Charles W. Holt
email: cholt@gt.rr.com
ALL THESE THINGS ARE AGAINST ME
By Charles W. Holt
But I would ye should understand, brethren, that
the things which happened unto me have fallen out rather unto the furtherance of the gospel; (Phil. 1:12)
And Jacob their father said unto them, Me have ye bereaved of my children: Joseph is not, and Simeon is not, and ye will take Benjamin away: all these things are against me. (Genesis 42:36)
INTRODUCTION
We all love personal testimonies. Stories that people tell of tragedy and triumph interest us. Television is exploiting this desire of ours to know what¡¦s happening in the lives of other people whether they are around the nation or around the block. The so-called newsmagazine shows such as 20/20, Dateline and 60 Minutes are built on this format. Newspapers and magazines call them "human interest" stories. They help sell newspapers and magazines. They attract large TV audiences.
Have you ever suffered a setback? It¡¦s sometimes called a "reversal of fortunes." Setbacks are the gristmill for personal testimonies as seen on TV or read in newspapers. Something good has turned bad. For many it was when the job they were so secure in closed and they joined the ranks of the unemployed. The loss of employment creates a severe setback. Loss of one’s health, unexpected doctor or hospital visits, having to pay outrageous prices for prescriptions can be a severe setback especially for those who are on a fixed income. Setbacks are common to all of us. As a minister for more than 50 years, I have experienced a few setbacks especially when I have been, shall I say, uninvited to serve as the pastor of a church. This has happened on a couple of occasions. All setbacks are by their very nature stressful. We derive no pleasure from the forces at work that are creating the setback. We can however learn some lessons as a result of the setback. IF we want to!
I was reading from the Book of Philippians a couple of weeks ago when I found part of a sentence that I thought would make a good heading or title for what I want to talk about. The words are: "The Things Which Have Happened to Me." It sounds almost like a book title. It could be the title of your interview on TV when you are asked to share your life experience.
When Paul wrote those words he was not writing to complain but to inform. He is not writing to detail his discouragement but rather his victory and triumph over adversity. He had plenty he could have complained about. But it’s the victory over the trials that he emphasizes and this is what will be a vital part of our theme on this subject.
There is, however, another passage that stands in start contrast to Paul’s words of victory and joy that are found throughout his letter to the Philippians. They are in the Book of Genesis. They are the words of a father named Jacob. We will hear Jacob sob and whine as he complains, "all these things are against me!" From these two passages,from these two entirely different perspectives on life’s shifting fortunes--I intend to build a case for the fact that we all have things that have happened to us. Some of these things have been very good. Some of these things have been very evil and destructive. Paul looked at the things that had happened to him and he saw victory. "The have, "fallen out rather unto the furtherance of the gospel" (Phil: 1:12), he said. Jacob, on the other hand, looked upon the things that happened to him and cried, "they are all against me." They reflect two different points of view, two different reactions. What is happening to you and me can either bring us a smile or a whining complaint. The key to either response is in our hand.
James Gordon Gilkey says: "Misfortune cannot be conquered by furious and continuing resentment. It can be conquered only by quiet acquiescence (submission). We win the victory over bereavement only when we face our loss, accept our loss, and then make our way through and beyond our loss. You ask how we make our way through it and beyond it? We do so by deliberately reentering the world of daily activity . . . the busy world of problems, duties, friendships, opportunities, and satisfactions. A life lived in the role of a martyr, resentful, angry, self-pitying is a doomed life. Only the life which deliberately picks up and starts again is victorious."
I remember seeing a bumper sticker that said, "Life is Fragile! Handle with Prayer!" All of our life issues, decisions, problems, and cares--should be handled with prayer. This is especially true of the disappointments we often face. Unless we face these disappointments with a courage that flows from our faith in God’s faithfulness they can wreck and ruin us forever.
Left unchecked, some disappointment may take us by the hand and lead us into a swamp of self-pity, which is a very subtle form of selfishness. If allowed to do so it will continue to lead into an experience of resentment.
--Resentment toward life
--Resentment toward others who seem to be more fortunate
--Resentment toward God
The highway of life is littered with the lives of those that, laid low by some devastating disappointment, look up and whine or shout or cry or accuse or defiantly ask, "Why did God let this happen to me?" Or to him? Or to her? As a pastor, I have stood with individuals, families and friends, who have suffered some devastating loss and shook my head in wonderment as they asked the question, "What good is this? Why did this have to happen?" I didn’t have any better answers than they could come up with except to point them to a faithful Heavenly Father whose "ways are past finding out," encouraging them to trust in his love in spite of the circumstances . . . in spite of the pain. As simplistic as it may sound this is, nevertheless, the greatest truth, offers the greatest hope, and has the greatest potential for comfort than any other solution.
A few moments ago I mentioned the Patriarch Jacob. He is the father of Joseph and eleven others boys who ultimately became known as the 12 tribes of Israel. The story of Joseph, found in Genesis, is so familiar I don¡¦t need to go into details. Let me, however, refresh your memory just a little about what led him to be sold into Egypt as a slave. His older brothers, seething with jealousy of Joseph, had conspired to get rid of him. They sold him to a passing caravan of Ishmeelites on their way to Egypt. They brought home his coat of many colors with the story that Joseph had been killed and eaten by a wild animal. Jacob nearly died of grief when he heard this news. Years pass. Jacob never forgets his son Joseph. A new son, named Benjamin, is born. He is Jacob’s pride and joy. Jacob is determined that nothing will happen to him.
You know about the famine that ultimately drove Jacob to send the boys from their home in Canaan into Egypt to purchase grain. One day, after a journey to Egypt, all those who had gone on the trip were not a part of the returning party. Simeon was missing. He was being held in an Egyptian jail until his brothers returned. Very soon Jacob learned the awful truth that the man in Egypt made a demand that the next time they came they must bring back their young brother Benjamin--or else! It meant there would be no more grain and the very real possibility of starvation for the entire family and herds. This was unbelievable news! As the whole family stood around, perplexed, dismayed, old Jacob said, "Me have ye bereaved of my children: Joseph is not, and Simeon is not, and ye will take Benjamin away: all these things are against me" (Gen. 42:36).
All these things are against me. As it turns out it was the best thing that could have happened to him. Jacob didn’t know it even as we sometimes fail to recognize it that all these things were working together for his good and the good of his family. Here he thinks them all against him. Through our ignorance, misunderstanding, our mistakes, and the weakness of our faith, we often consider things to be against us that in reality are really for us. We are afflicted in body, finances, name, and relationships; and we think all these things are against us, whereas these are really working for us an eternal weight of glory.
TRIALS WORK FOR US
Paul writes: "For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory" (2 Cor. 4:17). The key to victory and overcoming a, "these things are against me," attitude is found in the next verse. He says, "While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal" (vs. 18).
Was Jacob justified in feeling, "all these things are against me?" No doubt. If I had been standing in that family circle that day, knowing the history that the family knew, I would have agreed. Of course we have the benefit of hindsight on our side and know that ultimately Jacob was totally wrong in what he was thinking.
Jacob knew his God. Jacob trusted his God. But Jacob did not know his God as we know Him today. We have the advantage of knowing Him by the revelation that has come to us through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ . . . through the teachings of Scripture . . . and through the ministry¡Xteaching, guidance, and comfort¡Xof the Holy Spirit. Of all the verses I could mention right now I choose to remind you that we have a hope that is described ". . . as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast and which entereth into that within the veil" (Heb. 6:19). The Amplified Bible says that our "sure and stedfast" hope is an anchor that, "cannot slip and it cannot break down under whoever steps out upon it." It is a hope, "that reaches farther and enters into the very certainty of the presence" that is behind the very curtains of heaven. What blessed assurance this is!
A CHURCH HYMN
A hymn asks:
(1) Will your anchor hold in the storms of life,
When clouds unfold their wings of strife?
When the strong tides lift, and the cables strain,
Will your anchor drift, or firm remain?
(Chorus)
We have an anchor that keeps the soul
Steadfast and sure while the billows roll,
Fastened to the Rock which cannot move,
Grounded firm and deep in the Savior¡¦s love.
[Priscilla Owens & James Kirkpatrick]
YOUR PERSONAL TESTIMONY
Let’s suppose you were asked to talk about your greatest disappointment or the most hurtful thing that has happened in your life. What would it be? Suppose you were asked to talk about your greatest joy or your greatest accomplishment. Could you talk about it? Or, have you become "stuck" there. Have you moved past the pain or are you stuck in resentment and bitterness? Are you stuck at some place of disappointment or failure? There is a very real danger of being stuck in the "all these things are against me" attitude. It is possible to settle down there. What is the answer? God¡¦s command to the Israelites in the wilderness comes to mind. It’s found in Deuteronomy 2:1-3. Moses said, "For many years we wandered in the area of Mount Seir. Then at last the Lord said, You have stayed here long enough. Turn northward." The King James Version is a bit more picturesque when it says, "Ye have compassed this mountain long enough: turn you northward" (vs. 3). In other words, the Lord was saying, "You have been going around and around this mountain long enough. Move ’em out!" We have to move on! We are challenged to make a choice. We may choose to remain in the place where we have been beaten up. But the command of faith is ARISE!
+ Twice the Angel of the Lord touched the tired, discouraged and fearful Prophet Elijah, and said to him, "Elijah, ARISE and eat, the journey is too great for thee (1 Kings 19:5,7).
+ The prodigal son in the pigpen said, "I will ARISE and go to my father, and will say unto him, father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee" (Lk. 15:18).
+ Jesus said to the leper who had returned to give him thanks, "ARISE, go thy way: thy faith hath made thee whole" (Lk. 17:19).
+ He said to the man sick with palsy, "ARISE, take up thy bed." (Mt. 9:6).
+ To the crippled man at the pool of Bethesda, Jesus said, "RISE, take up thy bed, and walk" (Jn. 5:8).
We must not allow ourselves the pleasure of taking refuge behind the smoke screen of "all these things are against me."
We can arise from the midst of a destructive divorce
We can arise from the midst of broken relationships
We can arise from the midst of financial loss
We can arise from the midst of physical setbacks
We can arise from the midst of our depression
We can arise from the midst of our anger
We can arise from the midst of our resentment
We can arise from the midst of our disappointments
We can arise from the midst of our excuses and non-attempts to change things for the better.
We can arise from the midst of blaming others for our problems
We can arise from complaining, "all these things are against me" and begin to say, "this could be the beginning of something really big!"
Poor, old Jacob had been grieving for Joseph for years. He had let that event define his life, his future. He had never moved past that event. When these strange new things began to unfold he was so locked into fear, locked into doubt that he insisted on holding on to them for dear life. Listen to his despair as he forcefully argues with his Reuben against returning to Egypt with Benjamin. "And he said, My son shall not go down with you; for his brother is dead, and he is left alone: if mischief befall him by the way in the which ye go, then shall ye bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to the grave" (Gen. 42:38). This is pure, undiluted, pessimism.
However, the famine is unrelenting. The pressure builds. Jacob is being squeezed by the circumstances. He must make a decision he doesn¡¦t want to make. At last, grudgingly, he yields to the only plan of action that can be taken. The boys must return to Egypt¡Xwith Benjamin. Days, perhaps weeks, pass until they return. You can only imagine how Jacob agonized day and night, wondering what the outcome of all this would be. Little did he know that he was on the verge of a life-changing event. It would be the greatest thing that ever happened to him.
Returning to Egypt, the boys learn that Joseph is in a position of power second only to Pharaoh and he is the man in charge of the distribution of all the grain. He sends them back home with new clothes, silver, and twenty donkeys loaded with all manner of foodstuff. Listen to Jacob¡¦s reaction when he sees all this and hears the news. "Joseph is yet alive, and he is governor over all the land of Egypt. And Jacob’s heart fainted, for he believed them not . . . and when he saw the wagons which Joseph had sent to carry him, the spirit of Jacob their father revived" (Gen. 45:26,27).
We want to believe that can happen to us. We think it is long overdue. We have exercised our faith. We have tried to maintain our hope that things will change. If that is where you are, do you know that the Bible describes your position? Here it is, found in the Book of Proverbs:
"Hope deferred [delayed, postponed] maketh the heart sick." You may be "sick" of waiting, trusting, believing, and hoping. It is frustrating. Let your "anchor hold." The second part of that verse awaits fulfillment. "But when the desire cometh, it is a tree of life" (Pr. 13:12). Here are two anchors for such a time as this.
1. For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry (Habakkuk 2:3).
2. Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning (Psalms 30:5).
Rather than confessing, "all these things are against me" let us make this our confession of faith: "The LORD will perfect that which concerneth me: thy mercy, O LORD, endureth forever" (Psalms 138:8). "The Lord will work out his plans for my life¡Xfor your lovingkindness, Lord, continues forever," says the Living Bible Paraphrased.
I close with the words of a song that is perhaps not very widely known but offers a strong message of hope. Milton Bourgeois wrote it in 1972.
RISE AND BE HEALED
(1) Have fear and doubt come against your mind?
Has your faith been sorely tried?
Lift up your eyes; here cometh your help!
It is Jesus--for you He has died!
(2) If by faith you reach out to Him,
He will meet your ev¡¦ry need;
He will respond to the cry of your heart;
He will touch you and set you free!
(Chorus)
Rise and be healed in the name of Jesus;
Let faith arise in your soul!
Rise and be healed in the name of Jesus.
He will make you ev-ry whit whole.
