When God Doesn't Make Sense

WHEN GOD DOESN’T MAKE SENSE

JEREMIAH 32:1-3, 6-15

NOVEMBER 16, 2003

INTRODUCTION: Don’t let your troubles get you down. Genghis Khan, the 13th century Mongol conqueror, asked his philosophers to come up with a truth that would always be unchangeable. Thinking on it for a while, they came to their leaders with this quote: "It too shall pass." This reminds me of a dear black lady who was asked by her pastor what her favorite verse of Scripture was and she said: "And it came to pass." God in His mercy never gives us more than we are able to bear.

The Abingdon Disciple.

The story is told that Andrew Jackson’s boyhood friends just couldn’t understand how he became a famous general and then the President of the United States. They knew of other men who had greater talent but who never succeeded. One of Jackson’s friends said, "Why, Jim Brown, who lived right down the pike from Jackson, was not only smarter but he could throw Andy three times out of four in a wrestling match. But look where Andy is now." Another friend responded, "How did there happen to be a fourth time? Didn’t they usually say three times and out?" "Sure, they were supposed to, but not Andy. He would never admit he was beat -- he would never stay ’throwed.’ Jim Brown would get tired, and on the fourth try Andrew Jackson would throw him and be the winner." Picking up on that idea, someone has said, "The thing that counts is not how many times you are ’throwed,’ but whether you are willing to stay ’throwed’." We may face setbacks, but we must take courage and go forward in faith. Then, through the Holy Spirit’s power we can be the eventual victor over sin and the world. The battle is the Lord’s, so there is no excuse for us to stay "throwed"!

Our Daily Bread.

TRANSITOIN THOUGHT: Scripture, the word of God speaks to us of a different reality than that which the world can see. There is a reality in God which has been hidden from the masses but revealed to the people of God. The reality of it all is things aren’t always as they seem. Jeremiah speaks to this whole issue by explaining to us the true reality of God when it would seem, from his own life, Jeremiah that is, that God doesn’t make a bit of sense in the reality of this world. Tonight, we are going to look at life, and by the Help of the Holy Spirit, proclaim the reality of God, when the reality of life around us would say “GOD DOESN’T MAKE SENSE!”

THESIS SENTENCE: ONLY THROUGH FAITH DOES GOD MAKE SENSE!

I. GOD DOESN’T MAKE SENSE IN OUR LIFE SITUATIONS [VV. 1,2,3A, (6-8 FAMILY ASKS THE IMPOSIBLE)]

A. God doesn’t make sense in Jeremiah’s situation

1. Jeremiah is in Jail or at least house arrest (vv. 2).

2. Why would God allow Jeremiah to be thrown in Jail? Jeremiah was doing the will and work of God. What kind of God was he serving anyway?

a. Prison and all bad stuff. b. Family positioning! Then according to Leviticus 25: 25, Jeremiah had to buy some land from a destitute uncle that was in the hand of the Babylonians.

3. Let’s think about others who have been faithful to God:

a. In Daniel chapter 3, we read of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. They would not bow at the sound of music and worship the golden image the king Nebuchadnezzar had set up. What was the outcome, these servants of God were thrown into a furnace of FIRE!

b. If you keep moving through the book of Daniel, chapter 6, we read another story of a prayer warrior who is rewarded for serving the living God. Three times a day he opened his window to Jerusalem and prayed. The result was that he was thrown into a pit with a bunch of hungry lions.

c. Job, a righteous man, but his whole world broke loose, at the hands of the enemy, not because of anything he had done!

d. THE DISCIPLES GAVE UP ALL FOR CHRIST-- IT ALL BROKE LOOSE. Stephen (stoned), Paul (EVERYTHING IMAGINABLE), John on Patmos (The revelator).

B. God doesn’t make sense in our life situation

1. Family strife.

2. You’re locked in to a bad job.

3. Your finances are all gone or you’re in debt up to your eyes.

4. Your health is all gone or you just can’t get well.

5. OUR NATION: The economy, the war in Iraq, jobs leaving the US to other countries and folks getting laid off every day only to find there is no job for them.

THOUGHT #1: WE HAVE PUT OUR SELVES IN THESE SITUATIONS