Keion Henderson - Exhausted Because of Expectations

How many of you have ever been exhausted by expecting things to be the way you planned for them to be? Come on, talk to me. I’m going to encourage you this morning, but I want to address those who are exhausted because of expectations. How many of you are exhausted because you expected that if you were good to others, they would be good to you? You thought that when you were doing well, they would be doing well, too. Now you need a little help, and you can’t even rely on the people you used to help. Throughout the entire relationship, you’ve been the one apologizing the whole time, and now, when you need to hear it, you can’t even get it back. It’s exhausting to have expectations. But by the time we finish this message today, you will be encouraged, because no matter what the enemy has planned for you, God will turn it around and make it work for your good. If you believe it, give your neighbor a high five on your way down to your seat and tell them everything is going to be all right. Exhausted because of expectations-how many Bible readers do I have in here? Good. I read the Bible, and sometimes God can be confusing. Have you ever read the Bible and come across something and thought, «Huh?» Honestly, I read the Bible every day, but when I get to those names, I’m like, «God, do I really need to know them?» I can’t even pronounce them. The Bible is full of these " H» moments. I mean, in my own estimation, there are times when I search the scriptures and feel clueless about what God is actually trying to do. Let me level the playing field: I’m up here, and y’all are down there, and that’s cool. I’ve been called to do this, but that doesn 't mean I always know what God is talking about. I don’t have any superpower. I mean, I have a prayer closet, but I don’t always have a direct line to God. He speaks to me, and I speak to Him, but at the end of the day, I’m just like you. I’m praying and fasting to hear clearly from Him. Sometimes I’m like, «Bro, what are you saying? What do you want me to do next? Why do I have to say sorry? I didn 't do anything wrong. Why do I have to be the bigger person? Why do I have to turn the other cheek? Why can’t I throw these hands?» I say all that stuff, and then He lets me know that the battle is not mine; it belongs to Him. Getting involved in a matter He 's already handled circumvents the process. But every once in a while, God will say something to me, and I’m like, «Huh? What are you really asking of me? What would You have me to do?» Recently, when I read this text-the Bible says, as we just read, that when he came to Chaz to preach the gospel, I got to this part and thought, " H.» Because if you read it like I read it, it says that God brought him to a door of opportunity, and because the opportunity did not meet his expectations, he turned around and left for Macedonia. I want to see if I can get the balcony to help me too, because y’all are a little further away than they are up here. How many of you ever came to church, and the parking lot was a little full, or it didn’t look like you would get in, and you thought, «Well, you know what, it must not be meant for me to be here today. I’m just going»? How many of you have ever used inconvenience as a reason to leave a place you didn’t want to go to? Come on, raise your hand. «It wasn’t meant to be, because if it were meant for me to be here, it would have been the place.» I mean, when I read this text, I was like, «H.» Because Paul wasn’t just a novice; he wasn’t a neophyte. Paul was a learned man; he was an educated man. Paul spoke multiple languages: Hebrew, Greek, and several others. He was an entrepreneur, too. Josephus lets us know that he was a tentmaker, so he actually made money. When God met him, he wasn’t broke. He had to leave something behind to serve God, and I want to talk to people who think that ministry is why you were born. It is why you were born, but you need to be caught doing something before God calls you up. You can’t just sit around and do nothing and say, «I’ve been called to ministry.» Peter was called away from fishing, Paul was called away from tentmaking, and some of the other disciples were called away from tax collecting because you need to be doing something. God is not looking for lazy Christians to stir up; He wants to stir up the gift in you, but you have to be doing something.