Drawn to the Desperate

  • Pastor Josh Smith
Ever feel like God keeps bringing up the same issue in your life over and over? Maybe you’re annoyed by the repetition, wondering why He can’t just move on. But what if His repetition isn’t nagging—what if it’s mercy? Discover the difference between God’s strange work and His natural work, and why understanding both will transform how you see the difficult seasons of your life.

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Drawn to the Desperate

Message Summary
Ever feel like God keeps bringing up the same issue in your life over and over? Maybe you’re annoyed by the repetition, wondering why He can’t just move on. But what if His repetition isn’t nagging—what if it’s mercy? Discover the difference between God’s strange work and His natural work, and why understanding both will transform how you see the difficult seasons of your life.
Key Scripture
The bed you have made is too short to lie on. The blankets are too narrow to cover you. The Lord will come as he did against the Philistines at Mount Perazim and against the Amorites at Gibeon. He will come to do a strange thing; he will come to do an unusual deed… Listen to me; listen, and pay close attention. Does a farmer always plow and never sow? Is he forever cultivating the soil and never planting?… The Lord of Heaven’s Armies is a wonderful teacher, and he gives the farmer great wisdom.
Isaiah 28:20-21, 23-24, 29
Additional Scriptures

 

 

 

 

 

5 Day Devotional

Day 1

Day 1: The Bed We Make

Scripture: Isaiah 28:9-13, 20

“Who does the Lord think we are?” they ask. “Why does he speak to us like this? Are we little children, just recently weaned? He tells us everything over and over— one line at a time, one line at a time, a little here, and a little there!” So now God will have to speak to his people through foreign oppressors who speak a strange language! God has told his people, “Here is a place of rest; let the weary rest here. This is a place of quiet rest.” But they would not listen. So the Lord will spell out his message for them again, one line at a time, one line at a time, a little here, and a little there, so that they will stumble and fall. They will be injured, trapped, and captured… The bed you have made is too short to lie on. The blankets are too narrow to cover you.

Devotional

God’s people had become so confident in their own arrangements that they mocked His repeated warnings. “Why does he speak to us like this? Are we little children?” they complained. But their defiance revealed the very immaturity they denied. Like children who insist they know better than their parents, they were making beds too short to sleep in and blankets too narrow to provide warmth.

We do the same thing. We construct our lives according to our own wisdom—our career plans, our relationship choices, our financial strategies, our spiritual routines—all while ignoring God’s gentle, repeated invitations to rest in His way. We think our arrangements are sufficient until we try to lie down in them and find they don’t actually cover us.

God’s repetition isn’t nagging; it’s mercy. Every time He brings up that same issue, that same mountain you keep circling, He’s giving you another opportunity to listen before the consequences of your self-made bed become unavoidable. The question isn’t whether God is speaking clearly enough. The question is whether you’re finally ready to listen.

Response Questions

  1. What “bed” have you been making for yourself—what arrangement or plan have you been confident in that you’re beginning to realize won’t actually cover you or give you rest?
  2. Where in your life has God been speaking “one line at a time, one line at a time, a little here and a little there,” and you’ve been responding with irritation rather than humility?
  3. The people asked, “Why does he speak to us like this? Are we little children?” When have you felt annoyed by God’s repeated warnings about the same issue? What does your annoyance reveal about your heart?

Prayer Points

  • Ask God to reveal any area where you’ve been making your own arrangements while ignoring His invitation to rest in His way.
  • Pray for the humility to receive His repeated words as mercy rather than interpreting them as nagging or treating you like a child.

 

 

 

 

Day 2

Day 2: The Farmer’s Wisdom

Scripture

Isaiah 28:23-29

Listen to me; listen, and pay close attention. Does a farmer always plow and never sow? Is he forever cultivating the soil and never planting? Does he not finally plant his seeds— black cumin, cumin, wheat, barley, and emmer wheat— each in its proper way, and each in its proper place? The farmer knows just what to do, for God has given him understanding. A heavy sledge is never used to thresh black cumin; rather, it is beaten with a light stick. A threshing wheel is never rolled on cumin; instead, it is beaten lightly with a flail. Grain for bread is easily crushed, so he doesn’t keep on pounding it. He threshes it under the wheels of a cart, but he doesn’t pulverize it. The Lord of Heaven’s Armies is a wonderful teacher, and he gives the farmer great wisdom.

Devotional

God invites us to observe the farmer for a profound truth about His strange work. A farmer doesn’t plow forever. The breaking of the soil isn’t the end goal—it’s preparation for planting. And even in the breaking, there’s precision. The farmer doesn’t use a heavy sledge on delicate black cumin; he uses a light stick. He doesn’t keep pounding grain for bread until it’s pulverized; he knows exactly when to stop.

This is the picture of God’s discipline in your life. When He does His “strange work” of breaking up the hard ground of your heart, it’s not because He enjoys watching you struggle. He’s preparing soil that has become too compacted to receive seed. And He knows exactly how much breaking is needed—not too little, not too much. He is accurate in His dealings with you.

The breaking isn’t punishment for punishment’s sake. It’s preparation for planting. God wants to plant something of the kingdom of heaven in you—love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. But no seed will take root in soil that hasn’t been broken. Trust the Farmer. He knows what He’s doing.

Response Questions

  1. What area of your life feels like it’s being “plowed” right now? Can you trust that God is preparing that ground for planting rather than simply punishing you?
  2. How does knowing that God is precise in His discipline—using exactly the right tool for exactly the right amount of time—change how you view your current difficulties?
  3. What do you think God wants to plant in the soil of your heart once the breaking is complete? What fruit of the Spirit might He be preparing you to produce?

Prayer Points

  • Thank God that He is a wise Farmer who knows exactly what your heart needs and doesn’t break you more than necessary.
  • Ask Him to help you trust the process of plowing, even when it’s uncomfortable, knowing that planting and harvest are coming.

 

 

 

 

 

Day 3

Day 3: Living in Mercy

Scripture

Lamentations 3:19-33

The thought of my suffering and homelessness is bitter beyond words. I will never forget this awful time, as I grieve over my loss. Yet I still dare to hope when I remember this: The faithful love of the Lord never ends! His mercies never cease. Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning. I say to myself, “The Lord is my inheritance; therefore, I will hope in him!” The Lord is good to those who depend on him, to those who search for him. So it is good to wait quietly for salvation from the Lord. And it is good for people to submit at an early age to the yoke of his discipline: Let them sit alone in silence beneath the Lord’s demands. Let them lie face down in the dust, for there may be hope at last. Let them turn the other cheek to those who strike them and accept the insults of their enemies. For no one is abandoned by the Lord forever. Though he brings grief, he also shows compassion because of the greatness of his unfailing love. For he does not enjoy hurting people or causing them sorrow.

Devotional

Right in the middle of a book called “Lamentations”—a book of grief and sorrow—we find this stunning declaration: “The faithful love of the Lord never ends! His mercies never cease.” The writer isn’t denying his suffering; he’s just acknowledged that his pain is “bitter beyond words.” But even in the depths of grief, he dares to hope because he knows something crucial: God’s mercy is His primary posture toward us.

Here’s what we need to understand: we live in God’s mercy far more than we live in His judgment. Even when we’re experiencing His discipline, we’re still surrounded by His mercy. The fact that He disciplines us at all is evidence that He hasn’t abandoned us. The fact that He keeps speaking to us “one line at a time” about that same issue is mercy giving us another chance to listen before judgment falls.

God does not enjoy hurting people or causing them sorrow. When He brings grief through His strange work of discipline, it’s always measured, always purposeful, always temporary. His natural work—His mercy—is what He returns to. His mercies begin afresh each morning. Every single morning, you wake up to new mercy. That’s who your Heavenly Father is.

Response Questions

  1. Do you tend to see God primarily as judge or primarily as the One who extends mercy? What experiences have shaped that view?
  2. How would your daily life change if you truly believed that you live in God’s mercy more than His judgment—that His mercies are new every single morning?
  3. The passage says “he does not enjoy hurting people or causing them sorrow.” How does knowing that God doesn’t take pleasure in your pain changehow you view seasons of discipline?

Prayer Points

  • Thank God specifically for His mercies that are new this morning—name 3-5 ways you’ve experienced His mercy recently.
  • Ask God to help you see Him primarily as merciful rather than primarily as judgmental, and to trust that even His discipline flows from unfailing love.

 

 

 

 

 

Day 4

Day 4: Accountability as Mercy

Scripture

Proverbs 27:5-6, 17; Hebrews 3:12-13; Hebrews 3:12-13

An open rebuke is better than hidden love! Wounds from a sincere friend are better than many kisses from an enemy… As iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend… Be careful then, dear brothers and sisters. Make sure that your own hearts are not evil and unbelieving, turning you away from the living God. You must warn each other every day, while it is still “today,” so that none of you will be deceived by sin and hardened against God.

Devotional

We live in an age that has confused accountability with abuse, correction with control. But Scripture paints a radically different picture: the friend who wounds you with truth is more valuable than the enemy who flatters you with lies. The community that warns you daily is protecting you from a hardened heart.

Accountability isn’t judgment—it’s mercy. When a trusted friend calls you out on an unchecked attitude, on the words you use, on the way you spend money, on the pattern they see developing in your life, that’s God’s voice of mercy reaching out to you before judgment hits you. That’s iron sharpening iron. That’s love that refuses to stay hidden when it sees you heading toward danger.

The question is: who has that kind of access to your life? Who do you trust enough to let them speak into your blind spots? And when they do speak, do you receive it as the mercy it is, or do you get defensive and push them away? The writer of Hebrews says we need this “every day, while it is still ‘today’”—not occasionally, not when we feel like it, but daily. Because sin is deceptive and our hearts can harden gradually without us even noticing.

Response Questions

  1. Who in your life currently has permission to speak into your blind spots and call you out when they see patterns that concern them? If no one, why not?
  2. Think about the last time someone corrected you or challenged you about something in your life. Did you receive it as mercy or did you get defensive? What does your response reveal about your heart?
  3. What would it take for you to invite someone into that level of accountability in your life? What fears or resistance do you notice when you consider it?

Prayer Points

  • Ask God to bring to mind someone (or a few people) who could speak truth into your life with love, and pray for courage to invite them into that role.
  • Pray for a heart that receives correction as mercy rather than judgment, and for the humility to thank those who love you enough to wound you with truth.

 

 

 

 

 

Day 5

Day 5: Meeting You in Your Mess

Scripture

Matthew 11:28-30; Psalm 139:23-24; Romans 5:6-8; Psalm 139:23-24; Romans 5:6-8

Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.”… Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life… When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners. Now, most people would not be willing to die for an upright person, though someone might perhaps be willing to die for a person who is especially good. But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.

Devotional

Here’s the stunning truth that changes everything: God doesn’t wait for you to clean yourself up before He shows up. He comes to you in the midst of your mess. While you were still a sinner—still circling that mountain, still making beds too short to lie in, still ignoring His voice—Christ died for you. That’s mercy.

Jesus’ invitation hasn’t changed: “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens.” Not “Get yourself together and then come to me.” Not “Stop circling that mountain and then I’ll give you rest.” Come as you are. Come weary. Come burdened. Come with your shame, your failures, your repeated patterns. Come to the One who is humble and gentle at heart.

This week’s practice is simple but profound: identify an area of shame or failure, and pray, “Jesus, meet me here.” Then read Matthew 11:29 slowly and thank Him for moving toward you. Why? Because if He were bothered by your shortcomings, you would have experienced an absence of His presence a long time ago. The fact that He keeps showing up, keeps speaking, keeps inviting you to rest—that’s all mercy. His presence in the throes of the chaos of your own heart is mercy.

Response Questions

  1. What area of shame or failure have you been hiding from God, thinking you need to fix it before you can come to Him? What would it look like to invite Him into that mess right now?
  2. Jesus describes Himself as “humble and gentle at heart.” Does that match your experience of Him, or do you tend to experience Him as harsh and demanding? What might need to shift in your understanding?
  3. As you look back over this week’s devotionals, what is the one thing God has been speaking to you “one line at a time”? What is He inviting you to do with what you’ve heard?

Prayer Points

  • Pray the prayer from this week’s practice: “Jesus, meet me here in the space of my identified shame, in the space of the identified area where I have missed the mark. Meet me here.”
  • Thank God specifically for not waiting until you were cleaned up to move toward you, and for His presence that meets you in your mess.

 

 

 

 

 

GrowGroup Guide

A weekly guide to carry the conversation beyond Sunday morning.

“A King Like This: Strange Work, Natural Work”

Opening Prayer (2-3 minutes)

Begin by inviting God’s presence into your gathering. Ask Him to soften hearts and create a space of rest where people can be honest about where they are.

Ice Breaker (5-7 minutes)

Question: When you think about rest, what comes to mind? What does genuine rest look like in your life right now?

Leader Note: This connects to the sermon’s emphasis that God’s repeated message is about rest—”Come to me, all you who are weary and heavy burdened, and I will give you rest.” The pastor noted that God’s heart for gatherings is that they would be places of rest for hard-working people.

Discussion Questions

1. The Pattern of Circling Mountains (10-12 minutes)

Question: The pastor asked, “What mountain have you circled multiple times?” What topic or struggle in your life feels like you keep going around and around without breakthrough?

Sermon Context: The pastor explained that when we keep circling the same mountain, “It’s not because you’re not going around it again because God isn’t speaking clearly. You’re going around it again because [you’re] not listening.” He emphasized that God speaks to us “one line at a time, one line at a time, a little here and a little there,” but we often resist His voice.

Leader Tip: Create safety here. You might share first to model vulnerability. Remind the group that God’s repetition isn’t punishment—it’s mercy giving us another chance to listen.

2. Making Our Own Beds (8-10 minutes)

Question: Isaiah says “the bed you have made is too short to lie on. The blankets are too narrow to cover you.” Where in your life have you been making your own plans, thinking you know better than God, only to find they don’t actually cover or comfort you?

Sermon Context: The pastor explained: “When we live with a mindset that we know better than God, and our arrangements that we make for ourself are more wise than his plans and his purposes… we are making our own bed.” He described how we look walking through life with “lack of humility, the lack of reverence, the just indulgence,” thinking we’re making good plans, but they end up being insufficient.

Leader Tip: This can be about career decisions, relationships, financial choices, or even how we structure our spiritual lives. Help people identify specific areas, not just general concepts.

3. Understanding God’s Strange Work (12-15 minutes)

Question: The sermon distinguished between God’s “strange work” (discipline/judgment) and His “natural work” (mercy). How does understanding that God doesn’t enjoy disciplining us—but does it because He loves us—change your view of difficult seasons?

Sermon Context: The pastor explained: “The strange work is the work of judgment, the work of punishment… God disciplines those who he loves. I think some of us interpret that as God loves to discipline. No, it says God disciplines those whom he loves. I don’t know that God loves to discipline us. He would rather that we get it.”

He used the farmer metaphor: “A farmer doesn’t go around tilling and cultivating the dirt over and over and over again… Eventually, the farmer is going to plant. God’s strange work that he does in our life. There is a rhythm of undoing us so that it breaks up the ground that we are confident in. So that he can plant something of the kingdom of heaven in us.”

Follow-up Question: Can you identify a time when God’s “strange work” of breaking up hard soil in your life eventually led to something good growing?

Leader Tip: Help people see that discipline isn’t abandonment—it’s preparation for planting. The breaking isn’t the end goal; fruitfulness is.

4. Living in Mercy vs. Judgment (10-12 minutes)

Question: The pastor said, “We live in his mercy more than we live in his judgment.” Why do you think we tend to see God primarily as judge rather than as the One who consistently extends mercy?

Sermon Context: From Lamentations 3, the pastor read: “The faithful love of the Lord never ends. His mercies never cease… For he does not enjoy hurting people or causing them sorrow.” He emphasized: “Even in my moments of doubting and even in my moments of not knowing how this is all going to turn out, his mercy, his grace, his kindness is covering me.”

He also made an important distinction about accountability: “Accountability is mercy, not judgment. Judgment is when everything that you’ve worked towards and worked for and given it the name of God… when all of that goes away, that’s judgment, that’s discipline.”

Leader Tip: This might surface past church hurt or legalistic backgrounds. Affirm that God’s primary posture toward us is mercy, and even His discipline is measured and purposeful, not vindictive.

5. Accountability as Mercy (8-10 minutes)

Question: Who in your life has permission to speak into your blind spots? How can we better receive accountability as mercy rather than judgment?

Sermon Context: The pastor challenged: “That friend who calls you out on an unchecked attitude, that friend that is closer than a sibling, who calls you out on the words that you use, the way you might spend money… those moments of call out, those aren’t judgment. That’s mercy. That’s God’s voice of mercy reaching out to you before judgment hits you.”

He asked pointedly: “Who does that in your life? Truly, who does that?”

Leader Tip: This might be convicting for some who have isolated themselves or only surround themselves with people who won’t challenge them. Encourage practical next steps: Who could they invite into that role? How can they create that kind of trust?

6. Softening Our Hearts (10-12 minutes)

Question: The pastor invited us to ask God to “do whatever he needs to do to make your heart soft towards him.” What would it look like for you to actively pursue a soft heart rather than waiting for God to break up hard ground?

Sermon Context: The pastor explained two ways soil gets broken: “Either we pursue that, Lord, test me, search me, test me. Find anything that is off base… that is you having a tool in the hand and breaking the soil of your own heart. It’s living humbly before Him. I think he loves that. Then there’s another kind of soil that just seems like it’s been so walked over that it’s more of a path than a field. And that’s where God needs to step in and do a massive strange work.”

He warned about the progression: “When you sense the nudges of Holy Spirit, kind of throw in the caution like, nah, nah, nah, nah… And then when you ignore that, that’s a slow path of hardening your heart that eventually lands you in the place of irreverence and apathy towards God.”

Leader Tip: Help people identify specific spiritual practices that keep their hearts soft: regular confession, Scripture reading, worship, community, serving others, etc.

Weekly Practice (5 minutes)

Share the practice the pastor gave for the coming week:

Daily/Weekly Practice:

  1. Identify an area of shame, failure, or a “mountain” you keep circling
  2. Pray simply: “Jesus, meet me here in the space of my identified shame, in the space of the identified area where I have missed the mark. Meet me here.”
  3. Read Matthew 11:29 slowly: “Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls.”
  4. Thank Him simply for moving toward you

Leader Note: Consider having the group practice this together right now before closing. Create space for silence and reflection.

Closing Prayer (3-5 minutes)

Pray over your group, specifically:

  • For soft hearts that receive God’s voice the first time
  • For the courage to invite accountability into their lives
  • For trust in God’s mercy, even in seasons of discipline
  • For rest in the midst of their hard-working lives
  • That they would experience God meeting them in their areas of shame and struggle

 

 

 

 

 

Family Table Talk

A weekly practice you can do beyond Sunday morning.

📖 Scripture

Lamentations 3:33 – “He does not willingly bring affliction or grief to anyone.”

❓Family Question

How does Jesus respond when people mess up or are hurting?

💬 Parent Prompt:

Share a mistake and how compassion helped. Ask: “Why is mercy easier to receive than to give?”

 

Weekly Practice

A weekly practice you can do beyond Sunday morning.

Practice: Receive Mercy First

Instead of focusing on giving mercy, intentionally receive it from Jesus this week.

Identify one area of shame or failure.

Pray: “Jesus, meet me here—not after I improve.”

Read Matthew 11:28 slowly:

Thank Him for moving toward you “Mercy isn’t something you earn—it’s something you receive.”