True Grit: Why Not (2 Kings 7:3-9)

Series: True Grit

Sermon Title: Why Not?

Scripture: 2 Kings 7:3-9

Date: June 17, 2018

 

Now there were four men with leprosy sitting at the entrance of the city gates.  "Why should we sit here waiting to die?" they asked each other.  "We will starve if we stay here, but with the famine in the city, we will starve if we go back there.  So we might as well go out and surrender to the Aramean army.  If they let us live, so much the better.  But if they kill us, we would have died anyway."  So at twilight they set out for the camp of the Arameans.  But when they came to the edge of the camp, no one was there!  For the Lord had caused the Aramean army to hear the clatter of speeeding charios and the galloping of horses and the sounds of a great army approaching.  "The king of Israel has hired the Hittites and Egyptians to attach us!" they cried to oen another.  So they panicked and ran into the night, abandoning their tents, horses, donkeys, and everything else, as they fled for their lives.  When the men with leprosy arrived at the edge of the camp, they went into one tent after another, eating and drinking wine; and they carried off silver and gold and clothing and hid it.  Finally, they said to each other, "This is not right.  this is a day of good news, and we aren't sharing it with anyone!  If we wait until morning, some calamity will certainly fall upon us.  com on, let's go back and tell the people at the palace."  (2 Kings 7:3-9)

 

Questions can be a great tool for spiritual growht and growth in spiritual grit.

1. What's one thing you could do this summer to increase your enjoyment of God?
2. What's the single most important thing you could do to improve the quality of your family life this summer?
3. In which spiritual discipline do you most want to make progress this summer, and what will you do about it?
4. What is the most helpful new way you could strengthen your church?
5. For whose salvation will you pray most fervently this summer?
6. What one thing could you do to imporrve your prayer life this summer?
7. What single thing that you plan to do this summer will matter most in 10 years?  In eternity?
8. What habit would you most like to establish this summer?
9. Who is the person you most want to encourage this summer?
10. What book, in addition to the Bible, do you most want to read this summer?
11. In what area of your life do you most need change, and what will you do about it this summer?
12. Is what I'm doing helping get what I want the most?
13. If someone else was objectively examinging your life, where would they see the most growth over the last year or two?  Where woudl they say you needed the most growth?

 

WHY NOT?

 

Our grit or strength is a byproduct of our relationship with Jesus.

Learn how to live with a determination to ask, "Why not?" in every situation.

Some time later, however, King Ben-haded of Aram mustered his entire army and besieged Samaria.  As a result, there was a great famine in the city.  The siege lasted so long that a donkey's head sold for eighty pieces of silver, and a cup of dove's dung sold for five pieces of silver.  (2 Kings 6:24-25)

 

'Why not?' is a helpful question in developing our spiritual grit because it is an:

1. Investigative question
   • Why not tends to surface the real issue if we will be honest.
   • Do we really want to follow Jesus or simply pretend?
   • Are you a spectator or a player?
   • WEEKLY CHALLENGE: Ask 'Why not?' a lot this week; espeically to things that you suspect God may want you to do.
   • "The definition of courage is not a diminishment of fear but our decision to move through fear."  -Rick Lawrence
2. Intentional question
   • If you are thinking about being saved, two of the biggest issues for you is do you know you need to be and do you want to be.
   • He want syou to help other people come to Him.
   • He wants you to love other people.
   • We want to be players in the game not just spectators.
   • Asking why not helps us to identify and face our fears instead of skirting them.
3. Improvement question
   • Finally, they said to each other, "This is not right.  This is a day of good news, and we aren't sharing it with anyone!  If we wait until morning, some calamity will certainly fall upon us.  Come on, let's go back and tell the people at the palace.  (2 Kings 7:9)
   • Why not reavelas what's stopping you and brings you to a place of trust.