! You can count on Him always. He will
never disappoint you in the beginning or at the end. He always keeps His
promises and His word provides comfort, hope and wise advice that has never
failed. When King Solomon prayed at the dedication of the first temple ever
built in Israel, he attested to the fact that God had not let His people down.
He said, “Blessed be to the Lord who has given rest to His people Israel
according to all that He promised. There has never failed one word of all His
good promises.” (1 Kings 8:56)
DISAPPOINTMENTS IN THE BIBLE:
1) God was disappointed: “And God said, ‘Who told
you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not
to eat from?” (Genesis 3:11) If you were disappointed, you are not alone. Ever
since the beginning of human history, many were disappointed began from God.
After God had done so much good things for Adam and his wife Eve, given them
almost all the privileges and authorities over His creation, they disappointed
God by violated His command.
2) Moses was disappointed: “I cannot carry these
people all by myself; the burden is too heavy for me. If this is how you are going
to treat me, put me to death right now, if I have found mercy in your eyes, and
do not let me face my own ruin.” (Num. 11:14-15)Moses gave up his quiet life,
his family and a safe nest in his hometown Median to answer the call of leading
the Israelis out of the land of oppression, risked his life to face the wrath
of Pharaoh, but he did not have the support of the people. They complained
every step of the way on everything they went through and even wanted to kill
him and returned to Egypt. At the end of his rope, Moses asked God to let him
die so he won’t to see his suffering.
3) Jesus was disappointed: “Then he returned to the
disciples and found them sleeping. ‘Could you men not keep watch with me for an
hour?’ He asked Peter.” (Matthew 26:40) This happened at the Garden of Gethsemane where Jesus agonized in his soul before he
accepted the cross from the Father. Here his disciples were with him in body
but not in spirit to show their support when He needed them most. At that
moment, He was greatly disappointed because of the weakness of his best
friends.
4) Paul was disappointed: “At my first defense, no
one came to my support but everyone deserted me.” (2 Timothy 4:16)With all the
good work he had done for 30 years and many acquaintance, coworkers, friends and
Christians Paul had led to salvation through those years. When he needed
someone to testify on his behalf on his character, his innocence of the false
accusations and his personal integrity, everyone disappeared and forsaken him?
You need to have similar experience of being abandoned by people you trust to
understand how Paul was disappointed.
DISAPPOINTMENT WITH GOD: Why?
1) Different expectation: “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.” (1 Kings 19:11-12) Many times God did not work the way we
expect Him will. Since we believe that God is mighty, so He must work in mighty
ways. Yes, sometimes He did like divided the Red Sea so the Israelis could
cross over. But He doesn’t always work that way. We expect God to work in
mighty or dramatic ways and when He doesn’t, we are disappointed.
2) Different operation: “When you pray, go into
your room, close the door and pray to your Father who is unseen. Then your
Father who sees in secret will reward you.”(Matt. 6:6)Jesus encouraged us to
pray not seen by people but seen by the unseen God and He will reward our
prayers also in unseen ways. Being human, we incline to believe in things we
can see, touch or feel. But God operates in different way than ours. Even
though God may be unseen, He is always there and sees what we do or need and will
meet our needs in ways we may not be able to see.
3) Different thoughts: “For my thoughts are not
your thoughts, nor your ways my ways, declares the Lord.” (Isaiah 55:8)
Allowing the Israelis to exile in foreign lands was God’s way to purify them
from the sin of idol worship. But the Israelis couldn’t see God’s work in their
nation and people for their good. Often we want to see God’s mercy more than
His holiness even in time of our sin. His wisdom in choosing His way is not the
way as we think He should do. When His thoughts are so different from ours, we
become disappointed.
4) Different answers: “If you though are evil
know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in
heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!” (Matt. 7:11) When we didn’t get
what we asked for from God, we become disappointed with God. But Jesus wanted
us to understand that our God will always give the best gifts to us when we ask
Him. He always knows what is best for us and is generous to answer our prayers and
give us the best gifts. We should not demand God to follow our way and give us
what we ask. Instead we should follow His way. His way is always the best way.
HOW NOT TO BE DISAPPOINTED? (1 Kings 8:54-61)
1) Begin with a humble heart: “When Solomon had finished
all these prayers and supplication to the Lord, he rose from before the altar
of the Lord, where he had been kneeling with his hands spread out toward
heaven.” (8:54) To offer prayers in kneeling position with hands spread to
heaven is a gesture of being humble and reverend to God. When we come to God in
prayers or other ways, we must first have a humble and revered heart knowing
that He is God and we are only human. Even though God is merciful God, we are
not on same position as He is. We are not in any position to demand anything
from God.
2) Confident in God’s promises: “Praise be to the Lord who
has given rest to His people Israel just as he promised. Not one word has
failed of all the good promises he gave through his servant Moses.” (8:55)This
is the heart of the prayer in this chapter: Solomon was confident in God’s
faithfulness to His good promises. God has not and will not fail one word in
all his promises. When we come to God in prayer, we must have the same kind of
confidence that God will never fail one word in His promises. If you don’t have
confidence in God, your prayers go nowhere.
3) Remember past blessings: “May the Lord our God be
with us as He was with our fathers; may He never leave us nor forsake us.”
(8:57)Solomon looked back in history and acknowledged what God had done or
blessed their forefathers. Without God’s blessings in the past, he won’t have
this day to dedicate the temple God had him build. Remembering what God has
done in our life in the past, counting His grace and love would help us not to
get disappointed easily. Since God didn’t disappointed their forefathers, He
won’t disappoint Solomon or his people
4) Make a commitment to God: “May He turn our hearts to
Him, to walk in all His ways and to keep His commands, decrees and regulations
He gave our forefather.” (8:58)Solomon did not just ask God for blessings, he
made a commitment on behalf of the people, to turn their hearts to God, to walk
God’s ways and to keep God’s commands, decrees and regulations. If you are
committed to God and determined to follow His laws, no matter how God leads the
way, changes the course of your life or how different his answers to your
prayers may be, you won’t feel disappointed. Commitment and disappointment
never match.
5) For the glory of God: “So that all the peoples of
the earth may know that the Lord is God and that there is no other.” (8:60)To
focus only on what we want and demand that God works our way is a sure way to
get disappointed because we start on a faulty ground and a wrong purpose. Solomon
showed us a better purpose to live our life and that is to bring more people to
know God, believe in God and to honor God in their lives. Let’s place God and
His glory at the top of our purpose of life. If we have this right purpose and
attitude about God, we won’t feel disappointed just because God didn’t do
things our way.
CONCLUSION:
1) It’s part of real world: This world is not perfect,
at least not as perfect the way we want it to be. There will be times that we
are disappointed both with God and with man. Learn how to cope with
disappointment is a skill we all have to learn to live a happy and content
life. Since none of us is perfect, to ask perfection of the world is a sure way
to be disappointed.
2) Only God is perfect: With all the power,
knowledge and love, God can do anything and everything we may ask. But He may
not do it exactly the way we want Him to. He knows what is the best for us in
the long run. Build a close relationship with God and be humble to follow His
lead is the best way not to be disappointed. In him, all things are possible.
3) Don’t disappoint God: For God so loved the world,
including you, and He has a perfect plan for your life. Get to know Him and ask
Him into your heart so He can make your life anew with eternal blessing. To
refuse God’s gift of eternal life is a certain disappointment to God. It is
never too late to start anew.