Wednesday, November 19, 2014
Download MP3 (right click to save)
If I'm going to fly somewhere I usually have my ticket well before the trip. And of course you get the e-tickets today but years ago there weren't e-tickets and boy I was looking for it in the mail and it hadn't come. I called them and they said, "Well, we have your reservation here. I'm sure everything will be fine." Thank you for that reassurance, but it does take a ticket to get on the plane. I was scheduled to leave on a Friday, Wednesday was a real important day. Well I checked the mail again. No ticket. I called again and they said, "It's on the way." Yeah great. I've had people say, "The check is in the mail" too. And it wasn't. So I wasn't quite sure. Well, I know you're really worried. Good news! It was there, ready for me, on Thursday afternoon. I was worried because I didn't have it in my hand. But the airline assured me I was okay all those days before, and I did get what I needed but I got it just when I needed it and no sooner.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Ticket Will Be There."
Our word for today from the Word of God, we are in Hebrews 4:16. This is such a great verse, I love it. "Let us then approach the Throne of Grace with confidence so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need." Okay let's go back through this verse and take it apart a little bit. It talks about, "Let's approach" what do we approach? That's the invitation. We're to approach what? "the Throne of Grace." Well what's grace? Well, I'm not going to give you a big sophisticated seminary definition. Let me give you the working definition out of my own life. God's grace is God's intervening love when you're on empty. Have you ever been there: out of ideas, out of strength, out of any way out of this, out of any means to pay for it, out of money?
Well, when you're on empty, grace, God's intervening love, with His resources. "Let us approach the Throne of Grace for God's intervening love when we're on empty." Now it says to "come with confidence." That word actually means to be outspoken with someone who's in a position of authority. I can go to God in an outspoken way and tell Him my need.
And then it promises grace to help in this particular unique moment of my need. That word "to help" is used only one other time in the Bible; the Greek form of it in the New Testament. It's in Acts 27 where they put supports underneath a ship to hold it together in a storm. So God's grace holds you together in your storm.
I have a friend right now who is facing a storm. His life has changed dramatically because his wife is battling against cancer. He said, "Ron, when I think about what might be ahead, I can't think about it, it's tough." We talked about how God gives His grace in 24-hour installments. See if you try to deal with next month's load before you get next month's grace, you'll sink. You're dealing with today's load, which will be perfectly matched with today's grace.
Corrie ten Boom courageously faced years in a Nazi concentration camp. Well she lost many people she loved and that was all because she helped harbor Jews in her home in Holland. Told her witness around the world for many years thereafter. Corrie said when she was a little girl, her Dad was tucking her into bed, and she said, "Daddy, I'm scared because some day if Jesus asks me to suffer or die for Him, I don't think I'd have the courage." He said, "Corrie, when I ask you to take the train with me from Harlem to Amsterdam, do I give you the ticket three weeks in advance?" And she said, "Well no, Daddy." "Do I give it to you a week in advance?" "No." He said, "Honey, when do I give you the ticket?" She said, "Well Daddy, you give me the ticket just before the train comes. That's when I need it." He said, "Honey, that's when God will give you what you need. You'll always have your ticket when the train comes."
So will you. You may be dreading what's ahead. You will have the Grace you need at the moment you need it. You say, "Well I've never had that much Grace before." You've never needed that much before. And He has it. Because His throne is a Throne of Grace. Because of the love of your savior, you will never have an assignment where the load is greater than His Grace. But you won't get it early. You'll have what you need, when you need it. Guaranteed. The ticket will be there.