12-3-2022 West Palm Beach 7th Day BAPTIST Pastor Garfield “Surviving Quicksand” Psalm 40;1-4, Acts 9;7-19,Psalm 55;22, Psalm 123;1-2
Have you ever felt stuck? Been in a situation where you are feeling helpless? Feeling unproductive or vulnerable? Feeling helpless? Congratulations, you are in quicksand. I say congratulations because if you never left home you could not be in quicksand. If you are not productive and moving forward, you could never be in quicksand now. The problem is that for many of us, the quicksand becomes the norm. We accept it as God’s lot for our lives. We adjust things in our lives because we consider the quicksand as our new normal. We accept the place of struggle and unproductiveness as God’s plan for our lives.
God has planned to prosper us. God has plans to prosper us. I’m preaching this sermon because it is personal for me. When I think of my plans for my ministry, I feel like I am stuck. When I evaluate where I am with my education, I feel like I am vulnerable with no progress. Working hard has never been a problem for many of us, including myself. I am finding that the harder I work, the worse my situation is becoming. I am being diagnosed as one who is in quicksand. Quicksand can be something spiritual as well as physical. David was in quicksand when he slept with Bathsheba and then went on to kill her husband. Quicksand is when you end up in a situation that sometimes is your fault and it just keeps getting worse. Quicksand is where the harder you work, the worse things look. By definition quicksand is a pocket of sand mixed with water and air. Its to be found near a body of water where the water is trapped in the sand and that area becomes unstable. Without water or air the sand would be so compact that you could walk on it. When it becomes quicksand it is weaker than expected, it is damaged, it is fragile and it is flawed.
Brothers and sisters I want to say to us that if this is where we are standing, then our foundation is compromised. We may not recognize it but we are going down slowly into the quicksand. The challenge comes when we accept it as the norm. When we accept it then it is only a matter time before we are devastated. Its only a matter of time before you are disconnected, destroyed and then you die. Brothers and sisters I am not accepting my position in this quicksand. I believe that God has a plan for you and me. Everyone here God has a plan for you. You may not see it, know it or understand it but know that God has a plan. When God has a plan, there is nothing that can remove that plan from the hand of God!! I may not feel it, I may not be there right now but I serve a risen Savior who is in the world today. I know that He is living whatever man wants to say. God has a plan! I feel that God is setting us up for something big. For this to happen, we must have the appropriate response to being in the quicksand.
Job was in quicksand, one thing after another and he kept going down. Mary, the mother of Jesus, was in quicksand when she was told that she would conceive. The woman with the issue of blood, she was in quicksand. She had spent all she had and things continued to get worse. Jesus Himself was in quicksand as He went to the Cross. But the same power that raised Jesus from the dead is available to us right now. Glorify God right now. In Psalm 40 it says I waited patiently for the Lord and He inclined unto me and heard my cry. Then it says the Lord brought me up out of the miry clay and set my feet upon a rock and established me. Miry clay is the same thing as quicksand. Same thing as the place where you are unsure of what will happen. We must seek what is the thing in our lives that is compromised. What has taken on water that should have remained dry? What in your life is not as it should be?
In Acts chapter 9 we must acknowledge the instructions there so that we can all survive quicksand situations. In the text Paul was on his way to put more Christians in prison and kill them. On his way he met the Creator, Jesus Christ. He met the Sustainer, Jesus Christ. Paul met the Redeemer, the Judge Jesus Christ. He met the One whose name causes demons to tremble. Jesus Christ. Jesus asked Paul why he was persecuting Him. Then Paul was blind and had to be taken to the city. He then met Ananias who God had said to lay hands on Paul so he could see again. Then Paul was baptized. Lets look back at a few things to see the instructions on how to survive quicksand.
**Instructions On How To Survive Quicksand**
1) Slow Down:
As you slow down, this does not mean to stop. The blindness caused Paul to slow down. Blindness took him off the path that he was on. Whatever you are putting your energy into, whether its right or wrong, the first instruction is to slow down. The aspect of slowing down means to trust God. The faster you go, the less you are trusting God.
2) Let Down Your Burden:
Whatever is weighing you down, throw it off. The lighter you are, the better it is for you. Empty yourself of anger, pride and self-pity. Psalm 55;22 says cast your burden upon the Lord and He will sustain you and not allow the righteous to be moved. When you are going down, cast it on Him and you will not go under in the name of Jesus. Leave it with Jesus.
3) Look For The Help:
Paul was in quicksand, blind and going down. There is a particular help that God has dispatched for your situation. The help you need is often already in the situation that you are in. Praise God with me. Paul prayed and God said He was sending a man. Then God went and sent the man to Paul. When you are in quicksand and you have slowed down, thrown off any burdens then the next thing is to look around for something to grab a hold of. If there is a tree branch to hold onto, you will grab it. God had that tree grown for you to grab on to. Look for and wait for your Ananias. Psalm 123;1-2. Our Help Comes From The LORD!! Hallelujah. God will fix it!!
4) Adjust Your Position:
You are walking in the quicksand and you are knee deep. By this time you should have slowed down, cast off your burden and looked for help. No tree branch but the help is God Himself. In the physical quicksand, before it gets to your waist, you need to bend backwards. When you bend backward, you become bigger and its harder for you to sink down. Its when you look up to the Lord God and Jesus. Brothers and sisters let me tell you something. Quicksand is to be expected in our lives.
The idea of changing your position, going on your back feels unnatural. It is like floating on your back in the ocean. The further you go backward, the more you look up to God in the spiritual sense. When you go back, you knees will move up and you then begin to float in the quicksand. We are supposed to float because on Christ the solid rock we stand and all other ground is sinking sand.
AMEN
Have you ever felt stuck? Been in a situation where you are feeling helpless? Feeling unproductive or vulnerable? Feeling helpless? Congratulations, you are in quicksand. I say congratulations because if you never left home you could not be in quicksand. If you are not productive and moving forward, you could never be in quicksand now. The problem is that for many of us, the quicksand becomes the norm. We accept it as God’s lot for our lives. We adjust things in our lives because we consider the quicksand as our new normal. We accept the place of struggle and unproductiveness as God’s plan for our lives.
God has planned to prosper us. God has plans to prosper us. I’m preaching this sermon because it is personal for me. When I think of my plans for my ministry, I feel like I am stuck. When I evaluate where I am with my education, I feel like I am vulnerable with no progress. Working hard has never been a problem for many of us, including myself. I am finding that the harder I work, the worse my situation is becoming. I am being diagnosed as one who is in quicksand. Quicksand can be something spiritual as well as physical. David was in quicksand when he slept with Bathsheba and then went on to kill her husband. Quicksand is when you end up in a situation that sometimes is your fault and it just keeps getting worse. Quicksand is where the harder you work, the worse things look. By definition quicksand is a pocket of sand mixed with water and air. Its to be found near a body of water where the water is trapped in the sand and that area becomes unstable. Without water or air the sand would be so compact that you could walk on it. When it becomes quicksand it is weaker than expected, it is damaged, it is fragile and it is flawed.
Brothers and sisters I want to say to us that if this is where we are standing, then our foundation is compromised. We may not recognize it but we are going down slowly into the quicksand. The challenge comes when we accept it as the norm. When we accept it then it is only a matter time before we are devastated. Its only a matter of time before you are disconnected, destroyed and then you die. Brothers and sisters I am not accepting my position in this quicksand. I believe that God has a plan for you and me. Everyone here God has a plan for you. You may not see it, know it or understand it but know that God has a plan. When God has a plan, there is nothing that can remove that plan from the hand of God!! I may not feel it, I may not be there right now but I serve a risen Savior who is in the world today. I know that He is living whatever man wants to say. God has a plan! I feel that God is setting us up for something big. For this to happen, we must have the appropriate response to being in the quicksand.
Job was in quicksand, one thing after another and he kept going down. Mary, the mother of Jesus, was in quicksand when she was told that she would conceive. The woman with the issue of blood, she was in quicksand. She had spent all she had and things continued to get worse. Jesus Himself was in quicksand as He went to the Cross. But the same power that raised Jesus from the dead is available to us right now. Glorify God right now. In Psalm 40 it says I waited patiently for the Lord and He inclined unto me and heard my cry. Then it says the Lord brought me up out of the miry clay and set my feet upon a rock and established me. Miry clay is the same thing as quicksand. Same thing as the place where you are unsure of what will happen. We must seek what is the thing in our lives that is compromised. What has taken on water that should have remained dry? What in your life is not as it should be?
In Acts chapter 9 we must acknowledge the instructions there so that we can all survive quicksand situations. In the text Paul was on his way to put more Christians in prison and kill them. On his way he met the Creator, Jesus Christ. He met the Sustainer, Jesus Christ. Paul met the Redeemer, the Judge Jesus Christ. He met the One whose name causes demons to tremble. Jesus Christ. Jesus asked Paul why he was persecuting Him. Then Paul was blind and had to be taken to the city. He then met Ananias who God had said to lay hands on Paul so he could see again. Then Paul was baptized. Lets look back at a few things to see the instructions on how to survive quicksand.
**Instructions On How To Survive Quicksand**
1) Slow Down:
As you slow down, this does not mean to stop. The blindness caused Paul to slow down. Blindness took him off the path that he was on. Whatever you are putting your energy into, whether its right or wrong, the first instruction is to slow down. The aspect of slowing down means to trust God. The faster you go, the less you are trusting God.
2) Let Down Your Burden:
Whatever is weighing you down, throw it off. The lighter you are, the better it is for you. Empty yourself of anger, pride and self-pity. Psalm 55;22 says cast your burden upon the Lord and He will sustain you and not allow the righteous to be moved. When you are going down, cast it on Him and you will not go under in the name of Jesus. Leave it with Jesus.
3) Look For The Help:
Paul was in quicksand, blind and going down. There is a particular help that God has dispatched for your situation. The help you need is often already in the situation that you are in. Praise God with me. Paul prayed and God said He was sending a man. Then God went and sent the man to Paul. When you are in quicksand and you have slowed down, thrown off any burdens then the next thing is to look around for something to grab a hold of. If there is a tree branch to hold onto, you will grab it. God had that tree grown for you to grab on to. Look for and wait for your Ananias. Psalm 123;1-2. Our Help Comes From The LORD!! Hallelujah. God will fix it!!
4) Adjust Your Position:
You are walking in the quicksand and you are knee deep. By this time you should have slowed down, cast off your burden and looked for help. No tree branch but the help is God Himself. In the physical quicksand, before it gets to your waist, you need to bend backwards. When you bend backward, you become bigger and its harder for you to sink down. Its when you look up to the Lord God and Jesus. Brothers and sisters let me tell you something. Quicksand is to be expected in our lives.
The idea of changing your position, going on your back feels unnatural. It is like floating on your back in the ocean. The further you go backward, the more you look up to God in the spiritual sense. When you go back, you knees will move up and you then begin to float in the quicksand. We are supposed to float because on Christ the solid rock we stand and all other ground is sinking sand.
AMEN
