The Answers We Need
Psalms 42:1-11
* Two days after the 9/11 attacks on our nation, Anne Graham Lotz was being interviewed by Jane Clayson on the CBS early show and was asked, "I’ve heard people say, those who are religious, those who are not, if God is good, how could God let this happen? To that, you say?"
Lotz replied, "I say God is also angry when he sees something like this. I would say also for several years now Americans in a sense have shaken their fist at God and said, God, we want you out of our schools, our government, our business, we want you out of our marketplace. And God, who is a gentleman, has just quietly backed out of our national and political life, our public life. Removing his hand of blessing and protection. We need to turn to God first of all and say, God, we’re sorry we have treated you this way and we invite you now to come into our national life.”
* In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, I watched as many “religious” people went on TV and radio trying to explain away God’s control over natural events like a catastrophic hurricane and put a humanistic spin on the love of God. Yet, as I read my Bible, our humanistic and cultural concepts do not line up at all with God’s word. While we may not like to hear this message, our dislike of it does not diminish its truth.
* Candidly, every one of us is searching for answers. The specific answer we want may be as simple as an answer on a high school history test to as traumatic as asking a loved one if they want to sign a DNR order. It may be as difficult as who to marry or as common as which car to buy. The list of questions can get extensive. We are looking for answers! While we won’t answer every question life today, most of us routinely ask ourselves questions such as; “Why?” Or “What?” or “How?” or even “When?”
* From our text, let’s see if we can find some much needed answers. Now, we may not like what we find, but again, truth is truth and can’t be changed.
1. We begin with the “Why” question. Why do trials even happen? (even to good people) I suggest we find an answer in this thought, “My Trials from God.” (v3, 5a, 6a, 7, 9-10, 11a) Can you sense what the Psalmist is feeling? He is hurting, asking why, and wanting some relief. Candidly, many of us are already saying, “Pastor, God doesn’t send trial, Satan does that.” Obviously, Satan THINKS he’s sending this, but it’s God who gives the final word. Consider Job’s predicament. Satan asking for permission is chronicled in Job 1. Consider the Apostle Paul’s thorn in the flesh. Even though Paul saw it as a ‘messenger of Satan’, God had to give His permission or it would have never happened. Years ago, I heard Mike Warnke say this, “Classification in the Navy is where they let you pick out what THEY want you to be.” In other words, you can do whatever you want as long as it helps us fulfill our mission, our purpose, & our assignment.
The Answers We Need – Pg 2
* This is a picture of how Satan is involved in your trial. God allows Satan to get all excited about trying us, but God has a backup plan.
* But God doesn’t always use Satan. The Bible teaches us that, on occasions, He does His own work. Consider Abraham. We know that God tried and tested Abraham in Genesis 22 by asking Abraham to sacrifice Isaac. This is one of the more well-known stories. I submit that David was tested by God when Saul was trying to kill David and David was presented with the real opportunity of killing King Saul. Consider this, what were the odds that King Saul would come into the exact same cave for relief that David was hiding in? Coincidence? I don’t think so. It was a test of David character. How about Joseph on the throne and those low-life brothers coming in to ask for help? Did Satan set up that circumstance? Or how about Daniel, the three Hebrew Boys, Jochebed, Peter, and more. God tested them, He tests us, He tests me, and He tests you. He tests us to make us aware of us.
2. The next question is the “What” question, “What comes from all this testing?” While there are many benefits from this testing, the Psalmist tells us, we get “My Thirst for God” –Michael Catt writes in the Power of Desperation that “We will never do business with God until we are desperate.” While this thought is sad, it is true. The Psalmist says, “As a deer longs (I.E. pants, panteth, longs) for the water, this perfectly describe my desire for God.” Let me give you a picture of this truth; imagine a large herd of female deer running through a dry, parch, water deprived land. They think they see water so they rush to it hoping to find nourishment. When they arrive, they are out of breath because they gave all the energy they had to get there. Their dry, parched, and sun baked lips are cracking and you can see them rooting around hoping to find a drop of water. Jesus gives us a parallel picture in His story about the rich man and Lazarus. In Hell the rich man lifted up His eyes and said, “Send Lazarus to give me a drop, not a glass full, but a drop of water on my tongue.” Can you hear the deer panting and longing for water? Please don’t miss this; God can apply pressure in your life until you respond or He can ALLOW the pressure. Isaiah reminds us, Come if you’re thirsty & Jesus says, “I am living waters.”
* Why is it that we wait until we are flat of our backs to look up? Why is it that when the good times come, we tend to think it’s of our own doing and only look to God when the bottom falls out?
* Let’s make this real simple: It seems to me that one of the reasons trials come in our lives is to create a thirst for God. The old expression “you can lead a horse to water but you can’t make him drink” is untrue. The secret is to feed him salt and he will drink away. The trials from God serve as the salt to make us thirsty for Him. Are you thirsty for God? Think about working in the yard and wanting that glass of cold water?
The Answers We Need – Pg 3
* Do you have a hunger to know God that well? God knows YOU and He desires to be known BY you. You desire some answers in your life? God has the answers. But He’s not your dictionary or encyclopedia; He doesn’t simply dispense knowledge at our demand. He is creator God who desires a love-relationship with you. He desires that we get to know Him. The God of the Bible is much different than the God of this society.
3. Next, consider the “how” question, “How do I get through the struggle without getting bitter?” I’ll suggest the Psalmist points out “My Talk with God.” One of the missing characteristics among “believers” today is the ability to simply “talk with God.” Talking with someone has a decidedly personal aspect to it. If you want to really get to “know” someone, you spend one on one time talking with them. Too often, if we’re honest, we find ourselves talking at God or about God or to God instead of WITH God. To talk with someone literally means an exchange, a conversation, and a time of ‘talking & listening.’ The Psalmist says, “They ask me ‘Where is your God?’ And I remember this as I pour out my heart to Him.” How does he remember? For years we have sung, “And He walks with me and He talks with me, and He tells me I am His own. And the joys we share as we tarry there none other has ever known.” He remembers when He tarries to listen for the inner voice of God. Consider a couple of questions;
* When the difficulties come your way, how do you respond? Where do you turn? What do you do? Do you bring all your hurts to the altar? Do you seek counsel from Godly confidants who you know walk with God? Never forget, God uses our circumstance, our troubles, our church family, and our friends to speak to us. Think about this: When life seems unfair, do you seek out the one who truly cares or do you simply run for cover?
* Jesus gives us His personal invitation when He said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest.” Whether you are weary from the struggle or burdened from sin, Christ is the answer.
4. This brings us to the final question which is the “When” question, “When will I have any kind of understanding about all the struggles in life?” And “When will it get any easier to manage?” The answer we find offered by the Psalmist points to My Trust in God. We have just remembered the answer of Jesus, “Come to me” and I’ll help. But our Psalmist give us some more help (Vs 5b, 6b, 11b). If in the times of trial, trouble, and tribulation, even in the times of distress, I submit that if you’ll remember all the things which God has done for you that your heart and hopes will be raised. To remember who God is and what He has done is to “Put your hope in the Lord and Praise Him.” Trusting in the Lord is not only about leaning on Him when things are good, it is multi-faceted.
The Answers We Need – Pg 4
* First, to trust Him means you have confidence that He can do what He says He will do. He says, “Come & I will give you rest” meaning “refreshment.
* In the middle of our struggles, He is able and willing to offer us help and hope. However, the greatest offer He gives is the offer of salvation. He gave His all so that we may have it all! His plan is a way to prepare for eternity. The struggles we face today are momentary light afflictions compared to the incomparable wonder of spending an eternity with Jesus.
* Today we have sought to answer some questions about trials coming in our life. The why, what, how, and when question should have given us some perspective on the trials we face and then how to manage them.
* Why do we need the Bible? Because it holds the answers to life, death, heaven, hell, time, eternity, right and wrong.
* What does the Bible tell us? It tells us many things. First, we are told that God loves us. Next, it tells us that we all are sinners and deserve eternal punishment in a place called hell. Next, we discover the only way to God the Father is through Jesus the Son and the reason Jesus is the way is because He died to pay for our sins. Next, when we repent of our sin, trust Jesus, and allow Him to change and control our lives, we can be saved.
* How does then happen? Here is something we need to understand. After you hear that Jesus is the way, God sends His Holy Spirit to you and begins to stir you (we call it conviction) about your need to be forgiven of sin and to follow Christ. In Acts 2, the men were cut to or pricked in their hearts. This is the Holy Spirit telling you what you must do. In obedience to the call of God through the Holy Spirit, you ask Jesus by admitting your need, believing, and confessing Jesus as Lord.
* When does this happen? The Bible says, NOW is the time. Today is the day. When God speaks, we must respond. To put it off is to turn your back on the God who loves you, calls you, cares for you, and has provided a way for you. When you turn your back on God, by default, you turn your face towards the enemy.
* Today, you have been given needed answers for life, death, heaven, and hell; so, what will you do?
