Recognizing Jesus in Transitions: God Walks With You

God's silence doesn't mean that god is absent for from us. Sometimes, god closes the door that you wanted because he's opening the door that you needed. And he was there the whole time and here's what I've learned. Sometimes, god's is present but we can cannot see him clearly because of what we're carrying. Let me say that again. Sometimes, god is present but we cannot see him clearly because of what we're carrying in our life. The disciples did not miss Jesus because he was far away. He was right there next to him, right? They missed him because their hearts probably were heavy. They were carrying grief, confusion, what was going on, disappointment, and disappointment has a way. Can I can I can I say this real fast? Disappointment has a way of changing how you see everything. [01:13:31] (50 seconds)  #PresenceNotPerception

I want you to write this down. Jesus' presence was not dependent upon their awareness. Jesus' presence was not dependent upon their awareness. He was there the whole time. Have you ever been in a service where god is, you feel like he's moving? He's just working. You know, you, well, you're sitting there and you're seeing everybody else feel that and you're sitting there like, I just don't feel his presence. You ever been in those services? He's still there even though we're not aware of it. Jesus' presence was not dependent upon their awareness. [01:22:49] (34 seconds)  #PresenceBeyondFeeling

What I thought, I was waiting on that door to be open. God was showing me the purpose is not limited to a position that I have. And what didn't happen can blind you of what god is doing. The places you call delay, god calls development. He can develop you in those waiting seasons. The places you call waiting, god may call preparation to get you ready. And that's why we have to be careful not to judge god's faithfulness too early. You you think about it. If the disciples had judged what had happened with Jesus too early on Friday, mean, they had called that defeat, right? But Sunday had already happened and they were walking with the resurrection right beside them and they were talking. [01:20:05] (51 seconds)  #DelayIsDevelopment

That's my question. I mean, like, who bring the snacks? I don't care where we're going, what we're doing. We got the snacks. That's me. But god doesn't usually give us the whole road map. He gives us a little light to take our next step forward. It's called faith, called trusting in him and often god reveals himself in reverse. Sometimes, you look back, you don't understand what god was doing until you look back and see what he's done and you see that he was protecting you from situation. He was redirecting you. He was developing you and he was positioning you and preparing you for your next season of your life. Lord, I didn't understand it then but I understand it now. [01:23:54] (44 seconds)  #TrustTheNextStep

We had hope that the job would work out. We had hope the child would be serving the lord by now. We had hope that this grief would let up, and not hurt so bad anymore. We we had hope that life will look a little bit different now. If we're not careful, the disappointment can start to find god for us. Right. Disappointment can say, god forgot about you. Disappointment can say, this season is just a wasted season. You have just wasted your time. You have just wasted everything about it but faith says, god is still working. Even in the midst, he's still, if he's not doing anything, he's working on me. He is working. [01:16:50] (53 seconds)  #FaithOverDisappointment

And I was thinking, lord, are you sure? You want me to go there and be the kids pastor? Like, goldfish, crackers, juice boxes, glue sticks. Somebody lost my shoe. He's touching me like that. I'll do it lord. That's what you want me to do but god opened that door. Yeah. And what I could not see in that moment was what felt like was rejection was god's redirection for my life. Some of you are walking in rejection now. Sometimes, it it might not be just rejection. It might be a redirection in your life that god has taken you out of his situation to pull you to where god's purpose is on your life. [01:12:48] (43 seconds)  #RejectionToRedirection

Man, you you pick up on that? We See, the disciples had expectations. They had dreams. They believed that Jesus would redeem Israel but then the cross happened and now they're walking away saying, we had hoped. Had hoped. Man, that phrase is heavy. That's a heavy phrase. Because it carries grief with it. It carries confusion, unmet expectations. Disappointments does not just hurt your heart. It can affect how you see things. It can affect your vision. It changes how you see god. It changes how you see people, your future, and yourself. [01:15:33] (47 seconds)  #WhenHopeFeelsHeavy

And the disciples were focused on what did not happen that they could not recognize who was with them the whole time. And that's what disappointment can do for many of us if we're not careful. It can make Jesus feel absent when he's actually close. Some people in the room today are living in that we had hoped state. We had hope that the marriage would make it. We had hope that the diagnosis would be different. [01:16:19] (31 seconds)  #DontLetDisappointmentBlindYou