What to Do When¡K part 5 ¡§Life changes¡¨
Story ¡V Graduating from high school and not really sure what to do. Was then accepted into Ford school and found my way into a great paying job. During this time I was miserable because I felt like I was not in God¡¦s will for my life. So I left my great paying job for the pay of an intern at a local church. I went from driving a new car to driving an old pickup and I had to learn to live on a budget as opposed to spending money as I wanted to¡K This was a big change in my life!!!
I would like to begin by congratulating you all, tonight is the final part of our series on ¡§what to do when¡¨ and I want to thank you all for coming out each week and finding out what God would have us do in all different kind of situations to stay focused on him. As always I want to review real quick over what we have been through so far: The first week we looked at what to do when you are confused, and we said those things were to Stop, Seek, and Submit. The following week we looked at what to do when things go wrong, and we said that we should Thank, Think, Take, and Trust. The third week we dug into what to do when things go right. We said we should Rejoice, Rest, and Reach Out. Then last week the topic was what to do when you are attacked and they were to Pause, to recognize that God is in control. Pray, for Gods protection and peace. And to Praise, God that he will save you from your attackers. So that is where we have been, each week trying to figure out how to stay God focused instead of me focused in the midst of life¡¦s different situations. This week I would like to look at something that each and everyone of us have dealt with, and will continue to deal with throughout our lives¡K and that something is change. For some people that is almost a dirty word!!! Change¡K yuck!!! For the vast majority of the people in our world change is a painful and difficult thing to face in life. We are by nature creatures of habit, we get up at the same time everyday, we have the same morning routine, and to add to that if that gets messed up the rest of the day is just terrible, we eat at the same times, we go to the same restaurants and order the same thing every time, a number one super sized with a coke¡K and on and on we go. The thing that is so painful about change and the reason it is so hard to deal with is because it always causes us to lose just a little control over our own lives. We hate this, but that is why it is the perfect tool for the devil to use to get us distracted, and get our focus off of God and onto our own problems. There is something else that makes it tough though, we all have to go through it!!!
I have some ¡§raise of the hand¡¨ questions before we go on:
„h How many of you have been born?
„h How many of you had to go to kindergarten?
„h How many of you have ever graduated from a grade and forced to go to the next?
„h How many of you have ever moved?
„h How many of you have ever lost a friendship or relationship?
„h How many of you have ever changed your underwear?
See I told you we all change¡K
But really all of these things are times when life has changed and we are forced to deal with the consequences. Sometimes they can be very serious like: a parents divorce, the death of a loved one, or bad decision you made. So how do we handle this in a God honoring manner that keeps the focus on him and not on us, well I am glad you asked.
There are 3 things that I think we can do to help in this task and they are:
„h Express Thanks
„h Enlist
„h Expect
As we have done with the other parts of this series I also have a story about a guy from the Bible that went through this and can help us formulate what to do when life changes¡K
What would you say if I told you that your name was going to be changed, your wife¡¦s name was going to be changed, you were going to move to a strange new home, and you were going to have a whole country come from you even though you had no children?
Most of us would be like ok, your nuts, but how about throw in a few more changes and put me out at the funny farm¡K This is a true story about a man named Abram from the Old Testament of the Bible in the book of Genesis.
Genesis 17:1-8
I think most of us would agree that this guy probably new a thing or two about change, so lets get started by looking at the first point.
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1. Express Thanks, to God for new opportunities.
Ephesians 5:20 ¡§giving thanks to God the Father at all times and for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.¡¨ NRSV (italics mine)
This may be just a small little verse in the midst of this big ole Bible but what a powerful message is fit into such a small space. First of all we see to ¡§give thanks¡¨. If you have been here for the other parts of this series you might have noticed this as a theme in every situation. It can be labeled many different ways, praise, thanks, or to rejoice, but the idea is the same no matter what we are to thank¡K But when??? Well, this verse makes it very clear, ¡§at all times¡¨ including times when life changes. So what should we be thankful for? ¡§everything¡¨ according to that verse we just read. I have some news for you now¡K we are to give thanks when life changes, and we are forced to deal with new circumstances and situations, period. We are not just supposed to thank God when we go through a change and it turns out that hey that was not too bad, hey thanks God¡K but we are to give thanks in ALL situations and for everything in that situation. Why is this so important and why do I keep harping on it? It is important because when a Christian finds
himself in a difficult situation it becomes hunting season for satan. He sees us and is going to do everything in his power to try to get us to take our focus off of God and begin to look at all our problems and then it happens¡K we complain.
This is a victory for the devil, it says in Philippians 2:14 to ¡§do all things without murmuring (or complaining)¡K¡¨ When we thank God in all situations including when life changes we ensure that the devil will not have a chance to plant his evil seeds. When these times come we have a choice to make, just like there are two sides to every piece of paper, but do you think it matters to the fly which side of the flypaper he lands on??? Remember our story about Abram, who was renamed Abraham, well lets look and see what he did when God told him about all these changes¡K Genesis 17:17 ¡§Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed, and said to himself, ¡¥Can a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old?¡K¡¨ ¡§Now wait a minute, I thought you said that we could learn something from this story, so you want us to laugh at God?¡¨ I am not saying we should laugh at God, but we can learn what not to do in this case. You see before this Abraham had tried to take matters into his own hands and he had a son by his wife¡¦s maid¡K this as you might have guessed did not work out to well. Abraham did not quite have enough faith all the time to trust that God could bring any good out of this new change and as a result there was some consequences. By thanking God we keep that from happening, we stay focused on God and keep the devil from getting a foothold in our lives. When we give thanks we not only do what God ask us to do, we also take advantage of the new opportunities he is giving us. When life changes it always brings new opportunities and again the choice is ours in how we handle them, with thanks which leads to blessing, or with complaining which leads to heartache and pain.
2. Enlist, the help of God.
In our theme verse for this series we find this in verse 6,
Philippians 4:6 ¡§¡Kbut in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your request be made known to God.¡¨ NRSV (italics mine)
Again we see that everything idea, ¡§but in everything¡¨, including when life changes, we should pray and let our request be made known to God. Why? Why should we tell God what we are feeling, and what our concerns are when life changes? Too often when life changes we are like Abraham was when I mentioned he took matters into his own hands, we think we can solve our problems. As we saw with him, and as it will be with us if we don¡¦t ask for God¡¦s help, we will not receive the full blessing of God that our theme verse promises. We will not receive the ¡§peace of God, which surpasses all understanding,¡¨ that, ¡§will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.¡¨ God is saying to us here that I will give you the peace and protection you need if you will just ask for it. Jesus one time told a parable or a story about a man who late at night went over to his neighbor¡¦s house in search for food, it is found in the Gospel of Luke.
Luke 11: 5-13
Remember the question I asked earlier, why should we pray, well here we have Jesus talking on this very subject.
This is an interesting story for a couple reasons and I think they are important for us to grab hold of when life changes. The first thing we need to realize about this teaching of Jesus is persistence in prayer.
Story- I can remember being a little kid, probably about 6 or 7 years old and wanting a new bicycle, the bike I had was nice, but it was a used bike when I got it, and it was just not looking as cool as those blue metal flake finished bikes that all my friends had. So I can remember asking my parents over and over for a new bike. I asked in the morning when I got up and then when I was dropped off at school, then when I was picked up from school. I would ask before I went out to play, and after I got back from playing. I would even drop little hints like, ¡§wow, it sure would have been nice to have a fast new bike today when I was playing¡K¡¨ I know I had to drive my parents crazy, until finally they told me something very wise¡K they told me to pray about it, and God would provide if it was his will. So I prayed and prayed and prayed some more. I prayed like I have never prayed before. About a month later one of my friends had gotten a new bike, but his old one was almost brand new and it had the blue metal flake finish and to my surprise he gave it to me!!! I learned a very valuable lesson from my parents, praying with persistence!!!
In the parable it can be easy to misread this story as God being the grouchy neighbor, but that is not exactly what Jesus was saying. The idea that Jesus was trying to communicate here is that if a grouchy neighbor, late at night, who needs sleep, is able and willing to give to the man in need, Then how much more will God, our loving, all powerful, self sufficient, heavenly Father meet the needs of his children. Notice though the contrast in the parable of Jesus, the man at the door had to keep knocking, and keep knocking, but according to Luke 18:1-18 God is quick to respond to the needs of his children. While God is not slow in answering prayer, the way in which this man got his request met is something we need to look at, Like I just said if being persistent paid off on a human being late at night, how much more will persistent prayers be met by our loving God!!!
A quick side note here: there is the piece of this about praying for things in Gods will, just because we ask God for a new bike everyday for a year does not mean we will get it.
So before you begin to pray, seek Gods will, ask God what he wants for you and what your true needs are when life changes, and then pray his will not mine¡K The final thing from this parable that I want to point out is this, God knows how to give good gifts, we see that very clear in the parable, But realize that the time to go to God is not just at midnight or in crisis times, but when the verses say in 9 and 10 to ask, seek, and knock it is referring to a constant prayer life with God. If we will do these things in prayer then we can receive the blessing that God wants to give us when life changes.
3. Expect, God to work things for the good.
Romans 8:28 ¡§We know all things work together for the good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.¡¨
Why can we be so confident in trusting that enlisting God through prayer will help us when life changes?
It is because of this verse. It does not matter if when we pray we get a ¡§yes¡¨ to what we want or a ¡§no¡¨ to what we want and need, Because God has promised to give us the good in all things!!! When life changes we can take comfort in the fact that it is for the good.
So why do I need to express thanks to God, and enlist his help if all things work for the good? The answer is while God is using this change in your life for the good, we need his strength and power to respond to the change in a right way. It is kind of like airline flights, the most preferable is a non-stop flight to somewhere when you don¡¦t have to wait or change planes¡K it is the easiest, but it cost more. The cheaper flights don¡¦t cost as much, but man are they are pain when you constantly have to stop and start, change planes and all of this. It does not pay in the long run. Will both flights get to the same destination; of course it just depends on how long it takes you. Is God going to work your situation for the good, sure, but how long will it take you to realize the blessing from this? When life changes we can expect God to work through this situation for the good.
When we look back to our story of Abraham we find out that because of his obedience and faith to God when life changed for him the promise for Abraham to be the father of a great nation was fulfilled, At the age of 100 he had a son named Isaac and Abraham became the father of the nation of Israel.
Ephesians 3:20-21 ¡§ Now to him who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen ¡¨ NRSV
When we do this we not only handle things in a godly manner that helps us stay more God focused and less me focused, it also brings glory to God because we trust in his power to do the impossible.
So remember when life changes to:
ľ Express Thanks, God for new opportunities
ľ Enlist, the help of God
ľ Expect, God to work things for the good.
Prayer time -------------------
If you are here tonight and you heard me talking about being a child of God and all of these promises, but you are not sure if you are or even how to become one¡K if you have never been saved from your sins and set free in Christ then tonight I want to give you the opportunity to say yes to God¡¦s calling.
If this is you and you are not sure if you have a relationship with Jesus, then it is real simple. Right where you are at tonight, just cry out to God the best way you know how. Tell him you love him, God sent his Son Jesus to come and pay the penalty for your sins and to set you free from them, tell God that you recognize this sacrifice that he made for you and trust that this is how you will receive eternal life with God. Tell God you are sorry for you sins and you need his strength to turn from them. Ask him to save you and he will¡K
For those of us who are already children of God and maybe you are going through a time when life is changing for you and you need some help with this, raise your hand where you are so that I can pray for you¡K
God I pray that in the midst of these changing times we can remain focused on you. Help us to thank you at all times, and to ask you for help, and to place out trust in you for the good in this situation. Guard and protect us as you draw us closer to you. Amen.
