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Waiting Room Series, Sermon 1
Holly Furtick (Elevation Church)
"If I have to wait, I'm gonna get to work."
Acts 16:16-40 (NIV)
Once when we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a female slave who had a spirit by which she predicted the future. She earned a great deal of money for her owners by fortune-telling. She followed Paul and the rest of us, shouting, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who are telling you the way to be saved.” She kept this up for many days. Finally Paul became so annoyed that he turned around and said to the spirit, “In the name of Jesus Christ I command you to come out of her!” At that moment the spirit left her. When her owners realized that their hope of making money was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace to face the authorities. They brought them before the magistrates and said, “These men are Jews, and are throwing our city into an uproar by advocating customs unlawful for us Romans to accept or practice.” The crowd joined in the attack against Paul and Silas, and the magistrates ordered them to be stripped and beaten with rods. After they had been severely flogged, they were thrown into prison, and the jailer was commanded to guard them carefully. When he received these orders, he put them in the inner cell and fastened their feet in the stocks. About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everyone’s chains came loose. The jailer woke up, and when he saw the prison doors open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself because he thought the prisoners had escaped. But Paul shouted, “Don’t harm yourself! We are all here!” The jailer called for lights, rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas. He then brought them out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved —you and your household.” Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all the others in his house. At that hour of the night the jailer took them and washed their wounds; then immediately he and all his household were baptized. The jailer brought them into his house and set a meal before them; he was filled with joy because he had come to believe in God—he and his whole household. When it was daylight, the magistrates sent their officers to the jailer with the order: “Release those men.” The jailer told Paul, “The magistrates have ordered that you and Silas be released. Now you can leave. Go in peace.” But Paul said to the officers: “They beat us publicly without a trial, even though we are Roman citizens, and threw us into prison. And now do they want to get rid of us quietly? No! Let them come themselves and escort us out.” The officers reported this to the magistrates, and when they heard that Paul and Silas were Roman citizens, they were alarmed. They came to appease them and escorted them from the prison, requesting them to leave the city. After Paul and Silas came out of the prison, they went to Lydia’s house, where they met with the brothers and sisters and encouraged them. Then they left.
Acts 1:4 (NIV) - "Wait for the gift"
** What seems to be a pointless or even painful waiting room may be God's most productive workroom.
- Remember that even in the smallest tasks, we are part of a bigger work for God.
- A workroom is the opposite of a waiting room.
- Don't talk about when you're going to do as soon as you get out.
- God takes complaining very seriously, and may actually make the situation worse because of complaining.
- We should take our focus off the complaining and focus on the blessings God has placed in our lives.
Do everything without grumbling or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, “children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.”Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky
- My attitude can cause me to shine like a star.
About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them.
- All people notice us, and watch us. Especially when we are in unfair situations.
- We can show people that Jesus has made a difference in our lives or make people dislike God even more simply because of our attitudes.
2. Preoccupy self with fulfilling God's purpose instead of escaping our problem(s).
- Don't be consumed with escaping, instead be filled with God's purpose.
- Don't just wait for the next stage, and stop wishing that time would fly by. Enjoy each moment.
- If we have to wait, we should get to work.
- If we have to wait, we should have a good time.
- The road trip is part of the fun.
- Our destination is always a moving target; we don't get to the destination until we're in heaven.
- When we get to one destination, there's always going to be a new destination to strive for.
- Enjoy the journey with God!
- Sometimes God puts us in a waiting room because there's something He needs to teach us.
- God can't take us from point a to point b as fast as we want, because He has something to teach us before we reach the destination.
- Or maybe God has someone He needs to bring into our lives or bring onto the path so that we can minister to them and their situation (or so they can minister to us and our situation).
- Sometimes we may be headed in the wrong direction and headed to the wrong destination, so God needs to put us in a waiting room to re-route our path to a better destination and in a better direction.
- There really are no waiting rooms, because every destination God has a purpose for.
- Don't leave the current destination until you know God is done with you where you are.
- Where we are is where God is!!!
- Be more concerned with God's glory than our own release.
- Get to work.
- Work while we wait!
- Work every opportunity that God brings to us.
- Open your eyes to what God wants you to do today, and stop worrying about tomorrow.
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