INTRO.- ILL.- 22 year-old pop singer Britney Spears got married again for the second time in nine months. The first marriage lasted only about 55 hours. Someone calculated that if she kept up this pace by the time she is 50 she will be married some 39 times. SHE GOT MARRIED AGAIN. I say, so what? It’s no big deal. Not to most of us.
ILL.- Actor Billy Bob Thornton and his girlfriend announced last Wednesday that she has given birth to a baby girl. So what?
ILL.- On Sept. 14th, 2004, Oprah Winfrey gave away 276 brand new G-6 Pontiac cars on her TV show. Of course, billionairess Oprah didn’t actually give these cars away. That is, she didn’t pay for these cars. Pontiac did this as an advertising stunt. And here’s the after effect. Each of those 276 people will pay about $7000 in taxes for those cars…still, a bargain by most people’s standards. BUT NOT IF YOU DON’T HAVE $7000 DOLLARS! But again, I say, so what?
ILL.- TV’s CBS network got the bill last Wednesday for Janet Jackson’s eye-catching flash dance during the Super Bowl halftime show: a record $550,000. So what? I think they should get fined for a lot more stuff.
Most average American citizens are not worried about new cars, pop singers getting married, what TV networks do or don’t do, actors and actresses having babies, they are simply concerned about being able to live, pay bills (or make ends meet), raise their kids and survive this so-called rat race.
ILL.- Someone came up with the “Top 10 Signs of Job Burnout“
10. You’re so tired, you now answer the phone with "Leave me alone!"
9. Your friends call to ask how you’ve been, and you immediately scream, "Stop asking me all these questions!"
8. Your garbage can IS your "Inbox"!
7. You wake up to discover your house is on fire, but go back to sleep because you just don’t care.
6. You consider a 40-hour week a vacation.
5. Visions of the upcoming weekend help you make it through Monday.
4. You don’t set your alarm anymore because you know your pager will go off before your alarm does.
3. You leave for a party and instinctively bring your ID badge.
2. Your Day Timer/Work Planner exploded a week ago.
And the NUMBER ONE sign that you are burned out because of work:
1. You think about how relaxing it would be if you were in jail right now.
I think some people may feel this way about all of life because life is so stressful.
II Tim. 3:1 Amplified “BUT UNDERSTAND this, that in the last days will come (set in) perilous times of great stress and trouble [hard to deal with and hard to bear].”
Job 14:1 “Man born of woman is of few days and full of trouble.” I don’t like this verse of scripture but I think it’s true.
I think most people would agree that life is a tough course. As we get older we think that things should get better, but it doesn’t always work that way.
When the kids are grown and gone everything should be better. WRONG! That’s wishful thinking. No matter where we are in life there will always be a certain amount of stress and/or trouble. It’s just that we experience different types of stress at different stages in our lives.
When you’re young and in school it’s the stress of school and peer pressure. When you’re out in the working world, it’s work and relationships. When you’re married and have children, it’s both work and children.
When the kids are gone and on their own, it can still be your kids. At least, part of the time. And no matter where you are in life, you still have to deal the stress of health and finances. Making a living is, in some ways, harder than it used to be.
People make more money than they used to, but it also takes more to live….or perhaps more to play with! We have become accustomed to living with everything….we have everything and want everything and it costs money, which some people don’t have. There are the haves, the have-nots and the charge-its.
Even if you have it, there will always be other problems that cause stress.
ILL.- One preacher friend of mine in southern IL is 65 years old and preaches at a Baptist church that runs around 450 in attendance. He has an excellent salary of $65,000 a year and seemingly has it made. He told me that he was putting away over $20,000 a year in savings. Frankly, I don’t know of many people who can do that.
Things were pretty good until he had a health breakdown with his back, then had surgery and is still not recovered and may never completely recover. Now he has decided to retire at the end of Oct. He said, “And with a $65,000 cut in pay!” But at least, it sounds like he will have a decent retirement and he apparently is just thinking of taking care of what health he has left.
No matter where you are in life, there will always be a certain amount of stress. WHAT’S THE ANSWER? How do we cope? What do we do?
PROP.- In stressful times like these, what can we do?
1- Count the blessings
2- Consider the source
3- Continue the life
I. COUNT THE BLESSINGS
ILL.- At a nursing home a group of seniors were sitting around talking about all their ailments:
"My arms have gotten so weak I can hardly lift this cup of coffee", said one.
"Yes, I know," said another. "My cataracts are so bad I can’t even see my coffee."
"I couldn’t even mark an "X" at election time, my hands are so crippled", volunteered a third.
"What? Speak up! What? I can’t hear you! I can’t turn my head because of the arthritis in my neck," said a fourth, to which several nodded weakly in agreement.
"My blood pressure pills make me so dizzy!" exclaimed another.
"I forget where I am, and where I’m going," said another.
"I guess that’s the price we pay for getting old", winced an old man as he slowly shook his head. The others nodded in agreement.
"Well, count your blessings," said one woman cheerfully. "Thank God we can all still drive."
Brothers and sisters, no matter what kind of shape we’re in, we should count our blessings.
Rom. 15:26-27 “For Macedonia and Achaia were pleased to make a contribution for the poor among the saints in Jerusalem. They were pleased to do it, and indeed they owe it to them. For if the Gentiles have shared in the Jews’ spiritual blessings, they owe it to the Jews to share with them their material blessings.”
Paul speaks of the Jews’ spiritual blessings and the Gentiles material blessings. I believe that all of us have both material and spiritual blessings. No matter how little we have, we still have a lot in comparison to most people in the world. And we all need to count those blessings occasionally.
ILL.- My 24-year-old son Shane lives in Cape Girardeau, MO, and works at BG’s restaurant. He is actually classified as a dishwasher. Some job, huh? He washes dishes, bakes potatoes and delivers meals. He gets a little over five dollars an hour, plus tips. Sometimes he gets a tip and sometimes he gets nothing, but complaints.
He told me that he recently delivered over $200 worth of meals to doctor’s park in Cape and never got a dime for a tip. Personally, I think that’s rotten. Some people are so tight when it comes to sharing with others who have less. But nevertheless, I try to remind Shane that at least he has a job. Some people don’t even have a job and would like to have one. And on a good Friday he might make $60 in tips and sometimes more. But $60 is good.
HE IS BLESSED. We all are blessed materially speaking and sometimes, just don’t realize it. Stop and count your blessings once in a while.
ILL.- Many years ago I was invited to eat with a family who had a small boy. They asked the boy to say grace. He did, but it took him a while. Everything he saw, he gave thanks to God for: the plates, the fork, the food, the clock on the wall, the frig, the dog outside…on and on. He went on for such a long time that I wanted to teach him a shorter prayer.
That little boy did what we should do occasionally: stop, look around at everything we have and give thanks! No matter how bad our situation is in life, we are still blessed!
Eph. 1:3 “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.”
We’re also blessed spiritually. Our greatest blessings are spiritual because they will never run out. What are we talking about? God the father, Christ the Savior, Holy Spirit the helper, the Bible as God’s Word, forgiveness of our sins, the church, Christian friends, heaven, etc.
ILL.- There is a gospel singing group called MERCY ME. They have a song called I CAN ONLY IMAGINE. Here are the words.
I can only imagine
What it will be like
When I walk
By Your side
I can only imagine
What my eyes will see
When Your face
Is before me
I can only imagine
{Chorus}:
Surrounded by Your glory, what will my heart feel
Will I dance for You Jesus or in awe of You be still
Will I stand in Your presence or to my knees will I fall
Will I sing hallelujah, will I be able to speak at all
I can only imagine
I can only imagine
When that day comes
And I find myself
Standing in the Son
I can only imagine
When all I will do
Is forever
Forever worship You
I can only imagine
Brothers and sisters, we are blessed.
II. CONSIDER THE SOURCE
II Cor. 9:10 “Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness.”
Consider who your supplier is. Consider who supplies you with food, clothing, housing, money, a job, etc.
ILL.- One time in 1963 a sixty-eight-year-old man set out to build a church by himself. He spent his own money to build a cement-block-and-stone church complete with parking lot and auditorium on a five-acre plot near Greenlawn, New York. William H. Henderson, who formerly owned a construction business, estimated that the church would cost him $90,000 when finished. He planned to leave it for people to use.
He called himself a minister, but one who preferred to do all the work “with my own two hands.” He boasted of not having “a lick of help” since beginning the project in 1963. He said, “I don’t want anyone coming to help me. Too many people get things disorganized. I do better working by myself.”
Brothers and sisters, all of us are talented in certain ways or in certain things. And we may be able to do some things better by ourselves, but none of us can do everything by ourselves, with our own ingenuity. There is a limit to our genius or ability.
ILL.- Some years ago I started sending my manuscript sermons to an internet site called sermon central.com. And soon afterward I started receiving notes from different preachers, thanking me for my sermons and asking where I got all my stories. I was humbled and thanked them for their kindness and told me that I just searched and read a lot in order to find stories and illustrations.
But sometimes, I get so stumped when I go to prepare a sermon or a message. I may labor over it for days and days and still not get very far. I FEEL SO DOWNRIGHT DUMB AT TIMES. But when I do well, I know where the inspiration comes from. I know where the insight comes from. I know where the good thoughts come from.
James 1:17 “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father…”
If we have anything good in our lives, talent, material blessings, whatever, it comes from God. HE GIVES US NOTHING BUT GOOD STUFF IN LIFE. Don’t ever forget it! Always consider the source of your blessings. Be humble. You are not the author of your good. The Lord is.
III. CONTINUE THE LIFE
II Tim. 3:14-15 “But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, and how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.”
Phil. 2:12 “Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed–not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence–continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling.”
ILL.- Helen Keller was born healthy in 1880 but at the age of 19 months she was stricken with an illness that left her both blind and deaf. At the age of six, the half-wild, deaf and blind girl was taken by her parents to see Dr. Alexander Graham Bell. Because of her visit, Helen was united with her teacher Anne Mansfield Sullivan on March 3, 1887. After Helen’s miraculous break-through, she proved so gifted that she soon learned the fingertip alphabet and shortly afterward to write. By the end of August, in six short months, she knew 625 words.
By age 10, Helen had mastered Braille as well as the manual alphabet and even learned to use the typewriter.
By the time she was 16, Helen could speak well enough to go to preparatory school and to college. In 1904 she was graduated "cum laude" from Radcliffe College.
Helen Keller, the little girl, became one of history’s remarkable women. She dedicated her life to improving the conditions of the blind and the deaf-blind around the world, lecturing in more than 25 countries on the five major continents. Wherever she appeared, she brought new courage to millions of blind people.
Helen Keller once said, “I thank God for my handicaps, for through them I have found myself, my work, and my God.”
ILL.- Fanny Crosby became blind at the age of six weeks and yet she went on to get an education and become a teacher of English grammar, rhetoric, Roman and Greek history. She wrote over 8,000 hymns and poems. Some of her most famous hymns are: "Safe in the Arms of Jesus," "Pass Me Not, O Gentle Saviour," "Rescue the Perishing," "Jesus Keep Me Near the Cross," "Blessed Assurance," "Close to Thee," "Saviour, More Than Life to Me," and "I Am Thine, O Lord."
Fanny Crosby is quoted as saying, “Mother, IF I HAD A CHOICE, I would still choose to remain blind...for when I die, the first face I will ever see will be the face of my blessed Saviour."
ILL.- David Livingstone was a Christian missionary who opened up central Africa for the gospel. During one terrible journey of seven months, from November 1853 to June 1854, he had thirty-one attacks of intermittent fever, incredible hardships, constant wading through swollen streams, tedious delays and harassing exactions from hostile tribes. He wrote: “It is true that I suffered severely from fever, but my experience cannot be taken as a fair criterion in the matter. Compelled to sleep on the damp ground month after month, exposed to drenching showers and getting the lower extremes wetted two or three times every day, living on roots and meal and exposed during many hours each day to the direct rays of the sun with the thermometer standing above ninety degrees in the shade—
“If you knew the satisfaction of performing a duty as well as the gratitude to God which the missionary must always feel in being chosen for so noble and sacred a calling…You would have no hesitation in embracing it. For my own part I have never ceased to rejoice that God has appointed me to such an office. People talk of the sacrifice I have made in spending so much of my life in Africa. Can that be called a sacrifice which is simply paid back as a small part of a great debt owing to our God, which we can never repay.”
Most of us will never have to endure what Liviingstone suffered in living for Christ. YET HE ENDURED AS BEST HE COULD. He continued to live and serve in spite of great difficulty. I AM HUMBLED. In spite of life’s hardships we must continue to live the best we know how. We must continue to live the Christian life.
CONCLUSION----------------------------------------
ILL.- John was driving home late one night when he picked up a hitchhiker. As they rode along, he began to be suspicious of his passenger. John checked to see if his wallet was safe in the pocket of his coat that was on the seat between them, but it wasn’t there! So he slammed on the brakes, ordered the hitchhiker out, and said, "Hand over the wallet immediately!" The frightened hitchhiker handed over a billfold, and John drove off. When he arrived home, he started to tell his wife about the experience, but she interrupted him, saying, "Before I forget, John, do you know that you left your wallet at home this morning?"
Many times in life we come to the wrong conclusion about things. We are sometimes mistaken about people, things and God.
Eccl. 9:1 “So I reflected on all this and concluded that the righteous and the wise and what they do are in God’s hands...” Good conclusion.
We all come to some conclusions in life, but they are not always good. Some people conclude that because they have difficulty and troubles in life God is not good. Or that there is no God at all. THAT’S A BAD CONCLUSION.
The correct conclusion about life is that God is good and that He is working for our good. God is love and there isn’t anyone who loves us more! He is not against us. He is for us!
Matthew 7:11 “If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him.”
Think of it this way. If we parents love our children to the point where we will never forsake them, but always be there for them through the good times and the bad times, THEN JUST THINK HOW MUCH GREATER OUR HEAVENLY FATHER IS WHEN IT COMES TO CARING FOR US! If we parents are faithful, loving, tenderhearted, giving, etc. then what about our Heavenly Father?
