Viola Solid Rock Assembly
Distracted Unbelief
Let's go back to the last few weeks questioning why we aren't seeing certain things happen. We've been praying for things, we've been asking God to show up, we've been changing our pace to hear his voice and I've been hearing him loud and clear. But still yet I feel as though that maybe we aren't seeing things happen like maybe the things that I desire to see happen. Maybe I think that there are some things that I desire maybe and maybe it's not what needs to happen but you know something inside of me, I want to see it. And then I started thinking about those things and I started thinking about the promises that God has made and then I started thinking what you know sometimes what tends to happen is our vision is clouded. When it comes to God and God moving and God doing things in our lives there's just something that happens that it tends to cloud our vision a little bit and I started thinking about those things that do that and there's a couple things that come to mind and so one of the questions that I have for you this morning is how focused are you? How focused are you? In a world where we live in that there's so many things going on around us, I mean we walk around in a distracted world. We try to multitask but in reality we're just doing multiple things with nothing having our full focus. We're in an distracted world. You don't believe me? Go to a store and just sit back and watch. Nobody is paying attention to what they're doing. You will get ran over by a shopping cart, especially that's why I don't go to Walmart Mountain Home, not going, they'll run you over telling you it's a safety hazard. Stay home. I don't go to any of them but I'm just, we're in a distracted world. Luke chapter 10 tells a story of Jesus going and visiting Mary and Martha and it says verse 38 it says, "As Jesus and the disciples continued on their way to Jerusalem they came to a certain village where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. Her sister Mary set at the Lord's feet listening to what he taught but Martha was distracted by the big dinner she was preparing. She came to Jesus and said, "Lord doesn't it seem unfair to you that my sister just sits here while I do all the work?" Tell her to come and help me but the Lord said to her, "My dear Martha, you were worried and upset about over all these details. There is only one thing worth being concerned about and Mary has discovered it and will not be taken away from her." Martha is that person who's always busy about the father's business. These type people are a necessary part of the kingdom of God. They're dependable, they're selfless in service and always willing to show up, always willing to help. They do whatever they can. They're here Sunday morning, Sunday night, Wednesday night, special services. They're here helping. But sometimes like Martha we get so busy that we lose track of the most important thing. We lose track of our relationship with Christ. We get busy serving in this place in that place and pretty soon we get in a rut and we're just serving and we're only coming when we are serving and so pretty soon we're missing out on our relationship with Christ. We miss it and we don't even realize it because we're at church and we're doing the right thing. Right Zach? We're here. We're doing what we're supposed to do. But our relationship is suffering. It's hard to believe that someone who has all the traits to be here, every service and all those things and have a servant's heart that we talk about can lose track of their relationship with Christ but it's very easy to do. It happens all the time to good meaning people who honestly mean well but get distracted and lose out with Christ. They get in a rut if only serving and never receiving. There is a time to serve and I believe that everyone if you are a believer then you should serve. That's part of what we should do. But there comes a time that we also have to receive. There's more to it. I have to receive sometimes. I have to find ways to receive what I need from the Lord. I have to get in my own time of reading and studying and listening to the Word. And we all should be doing that but so many times we get in a rut of, well I'm there on Sundays and Wednesdays and I'm there when we have revival services and I come to prayer sometimes. And we're losing the relationship. We lose out. We say, well I'm getting burned out and in reality we've lost our relationship is what's called us to be burned out. We see ministries crumble. We saw this in the last couple weeks to high profile ministries fall because at some point those leaders lost, they lost the most important thing, their relationship with Christ. They got distracted. It can be fatal to your faith and walk with God to allow the spirit of distraction to get a foothold in your life. A few weeks ago we talked about a lady who had been in church her whole life, right? She had been in church her whole life. Her husband was a deacon at the church that they attended and she comes to an altar call during a revival for salvation and the evangelist is taken back and she said it was always someone else's God. I was here but I've never actually truly asked him to be the Lord of my life. Seventy, somebody something years old and been to church her whole life and it clicked. I've served him, I've paid ties, I've done all the things that the word asked me to do. I'm a good person, but I've never asked him to be the Lord of my life. Distraction took hold. Distraction starts out small like you sit down to do your devotion time in the phone rings or someone knocks on the door or you say I'll just look at social media for a few minutes before I read and the next thing you know you spend an hour on there and I find myself being more and more easily distracted some days than others. It may take me hours to complete a simple task mainly because I'm a little ADD and my brain is going other places and I'll do 59 other things that don't necessarily need to be done because I'm avoiding doing the thing that needs to be done. We're getting ready to go on a trip. She's like, why did you wait till now to do that? I don't know, I don't really, I know we don't actually need to do this, but in my mind it's telling me that I have to do this right now. The enemy wants to distract you, he wants to derail you from your destiny, he wants to keep you from being able to truly live out the life God has for you. He wants to keep you distracted so your relationship with the Father suffers because if you're going to keep you distracted long enough he has you. Distraction is a deadly weapon, it's a thing that we all face, but how distracted are we or rather how focused are we on him. Being distracted is one of those things but the other thing that I've noticed is besides distraction, familiarity can make us lose out. There's a saying that says familiarity breeds contempt, essentially what this means is something that becomes so familiar that you lose respect for it or we lose reverence for it, one of the reasons I've been saying that a change of scenery or a change of pace or a change of routine can cause us to be able to hear from God is sometimes familiarity will cause us to miss things because it's just another thing, how often do you drive the same route on your way to work or wherever the grocery store you drive the same route and you miss things because it's just familiar, just I know this road and then all of a sudden you've been driving there and all of a sudden you see something that's probably been there for months but you just now noticed it because you've been distracted or it's become so familiar that you didn't even notice it. I don't remember where we were going the other day, it's somewhere that we go quite often and I had noticed it but Chelsea's like, well I didn't know there was a house there, I was like it's been there for like three months. They finished it three months ago but at the familiarity and we drive by it and we don't pay attention and then all of a sudden there it is and it's the same way with God we can get in a routine of coming to church and doing the same thing and we miss what he's really speaking or doing in our lives. Mark chapter 6 verse 1 says Jesus left this part of the country and returned with his disciples to Nazareth, his hometown, the next Sabbath he began teaching in the synagogue and many who heard him were amazed, they asked where did he get all this wisdom and power to perform such miracles and then they scoffed, he's just a carpenter, the son of Mary and the brother of James and Joseph and Judas and Simon and his sisters lived right here among us and they were deeply offended and refused to believe in him then Jesus told him a prophet is honored everywhere except in his own hometown and among his relatives and his own family and because of their unbelief he couldn't do the miracles among them except to place his hand on a few sick people and heal them and he was amazed at their unbelief. When I was reading this at camp the speaker had talked about this just a little bit and he said something and he just clicked and it started rolling around in my mind and I couldn't shake it and I was thinking about how the familiarity and what we put ourselves around and how we put ourselves around things and it makes us miss things and it makes us angry with things sometimes because we're so familiar that we just don't respect it any longer. But the first thing in this verse that catches me is they were amazed in the beginning, right? They said the next Sabbath he began teaching in the synagogue and many who heard him were amazed and asked where did he get all this wisdom to perform and the power to perform such miracles. Where did it come from? This guy's pretty smart. He's really being used. He begins teaching and they're like hey this guy, this guy's got all the goods. Look the miracles are there, they're happening, people are being healed, everywhere it goes, people are being delivered, people are being set free, people are experiencing the incredible and they started seeing the miracles themselves but then familiarity slips in. This guy's pretty smart guy, wait a minute, hold on, we've been duped. This guy says then they scoffed, he's just a carpenter, he's the son of Mary and the brother of, and they name all of his brothers, James, Joseph, Judas and Simon and his sisters, his sisters live right here and they were deeply offended. How can you go from amazed to offended in 3.7 seconds? And they did not only were they offended but they refused to believe him. Because we get so familiar with Jesus that we miss out, that's just Mary's son, that's James's brother, he's just a carpenter, his sister lives down the street and he's nothing. And they were offended because they were familiar with who he was, they were offended because they saw him as that little kid that lived down the road. And they didn't honor him because they looked at him and said it's just that kid, it's just that kid, it's just him, it's just Mary's boy, you know, his sister lives down the street and she's got the funny hair. His brother lives over there at that one place where the dog is tied out front. How could these people get so offended that saw the miracles that were amazed at the wisdom? How all of a sudden could they be so offended? It was because he began to call out their sin. They got so offended because he began to call out their sin. They were comfortable and familiar with what was happening and they didn't respect him and they didn't respect it. And so when he began to call out their sin, they got offended and left. Well he's just preaching on that because he knows my situation. He heard him talking and now he's preaching at me. He knows what happened in my family and now he's preaching at me. And to get mad and leave, it's what happens still today. I can promise you that when I'm sitting down and getting ready to preach, I am not thinking about what you did last night or last week. I will just tell you. So if I come in and you feel like I'm preaching at you, it's not me, it's the Jesus. How could these people get offended that saw this? And it was because they didn't like he was calling out their sin. We do the same thing. We get so familiar. We get so comfortable that we lose the reverence. It's just another service. It's just God's not moving anymore. We know he is, but he's not moving the way that we want him to, and so we get upset. He doesn't answer my prayers. We make excuses. We get mad. We get offended because the guy across the building is getting blessed and we're not. But we don't know the battle that they had to go through to get to where they're at. We don't know the sacrifices that they made to get to where they are. We get so familiar and comfortable that we start playing games. We know how to play church. We know when to stand and when to sit. We know when to sing. We know to win and raise our hands. We know when to come to altar. We know the Christianese language and we speak it fluently and it just becomes a show and we're not putting faith into it. We're just being here, much like the distracted person, stewing all the right things. But the relationship's not there because we got so familiar with it. We're so good at it. I can play church better than some of y'all can do church. I've been around it. I know what to do. I know what to say. I played church for a long time. We are familiar and we're distracted and much like Mary, we know Jesus. She knew Jesus but was distracted by everything else. We know Jesus but we become so familiar with Him that it's okay that He's over there and we're over here. And then we're mad that someone else is over there and we're not. They refused to believe Jesus was who He said He was because they were too familiar with Him. Verse 5 says, "And because of their unbelief, He couldn't do any miracles among them except to place His hands on a few sick people and heal them. And He, Jesus, was amazed at their unbelief." Belief is different than doubt. Jesus can't work without He can't work with unbelief. These people they did not believe. They were full of unbelief. Doubt is different. Doubt is questioning. Doubt is skeptic belief. I'm a skeptic. I tend to overanalyze things. I'm an over thinker. I analyze things probably a lot more than I probably should. Usually before I make a decision, I've played out the 7,000 outcomes of a situation. There was a movie like that. I promise you, that's how my brain works. 7,000 outcomes have already been played out. And this is how we're going to respond to each one of them. Before I make the decision, when God speaks, I listen, but there are times in those moments when He speaks that I have doubt, it's usually more of a question of how rather than doubt, but we would consider doubt. I mean, I know but how, that's my question usually. Yes, I will, but how? We can work with doubt. John chapter 1, we talked about this Wednesday night. John chapter 1 verse 45, it says, "Filla went to look for Nathaniel and told him, 'We have found the very person Moses and the prophets wrote about. His name is Jesus, the son of Joseph from Nazareth.'" Nazareth, exclaiming at Nathaniel, "Can anything good come from Nazareth? Come and see for yourself, Philip replied. As they approached, Jesus said, 'Now here is a genuine son of Israel, a man of complete integrity. How do you know me?' Nathaniel asked, "Jesus replied, 'I could see you under the fig tree before Philip found you.'" And Nathaniel exclaimed, "Rabbi, you are the Son of God, the King of Israel." And Jesus asked him, "Do you believe? Do you believe this just because I told you I saw you under a fig tree? You will see greater things than this." Nathaniel was a doubter, he was a skeptic. It wasn't that he didn't believe, but how could anything good come from Nazareth? He doubted, but Jesus worked with his doubt, right? He didn't just cast him away because he was a little skeptical or doubted a little bit. He didn't say, "Well, no good with him, go back to your fig tree." He said, "Oh, you're a good son of Israel. I saw you before Philip called you when you were sitting under that fig tree. And all of a sudden, just because Jesus says that, he's like, "That's him. He's the rabbi. That's him. He's the one they talked about." Jesus, you're going to see greater things than this, buddy. John chapter 20 tells about another doubter, it says, "One of the twelve disciples, Thomas, was not with the others when Jesus came. They told him, 'We have seen the Lord.' But he replied, 'I won't believe unless I see the nail wounds in his hands, put my fingers into them, and place my hand in the wound in his side.'" Verse 27 says, "Then he said to Thomas, 'Put your fingers here and look at my hands, put your hand in the wound in my side. Don't be faithless any longer, believe. My Lord and my God,' Thomas explained, 'Then Jesus told him, 'You believe because you have seen. Blessed are those who believe without seeing me.' Thomas doubted, but Jesus worked with the doubt. He doubted, but he worked with that. He can work with doubt. He can't work with unbelief. The people in Nazareth were full of unbelief. They were full of unbelief. And so he couldn't work with the people of his hometown because they would not believe. And so he couldn't even perform the miracles that I think he probably desired to perform. Because they were like, 'Mm, no, it's not going to work. We don't believe you. You're just Mary's son. You're just the brother of James. Your sister lives down the street and she is crazy. Everybody's got a crazy sibling. If you don't, you're probably it.' He can work with doubt, but he can't work with unbelief. I think about Numbers 14, verse 22, it says, 'Not one of these people have ever entered that land. They have all seen my glorious presence in the miraculous sign. I perform both in Egypt and in the wilderness. But again and again, they have tested me by refusing to listen to my voice. They will never, ever see the land. I swore to give their ancestors, none of them. Those who have treated me with contempt will never see it.' One of the definitions of contempt is unbelief. It is disregard that should be taken into account. It's unbelief. In Hebrews chapter 3, verse 16 says, 'And who was it who rebelled against God, even though they heard this voice? Wasn't it the people Moses led out of Egypt and who made God angry for 40 years? Wasn't it the people whose sin, whose corpses lay in the wilderness? And to whom was God speaking when he took an oath that they would never enter his rest? Wasn't it the people who disobeyed him? So we see that because of their unbelief. They were not able to enter his rest. Unbelief will keep you separated from God. It will keep you from experiencing miracles. It will keep you from having prayers answered. It will keep you distracted because that, what's the use? If you don't believe, then why are you coming to the altar? If you don't believe that God can do something, why do you even ask him? It doesn't make sense. Why would I pray and ask God to do something that I don't believe he can do? It doesn't make any sense. That's crazy. What's the use? Mark chapter 9, verse 23 says, 'What do you mean if I can, Jesus ask? Anything is possible if a person believes. And the Father instantly cried out, "I do believe, but help me overcome my unbelief." This Father had come to Jesus. His Son was possessed and the disciples had tried to cast the demon out and they were unsuccessful. And the Father is complaining to Jesus with his Son and said they weren't able to do it. I want to see him healed if you can, which means if I can. Are you kidding me if I can? I got this. It wasn't that he didn't believe though. It wasn't that he was full of unbelief. It was that he doubted what Jesus could do. And what did we say? Jesus can work with doubt, but what did the guy say, Lord help me with my unbelief? I don't want to doubt, I don't want to not believe that you can do this. I want to believe with everything inside of me that you can do this. I don't want to doubt at all. Help me. Help me with my doubt is really what he should have said. Help me with my doubt. He was struggling. He had seen other people pray and nothing happened. And so he's struggling with doubt. He believes that Jesus can do it, but he's still doubting the fact that it will actually happen. Help me overcome my unbelief. My prayer this morning is, Lord, help us overcome our unbelief. Help us overcome our doubts. Help us get past the familiarity so that we can hear your voice. Help us to get past the distractions so that we can see you move. Help us to get past those things, because I don't want to leave your presence. You are everything that I need, Lord, help us to overcome. Help us to overcome unbelief and doubts and distractions. Help us to clear our minds, because I want to see you move. I want to see you move, God. I don't want to miss out on a move of God, because I'm too distracted. So I must everyone that would just stand to your feet. Lord, I just thank you for today. I thank you once again for the opportunity that you've given us together in your presence. Lord, I thank you for helping us with our unbelief, God. Lord, I pray that if there's anyone in this room that's struggling with unbelief, not just doubt, but just unbelief, Lord, I pray that today that you help them. Maybe you're hearing you don't know Christ as your person, Lord, and Savior. Maybe you're not where you need to be with Him. This morning, you want to get right with Him, you want to make Him your all. I want to invite you to come. I want to pray with you. I want to believe with you. Maybe you're here, though, and you're struggling with that unbelief that we talked about. Maybe there's some things that you're having a hard time believing that God is capable of doing, and you're struggling with unbelief. I want to invite you to come. Maybe you're just struggling with doubt. Maybe there's some things you know that God can, but you doubt that He will, and you're struggling with that this morning, and you need God to help you. I want to encourage you to move. I want to invite you to come. You're struggling with doubt. I want to invite you to come. Maybe you've just been distracted. Maybe you've got so much going on in your life. Maybe there's some things, and maybe it's just a constant thing. Maybe people have started distracting you. Maybe there's been things that have gone on in your life that is distracting you from where you know you need to be, and you've missed it. You've missed God because of distractions. I want to invite you to come. Don't miss it. We all get distracted from time to time. What I just thank you right now, I thank you for the ones that responded, and Lord, I believe I'm believing for you to move in this house. I'm believing that you're going to change things in this place. I'm believing that we're going to see things because we're not going to let familiarity get in the way. We're not going to let distractions get in the way, but we just thank you and praise you. If you feel like to come and pray around these altars, feel free to do so. If you feel like to come and pray for the ones that are here, feel free to do so. [BLANK_AUDIO]