Do Not be Afraid – 8

 Do Not be Afraid – 8

Subject – The Cave Can be Good for Us

by Rick Welborne

1 Samuel 22:1 (NIV) 

1 David left Gath and escaped to the cave of Adullam...

1. Courage to venture out.

2. Elijah found himself in a cave and he had to deal with his fear and failure.

John Ortberg: You can risk being fully honest with God for a very important reason: God is never a God of discouragement. When you have a discouraging spirit or train of thought in your mind, you can be sure that it is not from God. Always, His guidance leads to motivation and life. 

3. Take action when you find yourself in a cave!

This week:

1 Samuel 30:6 (NLT) 

6 David was now in great danger because all his men were very bitter about losing their sons and daughters, and they began to talk of stoning him. But David found strength in the LORD his God. 

 

–Tonight let’s look and see how the cave can actually be a good thing...a good place for us to be.

1. The cave is a place where failure can be my teacher.

–In a book “Art and Fear” it shows how it is necessary for us to understand we can learn from failure.

–Example: a class is divided into two groups. One is graded on the quantity of work...50lbs an A...40 lbs a B...so on.

–The other group is graded on quality...students could only produce one pot but it better be a good one.  Amazingly, the highest quality pots were turned out by the quantity group.

–It seemed that as they were churning out pot after pot that they were learning from their mistakes and growing each time. Even sports teach us that repetition is the best teacher.

–The quality group kept sitting around talking about theory and perfection but their product was none the better for it. Wasting time!

–At least when it comes to pottery...trying and failing...learning from failure, and trying again works a whole lot better than waiting for perfection. 

–You see; no pot is really a failure...no matter how miss-shaped it is...each is just one step closer to being an A.  Our road is littered with imperfect pots but it is the only road.

Jeremiah 18:1-6 (NKJV) 

1 The word which came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying: 

2 "Arise and go down to the potter's house, and there I will cause you to hear My words." 

3 Then I went down to the potter's house, and there he was, making something at the wheel. 

4 And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter; so he made it again into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to make. 

5 Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying: 

6 "O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter?" says the LORD. "Look, as the clay is in the potter's hand, so are you in My hand, O house of Israel! 

–When you think of Peter when he walked on the water he definitely was not “A” material but at least he was a little stronger than those who sat in the boat.

--Peter was on his way to getting an “A” but he had some growing and reshaping to do. Are you growing?

2. The cave is a place where I can definitely learn God’s plan.

–Hear me...taking a short cut or taking the easy way out is definitely not God’s plan.

–Sometimes the Scriptures is so transparent that it tells us more than we want to know.

1 Samuel 24:1-7 (NLT) 

1 After Saul returned from fighting the Philistines, he was told that David had gone into the wilderness of En gedi.

2 So Saul chose 3,000 elite troops from all Israel and went to search for David and his men near the rocks of the wild goats. 

3 At the place where the road passes some sheepfolds, Saul went into a cave to relieve himself. But as it happened, David and his men were hiding farther back in that very cave! 

4 “Now’s your opportunity!” David’s men whispered to him. “Today the LORD is telling you, ‘I will certainly put your enemy into your power, to do with as you wish.’” So David crept forward and cut off a piece of the hem of Saul’s robe. 

5 But then David’s conscience began bothering him because he had cut Saul’s robe. 

6 “The LORD knows I shouldn’t have done that to my lord the king,” he said to his men. “The LORD forbid that I should do this to my lord the king and attack the LORD’s anointed one, for the LORD himself has chosen him.” 

7 So David restrained his men and did not let them kill Saul, 

--I love how transparent the scriptures are. David’s men were telling him what the Lord was saying to him in the middle of his mess. They had not heard from God.

--The Bible tells us that even a fool seems wise when they keep their mouths shut. Though we understand where these guys are coming from, they did not have the mind of God. 

–David’s group of misfits could not understand David...this looked like it was God’s way out of the cave. David knew God does not think like we do. From Isaiah: 

Isaiah 55:8-11 (NLT) 

8 “My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the LORD. “And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. 

9 For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts. 

10 “The rain and snow come down from the heavens and stay on the ground to water the earth. They cause the grain to grow, producing seed for the farmer and bread for the hungry. 

11 It is the same with my word. I send it out, and it always produces fruit. It will accomplish all I want it to, and it will prosper everywhere I send it. 

–God had sent Samuel to anoint David as king and David knew God did not need his help to accomplish His will. God’s Word would be accomplished.

–Remember, God’s ways are always higher and better than our ways...His Word is legitimate.

 

–Would this be a temptation for David...I am sure. David discovered that more than he wanted to be king, he wanted to belong to God. Be obedient to God. 

Key: He would rather please God and live in a cave than to displease God and live on a throne.

–In the long run, being king–achieving outward success–was not a big enough dream for David...He had a better dream–to please God.

–How many Christians have wanted position and prestige so much that they by-passed God’s ways just to forfeit intimacy with God...His ways are higher!

–Are we chasing the right dreams? Is what we are pursuing consistent with God’s calling on our lives?  

Romans 11:29 (NCV)
²⁹  God never changes his mind about the people he calls and the things he gives them.

–Are we operating out of what God made us to do, or out of our own need to appear important and significant?  Are we willing to stay in the cave if it means being true to God?

3. The cave is the place where we can find our ultimate refuge.

–In the cave David says to God, You are my refuge! Of course we know the rest of the story...we know David will not die in the cave and we know he has a crown coming.

–It is very important that we understand David did not know this...for all he knows, this cave may be as good as it gets. But he makes an important discovery...He has a refuge!

–Sometimes you are in a cave and no human effort can get you out. There is something you can’t fix, something you can’t heal, or escape, and all you can do is trust God.

–Finding ultimate refuge in God means you become so immersed in His presence, so convinced of His goodness, so devoted to His Lordship that you find even in the cave is a perfectly safe place to be because He is there with you.

–Life has a way of hitting us right between the eyes and causing us to be in a cave, and as I said earlier in this series...maybe by our bad choices or by circumstances beyond our control...many times a combination of both.

–Sometimes there is no way out of the cave...in those times all we can do is find out that God is our refuge.

–As you submit to God in the cave you learn that God knows about caves...because Jesus suffered like us and for us.

Hebrews 2:17-18 (NIV) 

17 For this reason he had to be made like his brothers in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people. 

18 Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted. 

–Jesus understood the feelings associated with the cave even more than David...He lost His position in Heaven, he lost His throne, he lost His best friend (John the Baptist), He lost all of His friends when they fled.

–The religious leaders were always looking to take His life, and eventually He went to the cross and died. All of His dreams and all the dreams He inspired seemed to die with Him.

–What started out to be so much wonder and hope for so many ended in tragic death. And then they put His body in a cave.

–That was their mistake...His body was there for three days...but they could not keep Him there...they forgot that God does His best work in caves.

–The cave is where God resurrects dead things!

–I don’t know where you are right now...maybe you have lost your job, maybe your marriage is failing, maybe a child is wandering, maybe you are wondering if you will ever see the light again.

–Maybe you are not in a cave now but one day you will be...sooner or later everyone spends time in the cave.

–When your time comes...always remember...God does some of His best work in caves.

–He is our ultimate refuge!!!

Psalm 30:1-5 (NKJV) 

1 I will extol You, O LORD, for You have lifted me up, And have not let my foes rejoice over me. 

2 O LORD my God, I cried out to You, And You healed me. 

3 O LORD, You brought my soul up from the grave; You have kept me alive, that I should not go down to the pit. 

4 Sing praise to the LORD, You saints of His, And give thanks at the remembrance of His holy name. 

5 For His anger is but for a moment, His favor is for life; Weeping may endure for a night, But joy comes in the morning.