Peace in Waiting

I'm excited about this weekend. We are in a series called Missing Peace. It's our Christmas series. We like to set aside each year a series that kind of reflects on Christmas and also what we're going through and missing peace, not as peace of the pie, but as a peace in our heart, right? It seems like today is a day where peace is really sought after and it's hard to get.

A lot of unrest, a lot of people that are all over the place, whether it's the economy, whether it's your friends, whether it's just community things, it's just there's always this wanting and need for peace. And last week we talked about Shalom, this peace that passes understanding that is available to us as believers. But this week I want to share about waiting. Waiting. We're going to deal with waiting.

Now next week at our Christmas service, I'm going to talk about being disappointing with God. And I think that's an awesome subject because some of you here even now are probably disappointing with God. God hasn't followed through with some things that you thought that He would have followed along. And as that pertains to Christmas story, I pray that that would be an incredible time for you to come out and be a part of that. And hopefully God's got a great message for you, something to inspire your heart.

But if you would just stand, I'm going to do something a little different. If you will stand with me for the reading of the Word. And if you have your Bible apps, you can also open up your Bible apps at Bible.com or what have you and find Salt Church and it will be there. If you'll turn with me to Matthew 1, 20 and 23.

And let's follow along together in reverence to God's Word. An angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife. Because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son and you are to give him the name Jesus because he will save his people from their sins. And all this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet.

The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son and they will call his name Emmanuel. God with us. Can y'all just praise God for a second? Amen. God, we just pray for the word.

We pray for your message that you've given us today. Lord, let your word inspire us and may we come away from here with something new and something powerful. And may our hearts never be the same when we come into this place, Lord, as it did when we came into this place. In your name. Amen.

You may be seated. My daughter has a common thing that she brings up pretty much every day right now as we get closer to Christmas, the anticipation of Christmas. And it's, oh, daddy. And she says it was such poetry. You know, it's like it's very poetic.

Oh, daddy, if only Christmas was here. Oh, I wish Christmas were here, daddy. I mean, she really puts all into it. I mean, she's that dramatic about it. I just wish Christmas was here today.

I wish Christmas was here. I want Christmas to be here, daddy. When is it going to get here? It seems so far away. And I have to stop her and remind her, you know, this is the Christmas season.

Enjoy Christmas as you're in the Christmas season. But she's just like, no, I just want Christmas to be there. Because she's thinking about the present she's going to get and being with her family and being with her grandmother and grandfather and her cousins and all the fun things that come along with being around family at Christmas and all the excitement of Christmas and the anticipation of Christmas. And Christmas is coming. It's inevitable.

And I remind her, it's coming. Don't worry. It'll be here before you know it. And some of you know, the older you get, Christmas comes way too quick, right? Way too fast.

You feel like last year was Christmas. Yesterday was last year's Christmas, right? And now Christmas is here again. I know our church was like that. We're like, wow, can you believe Christmas is already here?

It feels like last year we were having our Christmas service during the pandemic. And now we're back in person and doing this thing again with an open situation. And it's just like, whoa, you know, it's inevitable. But waiting is just hard. You know, when you're a kid, you're like, are we there yet?

Are we there yet? Your kids probably do that. Are we there yet? Are we going along? Thank goodness that my wife decided to book a plane ticket to Florida a couple of months ago when we went to Disney World because I was planning on driving the whole 13, 14 hours, however long it took to get there that evening.

And I... I know that that probably would have been a hard process for my kids, because they would have asked me every minute of every second, are we there yet? In fact, they were dreading it. I don't like that long trip, you know. But waiting is hard.

One of the hardest things, one of the worst feelings in life is waiting. One of the worst feelings in life is to wait on God, especially when it is about God. When we're waiting on God, that's a hard thing. It's hard to wait on God. Some of you may be here today, do you feel like God's taken too long?

You've been praying, you've been listening, and you've been asking God, and you feel like, God, have you forgotten me? God, I've been doing what you say to do. I've been reading my Bible. I've been waiting on you. I've been spending my time with you.

I'm trying to do, I'm trying to trust you, but God, I don't hear you. I don't know that you're there. I don't feel that you're even listening to me. Have you forgotten me? And in this season, I think a lot of people feel that, because the intensity of the season, that depression is way up, because people feel lonely.

People feel like they're without, you know. They're thinking about a loved one that they lost, or they're dealing with a sickness. Maybe you have a physical element that you've been praying for for years. Maybe you're praying for people to come to know the knowledge of Jesus that have been in your family for, you know. And you just, you've been praying for a long time.

You want to see that daughter, or you want to see that son come to Christ. And you've been praying, and you've been praying, you've been seeking God for that thing. Maybe it's your marriage. Maybe your marriage is really struggling. You've been asking God, God, just fix my marriage.

Are you even listening to me? My spouse, they're just not in the same place as me. And I know you, I want a God-honoring marriage. I'm not going to leave my marriage because I know we're struggling, but God, won't you come through? Some of you are single, and you've been praying for a mate for a long time.

And you're not, you don't know if God even cares, or if God even hears from you. You've been praying, and you're still single, and you're getting older, and you're getting worried. And you, God, are you really there? Are you really there? Do you feel like God is taking too long?

Do you feel like God isn't listening? Do you feel like God? God has forgotten you. I'm sure this is how the Israelites felt in the Old Testament, because for centuries they were promised a Messiah. Think about it.

It goes all the way back, and my plan today is to kind of show you that this was a long wait. This wasn't something, in hindsight, it looks like everything came to fruition, right? But when they were in it, when they were walking through it, it was a very long wait. God gave them a promise. And if you go all the way back to Genesis, and all of you know the story of Genesis, Adam and Eve, they are in the garden, and then they sin, and then God comes in and says, you know, because of this, the woman will do this, the man will do this, the woman will do this.

See, you brought this on yourself. Now I'm having to basically do this and put these things in place. And as you remember, there was a serpent that came in the garden, deceived Eve, and then Adam and Eve failed to sin. They ate of the knowledge of the tree of good and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. And therefore, we as human nature have fallen into sin.

But there's this odd verse right in the middle. It kind of just is thrown in there. I remember reading it years ago for the first time, and I'm like, where did that come from? And how did that get in there? And it deals with the seed of a woman who would crush a serpent's head.

Basically, that you will bruise, there will be a seed of a woman, and you will bruise his heel, and he will crush your head, a serpent's head. This is a prophecy that was opened up to all of mankind, particularly the Israelites. They understood it this way, and many scholars would even say that was one of the first prophecies in the Bible, the first prophecy of the Christ who would come from the seed of a woman and would conquer death and conquer hell and conquer Hades. And there's over 300 prophecies in the Bible, guys, in the Old Testament alone. And they waited, and they were, God, are you even there?

We're going through this. We're going through that. We've lost our land. We got our land back. We've been taken into bondage, and then we're put back under this, and you've given us this back, and we're still not seeing your promises.

And 700 years before Christ, I land on what Isaiah, giving that prophecy, 700 years. And... Right in the middle of all of this, right? He says, therefore, the Lord Himself will give you a sign. The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son and will call him Emmanuel.

God with us, Emmanuel. So God promised to send a Savior and God's people waited. Captivity after captivity, move after move, rulership after rulership. They waited. And what was God doing while they were waiting, is the question.

What's God doing while you were waiting, is the question. What's God up to while you were waiting? There is this period in the Bible that's actually not written in the Bible, okay? It's in the timeline of the structure of Scripture, in the timeline chronologically. There is this 400-year period between Malachi, where the last book in the Old Testament happens, and Matthew, where it opens up with the Gospel story.

It's called the intertestamental period. Excuse me, intertestamental period. This is a period, if it wasn't already bad, where God wasn't delivering, or they felt like God wasn't delivering on His promise of this Messiah. It was hard enough waiting during that period. During this period of 400 years before the Messiah came, God completely pulled back.

There were no prophecies. God was not moving. God was not doing anything. It was a very dry period in the history of Israel, in the history of Jerusalem. It was a very, very, like God was not doing, they were going through the rituals, they were going through the religious ceremonies, but God was not present.

Any other time, God was at least present and talking, talking through prophets, talking through patriarchs, talking through patriarchs, and talking through people, but during this period, nothing was happening, and they were wondering, what in the world is going on, I'm sure. Like, it was a very dry season. Maybe you're going through a dry season. You're trying to hear from God. Maybe you're trying to hear from somebody.

I want to feel something, but the silence is there. God, say, do something, say something, show me something, right? I don't care what it is. Like, send somebody over to talk. I don't know.

Why aren't you moving? Why aren't you saying? Why aren't you showing me anything? I feel so dry? Before this period of waiting, I mean, In the Israelite world, it was just common that God would speak at some point, but He wasn't speaking here.

But let me tell you this, God's silence is not God's absence. You need to write that down. God's silence is not God's absence. In fact, I would argue that God is much more present when He's silent. He's leaning into you.

He's wanting you to see something. Because while you are waiting, God is working. While you are waiting, God is working. Because God is always working. So what was God doing during this period of time, 400 years?

Because He was in fact working. Did you know that? He was doing stuff. It might not have been speaking, but He was doing something. He was setting up Christmas.

Did you know that? Things were happening during that period. In fact, the Apostle Paul gives us some context in Galatians 4 and 5. But when the set time, now circle that, underline that, whatever you have the ability to do that. Now the set time, when the set time had fully come, God sent His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that He might receive adoption to sonship.

Set time. It was the set time in which He would send His Son. That word set time there is significant. If you look at the original language, it says this, Pleroma is, and Chrono. Pleroma, Chromo is the original language of that.

It's the Greek language. Chrono, obviously, chronological. That's where we get chronological, Chrono. It's a measurement. It's of time.

And then, Pleroma means a full measure, a perfect time. So we're talking about a perfect time, a full measure. And you see this throughout Scripture in different versions of Galatians 4.4, but when the time was right, or when the fullness of time had come. So, literally, what you're getting here in the original language is when the time was fully pregnant.

When the impregnation... It happened at the perfect time where it was to be delivered right and any of you have been had children or been pregnant knows that you can't hurry a pregnancy right you can't make it happen that day when it's not time it's not time but when it's time it's time right you can't hold it back when it's ready to come the child is ready to come the child is ready to come right I don't know maybe I'm the only one in here everybody's quiet I don't I don't know first service y'all are laughing like crazy but I look look look you know it's it's true though when when when Miranda and I we have two kids we know good and well that you cannot hurry a pregnancy you cannot hurry you cannot take you you may want to be delivered that day but when the doctor says it's not ready they're not ready they're not ready to come but in the perfect time when the time was fully come and interestingly enough it came from a woman in Genesis it says the seed of a woman did you know that's the only time time in Scripture that it says that from the seed of a woman because anything biological comes from the seed of a man throughout Scripture anytime you see from the seed of a man from from if you see any anything in Scripture about begatting you know all the begats and stuff like that you see the traces of history and stuff like that it's always from a man but in this particular case it was it was a prophecy of the seed of the seed of a woman this is the seed of a woman this is the seed of a woman this is the seed of a woman this is the only time in Scripture why because Jesus was to be born of a virgin not from man but from the Holy Spirit we can see from the Holy Spirit to save us from the world it didn't to forgive us of our sin without sin he was he came into this world without sin and we have this prophecy here of a woman giving birth to God himself and centuries and centuries and centuries and centuries and centuries and all of this took place and when did he fulfill it when the time was just right he fulfilled it in the right time not our time not anybody else's time but in his time the perfect moment God sent his son and looking back honestly if we have been through anything in life and we sat in those waiting periods and those holding periods in hindsight everything looks to work out right when we look back oh that makes sense oh I understand Oh, I see it all together. And looking at Christ from that perspective, we're like, oh yeah, the prophecies. Oh yeah, the stories. Oh yeah.

But when you're in the middle of it, it's hard to see. And it's hard to hope sometimes, right? And it's hard to believe. In hindsight, it makes sense. But when you're in it, it's hard.

But just because God feels silent doesn't mean He's absent. While you're waiting, He is working. And He is always working. His perfect timing in your situation. His perfect timing in your problem.

His perfect timing in your prayer, in your request. And here's what was happening in the intertestamental period of history's 400 years. Five things happened. A man named Alexander the Great conquered all the known world. If you're history buffs, you know about that.

You know, if anybody gets great on their name, they probably are pretty great, right? They did some incredible things. So, Greece ran the world during that period of time. Also, during that time, the Old Testament was translated into Greek because everybody started to learn a little Greek. Because Greece ran the world during that time, we had Scripture that was translated in Greek and everybody could read Greek.

And then there was a new way of learning called the Socratic method of learning, which most of you are familiar with today. During that time, before that time, in fact, most people learned by hearing lectures or hearing educators. And they would just write down and they would just write down and mimic what they did. But during this period of time, they changed that up and learned a new method of asking questions and dialoguing and going further. And then in 63 BC, Rome conquered the Greeks.

And what we know about the Romans is they could put together road systems, they could put together infrastructure, they put highways in, they throughout the empire, they put connection points where people could travel, people could communicate, things could go out very quickly. And then there was this period called the Diaspora. The Diaspora, which Jerusalem was distributed, was not allowed to live together in Jerusalem, in the city, the Israelites, the Jews, and they were sent out all over the world in different places living among Gentiles and other cities and other places. So for the first time in history, in the waiting for 400 years to see what God would do, in the waiting of thousands of years, in fact, God was setting up the perfect time for Christ to come into the picture because everyone could read a language that they all understood. It was the first time we could encourage questions.

So when Jesus came in the world and they asked who God was, He could tell them, right? When we asked God, what do you got for us? He could say, I sent your son, Jesus Christ. It was the good news of a Savior that could travel in a common language along common roads. The infrastructure made it very easy for the gospel to go out, for churches to be planted, for the church to be birthed in the perfect season of life.

While God's people were waiting, God was still working. God was underneath putting a plan. He was unfolding. He was using history. He was using governments.

He was putting things together in order to present the good news of Jesus Christ who was to come to the world to save us of our sin. He was fulfilling prophecy right before us in that time, in that period of that dry season. Some of you are in a dry season and you can't feel God. You can't hear God. You don't know where God is.

And you're asking, have I failed? Have I done something wrong? Have I sinned, Lord? Where are you, God? Have you left me?

Have you left me alone? Am I all alone? Some of you are there. You're not the only one that felt that way. Abraham and Sarah waited.

Let me put this in perspective. 25 years. Some of you have been waiting 25 minutes. You can't stand it. And they waited 25 years.

You want something. You want to answer right now. If you're listening in perspective. You want something. You want something.

It's worth it. Joseph's vision was 13 years before it was fulfilled and he spent most of that time in prison for a crime he didn't commit. The woman with the issue of blood spent 12 years with health issues. She had to hide, she had to keep herself distant from people. Twelve years before Jesus came along and healed her.

And interestingly enough, the man who was healed, the lame man who was healed in Scripture, 38 years of being lame. 38 years. 38 years makes 38 minutes that you're dealing with right now not so bad, right? You're not alone. Because God's delays are not necessarily God's denials.

Can I hear a good amen to that? God's delays are not God's denials. While you're waiting, God is working. He's working the process. He's working in the middle of it.

And while you're waiting for that answer, while you're waiting for that miracle, while you're waiting for that provision to take place, He's working. And maybe it's not ready yet. Maybe it's still incubating. Maybe if you received it right now, you wouldn't know how to handle it. Because it's not ready.

Maybe you're single and you've been praying for a mate. Maybe they're being prepared for you right now. Maybe they're not ready for you. Or maybe you're struggling in your marriage and there seems to be no end in sight. But maybe God's just not ready for you to, maybe He's preparing something underneath.

That's going to be a lot better because not only is He working, not only are you ready for it, maybe it's not ready for you. Maybe you're not ready for it. Maybe you're not ready for it. Maybe He's still working on you while you're waiting on it. It's not ready and you're not ready.

You're not ready. Had somebody in our salt group just the other day say, I'm having a hard time trusting God right now. I'm waiting and waiting and waiting and having a hard time. Well, that's the whole point. You're not trusting God.

God says, you're not ready for what I have for you because you're not ready to trust Him. I'm frustrated, Lord. I'm this, I'm here and I'm there. Well, you're just not ready. Maybe you're just not ready.

So don't waste the waiting. Because God could be doing something in you and you'll miss out on what God's doing in you while you're trying to get to what God has for you. And God's not ready for what He has for you yet because you're not ready with what's going on inside of you. He's preparing you in this moment, in this season. And some of you have given up.

You say, well, I know God's preparing me, but I've given up and I just don't believe that He's going to do it. That's the point. You don't believe it. You don't believe it. And He's not ready for you to receive those things yet.

So prepare. Don't waste the season. He could be teaching you patience. He could be teaching you trust. He could just want you to simply draw closer to Him.

Maybe He's got a calling on your life. He wants you to draw closer to Him. Maybe you're just not there yet. He says, focus on me a little bit. Stop focusing on the thing that you want me to give you.

Maybe you're just forgetting about me. Your God is the thing that you want, not me. I'm not a vending machine savior. I've only got what you need, not what you want. Because what you want isn't necessarily what you need, and it really isn't what you want in the first place.

So you need to trust in God. So don't waste the waiting. I love how Isaiah says that since ancient times, no one has heard nor ear has perceived, no eye has seen any God besides you. And I love this last part, who acts on behalf of those who wait on Him, who acts on behalf of those who want what they want right now, who's decided in there, no, God, you're going to give it to me now. I don't trust you.

I don't believe in you. I don't think you're doing anything right now. So you're just going to, you know, I give up. Nope. That moves God, I'm sure, right?

No, it says those who wait. There's a special place for those who are able to wait on the Lord because God moves on their behalf, responds on their behalf, initiates on their behalf, interrupts on their behalf. Now, God is always good. He's always at perfect timing with what is going on, and you can trust Him no matter what because God in the perfect. In the perfect time, God is working.

He's not ignoring you. He's not neglecting you. He hasn't forgot you. If you're here today and you think God's forgotten you, can I just say, just let me speak over your life. God has not forgotten you.

He loved you. He is a good God. He's got something for you. He's asking you to lean into Him so that He can show you more. He has got something for you.

He is a good God because God, although He's seen silence, doesn't He is never absent. He doesn't excuse Himself from the situation. He is there and He is working. And while you're waiting, God is working. While you're waiting, God is always working.

And years from now, years from now, as you go through, someday you're going to be able to look back and say, wow, God, you were right. And I was wrong. I thought you were supposed to have that person for me. But you had somebody else for me. I thought you should have had that job for me.

But now I've got this career that's so much better. I thought that you were going to heal me of this affliction. But God, you've shown me so much more of what you can do through my affliction rather than heal my affliction. God's got so much more and He knows more. And in closing, I want to say this.

Christianity is unique among all other world religions. Here's why. Because every world religion, and maybe you've heard this, maybe you don't, you haven't heard this. And some of you use the phrase religion, you know, a lot. I invite people to church.

Hey, come to church with me. That's okay. I'm not really into religion. I tell them I'm not either. I hate religion.

Why? Because Jesus hated religion. Because every other religion in the world, outside of Christianity, says you have to earn God. You have to achieve nirvana. Achieve enlightenment.

Achieve some level before God. I've got to have good behavior. I've had conversations with people. Well, you know, I want to go back to church. I want to kind of come back to God.

But I've got to start changing some behaviors first. And it ain't never I feel told me just like that. And no way. I feel like the thought, I sound like that. It's not going to happen, people, okay?

That's not, it just doesn't work. No other religion works. Nobody achieves enlightenment. Nobody achieves fulfillment in their own ability to do what's right. Because in ourselves, we're always going to mess up.

And this is the beauty of Christianity. This is the beauty of God. This is the beauty of a loving, heavenly Father that is available to us through His Son. Jesus Christ, that when He was at the very beginning, when He made the prophecy, when Adam and Eve had sinned and fallen short of God's glory, the Father said from the very beginning, I am going to send my Son. And I'm going to send my Son so that He can crush the enemy.

He can crush captivity. He can crush and He can bring freedom to the captives. That's why He came to this earth. That's why the Father looked at His Son, His only begotten Son. Do you realize the significance of that, what the significance of Christmas is?

A begotten Son, the precious Son of God that was sent to this earth and lived among the people and the people didn't even accept Him. His own people did not accept Him. But in the perfect time, in the perfect time, God sent His Son so that we could be made free. Not so that we could do good. We can only do good by virtue of Jesus Christ who is good.

And the Father who is good. He makes us right with Him. And it's simply by just allowing Him to have complete surrender. It's all He did. It's the blood of Jesus.

It's all He did. That's it. And so every religion says, I need to pursue God. The beauty of Christmas is that God pursues us. He came down and He pursued us.

And He may be pursuing you right now. And He's been pursuing you for years. He's been waiting on you. You've been waiting on Him, but He's been waiting on you. Did you know that?

He's waiting on you. And I love how Peter puts it. He says, the Lord is not slow in keeping his promise. Okay? Some of you have given up on God and he's not slow in keeping his promise as some understand slowness.

Instead, he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish. He doesn't want anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. What if God or the God that you are waiting on is waiting? What if the God you're waiting on online is waiting on you? What if the God that you've wandered for years, if he's even there, if he didn't even care, what if he's waiting on you?

And some of you feel the pursuit of God right now. So with all heads bowed and eyes closed, I just want to invite you to know Jesus. And if you already know Jesus, I want to invite you to take a step closer to Jesus and start surrendering a little bit more. Learn to trust him. Learn to believe in him.

Learn to know that he is working even when it feels like he's not. He's always working. Even when you don't feel it, even when you don't know it, he's working. Father, in the name of Jesus, Holy Spirit, thank you for being with us here today in our presence. Today, as I pray among the people here today, the congregation and all those who are with us, there's somebody here that's filling your drawing.

that feels you're pursuing, that you're pursuing them. I pray that they would respond by surrendering their hearts and surrendering their lives to you, to realize that you have something so much better for them, that in the waiting, that you have been working for many years. If that's you today, just pray this with me. All the church can pray it together. Father, I believe that you have been pursuing me for years.

From the very beginning of time, you thought of me. So today, I believe that you are the Son of God and that you died on the cross for my sin, and I feel your knocking on my heart. So today, I open the door of my heart. And I allow you to come into my life. I completely surrender to you today.

I give my heart. I give my life. I give my soul. I give everything to you. I no longer walk in the way that I want to walk.

I walk in the way that you want to walk. I'm trusting you and I'm believing in you. God, fulfill my life. Come into my heart. Change me from the inside out.

In your precious, holy name. Jesus Christ. I'll give God a hand clap of praise. Thank you, Jesus.