Dharius Daniels - Moving On From The Life You Thought You Wanted - Part 1

Alright, first Samuel 16, verse 1. We’re in a series called «Moving On.» This message I’m going to teach today will take me two weeks to finish. I’ll do part one today and part two next weekend. First Samuel 16, verse 1. Everybody, the Lord said to Samuel, «How long will you mourn for Saul since I have rejected him as king over Israel? Listen to this, family: fill your horn with oil and be on your way. I’m sending you to Jesse of Bethlehem. I have chosen one of his sons to be king.»

I want to talk for a few minutes and tag a title to this text, using it as the subject for this sermon. Everybody, please pay attention. I want to talk about «Moving On from the Life You Thought You Wanted.» Family, if there is a word I would use to describe the dominant emotional state of many of the people I have the privilege of interacting with, that word would undoubtedly be «frustrated.» Frustration, family, is becoming an emotional epidemic. There are many people seated in sacred spaces like this, singing happy songs, clapping happy hands, exalting a happy God, but not living happy lives.

There is one segment of the population that is dealing with frustration in life; they are frustrated with someone, they are frustrated with themselves, or they are frustrated with something. Then there is another segment of the population that is not frustrated just with someone or something; they are frustrated with life itself. It seems as if, when they audit and examine all areas of their life, most, if not all, of those areas are not operating in a way that is consistent with their expectations. Family, I wish we could be honest as we sit in this sacred space and admit we all deal with some frustration.

I want to be clear that I don’t believe it is the intention of our eternal God for us to live in a constant state of frustration. When we look at the words the Bible uses to describe the emotional state of people who follow the person and practices of Jesus, «frustration» would not be one of those words. Jesus did not say, «Come to me, all you who are weary, and I’ll give you frustration.» Paul, in the book of Philippians, did not say, «God will give you a frustration that passes all understanding.»

So I want to be clear: the Bible reveals that those who live the King’s way—Jesus’s way—people who follow the person, live with the power, and follow the principles of Jesus will experience the dominant emotional states of righteousness, joy, and peace in the Holy Spirit. That’s Romans 14:17. Right? The kingdom of God is not meat or drink but righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. When I am doing things the King’s way, I will have a right relationship with God, a right relationship with myself, a right relationship with others, and I will have joy and peace.

But although it is not the intention of our eternal God that we live in a constant state of frustration, I do want to be clear that God does use frustration. I want to suggest that frustration is your friend; it is the equivalent of the check engine light in an automobile. It is an indicator that something needs attention, and something needs adjusting. How many here are honest enough to admit that there are some things in our lives that would not undergo transformation had it not been for frustration? And I want to suggest that frustration can be an indication that we need to give attention to or adjust our expectations.

You see, family, frustration is a result of failed expectations. So when I’m dealing with frustration, I have to check my expectations because that means I’m expecting something I didn’t find, I’m expecting something I’m not getting, or I’m desiring something that is not being delivered to me. In this room, everyone has expectations about your life. Some of those expectations are unspoken, meaning they’re not on a vision board; they’re not a part of a strategic plan. You have not articulated them, but they’re written on your heart.

However, some of those expectations are also unconscious, meaning you don’t even know you’re expecting it until you don’t get it and become frustrated about it. That’s what makes relationships so complicated because you’re trying to figure out what somebody wants, who doesn’t always know what they want, but they get mad when they don’t get it. I felt love over here, so am I making sense? Yeah, we aren’t always aware of and conscious of what we’re expecting until we deal with the disappointment that comes from its absence. Some people don’t know they want attention until they get in a group of people where everybody else gets it. But then we have expectations, and some of them are unconscious about the way our lives were supposed to turn out and how things would be at a certain season in our lives regarding where we would be financially, professionally, relationally, and geographically.

There are some people who didn’t think they would be in New Jersey in this season of their lives, and there are some who didn’t think they would still be in New…