The Calm Between Major Events
by Jeffrey W. Hamilton
I. Events happen in our lives that you could call defining moments
A. It is when we must make a hard choice. Ultimately, the choice defines who we are.
B. A moment of courage, when someone is saved.
C. A moment of conviction when we stand up for God and truth
D. The challenges we face in life as Satan tempts us away from our faith.
II. But tonight, let us think about the times in between. The times filled with day-to-day routine.
A. Our whole life is not one challenge after another. Instead, most of it is boring routine.
B. Think of Abraham. He lived 175 years. Out of all those years, we only have a handful of events that occurred in his life between the ages of 75 and 140.
1. We know of some the challenging mountain-tops which demonstrated Abraham’s faith, but when you add up the days in the events we actually only see very few.
2. What about the hundreds of calm days in between that were flat and uneventful?
3. How did Abraham live during the gaps when he did not hear from God?
C. There are hints
1. Genesis 12:8 - He built an altar and worshiped God
2. Genesis 13:18 - He built an altar and worshiped God
3. Genesis 21:33 - He called on God
4. These define how Abraham spend the quiet moments.
III. Not all of life is mountain tops
A. What we do with the time we have between, the time we have the most of, defines who we are.
B. It is how we spend our time during the quiet moments that tell how we will react during the short, critical moments.
C. I Peter 3:8-13 - Spending time doing what is right, prepares us for what Peter then mentions - persecution.
D. Are you using your time to prepare? - Proverbs 8:32-35
