Sermon Central
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When Troubles Come
Contributed by Rex E. Faile on Mar 7, 2007 (message contributor)
Summary: The question is not if trouble comes but when trouble comes. God has a purpose for every difficulty in life. We must embrace our "training" with joy and hope.
When Trouble Comes
Pastor Rex E. Faile, Sr.
Lakewood Christian Church
March 7, 2007
1 Man that is born of a woman is of few days, and full of trouble.
2 He cometh forth like a flower, and is cut down: he fleeth also as a shadow, and continueth not.
(KJV)
Intro. The question is not if, but WHEN trouble comes. Job had lived a quiet and prosperous life. God had blessed him and given him increase in family, wealth, and friends. But God allowed trouble and tragedy to touch Job. In this time Job learned that life is not about us but about God and our knowing Him in our troubles.
I. A FEW Days - In light of eternity what is 70+ years.
A. Word Study
7116 qatser (kaw-tsare’);
from 7114; short (whether in size, number, life, strength or temper):
KJV-- few, hasty, small, soon.
A. Our years seventy, eighty if we still have strength
Ps 90:4-10
4 For a thousand years in your sight are like a day that has just gone by, or like a watch in the night.
5 You sweep men away in the sleep of death; they are like the new grass of the morning--
6 though in the morning it springs up new, by evening it is dry and withered.
7 We are consumed by your anger and terrified by your indignation.
8 You have set our iniquities before you, our secret sins in the light of your presence.
9 All our days pass away under your wrath; we finish our years with a moan.
10 The length of our days is seventy years-- or eighty, if we have the strength; yet their span is but trouble and sorrow, for they quickly pass, and we fly away.
(NIV)
II. FULL of TROUBLE
A. Full - Have enough
word study:
7646 saba` (saw-bah’);
or sabea` (saw-bay’-ah); a primitive root; to sate, i.e. fill to satisfaction (literally or figuratively):
KJV-- have enough, fill (fullself,, with), be (to the) full (of), have plenty of, be satiate, satisfy (with), suffice, be weary of.
B. TROUBLE
7267 rogez-
agitation, excitement, raging, trouble, turmoil, trembling
a) turmoil, disquiet, raging
b) trembling, trepidation, fear
III. His Life is “As a flower…a shadow” that is cut down and is over
A. It has a brief glorious appearing…then gone!
IV. We Do Not Despise the Trouble but EMBRACE it!!
A. God is TEACHING us in our troubles!
1. Let our trouble come BECAUSE we are doing the will of God!
NOT because we bring it upon ourselves with wrong behavior and choices.
Will Rogers said, “Good judgment comes from experience and a lot of that (experience) comes from bad judgment” ….In other words much of what we learn come from the bad choices we have made!
1 Pet 4:11-19
11 If anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very words of God. If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.
12 Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you.
13 But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed.
14 If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you.
15 If you suffer, it should not be as a murderer or thief or any other kind of criminal, or even as a meddler.
16 However, if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name.
17 For it is time for judgment to begin with the family of God; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God?
18 And, "If it is hard for the righteous to be saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?"
19 So then, those who suffer according to God’s will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good.
(NIV)
2. Our troubles are God’s way of “chastening” or “training” us
Heb 12:5-17
5 And you have forgotten that word of encouragement that addresses you as sons: "My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you,
6 because the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son."
7 Endure hardship (If you endure training) as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father?
