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Jun 13, 2021

How to Get Unstuck!

How to Get Unstuck!

Speaker: Tyler Ferguson

Series: Prelude: Preparing for Sabbath

Category: Sunday Morning

Do you find yourself stuck?

In our Prelude series, we are looking at preparing our hearts for what God wants to do during our 40 days of Sabbath. Sometimes we need to heal. 

Have you ever been stuck? in the mud, in a seatbelt, on a roller coaster, in a broken car. Sometimes, we find ourselves stuck in a different way. In life, spiritually. Trials come. Difficulties come. Tough situations come. Bad things happen and the forward momentum we had in our faith stops. Most that get stuck ask, "How do I get unstuck?"

The Bible has some practical instructions for us to answer that question. Peter writes to those suffering for being a new Christian and gives encouragement. 

1 Peter 4:12-19 Dear friends, don’t be surprised when the fiery ordeal comes among you to test you as if something unusual were happening to you. Instead, rejoice as you share in the sufferings of the Messiah, so that you may also rejoice with great joy at the revelation of His glory. If you are ridiculed for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you. None of you, however, should suffer as a murderer, a thief, an evildoer, or a meddler. But if anyone suffers as a “Christian,” he should not be ashamed but should glorify God in having that name. For the time has come for judgment to begin with God’s household, and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who disobey the gospel of God? And if a righteous person is saved with difficulty, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner? So those who suffer according to God’s will should, while doing what is good, entrust themselves to a faithful Creator.

Are you suffering? Take these keys to getting unstuck:

1. Know God's character in the trial: 

  • God is faithful and worthy of full trust.
  • God is creator and totally in control.

Mark 4:35-41 On that day, when evening had come, He told them, “Let’s cross over to the other side of the sea.” So they left the crowd and took Him along since He was already in the boat. And other boats were with Him. A fierce windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking over the boat, so that the boat was already being swamped. But He was in the stern, sleeping on the cushion. So they woke Him up and said to Him, “Teacher! Don’t You care that we’re going to die?” He got up, rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Silence! Be still!” The wind ceased, and there was a great calm. Then He said to them, “Why are you fearful? Do you still have no faith?” And they were terrified and asked one another, “Who then is this? Even the wind and the sea obey Him!”

Jesus showed Himself to be faithful in the middle of the storm. They didn't really feel like it but even so, He was faithful. Once He was awake, they were convinced that He was there. Have you felt abandoned by God? He is still faithful. He will not leave us in the middle of a storm. He is faithful and in control both in the storm and over the storm! Faithful to never leave us alone. They still went through the storm. Storms can convince us that He is not faithful or in control. But He is!

If you want to be unstuck, then believe and embrace that He is faithful and in charge and control of all around us. 

2. Entrust yourself to Him:

1 Peter 4:19 ... entrust themselves to a faithful Creator. Let the people of God entrust ourselves to Him. To entrust means to set before. If we are suffering, we are told to set ourselves before Him. 

In Mark 4, when the storm came, they went to Jesus - they set themselves before Him. They didn't say, "Jesus, we trust You." or "Holy Spirit have Your way." They said, "Jesus, what are You doing? Don't You care that we are about to die?" They came to Jesus with honesty and their whole heart. Coming before God does not always look like Mary sitting at His feet saying, "teach me, Lord." It is going before Him with our whole hearts - honest and unfiltered. 

Lamentations 2:22 You summoned my attackers on every side, as if for an appointed festival day; on the day of the Lord’s anger no one escaped or survived. My enemy has destroyed those I nurtured and reared. 

Habakkuk 1:2-3 How long, Lord, must I call for help and You do not listen or cry out to You about violence and You do not save? Why do You force me to look at injustice? Why do You tolerate wrongdoing? Oppression and violence are right in front of me. Strife is ongoing, and conflict escalates.

Setting yourself before God with anything other than honesty is going to do you no good. Until you are honest with God regarding the fact that you are stuck, you are never going to get unstuck. 

3. Don't Stop Doing Good:

To get unstuck, we have to move. We rest in who He is, set ourselves before Him but we also have to keep moving. The great paradox is that we keep moving while simultaneously we are sitting still. When we are stuck emotionally or spiritually, God's Word tells us to keep moving. 

Ephesians 2:10 For we are His creation, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared ahead of time so that we should walk in them.

If you are stuck, what was the last thing that you remember God telling you? When you think of it, go do that. Keep doing it and as unto the Lord. Why are we told to keep moving? When we keep our eyes on working for God, then we are letting God be God with our circumstances. To keep pressing forward is the way we ensure that we are leaving the outcome of our struggle to God. 

The woman at the well was stuck. She had others pile on the shame and guilt for what she had done. Then she met Jesus, the faithful One, the One with control over her destiny. She put herself before Him and went to tell others what she knew about this Jesus. We all have the same opportunity. 

What way, in the past or currently, have you been stuck?

How did you get through that time? How did God show Himself faithful?

God's character is important to know. What character trait do you most depend on in the storm?