A student I taught over a decade ago recently reconnected with me and shared one of his favorite sermons that helped him recover from several great disappointments in his life. It’s a sermon delivered by Ligon Duncan back in 2012 called “The Underestimated God: God’s Relentless, Compassionate Grace in Pursuit of His Own Glory and His Ministers’ Joy.”
(I love becoming the student of my student; I have always learned from them.)
I listened to every word and found myself overwhelmed by the truth of it. I pulled some of my favorite moments from this great teaching. First of all, Dr. Duncan tells us the sermon is for “special encouragement for the discourage faithful.” He explains:
“Some of you start out in Christian ministry and you think, if I’m faithful to God, if I’m doing His bidding, if I’m trusting in His grace, if I’m empowered by His Spirit, then I will not have the crushing darkness as a part of my experience. And then it comes and you’re you’re left asking, ‘Why is this happening what’s happening to me? Oh, God! What what am I supposed to do with this? I didn’t think that it was going to be like this’!”
Then, Dr. Duncan instructs us to “study our disappointments.” I just love these words;
“God wants us to study our disappointments because if we look at our disappointments, we’ll see what we love. When the bottom falls out, you will learn things about what you love that you never knew before, and it won’t always be pretty. You’ll learn what you believe. You’ll learn what you really believe when the bottom falls out, when the crushing disappointments come, and you’ll learn where you really rest where you really find your fulfillment and satisfaction and security. You’ll find what your real treasure is when the disappointments come.”
Study your disappointments. They are teaching you.
Before Dr. Duncan expounds upon his understanding of what’s happening to Elijah (the focus of the sermon) he says this: “In disappointment and discouragement we are tempted to think that there is a greater treasure that has been withheld from us or taken away from us—a greater treasure than what God has or can give to us.”
So go ahead and listen to one of the best sermons on shattered dreams and the life of Elijah. We learn that God often deals with His most faithful servants by “ruthlessly crushing their idols” out of His compassion and grace —because He wants us to have a greater joy.
Just when we think God is too hard on Elijah, we learn something so beautiful. Consider these words:
“Even when it looks like God is being hard on his servants, you can be assured that His provision is staggeringly and lavishly loving and generous and good and kind and He will relentlessly and ruthlessly pursue you in His compassion and in His grace for your joy.”
He then reminds of us something I never noticed before about why God takes Elijah in the whirlwind and in the chariots of fire. It has everything to do with what God knows Elijah has wanted most of all in His ministry—to see God’s glory in the whirlwind and fire back in 1 Kings. And it has everything to do with God knowing what Elijah most needed when He invites Elijah back into the story in Luke 9, when Elijah sees what his heart most needed and wanted all along: Jesus Christ. Can you imagine the everlasting joy of Elijah? Can you imagine him saying to God, “It all makes sense now. I understand!”
God sees you and knows what He has crushed in you to bring you out of idolatry so you can see and receive your Greatest Treasure.
Enjoy the sermon! Now one of my all-time favorites.