Transcription downloaded from https://sermons.cccharlotte.org/sermons/44316/peradventure/. Disclaimer: this is an automatically generated machine transcription - there may be small errors or mistranscriptions. Please refer to the original audio if you are in any doubt. [0:00] A Pastor's Reflections, Per Adventure, Genesis 18, verse 31. And he said, Behold now, I have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord, Per Adventure. [0:17] 1 Corinthians chapter 2, verse 9. But as it is written, Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, neither has entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for them that love him. [0:31] 1 Samuel 14, 6. And Jonathan said to the young man that bare his armor, Come, and let us go over unto the garrison of these uncircumcised. [0:42] It may be that the Lord will work for us. When God begins to move, there is always a sense of excitement and anticipation, knowing the potential for the great things that are in store. [0:58] However, there is also the part we don't know. We don't know the exact shape that God's moving will take. We wonder and hope for great things, but honestly, we often find ourselves more or less questioning the what, the when, and the how these great things of God are to ever come about. [1:19] You see, we, like Abraham, put forth our own peradventure to the Lord. God, I know you are good, and I know you are great. [1:31] I know there is nothing you can't do but peradventure? Or in other words, what if, suppose, suppose I find myself in over my head. [1:44] Will you come through for me? Suppose I doubt and despair. Will you still be there for me? What if sin is overcoming the culture? What if there is no repentance in sight? [1:56] Will you, peradventure, still be the same loving, merciful, and long-suffering God? Or will the hope I had for a better tomorrow be swallowed up in the dying light of my feeble faith? [2:12] Matthew 12, 20 A bruised reed shall he not break, and smoking flax shall he not quench. 2 Chronicles 16, 9 For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth to show himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him. [2:34] No, we don't know the exact shape of the future faithfulness of God, but we can be 100% sure of it. The God of the Bible has revealed his character to us in no uncertain terms. [2:47] We have the assurance of who God is, and that makes all the difference. Hebrews 8, 12 For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more. [3:02] Exodus 34, 6 Peradventure, God will move in the exact way and shape I expected him to? [3:23] No, but he will move in the exact way and shape that he has revealed his character to be. Numbers 23, 19 God is not a man that he should lie, neither the son of man that he should repent. [3:40] Has he said, and shall he not do it? Or has he spoken, and shall he not make it good? Malachi 3, 6 For I am the Lord, I change not. [3:53] What, peradventure, are you putting before the Lord? What question are you asking God that has already been answered by his character? When you can't see the shape of the future faithfulness of God, instead of questioning, believe. [4:11] Believe the coming good that is undoubtedly coming from a good God. Peradventure, God will do wondrous works? Yes, he will. [4:22] Because after all, those are the only types of works he does. Psalm 72, 18 Blessed be the Lord God, the God of Israel, who only does wondrous things. [4:38] Father, I don't want to question how you will, peradventure, act in a given situation when you have already so clearly and graciously revealed to me your character. [4:49] Let me not focus on the unknown outcome of the situation, but the already known character of the one who determines that outcome. [5:03] Amen.