July 20, 2025 | Humility, Contentment, & Observation

 Humility, Contentment, & Observation | Proverbs Part 21

Proverbs 30

The words of Agur son of Jakeh. The oracle.

The man declares, I am weary, O God;
    I am weary, O God, and worn out.
Surely I am too stupid to be a man.
    I have not the understanding of a man.
I have not learned wisdom,
    nor have I knowledge of the Holy One.
Who has ascended to heaven and come down?
    Who has gathered the wind in his fists?
Who has wrapped up the waters in a garment?
    Who has established all the ends of the earth?
What is his name, and what is his son’s name?
    Surely you know!


Every word of God proves true;
    he is a shield to those who take refuge in him.
Do not add to his words,
    lest he rebuke you and you be found a liar.


Two things I ask of you;
    deny them not to me before I die:
Remove far from me falsehood and lying;
    give me neither poverty nor riches;
    feed me with the food that is needful for me,
lest I be full and deny you
    and say, “Who is the LORD?”
or lest I be poor and steal
    and profane the name of my God.


Do not slander a servant to his master,
    lest he curse you, and you be held guilty.


There are those who curse their fathers
    and do not bless their mothers.
There are those who are clean in their own eyes
    but are not washed of their filth.
There are those—how lofty are their eyes,
    how high their eyelids lift!
There are those whose teeth are swords,
    whose fangs are knives,
to devour the poor from off the earth,
    the needy from among mankind.


The leech has two daughters:
    Give and Give.
Three things are never satisfied;
    four never say, “Enough”:
Sheol, the barren womb,
    the land never satisfied with water,
    and the fire that never says, “Enough.”


The eye that mocks a father
    and scorns to obey a mother
will be picked out by the ravens of the valley
    and eaten by the vultures.


Three things are too wonderful for me;
    four I do not understand:
the way of an eagle in the sky,
    the way of a serpent on a rock,
the way of a ship on the high seas,
    and the way of a man with a virgin.


This is the way of an adulteress:
    she eats and wipes her mouth
    and says, “I have done no wrong.”


Under three things the earth trembles;
    under four it cannot bear up:
a slave when he becomes king,
    and a fool when he is filled with food;
an unloved woman when she gets a husband,
    and a maidservant when she displaces her mistress.


Four things on earth are small,
    but they are exceedingly wise:
the ants are a people not strong,
    yet they provide their food in the summer;
the rock badgers are a people not mighty,
    yet they make their homes in the cliffs;
the locusts have no king,
    yet all of them march in rank;
the lizard you can take in your hands,
    yet it is in kings’ palaces.


Three things are stately in their tread;
    four are stately in their stride:
the lion, which is mightiest among beasts
    and does not turn back before any;
the strutting rooster, the he-goat,
    and a king whose army is with him.


If you have been foolish, exalting yourself,
    or if you have been devising evil,
    put your hand on your mouth.
For pressing milk produces curds,
    pressing the nose produces blood,
    and pressing anger produces strife. (ESV)

In this sermon on Proverbs 30, Jon Farra reflects on the themes of humility, contentment, and observation through the poetic insights of Agur. The message begins with Agur's raw admission of exhaustion and limitation. Agur demonstrates a humble recognition of human frailty in the face of God's vast wisdom and power. This posture sets the stage for a reminder that true wisdom begins with reverence for God, not self-assurance.

Farra emphasizes that every word of God proves true and serves as a refuge for those who trust in Him. Rather than striving for control, believers are called to rest in the sufficiency of God’s word, resisting the urge to add to or manipulate it. This leads into Agur’s two prayers: to be kept from falsehood and from both poverty and riches. Farra draws attention to the heart of these prayers: not self-preservation, but the desire to honor God's name. Contentment with daily bread reflects a trust in God’s provision and guards against pride or despair.

The sermon also explores the value of observing the created world, as Agur does with animals and nature. These seemingly small or ordinary things carry profound wisdom. From ants to lions, Farra encourages the listener to slow down and notice the order, beauty, and lessons God has woven into everyday life. At the same time, he warns against the disordered realities that arise when human pride and rebellion upend God’s design.

Through stories, prayer, and biblical reflection, the sermon invites worshipers to embrace humility, anchor themselves in Scripture, and pursue a life shaped by God’s wisdom. Rather than chasing comfort or recognition, we are called to walk with God, serve others, and seek His glory in every season

Transcript of  Humility, Contentment, & Observation | Proverbs Part 21

Good morning. I'm gonna start in scripture, which is Proverbs Chapter 30 this morning. And to do that, I'm gonna ask these four fine gentlemen to come up and help read scripture.

Reading Proverbs 30

The words of auger. The son of Jakeh, Jakeh, the oracle. The man declares I'm weary. Oh God. I'm weary. Oh God, and worn out. Surely I'm too stupid to be a man. I have not the understanding of a man. I have not learned wisdom, nor have I nor have I knowledge of the holy one who has ascended to heaven and come down who has gathered the wind in his fists, who has wrapped the waters in a garment, who has established the ends of the earth?

What is his name and what is his son's name? Surely you know. Every word of God proves true. He's a shield to those who take refuge in him. Do not add to his words lest He rebuke you and you be found a liar. Two things I ask of you. Deny them not before I die. Remove far from me the falsehood and lying. Give me neither poverty nor riches. Feed me with food that is needful to me.

Lest I be full and deny you and say, who is the Lord? Or lest I be poor and steal and profane the name of my God. Do not slander a servant to his master, lest he curse you and you be held guilty. There are those who curse their fathers and do not bless their mothers. There are those who are clean in their own eyes, but are not washed of their filth.

There are those. How lofty are their eyes? How high are their, how high their eyelids lift? There are those whose teeth are swords, whose pings or knives to devour the poor from off the earth, the needy from among the mankind. The leach has two daughters, daughters give and give, they cry. Three things are never satisfied.

Four. Four, never say enough. Sheol, the barren womb, womb and the land that never satisfied with water and the fire that's never says enough.

The eye that mocks a father and scorns to obey a mother will be picked out by the ravens of the valley and be eaten by the vultures.

Three things are too wonderful to me. Four, I do not understand. The way of an eagle in the sky, the way of an, of a serpent on the rock, on a rock, and the way of a ship on a, on the high seas and the way of a man with a virgin.

This is the way of an adulterous. She eats and wipes her mouth and says, I have done no wrong.

Under three things, the earth trembles under four, it cannot bear it up. When a slave, a slave, when he becomes a king, a fool, when he is filled with food, an unloved woman, when she gets a husband, and a maid servant, when she dis displaces her mistress.

Four things on the earth are small. But they're exceedingly wise.

The ants are people not strong yet. They provide their food in the summer. The rock badgers are people not mighty, yet they make their homes in the cliffs. The locusts have no king, yet all of them march and rank. The lizard you can take in your hands, yet is it is in king's places.

Three things are stately in their tread. Four are stately in their stride. The lion, which is mightiest among beasts, does not turn back before any. The strutting rooster, the he goat, and a man whose army is with him.

If you have been foolish exalting yourself, or if you have been devising evil, put your hand on your mouth for pressing milk, produces curds. Pressing the nose, produces blood. Pressing anger produces strife.

Prayer

Let's pray. Father, thank you for the gift of your word. Thank you for these young men reading it. Thank you that you desire it for each part of our life, each stage of our life, there is opportunities, there are blessings, and there are challenges.

We ask that our hearts would be content. We ask that your word would sink deep, and we ask that we would see you and worship you. We do know that is the will of God for our lives. We do know that coming before you to be a living sacrifice as well as having our hearts renewed will allow us to see the will of God.

Thank you Father for the promises of scripture, and we ask Jesus that you would, uh, strengthen our, uh, reflections this morning. Uh, thank you that you, you accept us. You call us children of God. You are a good and gracious king. And thank you for your death and resurrection. May that be on the forefront of our hearts, our minds, and our mouths today.

In your precious name, amen.

Humility, Contentment, & Observation

We have been going through the book of Proverbs. This is close to the end of it. So this is Proverbs chapter 30. There's one more. Proverbs, chapter 31, which most people believe or know the text, most of the text, which is the excellent woman. And, uh, so, uh, this is Proverbs chapter 30. And it is a, it's a lot of observations of nature.

Observation

So one of the things I appreciate about my wife is when she, um, when she helps, uh, my children with something, she'll often, they'll do something and she'll provide some correction, and then she'll say, let's practice. So we go through something again and there's a little bit of a simulation or role play, or maybe you back up in time and, okay, come back in the house. Now try that question again, kind of thing. And you know what? It's a strong way to teach.

So let's practice this morning. So, uh, let's practice observation. So when we say words like the church or look around the room right now. And take some mental notes about some of the things that you observe of this room right now.

What do you see? What thoughts, what experiences, what emotions. Tell somebody next to you, some of the things you are observing.

Now biblically, the word church doesn't just refer to a room on Sunday morning. Biblically, the church refers to a gathering of people. That are meant to encourage each other before the Lord. So let's try it again. Now look around the room and make some observations of the people in this room of the church: one another.

Now, if you've been in this room for, if this is your first Sunday here versus you've been here for 50 years, maybe some of those observations are similar and maybe some of those observations have shifted over time.

Alright. I also want to give you four words for you to pull up a thought or an emotion around it.

So the word provision. What comes to mind when you hear the word provision? What comes to mind? Stuff. Stuff. Good? Yeah. Things you need to live. Okay. Provided. Yep. Provider, that's right.

What comes to mind or heart when you hear the word home? What comes to mind or heart or prayer when you hear the word order? And what comes to mind or heart or prayer, when you hear the word honor?

And then you ask yourself the big question, why are these important? Why are provisions, homes, order and honor to pick four words important? It is part of how we structure our life. It is the expectations we have. It is how we function.

One of my heroes of the faith is Enoch, and we know amazingly little about him. I think there's like three verses in the whole Bible about him. There's one in Genesis, there's one in, he's in the Hall of Fame in Hebrews. And then there's a reference to him in the book of Jude, I believe. And that's it. What do we know about Enoch?

Well, we know he was a son of somebody. We know he was a father of somebody, and we know he walked with God. And that's it. Is that enough?

As you look through the, as you, Jed has, Jed and team have talked about the proverbs, and he talked about words in Proverbs, pride in legacy, and Proverbs, money and Proverbs, wisdom and um, uh, provision in Proverbs, emotions, uh, work and rest, counsel and joy.

So if you were to define wisdom. Which is what the book of Proverbs is meant to draw us to. One reflection may simply be to walk with God or to see the way the world, the way God sees the world, and to act in the toward the world, the way God would act toward the world.

Agur the Oracle

Alright, let's, uh, let's take a few quick observations of the text. Uh, Proverbs 30 verse one. It says The words of Agur son of Jakeh, the Oracle.

Now, if you go around the internet trying and other commentary, references, trying to find out who Agur is, the short answer is we don't know. There's a number of guesses. Uh, there's some, uh, geographic areas he may have come from. Um, actually one of the podcast sermon people talked about, it may actually just be another name for Solomon. Uh, or it may be somebody who was from a different region. Uh, actually a link to the Ishmael Lights as one of the guesses. It may actually also be commentary on either the book of Proverbs or Solomon himself, and that may become clear in a second or an idea in a second, but. It is. He, he, he starts by saying he's an oracle and he therefore a prophet or somebody who is giving wisdom and or speaking for the Lord.

So this, the, the words of Agur are what we're gonna reflect on today. And it's a little bit interesting that he starts, we might use the word humility. But he starts by saying, A man declared, I am weary. Oh God, I am weary. Oh God, and I'm worn out. Surely I'm too stupid to be a man. I do not have the understanding of man.

I have not learned wisdom nor uh, have I the knowledge of the holy one who is ascend of the heavens, and who has gathered the winds in his fist, who has gathered the water in his garments. Who has established the ends of the earth? What is his name? What is his son's name? Surely, you know.

Is that a little ironic that the prophet, the oracle of God, starts by saying, I'm worn out, I'm exhausted, I'm tired, I'm stupid. I do not have wisdom. How many of you like to listen to people that start with that introduction?

How many of you, the older you get, the more you realize, the less you know?

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. That's all the way back from Proverbs chapter nine, but it very much is a statement of humility and it's a statement of just I'm exhausted. What are some parallels for exhausted, worn out, tired spent? You could keep going. Pull up a time in your mind when you have felt that you have felt like you've put, left it on the field as one of the sports metaphors, fours, but you are, you've given it all, maybe even more than you intended.

There are times where you were worn out physically. Back in uh, 2006. I have a picture in my office of Jimmy's joggers, which is Jimmy Cannington and a number of other of us running guys. And it was 2006. Uh, the, it was a, we did a half, I did a half marathon in, uh, Nashville and a group in here did a full marathon.

And so after I finished the half marathon, I went to the end of the race to cheer for the people finishing the full marathon, including some of you guys. And I won't forget likely, some of the words I heard coming out of the mouths of the people at mile 25 or 26 as they were finishing the marathon.

One, one of the guys was simply muttering, I want an orange, I want an orange. I want an orange.

You could pull up some other expressions of exhaustion.

What about worn out emotionally? Big words like death. Big words like divorce. Big words like, like you can fill in the blank.

I lost a brother this year. I miss my brother. That's hard. You feel spent. Your brain's trying to put together a puzzle and you don't have all the pieces.

Is God in that? Yep. Is it hard? Yep. What about spiritually worn out? Have you ever been past the point of prayer? God, I don't even think I can pray about that anymore. How many have prayed for something for 40 years and you still don't have an answer or the answer. You want that? Yeah.

Jesus had some of those words in the garden and other places. Galatians six two says, carry one another's burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ. One of the gifts we have. It's to help people with their burdens. And you can take the picture of helping somebody carry a big physical burden, like a, a TV down.

Well, okay, TVs don't weigh as much as they used to, but maybe that's a bad example. But something physical or something emotional or something spiritual, which is part of the gathering of believers on a Sunday morning, is meant to encourage one another through times like this.

Worshiping God is wise, acting like God is folly.

The Word of God

Okay, where do you go? What's the next where? Where do you go emotionally? Where do you go relationally? But more importantly, what? What does the text say? Alright, so the, the words of Agur are here to start by saying, I'm worn out. I'm spent, I do desire to know God, but I can't. And then it comes down to verse five, and he says, every word of God proves, what's the word there in the text? True. Every word of God proves true. He is a shield to those who take refuge in him.

Now, I, I noted just a few of the other translation words. It can be translated true, it can be translated, proves true. It could be translated pure, or refined, or flawless, or tried. The word of God is all of those things.

I used a few other words like battle tested, effective, sufficient.

Psalm 19 gives us a few other reflections on the word of God. The law of the Lord is perfect. Refreshing the soul. The statutes Lord are trustworthy, making wise is simple. The precepts Lord are right, giving joy to the heart. The command of Lord are radiant, giving light to the eyes. The fear of the Lord is pure enduring forever. The decrees of Lord are firm and altogether righteous.

And then Hebrews chapter four says, for the word of God is alive, sharper than a double-edged sword. It penetrates, dividing soul and spirit joint in marrow. It judges thoughts and attitudes and heart. Nothing in all of creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him whom we give, who, who we must give in account. Hebrews four, 12 through 13.

What does it mean for you to take refuge in his word? What does it mean for you to take refuge in his word?

Because that's what the verse says. It says every word of God proves true. He is a shield to those who take refuge in him. Do not add to his word lest he rebuke you and you be found a liar. Take a minute just to pray before the Lord with that question. What does it mean for you to take refuge in his word?

Father, help us to be good Bereans. Help us to search the word of God to find out if it's true. I pray that that would have your desired effect in our life.

Two Prayers

Let's keep going. Two things I ask of you. Do not deny them, not to me before I die, remove from me falsehood in lying and give me neither poverty nor riches, lest you feed on that with food that is needed for me. Lest I am full and I deny you and say, who is the Lord? Or lest I am poor and steal and profane the name of the Lord God.

Does this surprise you as a, as a, if you were to make two prayers before the Lord, would these be your two prayers?

It says keep false. Keep me from falsehood and lying. Why? I, I need to, I, I'm looking in the mirror on this question. Why is it so easy to shade the truth? Why is it so easy to exaggerate? Why is it so easy to tell a little white lie? Why is it so easy to be sarcastic?

And in our culture it's sometimes accepted.

Agur here is saying, keep falsehood and lying from me.

Back in, um, Jesus said. Oh, it's actually said of Jesus twice, both in Isaiah 59, or excuse me, 53 verse nine. And in first Peter 2 22 talking specifically about Jesus. It says, Jesus committed no sin and no deceit was found in his mouth. I, I guess I find it interesting that there's the big umbrella of he didn't sin, Jesus was sinless.

And then it says specifically, there is no deceit in his mouth, and that's as he's going to the cross.

I could learn from that.

You four guys could learn from that. And the rest of us, too. That's a good prayer.

And then it says, give me neither poverty nor riches. Alright, so if this is a continuum, so if this is the barely making its side, you don't, you know, we use words like you didn't have two nickels to rub together. And so this is the, you're, maybe you're newly married and you can hardly afford a apartment, much less gas for your car or something like that.

And then if this is the continuum, and then maybe you're over here. And you have a little bit of extra, or maybe you have a lot extra financially and you're able to make decisions and you're able to solve problems. This prayer doesn't say, help me to move this way. What this prayer says is, give me neither poverty nor riches, and there's a warning on each side.

It says, lest I steal and defame your name or lest I, oh, lemme get the words right. Remove, uh, give me neither poverty or riches. Feed me with the food needful for me, lest I am full and I deny you and say, who is the Lord? Unless I am poor and steal and profane the name of the Lord. So there's kind of a continuum here.

One observation is. Um, the focus, the prayer is not for the person. The prayer is for the glory of God. Focus on the glory of God.

Uh, you guys have probably been to weddings and you've heard this prayer prayed over the young couple, says, oh God, may this couple be blessed as they enter into the holy covenant of marriage. May they be granted the grace to live lives of integrity. May falsehood and lies be removed from them, and may their hearts be filled with truthfulness and sincerity in all of their interactions. May they be given neither poverty nor riches, but only daily bread so that they may rely on God's provision and be kept from denying or misusing God's name through want. May their love reflect God's steadfast love and may their marriage be a testament of God's faithfulness through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

I think all of us know that cognitively, and I think emotionally, we like to walk this way. I think we like to be comfortable in our life, and I think we like to say, that's my goal, that's my plan. I'm gonna do this and do this, and therefore move in this direction.

The book of James has commentary about that side of the continuum. One of the commentary, or this is James chapter five, it says, now listen, you rich people weep and wail because of the ministry that is coming to you. Your wealth has rotted and your moss have eaten your clothes. Your gold and your silver are corroded. Their corrosion will testify against you and eat your flesh like fire. You have hoarded wealth in the last days. Look, the wages you failed to pay the workers who mowed your field are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty. You have lived in luxury and self-indulgence. You have fattened yourself in the day of slaughter. You have, you are condemned and murdered the innocent ones who was not opposing you. James chapter five verses one through six.

So the prayer of Agur here is not help me to have less money and eventually have more money. The prayer is to the glory of God and to be content in every spot in life. To focus on daily bread.

You could, you can go to the Lord's Prayer for that thought. You can go to the nation of Israel, wandering in the wilderness and needing manna. Daily bread. God, give me what I need for today. I'm not in tomorrow. Help my heart be set here.

If you, if you flip back a, um, uh, that one worshiping God is wise, acting like God is folly. Rich people can act like God with the thought of, I got this. I know what to do. I will solve this problem. And that's not the dependence upon the Lord that is not seeking first the kingdom of God.

Content vs. Comfort Warning

Alright. Now, there's a bunch of things in this verse that says not to do. Thank you, gentlemen, for reading it this morning. This is some of those references talking about there are those who. Do not slander a servant to his master, lest he curse you and you be held guilty. Don't curse your father. And, and those who bless their mother, they're clean in their own eyes, but there are not wash their own filth. There are those who are too lofty in their own eyes. There are those whose teeth are like swords and fangs are like knives.

And then the leach has two daughters. Give and give, they cry. And then there's the, the word pictures here of three things are never satisfied, four, never say enough. Sheol, the barren womb, the land that never satisfied with water, and fire that never has enough.

And then the eye that mocks the father and scorns the mother, will be plucked out by ravens and eaten by vultures. And then down in verse 20, this is the way of an adulterer. She eats and wipes her mouth and says, I have done no wrong.

So there's some there. This prophet is calling out depravity. And to, and to go back to, um, uh, Proverbs chapter six, what does God hate?

It says six things God hate. Seven are detestable before him. And if you read that list. Most of it is fracturing a community. Most of it is working against God's church or God's design, or it's, it's stirring up trouble with other people, man, to say, those are the things God hates.

So, and then later here in Proverbs 30, it's giving some of those same things. There is no end to depravity. And that's the point he's making. The, the, the fire is not gonna say, okay, I've had enough. Or the world's not gonna say, okay, there's enough water. There's always more always consuming.

When you look at Jesus's temptation in the wilderness. To turn rock into bread, to bow down in worship, or to jump off the temple. It parallels with one John, uh, two 16 that talks about the lust, lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life.

What is an area of temptation in your life that you underestimate? You don't think it's a big deal. You think you're, you think you're in control enough? Or to use one of the questions that Pastor Jed used earlier in the book of Proverbs, you kinda like the temptation. You're not really gonna give into it. That's what we tell ourselves. But you kinda like the draw. You kinda like the exposure to the heat.

It is falling prey to these things.

And if you cycle back to the word of God, God's word is good for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. So instead of just saying, I hope that never happens to me. The Psalm one picture is the tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season, but you're not walking with the mocks and the scoffers and the scorners. You are meditating on God's word day and night, which does produce in you life and fruit, and it protects you from yourself and the devil and the world.

Uh, let's take a moment of personal prayer again. Ask God for his word to speak into areas of your life and areas that you may fall under temptation right now.

Amen.

God Has a Design and Uses All Things

All right. God has an order. God has a design. Um, the Wright brothers, uh, David McCullough's book about the Wright Brothers, First in Flight. Um, they, they built an airplane in 1930 something. Um, no, am I wrong in that? Twenties. Twenties, okay. Forties. Okay. There's a discussion. There's a debate. Okay. Jay Francis, I'll trust you.

Or your, there we go. Um, they built the first airplane. First in Flight. They, they, they modeled it after the wing of a bird and they wrote to newspapers to come see 'em. And it's a little bit funny to us in retrospect, but nobody believed 'em. You built something that can fly. There was a, there was gr other groups, including the US military and groups in France and other places that were also trying to build flying machines, and nobody was very successful.

And they're from Ohio and they go out to Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, and they try to build something and many, many, many, many, many trials later, they build something that we now call the first airplane.

And they. They took the, the model of a bird and they say, we're not trying to create the idea. We're trying to emulate the idea. And so when you look at this, it says, three things are too wonderful for me. Four things I don't understand the way of the eagle in the sky, the way of a serpent on a rock. I'm in verse 19, the way of an eagle in a sky. The serpent on a rock, a ship on the high sea, and the way of a man with a virgin.

God has a design for things. God's way is best. We say that all the time. Uh, pastor Jed said it this morning, God's way is best. We, we want that in our lives, and we call that wisdom. Now, whether it's the, the mechanics of, uh, on this case, it's how an eagle flies or a serpent moves across a rock. Or a ship on the sea of wave. A man with a virgin God's way is best.

Sometimes you, we use the words, what is the perfect will of God? What is the design of God? And then I'm kind of comparing and contrasting that design with, we would use the word sovereignty even though we don't really know what it means, or we struggle with knowing what it means.

Uh, this is verse 22. Under three things, the earth trembles under four. It cannot bear up a slave when it becomes a king, a fool when it is filled with food, an unloved woman, when she gets a husband, and a maid servant when she displaces her mistress. Those are things that are not supposed to happen.

That's not the normal order of things. And so you're kind of comparing the normal order of things against what sometimes happens in life that doesn't fit our, our expectation.

You might compare that to the perfect will of God versus the permissive will of God. I referenced earlier, I, I, I lost my brother this year and, and you wrestle with things like that. Is this the will of God?

Any time a tragedy comes up in our lives, we wrestle with that. Is this the will of God? How could this happen? And sometimes we wrestle with it a little bit deeper when, um, I'll use a, sounds like a little bit of a graphic example, but if there's a tornado and a tree falls on your grandma's house and your grandma dies. That's a terrible tragedy. But if somebody breaks in and kills your grandma, that's also a tragedy. And our brain has a hard time saying, wait, a tree falling from nature is different than a person choosing. And you're like, what is the will of God? Where does choice factor into that?

We want God's design in our life, but we also want to trust God. We, we. Romans 8 28. All things work for the good of those who love him. For those who are called according to his purpose. All things.

I I, if you look through these things that aren't supposed to happen, there's biblical story for each one. Under um, verse verse 21, under three things, the earth trembles under four. It cannot bear up a slave when it becomes a king. That's kind of the story of Joseph. Joseph got sold off by his brothers. He becomes a slave. He gets sold at auction. Someone in Egypt buys him, and he be, he goes from a slave to a king by no human orchestration. Nobody could have planned that one.

Fool when he's filled with food. You could maybe parallel Nation of Israel wandering in the wilderness and God providing for them through some of their own, even through some of their own folly.

Anyway, you could look at biblical examples of each one of the things. The things, but in the story of Joseph, toward the end of it, Joseph even uses big words like You meant this for evil, and God meant it for good.

And we wanna put people in the good camp or the bad camp. That's a good guy. That's a bad guy. That's our new security plan for bringing Christian schools. We're just gonna give out good guy shirts and bad, bad guy shirts, and we're just not gonna let anybody in. Who's wearing a bad guy Shirt? I mean, duh. Bad guys don't think they're bad guys. Or maybe don't admit they're bad guys.

Anyway, what's the point?

It's reconciling God's design and what happens, and the best thing we can do is if you go to Romans 12, chapters one and two, therefore urge your brother's view of God's mercy. Offer your bodies as a living sacrifice. Holy and pleasing to God, this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the patterns of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you'll be able to test and approve what is the will of God, his good, pleasing, and perfect will.

I use the question, what's God's will for you? What's God's will for your family? What's God's will for your church? What's God's will for your country? I don't have those answers. You don't have those answers, but we know the God who does.

We pray, we worship, we fellowship, we suffer, we praise, we serve, we love. I put repeat.

May we be a living sacrifice. And may we know the will of God as we renew our minds.

Human Being or Being Human

Alright, we're getting close guys. Don't worry Pax. I'm almost done. Alright.

Recently we drove to Minnesota, so we got in our van and we drove from Knoxville, Tennessee to Brainerd, Minnesota, which is where I grew up.

Anybody in the room know where Brainerd, Minnesota is? Okay. A few. Okay. A few of you do. Well, my kids do, but that doesn't count. They were just there. Uh, it's about two hours north of Minneapolis St. Paul. And so we, we, we drove there and we, we drove our van. And you might say our van has one job. It was to drive us from here to there and back, and it performed well. It worked, it fit, it started every time. So good job Van.

We also bought a, uh, portable DVD player for the car I ordered on Amazon and it didn't work, so we actually have to change the name of it because it's called a portable DVD player, but it doesn't play DVDs anymore. So now what do you call it? A pink, a purple box.

You're like, you, you can't call it something like you might say, it has one job to play a DVD. It didn't work. The van did. Good job. Van.

What's your one job if God were to tell you, you got one job? What is it?

Four things are small and they're exceedingly wise. The ant are people not strong, yet they yet they provide their food in the summer? The rock badgers are people not mighty, yet they make their homes in the cliffs. The locusts are no, have no king, yet they march in rank. And the lizard you can take in your hand, yet it is in the king's palaces.

Going back to those words earlier, provision, home, order, honor. To love and to serve.

Micah six eight says, do justly love mercy, and walk humbly with our Lord. Nehemiah eight 10 says, the joy of the Lord is my strength.

I put up, uh, Maslow's hierarchy of needs. Uh, Abraham Maslow was a psychologist. He talked about the different order of things that you need, and you need it in that order. So if you don't have provision or it says up there the, uh, sociological needs, like food, like water, like heat, like love, like will, then that's what you focus on.

Once you have that taken care of, you move to the, the safety needs. I need a home. I need to be safe. I need to, uh, be able to lock my door or. Et cetera, et cetera. So I need to be safe. And then once that's taken care of, then you move to love and belonging. And then when that's taken care of, you move to esteem.

And then eventually his words are, you move to self-actualization to the point where you can give back to other people. So you're not just taking care of yourself, but now you've enough to say, I want to serve others well, that's what love and service is.

What are your prayers filled of? When you go back to those words of provision and home and order and honor, what do you pray about?

What do you spend your time and energy and emotional, your energy and your prayer on? Colossians four, two says, be watchful, grateful, and prayerful.

There's a, there's another continuum. Now, when I draw up in your mind, it's the continuum of I bury my talent in the sand. I'm amazingly gifted, but I'm not gonna share those gifts with other people. The other continuum is God needs me. I am here to solve problems and I will fix it.

Which side do you normally fall on? What's what? What's your default? What are you biased toward?

I probably swing this way. So what does God's word? Am I a human being or am I being human? It's to quote a book I'm reading right now. Actually Peter Scar is, uh, he wrote The Emotionally Healthy Individual or Emotion Emotionally healthy Church. Should get the name right of the book before I quote it. But he talks about work for God that is not nourished by a deep interior life with God will eventually become contaminated, and the idea of our service for the Lord flows out of our love for the Lord.

So when you think of you needing things and when you think of the home and the order and the honor, may we never tell ourselves once I get that, then I'll start loving people. Once I get that, then I'll start serving people. Once I get that, then I'll start to pray about it. Because we can fall into the trap of there's a problem in my life, and once I fix that, then I'll be a good Christian.

We don't use words like that, but that can be some of our, where we spend our energy and God is in that interruption. God is in that thing that we didn't expect. So to, to go back to the text, the locusts have no king yet. They march in rank. The lizard has, can be taken into the hand, or yet it's in king's palaces.

So you have the ant, the rock, badger, the locust, and the lizard. They're small, but they accomplish the point that the author here is making. For us may we do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with our God?

Lead Through Service

And the last section is, um, three things are stately. Four things are stately and they're stride. The lion, the mightiest of beast, it does not turn back before any. A strutting rooster, the he goat, and a king whose army is with him. If you have been foolish exalting yourself, or if you have been devising evil, put your hand on your mouth for pressing milk produces curds. Pressing the nose, produces blood pressing anger produces strife.

There's a warning here, and maybe there's a warning for leadership here. And you can say leadership looks different in a lot of places. You could talk about the leadership of a home, talk about the your own heart before that. You talk about the leadership of a job. You talk about the leadership of the country. You talk about lots of things here.

Jesus said, if you're gonna be great, you must serve other people. It's not the might makes right approach, which is one of the simplest expressions of this world. Might makes right. And Jesus flips that and says, don't exalt yourself. Don't threaten, don't live in anger. Don't dis unify. Rather, it's righteousness. The word of God is good for that. It does produce in US righteousness and a desire for righteousness. We are compelled by his love.

People of Wisdom

So to go back to one of the worship songs that we started with, we are accepted by a great and gracious king. Because we are accepted by a great and gracious king. May we be people of wisdom that began with humility. May God's Word be flawless and sufficient. May we pray for contentment and not comfort. May we learn from creation, sovereignty, and being human, and may we avoid pride, preserve dignity, and live wisely before our God.

Let's pray. Father, thank you for the word of God. Thank you for your faithfulness that runs through all of it. We want to make your name great. We want to make your faithfulness the centerpiece in our lives. We can't, we can't drum this up. It's not just realizing it. It is surrendering. It is coming under the great and gracious king, and you accept us, Jesus. You call us your children and you draw us into fellowship and relationship, just as a parent does to their beloved child.

Thank you, Father, for these words of wisdom, these observations of nature. Thank you that they were true thousands of years ago, and they're true today, and they'll be true thousands of years from now, until you come. And we do look forward to that coming. We do harken your day. We do want to be drawn to you, and we do look forward to you wrapping up the world. Your way is best. Jesus, thank you for one another. Thank you for the word of God. Thank you that it affects every part of our life. And we ask Father for your faithfulness to be present.

In your precious name, amen.