"Handles for the Hard Times" (Part #2)
TEXT: Gen 45:1-8 and 50:15-20
INTRODUCTION
· One day Linus and Charlie Brown are walking along and chatting with one another. Linus says, "I don’t like to face problems head on. I think the best way to solve problems is to avoid them. In fact, this is a distinct philosophy of mine. No problem is so big or so complicated that it can’t be run away from!"
· Second of five sermons on handling the hard times
· Give total of 10 handles to hang on to
· Review of last time
I. HANDLE #1: ACCEPT IT AS AN APPOINTMENT RATHER THAN AN ACCIDENT
A. I Thess 3:3 - "...you know quite well we were destined for them..."
B. Misconceptions
1. Are a sign of or punishment for sinfulness & disobedience- not necessarily true
a. Problems/trials happen to everyone
b. May even be a sign or result of our obedience
2. God’s primary goal for us is our happiness/success/easy life
a. His primary goal is our salvation & spiritual growth
C. Each trial is designed specifically for you
1. Qthg that comes to me has already passed thru the hands of my Heavenly
Father & has received His stamp of approval
II. HANDLE #2: ACCEPT IT WITHOUT KNOWING THE REASON WHY
(IL) One day Linus and Charlie Brown are walking along and chatting with one another. Linus says, "I don’t like to face problems head on. I think the best way to solve problems is to avoid them. In fact, this is a distinct philosophy of mine. No problem is so big or so complicated that it can’t be run away from!"
A. Can haunt all of us when difficulties arise
1. The question that wants to make sense of seemingly senseless suffering
2. The question that wants to understand the unfairness in life
3. The question that can us even cause us to doubt G is a loving G
(IL) Father, 27, 3 kids, ETS in 2 wks, paralyzed from neck down;
4. The qt that never has an answer that satisfies
a. No philosophy, theology, or world view
B. I can’t answer the "why" qt, but can tell you we need to accept the fact we may never know the reason some thgs happen
1. OK to struggle
2. G understand our desire to know, our struggle, our confusion & doesn’t hold it against us
3. Must come to the point we move beyond the struggle, place our lives in the hands of God, & accept the fact we may never know the reason some things happen
C. Dt 29:29: "The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us & to our children forever, that we may follow all the words of the law."
D. Prov 25:2: "It is the glory of God to conceal a matter..."
(IL) Jan 1983 Uncle Bill’s funeral preacher asked why Bill Thompson died @ young age died because of cancer
(IL) 27 year old father of three was paralyzed because he dove into water that was too shallow & broke his neck
1. Accept thgs for what they are sometimes rather than search for an answer that isn’t there ...AND...
III. HANDLE #3: BELIEVE THAT GOD IS IN CHARGE, EVEN OF THE TRIAL
A. Easy to do when all is going well
1. Family healthy, new grandkids, promoted, life going smoothly
2. Challenge when our lives are full of chaos
B. Oswald Chambers: (Pg 353) “The circumstances of a saint’s life are ordained of God. In the life of a saint there is no such thing as chance. God by His providence brings you into circumstances you cannot understand at all. All your circumstances are in the hand of God, therefore never think it strange concerning the circumstances you are in.”
C. Problem is we do think it strange, don’t see G in it at all, because we look @ the problem
(IL) Mat 14 - Jesus told Peter to walk on the water. Peter did fine until he took his eyes off J & looked at the wind. Then he began to sink. Had he kept his eyes on the Sovereign Lord who controls the wind & waves he would have been fine.
D. God being in charge, even of the trial is portrayed beautifully in life of OT Joseph
1. Brothers jealous cause of favoritism & special treatment by father Jacob
2. Throw in pit
3. Sell to Ishmaelite traders on way to Egypt
4. Put animal blood on his coat & tell Jacob he’s dead
5. Goes to Egypt
6. A slave in Potiphar’s house
a. Mrs. Potiphar seduces him & wants affair
b. He runs away
c. She cries “rape” & he’s put in jail
7. Interprets dream & is supposed to be remembered to Pharoah
8. Forgotten & waits 2 more yrs in prison, until Pharoah has dream that needs interpreted
9. Interprets Pharoah’s dream & tells Pharoah it means they’ll have 7 years of good crops followed by 7 years of famine & bad crops
10. Made the #2 man in the country and given the job to put together and implement a plan so they can all survive the 7 years of famine
11. Joseph is the man in charge of everything
12. Famine reaches his family & Jacob sends the brothers to Egypt to get food
13. Brothers unknowlingly stand before Joseph, the one who can approve or disapprove giving them food for their families
14. Listen to his words:
a. Gen 45:4-7: Then Joseph said to his brothers, "Come, come close to me." When they had done so, he said, "I am your brother Joseph, the one you sold into Egypt." And now, do not be distressed & do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here, because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you. For two years now there has been a famine in the land, & for the next five years there will not be plowing & reaping. But God sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant on earth & to save your lives by a great deliverance. So then, it was not you who sent me here, but God.
(1) Three times – “God sent me.”
(2) God was in charge – even of the trial
b. Gen 50:20: Joseph said to them, Don’t be afraid. Am I in the place of God? You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good.
(1) You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good
(2) Some of the most beautiful words in Scripture
E. God was in charge, even of the trial
1. Teenage boy thrown into a pit - God was in charge
2. Sold a slave in a foreign country - God was in charge
3. Falsely accused & imprisoned - God was in charge
4. Forgotten in prison - God still in charge
5. His bros meant it for evil, but God meant it for good
6. Potiphar’s wife meant it for evil, but God meant it for good
F. God is also in charge of your trial
CONCLUSION
(IL) AUTHOR MARSHALL SHELLEY, WHO SUFFERED THE DEATHS OF TWO OF HIS CHILDREN, WRITES IN LEADERSHIP: EVEN AS A CHILD, I LOVED TO READ, AND I QUICKLY LEARNED THAT I WOULD MOST LIKELY BE CONFUSED DURING THE OPENING CHAPTERS OF A NOVEL. NEW CHARACTERS WERE INTRODUCED. DISPARATE, SEEMINGLY RANDOM EVENTS TOOK PLACE. SUBPLOTS WERE COMPLICATED AND DIDN’T SEEM TO MAKE ANY SENSE IN RELATION TO THE MAIN PLOT. BUT I LEARNED TO KEEP READING. WHY? BECAUSE YOU KNOW THAT THE AUTHOR, IF HE OR SHE IS GOOD, WILL WEAVE THEM ALL TOGETHER BY THE END OF THE BOOK. EVENTUALLY, EACH ELEMENT WILL BE MEANINGFUL. AT TIMES, SUCH FAITH HAS TO BE A CONSCIOUS CHOICE. EVEN WHEN I CAN’T EXPLAIN WHY A CHROMOSOMAL ABNORMALITY DEVELOPS IN MY SON, WHICH PREVENTS HIM FROM LIVING ON EARTH MORE THAN TWO MINUTES. . . .EVEN WHEN I CAN’T FATHOM WHY OUR DAUGHTER HAS TO ENDURE TWO YEARS OF SEVERE AND PROFOUND RETARDATION AND CONTINUAL SEIZURES. . . . I CHOOSE TO TRUST THAT BEFORE THE BOOK CLOSES, THE AUTHOR WILL MAKE THINGS CLEAR.
CONCLUSION
If you are going through a trial, put it right where it belongs, in the Hands of God
Ask Him to help you accept it without knowing the reason why, & to help you trust Him and to believe that He is in charge, even of the trial.
