CEL112303
This sermon was preached by Scotty L Killingsworth to the Evergreen Church on Sunday morning November 23, 2003.
The sermon title is: Worst Case Scenario
The burden of this message will deal with the question, “How does one live with an attitude of gratitude when things could not get much worse?”
Sermon text: Jeremiah 29
I heard about a little fourth-grader who stood up to give a report concerning the origins of the Thanksgiving holiday. Here’s how he began:
The pilgrims came here seeking
Freedom of you know what.
When they landed, they gave
Thanks to you know who.
Because of them, we can worship
Each Sunday, you know where.
A little more specificity would be a good additive for our thankfulness. Some times I think we need to be more direct with God in the area of thankfulness. Most of the time I have an existential thankfulness in my heart that thinks it is being thankful for all things all the time, and that is not bad, but it doesn’t hurt to define what exactly we are thankful for either.
In Vermont a farmer was sitting on the porch with his wife. He was beginning to realize how much she meant to him. It was about time--for they had lived together forty-two years, and she had been such a help, a very willing worker. One day as they sat together, he said, "Wife, you’ve been such a wonderful woman that there are times I can hardly keep from telling you."
There are many of us who are very much like this Vermont farmer only our silence is toward God. We are so blessed that there are times we can hardly keep from telling him.
Would it surprise you to know that God enjoys our thanksgiving? Did you know that our relationship with Him is very important to God? God loves everything about us except our sin and rebellion. He wants to be in every part of our lives and share everything. He loves it when we are thankful.
This is the Sunday before Thanksgiving and I am going to encourage you to be thankful. Imagine that! It’s so easy to be thankful when a new baby is born or when a promotion at work comes through with a big raise, perks and extra weeks of vacation, or you are falling in love. What if the baby is born with severe retardation, the new job turns out to be a nightmare and the love affair is a train wreck? Are you still thankful? Can a person remain faithful to God when the worst case scenario is the present reality? Will your faith survive the really bad life-storms?
The Biblical Background for this talk will come from a worst case scenario in the life of God’s chosen people through the ministry of Jeremiah. The Israelites had so displeased the Lord, by spiritual coldness and idolatry, that he took drastic measures to restore his people. God will go to any length to re-establish a healthy relationship with his children. God will even engineer our failures to restore us to right relationship with him.
The truth statement that is the heart of this message is - God has a definite plan for his children even when we think things could not get worse. There are attitudes, activities and directions that will help each of us through those very difficult life situations.
In fact it is God that is our worst nightmare when we have broken intimacy with him. He will hold back no pain, test or life failure to restore his children.
How does one keep an attitude of gratitude in difficult times?
Don’t let depression rob you of life 29:5-6
Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce. 6Marry and have sons and daughters; find wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, so that they too may have sons and daughters. Increase in number there; do not decrease.
Erwin W. Lutzer once said, “One of my great encouragements is to be friends with those who were personally acquainted with A. W. Tozer. This man, who knew God so intimately, had days when he was so discouraged he felt he could not continue as a minister. A man who instructed thousands in the deep things of God often felt he was a miserable failure.”
Depression will keep you from settling down, planting gardens, getting married and having children. But God’s word to captives and depressed people is—do not decrease. Jeremiah sums it up perfectly when he says, “Do not decrease.” Don’t give up on your dream. Don’t settle for less. You were made for a mighty purpose. Don’t allow a calamity or depression to keep your from your God given destiny. Challenges may be preparing you for even greater things. Your greatest days may be just around the next corner.
Sometimes we allow really bad times to rob the joy of living. Jeremiah told the elite captives to settle in and make a life. Yes, you are a hostage/captive in a foreign capital and your life will never be the same again, but you can make a new life right in the middle of a mess.
I believe he also indicated that the test was under the sovereignty of God. If God was in control of the test it is for our best to cooperate with God and make the best of a bad situation. No life event can be called a failure if we learn from it and grow. Live each day to the fullest.
Don’t allow your frustrations to keep you from being a blessing 29:7
Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the LORD for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.”
The definition of frustration is, expectations not met. We become frustrated when what we thought was going to happen doesn’t. We thought that the person we married would change and become Mr. or Mrs. Perfect and instead they turned into our worst nightmare. We thought the new car would fill our life with pleasure and now were stuck with repair bills. The hair restorer didn’t help. The color of our hair was not even close to what the picture on the box indicated. That is frustration.
The captives were frustrated. Life had thrown them a curve. They didn’t expect to spend the remainder of their days in Babylon! They were frustrated. Jeremiah gave them great advice and it is good even today. When you are frustrated with life don’t allow it to keep you from being a blessing.
The tendency is to say, “Well, if that’s the way things are they can sit and spin. I will not lift a finger to help in any way.” Jeremiah would say to the frustrated that this attitude is not what God wants his children to live with.
We are to pray to the Lord for those who frustrate us. We are to ask God to cause them to prosper. Jeremiah said that if they prosper so will you.
If you have a boss or work for a company that is frustrating the dickens out of you the tendency is to do try to get back at them by slowing down or tuning out. Try seeking the prosperity of that company or boss and praying to the Lord for them. Christ followers and especially fully devoted ones become bigger than their problems and overcome them with love and the power of God.
So, if you are in a difficult time right now don’t allow it to rob you of the joy of life or keep you from being a blessing right in the middle of the junk.
Some people are much better at overcoming obstacles than others. Some of the reason for success in this area is found in your associates/friends. Who do you talk to about your troubles? Do they give you advice based on the Bible or on a life lived in Christ, or do they regurgitate Oprah or Dr. Phil or some pop psychology that is based on a flawed world system?
It really matters to whom you turn for help.
Seek advice only from Godly counselors 29:8-9
Yes, this is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: “Do not let the prophets and diviners among you deceive you. Do not listen to the dreams you encourage them to have 9They are prophesying lies to you in my name. I have not sent them,” declares the LORD.
The big lie that was going around in Babylon was that the captivity would be short. The lying prophets told the people that God would not allow his people to suffer in Babylon for very long and that he would move quickly to restore them.
Jeremiah and Isaiah and other true prophets of the day believed God had a longer trial in mind. History records that the trial lasted nearly 70 years. If the captives had listened to those who were telling them that their time away would be brief they would not have settled in and made a life there. An entire generation would have wasted the most precious thing God gives us – life.
Human beings are so influence-able. Advertising agencies know that about us and capitalize on this fact of life. Our choices can be tweaked. Our dreams can change. Our once made-up minds can be unmade. We are open to influence.
Influence can be good or it can be bad. Influence is morally neutral and can go either way. If one opens their lives up to God and to his living Word that influence-able part of us is better. If influence is given to negative or ignorant people who lead us astray we are much worse off.
Sometimes we don’t want to hear good advice. We want someone to tell us our sinful direction is OK and we should do what makes us feel good at the time. It may feel good at the time, but the life circumstances that our bad choices set in motion may plague us for the remainder of our lives.
Advisors may tell you to be unfaithful to your spouse, or try just a little of this or cut a little corner in business and it will be alright. No one will know. Wrong! Someone does know and that someone is you (and don’t forget God). When you follow godless advice you loose a little of your soul and maybe a big hunk of your peace and joy.
Where are godly counselors found? Each person has access to godly counselors. They go to church with you. They may be a trusted friend or relative. Sometimes God places them just down the street. The most trusted counsel a person can have is the Holy Spirit sensitized conscience that is constantly available to monitor and affect our behavior.
So, when tough times have landed in your lap and you are fighting to keep joy ringing and you are seeking to be a blessing and you are listening to godly counsel one thing to keep in the back of your mind is that . . .
Remember, tough times don’t last forever 29:10-11
10This is what the LORD says: “When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my gracious promise to bring you back to this place. 11For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
When the years are completed . . . I will come for you. God has a timer set in heaven for each of our difficulties and trials. When the bell sounds the test is over. God in infinite wisdom knows how long you can stand up under the stress and has designed your trial especially for you. It fits your personality to a “T”.
God will keep his promises. He will bring you to the place he has planned to bring you. He will not kill you or loose you on the way. You will arrive changed, however.
Verse 11 says that God has plans for you. These plans are completely benevolent. He plans to prosper you and give you hope and a future. God’s plans will bring us to the very place we dream of arriving. It is the tough times that mold us into the person able to live in and thrive in the place of our dreams.
Do you believe in God? Do you believe God has the best in mind for you? Do you believe God has a future for you? If you said yes to these questions you already have enough faith to get you through this present test.
There is one more helpful suggestion we can glean from Jeremiah
Move toward God through it all 29:12-14
Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. 13You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. 14I will be found by you,” declares the LORD, “and will bring you back from captivity.
God can be found no matter how bad the hell storm you are experiencing. He invites us to call upon him in prayer and he will listen. Just knowing God is listening is enough. To know we are not alone in the storm is ultimate comfort.
There is a level of seeking that Jeremiah brings to our attention. He says we are to seek God with all our heart. That means we can’t be divided or ambiguous in our search for God. If we really want to find him he will be found. God is not trying to be hard to find. He desires intimacy with us but the human heart is a dark place and quite capable of rebellion and distance.
The Prodigal Son had a difficult time deciding with all his heart to return to the Father. When he got it together he found his homecoming warm and welcoming.
I know your storm is dark and oppressive. You may not be able to see any light at the end of the tunnel, but keep moving toward God and the light will be found.
When we have moved toward God through it all he will bring us back from our captivity. He will restore us to our destiny. He will make it all make sense.
Conclusion:
With all these positive players in play the captivity accomplished exactly what God planned. The end result was a people back in their homes, fully devoted to their God.
Your hell storm is real, and may be really bad, but when you put into play the word of God you will someday discover that you are back in your home fully devoted to God also.
Give him a chance to finish the work he has started in you.
