Life: Twists and Turns
Psalm 37:1-9
Games of Life Series
October 9, 2011
Morning Service
This morning we are starting a new message series called the Games of Life.
Life: Twists and Turns – Dealing with the unexpected
Monopoly – Deal with money and greed
Solitaire – Overcome loneliness
Risk – Living Victoriously
Life Twists and Turns is a variation of the board game Life. The purpose of the game is to get as many life points as possible. These points are earned in four different areas
Learn It – Education
Earn It – Money
Live It – Experiences
Love It - Relationships
Each of the different areas has both pleasant and not so pleasant surprises that makes the game interesting.
Life has a way of creating twists and turns that cause us to evaluate where we are and what we are doing. Twists come at unexpected times and often create new obstacles. These are the curves that come on life’s highway. Turns come when there is a needed change in directions. Choices must be made and sometimes the things we have come to depend on change.
Twists
The news of illness comes from the doctor
Financial burdens come calling
Children are dealing with problems
Pension payments get cut again
Turns
New job offer in another area or another state
Your spouse decided to call it quits
Your place of work announces more layoffs
Life is not a game. Life does seem to be made up of random events. Life is far more than some chance, the roll of the dice or the luck of the draw. Life is about living each day and trusting the overall outcome to God. Life is about daily surrendering back to God and letting Him have control.
If you have your Bibles with you, please open them to Psalm 37:1-9
1 Do not fret because of evil men or be envious of those who do wrong; 2 for like the grass they will soon wither, like green plants they will soon die away. 3 Trust in the LORD and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture. 4 Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart. 5 Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him and he will do this: 6 He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun. 7 Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him; do not fret when men succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes. 8 Refrain from anger and turn from wrath; do not fret--it leads only to evil. 9 For evil men will be cut off, but those who hope in the LORD will inherit the land. Psalm 37:1-9
Rise above mere emotions
The reality is that most people give in to their emotional responses when hit with the unexpected. This is not to say that we should not experience emotions or feel deeply but they should not control the manner we behave. We must rise above the level of mere emotion. Often emotions such as compassion move us to great action that makes a difference. Other emotions like fear or anger have the means to paralyze us and keep us from action.
Never allow emotions to control your life
Do not fret
When we hear the word fret, we often think of worry or anxiety. The Hebrew word here means to be angered, to give in to rage, or to become furious. Fretting over something means to allow the event, situation or person to generate hostile emotions within you. How often do we sit and stew over something we perceive as a wrongdoing? The longer we allow the situation to simmer in our hearts, the more likely it is to cause us to become angry.
Fretting means to dwell on something so much that we lose objectivity and sensibility. We become overcome by emotion so much that it can control us. When we allow our emotions to control us, we are no longer under the control of God. There will always be things that create emotional responses. Life can be filled with situations that cause sadness, anger, frustration and the like. However, we do not need to be controlled by emotions.
Refrain from anger and turn from wrath
Anger is one of the most common of human emotions. Many wrongly believe that anger is automatically sinful but that is not the case. Anger is not sinful but often the behavior that flows from anger is sinful. We are to avoid anger and turn away from wrath. The psalmist says that instead of harboring anger we need to let it go and give it over to God.
There is no possible way for a heart that is filled with anger to be able to embrace the peace of God. The more we hang on to our pain and anger, the more we remove ourselves from the presence of God’s peace. We cannot discover inner tranquility with God and hang on to our inner turmoil. The only way to refrain from anger and turn away from wrath is to let go of the anger.
Trust the outcomes to God
Trust in the LORD and do good
1. Trust brings us God’s goodness
Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me John 14:1
Jesus was calling the disciples to trust God through any and every circumstance of life. He was about to be crucified and they would be scattered. Jesus was telling them to trust even when they did not understand because God was still at work
2. Trust brings you God’s grace
Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your hearts to him, for God is our refuge. Psalm 62:8
3. Trust brings us God’s guidance
5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; 6 in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight Proverbs 3:5-6
Commit your way to the LORD
Commitment is a form of trust. Being committed to God means that you have placed trust in His power, in His deliverance and in His goodness.
Two primary problems: Selfishness and Stubbornness
Jesus calls us to tear down the altar of selfishness that we have built and embrace His radical life of selflessness
There is a massive difference between being involved and being committed. Being involved means that you can do what you want, as you want and when you feel like doing it. Commitment means that you are at the call of Jesus 24 hours a day, seven days a week and 365 days a year.
Commitment is what Jesus is looking for in all of our lives and He wants us to have the desire to serve Him not just on Sunday morning but each and every day that we draw breath.
Be willing to Rest
Delight yourself in the LORD
Delighting in God seems somewhat vague or mystical but it is simply a state of the heart. Being able to delight in the LORD or having personal joy in Him begins with the softening of the heart. The Hebrew word here means to soften to make delicate. The work of the Holy Spirit is to prepare our hearts for the work of God.
The only way that we can draw closer to God is to allow the Spirit to soften our hearts and help us find our delight in Him. Many Christians are busy trying to find their delight in things other than God. Whenever anyone pursues things rather than the Father will find themselves empty and alone.
Notice what is promised to those who delight in God. They find the desires of their heart. There has been a great deal of speculation on what this means but if our delight is God. The Spirit increases that joy by giving us more of God in our lives. Nothing is better than this and nothing can ever take it away.
Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him
The psalmist says that those who wait on the LORD will inherit the land. The end of the game of life is retirement. The goal is to get to the retirement with the most money to win. There is no retirement in Christianity but there is a home going. We move from this life to the place that has been prepared for us.
When Jesus spoke about preparing heaven for the disciples, He began the passage with this verse.
Do not let your hearts be troubled, trust in God, trust also in me. (John 14:1) The only way to make through this game we call life is to place trust in God. Nothing else works and nothing else matters. Our inheritance is found in heaven. An inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade.
