Where Might We Need to Dig? / Pastor Randy Goldenberg / FCF Church

Remember it said the holy writing said that the rivers of living water will flow from the heart of the one who puts trust in Christ. We can't help it. It just overflows. And let me share these last three statements real quick. God is often less interested in solving the problem quickly than in teaching us to trust him deeply. Good. Dig ditches. I'm not I'm not gonna give you the water real quick. Secondly, the real miracle is the transformation of the people involved. Our trust grows. We become a different kind of a person, sold out to the god that we now know we can trust. Thirdly, and many times he accomplishes that through situations that require faith filled preparation, conditional promises, remember where I started, preparation that can seem as unlikely as digging ditches in a dry valley. [01:30:26] (46 seconds)  #LivingWaterOverflow

They obey the command of God when it did not make any sense. Let that sink in. That is the challenge. That is an inevitability for finite creatures dealing with an infinite god. Inevitably, there will be times when he commands something of us, tells us to do something, tells us to stop something, tells us to learn something, tells us to break a habit, to to make a dramatic change in our life, to take a big risk, to invest ourselves in something that's costly, and we will not really understand it. [00:55:46] (35 seconds)  #ObeyBeyondUnderstanding

So when we say, yes, I am a Christian, meaning I have put my trust in Christ and become his follower, the evidence for that will be, are we joyfully living in obedience to God's will as it's revealed in his word? Are we eagerly looking into his word, seeking to learn his word so that we can obey his word? Because real trust, real confidence, real reliance produces obedience. No obedience, no real trust. [01:04:02] (33 seconds)  #ObedienceIsEvidence

So God not only is going to meet their urgent need, he's going to do something beyond that. He's going to give them victory over their enemy. So the conundrum though is that they're in this dry place. They're about dead for thirst themselves. They're animals as well. And then the assignment, the clear assignment, the clear command, the clear exhortation from God is dig ditches all over this dry valley. Now picture, you're already very hot, you're very tired, you're dehydrated already and this doesn't make any sense. [00:54:22] (38 seconds)  #DigDitchesTrustGod

It's not as easy as it sounds to trust god. But when we trust god, we risk everything joyfully on his word. Doesn't mean we don't have some intrepidation at times, doesn't mean we don't have some fears and some struggles inwardly, but we ultimately trust him and do the things that even appear sound like sometimes unnecessary even irrational digging ditches in a dry riverbed when you're just about to die from exhaustion and thirst. [01:07:08] (32 seconds)  #JoyfulRiskingFaith

There's all kinds of circumstances that God uses but here's the thing we can count on. He's always trying to stretch us. He's always trying to get more and more and more of our trust until we finally get to the place where it is automatic pilot. We just as soon as we hear his command, as soon as we know his will on a given thing, we instantaneously we we do it eagerly. We say, oh, Here's another opportunity for experiencing the life of God in my soul. I'm gonna obey this one. Yeah. It sounds pretty crazy. It sounds pretty risky. It's a big investment, but I'm all in. I know who God is. I know the way he works. [01:09:46] (33 seconds)  #TrustOnAutopilot

What might we need to dig? It might not be a dry riverbed, but what might God be wanting us to to dig into? What step might he be wanting us to take in our life that we are really uncomfortable with? We we his word is clear. We know he wants us to take it, but we are really uncomfortable and it doesn't make a lot of sense when we examine the way most people live in the rest of the world and we say, you know, why should I be the oddball, the weirdo to live this way and deny myself of stuff that nobody else is denying themself of? [00:59:00] (33 seconds)  #DigIntoDiscomfort

What if that peculiar, that seemingly almost irrational command exhortation in scripture is literally the key to some sort of unique blessing that God wants to release to you. Something maybe you've been urgently wanting, praying for even, and it's the key and yet you're hesitant. You're like, this doesn't make sense. Many of you are familiar with the term called conditional promises in scripture? Can I see your hand? This will tell me how long you've been a follower of Christ. Okay. In the bible, the bible is loaded with these things called conditional promises. [00:45:21] (41 seconds)  #LinkedByFaith