Bayside Baptist Church

Jason King: 'Tis the season, isn't it? For joy and fun and meals, excitement, gatherings, parties, and presents. Seems like the music just comes on and it begins to be Christmas. Decorations are going up, and movies start to play. But we know that this time of year is not always filled with glitter and lights. I heard about a lady who waited until the last minute to send out Christmas cards. She knew that on her list, she had 49 people that she needed to send a card to.

She went into the store and bought a pack of 50 cards. She didn't really even look at them. She just looked at the outside and thought, "Well, that's great. I'll get those." She didn't take time to read them. She addressed the 49 cards, signed them, and mailed them. On Christmas Day, things had slowed down a little bit, and she found the one card that was not sent out of the 50. She opened it up and finally read the message that she had sent to 49 of her friends. It said, "This card is just to say that a little gift is on the way."

Sometimes the Christmas season brings challenges. Some of them are more significant than just not paying attention to the message on a card. It is the season where disappointment, grief, dealing with difficult people, or coming face-to-face with broken relationships seems to bubble up. The holidays can amplify some of the most challenging realities in life. There are times when it's hard to feel the joy, peace, and hope that this time of year represents.

Sometimes the struggles and challenges that we face overshadow the peace that God offers us. Disappointment begins to creep in. If you're disappointed or carry disappointment, or you're wondering where God has been in the midst of it, you're not the first person to navigate this path. Disappointment is a thread that runs through the first Christmas story as well. It's a part of the story of both Mary and Joseph in those days leading up to and the days surrounding Jesus' birth.

In the Gospel of Luke, Mary encounters an angel and is told she will have a child even though she's not married. Not just any child, the angel said it was the long-awaited Messiah. Even though Mary trusts God in the midst of this, she knows how this pregnancy and birth are ultimately going to be perceived by people around her, including her fiancé. Even in the last weeks of her pregnancy, she has to travel a long distance to get to the place where she would be a part of the census.

Everyone was required to travel, and she made this long journey, which was likely a huge inconvenience. To top it all off, when they got into town, there was no place to stay. She had to have her baby in a barn. Joseph dealt with disappointment and setbacks in his own life. His fiancé was found to be pregnant, and he knows he's not the father. It takes intervention from an angel to convince him to marry his fiancé. They both encountered the reality that sometimes things in your life don't work out as planned.

You may be disappointed today. This year, your family's not going to look like the perfect Christmas card or Instagram post. The family gatherings that you go to aren't going to be like they once were. You may be disappointed in yourself about a decision you made or some mistake in your past, and you're feeling the effects of it now. Maybe you're disappointed because you've been praying and healing didn't come, your marriage wasn't reconciled, or that situation didn't work out.

On the heels of disappointment, we ask why me, why now, and how could God let this happen? Disappointment begins to creep in, and it can lead to a weakening of our faith and our trust in the Lord. At the bottom of our disappointments is this belief that when God doesn't do what we want Him to do, He hasn't held up His end of the bargain. But I have some words for you today from God's Word in the book of First John. We're going to see how God steps in and how God is at work, even in the midst of disappointment.

Even when you face significant disappointment, you can experience the joy and hope that God offers this Christmas season. In First John 5, John is writing to a group of people whose confidence had been shaken. They were wondering what God was doing and felt like they were missing something, just as we do when we face disappointment. What we see from this passage are three gifts that God offers us today that we need when we face disappointment.

The first gift is knowing that God knows your needs and He cares about you. John says, "I have written this to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life." Beyond the circumstances you may be facing, recognize why John is writing these words. He's writing to reassure these folks that they could rebuild their confidence in what was true: that God was present with them and He cares for them.

John says, "I'm writing these things not so that you can hope, not so that you can feel this way, but so that you would know." Don't look past this gift that God offers you in your disappointment. Nothing has changed about God. Even though you feel let down and wonder if God is real, you need to go back to what you know is true. Your circumstances may have changed, but He still is who He says He is, and He still does what He says He's going to do.

If you start to think that your disappointment with God is because He's not been true to His character, He reminds you in this verse that He wants you to know and be settled on this. He is faithful and never changes. He didn't write these words and then change them later. When He spoke these words through His Holy Spirit, He was declaring what is true, right, and unchanging. God's not changed, and He may not be who you want Him to be, but He is who He says He is according to His Word.

He reminds you in this verse that He cares for you and knows your deepest needs. He reminds you that He's faithful to you. If you are in Christ and have received the gift of Jesus Christ and the forgiveness of your sin, you don't have to hope it's going to work out. You don't have to wait to see how the scales of your life turn out. He says you can know that you have this gift. But John is also writing that the implications of having eternal life go deeper than just avoiding hell one day.

John says, "We are writing these things so that you may fully share our joy." The promise that God cares for you and meets your deepest need in Jesus Christ is to bring about joy—not happiness contingent on your circumstances, but the joy that only God can offer. He's writing these words to reassure you that if you're in Christ, even though you might be tempted to doubt because of your circumstances or walk away from the church because God hasn't done what you wanted Him to do, you can know.

It's not because of your feelings or faith; it's because of what He has done for you. The result of that is that He offers you joy. It's a deep-seated reality that overshadows any disappointment. He doesn't promise all the answers or an explanation for everything, but He does promise His presence and His faithfulness to you. You've missed this incredible promise that God offers you in the gift of eternal life. He wants you to know that He cares for you and loves you.

If you'll start there today, trusting that God knows about and cares about your deepest needs, you can find joy that's independent of your circumstances. John talks next about how we can have confidence in the midst of whatever we're walking through. The second gift that He offers is that God hears and answers your prayer. He says, "And we are confident that He hears us whenever we ask for anything that pleases Him."

When you receive the gift of eternal life, you have access to God with boldness and confidence. You're not hoping God's going to hear you; you have the Father's ear. Those of you with kids or grandkids understand this. You can be in a room crowded with people, and if one of those little voices speaks up and says, "Hey Daddy" or "Hey Mama," you recognize that voice. That's the picture here. You have the Father's ear, and He listens to you.

He wants you to have confidence that when He listens to you, it means you can trust Him because He knows whatever you're facing. But He's not saying that whatever you ask or demand, you're going to get it. He's not saying you trust God only if you get what you want. You're trusting yourself if that's the case. Instead, He says you need to trust in God. It's a step of growth in your faith that God's calling you to take today. You pray, you ask, and then you trust.

John says there's a condition: He hears us when we ask for anything according to His will, or ask for something that pleases Him. Does it mean that you have to keep guessing until you figure out what God's will is? Is finding this way of praying like when you go to a game where they have the little game with the helmets or the cups and there's something underneath one of them? They mix them up real quick, and you're trying to follow it.

Sometimes that's how we feel. We keep praying, and maybe this is God's will and maybe it's not. When it doesn't happen, we get all twisted up. But John is writing so that you would have confidence in God, not lose confidence. It's exasperating chasing those helmets on a TV screen. How much more is it exasperating when we believe that's how God reveals His will to us? He's saying here that if this condition is met, then this results. If we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.

It means that He not only recognizes that you're speaking words, but He responds by acting upon what you've asked. How do you get to this place where you ask what pleases Him? Jesus taught us about that in the Lord's Prayer in Matthew chapter six. Jesus was teaching His disciples how to pray—not just the words, but the attitude. He says, "Our Father in heaven, may your name be honored. May your kingdom come soon. May your will be done here on earth, just as it is in heaven."

The whole dynamic of prayer is not about you or me getting what we want. The point of prayer is for God to get what He wants in us. If God has secured eternal life and He wants you to have confidence in that, then what He's inviting you to do is to not tell Him what He needs to bless so that life works from your standpoint. Instead, ask God to help you to see where He's at work and let you join Him there. Whatever God is doing is what's best for you and for me.

Jesus says, "Father, may your will be done on earth as it is in heaven." The fundamental prerequisite for prayer that God answers is that our will becomes aligned with God's will. That happens as you learn to trust Him and walk by faith. This is where we get sideways with God because we misunderstand the prayers that God answers. We trust His answers when we pray, and that's where we see this trust take shape in us in a very practical way.

John Stott said, "Prayer is not a convenient device for imposing our will upon God or for bending His will to ours, but instead it's the prescribed way of subordinating our will to His. It is by prayer that we seek God's will, we embrace it, and we align ourselves with God's will." Every true prayer is a variation of the same theme: Your will be done. You might be tempted to think that if you do everything right, God has to do whatever you're praying.

But that misunderstands who God is and His purposes. In Mark 14, the Father had clearly shown Jesus that He was to walk this road of suffering and death. Jesus prayed, "Father, if it's possible, would you take this cup from me?" Jesus is saying, "God, if there's another way, could we try this a different way?" Yet, look at how Jesus finishes His prayer. He doesn't say, "I got this wonderful plan and you better follow it or you're not really God." He says, "Yet not what I will, but what you will, Father."

That's the trust that God invites you to have in Him. I believe you can stand upon that even in the face of disappointment. "Not my way, Lord, I'm trusting you." We assume that if we believe enough or we speak a Bible verse enough or we want it enough, that we'll get whatever we want. When it doesn't happen like we've demanded that it happens, it messes us up and we get mad at God. We walk away from the church.

But when we talk with God, it's not about demanding what we want; it's about learning to align ourselves with what is true and right. If our prayers align with His will, then He listens and gives a definite answer. When we struggle with prayer and are disillusioned with disappointment, it's often because we skip over this one condition. We're convinced that because we want it, feel it, or believe it, God has to do it.

You can pray with confidence and face disappointment with confidence. If God doesn't answer in the way that you've asked Him to answer, then you've simply been overruled by someone who truly knows what is best for you and is able to bring it to fruition. God knows better than you or I do, and He sees more than we could ever see at that moment. He says you have it. He doesn't say you will have it.

That means the answer to your prayer may not be what you're expecting, but you have what you asked for. God is at work upstream of you in this moment, and He wants you to go with Him to experience His plans and His purpose, not to try to get Him to go with you. When you're not sure what God is doing and you're facing disappointment, you can stand on what you do know and what He's already done.

This past summer, I had the opportunity one day while our students were at camp in Daytona Beach to get down there for one day. I got a notification in the middle of the day that one of my flights had been upgraded to first class. I bought the cheapest tickets that were possible. I get this notification, and I've never flown first class before. I get in there and there's this seat that's twice as wide as me.

The stewardess comes up to me and asks what I'd like to drink. I said, "Well, what you got?" She said, "Well, that's not the question. My question is what do you want?" We in a whole different world than I've ever been in before. What Jesus is saying here is that if you ask in my name, on my ticket, in line with my will, my wishes, and what I've declared as true, then you have what you want. He hears you, He answers your prayers, as long as those prayers are in alignment with His will.

The last principle is that God invites you to trust Him in your disappointment. There is a condition that you pray according to God's will. How do you know that you're praying according to God's will? John answers that question in First John chapter three. He says we can come to God with bold confidence. We will receive from Him whatever we ask because we obey Him and do the things that please Him.

John is saying if you keep His commandments, you are doing God's will. God's will for your life is that you would live a Spirit-filled life of purity, that you wouldn't take advantage of other people, that you'd live a life of character, and that you'd be submitted and obedient to what God has clearly commanded us to do. To follow Him completely and wholeheartedly, to walk by faith, not by sight, and to let the chips fall behind you where they may—that is God's will for you.

Paul said it this way in Ephesians: "Be careful how you live. Don't live carelessly. Don't live like fools, but instead like those who are wise. Make the most of every opportunity in these evil days. Don't act thoughtlessly, but understand what the Lord wants you to do. Understand what the will of the Lord is." You're not playing some cosmic bait-and-switch game. He says understand it. You're not playing a guessing game with a cruel taskmaster or an ambiguous boss.

You're walking by the Spirit of God, and He says the will of God is that you would understand what He wants you to do. He wants you to trust what He's revealed in His Word and the work that He's doing in your life as you learn to walk by faith. David says, "Trust in the Lord and do good. Then you will live safely in the land and prosper. Take delight in the Lord, and He will give you your heart's desires."

That doesn't mean that you take some sunny picture and post it to Instagram and say, "I'm just delighting in the Lord today, so I'm going to get whatever I want in my heart." To delight yourself in the Lord means that you are content, settled, and resolute to trust God and His work in you according to His Word. As you grow in your faith, God changes your heart. Over time, your heart looks a whole lot more like God's heart than it does your own.

Once you're becoming who God says He wants you to become, you have found God's will for your life. This may rock some of your worlds, but God's will for your life is not a direction; it's not a place to find. It's who you are becoming—not perfection, but a heart who is completely devoted to Him. As a young adult, sometimes we're like, "I've got to find what is God's will. What is God's will for the person I'm going to marry or the job I'm going to take?"

We talk of God's will as this place that is hidden from us right now. As much as I would love it if I could find that in Scripture, I can't do it. God has a will for you, and it's not hidden. He has revealed His will for your life. His will for your life is not centered on who you marry, where you work, or where you go to school. God leads us and guides us continually by His Spirit. His Spirit applies the Word of God to our lives and directs our steps.

But the end game that God is up to is who you are becoming. If you think of God's will as a job decision or who to marry, you're never going to know what's becoming of your prayers. If you don't know what God's will is, it's always going to be a guessing game. That doesn't sound like very much fun. Yet that's how some of us are living, as if we're walking through a house of mirrors or through this maze, hoping that somehow we can stumble on God's will.

John MacArthur says, "The will of God is not primarily a place. The will of God is not first of all for you to go there or work here. The will of God concerns you as a person. God's will for your life is that you would be a wholehearted follower of Jesus Christ." If you pray for anything in accordance with that, God answers you. Peter says, "By His divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life."

He's given you everything you need for living a godly life. We receive all of this not by playing the cosmic cup game, but by coming to know Him, the one who called us to Himself by the means of His marvelous glory and excellence. God's will for your life is brought to fruition by the Holy Spirit. When you begin to understand God's will through the lenses of Scripture, you begin to ask, "God, how can I live out your will for my life, no matter where you take me?"

"How can I be a faithful follower of Christ no matter where I go, and even if it's not what I've envisioned or hoped it would be?" The will of God is not you getting what you want or me getting what I want. The will of God is not just a decision or a destination; the will of God is you and I walking in the process of allowing God to shape us to become more like Christ. If you're disappointed today, could it be that God is inviting you to shift the way that you approach disappointment?

God doesn't promise to fix every situation or iron out every speed bump. But what He does give you is something better. He gives you the gift of knowing that He cares for you and He's never going to leave you. He gives you the gift of knowing that He is at work, even in the midst of disappointment. He gives you the gift of an invitation to experience that His way is better. You can trust Him today, even when you're disappointed. Let's pray together.