Have you ever seen someone lose heart? Maybe today you are struggling with issues and are on the verge of losing heart. Maybe you have already lost heart. I will share a few examples I have observed.
When I was a boy there was a man I idolized. His name was Jim Ryun. Jim Ryun was one of the greatest long distance runners in the world. His specialty was the mile. Wikipedia says Ryun was one of the greatest runners of all time, and the last American to hold the world record in the mile run. His career was highlighted by many world record times.
• In 1964 Ryun became the first high school runner to break four minutes for the mile, running 3:59.0 as a junior at Wichita High School East in Wichita, Kansas.
• He established the high school and U.S. open mile record 3:55.3 as a senior in 1965, a record that stood as the high school record for 36 years.
Why do I mention Jim Ryun? There was a time in his career when Ryun lost heart, began to lose races he should have won, and one day walked off of the track and quit running. Shortly after that episode in an interview with Howard Cosell, Ryun announced his retirement. He later accepted Jesus Christ, regained a passion for life, and started running again. However, in that one period of his life, he lost heart.
In 1986 my mother’s mother died. My grandmother and grandfather had been married almost sixty years. After her death my grandfather wilted away. He lived three more years but he actually died in 1986. He died from a broken heart. I remember going to visit my grandfather, whom we called papa, and encouraging him to try his best for us. He lost heart.
This is not just an athletic syndrome or senior adult syndrome. This is a challenge that many people face in life. Many teenagers lose heart. Sometimes they cope with this hopeless feeling by turning to drugs or alcohol. Sometimes they cope with this hopeless feeling by turning to suicide.
Years ago Father John Powell told the story about a young girl named Norma Jean Mortenson. She was a young girl who spent much of her childhood in foster homes. In one of those foster homes, when she was 8 years old, she was sexually abused and given some money and told to tell no one. When Norma Jean tried to tell her foster mother, her mother spanked her and told her not to say anything about it again because the man she accused of sexual abuse was a man who faithfully paid his rent. As time went on Norma Jean turned into a very pretty girl and people began to take notice. Boys would whistle at her and she liked it but she wished they’d also know she was a person too, not just a body. After a period of time Norma Jean went to Hollywood where she changed her name to Marilyn Monroe. Publicity people told her they were going to turn her into an American sex symbol. It worked. She became an overnight success. But she longed to be recognized as a person. She longed to be loved. After she became famous, everyone began to hate Marilyn Monroe. She would show up on the set 2 hours late causing people to say she was a prima donna. What they didn’t know was she was in her dressing room vomiting because she was so nervous. She kept asking, “Will someone please notice I’m a person!” She went through 3 marriages pleading for someone to notice her as a person and not just an object. At the age of 35, on a Saturday night, Marilyn Monroe killed herself. Her maid found her the next morning on her bed with the telephone dangling off the receiver. Investigators later learned that she’d called another actor and told him she’d taken enough sleeping pills to kill herself. He told her he didn’t care. They were the last words she was to hear. One writer said she thought the dangling telephone was a symbol of Monroe’s life. She died because she never got thru to anyone who understood.
(Contributed to Sermon Central by Erik Estep) The bottom line with Marilyn Monroe was that she lost heart. She died of despair.
Whether you are an athlete, a senior adult, a movie star, or a teenager there will be times when you will want to give up. You will lose heart. God has a better way. God loves you. God has a plan for your life.
We are going to look at a man in the Bible who faced difficult circumstances. If anybody ever had a reason to give up, he did. However, he did not lose heart. Look at II Cor. 4:8-9. “We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed.” Twice in this chapter Paul testifies that he did not lose heart (vs. 1 and vs. 16). I want to sit at this man’s feet. I want to learn from him. He’s got some secrets that we need to know. We can discover these secrets as we examine the context of II Cor. 4.
1. The first secret is to rely on the goodness of God. In verse 1 Paul indicated he had received “mercy.” Paul came into the Christian life because of the mercy and grace of God. He had been an angry, vicious enemy of the church. He had consented to the death of many Christians. He had been filled with legalism and tradition that drove him to be the enemy of God. However, God gave him a second chance. He confessed his failures and short-comings and turned to faith in Jesus Christ. After turning to faith in Jesus Paul relied on the grace of God to see him through any and every circumstance.
Look at a list of Paul’s trials in verses 8-10 and in chapter 6.
1. He was pressured.
2. He was perplexed.
3. He was hunted.
4. He was knocked down.
5. He received stripes (6:5).
6. He was imprisoned (6:5).
7. He faced tumult (6:5).
8. He faced sleeplessness (6:5).
Joke: Trials tend to bring out the worst in us. Pastor Sampson was making visitation rounds on his trusty bicycle, when he turned a corner and came upon a young boy trying to sell a lawn mower. “How much do you want for it?” Sampson asked.
“I just need enough money to buy a bicycle,” the boy explained. After a moment of thought, the preacher asked, “Will you take my bike in trade for it?”
“Mister, you’ve got yourself a deal.”
The preacher took the mower and began to crank it. He pulled on the cord a few times with no reaction from the machine. The preacher called the boy over and said, “I cannot get this mower to start.”
The little boy said, “My dad says you have to cuss at it to get it started.”
Pastor Sampson replied, “I am a minister, and I cannot cuss. I have been saved for so long. I don’t even remember how to cuss.”
The little boy looked at him with a sparkle in his eye, “Just keep pulling on that cord, and it’ll come back to you.”
(World’s Greatest Collection of Church Jokes. P. 14. Compiled and Edited by Paul M. Miller)
George Mueller, who was known as one of the great prayer warriors of all time said, “I say—and say it deliberately—trials, obstacles, difficulties, and sometimes defeats, are the very food of faith” (Ibid, pgs. 4-5).
(Contributed to Sermon Central by Donnie Martin)
The presence of trials does not negate the grace and goodness of God. When passing through trials we may doubt the love and grace of God. The presence of trials does not erase God’s love and goodness. Many people who are atheists turned to atheism because of this. They question why a loving God would allow pain and suffering.
Unfortunately, there are some people who have no hope at all. They live in a kind of existential pessimism and despair. Bertrand Russell was a brilliant thinker, but because he made no room for God in his thoughts, he could not figure out the mystery of life. He once said, “When I die, I believe that I shall rot, and that that is the end.” He went on to say, “All the labors of the ages — the inspiration, the noonday brightness of human genius — are destined to extinction. The whole temple of man’s achievement must inevitably be buried in the debris of a universe in ruins.”
(Contributed to Sermon Central by Rodney Buchanan)
When faced with disheartening circumstances we should turn to God in trust and prayer. The Bible teaches that God is a loving God who shares His goodness with His people. The Psalmist said “I would have lost heart, unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord In the land of the living.” Ps. 27:13
One of the first prayers we teach children is “God is great, God is good, let us thank Him for our food.”
The writer of Hebrews encouraged us to come boldly to God in prayer. He said “Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” (4:16)
Why should I believe in the goodness of God. Let me give you three reasons.
First, the Bible teaches it.
“The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord.” Ps. 33:5
“My people shall be satisfied with My goodness.” Jer. 31:4
“Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me All the days of my life.” Ps. 23:6
A second reason to believe in God’s goodness is the testimony of believers who have experienced it. I have used Joni Eareckson Tada as a testimony on more than one occasion. She was an energetic young woman whose life was forever changed by an accident. He spinal cord was severed and she initially struggled to survive. Forced to live her life as a quadriplegic, she nearly lost the will to live. Slowly, she achieved the impossible. She painted by holding a brush with her teeth. She produced record albums of joyful music. She married and is now known as an encourager to countless thousands of people.
(Contributed to Sermon Central by Thomas Cash)
Joni once said, "You don’t have to be alone in your hurt! Comfort is yours. Joy is an option. And it’s all been made possible by your Savior. He went without comfort so you might have it. He postponed joy so you might share in it. He willingly chose isolation so you might never be alone in your hurt and sorrow. -- Joni Eareckson Tada, Christian Reader, Vol. 32, no. 2.
(Contributed to Sermon Central by Mark Beaird)
Consider this example of God’s working in Joni’s life. Joni spoke of a 2 A.M. miracle. “It was 2 a.m. and Ken, my husband was snoring softly beside me, not aware that I was biting my lip to keep from waking him up. The combination of my paralysis with middle-of-the-night insomnia always makes me feel claustrophobic. But this was different. The pain in my neck and shoulders was searing. I tried to move my head on the pillow, but was stopped short by a razor –sharp stab in the back of my neck. “O God,” I whispered, “I need to reposition, but I haven’t the heart to wake up Ken. He only has a few hours before hi alarm goes off, yet…I cannot tolerate this pain. Please, I can’t live like this….help me?” I began to breathe deeply and recite a favorite hymn: “And I shall see Him face to face, and tell the store - Saved by Grace. And I shall see Him face to face, and tell the story - Saved by Grace.” The next thing I knew it was morning, Ken was off to work, and my girlfriend had arrived to get me up. When I told her about my rough night, she replied, “I bet you can’t wait for heaven.” Joni looked at her friend and said, “I just experienced a small piece of it.”
(Contributed to Sermon Central by Greg Buchner)
A third reason to believe in God’s goodness is His example. We need to be reminded that it was God’s goodness, love, and mercy that sent Jesus to the cross. John 3:16 says “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son.” God proved His love by sending Jesus to die on the cross for our sins.
I pray that God’s goodness will capture you during your hour of need. I pray that God’s goodness will enrich your life and give you new purpose and meaning.
