INTRO.- ILL.- A group of friends went deer hunting and paired off in twos for the day. That night one of the hunters returned alone, staggering under an eight-point buck.
"Where’s Harry?" he was asked. "Harry had a stroke of some kind. He’s a couple of miles back up the trail."
"You left Harry laying there, and carried the deer back?" "Well," said the hunter, "I figured no one was going to steal Harry." WHAT’S YOUR FOCUS IN LIFE? Hunting? Or something else? There is nothing wrong with hunting as long as hunting doesn’t take a person away from the Lord.
ILL.- One attractive young businesswoman to another, over lunch: My life is all math. I am trying to add to my income, subtract from my weight, divide my time, and avoid multiplying.
What are you living for? What is your ultimate goal in life? Do you have any hope this will truly happen? Do you have any help to accomplish this goal in life? Will you experience any happiness in pursuing this goal?
ILL.- In 1969 to 1974 I was living in a small Iowa town, working part-time at a service station and also preaching at the Church of Christ. My primary work was preaching and calling, of course, but since the church didn’t pay much of a salary they allowed me to work part-time. But I got involved in something else. WHAT WAS THAT? Olympic style weightlifting. I lifted weights in gym class in high school and loved it so I started lifting again in that small town.
WHY? Because I enjoyed lifting weights. I liked the idea of getting stronger and lifting more weight over my head and because the town population was around 500 and there wasn’t anything to do! The nearest town of any size was 20 miles away or more, so what do you do in a town of 500 people? NOT MUCH. Watch TV in the winter time and scoop snow! And even though I made some gains in weightlifting and won Iowa state in 1972 I never progressed the way some other lifters did. I finally decided I was never going to be able to become a national caliber weightlifter and I also found out that I was going to become a father.
Having children will change your focus in a hurry!! And there are other things that change your focus quickly.
ILL.- A vivid example is my son-in-law’s mother who is 54 years old. For a long time she’d been losing weight and not feeling well. They did some testing and discovered that she had lung cancer. A few weeks ago they did surgery on her and removed half a lung. They also removed some lymph glands to test them. When the tests came back they discovered that she has cancer in many places throughout her body. She is somewhat eaten up with cancer. It’s so bad that the doctor said had he known she was this bad he wouldn’t have operated on her in the first place.
Brothers and sisters, when you get a diagnosis like that from a doctor it doesn’t take long for you to change your focus or goal in life! What would your focus be in that situation?
Personally, I don’t think I’d miss church for any reason. I don’t think I’d stop praying and reading the Word, because faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.
Someone said: We cannot decide whether or not we will live or die; we can only decide what we will die for.
PROP.- I want us to think about three thoughts, which most people seek after or focus on in life: hope, help and happiness.
I. HOPE
ILL.- A man approached a little league baseball game one afternoon. He asked a boy in the dugout what the score was. The boy responded, "Eighteen to nothing--we’re behind." "Boy," said the spectator, "I’ll bet you’re discouraged." "Why should I be discouraged?" replied the little boy. "We haven’t even gotten up to bat yet!"
Good attitude. That’s the attitude of hope in life. He had it and we all need it.
ILL.- Clare Boothe Luce (April 10, 1903, – October 9, 1987) was an American playwright, editor, journalist, ambassador, and U.S. Congress-woman, state of Connecticut.) wrote: There are no hopeless situations; there are only people who have grown hopeless about them.
Job 30:25-27 "Have I not wept for those in trouble? Has not my soul grieved for the poor? Yet when I hoped for good, evil came; when I looked for light, then came darkness. The churning inside me never stops; days of suffering confront me."
IS THIS YOU? Do you have days that make you feel like this? You hoped for good but it seemed like the bad came your way.
I think we all go through times like this in our lives. I don’t think God sends evil our way, but I do believe that He allows our faith to be tested with bad or negative stuff. CONSIDER JOB OF OLD! How many of us could have endured what he endured by losing all of his children, every material possession and his health?
Where can we find hope in this negative and nasty world where bad things happen to good people?
Psalm 25:2-5 "In you I trust, O my God. Do not let me be put to shame, nor let my enemies triumph over me. No one whose hope is in you will ever be put to shame, but they will be put to shame who are treacherous without excuse. Show me your ways, O LORD, teach me your paths; guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long."
Oooh, I like this! No one whose hope is in you, Lord, will ever be put to shame. I want to believe this truth and live this truth.
Psalm 31:24 "Be strong and take heart, all you who hope in the LORD."
When your ultimate hope is in the Lord you can be strong in life. You don’t have to take a back seat to anyone. That doesn’t mean you have to be arrogant or perhaps treat others with contempt but you can live confidently and victoriously when your hope is in the Lord. In Christ, you can hold your head high!
ILL.- For example, a number of times in my life I have been asked to either pray at a large public function or speak at a public function, like a graduation baccalaureate service. And nearly every time I did so confidently and without fear because I knew I was speaking for the Lord and I also knew that the Lord was with me.
When our hope is in Him it makes a difference in how we live in this world. It makes a difference no matter what we do!
Psalm 33:20 "We wait in hope for the LORD; he is our help and our shield."
Ps. 37:9 "For evil men will be cut off, but those who hope in the LORD will inherit the land." (We’ll certainly inherit the land of heaven because our hope is in Him)
Ps. 62:5-6 "Find rest, O my soul, in God alone; my hope comes from him. He alone is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will not be shaken."
Ps. 71:14-15 "But as for me, I will always have hope; I will praise you more and more. My mouth will tell of your righteousness, of your salvation all day long, though I know not its measure."
When your hope is in the Lord you will want to speak for him. You will want to witness or testify for Him. When you possess the promise of eternal life and believe it with all your heart, why would you not want to talk about it?
Ps. 119:74 "May those who fear you rejoice when they see me, for I have put my hope in your word."
Ps. 119:114 "You are my refuge and my shield; I have put my hope in your word." If our hope is in the Lord it is also in His Word. We trust Him and His Word.
II. HELP
ILL.- A mother said: Laurie was about three years old when one night she requested my help in getting undressed. I was downstairs and she was upstairs. I said, "You know how to undress yourself." "Yes," she explained, ’but sometimes people need people anyway, even if they do know how to do things by themselves."
Yes, there are times when everyone needs a little help and maybe a lot of help.
ILL.- Saturday, Oct. 3, 2009, LAKELAND, Fla. — A 74-year-old Lakeland woman was hospitalized after being mauled by a pack of raccoons she tried to shoo from her yard. Gretchen Whitted fell when five raccoons surrounded and attacked, suffering extensive cuts from her neck to her legs.
"We’re not talking about a lot of little bites here," Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said. "She was filleted."
A neighbor called for help after hearing the woman’s cries and seeing her covered in blood. Whitted received dozens of staples and sutures and was treated for rabies, though officials doubt the animals were infected.
Wow! That lady found herself in a bad situation and desperately needed help. Thank God for her good neighbor who heard her and called for help! Beyond that, what would you do in her situation? I’D CALL OUT TO GOD!
But what would you say or pray? Help me, O God or maybe, have mercy on me? Maybe both and more. Lord, save me!
Job 6:13 "Do I have any power to help myself, now that success has been driven from me?"
When things are going good in life we think we can take care of ourselves but what happens when you lose money in your 401K? Or when you lose your job? Or when you lose your house, or your car? Do you have any power then? Can you help yourself?
ILL.- At one time Bernie Madoff probably thought he had it made in life. I wonder what he’s thinking now??? His hope is deflated and his help is gone. He has no power to help himself.
Psalm 18:6 "In my distress I called to the LORD; I cried to my God for help. From his temple he heard my voice; my cry came before him, into his ears."
Ps. 28:7 "The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and I am helped. My heart leaps for joy and I will give thanks to him in song."
Ps. 30:2 "O LORD my God, I called to you for help and you healed me."
That’s interesting, because I’m sure there are many people who would like for the Lord to bring healing to their bodies.
ILL.- Recently, I saw my urologist for my six month checkup. I wasn’t sure what he would find or what he would say, because I’ve had a lot of trouble in that department. And my older brother had prostate cancer, which increases my chances greatly. Well, I got a pretty good checkup. My doctor said I didn’t need to come back for a year unless I had trouble.
So I am rejoicing and praising the Lord! And the Lord is the one who is to be praised for any improvement or any good thing in our lives and or any good report from the doctor! BLESS HIS NAME! Our help comes from Him!
Ps. 46:1 "God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble."
Ps. 121:1-3 "I lift up my eyes to the hills—where does my help come from? My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth. He will not let your foot slip— he who watches over you will not slumber."
III. HAPPINESS
ILL.- Are most people happy? Dennis Wholey, author of Are You Happy?, reports that according to expert opinion, perhaps only 20 percent of Americans are happy.
Those experts would probably agree with the wry definition of happiness offered by psychiatrist Thomas Szasz, who said, "Happiness is an imaginary condition, formerly attributed by the living to the dead, now usually attributed by adults to children and by children to adults."
In other words, most people think that someone else is happier than they are! It’s like: Look at how much Oprah Winfrey! She’s got everything and then some. She doesn’t want for anything. SHE MUST BE HAPPY!
You see, one of our big problems in America is that most people equate happiness with money. If you’ve got a lot of money, you’re bound to be happy. But when we use a little common sense and combine that with the message of God’s Word, we know that this doesn’t always hold true.
Money may make a person more comfortable, but a great fortune can easily make a person miserable. Most people have a lot of money are always worried about gaining more and worried about losing what they now have!
I Tim. 6:6-10 "6But godliness with contentment is great gain. 7For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. 8But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. 9People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. 10For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs."
Most people are obsessed with that mentality of: "If I only had such and such, I’d be happy in life." WHAT IS THAT THING THAT WOULD MAKE YOU HAPPY? A new house? A new wardrobe? A new car? A new fast car??? etc. The world has sold us a bill of goods, a bunch of no-good goods.
ILL.- I know of a preacher in southern IL who preaches in a country church that has about a 100 people. His wife works full time. They have two grown daughters who are still single. And that would worry a lot of parents!!
Get this: His wife drives a 1998 Chevy Cavalier has 206,000 miles on it and is showing signs of age. He had to replace the 2 front bucket seats. The back is broken on one. He found a set at a salvage yard for $50 for the pair.
His other car is a 1997 Chevy Lumina has 280,000 miles and he doesn’t take it far out of town. Generally 30 miles or so. It has numerous problems, but still runs although not as it did when it was new. WELL, I GUESS SO!
And I wouldn’t be caught dead driving either one of those cars or even riding in them!!! JUST KIDDING. And do you know what? My preacher friend is as happy as can be, because his happiness is in the Lord, not in material things. He is thrilled to be serving the Lord in ministry work.
Ps. 68:3 "But may the righteous be glad and rejoice before God; may they be happy and joyful."
Eccl. 3:12 "I know that there is nothing better for men than to be happy and do good while they live."
Eccl. 5:19 "Moreover, when God gives any man wealth and possessions, and enables him to enjoy them, to accept his lot and be happy in his work—this is a gift of God."
Eccl. 7:14 "When times are good, be happy; but when times are bad, consider: God has made the one as well as the other. Therefore, a man cannot discover anything about his future."
Brothers and sisters, when your hope is in the Lord, come what may, you can find a certain happiness in this life.
CONCLUSION----------------------------------
Hope, help and happiness. All these sound very good, but they have eluded many people in this world. They are hopeless, helpless and hapless!
ILL.- I read one time where General Electric, a maker of heart pacemakers, issued a recall for 487 heart pacemakers, almost all of them in the chests of patients.
Wow! A defective pacemaker. We all are defective in certain ways. And this is why we need the Lord most of all. Without Him we will have little hope, minimal help, and scarce happiness in this life. HE ALONE IS OUR HOPE, OUR HELP AND OUR HAPPINESS! Trust Him. Believe Him. Walk with Him. Praise Him. Thank Him daily. Worship Him!
