Resources > Bible Studies You Don’t Plan It-You Embrace It! (RISK Embracing Uncertainty) Posted by Rev. Jeff Dixon, CCC Ministries on Sep 25, 2007, 13:26

You Don’t Plan It-You Embrace It!

RISK: Embracing Uncertainty

Acts 1 & 2

Lets Rewind and Reconnect: 2 Samuel 23:20-21

Benaiah son of Jehoiada was a valiant fighter from Kabzeel, who performed great exploits. He struck down two of Moab's best men. He also went down into a pit on a snowy day and killed a lion.

21 And he struck down a huge Egyptian. Although the Egyptian had a spear in his hand, Benaiah went against him with a club. He snatched the spear from the Egyptian's hand and killed him with his own spear.

22 Such were the exploits of Benaiah son of Jehoiada; he too was as famous as the three mighty men.

23 He was held in greater honor than any of the Thirty, but he was not included among the Three. And David put him in charge of his bodyguard.

I know one thing for sure, Benaiah didn’t wake up on the morning of his lion encounter and plan out every detail. It wasn’t scheduled in his Outlook, it wasn’t written in his DayRunner. It came as a surprise.

It is easy to look back on the event thousands of years later and fail to appreciate the element of surprise because we know how the story ends.

To really appreciate the moment you need to feel what he felt before he killed the lion:

                Emotionally there was a huge mass of uncertainty and adreneline was pumping in overdrive. Killing the lion was not a foregone conclusion. As we have seen, statistically it was very unlikely!

                Slippery footing from the snow, the difficulty caused by the pit, and the fact that he was trapped in that pit with an angry lion made it tough. We don’t know if Benaiah had a good nights sleep the night before, we don’t know if he ate his Wheaties, we aren’t sure if he grabbed an extra cup of coffee on the way out the door.

There are a number of variables and they all add up to a very uncertain outcome

Benaiah did not know if he would win or if he would die

He did know…God was with him.

So far we have discovered that risk takers will

Defy the odds and Reframe their problems…..and if you have decided to do those two things, then you are poised to take the next step....

Embracing uncertainty!

Now that we have looked back, lets engage a new passage of Scripture for this study

Acts 2:1-8

1When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place.

2Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting.

3They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them.

4All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.

 5Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven.

6When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard them speaking in his own language.

7Utterly amazed, they asked: "Are not all these men who are speaking Galileans? 8Then how is it that each of us hears them in his own native language?

Risk takers  are not afraid of venturing into areas of the map where it is not so clearly marked

Risk takers don’t let the unknown scare them

Uncertainty doesn’t terrorize or freeze them…they will embrace it!

Isn’t that what Jonathan did when he left the safety of the Israelite camp and climbed a cliff?

Isn’t that what Abraham did when he packed up his stuff and followed God into the land of “I know not of…”?

Isn’t that what Noah did when he started building an ark and for 120 years put up with the ridicule and mocking of others

Risk takers will challenge the status quo

                The will go to unknown places

                Build boats in deserts

                Chase lions into pits

                They are able to do so because they are not afraid of uncertainty

Why do some people handle the unknown better than others?
 (1:4-7) On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: "Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit." So when they met together, they asked him, "Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?" He said to them: "It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."

 They don’t have to fear uncertainty because they are certain of God

They know that God knows

They don’t need explanations for every disappointment because they know that God has a plan

Risk takers embrace uncertainty because they want to experience every divine twist and turn that God has for them

What causes us to bungle facing the unknown?

(1:7-9) He said to them: "It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight.

One of the biggest mistakes many of us make in our relationship with God is this:

We focus our energies on telling God exactly What to do, How to do it, and When to do it!

In fact, we repeat ourselves over and over again just to make sure that God didn’t miss out on any of the important details we wanted to tell Him.

In other words we do our thing without ever tapping into God
During the depression this field was a sheep ranch owned by a man named Yates. Mr. Yates wasn't able to make enough on his ranching operation to pay the principal and interest on the mortgage, so he was in danger of losing his ranch. With little money for clothes or food, his family (like many others) had to live on government subsidy.

Day after day, as he grazed his sheep over those rolling West Texas hills, he was no doubt greatly troubled about how he would pay his bills. Then a seismographic crew from an oil company came into the area and told him there might be oil on his land. They asked permission to drill a wildcat well, and he signed a lease contract.

At 1,115 feet they struck a huge oil reserve. The first well came in at 80,000 barrels a day. Many subsequent wells were more than twice as large. In fact, 30 years after the discovery, a government test of one of the wells showed it still had the potential flow of 125,000 barrels of oil a day.

And Mr. Yates owned it all. The day he purchased the land he had received the oil and mineral rights. Yet, he'd been living on relief. A multimillionaire living in poverty.

The problem? He bungled…

He didn't know the oil was there even though he owned it.

Many Christians live in spiritual poverty. They are entitled to the gifts of the Holy Spirit and his energizing power, but they are not aware of their birthright.

What if? Instead of spending all of our spiritual energy MAKING PLANS FOR GOD we spent that same energy SEEKING GOD?

When does the unknown usually occur?
(2:1-2) When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting

 You just don’t know…hence the name unknown

That is what happened on the day of Pentecost

The disciples didn’t have a plan they were clueless

Sometimes uncertainty forces us to pray like it depends on God

The disciples had been doing that for 10 days

The script for this was flawless

The Feast of Pentecost found Jewish pilgrims from all over the ancient world coming to Jerusalem. It was this group of pilgrims that got to hear the gospel in their native tongues. Not only did 3000 believers get baptized on that day. But 3000 people went back into their own cultures with a message to share

From the vantage point of the disciples

Pentecost was totally unplanned

They did not wake up that morning thinking, I feel like speaking in a foreign language today

There was no category for what happened

It was unprecedented

They did not make an appointment with the Holy Spirit

They did not pack and extra change of clothes for the baptism service

The day began by hitting the snooze

Rolling out of bed, taking a shower, grabbing a cup o joe, and reading the Jerusalem Post

You can’t plan Pentecost

How do you prepare to embrace the unknown?
(1:3-4) After his suffering, he showed himself to these men and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God. On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: "Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about.

 (1;12-13a) Then they returned to Jerusalem from the hill called the Mount of Olives, a Sabbath day's walk from the city. When they arrived, they went upstairs to the room where they were staying.

(2;1-2a) When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven

You can’t plan Pentecost, but if you seek God for 10 days in an upper room, Pentecost is bound to happen

What if we actually did what they did at times in the Bible?

I mean the spirtual stuff? 

What if we REALLY sought God with some ancient intensity instead of spending all of our time trying to eliminate His surprises?

Our lives might…would radically change!

Life is infinitely uncertain

Add to that truth that God is infinitely complex

I think that many people believe that faith reduces uncertainty

Nothing could be further from the truth

Faith does not reduce uncertainty…faith helps you embrace it!

We never have all the answers

Some people never come to grips with this

Because we can’t wrap our minds around God (which He told us we could not)  we get all flustered

Faith has less to do with gaining knowledge and more to do with causing wonder

A relationship with God doesn’t simplify your lives

It complicates your life in ways that it needs to be complicated

Relationships complicate your life

Raising children complicate life

Buying a home complicates your life

Maintaining a job complicates your life

Wealth with complicate your taxes

Success will complicate your schedule

Most people live life to have complications!

Remember the parable of the talents again?

                The reward for a job well done was more to do!

                Not less! No retirement!

A relationship with God brings a complication to life in way that it needs to be complicated.

Ignoring God or rebelling against God brings a complication to life as well

Life is complicated…which complication do you want?

The longer I am at it the more I have decided that spiritual maturity is not about figuring out the future God has for you as it is learning to embrace the moment by moment leading of Jesus

Now what?

We are control freaks!

But faith involves a loss of control

With the loss of control comes the loss of certainty

You never know when a 500-pound lion will cross your path

Faith is the willingness to embrace those uncertainties

The link below sends you the audio and video of this study

 http://www.touchandchange.com/artman/publish/article_1447.shtml