Maturing in the Midst: God's Not Done Yet

You can do what Jesus told you to do and still face resistance. And that doesn't mean you miss God. It means you're where God has you on the journey to learn what God has you to learn in that season. Maturing is saying yes and trusting God with what comes after. Some of us are in situations right now that we didn't choose, we didn't expect, we would not have signed up for. But if we're honest, we got there because we followed God's direction. [00:36:08] (26 seconds)  #ObeyAndTrust

And the question becomes, will you trust God even when obedience leads you into uncertainty? Will you keep rowing when the wind is against you? Will you believe that the same Jesus who sent you is still aware of where you are? Because if God directed you, God has not lost sight of you. So what do you do when you're trying to grow but everything in your life looks like the opposite? First, you remember maturity moves at God's direction even if it leads you into a storm. [00:36:34] (29 seconds)  #KeepRowingInFaith

Maturity is revealed in how you respond when life is anything but calm. Because when you look at this text, the disciples were not outside of God's will. They were in it. Yeah. Yeah. They weren't out of position. They were exactly where Jesus told them to be, and they were still in trouble, which means you can be moving at God's direction and still face resistance. You can be doing what God told you to do and still find yourself in a storm. You can be growing and struggling at the same time. [00:32:40] (31 seconds)  #MaturityInTheMidst

They were there on purpose. And while out on the water, they were in trouble fighting heavy waves because a strong wind had risen. They were in trouble because they did what Jesus told them to do. They were in a storm because they obeyed. And if God is maturing us in the midst of it all, then this is the first thing we have to understand about maturity. Maturity moves at God's direction even when that direction leads us into something we would not have chosen ourselves. [00:35:12] (30 seconds)  #ObeyIntoStorm

Contrary winds on your job, you're showing up doing the work, still facing opposition, coworkers getting on your nerves, and dealing with bad attitudes. It feels like the wind is against you. And when your life doesn't line up with what you thought maturity would look like, you start asking, what do I do when I'm trying to grow but everything in my life looks like the opposite? Here's what this text shows us. Maturity is not proven by how calm your life is. Maturity is revealed in how you respond when life is anything but calm. [00:32:09] (36 seconds)  #MaturityIsResponse

Something happens when he started walking and stopped looking at Jesus. His focus shifted. His fear rose, and the bible says he began to sink. Do you know what that feels like when you're doing fine until the wind gets your attention? Holding on until the waves start rising. Walking in faith until fear starts talking louder than God's voice. We've had moments when we stepped out on faith, trusted God, moved when Jesus said moved, believed the word, but somewhere along the way, something got our attention. The situation got louder. The pressure got heavier. The uncertainty got closer, and now we're dealing with what feels bigger than the one who we were trusting. And Peter begins to sink. [00:38:57] (61 seconds)  #KeepEyesOnJesus

You can be growing and struggling at the same time. And that doesn't always mean something is wrong or that you did something wrong. Sometimes it means you are experiencing growing pains because maturity doesn't simply appear after everything settles down. Maturity is formed in the middle of what you're going through. And if we wanna see what that looks like, we can look at Peter's life and legacy because when we read his story, he shows us what it looks like to grow in real time. [00:33:08] (28 seconds)  #GrowingThroughStruggle

Some translations describe them as contrary winds, not just strong winds. These are winds that rise up against you, winds that resist your progress, winds that seem to show up at the moment you start moving in the direction God told you to go, winds that feel hard to navigate even when you're giving it the best you've got. But every time you try to move forward, something pushes you back. Is anyone willing to say amen or nod your head to let me know that you know what I'm talking about? [00:31:10] (29 seconds)  #ContraryWinds

You've experienced contrary wins in your health. Last checkup, the doctor said your cholesterol was looking good. This appointment, they said they're worried about your blood pressure. Contrary wins in your finances. You're doing what you can to make ends meet in this economy, and an unexpected withdrawal hits your account the day before your mortgage is due. Contrary wins in your family when you're trying to do right and relationships still feel strained. Contrary wins in your mind, you're praying, believing, and peace still feels distant. [00:31:39] (30 seconds)  #ContraryWindsEverywhere

And the deeper you've tried to go with God, the more resistance you faced. The more you've prayed, the more pressure you felt, the more you trusted, the more uncertain things have become. The problem is that we might misinterpret our experience and start to think, if I were really growing, I wouldn't be dealing with this. If I were really maturing, I wouldn't still struggle like this. If God was really at work in my life, it wouldn't feel this hard. But be careful because that thought will begin to shape your faith. [00:29:48] (32 seconds)  #ResistanceDoesntEqualFailure

and you saw something walking towards you on top of the water, your first thought probably wouldn't be, oh, that's just Jesus because you've never seen Jesus walk on water before. Fear will make you misinterpret what you see, but then Jesus speaks, don't be afraid. Take courage. I am here. And I believe his voice calms Peter a bit. It's like he's considering that his eyes may not be playing tricks on him. So Peter responds, Lord, if it's really you, tell me to come to you walking on the water. [00:37:39] (33 seconds)  #TrustHisVoice

Because somewhere along the way, we picked up the idea that if we're really walking with God, things should get easier. And if you're members of six Mount Zion, your pastor has said it enough that you should know that not to be true. We believe that obedience should lead to comfort. Faithfulness should lead to smooth sailing, but the bible challenges that because the disciples were not outside of God's will and still in a storm. They were still in trouble. [00:35:42] (25 seconds)  #ObedienceIsntComfort

that growth would include progress you could measure, habits you've kicked, struggles you've outgrown, prayers that get answered the way you asked for them. You were taught to view spiritual maturity as a simple cause and effect. If you do what God asks, God will keep all the pain and problems away from you. But that hasn't been your experience. For you, maturity has looked like confusion sometimes. For somebody else, it has looked like trying, failing, and trying again. For others, it has looked simply like holding on when everything else wanted to let go. [00:29:13] (35 seconds)  #MaturityIsNotLinear

Because for Peter and for us, maturity doesn't come today and one and done. It's something that is developed step by step, moment by moment, even in the middle of a storm. So let's set the scene. You heard the scripture. The text says Jesus insisted that the disciples get back into the boat and go ahead of him to the other side. A few translations said, he made them go. He wanted to stay behind to dismiss the crowds so that he could go alone to pray. [00:33:36] (30 seconds)  #StepByStepMaturity

be careful because that thought will begin to shape your faith. And when the next storm shows up, instead of seeing it as part of your God given journey, you'll see it as evidence that something is wrong with you, that you somehow missed something, that you failed somewhere, that maybe you're not as far along as you are supposed to be. And that is dangerous thinking because when you believe that walking with god should be easy peasy lemon squeezy, then every storm starts to feel like a setback. [00:30:16] (30 seconds)  #StormsAreNotSetbacks

The storm is raging. Wind hasn't stopped. The waves haven't settled. The disciples are still in trouble. And then in the middle of all of that, Jesus comes walking toward them on the water. And the bible says they were terrified. Didn't recognize him at first. They said it must be a ghost. And before we judge them, we need to be honest with ourselves because if we were out there on a boat in the dark, said about 03:00 in the morning, winds blowing, waves crashing in a storm, fighting to stay afloat, [00:37:03] (36 seconds)  #JesusWalksOnWater

If you've ever been in a season where you've been trying to grow, but your life didn't look like it. Praying for more, but things seem to get harder. Trusting God, but the doors are still closed. Trying to do the right thing, and somehow everything still went wrong. You may have wondered, am I really growing in God, or am I just going through a bunch of mess? That question comes up because somewhere along the way, many of us were taught that maturity would look like steady forward movement, that growth would include progress you could measure, [00:28:42] (34 seconds)  #AmIReallyGrowing

Last week, pastor Nelson began a sermon series on growth, and he challenged us to take an honest look at our spiritual lives. He pushed us to consider whether we've been walking with God long enough to be further along than we are. And today, I wanna continue this conversation on spiritual maturity by talking to those who are serious about growing, but you feel like you're not progressing the way that you should. I believe there are at least a few people in the sanctuary and listening online who would fit into this category. [00:28:11] (31 seconds)  #HonestSpiritualCheck