A Rock In A Hard Place

In a world adrift in moral chaos and drowning in the depths of deception, I am thankful that we have a rock in a hard place.

There is no solid ground in this world. There is no place to safely establish your feet where they will not slip. But there is only unstable and unsure ground. Things are changing all around us at an ever increasing pace. Sin is no longer considered sin. Wrong is no longer wrong. But the motto of the day is do what pleases you.

And so you see there is no solid ground in the world. There is no place to find safety from the cares of life. When things get too hard in this life there is no where to go to find shelter. People look for it in:

∑ immoral relationships

∑ bottle

∑ drugs

∑ working so there’s no time to even think

∑ material things

But it can’t be found in this world. Because things are constantly shifting back and forth. Just look at the things that our president has done - everyone is saying it’s not wrong what he did but it was wrong to cover it up. I want you to know it was wrong what he did, in spite of what the world says.

There is no solid ground in this godless society. But there is a rock in a hard place. There is a place we can find in Jesus Christ that will shelter us during the storms of life. There is a place next to God and it’s on the rock.

On the rock there is:

∑ security

∑ safety

∑ healing

∑ comfort

∑ peace

∑ shelter in the storms of life

There is a place for you next to God and it’s on the rock!!!! On Christ the solid rock I stand all other ground is sinking sand.

Praise the Lord!!

For Kay Mitchell it had been a storybook marriage. But life has a way of shaking marriages. Theirs was what she had called a solid relationship. No one expected them to have problems. No one expected them to have difficulties. But after just five years that’s exactly what they had - problems and difficulties. The marriage crumbled, the relationship deteriorated, communication all but stopped and almost overnight she found herself staring at the papers from the court - DIVORCE GRANTED.

For Kurt Becker his convictions had been instilled into him by his parents. But life has a way of shaking our convictions. Just five words was all it was - “Just go along with it”. Kurt was a bellhop at a well-to-do five star hotel when he commented on how glad he was he kept such good records of his tips so he could accurately report them on his income tax. The other bellhops gathered around and the boss told him not to report his tips or he wouldn’t have a job and would be physically hurt.

Tim and Marcy Miller had a tremendous family. But life has a way of shaking families. In the small town where they lived everybody knew one another. They were on their way to their family vacation. They just had to stop off to get the results of the physical their oldest daughter had taken two days earlier. The receptionist Joyce didn’t greet Tim with the usual smile and humor but simply said “Dan needs to speak with you”. Tim’s heart skipped a beat. “What could it be, he wondered?” His life fell apart that day in the doctor’s office. His daughter Amy had cancer. Cancer? At first he didn’t believe it but then the reality began to sink in. Cancer!?!? Amy fought it as bravely as a seven year old could but she lost and was gone before her eighth birthday. Her battle was over but Tim and Marcy’s was just beginning.

I’m preaching about a ROCK in a hard place. There is a place for you next to God and it’s on a ROCK. The place next to God is always on a ROCK.

How many times have we heard the words:

∑ we have to lay you off

∑ I want a divorce

∑ it’s cancer

∑ there’s disease

∑ so and so has passed away

∑ there’s been an accident

Maybe I haven’t described your situation or the exact words but the pain you have felt from words just like those have seemed to rip your insides out. I want you to know that there is a rock in a hard place. There is a place for you next to God and it’s on the rock.

Luke 6:46-49

Jesus said don’t call me Lord, Lord if your not willing to do the things that I say. Don’t pretend to serve me with your lips only and not your heart. Don’t put on a show while here at church and then act a different way while outside of church.