HOW GOD USES CIRCUMSTANCES TO HELP US REACH OUR DREAMS
Going To The Next Level Series
We’ve been talking about dreams for the last four weeks.
I believe that every person in this room has a dream hidden in you somewhere.
It is our desire that we help you find and release God’s dreams for your life.
We’ve talked about taking risks that please God… that we’re to “step out of the boat.”
Last week Pastor Greg talked about keeping the dream alive and dealing with dream killers like rejection and impatience fear.
I would like to continue along that line of teaching today…
I would like to show you how God uses circumstances for our growth which makes room for the vision.
Everything that has happened to you has happened for a purpose and God desires to use your past to help shape your future.
Have you ever wondered how God uses circumstances to help you grow? Have you ever wondered - "Why am I going through this?"
Gen 42:8 So Joseph recognized his brothers, but they did not recognize him.
Gen 42:9 Then Joseph remembered the dreams which he had dreamed about them, and said to them, "You are spies! You have come to see the nakedness of the land!"
Gen 42:10 And they said to him, "No, my lord, but your servants have come to buy food.
Gen 42:11 "We are all one man’s sons; we are honest men; your servants are not spies."
Gen 42:12 But he said to them, "No, but you have come to see the nakedness of the land."
Gen 42:13 And they said, "Your servants are twelve brothers, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan; and in fact, the youngest is with our father today, and one is no more."
Gen 42:14 But Joseph said to them, "It is as I spoke to you, saying, ’You are spies!’
Gen 42:26 So they loaded their donkeys with the grain and departed from there.
Gen 42:27 But as one of them opened his sack to give his donkey feed at the encampment, he saw his money; and there it was, in the mouth of his sack.
Gen 42:28 So he said to his brothers, "My money has been restored, and there it is, in my sack!" Then their hearts failed them and they were afraid, saying to one another, "What is this that God has done to us?"
· Sometimes God has to do something to us in order to do something for us!
Three Ways Circumstances Come About:
· From my own doing
· From Satan
· From God (He directly allows them)
How many know that circumstances usually come in the form of people.
Why? Because they are the ones who are going to be around the longest. They seem to endure longer.
Three Ways You Can Deal With Circumstances
· You can remove the circumstances
· You can remove yourself from the circumstances
· You can allow God to work out the circumstances
Psalm 119:165 Great peace have those who love Your law, And nothing causes them to stumble.
Rom 8:28-29 v.28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. 29 For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.
V.29 tells us what God’s purpose is for us - to make us like Jesus - "to be conformed to His image."
God uses circumstances in our lives to get us ready for the dreams to be yet fulfilled.
How God Uses Circumstances to Help Us Reach Our Dreams:
1. God uses circumstances to expose certain needs in our lives and then to
establish the characteristics of Christ in these areas.
How many have had things happen in your life that exposed some areas of weakness in you?
[Hint: don’t get upset at what God exposes].
Deu 8:3 "So He humbled you, allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna which you did not know nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the LORD.
2. God uses circumstances to deal with our inner self and then for the life of Christ
to be revealed to us.
2 Cor 4:7-9 7 But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us. 8 We are hard pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; 9 persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed. (NKJ)
3. God uses circumstances so that we can find the abundance for every situation.
2 Cor 12:7-10 7 To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me.
8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 9 But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 10 That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. (NIV)
2 Cor 1:3-4 3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. (NKJ)
4. God uses circumstances in order to bring us into a place of spiritual enlargement.
1 Pet 4:12 Dear friends, don’t be surprised at the fiery trials you are going through, as if something strange were happening to you. (NLT)
1 Pet 4:19 So if you are suffering according to God’s will, keep on doing what is right, and trust yourself to the God who made you, for he will never fail you. (NLT)
1 Pet 1:6 So be truly glad! There is wonderful joy ahead, even though it is necessary for you to endure many trials for a while.
1 Pet 1:7 These trials are only to test your faith, to show that it is strong and pure. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold--and your faith is far more precious to God than mere gold. So if your faith remains strong after being tried by fiery trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world.
For two years, scientists sequestered themselves in an artificial environment called Biosphere 2.
Inside their self-sustaining community, the Biospherians created a number of mini-environments, including a desert, rain forest, even an ocean.
Nearly every weather condition could be simulated except one, wind.
Over time, the effects of their windless environment became apparent.
A number of acacia trees bent over and even snapped. Without the stress of wind to strengthen the wood, the trunks grew weak and could not hold up their own weight.
Weathering storms is what builds our strength.
· God determines the limits to which evil and its effects may go.
Job 2:6 And the LORD said to Satan, ""Behold, he is in your hand, but spare his life.’’ (NKJ)
Ps 124:2-3 2"" If it had not been the LORD who was on our side, when men rose up against us, 3 Then they would have swallowed us alive, when their wrath was kindled against us;(NKJ)
1 Cor 10:13 But remember that the temptations that come into your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will keep the temptation from becoming so strong that you can’t stand up against it. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you will not give in to it. (NLT)
From these scriptures it is clear that every evil act of Satan are even under the complete control of God.
They can occur only by permission, and only as far as God permits them to go. Though they are evil in themselves, He overrules them for good.
Examples:
- Joseph in the pit
- when Israel was conquered and carried to other nations
- the rejection and crucifixion of Christ
- the persecution of the church
- the conflict with Iraq/ North Korea.
Even that is under God’s control. He is not surprised by these men. He is not surprised by the circumstances that are trying to rob you of your dreams.
He knows exactly what is going on.
These are all under the direct control of God. His purpose and glory will reign.
God can turn evil situations into good. This fact ought to help us to trust Him more concerning ourselves right now!
WHEN CIRCUMSTANCES DON’T GO YOUR WAY…
1. Train your eyes to see the potential around you.
· Look for evidence of God’s presence not His absence
Mat 6:22 "Your eye is a lamp for your body. A pure eye lets sunshine into your soul.
Mat 6:23 But an evil eye shuts out the light and plunges you into darkness. If the light you think you have is really darkness, how deep that darkness will be!
What is your eye trained to look at? Do you see light or do you see darkness?
It’s all in the way you see things.
2. Use well the authority given you.
2 Cor 13:10 I am writing this to you before I come, hoping that I won’t need to deal harshly with you when I do come. For I want to use the authority the Lord has given me to build you up, not to tear you down.
A lot of people don’t use the authority given them in good way – especially when things are not going our way.
Notice what he says… Build up and don’t tear down. Be a servant to others.
Learn to use the authority that God has given you to speak encouragement to others.
Don’t judge people character. Coach character.
God’s authority in your life comes through building others up. Serve others.
When you’re being pushed and pressured – just start serving others.
3. Do what you can with what you have.
What can you do right now? Don’t wait for the perfect moment or situation.
Eccl 11:4 If you wait for perfect conditions, you will never get anything done. (NLT)
You will never have perfect conditions. There will always be obstacles to stop your dream.
Do what you can right now with what you have.
You say… I don’t have much. I can’t do much. I have too many problems.
If God is in it and you are not able to do it – THEN HE WILL COME THROUGH WITH A MIRACLE.
Exo 15:25 So he cried out to the LORD, and the LORD showed him a tree. When he cast it into the waters, the waters were made sweet…
4. Don’t compare yourself to others
2 Cor 10:12 Oh, don’t worry; I wouldn’t dare say that I am as wonderful as these other men who tell you how important they are! But they are only comparing themselves with each other, and measuring themselves by themselves. What foolishness! (NLT)
THOUGH TIME MAY BE TOUGH
AND THE ROAD REAL ROUGH
JUST BELIEVE
THOUGH YOU’VE CRIED MANY TEARS
AND WAITED MANY YEARS
JUST BELIEVE
IF GOD SAID HE WILL
THEN JUST BE STILL
AND BELIEVE
FOR GOD WILL TRULY DO
WHAT HE PROMISED YOU
IF YOU JUST BELIEVE
JUST BELIEVE IN HIS WORD
TRUST IN WHAT YOU’VE HEARD
JUST BELIEVE
IF YOUR HEART IS BROKEN
RECALL WHAT HE’S SPOKEN
AND JUST BELIEVE
FOR GOD CANNOT LIE
SO DON’T ASK WHY
JUST BELIEVE
LET FEAR FADE AWAY
LET YOUR SOUL JUST SAY
I BELIEVE
______
Bill and Gloria Gaither have written a lot of great Christian songs. There is one that Gloria wrote in the late 1960’s came while she was expecting a child.
The two of them were going through some huge problems.
Bill had been seriously sick and their music was under attack.
On New Years Eve night, Gloria sat in a dark room experiencing a time of torment and fear.
She said, “I sat alone in the darkness thinking about the rebellious world and all of our problems - and about our baby yet unborn. Who in their right mind would bring a child into a world like this?”
She was at the height of her fear and then something happened. She said, “I can’t quite explain what happened in that next moment, but suddenly I felt released from it all.
The panic that had begun to build inside was gently dispelled by a reassuring presence and a soft voice that kept saying, ‘Don’t forget the empty tomb, don’t forget the empty tomb.’
Then I knew I could have that baby and face the future with optimism and trust for I had been reminded that it was all worth it just because He lives.
”And she wrote: “How sweet to hold a newborn baby, and feel the pride and joy he gives; but greater still the calm assurance, this child can face uncertain days because He lives. Because He lives I can face tomorrow, because He lives all fear is gone, because I know He holds the future. And life is worth the living just because He lives.”
