Vision Beyond Our Adventure
Gtcotr/ws111004
Many believe there is no reality beyond what they now see.
They are limited by their current station or situation of life.
* The cast system in India for example - the untouchables
The Israelites believed there was no future beyond their Egypt experience or beyond their wilderness experience.
Joseph was not stuck in his pit, his prison, his palace, his death or his grave.
And there is a future for you beyond your current adventure
Beyond your living at home with your parents adventure
Beyond your school and education adventure
Current workplace, hourly wage or annual salary
Situation of life
Child raising years
Beyond the current challenges and the current joys of life
There is a new day coming for you! Will you embrace it?
There Is A Future Beyond Your Current Adventure, Catch The Vision
We study the bible and read the stories of great men and women of faith. People like: Abraham, Rebecca, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Joshua, Ruth, David, Gideon, Jeremiah, Daniel, Ester, Mary, Peter, Paul, Mark and Timothy.
Each one of these has something in common with all of the others. They were all people with vision beyond.
* Vision beyond their moment … and …
* Vision beyond their adventure
I. Vision Beyond Our Moment
A. This past Sunday we talked about having a vision beyond the moment.
1. Like Joseph who pressed through the hard moments of life
* Betrayal
* False Accusation
* Difficult Confrontations
2. Like Jesus who endured His moment on the Cross
* Although He despised the shame
* He pressed through the moment with strength and joy
B. Because of a vision - A Vision Beyond The Moment
C. Jesus saw through the fog of the moment and saw the other side of His moment.
There are defining moments, molten moments of life which test us, refine us and prepare us for a greater day.
Fear cannot hold us captive, stop us short or rob us of joy when we have a vision beyond the moment.
For the most part, these moments of life are tough moments. Moments we would rather not encounter and could really do without.
Although we do have trying moments in life, much of life is not so tough, it’s simply going from one season of life to another, one adventure in life to another.
These seasons don’t have to be unpleasant experiences, in fact, most of them are quite good, profitable and comfortable. Nonetheless, to get the most out of life, get to our greatest day and offer God our best, heaven demands that we not only have Vision Beyond Our Moment, but also we must have Vision Beyond Our Current Adventure.
Some people settle for far less than God’s best for them and their best for God because they do not have a vision beyond their current adventure.
II. Vision Beyond Our Adventure
The bible character I want to use for our example is found in:
Joshua 2 (NLT)
1 ¶ Then Joshua secretly sent out two spies from the Israelite camp at Acacia. He instructed them, "Spy out the land on the other side of the Jordan River, especially around Jericho." So the two men set out and came to the house of a prostitute named Rahab and stayed there that night.
2 But someone told the king of Jericho, "Some Israelites have come here tonight to spy out the land."
3 So the king of Jericho sent orders to Rahab: "Bring out the men who have come into your house. They are spies sent here to discover the best way to attack us."
4 Rahab, who had hidden the two men, replied, "The men were here earlier, but I didn’t know where they were from.
5 They left the city at dusk, as the city gates were about to close, and I don’t know where they went. If you hurry, you can probably catch up with them."
6 (But she had taken them up to the roof and hidden them beneath piles of flax.)
7 So the king’s men went looking for the spies along the road leading to the shallow crossing places of the Jordan River. And as soon as the king’s men had left, the city gate was shut.
8 ¶ Before the spies went to sleep that night, Rahab went up on the roof to talk with them.
9 "I know the LORD has given you this land," she told them. "We are all afraid of you. Everyone is living in terror.
10 For we have heard how the LORD made a dry path for you through the Red Sea when you left Egypt. And we know what you did to Sihon and Og, the two Amorite kings east of the Jordan River, whose people you completely destroyed.
11 No wonder our hearts have melted in fear! No one has the courage to fight after hearing such things. For the LORD your God is the supreme God of the heavens above and the earth below.
12 Now swear to me by the LORD that you will be kind to me and my family since I have helped you. Give me some guarantee that
13 when Jericho is conquered, you will let me live, along with my father and mother, my brothers and sisters, and all their families."
14 "We offer our own lives as a guarantee for your safety," the men agreed. "If you don’t betray us, we will keep our promise when the LORD gives us the land."
15 Then, since Rahab’s house was built into the city wall, she let them down by a rope through the window.
16 "Escape to the hill country," she told them. "Hide there for three days until the men who are searching for you have returned; then go on your way."
17 Before they left, the men told her, "We can guarantee your safety
18 only if you leave this scarlet rope hanging from the window. And all your family members—your father, mother, brothers, and all your relatives—must be here inside the house.
19 If they go out into the street, they will be killed, and we cannot be held to our oath. But we swear that no one inside this house will be killed—not a hand will be laid on any of them.
20 If you betray us, however, we are not bound by this oath in any way."
21 "I accept your terms," she replied. And she sent them on their way, leaving the scarlet rope hanging from the window.
A. Rahab was a business woman
1. Most likely a hard worker, who enjoyed her work
2. She had her own house with a rooftop, outer wall view
3. She had provisions stored on her roof
4. She must have been well known to have been recommended
5. She was most likely fairly comfortable in her situation
B. Rahab had credibility
1. Her word was not disputed by the soldiers
2. Something about her even made the spies trust her
3. She evidently convinced her family to come to her house
4. She kept the secret that saved her family
C. Rahab was living her dream
1. She was evidently successful in her chosen profession
2. Most likely her current situation was all she knew
3. But she knew, Change Was Coming, she would either go with it or it would consume her and leave her in the dust of yesterday.
D. Change Is Inevitable In Every Situation Of Life
1. Change Was Coming To Jericho … Coming To Rahab
2. Like It Or Not Change Is Coming
3. There is a future beyond the change, get a vision for it.
E. No Vision Beyond What She Had Always Known Meant:
1. She had been to her greatest day
2. Perhaps her last day (happy, prosperous, joyful day)
3. Without a vision, a purpose, a plan, a pursuit, life would go downhill from here, life would never be the same, she would perish.
E. Instead, however, Rahab got a vision beyond her last adventure, a vision beyond the last season of her life, a vision for a new season, a new adventure, a vision for her future … as a result:
1. Rahab and all her family and all that belonged to her was spared. Joshua 6:23-25
2. Rahab married Salmon, a prince of the tribe of Judah. Ruth 4
3. Rahab’s new adventure unfolded to make Rahab become:
* The mother of Boaz
* The grandmother of Jesse
* The great grandmother of David, the King
* The Great, Great, Great … Grandmother of Jesus
Matthew 1
5 Salmon the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab, Boaz the father of Obed, whose mother was Ruth, Obed the father of Jesse
6 and Jesse the father of King David. David was the father of Solomon, whose mother had been Uriah’s wife, (Bathsheba).
4. Rahab is remembered
* By the Apostle Paul for her faith
Hebrews 11:31 By faith the harlot Rahab did not perish with those who did not believe, when she had received the spies with peace.
* By Pastor James for her works
James 2:25 Likewise, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out another way?
* And by us tonight for her vision beyond her adventure
III. Conclusion
Ask God to give you a vision beyond the uncomfortable moments as well as the most comfortable seasons in life.
