Heart Attacks
Pt. 1 - Believe for Hope
Introduction
For better or worse our children reflect us. The traits and attributes that we have as a father or a mother are transferred to our offspring. We expect that as parents. It is from that vantage point that we recognize that as children of our Heavenly Father we should reflect His characteristics. Paul, in Romans 15:13, gives us a glimpse of one of the characteristics we should have ingrained in us as our Father's children. He says, "May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit." In fact, he makes it a point to say that God is so the God of hope that we should actually overflow with hope! As children of a God of hope we should have hope!
Let stop here and ask you a question . . . Are you overflowing with hope?
As we continue to attack the principalities that I have pinpointed as the controlling factors in our area we now attack the 3rd principality which is hopelessness. I would submit to you that as I have interacted with not only many of you but believers around the community I have discovered that more times than not we overflow with hopelessness rather than hope.
The Psalmist was close to finding himself in this condition on multiple occasions and in summary he says in Psalms 27:13-14, "I would have lost heart (fainted), unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait on the Lord; Be of good courage, And He shall strengthen your heart; Wait, I say, on the Lord!"
This passage gives us several truths that I think we need to hear and embrace.
1. Hopelessness stems from a heart condition.
When we lose heart we lose hope. That is why we must intentionally guard our hearts. The enemy will try to attack our heart and cause us to give up. The attacks are designed and layered to attempt to get us to give up because our enemy understands that if we do give up as bad as it was before we gave up it becomes even worse because the give up places us in a hopeless condition. Too many of us have lost heart. We no longer show up for the fight because we don't have the heart for it. We no longer march to the battle lines. We sit on the couch in sorrow. The lack of change. The lack of resolution. The lack of improvement. The lack of difference. The lack of healing. The lack of explanation. If we aren't careful our heart becomes so full of disappointment, despair, discouragement that we actually lose our heart and so we lose our hope. What is overflowing out of you?
2. Belief produces hope. Said in the negative - Hopelessness stems from lack of belief.
The Psalmist tells us hopelessness was staved off by his his belief that God was able to fulfill His word while he was still alive. He finds strength to hold on because he believes that he would see God live up to Himself - He is good.
Hopelessness roots itself in lack of belief. As long as we continue to believe God and take Him at His word we remain filled with hope. We lose hope when we lose belief.
The wise man addresses this in Proverbs 23:17-18 "Do not let your heart envy sinners, but always be zealous for the fear of the Lord. There is surely a future hope for you, and your hope will not be cut off." He knew we would see sinners being successful, seemingly unscathed, walk away from things that destroy us and so he says, "don't see their "pain free" life and allow that to cause you to question and lose faith in your Father." He says there is a future for you. Your hope will not be cut off! We must believe.
If I just looked at what I am going through right now, then I would lose heart. But if I can learn to believe even when what I see (natural) doesn't seem to line up or substantiate what I see (supernatural), then my belief will fight back hopelessness!
If you have lost hope the only remedy is that you have to believe again! If you have no hope that marriage can be restored then you must come back to the belief that God can make all things new. If you have no hope of healing, then you must renew belief that by His stripes we are healed. If you have no hope for financial freedom, then you must reestablish God as Jehovah Jireh. If you have no hope for change, then you must believe again that the God that never changes can produce change! Do you believe? Your hope is at stake. Your belief determines your hope!
3. God can not only protect your heart but He can also strengthen your heart.
Now there is one major problem with this truth. We know God can do this but we don't like the way He accomplishes this. He does it by teaching us to wait. Most of us want an instant answer. A suddenly encounter that will strengthen our heart. However, the Psalmist teaches us that strength comes in waiting. Waiting stretches us. Waiting can make us weary but it is the means by which our heart is conditioned. How do you grow stronger physically? You lift weights! How does your heart grow stronger? Wait training! Those that wait, not those who get nervous, get in a hurry, step in and take control, force a way . . . No those who wait - not on their own way, not on the bank, not on a person - those who wait on the Lord renew their strength! We get to choose . . . waiting will either wear us out or it will make us a warrior!
Paul reveals the power of waiting and the power of hope in Romans 8:24-25 - 24 For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? 25 But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.
We have to be willing to walk through seasons of inconsistency because we know that God's goodness is never inconsistent. We must come to the place that Job came to when he said, "Though He slay me yet will I trust Him." One version says "Though He slay me yet will I hope in Him!"
So before we ever talk about the situations or circumstances that tend to attack our heart and cause us to feel hopeless we must first address our belief! If we don't believe there is no way to overcome and defeat hopelessness. So this morning before I attack the attacks can I just try to attack the unbelief. May I reestablish, refresh, stir up, uncover your belief? You can overcome hopelessness if you will believe! So for a moment lay aside the fear, the pain, the despair, cynicism, discouragement because I remind you today . . .
I Chronicles 16:34 - Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever.
Psalm 13:5-6 - But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation. I will sing the Lord’s praise, for he has been good to me.
Psalm 23:6 - Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
Psalm 30:5 - For His anger is but for a moment, His favor is for life; Weeping may endure for a night, But joy comes in the morning. (He gets angry once in a while, but across a lifetime there is only love. The nights of crying your eyes out give way to days of laughter.)
Psalm 34:4-8 I sought the Lord, and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears. Those who look to him are radiant; their faces are never covered with shame. This poor man called, and the Lord heard him; he saved him out of all his troubles (The prayer that God always hears is the cry for help). The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him, and he delivers them. Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in him.
Psalm 73:1-5 - No doubt about it! God is good—good to good people, good to the good-hearted. But I nearly missed it, missed seeing his goodness. I was looking the other way, looking up to the people at the top, envying the wicked who have it made, Who have nothing to worry about, not a care in the whole wide world.
Psalm 100:5 - For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.
Psalm 106:1 - Praise the Lord. Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever. (Hallelujah! Thank God! And why? Because he’s good, because his love lasts.)
Psalm 107:1 - Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever.
Psalm 118:6-8, 14 The Lord is with me; I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me? The Lord is with me; he is my helper. I look in triumph on my enemies. It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in humans. The Lord is my strength and my defense; he has become my salvation.
Isaiah 54:17 No weapon formed against you shall prosper, And every tongue which rises against you in judgment you shall condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord! (but no weapon that can hurt you has ever been forged. Any accuser who takes you to court will be dismissed as a liar. This is what God’s servants can expect. I’ll see to it that everything will work out for the best.)
Doesn't mean it isn't formed just won't prosper!
Romans 8:24-28 - That is why waiting does not diminish us, any more than waiting diminishes a pregnant mother. We are enlarged in the waiting. We, of course, don’t see what is enlarging us. But the longer we wait, the larger we become, and the more joyful our expectancy. Meanwhile, the moment we get tired in the waiting, God’s Spirit is right alongside helping us along. If we don’t know how or what to pray, it doesn’t matter. He does our praying in and for us, making prayer out of our wordless sighs, our aching groans. He knows us far better than we know ourselves, knows our pregnant condition, and keeps us present before God. That’s why we can be so sure that every detail in our lives of love for God is worked into something good. (He works all things together for our good!)
2 Corinthians 4:16-18 Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
Why take the time to read those passages? I just want to rekindle, refresh, and stir up your belief. You can have hope because God is good. You should have hope because He cares for you. You should have hope because He hasn't forgotten you. You should have hope because He is on duty. You have you have hope because you are favored. You should have hope because His love endures forever. You have hope because the Lord is with you! You should have hope because He is your helper. You can have hope because He is working everything together (the good, the bad, the ugly, the preferred, the "un"preferred) to our good. You can have hope because the trouble we face now is only preparing glory for us later!
What am I staying? Believe again. Believe more. Believe in spite of what you see. Believe through the wait. Believe through the hard season. Let the wait strengthen your heart. Lack of belief will result in hopelessness. Can you say this with me . . . "I believe Lord but help my unbelief!" I don't want my lack of belief to cost me my hope!
