HOLDING ONTO YOUR FAITH
When Life Hurts the Most
I. Intro: When was the last time life served you a curve ball? Life has a way of doing that you know? Jesus promised in John 16:33 that we would suffer many of life’s curve balls in life. His exact words were, "in Me you have peace, in the world, you have tribulation, but take courage (don’t lose faith, don’t give up, don’t fear, don’t worry) for I have overcome the world." These are encouraging words. However, how many of you have found yourself in the midst of the storms of life, asking "WHY GOD?"
A. WHY? The most asked question and the most unanswered.
*Did you ever wonder why when you tell a man there’s 400 billion stars in the sky, he’ll believe you, but if you tell him there’s wet paint, and he has to touch it?
*Why is it called a HAMburger, when it’s made out of beef?
*Why do we put suits in garment bags and garments in suitcases?
*Why doesn’t glue stick to the inside of the bottle?
*Why when two airplanes almost collide, they call it a near miss instead of a near hit?
*Why are they called apartments when they’re stuck together?
*Why are they called buildings after they are built, shouldn’t they be called builts?
*If the black box flight recorder is never damaged in a plane crash, why isn’t the whole airplane made out of that?
*Kindergarten class field trip to local police station. Saw pictures of most wanted criminals. Kindergartener asked one of the officers if those were real pictures. He said, "yes, we want them really bad because they’ve done some really bad things." To that the Kindergartener replied, "well, why didn’t you just keep them when you took their pictures?"
B. These are all funny, "WHY?" Questions. However, many times our "WHY’S?" are anything but funny. Like...
...the 6 year old child who looks at his mom and asks, "Mommy, why did daddy leave? Is he ever coming home again?"
...or like my 14 yr old little brother asked when he was dying a terribly painful death, "Kelly, WHY is God allowing this? Doesn’t He love me anymore?"
...or the 42 yr old mother of 3 young children who asks, "Why God? Why did the doctor have to say cancer?"
...or the single person who feels so lonely and asks again and again, "Why can’t I find a mate? Why do I have to remain single?"
...or the man or woman who says, "Why God? Why did you allow me to be physically abused by my mom or my dad when I was a helpless child?"
What are your "WHY" questions? Is it...God, WHY did you take my husband or my wife when we still had so much living to do together?
Or maybe...WHY is life so painful? WHY can’t I seem to get free from this depression? WHY have my children strayed from God when I’ve raised them in a Christian home? WHY is my wife’s heart still hardened twd God when I’ve prayed for yrs and yrs for her to be saved? WHY did my child have to be stricken with leukemia, or Muscular Dystrophy, or Down’s Syndrome...or any number of other things? WHY God? WHY?
C. ONE FAMILY’S REACTION TO A DEADLY CURVE BALL
1) Todd (my husband) and I are very blessed to be able to get to know and to spend time with some of the greatest men and women of God in the Kingdom today (Besides all of you of Course).
a. But right now I’m talking specifically about other church and Christian leaders.
b. Last year we were privileged to be able to spend some time with Alton Garrison (Pastors a large church in Little Rock, Ak)
c. A wonderful man of God
2) I’m going to read to you part of his testimony about a time in his life when his family was dealt a pretty devastating blow.
a. "PLEASING GOD, PLEASING YOU" pg. 89-90
(Read from this book)
3) How do you react when life throws you a curve ball?
II. HOW DO WE HANDLE LIFE’S CURVE BALLS?
A. 1Thes 5:16-18 Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. (NKJ)
1) REJOICE ALWAYS!
a. Rejoice when? When things are going my way? Surely God doesn’t expect me to rejoice when things are bad...does He?
b. The word "rejoice" means to be joyful. Now, how in the world can we be joyful when all hell has come against us with a full frontal attack? Get serious!
c. Well He is serious that’s why He says this in:
Rom 12:12 "Base your happiness on your hope in Christ. When trials come, endure them patiently; steadfastly maintain the habit of prayer." (phillips)
d. Our problem is that we base our happiness on all kinds of temporal things. If things are going well in my life today, then I’m rejoicing! But when my world is shaken, FORGET IT!
e. That’s b/c we become temporally minded, we lose our joy when we lose our eternal perspective.
f. Understand, I’m not saying you have to be walking on Sunshine all of the time, but if we want to overcome satan’s attacks and strategies against us, we have to REJOICE ALWAYS.
I honestly think it throws the enemy into confusion when we are able to rejoice in the midst of trials and suffering. If we continue to do so, he’ll become so confused and so discouraged, he eventually flee!
2) PRAY ALWAYS!
a. Pray how much? When I feel like it? For 10 minutes each morning during my prayer time and before meals? When I feel like I have a lot of faith and power to pray?
b. (Phillips) "don’t worry about anything, instead, pray about everything."
Phil 4:6
c. I never cease to amaze myself. When something heavy is weighing me down, often I will just carry it around with me for hours and hours (sometimes for days and weeks). Then, when I finally realize, "Hey, you know what? God doesn’t want me to carry this burden. He wants me to give it to Him." I go to Him and prayer and even though none of the circumstances may have changed visibly yet, I already feel better. His Peace and replace my Paranoia.
3) GIVE THANKS ALWAYS!
a. Give thanks when? When I’m blessed with good things? When life is good and I’m enjoying God’s blessings? Surely I’m not expected to give thanks when I lose my job, when a loved one is suffering from a disease, when there’s a tragic accident, when there’s a failed marriage, a lost son or daughter, persecution and mistreatment at work...etc...
b. There is some screwy teaching out there that you need to thank God for every good and bad thing that comes into your life.
* I’m sorry, but I don’t buy it. I don’t think that means that we say, "Oh God, thank you so much for letting that person rape me...thank you so much for taking my teenager in that car accident...thank you Lord for sickness and disease...
* That’s nonsense! First of all, God is NOT the author of confusion, God does not drive people to sin, God does not cause tragic accidents and God does not bring sickness and disease upon His people! Satan is the author of things.
c. However, we can be thankful ALWAYS!
* We can thank Him for all of His gifts! The gift of salvation through shedding His own blood and giving His own life for our sin!
* For all the times He’s brought us through in the past and the promise that He’ll bring us through again
* We can thank Him for the fact that our happiness in based on the hope we have in Him, therefore we can be joyful and thankful always!
* We can thank Him for His Word, air to breath, clean water to drink, good preaching, THE HOPE OF HEAVEN AND ETERNAL LIFE WITH HIM!
B. HE HAS GIVEN US THE KEYS OF THE KINGDOM ~ THE POWER TO OVERCOME
1) Matt 16:19 "I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven."
2) He has given us the keys of the Kingdom and by them, we have the power and the authority to bind and loose or to shut up and open.
3) One of the Keys to binding the powers of satan and loosing the power of God in our lives is 1Thess 5:16-18
a. Rejoice ALWAYS! Pray ALWAYS! Be thankful ALWAYS!
And this also works in reverse fashion. When we choose to complain, sulk and become bitter rather than rejoice...when we neglect the powerful habit of prayer because we don’t feel like praying or because we’ve allowed other things to become more important...and when we allow doubt, unbelief and adverse circumstances to keep us from being thankful...THEN WE HAVE HANDED THE KEYS OVER TO SATAN AND HIS DEMONS AND HAVE GIVEN UP OUR AUTHORITY TO OVERCOME.
I just recently read Acts 16:22-36 again from the MESSAGE Bible. About Paul and Silas and how they were able to hold onto their faith during an extremely difficult time.
Paul and Silas had been holding some pretty incredible revival services where people were being saved, delivered and healed! It was easy to rejoice, pray and be thankful then. They were experiencing what Pastor spoke of this morning as a SPRING season of life. Then, all of a sudden another season quickly fell upon them and everything drastically changed for what seemed to be the worse.
They were stripped naked.
They were beaten black and blue.
They were thrown into jail.
They were put under maximum security.
They were placed in leg irons.
What do you think they did? How did they respond? Let’s read and find out!
Acts 16:22-36
They cooperated with the season. They took hold of the Keys of the Kingdom and chose to rejoice, pray and be thankful. Knowing that God was in control and that if they would trust Him He would without a doubt bring them through.
Now let’s think about this. What do you think you would have done in that situation? What would your response have been? I must confess that there is a slight chance, based on some of my past responses, that I might have responded something like this:
"OOOHHHH GOOOOOOOOODDDDD!!! WHERE ARE YOU GOD? HOW COULD YOU LET THIS HAPPEN TO ME? WHY DID YOU LET THIS HAPPEN TO ME? WHY GOD? WHY? I HAVE GIVEN UP EVERYTHING TO SERVE YOU AND THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS? THIS IS THE THANKS I GET? DON’T YOU LOVE ME, GOD?"
Then, instead of rejoicing I might have begun to sulk in self-pity. Instead of praying I might have turned introspective and started questioning whether God really loved me or not. Maybe God is punishing me for some past sin. Maybe God just doesn’t really like me or care about me at all. And instead of being thankful I may have focused on how bad my present circumstance were and become bitter, resentful and angry towards God.
And I’m convinced that many of you may have done the same thing.
Not Paul and Silas! They began to sing exuberant praises to God! They chose to focus on all of the good things God had done for them and be thankful! They chose to turn to God, the only One Who could deliver them and pray! AND GOD DID INDEED SET THEM FREE! HE CAUSED A SUPERNATURAL EARTHQUAKE TO SHAKE THEM FREE FROM THE LEG IRONS AND BREAK THE BARS OF THE PRIS0N GATES!
OH GOD, PLEASE REMIND US OF THE POWER OF PRAISE, PRAY AND THANKSGIVING WHEN WE ARE TEMPTED TO GIVE UP.
2 Cor 1:3
What a wonderful God we have-- he is the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the source of every mercy, and the one who so wonderfully comforts and strengthens us in our hardships and trials. And why does he do this? So that when others are troubled, needing our sympathy and encouragement, we can pass on to them this same help and comfort God has given us.
(TLB)
I want to share with you the help and comfort that God has given me in the past. One of the most painful times in my life was a very long season between the years of 1992-1994. As most of you already know, my two youngest brothers suffered tremendously with a disease called Duchiene Muscular Dystrophy. Teddy was 1 and Matt was 5 when we were given this terrible news. We prayed fervently for them to be healed and honestly expected it to happen. Teddy and I were extremely close. He was the baby of the family and I am the oldest, but we were tight. He adored his big sister and I don’t think I could’ve loved him more if he were my own child. I prayed with him to receive Christ when he was seven and I was the main spiritual mentor in his life. Teddy had such a love for God and if you think I’m passionate, I look like oatmeal compared to him! He preached Jesus every where he went. His wheelchair was covered with bumper stickers that said, "Jesus Loves You", "God is Awesome", "Praise the Lord". He was quite a witness for Christ, he even got in trouble at school for talking about Jesus too much and writing things like, "I love Jesus" on his notebooks and other personal items. He had one teacher who was always on him for this. We realized later that it was probably b/c she was so convicted by his love for God. She and her husband were eventually busted for growing and selling marijuana. Teddy had such faith that God was going to heal him. Every time there was a call for healing at church or any kind of revival meeting, he would wheel to the front for prayer as fast as he could. I still vividly remember him on several occasions after rec’ving prayer, he’d excitedly say, "Kelly, I’m tingling all over, my hands, my feet, my legs...I know God is healing me."
Well, Todd and I married and moved to Texas and Teddy was very hurt and upset over it but he would call me frequently and preach to me over the phone. We continued to pray for God to heal he and Matt but in November of 1992 Teddy’s condition became worse and the Dr told us his heart was failing. I’ll never forget the day Dad called and gave me this news. My heart sank into my toes and my faith cratered.
I didn’t respond like Paul and Silas. I did what many of you have done, been tempted to do or will be tempted to do in the future. So please, learn from my mistake and don’t make the same mistake that I made. I plummeted into deep depression, disappointment with God, confusion, anger and bitterness.
But as 2 Cor 1:3 says, "What a wonderful God we have-- he is the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the source of every mercy, and the one who so wonderfully comforts and strengthens us in our hardships and trials"
In the midst of my depression, confusion and anger God began to speak to me in that still small voice. However, the still small voice became louder and louder in my spirit until this stubborn, strong-willed child finally stopped to listen. I kept hearing these words in my spirit, "you will be persecuted for righteousness sake."
Matt 5:10 Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Well, this made no sense to me. I had always thought of that verse in the context of being persecuted by the world for your faith. I clearly remember sitting down on a couch in our den and saying outloud, "Okay God, what are you trying to say to me?" Again I heard those words. "What do You mean?" I asked. The Lord then spoke to my heart and said, "Kelly, who is your worst enemy?" I again replied outloud, "Satan." "That’s right," came the reply, "and as long as you remain upon this earth he will persecute and attack in an attempt to destroy your faith." Well, this was enlightening, but I was still angry and deeply hurt. Then that still small voice of God spoke again, "Read Hebrews 11". To this I stubbornly replied, "Ugh, thanks but no thanks. I don’t need to read it, I already know what it says, I’ve read it many times. By faith Noah, by faith Abraham...Enoch...Sarah...By faith they all saw and experienced many great and awesome miracles by Your hand. Well, I’m sorry Lord, but I don’t want to read about the great things You did then anymore. I want to experience Your miracles NOW! I WANT YOU TO HEAL MY BROTHERS!!!"
Silence. I sat there in silence, almost stunned at the realization of this conversation I was having with God. Then it came again, "Read Hebrews 11." Again I argued my case against this. "Read Hebrews 11". Finally I gave in, grabbed my Bible and began to half-heartedly read out loud. Then I slammed my Bible shut and began to vent my hurt and frustration again. God, do it today! Do it in my day! Do it my family! I fell to the floor weeping. I heard, "pick up the Bible and keep reading Kelly."
I reluctantly picked it up and continued (vs. 29 - 35) and when I got to verses 35 -40 God shattered the deep darkness over my soul and revealed life-changing truth to me.
Heb 11:35-40
35 And some women, through faith, received their loved ones back again from death. But others trusted God and were beaten to death, preferring to die rather than turn from God and be free-- trusting that they would rise to a better life afterwards.
36 Some were laughed at and their backs cut open with whips, and others were chained in dungeons.
37 Some died by stoning and some by being sawed in two; others were promised freedom if they would renounce their faith, then were killed with the sword. Some went about in skins of sheep and goats, wandering over deserts and mountains, hiding in dens and caves. They were hungry and sick and ill-treated-- too good for this world.
39 And these men of faith, though they trusted God and won his approval, none of them received all that God had promised them;
40 for God wanted them to wait and share the even better rewards that were prepared for us.
(TLB)
LIFE LESSONS ON UNWAVERING FAITH
1. 1. Every aspect of our lives is part of a SPIRITUAL BATTLE.
a. Satan is the enemy of our souls and as long as we remain on this earth, he is out to get us.
*His plan A is to keep us out of God’s Kingdom. If he fails there, he doesn’t run off with his tail between his legs, he just switches to
*Plan B, which is to attempt to weaken and destroy our faith, trust and commitment to God.
b. Remember, you will be persecuted for righteousness’ sake.
c. Satan will attempt to weaken and destroy your faith. Be on the alert!
2. True faith isn’t that everything goes my WAY, because I know how to PRAY.
a. True faith isn’t that everything always goes my way.
b. I cut my teeth (so to speak) on the Word of Faith preachers, so I thought that if I just had enough faith, I would never go through the devastating, heartbreaking stuff that people with weak faith went through.
d. Because I am part of the human race, I’m going to face trials and difficulties from time to time. The only way to escape it, is to have Him take me to heaven.
3. True FAITH is that no matter what our enemy brings against us, our FAITH in God cannot be shaken!
Truth Faith...
Rejoices ALWAYS! Regardless of circumstances
Prays WITHOUT CEASING! Regardless of feelings
Gives thanks IN EVERYTHING! Fixing our eyes on Jesus and our hope in what is eternal
We can cry and whine about our circumstances and ask "WHY GOD? WHY?" all day long and it only takes us deeper into satan’s lair. We tend to become so caught up with the temporal things of this life and really, that is so silly in light of eternity! We need to become caught up with the eternal things of the life that is to come. That’s when the pain of life begins to make sense and all of the questions begin to fade.
I have to close with this dream that God gave me after Teddy’s departure from this earth. I still had a lot of questions and I did grieve deeply over his departure. But Our wonderful, loving God gave me a precious dream that helped me so much with the lingering questions in my mind.
Don’t misunderstand what I’m saying here tonight. I AM NOT SAYING THAT YOU JUST PRAISE GOD AND WHATEVER WILL BE WILL BE.
The Bible says the JUST SHALL LIVE BY FAITH! Miracles happen when we live, walk, act and behave according to faith. If your marriage is struggling, you don’t just throw up your hands and say, "oh well, praise God anyway." NO! You pray in faith that your marriage will be healed and restored! Because I’ve heard countless testimony’s of marriages being miraculously healed and restored. As a matter of fact. Just to encourage those of you who have struggling marriages, stand up if God has miraculously healed and strengthened your marriage.
If you’ve been told you have a chronic or terminal illness, do you just throw up your hands and say, "oh well, praise God any way?" Yes, you praise Him! Of course, you have so much to praise Him for! And you pray in faith and go ahead and praise Him in advance for healing you. You don’t meditate on the illness and you don’t camp out on thoughts of doubt, fear, worry and unbelief. You walk in faith that He is indeed healing you now.
For some reason, God chose to go ahead and take both of my precious brothers home to heaven. I don’t know why. But I do know this: I can rejoice in the hope of eternity with Him and with them, I can thank Him for the wonderful time I did have with them and for the way He helped me and my family through and I can pray for others to be healed and fully expect it to happen. Stand up if God has ever healed you of a terminal or chronic illness.
Now, as Paul Harvey says, "now, for the rest of the story..." Remember Alton’s Mom and how her faith was under fire? Let me read the "rest of the story".
(Read the story - unable to publish - sorry)
