On Christmas morning how hard is it to get the kids out of bed?
How about a week later after 2 weeks on vaca. trying to get them out of bed for school? It’s all about expectations.
Our expectations control our conduct. Our lives are filled with great expectations. What happens when our expectations and reality collide? Frustration and Disappointment.
When we have these high expect., when we have planned out the way we want something to happen, the path we want to lay out and all of a sudden reality crashes the party - we become frustrated, disappointed.
here’s some examples: pics
Matthew 2:1-12
What happens when you follow a Star and find a Stable?
These wise men have been following this star for hundreds of miles... thru rough and rugged terrain, cold nights, and danger, expecting to find something grand and glorious and they end up in a barn in the backyard of Bethlehem - they expect to find a Palace and Prince in priceless robes with precious jewels, but instead find a teen-age mother holding a baby in the aroma of barnyard animals. Not exactly what you expected.
Can you imagine their disappointment? We know they were expecting a mansion or palace b/c they stopped at King Herod’s place to find out about this child that was to be born.
Isn’t it true that all of us have followed a star that looked so promising, only to find at the end you were in a stable.
-H.S. yearbook senior yr. - how many people were expected to be rising stars only to disappoint others and themselves
-How many College students grad. w/ honors, ready to go out and get that great job only to find the job they wanted wasn’t waiting for them.
-How about the young couple committing their lives to each other at the alter - everyone thought their relationship was so promising, everything going for them... yet in a few years their marriage can be found on Divorce court w/ J. Wapner./Judy
What do you do when you follow a Star and find a Stable?
From the actions and attitudes of the Wise men in the Christmas story we see 3 truths that wise men thr/out history have lived by whenever they followed a star and didn’t get what they were expected
1. Wise men look for God when they find a stable.
Wise men of all ages, when handed a difficult situation, didn’t panic but 1st looked to God. They’d say... “God is somewhere in this stable; I’ll keep searching and hold steady until I find Him.
Rom. 8:28
“We know that in all things God works for good with those who love him, those whom he has called according to his purpose.”
“We know” - confidently looking for God to work it out
“In all things” - that’s both palace exper. and stable exper.
“God works for the good” - He has your best interest, regardless
Remember the wise man Joseph? He had a couple of stable experiences and found God right in the middle of them...
...sold into slavery
...lied to by his brothers
...forced off to a foreign country
...Innocently sentenced to prison
...his character slandered
...separated from his loving father for years
but in the end, after God had exalted him to be an influential man in Egypt, he told his brothers...
“You plotted evil against me, but God turned it into good, in
order to preserve the lives of many people who are alive today because of what happened.” Gen, 50:20
Joseph found God in the stable.
Job was another wise man who was sitting on an ash heap, after
...losing his fortune
...losing his entire family - except his cheerful wife
...persecuted by his so-called friends
...lost his reputation
“Then Job scraped his skin with a piece of broken pottery as he sat among the ashes. His wife said to him, "Are you still trying to maintain your integrity? Curse God and die." But Job replied, "You talk like a godless woman. Should we accept only good things from the hand of God and never anything bad?" So in all this, Job said nothing wrong.” Job 2:8-10
Job followed a star and found a stable, but in that stable found God
We could find example after example of men and women in scripture who followed a star and found a stable... David, Moses, Ruth, just about every O.T. prophet, Apostle Paul, Peter,
and on....
One of the ways we can tell if we are growing and maturing as Christ-followers is the ability to see God in the barnyards of life (when things aren’t going as you planned) as well as the good times.
2. Wise men offer to God their very best.
v.11 - “On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh.”
Our tendency is to hold back, isn’t it? When the difficult times come it’s easy to withhold our best. Save it for something better.
When things don’t live up to our expectations - whenever we feel it could be better or there could be more or this situation or scenario just doesn’t live up to all the hype that we thought was promised, our tendency is to hold back, to not give our best.
When a marriage isn’t what it should be instead of giving it our best shot, some may begin to hold back, withdraw
The kids are really making life difficult w/ their behavior,
instead of continuing on and giving our best, some may throw up their hands and say, “I’ve done all I can, why try any more.”
The stable experiences of life will test our resolve to do things w/ excellence.
Did the wise men hold back the treasures and gifts they brought? They could have looked at each other and said, “We brought these expensive, valuable gifts for a King, not a commoner’s baby... we expected a palace, not a barn. This isn’t what we expected maybe we shouldn’t give all the treasure...
"Hey Mo just give ‘em the Myrrh and let’s get out of here."
Could there have been the mindset of, “This is certainly not what we thought, we won’t get much recognition in this barn as we would in the palace.”
Ahhh.. but the wise men gave their best!
The difference between the average and the great are 3 little words, “and then some...”
Great people forgive others... and then some
help others....ats - love others...ats - give to the poor...ats -
encourage others...ats
They always go the extra mile
3. Wise men change their direction after experiencing a stable
v.12 - “And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.”
The ? is not will you experience a stable, the ? is when will you experience it & how are you going to respond?
What will happen in you b/c of it, & how will it change your life?
All of us follow stars and find stables... but the difference between winners and whiners is what you do as a result of the stable experience. It can make you bitter or better - which one?
What stable experience have you recently encountered while following a star?
...divorce
...broken friendship
...a rebellious child
...a ruined career
...financial mess
...physical or emotional problems
...a lost loved one
God wants you to know He’s in it with you.
The question for us is, how are we going to respond?
example of Cathleen’s broken friendship
One of the main reasons why Christ became one of us.... being born in Bethlehem and dying on a cross 33yrs. later was to give us the power to overcome every stable experience.
So what do you do when you follow a star and find a stable
You look for the Prince of Peace in the stable
You give God your best while in the stable
You allow the stable experience to change the direction of your life
Jesus is our Prince of Peace and He can take care of all the
disturbances of your life.
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