Be Careful How You Wait - Heath Hatmaker

0:24 I pray that you have your Bible. I pray that you're excited to look at God's Word. We're going to be in the book of Isaiah chapter 30 this morning. If you want to go ahead and turn there. Isaiah chapter 30 verse 15 was actually something you've already seen. It was on screen when we mentioned our Sabbath that we're taking together as a house. Just underneath it, it said that in quietness and in trust is our strength. That's Isaiah chapter 30, verse 15. But I want to spend this morning looking over verses 1 through 17 and really understand what exactly it was. What was the message that the prophet Isaiah was speaking to his people when he gave them that instruction that we now hold on to? I'm going to give you a little bit of context for this passage. Isaiah is a prophet from God. He's speaking to God's people. And God's people in Isaiah chapter 30, they're not in the best spot. They're facing hardship. They're facing confusion.

1:23 The Assyrian people were on their way attempting to take over. And God's people were faced with this choice. They're feeling the pressure politically and socially to turn their back on God and to lean into an alliance, to lean into the strength that the world was offering to them. And so faced with this decision, God's people in Isaiah chapter 30 choose poorly. Spoiler.

1:52 They chose to lean into an alliance. They chose to lean into what they thought would be their own protection. And in that, they disregarded what God had told them. And God uses Syria as the method and the means by which he brings judgment to his people, a correcting that draw them back to himself. And so what I want us to do, what I pray that we're going to do is learn from their mistake. The reason they had this judgment is they failed to wait on the Lord. And God corrects them through the mouthpiece of his prophet in Isaiah chapter 30, which we're going to read right now all together. If you have your Bible, fantastic. If not, it's going to be on the screen. It says this in Isaiah chapter 30, verse 1. It says, ah, or your text may say, whoa, stubborn children, declares the Lord, who carry out a plan, but not mine, who make an alliance, but not of my spirit, that they may add sin to sin, who set out to go down to Egypt without asking for my direction, to take refuge in the protection of Pharaoh, to seek shelter in the shadow of Egypt.

3:06 Therefore, because they've chosen this, the prophet says, therefore shall the protection of Pharaoh turn to your shame, and the shelter in the shadow of Egypt turn to your humiliation. For those officials are at Zoan and as envoys reach Hanes, everyone comes to shame through a people who cannot profit them. That brings neither help nor profit, but shame and disgrace.

3:33 Isaiah writes, an oracle on the beasts of the Negev. Through a land of trouble and anguish, from where come the lioness and the lion, the adder and the flying fiery serpent? They carry their riches on the backs of donkeys, their treasures on the humps of camels to a people that cannot profit them.

3:54 Get this, Egypt's help is worthless and empty. Therefore, I've called her Rahab who sits still. Verse 8, now go, write it before them on a tablet, inscribe it on a book that it may be for the time to come as a witness forever. for they are rebellious people, lying children, children unwilling to hear the instruction of the Lord, who say to the seers that do not see, and to the prophets they say, do not prophesy to us what is right, but speak to us smooth things, prophesy illusions, leave the way, turn aside from the path, and let us hear no more about the Holy One of Israel. Therefore, thus says the Holy One of Israel, because you despise this word, you trust in oppression and perverseness and rely on them. Therefore, this iniquity shall be to you like a breach on a high wall bulging out about to collapse, whose breaking comes suddenly in an instant.

4:57 Its breaking is like that of a potter's vessel that is smashed so ruthlessly that among its fragments not a shard is found with which to take fire from the hearth or even to dip up water out of the cistern. Verse 15, this is what we've seen already. For thus says the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel, in returning and rest, you shall be saved. In quietness and in trust shall be your strength. But you were unwilling. You said, no, we'll flee upon horses. Therefore you shall flee away and we will ride upon swift steeds. Therefore or your pursuers shall be swift. A thousand shall flee at the threat of one, and at the threat of five you shall flee. To you are left like a flagstaff on the top of a mountain, like a signal on a hill.

5:48 Jesus, I pray that you would help us to understand your word. Holy Spirit, I pray that you would make it clear to us what you want to speak to us. We want to hear from you, God, and so when we read your word, when we read this story, this true story, and we hear of the decisions made by your people, I pray, Holy Spirit, that you would take that story and change our lives with it here today.

6:14 And so, God, I pray that you would help us. For the person in this room that needs encouragement, I pray they'd be encouraged. For the person in this room that needs conviction, I pray that they would be convicted by your word. and for the person in this room that needs salvation, would you save in this place through the power of your word, the power of your spirit. I pray in Jesus' name, amen.

6:40 Amen. Have you ever been, question, have you ever been given unhelpful advice? Like maybe a well-meaning, well-intended person tells you something that they think is helpful and it's objectively not? Okay, are they with you today? Okay. Have you ever been told like someone, something bad happens in your life and someone's like, hey, let go and let God. And you're like, what does that even mean? Why? Like, I don't know if you're telling someone about your life and they're like, hey man, you're too blessed to be stressed. It's like, I've got two children. I'm blessed and stressed. Both of them. A lot of both of them. I've never heard this one. Praise the Lord. Do not tell me this. But I saw it on Pinterest when I was studying for this. if you said this, don't, okay? I said, don't worry, if God closes a door, he'll always open a window.

7:35 Like, you know what I don't wanna do? Jump out of a metaphorical window. This is not helpful. And if we're not careful, the thing that I wanna talk about today, the idea that I wanna preach about for the next few minutes, if you're not careful, you could hear it and think cheesy, cute, not helpful. because Isaiah 30 is about waiting for the Lord.

8:00 And waiting for the Lord is, if you're in a hard spot, if you've been waiting, it's like, cool, man, wait for, like, when you preach, wait for the Lord to a person that's been praying for their family member for a decade to put their faith in Jesus and they haven't. If you're not careful, it can feel disingenuous. For the person in the room that has been unemployed for months and months and months. When you say, yeah, wait on the Lord. The person in the room that's been single for way longer than they ever thought they would be. For the person in the room that's under a diagnosis and they feel like they're waiting for relief. It can be tempting to hear a person with a microphone say, wait for the Lord. And you're like, come on, man. But I want you to know that what we're preaching today, the message today is not a cheesy saying that might not help you. It's rooted in scripture. All throughout this book, we are challenged and called and encouraged to wait for the Lord.

8:57 I'm going to prove it to you with some of them. Psalm 27 verse 13 says, I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord. Be strong and let your heart take courage. Wait for the Lord. In James 5 it says this in verse 7, Be patient, therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it until it receives the early and the late rains. You also be patient. Establish your hearts for the coming of the Lord is at hand. Paul writes this in Romans chapter 8, verse 24. He says, for in this hope we are saved. Now, hope that is seen is not hope for who hopes in what he sees. But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience. Again, back in the Psalm, Psalm 40 says, I waited patiently for the Lord and he inclined to me and he heard my cry.

9:55 He drew me up out of the pit of destruction, out of the miry bog, and he set my feet upon a rock, making my steps secure. Later in this book, in Isaiah chapter 40, it says, even youth shall faint and be weary. Young men shall fall exhausted, but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings like eagles. They shall run and not be weary. They shall walk and not faint. And that's just a few points, scriptures, passages, encouragement in God's word where he teaches us how to wait. The question in our lives, the question today is not if you will be waiting on the Lord. It's how will you wait on the Lord.

10:40 And that's why this message, this lesson we're learning from Isaiah 30 is so important. I believe he has a lot to teach us today in these verses. My talk title today is this, be careful how you wait. Be careful how you wait. Isaiah starts with not the most encouraging thing to God's people. He says in Isaiah 30 verse one, ah, or woe, you stubborn children, declares the Lord. Not ideal to be called a stubborn child by God. I've been called a stubborn child. I don't think God's ever called me that. That would not be great. Why are they called that? It seems excessive maybe. It's not. Why are they called stubborn? It says that you make an alliance, but not of my spirit. Isaiah is prophesying and talking about an alliance that God's people were making with Egypt.

11:34 In verse two, it talks about this alliance that they've chosen to make, but it's more than just like a deal or an agreement. What's the big deal? They align with Egypt for a second. You know, it's fine. The word alliance here in Hebrew is used 24 times in the Old Testament. Of those 24 times, one time is that word translated alliance. 23 other times, the remaining, they're used to describe the creation of an idol.

12:04 And so Isaiah is using this word and saying, this isn't a little agreement. You are idolizing. You're making an idol of Egypt. The alliance that you're claiming is what you're looking to for your future. It's what you're looking to for your hope. You are creating a little G God of a nation, and you're going to them expecting that they would be your salvation. It became their protection. It became their idol, which makes no sense because God had already promised to protect them. And so they're idolizing a spot of protection when they have already been promised it. I'm going to read it here. It says Leviticus 26 verse 1. It says, you shall not make idols for yourselves. The same word used there as alliance. You shall not make idols for yourselves or erect an image or pillar. You shall not set up a figured stone in your land to bow down to it, for I am the Lord your God.

13:01 You shall keep my Sabbaths and reverence my sanctuary. I am the Lord. In verse 11 of Leviticus 26, he continues, I will make my dwelling among you. My soul shall not abhor you. I will walk among you, will be your God. You shall be my people. Verse 13, I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, that you should not be their slaves. I've broken the bars of your yoke and made you walk erect. God promises freedom, and he promises protection to the people that are now looking for it in other places.

13:41 If you want, you can write this down. This is point number one. While you wait, trust God's protection. While you wait, when you are waiting, trust God's protection. Can I be certain? Am I sure? Has God forgotten me? Is it all gonna work out? These are the questions that God's people could ask in Isaiah 30. As they saw Syria coming down and bearing down to attack, these questions started rising up. and you know this to be true. When you feel vulnerable, you can make poor decisions.

14:17 When you feel like you don't have protection, you'll go to a place where you think you can find it even if you know it's not there. Like you know good and well that going to alcohol is not a good solution. But when it feels like everything is falling apart, it feels like the best answer.

14:39 You know that God has told you to run your business in a way that is honorable, in a way that is upright. But when you look at a balance sheet and you see that there might be a way out, even if it's a back door, it's so tempting. You know that God's told you that you have what you need and you know that your family has what they need. But then you see an Amazon cart full of things that you think are going to keep you up with someone else that you want to be like. And it's so tempting to look for protection. You know that God's protecting you, but when you see the army coming, Egypt looks good. And God's people forget that God has already promised his protection. But here's the issue. What if the thing that you believe will provide protection does the opposite?

15:27 It's what happens here. In verse 2, it says that you set down to Egypt to take refuge in the protection of Pharaoh, to seek the shelter of the shadow of Egypt. I don't have time to go there, but in Psalm 91, the psalmist writes about how God is our protection and God is our shelter. And he uses the same language here to say, now you're looking for it in Egypt.

15:49 And how does it end? It says that, therefore shall the protection of Pharaoh turn to your shame, the shelter in the shadow of Egypt to your humiliation. Isaiah references here that from Zoan, which is in the north part of Egypt, all the way down to Hange, it's in the south part of Egypt, he said you're not going to find protection there. What you're looking for cannot be found in this alliance.

16:19 Isaiah uses extreme language, and he calls him Rahab. We've used this in the Bible to refer to Egypt before. It says, this is Rahab who sits still. In NIV, I love this. Rahab the do nothing. Out of the fear of a nation and an army, God's people are turning their back on their God and looking to an Egypt land that had already been conquered by God who's going to sit on the couch and do nothing. Why? Because they felt like they weren't protected. Friend, while you wait, trust in God's protection. If God has promised to protect you, and he has, you do not need to look for protection elsewhere. for Isaiah's generation though, this treaty with Egypt was really a symptom. It was a part of the main problem.

17:13 The main problem is that they were unfaithful and impatient to God's word. They had been told, you have what you need in me, but they lost it. While you wait, second thing, while you wait, hold on to God's truth. We see, I'm not gonna read all of it, we see that God's people came and said, we no longer want to see what you see to the prophets. We don't want to hear what you're being told from God. Instead, we want to be told what we want to hear. And Isaiah calls to permanent record this wrongdoing. He says, I want you and your children and your children's children to remember the mistake you have made. the root of the mistake is that they no longer want to hear God's voice. In verse 10, they say, we just want to hear what is pleasant to us.

18:09 Why? Verse 12 says it's because they despised his word. Despise is a big word used here in this verse. To despise is to reject or to refuse it as worthless. And God's people are saying, your word, God, is worthless to us now. We see this warning from Paul to Timothy in 2 Timothy chapter 4. Paul writes and says, For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears, they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions. They'll turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. But as for you, Timothy, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of the evangelist, and fulfill your ministry. There will be a time when people don't want to hear the truth. They want to hear what they want to hear.

19:05 And if you want a God that only tells you what you want to hear, you don't want a God, you want a cheerleader. And God is speaking in truth. And friend, while you wait, do not let go of the truth. Hold on to the truth that is before you. There's a novelist, her name is Flannery O'Connor, and she has this awesome quote about the truth. She said this, the truth does not change according to our ability to stomach it.

19:38 This is true of God's word. And Isaiah says, the truth that you're now looking for, what you think is the ultimate truth being a protection from Egypt, he said it's like a high cracked wall that's about to fall down. That's what verse 13 says. The strength they thought they were getting to was a fantasy.

19:59 It was never going to bring them protection. and what they look as and see a wall that's gonna keep them safe, God's truth has already promised them safety. God's truth has already promised them what is best for them. Friends, every command in this book for me and for you is for our good. When God says wait, that's because that's what's best.

20:24 One of my mentors says it this way. He says, when God says don't, what he's saying is don't hurt yourself. Hold on to his truth. While you wait, hold on. He continues in verse 15, and God speaks. For thus said the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel, in returning and rest you shall be saved, in quietness and in trust shall be your strength. A word here in returning might be translated repentance in your Bible. I think that's the best way to use it. he says in your repentance and in your rest there you'll be saved there is where you will find your strength i love this quote from pastor louis he shared this with our team in the last few days about sabbath what we're doing together he said it this way if you won't return to god you won't have salvation and if you won't rest in god you won't know that you are saved i thought that was so powerful.

21:34 This is the last point. While you wait, rest in God's salvation. this is a step that we're taking as a house as we step into Sabbath. When I talk to my friends and pastors around the country that hear about Sabbath, like your church does what?

21:57 Taking time away from church in the fall when everyone's getting back into church. Like that makes no sense. I mean, if you're scheming, yeah. For sure. but God didn't call us to put our hand on a church that it'll grow. God's hand is on our church. And God, if he wants to breathe life, if he wants to grow, he's gonna do it. And he calls us to rest. And the step that we take as a house for these next two weeks is saying, God, we rest and we remember and we trust you. When it seems like we should be pulling the strings and making something happen, we rest. We rest in who you are. We rest in your leadership of our house. he says in that in quietness and trust you'll find strength he says it's how you'll be saved he uses this in verse 15 it says that you shall be saved it's passive it means that they don't save themselves by returning and resting but returning and resting is the posture in which salvation happens to them.

23:18 When I was studying this week, there was this commentary that I was reading and they said it this way. I thought it was so cool. It was this, the only contribution the sinner makes to his salvation is to stop contributing. I think that's cool. for by grace you have been saved through faith not of your own doing not something to boast about exclusively from the hand of God and so when you come to him you can rest Matthew 11, Jesus says, come to me all who labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest.

24:02 God's people missed it in Isaiah 30. They believed that their deliverance was gonna be found in activity or power. Their activity wasn't found, or their deliverance wasn't found in power. Their deliverance wasn't found in Egypt. Their deliverance wasn't found in a chariot or a horse or a scheme or a strategy. Where is your deliverance found? In quietness and trust. Rest.

24:26 Your deliverance is not going to be found in having everything that you need. Your deliverance is not going to be found in knowing the right people. Your deliverance is not going to be found in controlling every situation and every person so it can be exactly how you want it. Your deliverance is not going to be found in showing up to church every week and checking a box and being here so that God, your deliverance is going to be found in quietness and in trust.

24:53 Trust in what? Salvation. What he's offered to you. Repentance and rest. Augustine says it this way in his book Confessions. Thou hast made us for thyself and our heart is restless until it rests in thee. I found it to be true in my life. I want to tell you a story about taking my daughter to Disney World. Any parents in the room taking your kids to Disney World?

25:28 No, Brad, do it. I have so many things I want to say. I got a mic. He's my boss. I can't. Okay. You should, Brad. I took my daughter to Disney World. Why? She was obsessed. We were watching Moana. We were watching Frozen, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. She was ready to go. Her cousins had been to Disney World. Her friends at school had been to Disney World. She was ready. Dad, can we go to Disney? Can we go to Disney? Can we go to Disney? Well, it's a mortgage, so let me think about it. And what she didn't know, every time she asked what she didn't know, I was already planning a trip to Disney World. She was coming. Can we go to Disney? Can we go to Disney? I'm like, girl, I'm more excited about this than you are. I've done the research. I was booking the hotel. Well, let me correct. Colleen was doing all the research. My wife.

26:21 It's like a group project. I'm the guy that shows up at presentation. I'm like, here we are. Let's do it. Colleen had done the research. She knew what hotel we were staying at. It was already booked. She knew exactly. There's three different themed rooms. She knew we were going to the one that Willow wanted. She'd already picked the park days. We knew we were park hopping. We knew what parks we were hopping to. We'd already booked character breakfasts and character lunches. I had already made a scheme for a lightning lane. You wanna see me be competitive? Get me in the lightning lanes. I'm figuring that thing out. We were scheming.

26:55 And Willow would come to us. Dad, can we please go to Disney? Could we please go to Disney? why is it taking so long? I want to go to Disney. It wasn't time yet. I had already studied. Colleen had already studied. She knew the weeks of the year that it's least crowded. We knew the weather we wanted. We knew exactly every single piece we were moving in the way that we wanted. And every time that I looked at Will and said, we're not going to Disney today. Why? Because my goal wasn't to get her to Disney as fast as possible. My goal was to get her there when it was best. And I thought about this. I saw, oh, I took a picture. Did we not show the picture? That was close. You guys almost missed it. I mean, I thought about this trip when I was studying this passage to preach it to you today. There's a verse that we haven't read yet.

27:47 We read 17 verses. I want you to look at Isaiah chapter 30, verse 18. Here's what it says. Therefore, the Lord waits to be gracious to you. And therefore, he exalts himself to show mercy to you. for the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed are those who wait for him.

28:13 Therefore is the word used there, because of, because you've abandoned me, because you've turned your back on me, because you've chosen an alliance that you didn't need, because you said, I don't wanna hear your words anymore, God, because you've done all of those things, because of that, what? I mean, if it's me, if I'm God, because of all those things, when you turn around, you're gonna get what's coming for you. How could you do this? Morons. Come on.

28:39 No. no no no no no Yahweh waits the God outside of time waits for you and why does he wait verse 18 he waits to be gracious to them to show mercy the ones that betrayed him the ones that walked away from him the ones that don't want to hear from him anymore he waits so that when they turn around, he can show love. He can show grace. and he waits for you. your waiting in Christ is not wasted. his desire is in the right time at the right moment that he would be able to bring to light his purpose for for isaiah 30 for his people he knew that it was the right time that they that they needed to feel this correction the discipline that would bring them back to him he knew every single moment you and he shows them grace.

29:57 So much so that at the end of the book in Isaiah chapter 61, it says this, the spirit of the Lord God is upon me because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and the opening of the prison to those who are bound, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor. This is how it ends in Isaiah 61. And in Luke chapter four, verse 18, Jesus stands before his people and he quotes those verses. And he looks at them and he says, today the scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.

30:36 Jesus says, I'm the good news to the poor. I'm the one that bounds up the brokenhearted. I'm the one that is gonna extend mercy to those in need. And the same grace that he offered his people in Isaiah 30, the same grace that he talks about in Luke 4 is available to you today.

30:57 Grace for you in your time of need. waiting on him, trusting that he's protecting you, holding fast to it.