Expectation Frustration | Philippians 3 | Austin Hamrick

philippians chapter 3 is where our bible study takes place for tonight let me find my place there as well philippians chapter 3. i've entitled tonight's message expectation frustration expectation frustration you know something that's really interesting with this specific season of our lives being 20s graduating from high school starting our career going into college then you're done with school you're trying to find job you're trying to find work maybe you have desire to be married this is a season of decisions am i right a season of decisions where there are a lot of decisions important decisions the most important decisions of your life during this decade of your life revolving school career should i go to school what career should i pursue relationships i'm interested in someone i want to be married i want to start a family all those good good questions all those great important decisions and you have a lot of expectations but what happens when those expectations aren't met or aren't fulfilled because it happens and you probably are sitting here tonight and you can make a list of the different expectations you've had regarding your life and you've set goals and you've set plans and maybe most of them haven't come to fruition and so what begins to happen is when there are unmet expectations in your life expectation frustration starts to settle in i thought i'd be earning this paycheck by now i thought i'd have this job by now i thought i'd be married by now forget marriage i just thought i'd have a date by now i thought i would be here i thought i'd do that i thought i would be involved in this and then those expectations go unmet and then some frustration starts to settle in and and maybe you begin to be frustrated with god god where are you you know my heart you know you know you've seen my journal you've seen my diary you've seen the different things i've written out or written down the goals and expectations i've had for my life and the desires i've had for my life but now my expectations aren't met and so where do we go from here and maybe you're a little bit confused or a little bit discouraged maybe even frustrated at the lord over these unmet expectations it's very important as young adults in this season of our lives and listen to me on this it is so important i can't stress this enough it's so important in this season of our lives as young adults that we ground ourselves in the word of god that we ground ourselves in the word of god because when expectations go unmet and the expectation frustration starts to settle in it will be very telling at where your faith is and we become frustrated with the course of our lives frustrated with the lord our lives don't necessarily go as as planned so what do we do well an encouragement for you is many people in scripture when you peruse through the old and new testament many people in scripture their lives didn't necessarily go according to plan i can name a few off the top of my head daniel ruth joseph the person i want to point us to tonight his name was paul and i find the life of paul so interesting because his life bc okay his life before christ his life was his life was good like his life was fine or he was in a place of prominence a place of leadership a place of comfort compared then to his life when he accepted christ it was it was it was not so good like that where he was and the outward that his his physical circumstances the outward appearance of his life after he came into relationship with jesus christ it was hard it was rough whenever you hear people say like hey just come to christ accept jesus christ life will be better you'll be healthy wealthy and prosperous listen that's a false gospel paul is our prime example paul's life most likely didn't go according to the script that he wrote out for his life okay just a quick summary of paul's life before paul came to know jesus christ as a savior before paul was a follower of jesus paul he studied the scriptures the old testament in jerusalem under a very prominent jewish rabbi his name was gamaliel the bible says he became a pharisee paul did now when you were a pharisee you reached the pinnacle of legalistic devout judaism paul the bible says was a pharisee paul the bible says persecuted christians because he believed that the message of the cross was blasphemous so he persecuted christians was very zealous was a pharisee was at a place of prominence among jewish leadership this was paul before christ then you guys know the story acts chapter nine boom paul's on his way to damascus encounters the risen lord jesus christ acts chapter nine has this experience where he speaks with the lord submits himself to christ acts chapter nine he gets baptized surrenders his life to jesus christ becomes a missionary and evangelist of the gospel and goes on several different missionary journeys okay this was then paul's life first mission missionary journey he was stoned in lystra now stone not like drugs he was literally stoned with rocks he was stoned in lystra he was left for dead the people actually thought he was dead but he wasn't stoned in lystra then what happens on his second missionary journey he's imprisoned in philippi for preaching the gospel okay then he's released then he's arrested again in the city of jerusalem and when he's arrested in jerusalem 40 men plot to kill paul so there's a hit on paul's life he escapes and is set to a place of safety from those 40 men who put a hit on his life he then journeys to rome on his way to rome he's shipwrecked and then when he gets to this secluded island called malta he's bitten by a snake and he actually survives the bite the people there at malta think he's a god because there's this supernatural healing happens paul's unfazed by the snake but then he shares the gospel he says this power is not mean his power is god and so then he continues to make his way to rome but he's a prisoner as soon as he gets to rome he's put on prison he's put in prison and then he writes some of these books philippians colossians while he's in prison in rome he's released from prison then put in prison again and then later he's beheaded by the emperor nero this was paul's life after he came to faith in jesus christ i think it's safe to say paul's life didn't go according to plan right so what happens when our lives don't necessarily go according to plan and we think well god i'm a christian i'm a jesus follower i thought life was supposed to be all good you know the desires of my heart you know where i want to work you know what i want to do you know who i want to marry but like why are my expectations god not being met i love the life of paul because paul was a man devoted to the plans and purposes of jesus christ and i'm sure that his life didn't necessarily go according to plan you think he planned the shipwreck going to rome you think he planned to get bitten by a snake plan to get imprisoned multiple times planned to be beheaded no but this was all according to god's hand of sovereignty on paul's life because god used paul for a specific purpose the outward circumstances were not the best for paul but yet i want you to notice what's going on internally in paul's heart i want you to notice paul's disposition with me look at philippians 3 verse 1. so remember he's writing this letter to the church at philippi he's in jail in the city of rome writing this letter in chapter one several times he mentions to the recipients of this letter how he's in jail he's in chains he's in prison but he writes this letter nonetheless and then look at his disposition the attitude of his heart as he writes this though his circumstances are bad he writes in verse 1 finally my brothers and sisters rejoice in the lord i want you to circle that word or highlight it finally my brothers and sisters rejoice in the lord rejoice a lot of people confuse and maybe you've heard me say this before they confuse the terms joy and happiness joy and happiness and we use those terms synonymously but joy and happiness are very different happiness is completely dependent upon one's circumstances i'm happy because i got a promotion i'm happy because i got a raise i'm happy because my favorite team won the game okay listen i'm i'm not opposed to happiness by the way if happiness were a political platform i'm pro-happy i love happiness if my wife said to me tonight hey can i fix you a bowl of ice cream and let's watch sportscenter yes i am i am a happy man okay but happiness is completely dependent upon your circumstances joy is something that supersedes your circumstances it's possible to not be emotionally happy and yet still be thriving in joy because joy is something that supersedes your circumstances it's eternal paul he's writing this letter he's in jail he's in chains he's a prisoner but he encourages believers he says rejoice in the lord he's not telling the believers at philippi to have this kind of fake form superficial candy-coated form of happiness no he's he's telling them about something that's supernatural a supernatural work that the lord does in your hearts completely despite your circumstances rejoice it's the greek word cairo and an obvious form of the word rejoice is the word joy it's the greek word cara if you have the name kara your name means joy it's a beautiful name kara it's it means calm delight this calm delight and paul what he's telling the believers what he's encouraging the believers and to have he's saying listen church at philippi no matter your circumstances you can look at my circumstance for example i'm in prison my circumstance is not too good right now the expectations of my life have not been met or gone according to my plan but i'm trusting the plan of god and you can still experience this supernatural calm delight within your soul within your heart paul says and so if you've been experiencing expectation frustration your expectations in life have not been met or things haven't really gone according to how you wish they would i want you to first ask the question where is my joy where is my joy in other words in what or whom do i find my joy is my joy circumstantial am i up and down with my environment with the circumstances because that's not true joy at all because joy supersedes your circumstances it's a work that the lord does in your hearts by the power of his holy spirit if joy is directly related to circumstances your joy will be up and down if joy is directly related to christ joy will always be there because christ is constant and therefore your joy can be constant and to help us even more paul lets us know where he used to find all of his joy where he used to find all of his confidence where he used to find a measure of security i want you to look at verse 4 with me in verse 4 he says though i also might have confidence in the flesh if anyone else thinks he might have confidence in the flesh i more so and he goes on to list all of these random things in verse 5 he says i was circumcised the eighth day i was of the stock of israel i'm of the tribe of benjamin i'm a hebrew of hebrews concerning the law i'm a pharisee concerning zeal i persecuted the church concerning the righteousness which is in the law i'm blameless now why does paul go on to mention this list paul mentions seven things here he says i was circumcised on the eighth day so he basically says if there was any reason for me to put like to find all my joy to find my security find my confidence in something i found it in something i was circumcised on the eighth day that was jewish custom every jewish baby boy would be circumcised on the eighth day it was your initiation into the covenant people he says i'm the i'm of the people of israel okay so he said i'm a descendant of abraham i am the the the race of people whom god chose to use to send the messiah through he says i'm the tribe of benjamin the tribe of benjamin one of the most prominent tribes in all of israel the very first king king saul he was of the tribe of benjamin he says i'm a hebrew of hebrews why is that cool well because many jews in that day they were being hellenized meaning they were adopting the greco-roman culture they were speaking the language adopting a lot of the greco-roman traditions paul says no i'm a hebrew of hebrews i'm clinging to my hebrew roots he then goes on to say i'm a pharisee as i mentioned when you were a pharisee you had reached the pinnacle of devout judaism a pharisee remember the pharisees in the new testament jesus rebuked the pharisees but the pharisees by the people they were seen as like super righteous like committed to the law of moses so paul says i was a pharisee he says i was zealous and that i persecuted the church zeal was a supreme virtue to the jewish people and then he also says that i was blameless like if you looked at my life paul says i completely followed the jewish regulations all of the feasts all of the dietary laws if you looked at my life i was blameless then i want you to look at verse seven this is key but what things were gained to me these i have counted loss for christ yet indeed i also count all things loss for the excellent excellence of the knowledge of jesus christ my lord paul goes on to list all of these things all of these things he once found his joy and security in and then he says i counted all his loss completely worthless why does paul bring up this list because paul's saying listen my circumstances my unmet expectations i could have reason to be frustrated he says but i'm going to tell you that i used to find all of my joy and my validation and my security all of my worth all of my value all of my satisfaction and gratification in who i was in my jewish pedigree but it's not about who i am he says it's about who jesus is that's why he says all the stuff i listed all the stuff that i once found all my security and validation and confidence in all the stuff i used to find joy in says none of that matters anymore if it did then i would be super depressed and discouraged right now because i'm in jail but now he says listen none of that matters because all that matters is jesus christ and my joy is found complete in him and so this this jewish pedigree that i just mentioned it is he goes on to say that it's in verse eight he says i count i count it all as rubbish that's the new king james version rubbish that's simon cowell on american idol agt absolute rubbish okay the actual greek is the greek word scuba on and it literally means animal dung so paul says everything that i used to find my security in my like my identity everything that i used to find validation in and gratification all that stuff he says is completely worthless it's like poop it's christian cussing right here i'm kidding i'm not encouraging you to cuss but paul's saying that everything that i found joy in it's completely meaningless compared to christ so my question is what's your list what's your list when you analyze your list this is what i find security in outside of christ this is what i find a sense of identity in outside of christ whether it's career or accomplishments achievements a relationship now it's not wrong to be proud of accomplishments and achievements or to find a measure of happiness and those things and in relationships god gives us relationships and he gives us the ability to work but what i'm saying is what i'm trying to push against is do you find your identity in those things do you find your security in those things do you find your joy in those things because let me tell you those things and those relationships may not last even good things that god has given you as gifts from heaven things in this lifetime do not last and so when those things wane when those things disappear and you find all of your security and all of your joy and identity in those things when those things disappear your joy will with it but if you find your joy and your security and your validation and your worth your value when you find joy in nothing other than jesus christ that's something that you go in to all eternity with because that's where jesus is and so if expectations aren't being met i want you to just ask yourself listen where's my joy if you're if you're just being frustrated by it you need to ask and take gauge of your heart and your mind and just ask yourself where is my joy where have i been been placing too much of my identity and value and security in because that's what paul encourages his readers he says listen everything i used to find joy in it's meaningless compared to christ i want to know christ i want to be more in love with jesus i want to follow jesus because now even though my circumstances aren't the best i still can tell you to rejoice paul's saying my circumstances have never been worse but my joy has never been more complete that's something in my life that i strive to say it's very challenging that i might be able to say at one point in my life listen life is great right now for me personally life is awesome but inevitably the different trials and challenges of life because we live in a fallen world there's going to be death and there's going to be and there is already and maybe many of you are in the midst of it right now you're experiencing loss of loved ones you're experiencing just hard and challenging times i want to be able to say as paul says listen my circumstances might be for the worse but my joy has never been more complete and when your heart and when your confidence and your security is rooted in christ the frustration and discouragement you feel concerning your circumstances will turn to joy and that's why james says in james 1 2 he says my brothers and sisters count it all joy when you fall into various trials knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience but let the patience have its perfect work in you that you may be perfect and complete lacking nothing so you you could stand here today and say i'm single but i have christ and that's all i need i'm looking for work right now but i have christ and that's all i need the plans i set for myself didn't pan out but i have christ and that's all i need that's why david in psalm 23 he says the lord is my shepherd i shall not be in one translation the lord is my shepherd i'm submitted and surrendered my life to the shepherd jesus christ there's nothing that i lack i have all that i need there's a second principle i noticed in the midst of paul's poor circumstances and it's found in verse 14. well actually i'll read the first few verses prior to that in verse 12 he says not that i've already attained or i'm already perfected but i press on that i may lay hold of that for which christ jesus has also laid hold of me brethren i do not count myself to have apprehended but one thing i do forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead i press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of god in christ jesus point number two when life isn't going as planned when you're experiencing some expectation for frustration listen don't rehearse the past but just press on and this is super key don't rehearse the past but just press on this is what paul is stressing to his recipients of this letter he says i press on i'm reaching forward i press toward three times he uses that kind of language in three verses i'm pressing on i'm reaching forward i press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of god in christ jesus when life doesn't always go according to plan and when we're frustrated because expectations haven't been met we can have the tendency to get stuck in that discouragement we can be stuck in that discouragement i wish i did this differently i wish i did that i wish i did this i if only i had done this to set myself up for a better opportunity later i wouldn't be in the circuit the current circumstance i'm in now if only i hadn't made those stupid decisions those poor decisions of my past been involved or indulged in that sinful lifestyle sinful behavior i wouldn't be where i am today listen don't rehearse the past but press on and i'm i'm encouraging you to because this is what happens if you lived a life you know before christ indulging in a bunch of stuff you knew that was wrong just involved in the wrong crowd involved in the right people and maybe even in your walk with christ you still wavered in your faith you you just went off you were a part of just the wrong crowd the wrong environment the wrong people doing the wrong stuff listen and then you come to this just this this knowledge of jesus christ and you're just on fire for the lord you want to grow in your faith you're passionate you're reading your bible you're coming to young adults you're wanting to fellowship with other believers the past and the shame and the guilt it can paralyze us because we continue to just rest in it and i'm just telling you tonight listen if that's you and you just you haven't been able to just get out of the sin and the shame and the guilt from your past listen turn from your sin repent say i don't want to indulge in that stuff anymore i'm going to do a 180 i'm going to give my life to jesus christ i'm going to be offered jesus christ listen when you're a part of the family of jesus christ it doesn't mean that you now are a perfect person but it means that you are a progressing person a christian now that is progressing towards maturity in the lord by the power of the holy spirit so just leave your sin turn from it repent grow in grace grow in the knowledge of jesus christ psalm 103 says as far as the east is from the west so far has jesus christ removed your sin from you he no longer holds it against you he sees you now as he sees his perfect righteous son he credits jesus's righteousness to you and he says now walk in freedom walk in joy walk in the goodness that i have for you don't continue to rehearse the past rehearse the shame think on it dwell on it just leave it behind where i have put it in the depths of the sea because you're forgiven second corinthians 5 17 you're a new creation the old man is gone the old person's gone the new person has come filled with the holy spirit so walk in love walk in grace walk in truth read your bible be obedient jesus said if you love me you'll obey me so obey the lord we complicate the life of the christian leave your life of sin walk with the lord leave your life of sin walk with the lord and it's a daily thing of leaving and cleaving leaving sin cleaving to jesus leaving sin cleaving to jesus and jesus says if you love me you'll obey me so obey the lord but we got to stop just rehearsing the past paul says i leave everything behind i'm going to just forget what's behind me i'm gonna reach forward to those things with your head and press toward press on move on so when you're frustrated about unmet expectations oh i wish i did this differently my life isn't going according to plan listen okay life hasn't gone according to plan welcome to the human race expectations haven't been met you wish you had this you wish you had that you wish you had gone here you wish you did this or who whatever it might be i have my own list i don't know what your list is but trust the lord that okay he has you where you are now you're here on monday night and young adults reading the bible and wanting to have relationship with jesus christ so just press on in the lord and trust that the lord is in control and he's going to lead you where he wants you but just remain in him abide in him but it's important that we keep moving i always think of a story in genesis genesis chapter 19 because it has to do with looking back looking back on your past genesis chapter 19 it's just it it's a funny story now i'm sure in genesis 19 it was really sad but there's this evil cities uh two cities sodom and gomorrah very evil cities and god tells there there's there's a righteous family lot his wife and his daughters and he says lot you're a righteous guy you're a believer in the true god i'm going to get you out of this evil city because i'm going to destroy the city with fire and brimstone so leave the city because the these these cities sodom and gomorrah is sin city because of the sin that's permeated the city god says i'm going to destroy the city but i want to rescue you lot and and your family but one instruction god tells lot and his family he says listen but when you're leaving your past when you're leaving your old home i don't want you to look back because when you look back you will turn into a pillar of salt i don't know why god always does what he does but that was the warning so lot and his family they're leaving the cities of sodom and gomorrah on their way not looking back when all of a sudden it says that lot's wife turns and looks back now in our english bibles it says that she looks back but the phrase look back it's actually one word in the hebrew it's the hebrew word navad and it literally means to gaze with longing so lot and his family they're leaving the city of sodom sodom and gomorrah they're leaving sin they're leaving their old way their old homes but lot lot's wife the bible doesn't give her a name she's called lot's wife okay and she looks back and the bible says that she navat she gazes with longing okay it's the way my dad looks at the krispy kreme donut shop just gazes with longing okay it's it's there's a lot of other stuff going on my mind but i'm gonna put a zip over my mouth the holy spirit's telling me just to shut up and just continue to move on so lot's wife she gazes with longing and she the bible says turns into a pillar of salt and lot and his daughters that that was a rough conversation to do at the dinner table can you pass the salt oh my gosh [Laughter] mom mom okay so this this was the story but it just reminds me like just when god says move on and to not continue to look back at your past and look back at the old ways and the old lifestyle then i'm gonna take god at his word and say okay god i'm just gonna move on in you i'm not looking back i'm not gonna dwell on it i'm gonna continue to move forward in the new plans that you have for me sometimes it's really hard for us to do but just move on press on continue to walk with christ don't rehearse the past because if we continue to rehearse the past we might miss what god is trying to put right in front of us so move on trust the lord and just continue to walk with him and then third and final point when things aren't going according to plan when expectation frustration settles in i want you to remember point number three last point refocus on the eternal refocus on the eternal look at verse 17. this is how paul finishes this section of his letter he says brethren brothers sisters join in following my example and note those who so walk as you have us for a pattern for many walk of whom i have told you often and now tell you even weeping that they are the enemies of the cross of christ whose end is destruction whose god is their belly and whose glory is in their shame who set their mind on earthly things but listen verse 20 but our citizenship is in heaven from which we also eagerly wait for the savior the lord jesus christ who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to his glorious body according to the working by which he is able even to subdue all things to himself paul closes out this section of his letter by trying to get the recipients that the church at philippi to refocus their perspective on the eternal he's saying listen look at my own circumstances look at me as a as an example my circumstances aren't the best right now but i want you to remember that this is not our home your circumstances right now might not be the best your expectations might not currently be met and you might be frustrated and paul says listen i need you to refocus the reason that you're so frustrated is because your eyes are focused on the here and now and i want you i want to take your gaze from the here and now which is temporary and i want to refocus your gaze and refocus your sight on the lord where our citizenship is he says this isn't our home you're going to be frustrated at times with how life doesn't always work out according to your expectations but listen i want you to refocus on and have an eternal perspective here and if you are in christ if you've given your life to jesus christ then all this stuff is temporary elsewhere in the bible says that we're just travelers we're we're passing by we're passing through this world but our citizenship paul says it's in heaven it's with the lord where eternity is and it's easy to magnify our difficulties when we're just solely focused on the here and now it's easy any problem any anything looks big anything looks large anything is magnified when you're looking at your certain circumstance through a magnifying glass but when you take your situation out from under the magnifying glass and you just for a moment you just stop being so consumed with it and focused on it and you you you instead remove it from under the magnifying glass and you put it instead and you give it to the lord and you look at your problems or your trials your circumstance you look at it through the lens of eternity through the lens of the father who loves you i'm not trying to trivialize any any current circumstance you might be facing but what i'm trying to do is re-fix this is paul i'm trying to re-fix your focus on the eternity and know that listen this isn't our home your eternal home is with the lord so everything now everything's gonna be okay it's gonna be okay jesus is in control he sees right where you are paul says i'm chasing the prize that lasts forever which is eternity with the lord when you're gays and when your attention when your thoughts are fixated on a big god all of a sudden it makes your difficult circumstances not appear so large stop looking at the struggles of life through the lens of a magnifying glass but rather look at your life through the lens of eternity fix your focus on things above fix your focus on the lord have that eternal perspective know that god is outside of time and he sees he sees he sees all things all things are under his dominion and power the bible says and i just want to close with colossians chapter three paul's next letter to the church at kalas he would say this in colossians 3 1 he says if then you were raised with christ seek those things which are above where christ is sitting at the right hand of god set your minds on things above not on the things of the earth for you died and your life is now hidden with christ in god and therefore when christ who is your life appears then you also will appear with him in glory can i get an amen there is an eternal glory awaiting us in home at home in heaven with our savior jesus christ do you know him tonight if you don't know him get right with him tonight turn from your sin trust in the savior jesus christ who died on the cross for you and who rose again if you do know him but you've just been discouraged because life hasn't been always going according to plan focus on the eternal give your problems your circumstances your trials give those things to a big god because a big god can take care of what you're going through because he loves you and he knows what best what's best for you expectation frustration give it to the lord and watch him move in and through you and do things far above or beyond anything you could ever imagine let's pray lord we're so grateful for people like paul people like daniel ruth joseph people all throughout scripture lord we can use them as examples to see that even though they experienced difficulty even though they had unmet expectations you had other plans and purposes for them and so i pray that we tonight as a group of young adults as a body of believers for those of us in the room maybe we've just been struggling we've been confused about the direction of our lives expectations haven't always been met we've been a little bit discouraged we've been frustrated would you meet us where we are tonight and would you fill us with your holy spirit that we might have our joy complete in you lord that we might be completely satisfied in you lord that we might find all of our security and identity in you jesus may we just refocus our eyes on the eternal knowing that this isn't our home that this is temporary and looking through the eternal lens through that eternal perspective may you just encourage our hearts tonight lord to surrender our will to surrender our appetites to surrender our direction or what we think we should do may we just surrender it to you now lord and may you take us where you want us lord may you accomplish your purposes in us and through us may we follow you may we not rehearse the past may we leave sin and cling to you jesus we need you lord by your holy spirit would you minister to us this week we love you we praise you we give you all the glory we give you all the honor and it's in jesus name we pray and all god's people together said amen and amen

Channel: Cornerstone Chapel Young Adults Ministry

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Rating: 5 out of 5

Keywords: church, teachings, devotional, young adults, worship, music, live

Id: ewGG552FmcU

Length: 39min 21sec (2361 seconds)

Published: Tue Jun 15 2021