LEARNING TO PLAY HURT?
(This is part two of a two part series)
By Wade Martin Hughes, Sr. Kyfingers@aol.com
Many of the thoughts and illustrations in this series I adapted from a sermon by Pastor Wayne B. Smith
of Lexington, KY.
TEXT:
John 6:60 THIS IS A HARD SAYING...
John 6:66 From that time many of the disciples went back, and walked no more with Him.
John 6:67 Then said Jesus unto the twelve: WILL YOU ALSO GO AWAY?
VII. PAUL HAD TO LEARN TO PLAY HURT!
Acts 9:16 FOR I WILL SHOW PAUL HOW GREAT THINGS HE MUST SUFFER FOR MY NAME’S SAKE.
A. Paul learned God uses suffering and pain to grow faith.
B. Ananias was called by God to GO TALK TO SAUL! Ananais prayed Saul’s blindness back to sight.
C. PAUL HAD A THORN AND PRAYED EARNESTLY THREE TIMES FOR GOD TO REMOVE HIS THORN.
II CORINTHIANS 12:5 Of such a one will I glory: yet of myself I will not glory, but in mine infirmities.
6: For though I would desire to glory, I shall not be a fool; for I will say the truth: but now I forbear,
lest any man should think of me above that which he seeth me to be, or that he heareth of me.
7: And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there
was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted
above measure.
8: For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me.
9: And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in
weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ
may rest upon me.
10: Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions,
in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.
D. REAL SUFFERING?
II Corinthians 11: 23 Are they ministers of Christ? ( I speak as a fool) I am more; in labors more
abundant, in stripes, above measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths oft.
24. Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one. (39x5=195)
25. Thrice was I beaten with rods, once I was stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in the deep;
26. In journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine own country men, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren;
27. In weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often,
in cold and nakedness.
28. Besides those things that are without, that which cometh upon me daily, the care of all churches.
29. Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is offended, and I burn not?
E. WHEN THE PREACHER IS A BASKET CASE THE MESSAGE STILL MUST GO FORWARD!
II Cor. 11:33. And through a window in a basket was I LET DOWN by the wall, and escaped his hands.
F. Paul had to learn to trust God. Paul said, I know that all things work together for the good...
Paul learned to play hurt!
VIII. I MAY GET KNOCKED DOWN, BUT I DON’T STAY DOWN.
I MAY BE DOWN BUT I AM NOT OUT! PROBLEMS ARE THE NORM, NOT THE EXCEPTION!
II Corinthians 4: 1 THEREFORE SEEING WE HAVE THIS MINISTRY, AS WE HAVE RECEIVED MERCY, WE FAINT NOT:
8. WE ARE TROUBLED (concerned, worried, disturbed, agitated spiritually or mentally) ON EVERY SIDE,
YET NOT DISTRESSED;
WE ARE PERPLEXED (filled with uncertainty, full of difficulty), BUT NOT IN DESPAIR;
9. Persecuted, ( harassed to grieve or injure, to cause to suffer, to annoy persistently,)
but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed;
A. My Father’s way may twist and turn;
My heart may throb and ache,
But in my soul I’m glad to know He maketh NO MISTAKES!
B. God will pull you through, if you can stand the pull.
IX. IN ALL THESE THINGS WE ARE MORE! WHAT MIGHT TAKE US DOWN CAN LIFT US UP!
Romans 8: 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or
persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or the sword?
36. As it is written For Thy sake we are killed all the day long, we are counted as sheep for the slaughter.
37. Nay, IN ALL THESE THINGS WE ARE MORE THAN CONQUERORS THROUGH HIM THAT LOVED US.
38. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,
39. Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 8:28 AND WE KNOW, THAT ALL THINGS WORK TOGETHER FOR THE GOOD TO THEM THAT
LOVE GOD, TO THEM WHO ARE CALLED ACCORDING TO HIS PURPOSE!
WHILE IN THE MIDST OF THE FOREST CAN WE SEE THE TREES?
IN THE MIDDLE OF TRIALS, PROBLEMS, AND SICKNESS CAN WE SEE GOD?
DOES THE FLESH VISION HINDER THE SPIRITUAL VISION?
Romans 8:31 What shall we then say to these things? IF GOD BE FOR US, WHO CAN BE AGAINST US?
X. THE IRON MAN OF BASEBALL --- LOU GEHRIG, 1903 to 1941.
A. Lou Gehrig played first base from 1925 to 1939, 15 years for the New York Yankees.
Lou played first base. He had a lifetime batting average of .340, he hit 493 home runs.
Lou Gehrig had home runs in seven world series games.
B. Lou played 2,130 straight games without missing one game.
C. Lou’s record stood until 1995 when Carl Ripken, Jr. broke his record.
D. When Lou retired they x-rayed his hands, every finger had been broken at least once, some twice, and
some three breaks in one finger. Lou played and never missed a game, Lou knew how to PLAY HURT!
Lou had a rare disease and died at 37 years old.
Great men don’t quit, and great men learn how to play when they are hurting.
XI. THE HARDEST FOOTBALL RECORD IN HISTORY?
A. In 1899, The College of the South, Sewanee, Tennessee traveled by trains.
The team played 5 teams in 6 days. They didn’t play on Sunday.
They played Texas one day, Texas A&M the next, Tulane, LSU, and Mississippi.
There was only 14 players traveling and they carried a barrel of Tennessee spring water.
The 14 players on the roster had to play both ways, offense and defense.
B. In the 5 games The College of the South scored 113 points, the opposition scored ZERO!
The boys were battered, bruised and bloody, but the 14 men played in the five games.
They learned to play hurt.
XII. THE HARDEST FOOTBALL GAME TO COMPLETE? 222 to 0?
A. Georgia Tech absolutely whipped Cumberland College (Tennessee).
Georgia Tech had a super football team, and Cumberland College was a small school.
B. Georgia Tech won the game 222 to zero.
C. It is said that Cumberland College’s quarterback fumbled the ball, he yelled to one of his own players,
PICK UP THE BALL AND RUN!
The other player yelled back to the quarterback, YOU DROPPED IT! YOU PICK IT UP!
THE TEAM HAD TO KEEP PLAYING UNTIL THE GAME WAS OVER.
D. My friend Lorie Vannucci says: It does not matter if you win or lose, UNTIL YOU LOSE.
Any player can play when they are winning, a good player does not ever quit.
XIII. ARE YOU WITH THE FREE FISH AND FREE BREAD CLUB?
A. There are a few 666’s in the Bible. One 666 is in John.
John 6:66 From that time many of the disciples went back, and walked no more with Him.
John 6:67 Then said Jesus unto the twelve: WILL YOU ALSO GO AWAY?
B. The secret to quitting is found in John 6:60 THIS IS A HARD SAYING...
I often hear, WHEN THE GOING GETS TUFF, THE TUFF GET GOING.
My experience in life has not held true in most hard situations.
C. Does the crowd dictate the spirit?
There was a large crowd of 5,000 plus for the Fish Dinner.
The crowd size drops to 500 with the mention of ministry.
The crowd drops again to 120 tarrying in the Upper Room.
The crowd drops to 70 when it comes to soul winning door to door.
The crowd declines to the 12 disciples to walk with Jesus for 3 years.
The crowd drops to 3 for the local prayer meeting.
The crowd dropped to two discouraged workers on the Emmaus Road.
Seems there was no crowd at all as ONE lay his head upon Jesus’ chest to hear the DIVINE HEARTBEAT!
D. JESUS IS COUNTING ON YOU! DON’T LOOK BACK.
Some of God’s greatest gifts are given in the crucibles of life. Do we say THANKS?
E. Will you think about attitudes and choices?
Did you hear about the guy that had a wind storm blow many of the shingles off his house?
The first day the weather cleared up, the man got his ladder, new shingles, nails, hammer, and climbed
up the old steep roof to repair the damage.
As the man reached over to nail down a shingle, he slipped and slid many feet. He fell to the ground from the roof.
The two story fall broke both his arms and one of his legs. He was totally knocked out.
When he came to, he looked around and said, Thank God, I never broke my eye glasses!
God help me see the good.
John 6:67 Then said Jesus unto the twelve: WILL YOU ALSO GO AWAY?
Can you read the pain in Jesus’ heart as He spoke these words:
ARE YOU GOING TO QUIT LIKE THE REST?
XIV. SYNERGISM: WE CAN PLAY BETTER TOGETHER THAN WE CAN SEPARATED.
Deuteronomy 32: 30 How should one chase a thousand, and two put ten thousand to flight ...
Ecclesiates 4:12 And if one prevail against him, two shall with stand him; and a threefold cord is not
quickly broken.
Colossians 2:2 That their hearts might be comforted, being knit together in love.
A. Pastor Wayne B. Smith asked Jockey Don Brumfield How do you win the Kentucky Derby?
The Jockey said, I MOTIVATE THE HORSE!
Pastor Smith said to Don, HOW DO YOU MOTIVATE A HORSE?
Jockey Brumfield said, I WHISPER IN THE HORSE’S EAR GOING DOWN THE CLOSING STRETCH:
ROSES ARE RED; VIOLETS ARE BLUE; HORSES THAT LOSE ARE TURNED INTO GLUE!
The Jockey and the horse have to work together as one unit.
B. Pastor Wayne B. Smith goes on to futher discuss SYNERGISM...
SYNERGISM: cooperative action of separate agencies such that the TOTAL EFFECT IS GREATER
THAN THE SUM OF THE EFFECTS TAKEN INDEPENDENTLY.
If you go to a horse pull, one individual horse can pull a 8,000 pound load.
Another horse can pull a 9,000 pound load.
How much can they pull together? 8,000 + 9,000 = 17,000.
Well, this is not true, a good team together, the two horses can pull 28,000 pounds.
That is 11,000 pounds more than they can individually pull.
XV. JOY IN ALL, AND FIND JOY, AND PRESS ON, DON’T LOOK BACK.
A. God knows that His Church is not a story of individual accomplishments.
Are we pulling together for the long haul? Will you quit? Will I quit?
We need each other. If we love Jesus we should really love each other.
B. PEOPLE WILL HURT YOU! PEOPLE WILL DISAPPOINT YOU --- BUT YOU HAVE TO PLAY HURT!
How can you seek forgiveness and you not forgive?
How can you love a God you have never seen, and not love your brother or sister?
James 1:2 My brethren, COUNT IT ALL JOY when you fall into divers temptations;
1 Peter 4:12 Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trials which is to try you,
as though some strange thing happened unto you: 13. BUT REJOICE ---
C. In 2003 Brett Favre, of the Green Bay Packers, Dad passed away.
Brett was very close to his Father.
The Packers had a big game to play.
Brett Favre made the decision to go ahead and play the game in the middle of his terrible grief.
The Green Bay Packers promised to make the night a memory to Brett’s Dad.
Brett Favre set many records in that game.
In October, 2004 Brett’s brother- in -law was riding an ATV on the Farve Farm and turned it over.
His brother in law was killed instantly. Farve when ahead and played the Tennessee Titans.
Brett Favre’s greatness was in playing hurt.
D. SUFFERING IS INEVITABLE, BUT MISERY IS OPTIONAL!
SUFFERING IS PART OF LIFE. WILL YOU KEEP PLAYING THE GAME?
CAN GOD TRUST YOU FOR THE BENEFIT OF THE TEAM TO PLAY HURT?
IF YOU DON’T LEARN TO PLAY HURT, YOU WILL NOT KEEP KEEPING ON.
I would like to give a big thanks for the thought and several of the illustrations to
Pastor Wayne B. Smith, Lexington, Ky.
His servant, Wade Martin Hughes, Sr. Kyfingers@aol.com
Could you join my team and pass this on to others?
