Central Lutheran Church - Elk River
Central Lutheran Church - Elk River
Sovereignty of God in Uncertain Times with Pastor Lorraine Daley
What does it mean to trust in God's sovereignty during uncertain times? Pastor Lorraine Daly, co-pastor of Restoring Lives Community Church in Zimmerman, joins us to explore this profound question. Since 2020, Pastor Lorraine has been a cherished voice at Central, and in this episode, she shares her journey of seeking God's guidance in every decision and the incredible support from people like Bob Ruprek. We begin with Pastor Lorraine's heartfelt prayer, setting an inspirational tone as she delves into the theme of steadfast faith amidst life's challenges.
We then transition to the story of Elijah, drawing powerful parallels to our own struggles with spiritual drought and faith testing. Pastor Lorraine illustrates how God's provision often comes through the most unlikely vessels, encouraging us to see His presence even in our darkest moments. Through personal testimonies and reflections on Elijah's narrative, we are reminded of the importance of nurturing a strong relationship with God and trusting in His unwavering faithfulness.
Pastor Lorraine concludes with an inspiring call to embrace hope and courageous faith, drawing on the stories of Elijah and Lazarus to showcase God's boundless power and compassion. She urges us to rise from our metaphorical graves of doubt and difficulty, stepping out of our comfort zones to become vessels of faith for others. This episode is a powerful testament to God's transformative presence, urging listeners to trust in His sovereignty and abundant promises, no matter how daunting the circumstances.
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Wow. Well, you know it's my privilege this morning to introduce our guest speaker and she's been here before. She's a central favorite. She's been here, I think, since 2020, a few times, a small handful of times. Her name is Pastor Lorraine Daly. She pastors up in Zimmerman and you might have seen her floating around the Lafayette Woods neighborhood though, because she lives in our neighborhood but we live in the same neighborhood and so she lives in elk river, but she pastors up in zimmerman and she's been here again many times before and, uh, I love having her here.
Speaker 1:We met back then and when we first met, I remember talking to her like, oh, you got to come preach at central. Would you be willing to do that? And she was like I thought she was like, yeah, I'd love to. But she was like let me just seek the lord and see if god would have me do that and I'll get back to you. I was like, okay, great, that's fantastic. Uh, okay, great, those are fantastic. Novel idea to pray and seek God. But she said and then she called back I'd love to do it, so let's do it. And she's been back every year since.
Speaker 1:She's a phenomenal preacher and I got to you know, hear her preach just at the last gathering and what the word she has for us this morning is awesome and I can't wait for her to give it again. And you know we love having different voices around here at Central and different preachers as well. And so you know she's obviously she's not, obviously she's a woman, and so it's different than what I. You know me and she's got a little bit longer hair. She's from the Pentecostal tradition, but most glaringly obvious is that she is a glasses wearer and I wear contacts so you can spot that right away when you see her. But otherwise I'm so glad to have her here with us. She's again a longtime friend of ours. Would you please give some love to Pastor Lorraine Daly this morning. Thank you.
Speaker 2:Is this in the right spot right here. Oh, okay, all right, cool beans. Thank you, all right. Praise the Lord, I am so delighted, honored, blessed to be here. I don't take it for granted when I can be in the house of the Lord and be in someone else's pulpit, much less a different church denomination. And, as Pastor Ryan mentioned, I pastor, co-pastor, alongside with my husband, restoring Lives Community Church in Zimmerman. I don't know if you're familiar with Zimmerman, but if you go to Hardee's, if you look right across the street, there's a building that people think it's a house, it's a church, and that's where we are. We are about 30 people strong. So I'm like I'm looking at the four rows here. You know kind of that would be the congregation, but we are a growing congregation and I just thank the Lord for that. I also, just as a side note, I do substitute teach in the district, so I was kind of seeing some of the faces. I'm like, oh, I recognize that person Anyway, but that's kind of cool. I also want to quickly.
Speaker 2:I don't know if Bob is in the room. Bob Ruprek, is he here? I just want to call him out. Pastor Ryan had introduced him to us in our church. We're going through what we call Project Faith, where the city, county, state, different entities are involved, as they're going to be building a roundabout right at the corner of our lot and so we need to get our parking lot parking area redone it needs it and then we're trying to do a little bit of remodeling on our building. So Bob has been very instrumental in helping us have those conversations with the individuals, like I said, those different entities. He's been just an incredible resource and a blessing to our church. So he's not here. If he doesn't like to be called out too bad, let him know.
Speaker 2:I talked about him, but I just wanted to give him recognition. This conversation started a few years ago and we're what I think we're year three into this. So he may have thought I was just coming in to help you and be done. It's not that. So I teased him as well. I said, bob, you know this has been, we're going on year three and I just pressed my timer because now my time starts. No, all right, so I just wanted to call that out. But again, just blessed to be here.
Speaker 2:Thank you for Roberta for reading the scripture this morning and the topic is the sovereignty of God in uncertain times, and so I just want to pray, as I am servant to the Lord and servant to his word. My prayer this morning is, lord, that you direct how the word is heard, how it lands in our hearts, how it's being received and how it will be acted on from this point on. And so we give you the glory and the honor in Jesus' name, amen. So there's a story that is told of a man who was walking across the road and he was hit by a car and the impact knocked him on his head and he was unconscious for a little while. Actually, he was in a coma for several days and he finally regained consciousness and when he opened his eyes, his loving wife was right there beside him holding his hand, and he said to her you know, judy, you've always been by my side when I was struggling in college. You know I failed again and again, but you know you were always there to encourage me along. And then he said you know what? When I got out of school, graduated and I went on all these interviews and I wasn't getting a job, guess what? You were there trying to help me find other jobs. And then, when I finally did find a job. I got a chance to handle this big contract and I made one mistake. I blew it and obviously I was let go, and yet you were there beside me, and then it took a while for me to find another job, but somehow, when I found this other job, I've been in this job for a long time, I'm working hard. I never got promoted and you never left me. You were always there to encourage me.
Speaker 2:And so, as he's staring at her and she's there, of course, emotional, and her eyes are filled with tears, he says now I'm in this accident and when I woke up, you are the first person that I saw. There's something I really would love to say to you. He said Judy, I think you're just plain bad luck. And so in life, right, we encounter situations, things, places, things that don't align with timing, don't align with what we think should be happening in our lives. There are things that occur that it may feel out of sync with us, and there are times when it all lines up like we're firing it on all cylinders. But I want us to know, especially given the context of the world that we're living in right now. I want us to know. If you don't hear anything else this morning is that there is always hope when we choose to keep our faith and our trust in God. There is always hope when we choose to keep our faith and our hope in God, regardless of the situation, regardless of what you might be going through and yeah, you're going to know I do get loud and I'm very demonstrative so if you're not awake right now, you will be awake. There's always hope, and so we opened up in the scripture reading this morning with this situation, this occurrence and I want to just preface it a little bit with what happened prior to Elijah meeting this woman.
Speaker 2:God's people have turned their hearts away from God. They are no longer seeing God as their only source. They're no longer seeing God as the only one that they serve. We find that the chapter opens with Elijah going to King Ahab and letting Ahab know that it's not going to rain or there will be no dew, no rain, for a period of time. This was from the word of the Lord and we know, I think, that Ahab if anyone is not familiar with him Ahab was the king who did more evil than any other king in his time before that, and he was married to Jezebel. And so when this decree was given, it was was very significant. Why? Because it was a front to coming up against challenging the God Baal. It was saying the God who was seen as the God of rain, the God who would make the land fertile, the God of productivity, of productivity. It was a direct challenge to that God. Saying that, because God said there was not going to be no rain or dew, there will be no rain or dew. And so God instructs Elijah then to leave. Now that you've given that decree, that announcement, you need to get out of there. You've given that decree, that announcement, you need to get out of there, to leave, and I have prepared a place for you by a brook so that you can get water and that you will be fed by a raven. And so Elijah goes and, yes, in the morning he got food, in the evening he got food. He was not without food or water during this time. But then there's a transition.
Speaker 2:In verse seven, you find that the brook dries up, uncertainty. Well, god, I followed your directions. You told me to go there and I was planning on hanging out here for a minute. You know, I like this setup. I got, I don't have to go hunt for my food. I don't have to go find water. It is right there. That raven is bringing me my meat in the morning and my meat in the evening.
Speaker 2:I'm set, but yet the brook drives up uncertainty and talk about bad timing, and so this morning, some of you might be sitting here where you feel that you are in a spiritual drought. You may be sensing that there's something in your life that is about to perish. Maybe it's your health, maybe it's your financial situation, maybe it's a relationship you are on the verge of, maybe giving up on a dream that was planted in your heart so long ago. You may even have a time, or having a hard time, reckoning or understanding. Why would God? God, I know that you have better for me, but I don't seem to be able to grasp it. Maybe your shortage is time. I want you to be able to see, through this account, that God first sees you. Tell you to someone. Turn to someone and say God sees you. Tell someone, turn to someone and say God sees you. Yes, I'm going to get participation either way. God sees you, but he also wants to be seen in your situations.
Speaker 2:And so here the story continues. Is that Elijah then needs to pick up and leave that place of comfort that he was in to go to the land of Zarephath, which was considered a kind of a smelting furnace. One commentary said it wasn't a desirable place to be, it was the heartland of Baal worship and he wasn't just supposed to pass through there. You need to go there and you're going to stay there a little while. It is a place where he is rejected and it's a place where God is rejected.
Speaker 2:And so in verse 10 and 11, we are introduced to the widow woman. To be a widow at that time was not a good thing, and God said that through that widow woman he was going to provide for Elijah. She is at the city gate. She's also in crisis. She's in crisis. Elijah asks her for some water and then he says you know what, when you're going to get the water, bring me a morsel of bread, bring me some bread too.
Speaker 2:And in verse says she recalls, or she says, as the Lord, god, lives, I don't have enough. In summary, I don't have it. And the narrator describes her situation as having a little water, a little oil, a handful of flour, a couple of sticks that she was going to use to make her last meal. So this was a life and death situation. So any demand on her little was going to be a challenge. How many have ever been there?
Speaker 2:Elijah says go and do what I said, but first bring me my cake first. Okay, wait a minute. Okay. Okay, I need to go do what you said, but I need to feed you first over my child, feed you first over myself. But somehow she is reassured, and this is where hope comes in people. She is reassured through a promissory oracle from the Lord. And Elijah said what In verse 14, he says.
Speaker 2:For thus says the Lord, god of Israel the bin of flour shall not be used up, nor shall the jar of oil run dry until the day the Lord sends the rain on the earth. And so she went and she did what she was to do. There's a lot in this chat. I could preach for hours on this. Let me tell you I could, but I'm highlighting some things and highlighting it as the Lord wants to direct it to you this morning. So she went and did what she was asked to do and the scripture said that she had food for every day provided for her. As God said, the jar of flour wouldn't run out and the oil wouldn't run out.
Speaker 2:But then, when we read in verse 17, another crisis happens. Come on now. We were in a good space, we were having food, we were being provided for. I thought I was going to die, god. But verse 17 says what, after these things? And I believe that this part of the story is the main part of the story. It says after these things, and it's similar to an account in 2 Kings, chapter 4.
Speaker 2:The boy becomes ill and he dies. There's no breath in him and the woman feels again oh boy, wait a minute, I was about to die. But God came through and now my son is dead, like she is feeling that she is being rebuked or judged for her sin, which is a pagan concept of God. And so Elijah takes the boy and he, as you heard in the scripture hopefully heard in the scripture as it was read he takes the boy, brings it up, brings him up into the room, he lays his body on the boy, he prays to God and say God, how could you do this thing? I came to this woman and now her boy is dead. And how could you? How could this happen? And as he begins to pray. The Lord revived the boy. He came back to life. Elijah brings the boy down and gives the boy, the son, to the mother and says see, your son lives, lives.
Speaker 2:The woman's public confession of her belief in God, in the God of Israel and the sovereignty of God of Israel, where she says you are a man of God and the word of the Lord from your mouth is truth. So what does God want us to hear this morning? I've got four things Remain loyal to God, remain loyal to the word of God in obedience to the word of God, and resist the urge to give up or compromise. Notice Elijah's willingness to leave his place of comfort and knowing that he was going into a place of rejection, but knowing that he was being obedient to the word of God because he knew that God would be there. Notice the woman obeyed the word of the Lord when she was tasked or challenged to bring a piece of bread. First, make the cake for me, first Elijah speaking, and then for your child and for your family. In my head I picture this that she's trying to make this one little loaf and in the background, what's the child say? Mom, I'm hungry. Mom, I need some food. Mom, when is that coming to me? And knowing it's not going to go to him, it's going to go to the prophet Elijah.
Speaker 2:When you talk about being faithful to God's word, it means that you're putting at risk everything that you may believe to be true, and trusting and having confidence in the word of God. Does anyone know that God is good? Oh, come on. Does anyone know that God is good? Oh, come on. Does anyone know that God is good? Hallelujah, we just sang that song. All my life he has been faithful. I break down because it's a testimony to the life that I've had in God. It hasn't always been that right, it hasn't always been that rider, it hasn't always been, you know, comfortable, but your God is faithful. He is faithful. So can you imagine she's in this situation and she's kind of like my son, elijah, and she steps out in belief and she is obedient to what God had commanded.
Speaker 2:Don't abandon God through your own words and actions. What do I mean by that? Speak the truth of God over your life. Sometimes our words and our actions. When I say don't give up or resist the urge to give up, is that sometimes, when things are not going well, we will tend to confess those things. It's not going well. I'm going to fail. God doesn't see me, god doesn't like me or he doesn't love me. I'm alone. No one. Can you begin to set an atmosphere and God can't move in that atmosphere because you are binding the word that can be in your life. Speak the truth of God's word. You are not forsaken or forgotten. He said I'm with you all.
Speaker 2:The way I love to say this is that God can't move. His word can't operate in when we're cursing. That doesn't give the freedom of the word in our lives. We got to speak God's word because you know what the angels excel in strength to accomplish God's word. So guess what? The moment you start declaring God's word over your situation, over your life, there is a host of heaven. There is a host that is waiting to let that word be accomplished in your life. You'll be shouting praise the Lord. That makes me shout. That makes me shout. There's a host of heaven waiting to accomplish that word. The next one Okay, I need to move faster too.
Speaker 2:You will not be put to shame for trusting in God. God is above all things and before all things. God created all things and hold all things together. When we're talking about the sovereignty of God. God knows all things the past, the present and the future and he sees it all in one glance. God can do all things. He can accomplish all things. God is in control. Hello, god is in control. I don't know, I don't care what the context of the world is right now, I don't care what things may be said. God is in control. He is not caught off on God. He's not caught off guard. He is not surprised. He's not saying wow, I didn't see that coming. He is in control, but he's looking for a people who will believe that. He is looking for a people who will take confidence in that. You will not be put to shame.
Speaker 2:God wants us to exhaust all of our resources, so it leads to the death of self-dependency. Lord, I can't. You can Please do it. He uses agencies that don't seem like enough to fulfill our needs. Look at the woman. The woman was in crisis, she didn't have a thing, and yet God used her as a vessel to bring blessing, not only to Elijah, but also in her life. God could be using you to be a vessel to someone else. You say I don't have Guess what. It doesn't come from you, it comes from God. All he's asking you is to let it go, put it in his hands and he can multiply it for the blessing not only of you, but for the blessing of someone else. It says, reminding us when we are trusting God, that we need to press into God.
Speaker 2:Relationship matters with him. Elijah prayed in faith and he understood his position with God. Elijah didn't just say, oh, not being with God and not having a relationship with God, and I'm going to pray and this boy's going to come to life. He knew his God, he had a relationship with God. That does matter. There is no realm this is the other one, I'm almost done there is no realm where God is not present, in power. When you have God, you've got power. I don't know if you understand what I'm saying. There is nowhere that God is that there is not power. That is available to you If you want it, if you believe it and if you trust him.
Speaker 2:The scripture reminds us that he resurrects life, but I'm not talking about the resurrection of life. He's also talking about spiritually, things that God can resurrect in us. If you are standing or sitting here in a drought situation, if you are sitting in a joyless hopelessness, in fear, thinking that this is it, there's nothing more to life. That's a lie from hell. There's nothing more to life. That's a lie from hell Because the scripture says okay, I'm being blunt.
Speaker 2:The scripture says that he came to give what Life? He didn't just stop there. He said I come to give you life and to give it to you in, wait a minute. Abundance, you mean that there's more, yeah, and if you're not experiencing the more, then you go to God and say Lord, right now I am in a drought, I am living under a shadow of something and it's not representative of your word which says I would have abundance, continuously, enjoy in peace, purpose. How many of us need purpose, love, meaningfulness in our lives?
Speaker 2:God is not afraid to enter our places of uncertainty or the dark places. Notice Elijah, how he was physically identified with the boy's body. Back then. If you touched a dead body, that was unlawful to do, but in touching his body he was demonstrating God's closeness. God is close. God is close. He's not afraid to come into the places where you think uh-uh, god, you don't want to see this. Well, he already does, but you can't come here. He's not afraid to enter in.
Speaker 2:In John, chapter 11, which was the gospel reading. We read about Lazarus, and I love this account because it reminds us where our faith is. The onlookers asked very quickly couldn't he who had opened up the blinded eyes, who had healed the sick, couldn't he just have kept him from dying? You see, what happens here is that doubt restricts us from seeing beyond what's already been done? Right, they were only claiming what he'd already done, but guess what? He's about to raise the dead. Our faith will release us to believe the impossible as possible. I believe he's trying to call some of us out of some graves this morning. I believe he's trying to call some of us out of some graves this morning. Graves of doubt, come on now. Graves of difficulty in our lives, of darkness, of problems of situation.
Speaker 2:And the last point is salvation comes to all. Notice the word salvation and the meaning and the theme. It talked about being in the middle of a world filled with darkness and despair. There was no food, no water, which is a symbolic of a life that is void of God. Know that God embraces the outsider and the one who is ostracized. You know why?
Speaker 2:Look in Luke, chapter 4, 26, where Jesus referred to this woman and he said, there were many widows who were barren and without. They were in a drought situation. But God saw that woman. There was something about her and maybe was she praying and believing God that God would come through. This God of Israel would come through for her. And maybe was she praying and believing God that God would come through. This God of Israel would come through for her and guess what he did? In Baal territory, god revealed himself not just as a provider of food, but he demonstrated his dominion over death as it points forward to the cross, where Jesus conquered death.
Speaker 2:And so this morning, I just want to remind us that this is a universal call to all of us, but yet it is an individual call to you today, a call that one if you don't know him and the invitation and the conversation about that was made earlier about inviting Jesus into your life and that he's your Lord and Savior. That now is the time. But it is also a call to all of us as believers to stir us to action. God, can God depend on you to be a vessel of courageous faith? Can God depend on you to get out of your comfort zone Amen To go in the dark places, the places of rejection and be that person that reaches, that loves, that focuses on other people more than yourself. Everyone needs to know there is hope in God, amen.
