Sermon - I Am, I Can, I Will - Part 2 - Littleby Baptist Church - January 21, 2018

Last week we started by looking at how after 40 years of wandering through the wilderness God told the Israelites it was time for a change.

Deuteronomy 2:1-3

2 “Then we turned back and headed for the wilderness by way of the Red Sea, as the Lord had told me, and we traveled around the hill country of Seir for many days. ² The Lord then said to me, ³ ‘You’ve been traveling around this hill country long enough; turn north.”

God was telling them enough of the wandering, it is time for a change. The Israelites had to decide if they were ready to follow God.

That is something that each one of us needs to decide. We need to determine if we are going to say I am not or if we are going to Turn North and say I am ready.

God is looking for those who are ready to follow Him.

All of us have to answer this for ourselves, and we have to answer it many times in our lives. Are we ready to accept Jesus as Lord? Are we ready to respond to His calling on our lives? Are we ready to serve our brothers and sisters? Are we ready to share the love of Christ with our neighbors?

The first step, the I Am step, is deciding if you are ready to do what God has created you to do.

After you have stepped up to the plate and declared you are ready, now comes the question of if you can do what is being asked of you.

Too often we say I am ready, but as soon as we see the task before us we revert to I can’t because it is too hard.

I felt called into pastoral ministry roughly 15 years ago. I remember being 110% positive that this is what I am supposed to do. I told our Associate Pastor all about it as taking that first step of saying I am ready and turning north.

Next thing out of his mouth was ‘Great, how about you pray over the juice during communion’. It was then that I realized that I would have to speak in front of people as a pastor. At that point in my life I was quite and had a hard time presenting in a small meeting let alone in front of the church.

I had said, I am ready… but was really struggling with the next step of I can.

Saying a prayer while standing with a small men's group was scary for me. How was I ever going to be able to stand up front and speak for 20-30 minutes? I was not sure I could ever do it. Fear was holding me back. My I Am was about to be clobbered with an I Cannot.

Last week we looked at some very well known verses in Jeremiah.

Jeremiah 29:10-14

“¹⁰ For this is what the Lord says: “When seventy years for Babylon are complete, I will attend to you and will confirm my promise concerning you to restore you to this place. ¹¹ For I know the plans I have for you”—this is the Lord’s declaration—“plans for your well-being, not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. ¹² You will call to me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. ¹³ You will seek me and find me when you search for me with all your heart. ¹⁴ I will be found by you”—this is the Lord’s declaration—“and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and places where I banished you”—this is the Lord’s declaration. “I will restore you to the place from which I deported you.”

Verse 11 tells us that God has plans for us, plans for our well-being, plans for our future, plans that should give us hope.

Now I have planned birthday parties, outreach events, services, weddings, production lines, and more. Each plan takes a lot of thought, preparation, and follow through if they are to be successful. When planning a kids birthday party you need to plan food, games, gifts, and of course cake. For outreach events you need to coordinate volunteers, supplies, food, and more. I have even had to plan a wedding that the bride did not want to last more than 15 minutes.

Making plans can be tricky, takes a lot of time, and even more effort.

Jeremiah 29:11

“¹¹ For I know the plans I have for you”—this is the Lord’s declaration—“plans for your well-being, not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.”

God has made plans for you, plans that He has thought about and made preparations for. God has laid out step by step His plans for you as He wants them to be carried out.

If planning a birthday party can be time consuming, imagine how much effort goes into planning every aspect of your life. God has worked long and hard to develop His plans for your future. He expects them to be for your well being and to give you a future and a hope.

We know how much time and effort goes into making plans. We see in this verse that our all-knowing, all-powerful God has personally created plans for our lives. We need to call out to God, we need to pray to Him, and we need to seek Him. If we are doing these things and know that He created plans for our lives, what do we have to be afraid of? If we are following God’s Plan, it is for our benefit not for our calamity.

Now that is easy for me to say, but it is a lot harder to do. Our ‘I Am’ can get easily derailed by an ‘I Cannot’. Which is why when we are fearful, doubtful, and weak we need to remember who is really in control.

2 Corinthians 12:9

“But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is perfected in weakness.” Therefore, I will most gladly boast all the more about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may reside in me.”

His grace is sufficient and His power is perfected in our weakness.

When we can no longer do it on our own, when we have reached our limit, and call out to Him, that is when God shines through.

Joshua 1:9

“Haven’t I commanded you: be strong and courageous? Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

As the saying goes, if God has called you to it, He will see you through it.

When you answer the call and say I am ready, remember that God is with you. If God is with you, there is no reason to let that nasty ‘I Cannot’ sneak in and interfere with God’s plans.

When you are responding to God’s plan for your life remember:

You may be weak, but God is all-powerful.

You may only see what is in front of you, but God knows the future.
You may be afraid, remember that He is with us always and wants us to be strong and courageous.

If you believe that Jesus Christ is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, you have to believe that He is the God over all of creation.

Colossians 1:16-17

“¹⁶ For everything was created by him, in heaven and on earth, the visible and the invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities— all things have been created through him and for him. ¹⁷ He is before all things, and by him all things hold together.”

If Jesus created all things and holds them all together, no matter what obstacles we face as we move from ‘I am Ready’ to ‘I Can’, Jesus is in control. If God made the plans for us, we need to move forward saying I can, no matter the challenge before us.

God has paved the way for so that you can follow His will and His Plans for your life. If you are following His plans, depending on Him, the obstacle before you is nothing God cannot handle through you.

Philippians 4:13

“I am able to do all things through him who strengthens me.”

We can do all that God has created us to do, when we depend on Him.

We may be weak, but God is strong.

We may be afraid, but when we remember that God is over all creation, we know He has already paved the way for us. When we are hit with a dose of fear, we need to remember that we know how the story ends. God Wins!

We may have doubts, but God has laid out a plan for our well being and we need to march forward.

15 years ago, I was afraid of saying 5 words in front of a small group. I turned to God and let Him work through me. There were times people struggled to hear me, there were times the message I gave was not real clear, but God was still at work making His plans successful. I just had to say I Am and I Can. 

In the last couple of years, I have preached in front of groups ranging from 5 to well over 100 people. God overcame my I cannot and turned it into an I Can.

God knew my weakness, He knew my fear and yet He still had a plan for me.

A Plan that would require that I depend on His strength when I was weak.

A Plan that would require that I remember who He is and that He is in control of all things.
A Plan that took my ‘I am ready’ and moved it to ‘I Can.’

Last week I asked you if you are ready to take that next step.

It may have been accepting Jesus as your Lord, it may have been re-dedicating your life to Him, or it could be stepping up to serve Him, give more, or to share the gospel.

The question I have for you today is, what is holding you back? What is the obstacle that is preventing your ‘I Am’ from becoming an ‘I Can’?

Are you afraid of what others may say? Are you worried that you will not be successful? Are you afraid that you will fail, get hurt, or you just don’t see how it is possible?

Don’t let anything hold you back from embracing the plan that God has for you. That Plan was created solely for you. Something that only you can do. When God created that Plan He knew what you would struggle with, He knew what you needed to overcome, He knew how you needed to grow, and He knew that His plan is meant to give you a future and a hope.

Will it be challenging? Absolutely.

You will realize as you face some challenges that you cannot do it on your own. You will need to depend on the One who created and sustains everything around you. You will need His strength and His courage.

If you believe in Jesus Christ. If you trust in His Plans for you. You will see the future He wants for you. One that has you doing things, that may be hard to imagine, but ultimately has you Loving God and Loving Others.

Trust in Jesus and God’s Plans for your future will come to fruition. Trust in Him and your I Am will turn into I Can.

Last week I asked if you are Ready? Today I want you to know that You Can Do exactly what God is calling you to! All you have to do is Trust in Him and His plan for your life.

May the Lord Bless You!

Robert