The Lord Is My Portion Series

Today, I want to talk to you about this: Doggedly Pursuing God Despite Life’s Difficulties. Doggedly Pursuing God Despite Life’s Difficulties. We continue with our Life by the Book series. We are spending our Fall studying Psalm 119, the longest chapter in all of your Bibles. And every verse is a carefully arranged prayer to Almighty God. It’s beautiful, moving, and worthy of long hours of your study and meditation. One key feature of Psalm 119: You cannot ignore how Psalm 119 calls upon believers to be determined to obey God’s law even in “rough and tough” times.

Now, the longest chapter in your Bible is devoted to how important the Bible is to our lives. Now hear this: the aim of Bible study is not just to know the Bible better. No, the aim of Bible study is to know God better. Today, I want to challenge and inspire you by the power of the Holy Spirit to doggedly pursue the Lord despite life’s difficulties.

1. I Am Determined to Obey God’s Word When Times Are Tough

“Though the cords of the wicked ensnare me,

I do not forget your law.

69 The insolent smear me with lies,

but with my whole heart, I keep your precepts;

70 their heart is unfeeling like fat,

but I delight in your law” (Psalm 119:61, 69-79).

We don’t know who wrote Psalm 119, and we don’t know when he wrote Psalm 119. We do know that when Psalm 119, this guy was facing some real challenges. But we know this: he was facing some real personal challenges. No matter the obstacles that confronted him, he purposefully and intentionally chose to consistently obey God’s Word. Again, the psalmist says: “The insolent smear me with lies, but with my whole heart I keep your precepts; 70 their heart is unfeeling like fat, but I delight in your law” (Psalm 119: 69-79). His life was not evidently easy, yet, he doggedly pursued the Lord despite life’s difficulties.

1.1 Stress and Anxiety

Life can deal us some serious setbacks. Airplanes fall out of the sky. Bull markets go bear. Terrorists will terrorize. And good people do turn bad. Often, we are paralyzed by anxiety and stress when these occur.

1.2 Real-Life Stressors

So many of you are living through substantial challenges right now. In the life of our church currently, I know there is a young mother whose elderly mother is in hospice care, and her father is also suffering from multiple strokes. On top of this, her parents divorced years ago, making life so complicated for this young lady. Another couple’s adult son is addicted to a special drug and is reluctant to accept any help from the family. This is despite being raised in this church and the prayers of a godly mother and father. Would you pray for each of these precious families in our church?

As of 2013, one in nine people worldwide has had an anxiety disorder. I seriously doubt any of us think this has improved after a worldwide pandemic. The stress and anxiety many feel from life’s stresses are enormous. A quick check of a mental health article tells us there are a wide array of phobia and anxieties. There is panic disorder, social anxiety disorder, and separation anxiety disorder. Plus, there is widespread abuse of alcohol and substance abuse throughout our community.

Again, the psalmist says: The insolent smear me with lies, but with my whole heart I keep your precepts; 70 their heart is unfeeling like fat, but I delight in your law” (Psalm 119: 69-79). I love the faith of the psalmist. What is faith? Faith is believing God in spite of appearances and obeying God in spite of consequences. Faith is believing God in spite of appearances and obeying God in spite of consequences.

1.3 More Real-Life Examples

Our church hosts Divorce Care nearly every Sunday. Recently some shared some of their anxieties. Let me share a few as you will know how to pray and minister to others. One says they are anxious she will never be happy again. Another says they are anxious that they are not a “good enough person to have good things happen in my life.” Still, another says, “[I am afraid] that my kids are going to be really messed up because of this divorce.” Maybe you have gone through a divorce or separation, and you can resonate with this. The truth is that you don’t have to go through a divorce to feel anxiety and fear.

Recently, a mother in our church family confessed how she is so anxious about what her daughter is hearing and dealing with at school. This mother is overwhelmed with the choices of how to best protect her daughter. Another young mom said she struggles with comparing herself to others around her. She feels she comes up short by comparison. Continually picking up our phones and looking at everyone's Facebook and Instagram highlight reel creates thoughts of inadequacy and anxiety. Everywhere we look these days, we are anxiety-filled people.