"MOMENTS IN LIFE!"

Written and preached by David P. Nolte

1 CORINTHIANS 16:1-9

1. STRIVE TO FIND THE OPEN DOORS GOD PROVIDES:
1. Remember, first, that sometimes God closes doors. We want to do some certain thing and it becomes impossible for us to do it. The door is closed to us for that. It may be that:
1. We apply for a job and someone else gets it. That door is closed.
2. We pray for an opportunity to buy a house or car and we can't swing the deal. That door is closed to us.
2. Closed doors are often God's way of protecting us and guiding us and teaching us. The problem is that we look so long at, or we pound so hard on, or we worry so much about, or we so deeply regret the closed doors we miss the one God has opened!
3. For Paul it was an open door for service. For us it may be that or something else. But God has opened doors to us. Someone said, "If God closes one door, He always opens another better one." God said to the Church at Philadelphia, "Behold, I have put before you an open door which no one can shut." Revelation 3:8 (NASB). I believe He still says that to His church as a whole and to His people individually. But there are moments in life when no door seems to be open.
1. We may have to wait for it patiently. God's timetable is not ours. He uses a different Timex than we do.
2. We may have to learn to just quietly trust, and that's always a good lesson to learn. When nothing seems to be opening, just trusting and not striving is the best thing to do.
3. To find the open door we must live in constant fellowship with Jesus, to obey His commands, to trust His Word and to follow where He leads. As one song says, "Lead me, Lord, I'll follow anywhere You open up the door."
4. We certainly have to look for that open door. To do that we pray for guidance; we ask advice of godly people; we check every lead we have; we knock on every door that looks available to us. If we are seriously seeking, we'll find it: "Ask and you shall receive, seek and you shall find, knock and the door will be opened to you."
4. Waiting to be interviewed for a job as a wireless operator, a group of applicants paid little attention to the sound of the dots and dashes which began coming over a loudspeaker. Suddenly one of them rushed into the employer's office. Soon he returned smiling. "I got the job!" he exclaimed. "Wait a minute! How did you get in ahead of us?" they asked. "You might have been gotten the job if you hadn't been so busy talking that you didn't hear the manager's coded message," he replied. "It said, 'The man I need must always be on the alert. The first one who interprets this and comes directly into my private office will be hired.'" The lesson is clear: Too many Christians are not really tuned in, so they do not hear God's directives.

Look for that open door to thrive in 2005.

2. STRIVE TO MAKE THE MOST OF WHAT COMES ALONG YOUR WAY:
1. Paul had opposition to his ministry. He had enemies. Life was not easy for him. Sometimes I think it would be great to experience only things that provide joy, peace, pleasure, ease, and comfort.
2. I received an email which strikes at this subject. It reads, "Keep going! Life punches you in the stomach. It knocks your breath out and leaves you bowed and gasping. You lose a job; you must keep going. You find out you have a serious illness; you must keep going. The bills seem to never end and the money seems to never start. Keep going. There are times that make us just want to curl up, stick our heads in a hole, and make the world go away. We can't, because we must keep going. In times like those, and we all have them, remember the blessing. The blessing is not in that we must keep going. The blessing is that we can." There are moments in life when quitting seems easiest and best, but keep going!
3. There are some clichés which say what I am trying to say:
1. If life gives you a lemon, make lemonade. Make something good of what you think is bad.
2. Behind the clouds, the sun still shines. Even hard times don't eliminate the good, they just obscure it.
3. After the rain comes the rainbow. Better things are to come.
4. It's always darkest before the dawn. Things will improve in time.
5. No pain, no gain. We grow most through struggles and hardships.
6. Don't put off until tomorrow what you have to do today. Handle the days problems without procrastinating.
7. There's light at the end of the tunnel. Remember that there is always hope.
8. This, too, shall pass. Even the worst of things are temporary.
4. In Enterprise, Alabama stands a strange statue. It is a figure of the Boll Weevil. It seems, so the story goes, that in the early 1900's the Boll Weevil destroyed the cotton crop, the major source of income for that place. The people didn't know what to do, but some enterprising chap discovered that the soil was perfect for growing peanuts which proved to be a more substantial and profitable crop than cotton. They praised the Lord for the Boll Weevil. Only Enterprise saw the good in an evil weevil, and the city became famous for it. That's making the most of what comes your way.

That's just what you have to do to thrive in 2005.

3. STRIVE TO GO FORWARD BECAUSE YOU CAN'T GO BACK:
1. Wherever Paul was, he had somewhere else to go. Sometimes he revisited other places, but he was a forward looking visionary.
2. Paul wrote, "No, dear brothers and sisters, I am still not all I should be, but I am focusing all my energies on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I strain to reach the end of the race and receive the prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us up to heaven." Philippians 3:13-14 (NLT).
3. We all look at the past from time to time. Sometimes
1. We wish we'd been better parents.
2. We wish we'd taken better advantage of our lost opportunities.
3. We wish we'd not eaten that second piece of cake for every meal for three months.
4. We wish we'd not have made that stupid, impetuous purchase of a year's supply of swimming pool chemicals when we don't even own a pool!
4. There are moments in life when we wish we could relive a good moment, or undo a terrible one. A good friend of mine tells the story of when his daughter became pregnant at the age of fourteen. She finally mustered the courage to speak honestly to her parents about her situation. Taking full responsibility for her act, she confessed. Her father said, "Honey, you can't go back and undo things, but you can go forward with Jesus." They did, and she is a fine Christian wife and mother today, serving the Lord faithfully.

There are moments in life which we would never let go of if we had the choice. There are moments in life which we would never relive if we could determine it. There are moments in life which are puzzling, vexing, oppressive, and difficult. But in each and every moment of life is God. This is a moment in your life when you can make a decision which will radically impact on all the rest of the moments in your life for time and for eternity. Whatever is going on in your life, let God be involved. The Bible says, "Indeed, God is ready to help you right now. Today is the day of salvation." 2 Corinthians 6:2 (NLT). When you come to that moment in life where all you have is God, you will discover that God is all you need. God has set before you the open door to eternal life. He wants you to find it, to enter it and to go forward with Jesus from this day on. He won't force you, but He urges, He appeals, and He calls. Those who hear, and who respond in faith, will find grace and mercy and help for every moment in life. Come as we sing.