Can Anything Good Come Out Of This?

John 1:43-46 KJVS The day following Jesus would go forth into Galilee, and findeth Philip, and saith unto him, Follow me. [44] Now Philip was of Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. [45] Philip findeth Nathanael, and saith unto him, We have found him, of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph. [46] And Nathanael said unto him, Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth? Philip saith unto him, Come and see.

As I was praying and meditating on what the Lord wanted to say to us today, I heard these words in my spirit... Can anything good come out of Nazareth? I knew immediately this was from the text we just read. It was when Phillip was telling Nathaniel about Jesus of Nazareth. And Nathaniel responded by saying, can any thing good come out of Nazareth.

Why did Nathaniel say that? Well according my research, Nazareth was not a nice place, it was a small village of no significance, and it would seem that the Jews didn't even want to live there. It was a gathering place for the lower elements of society. To be called a Nazarene, was not a compliment, it was more of a put down, like calling somebody a hillbilly or hick.

So needless to say, Nazareth did not have a very good reputation.

So Nathaniel was saying... Can anything decent, or benificial, or helpful, or useful come out of that place?

That made me think to myself, Have you ever went through something that was very painful, and I mean physically, or emotionally, something that was heart breaking, frustrating, and confusing, and left you drained, physically, emotionally and spiritually, and you looked at that problem, that situation, that pain producing, frustrating issue, or situation, and said to yourself, this is absolutely the worst thing I've ever experienced in my life?

And you might not have said it, but you surely thought it, what good can come of this? Or can anything good come out of this mess, this pain, this misery producing situation.

It was like your Nazareth, the place and the conditions, and the circumstances that you couldn't see anything good ever coming out of. That's what Nathaniel was saying.

You may be there right now. You may be walking through your personal Nazareth right now. And you didn't ask for it, and you didn't want it, but you got it.

What Nathaniel soon found out was that it didn't matter how low, or dispicable or undesirable Nazareth was, something good could come from it. Out of all that collection of undesireable, dispicable conditions, and circumstances, Jesus came to Nathaniel.

The point is, it doesn't matter what it may look like, or feel like, Jesus chooses to reveal and manifest himself, in spite of, and in the midst of, the most undesireable circumstances, and in the most unexepected ways.

And that's why the Holy Spirit said to tell you, "Something good is going to come out of this".

I don't know what your this, or your Nazareth might be today, but hear the Holy Spirit say it again... Something good is going to come out of this.

You may feel like you are walking through your own personal fiery furnace. I can understand that.

You may be going through the greatest fire of your life, and it’s the kind that hurts, and the kind that makes you cry, it could be physical, spiritual, emotional, or financial, or it could be everything at once. The point is, it's real, and it hurts.

The first thing I have to say is, don't start getting frustrated with God. He never promised us a rose garden with no thorns. He never said that you would never be attacked physically, spiritually, emotinally or financially.

In fact he pretty much promised that you would. He said all that live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.

He also said, don't think it strange concerning the fiery trials which are to try you.

And he said, Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivereth him out of them all.

I don't expect you to get excited about the fire, but I just wanted to remind you, it came with the calling. Warfare came with our comission, thats why he furnished us with the armor of God.

He never said fiery darts wouldn't be hurled at us, but he gave us the sheild of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.

One of the devils greatest tools in his tool box, is to isolate you. And to make you feel like nobody else has ever felt what you're feeling. But I just have to throw this in... While I would never minimize your pain, and your hurt, I promise you... there is somebody who has been through worse, and by the grace of God they have lived to testify... You can make it.