It will work out
By Russ Lawson
Aim: To help folks take a different view of the things that happen in life.
Theme: Learning to trust God…till the end...
Main Text: Romans 8:28
Introduction:
You may or may not know that I am a fan of Science Fiction/Adventure books, movies, etc. I was reading a Science Fiction Space opera book this week and was struck by one of the statements. It said: “It’ll work out in the end. If it doesn’t work out, it’s not the end.” (Leviathan’s trial).
That concept is hard for most folks to understand, much less believe, but none the less it is true.
I. Here is a major question for all of us: HOW DO YOU DEAL WITH LIFE?
I received the following story from a friend.
ILLUSTRATION: There was an interesting Sign on a storefront in Great Britain:
"We have been established for over one hundred years and have been pleasing and displeasing customers ever since. We have made money and lost money, suffered the effects of coal nationalization, coal rationing, Government control, and bad payers. We have been cussed and discussed, messed about, lied to, held up, robbed, and swindled. The only reason we stay in business is to see what happens next."
APPLICATION: So, How do you deal with life?
If we ever hope to make it through this thing called “life” then we are going to have to have the right attitude. I tend to think of life as an adventure, while I know folks who think of life as only something to be endured until something better comes along. Those folks never seem truly happy! They are always worrying about what bad thing is going to happen to them next. My wife and I have been married for 55 years and often talk about the great adventure it has been for us. That doesn’t mean that we haven’t had our up’s and down’s, our have and have not times in our life, but I think it speaks to how we view life in general.
We have a faith in God that lets us believe that clouds do have silver linings and things do really work out for the good (Romans 8:28). Our faith allows us to see things differently from much of the world. We believe the promises we find in the scripture that God will provide for the necessities of our life if we make the effort to follow his word, (everything else we have is a bonus).
Jesus speaking in the “sermon on the mount” tells us in Matthew 6:25ff “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes?”
Go ahead and read the rest of the passage, it’s powerful and will test your faith to believe it, but then that’s one of the purposes of life isn’t it? To test our faith and see just how much we really do trust God to keep his word?
So, How do you deal with life? Is it an adventure or a burden to be endured? On a movie title a while back were the words, “And the adventure continues!” (Remo Williams). It may seem strange, but I pray that for your life the adventure may continue or maybe more, and that you may view life as an adventure looking to Christ for your strength. Take a look at Hebrews 12: 1-2 about running the race to see what it’s all about..
II. HITTING A BRICK WALL!
Have you ever felt like you are hitting a brick wall in your life?
ILLUSTRATION:
I saw an interesting quote the other day. I don’t know who said it, but it is worth thinking about. It says, “Everyone hits a brick wall now and then; the trick is not to do it with your head.”
APPLICATION:
What is “hitting a brick wall”? It is American slang used to say, you have come up against a seemingly impassable obstacle. Each and every one of us comes against one of those every now and again don’t we? Our plans, our dreams or our goals just don’t seem to be going the way we had hoped. We run into problems, for which there seems to be no way around… the road is impassable. Well, what do we do? Like the quote said, “the trick is not to hit it with your head.” In other words, don’t let yourself become convinced that you can’t do it, that you can’t fulfill your dream or reach your goal.
One of my favorite stories is found in Matthew 14 about Jesus walking on the water. He comes walking up to the disciples who are about four miles out on the lake in the middle of a storm. The disciples understandable are scared to death, they think it is a ghost, a spirit, then Jesus tells them, “don’t be afraid, it’s me.” Then Peter, the impulsive one of the bunch says, “Lord, if it is really you, tell me to come to you on the water.” Jesus says, “come on Peter.” Peter gets out of the boat and walks a little ways took his eyes off of Jesus and noticed how bad the storm was. His faith failed and he began to sink. Jesus saves him and all is well.
Think about something… The storm was blowing before Peter ever got out of the boat, but it never became a problem until he started worrying about it… In other words, “his ‘head’ hit the brick wall."
Jesus had the same power after Peter got out of the boat as he did before. Nothing changed except Peter’s perception of the situation. In Mark 10:27 we read, “And Jesus looking upon them said, With men it is impossible, but not with God: for with God all things are possible.” At times I don’t understand how things can possibly work out anyway near how I planned them, but you know what… that’s OK. Paul writing in Romans 8:28 says, “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” WOW! Isn’t that great to hear? What this is saying is that even if things don’t work out exactly like we had planned them, God can still work them out to our good if we love him. Of course that means that we are trying to serve him also.
So, don’t let your head hit the brick wall, instead TRUST IN GOD to work it all out for you.
Remember: “It will work out in the end. If it doesn’t work out, it isn’t the end…”
III. HOPELESS SITUATIONS
I have several friends and family members who are going through very difficult times right now. They feel that the situations they are dealing with are pretty hopeless, no way out, no way to change things for the better, they don’t know what to do or where to turn. I don’t know about you, but I have been in this spot many times in my life and have spent some time there again lately.
Right now, times are bad, money is short, inflation is high, there are problems with relationships, your job looks shaky, you may be having a health crisis, the kids are rebelling and your church family may even be struggling with internal problems rather than supporting you. Dealing with any of these problems may give us a sense of hopelessness and usually they come upon us more than one at a time.
I read a comment in a book given to me by a friend which said, “There are no hopeless situations in life… only men who have grown hopeless about them” – (A Barclay Comment).
Interesting thought isn’t it? No hopeless situations, only men who have grown hopeless about them… I read that phrase and re-read it about five times because it spoke to me and reminded me of a biblical truth of great strength and importance to us as Christians.
Like Paul Harvey used to say, “But now for the rest of the story: Following Romans 8:28, Notice what the apostle Paul says in Romans 8: 31-39; “What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, 39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”(KJV)
The next time you are feeling hopeless or helpless remember this passage or the many others like it. Is there a situation you have grown hopeless about? What is your greatest priority, the situation or your relationship with God? There are lots of things and people from which you can be separated here on earth. But nothing can separate you “from the love of God,” and that is what is really important.
I'm praying that God will grant us the courage to not lose heart and become hopeless!
There is one last thing I want us to see……
IV. THAT IS, THAT WE NEED TO START TAKING SOME RESPONSIBILITY
It seems that one of the great past times of the human race is ‘passing the buck’. It’s so much easier to blame someone else than to take responsibility when things go wrong or we just plain mess up in life.
This is not some new trend in our 21st century society; it’s been going on for a long time. Way back at the beginning of time Adam ate of the forbidden fruit and God ask him why he had done it. Adam’s response was, “The woman you put here with me— she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it,” (Genesis 3:12). Adam tried to blame his sins on God for giving him a woman to start with.
ILLUSTRATION:
I like the following little story that illustrates this idea. ‘It seems the man had been slipping in and out of a coma for several months, yet his wife had stayed by his bedside every single day. One Day, when he came to, he motioned for her to come nearer.
As she sat by him, he whispered, eyes full of tears, "You know what? You have been with me all through the bad times. When I got tired, you were there to support me. When my business failed, you were there. When I got shot, you were by my side. When we lost the house, you stayed right here. Now with my health failing, you are still by my side. You know what?"
"What dear?" She gently asked, smiling as her heart began to fill with warmth.
He looked at her for a moment and said: "I think you're bad luck."
APPLICATION Now, here is the point:
You know, we can put the blame for our sins or shortcomings anywhere we want, but someday God will put them where they really belong. Our life is ultimately our responsibility.
CONCLUSION:
The apostle Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 5:10, “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.”
Isn’t it time you just admit that you mess up on a pretty regular basis. Isn’t it time that you take some responsibility for your life and realize that you just can’t make it through this life alone.
Why not start trusting God to make things right, because He’s the only one who truly can. One of the main passages of scripture we have been looking at today is Romans 8:28. This scripture tells us, “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God…”
There’s a common saying which I think we need to put into practice that goes: “Let go and Let God.” Of course to begin to trust God you first have to know Him… That means digging into His word the Bible to see what He has to say to you.
We started out with this concept: “It’ll work out in the end. If it doesn’t work out, its not the end.”
What does God have planned for you? What goes beyond the end that you can see? Are you willing to step out and let God lead you?
FINAL ILLUSTRATION:
There was an old man that had pretty much given up on life, he had decided just to quit and die! His minister came to visit and trying to encourage him he said, “I'm sure that God has something great for you to do yet with your life... To which the Old man replied, “Well I'm not going to do it!”
APPLICATION:
How about you?
I would suggest that if it hasn't worked out yet, then it isn't the end...
Keep working... keep walking... while being at God's side...
