How to overcome trials in life
Good Morning
Stand with me and lift up your bible and repeat after me.
This is my Bible.
I am what it says I am.
I can do what it says I can do.
I am going to learn how to be what it says I can be.
Today I will learn more of the word of God.
The indestructible, never ending, living word Of God.
I will never be the same.
I will never be the same.
In Jesus Name
I have a question....
Have you ever really read the Book of Acts in the Bible?
With all of the movies about the Bible that have come out in the world over the years, this would be a great one.
The book of Acts teaches us about those who had walked with Jesus, those who had been touched by Jesus, and all that had been changed by the message that Jesus brought to earth when He came as a man to live among us.
Let's spend some time in the book of Acts today and be encouraged. Turn with me to the book of Acts chapter 12 and say, “Amen” when you are there.
Let’s take a look at this chapter;
The Apostle Peter whom Jesus called “The rock that His church would be built upon” had been imprisoned by King Herod with the king thinking that he would kill Peter just as King Herod had James killed not long before.
Herod was not messing around with what he wanted to do and had 16 prison guards watching over Peter to ensure that he could not escape.
Peter was not worried about his fate; he wasn’t nervous about what the outcome would be because he was a man at peace even in a time of trouble.
The Bible says that he was chained between two guards and still he was sleeping when the Angel came to deliver him. I don’t know about you but that would be uncomfortable.
Let's read about this starting with Acts 12:5 and continuing to verse 10.
“So, Peter was kept in prison, but the church was earnestly praying to God for him. The night before Herod was to bring him to trial, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains and sentries stood guard at the entrance. Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared and a light shone in the cell. He struck Peter on the side and woke him up. ‘Quick, get up!’ he said, and the chains fell off Peter's wrists. Then the angel said to him, ‘Put on your clothes and sandals’. And Peter did so. ‘Wrap your cloak around you and follow me’, the angel told him. Peter followed him out of the prison, but he had no idea that what the angel was doing was really happening; he thought he was seeing a vision. They passed the first and second guards and came to the Iron Gate leading to the city. It opened for them by itself, and they went through it. When they had walked the length of one street, suddenly the angel left him.”
I don’t know about you but I would be dancing in the streets a little.
Peter had been sleeping so soundly that the light that was shining through the prison cell did not wake him up. The Angel had to strike Peter on his side to wake him up.
That shows perfect peace.
Shackled to two guards and you need an angel to strike you on your side to wake you.
Now what does that teach us about overcoming things that persecute us?
If we look at what happened to a few details with Paul, there are great examples.
The two chains that were binding Peter’s wrists simply fell off when the Angel appeared. That shows deliverance.
The drama of what was taking place before Peter’s eyes was unbelievable to him and that’s why he thought he was still asleep and dreaming. That shows God’s supernatural ability.
The Iron Gate leading to the city opened by itself and they walked through it. That shows God’s faithfulness.
Once Peter was safe enough to be alone the Angel left him. That shows God’s security.
The lesson that these few examples should encourage us to know that God is able to deliver us even when we are surrounded by an army, locked in chains and secured behind Iron Gates.
It is nothing for God to meet our needs and deliver us from the trials and tribulations that come our way in this life.
What is required is our faithfulness to the Lord. Peter knowing that death was only a few days away was sleeping soundly in prison chained between two guards.
Peter knew the Lord and he was comfortable enough with what was going on that he could sleep.
Could you sleep being chained to two other people?
How much more should you and I be at peace knowing that we are not in the situation that Peter was in?
You and I have been through situations in our lives though that were unbelievable and insurmountable at times and the Lord has gotten us through.
Amen?
Has anyone here had a tough time before today in their life?
Raise your hand if that has happened to you.
Please keep your hands up.
Look around this room right now and see the hands that are raised.
How much quicker should we be in giving praise and thanks to the Lord for the many times that He was with us, strengthened us and delivered us when all hope seemed lost?
Amen?
The church today should allow people to share at services a testimony time where people could share what God has done in their life. A testimony about something that God has done changes other people's lives by encouraging them.
Here is one for you.
I had a woman in my church who came to service one Sunday using crutches and taking her time to get to her seat. I was thrilled to see her.
I knew what had happened.
She had been driving on a winding road near her home which went up hills and around curves during a snow and ice storm. A vehicle was coming the other way and grazed her pickup truck and caused it to spin and almost fall off a small cliff on the edge of the road. The collision sent her right through the windshield onto the hood where she suddenly stopped and fell no further.
She had no seatbelt on at the time and as the police officers all said, “Somebody was watching over you as there is no way you should not have fallen over the hood and down the embankment and probably died.”
She had told me that she cried out to the Lord when it happened and just said, “Help me Lord”
He is listening. As always.
She was just ecstatic about what happened when I visited her in the hospital. She just kept talking about what happened over and over and one thing that she said that is so true. She said she remembered right away in the ambulance what she learned as little girl. What she said is so perfect for life.
“Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so.”
God’s faithfulness should always be in our thoughts when trials and tribulations come our way.
If God has not failed in the past, then why would we think that He would fail us now?
Turn with me to Psalm 62:8 and say, “Amen” when you are there.
Let's read this together.
Trust in him at all times, you people;
pour out your hearts to him,
for God is our refuge.
Over the past twenty plus years it has always been easy to choose faith over fear for me. I have learned how to choose peace over worry and to choose praise and thanks over murmuring and complaining.
What I don’t understand, I try and remember to give it to God. I ask for His peace that surpasses all understanding to calm my heart and mind and remind me that just as it has happened before, it will happen again and all will be well in the end.
No matter what we are going through in life we need to remember that God’s faithfulness is shown throughout His Word, throughout history and throughout our own lives.
Paul knew that.
He did not hesitate to relax and wait on the Lord because He know of the promise that had been given to him by Jesus.
He was so at peace the angel had to work hard to awaken him. That should make it easy for us to trust Him in every circumstance, in every trial and in every challenge that we are going through.
God loves to love us and be with us even when we are going through a persecution or a trial in our life, He is with us.
I was reading from the book of John recently and a story that I have read many times before came to mind.
It was explained to me when I accepted Christ into my heart and my life.
I remember that day very well. My pastor did an altar call at the end of the service that day for those who wanted to be made new and have Jesus live in their hearts. I got up and went forward.
Pastor Acker looked at me and said, “David, Jesus was on the cross with two other men. One on one side and one on the other side. The one on the one side wanted nothing to do with Jesus. The other asked Jesus if he could go with Him and Jesus said, “Yes”
Do you want to live a new life right now and put the past in the past and become a new man from this moment forward and have Jesus live in you?”
I said yes and we prayed together and asked the Lord to make me new.
He has done a pretty good job.
Life has not been perfect and has been filled with bumps in the road but the confidence that I have in Him has also grown and it enables me to step forward every day with Him.
Life is new every day with the Lord as the center of our lives.
We can continue to do it with things completely on our own all the time or we can make or remake the Lord to be the center of our life.
If we make Him first and foremost in our lives, our trials in life are easier to overcome and actually become easier to handle even if they get tougher when we realize that He is first and has a plan for our life.
If you would like to get a little strength to help in the journey of life, talk to Him.
He is waiting to help you through life every day because He loves you just as you are.
Let’s pray.
Please stand and let’s talk to the Lord who is always there, listening and caring for each of us.
