8-19-2023 West Palm Beach Seventh Day BAPTIST Pastor Garfield “Making Room For God” Isaiah 54;1-5, II Kings 4;8-10

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8-19-2023 West Palm Beach Seventh Day BAPTIST Pastor Garfield “Making Room For God” Isaiah 54;1-5, II Kings 4;8-10

 

I will bless the Lord at all times and His praise shall continually be in my mouth. I greet you all in the name of the soon coming King JESUS, who died on the cross for us and will come back for us! Now when there are family members or visitors coming to your home, you very often have to make room for them. Sometimes children or adults are displaced to make room. Sometimes you have to vacate some spaces to make room for the visitors. Sometimes you have to change your schedule; find out what they like or dislike so you will be a good host when they come.

Today we want to talk about making room for GOD. Very often in the secular world, if you have a bag that is filled with things, you have to remove old stuff to make room for the new stuff. You have to remove things. Many of us have very filled lives and in order for us to make room for God, there are things we need to remove. There are some things that we really need to remove to make room for God. Brothers and sisters in our text in Isaiah a barren woman is instructed to sing because a time is coming that her desolate state will be changed to vibrancy. I want to say that this is for us also. You are encouraged to break forth into singing because something is about to happen. The text says to enlarge your tent and stretch your curtains; strengthen the cords and stakes that hold the house up. This is because something is about to break forth that will require more space. You will be getting something greater than you had before.

This prophecy is giving us Hope. I want to say to somebody who hears my voice, you may not be experiencing the bountiful life that you wanted or the joy, but you are being encouraged that something is about to happen to you. You are being reminded that God is in control! God is saying make room for Him. God used this barren woman as an example for us to make room. In II Kings 4;8-10, a room was made for the man of God by a great notable woman. The word notable means she was a woman of worth and good standing in her community. The place where she lived was called Shu-nem. Shu-nem means a place of double rest, a place of double support. As we experience different challenges in our lives, a place like Shu-nem is where we want to be. Where we will experience not only rest and support, but where we will get double rest and double support. This is where you had rest.

As I evaluate my own family, my church community and as I see what is happening in the United States with crises, darkness, civil wars in other parts of the world; I want to declare that this world is in need of rest! This Shu-namite woman epitomizes what we call making room. Brothers and sisters when you make room for God, you become an instrument of God’s witness. When you make room for God, He will deposit in you so that you will become his partner in showing forth His Glory. I want to say to you that when you make room for God, it is a deliberate, intentional life of loving God and having loving kindness toward his people. You have an intense focus on the mission of God. When you make room for God, you are focusing on God Himself and His work.

Brothers and sisters we are being called to change our lives and to re-align our values. Make the priority to be God. When we look at the Shu-namite woman, we see that she made a plan and was very targeted and direct in what she did when making a room for the holy man of God. When we prepare to make room for God we must be aware of the things that are happening around us. We must be deliberate in making a difference in our family and community. This Shu-namite woman’s first step was to give food to the prophet Elisha whenever he came to town. The next thing you know she was building a room for this man. Understand that when you make room, it is progressive. It starts from one little thing and it manifests into something greater as you remain focused on God.

As we make room for God, we can follow the example of this woman. This woman can be seen as a foreshadow of Jesus Christ. Jesus made room for God. Jesus spent His life totally on ministry. He shared His Life and Jesus gave His life for all of us. As we prepare to make room for God, I want to say that the plan of God is that we become witnesses of His Glory. This is very important. When we talk about being witnesses, we are talking about someone who saw something. You are bearing witness when you tell others what you have experienced. As Christians we are called to bear witness to our God. Make room brothers and sisters so that you are able to be witnesses for God.

When you make room for God, you become a bearer of witness. When you make room for God, He is able to deposit something inside of you that will make you a representation of Him. A light and a kind of posture of glory will shine out of you that others can see. This is why in Matthew it says to let your light shine so men will see it and glorify your God in heaven. As we make room for God in our lives, as we adjust the time we spend praying, as we adjust the time we spend doing other things; we will come into what Isaiah described as the glory of the Lord shining out of us. We need to allow the Glory of the Lord to shine out of us so we can be a witness to God in this world.

Legacy is leaving something behind that will have a continuing impact as you go on. As Christians we have a legacy of Faith. This legacy was created when Abraham was called. It was established when Moses led the people. The legacy of Faith was sustained as Christians walked bearing the light of Christ. Again it is sustained as we Christians walk the face of this earth. The three words of legacy of Faith: creating, establishing and sustaining. When we make room for God, He uses your lack to create a legacy. The Shu-namite woman had no child to leave a legacy with. This Shu-namite woman decided that she would make room for God. She provided a place and food for Elisha. As she did this there were some things she had to change in her life. She and us can make room for God by what we do for other people. While she made room, she had a lack, no child, but this was not the reason she made room for God. She made room for God because that was what was expected as she became a partner with God in His mission on earth.

In verse 15 to 17 Elisha called the woman after she had made the room for him. He told her she would have a son by this time next year. She eventually gave birth to a son just like Elisha had told her. Brothers and sisters I want us to understand that she made room for God by providing for Elisha, not knowing what would happen. Now Elisha is doing this for her because she made room. The lack that you have, you don’t need to fast about it, you don’t need to beg of anybody. Your expectation is that you are going to make room for God. Make God your priority and then He will take care of you as a priority. Make room for Him and God will make room for you. Psalm 121 says “I will lift up my eyes unto the hills from whence cometh my help. My help cometh from the Lord which made heaven and earth. He will not suffer my foot to be moved. He that keepth me will not slumber”.

 

AMEN