Pastor Albert Tate kicked off our There's More series today. He began his teaching by sharing a story about the hospitality of his mother and grandmother. Every Sunday morning, he woke up to the wonderful smell of his mother cooking Sunday dinner. This way, when they got home from church, everything would be ready for when all the family, friends, and guests would arrive. This was the culture he grew up in.
In his grandmother’s house, there was a room in which no children were allowed—clearly indicated by the couch covered in plastic. Only adults were allowed in there. Similarly, they had the children’s table. All the kids enjoyed it until you were a teen and wondering why you were still sitting there. Pastor Albert continued, that often our hospitality looks like closed-off rooms and isolated forbidden tables. But God’s doesn’t work that way.
We tend to close off rooms and tables in our lives. We can see this manifested when we face a season of unbelief or doubt. We know we love Jesus, but we lack faith. We find ourselves in a season of doubt or unbelief. And instead of addressing it, we often close off the wrestle, like a closed-off room. We walk away from God instead of to God to wrestle through it with Him.
Pastor Albert challenged us: What if there is an invitation through doubt and unbelief to experience more of God? What if your doubt and unbelief are a beautiful gift? Often, we think doubt is evidence we don’t have faith. But the reality is, you can’t doubt if you don’t have faith! And the truth is, God is not intimidated by our doubts or unbelief. In fact, He wants us to bring them to Him. We can believe and still have unbelief.
Pastor Albert led us to the story in Mark 9:21-25, where we see the father of a young boy who is in desperate need of Jesus's healing say, "I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!" We can have belief and at the same time have unbelief. Sometimes we’ve been through things and seen things, that, even in our belief, cause us to struggle to continue to believe.
For example, we have seen cancer healed in others but not our family member; we see a financial miracle happen for a good friend, but our lights just went off. What do we do with the events that we can’t process? God says, process it with me!
Pastor Albert then shared a story from math class as a young child. He struggled with math until he found the answers in the back of the book. When his grades improved dramatically, his math teacher asked to speak with him after class. She was concerned because although he was getting all the answers right, he wasn't showing her the work it took to get to the answer. She was more concerned with how he got the answer, than having the correct answer.
God is saying I’m way less interested in the answer, I’m more interested in the process and the journey that you’re on. We can wrestle together. Maybe the more that we're looking for is on the other side of the door of unbelief.
In Exodus, we see that the children of Israel are struggling. Moses is on the mountain top with God, and the Israelites, at the bottom of the mountain, think God is taking too long. So they ask Aaron to make them a God.
What do you do when God is taking too long? What do you do in the times when He doesn’t answer the way you think He should? In financial strain? In a tragedy? In a job loss? In a betrayal? What do you do with a disobedient God?
When God didn’t answer the way they wanted, the children of Israel replaced Him. Aaron told them to give their gold earrings to make the new God—a golden calf. The truth is, they wanted God, but they reached for gold! You’re reaching for more money, but you’re longing for security that can only God can give. You’re reaching for another relationship, but only God can give you the intimacy you're longing for.
God brought the Israelites out of Egypt. But Egypt rose back out of them. They reached for the familiar—an imitation god, an idol—at the expense of the One who had been faithful.
God is saying, I want to be God in all seasons. Keep Egypt in Egypt. I am the God to be enthroned in your life in every season.
Pastor Albert then challenged us: what are you longing for? With that longing, what are you reaching for?
If you have doubts and unbelief, God is saying let’s go there together. When times are challenging, when burdens are the heaviest, and insecurities the highest: what are you reaching for?
God says you don’t have to reach for a cheap counterfeit of me. You can have Me.
Pastor Albert concluded, the God that created you, created you to long for Him. He desires you. All that He asks that you would desire is Him. Because it’s only in Him that your deepest desires can be met.
