The World Stinks! Nose Blind? Burn Out (3 Part Series)

THE WORLD STINKS? NOSE BLIND? SEEDS?

By Wade Martin Hughes, Sr. Kyfingers@aol.com This is a 3 part series.

IS IT BAD WHEN THERE IS STINK IN THE BARN?

TEXT: Proverbs 14:4 Where no oxen are, the crib is clean: but much increase is by the strength of the ox.

Proverbs 14:4 (NLT) Without oxen a stable stays clean, but you need a strong ox for a large harvest.

Ecclesiastes 11:1 Cast thy bread upon the waters: for thou shalt find it after many days.

Isaiah 3:24 And it shall come to pass, that instead of sweet smell there shall be stink; and instead of a girdle a rent; and instead of well set hair baldness; and instead of a stomacher a girding of sackcloth; and burning instead of beauty.

*STINK: extremely hard, intense, a strong unpleasant smell, a stench, commotion or fuss, trouble, OLFACTORY…

WHAT DO WE DO WHEN LIFE AND MINISTRY STINKS?

Galatians 6:9 And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.

I heard a story of a grumpy old man that seems to have loved the negative life style. The old man had a grandson that loved to aggravate his grandfather. One day while in the kitchen the grandson smell the odor of limburger cheese as his granny was cooking. The smell seemed so bad to the boy. He pinched a piece of the limburger cheese off to taste it. Seems limburger cheese is notorious for the strong smell that comes after 3 months of bacteria fermenting that develops a stinky aroma.

The young boy saw his grandfather asleep in his recliner and he quietly slipped in and rubbed the LIMBURGER CHEESE in his grandfather’s handlebar moustache and then the boy ran out to play. Later grandpa woke up to this strange aroma stinking up the whole room. Grandpa said: Wow it sure stinks in here, I think I will go into the kitchen. Once in the kitchen Paw sniffed the kitchen and he said: Wow, the kitchen whole kitchen stinks.

So Grandpa decided to go out on the front porch and swing. He sat down on the swing and it was not long until Grandpa inhaled deeply and the strong smell was still in his nostrils. Granddad said: WOW! IT SURE STINKS ON THE PORCH. I believe I will go for a walk. So Paw was enjoying his walk down the road until he inhaled deeply and he said: WOW! IT REALLY STINKS OUT HERE. He then came to the conclusion THE WHOLE WORLD STINKS!

We understand why THE WHOLE WORLD STANK! Grandpa was carrying the rotten aroma of the limburger cheese embedded in his handlebar moustache. Everywhere that Grandfather would go the stench was sure to go. Why?

WHAT AROMA OR AURA DO YOU EMIT? Could our attitudes stink to God? What can I do to change my spiritual aroma?

HAVE YOU EVER LOST YOUR WHY? LOOSING YOUR WHY WILL CAUSE US TO LOSE YOUR WAY?

2 Corinthians 4:16 For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day.

Have you ever thought I sure wish God would do something in my family and in my church? I have had visions of grandeur to be dashed in the reality of everyday menial chores of nothingness. THAT STINKS! I guess we need patience, time, effort in dealing with people with a revolving door of problems and trials. There is a great truth on which we must build if we continue and not quit. The wheels of life turn slow… THAT STINKS!

RAISING A SPIRITUAL STINK? PUT YOUR HAND TO THE PLOW?

Luke 9:62 And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.

WE MUST REALIZE IN THE PROCESS OF LIFE THERE ARE SOLUTIONS AND ANSWERS… If we acknowledge there is a solution to each problem and an answer to each question, then COMES THE THOUGHT: WILL I STICK TO IT? OR FOCUS ON THE STINK OF FAILURE? WILL I REFUSE TO QUIT? WILL I DIG THE WELL DEEP? EVEN IF I CAN’T SEE THE WATER TOAY? It is not enough to just believe there is an answer and a solution… WE MUST HAVE THE BACK BONE TO STAND FIRM UNTIL… UNTIL THE SUDDEN MOVE OF GOD THAT MAY TAKE YEARS TO DEVELOP. THAT STICKS.

My first pastorate in the mountains of eastern Kentucky an old lady stood up and said: WE HAVE HAD BETTER PASTORS THAN YOU AND THEY FELL SHORT OF GROWTH? Wow, that is exactly what I needed to hear? In seasons of self-doubt and seeing nothing multiplied by nothing. I not only doubted me, I IN TURN DOUBTED MY CALLING and thus doubted God? THAT STINKS! I learned early in my schooling the LAW OF ZERO. That any number x’s zero is always zero. The enemy made every effort I exerted to seem like a BIG ZERO TO ME? THAT STINKS.