Sermon Central
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You Can Conquer Disappointment
Contributed by Douglas Phillips on Apr 10, 2018 (message contributor)
Summary: God will allow trials and disappointments into our lives to help us learn to depend on him and bring us closer to him. There is never a time he is not present with us
YOU CAN CONQUER DISAPPOINTMENT
GOD IS GOOD (ALL THE TIME)
AND ALL THE TIME (GOD IS GOOD)
THIS IS AN EJOYABLE CLICHÉ SAYING WHEN THINGS ARE GOING WELL, BUT CAN YOU REALLY MEAN THIS IN TIMES OF TRIAL OR ADVERSITY.
WE ARE ACCUSTOMED TO SEEK COMFORT AND PEACE IN OUR LIVES. OUR WORLD TEACHES US THAT WE SHOULD AVOID PAIN AND SUFFERING, AND IN FACT WE INVEST SEVERAL MILLIONS OF DOLLARS IN PAIN MANAGEMENT.
AS BORN-AGAIN CHRISTIANS THOUGH WE MUST BE WILLING TO ENTERTAIN THE THOUGHT THAT GOD WILL ALLOW PAIN AND SUFFERING, BOTH PHYSICAL AND SPIRITUAL, TO ENTER OUR LIVES FOR HIS GLORY AND PRAISE. PAUL TEACHES:
BUT HE SAID TO ME, “MY GRACE IS SUFFICIENT FOR YOU, FOR MY POWER IS MADE PERFECT IN WEAKNESS.” THEREFORE I WILL BOAST ALL THE MORE GLADLY ABOUT MY WEAKNESSES, SO THAT CHRIST’S POWER MAY REST ON ME. 10 THAT IS WHY, FOR CHRIST’S SAKE, I DELIGHT IN WEAKNESSES, IN INSULTS, IN HARDSHIPS, IN PERSECUTIONS, IN DIFFICULTIES. FOR WHEN I AM WEAK, THEN I AM STRONG
WE WILL FACE TIMES OF STRUGGLE IN OUR LIVES WHERE WE JUST WANT TO THROW UP OUR HANDS AND ASK GOD WHERE ARE YOU?
WHERE ARE YOU IN TIMES OF LOSS? THE LOSS OF A RELATIONSHIP
THE LOSS OF
PHYSICAL POSSESSIONS
THE LOSS OF HEALTH
DEATH
THIS CAN PROVIDE STRONG CHALLENGES TO OUR FAITH BECAUSE IT GOES AGAINST WHO WE THINK GOD SHOULD BE. IF GOD THOUGH IS TRULY SOVEREIGN IN OUR LIVES, THEN SHOULD WE ONLY EXPECT TO RECEIVE GOOD THINGS IN LIFE FROM HIM AND NOT TRIALS.
JOB 2:10: HE REPLIED, “YOU ARE TALKING LIKE A FOOLISH WOMAN. SHALL WE ACCEPT GOOD FROM GOD, AND NOT TROUBLE?” IN ALL THIS, JOB DID NOT SIN IN WHAT HE SAID.
ELIJAH, JEREMIAH, PAUL, PETER, JONAH, AND DAVID JUST TO NAME A FEW BIBLICAL GIANTS, ALL FACED TIMES OF GREAT TRIALS IN THEIR LIVES WHERE THEY BATTLED DEPRESSION AND SOME WONDERED IF IT WOULD NOT BE BETTER IF THEY WERE DEAD.
1 KINGS 19:4: WHILE HE HIMSELF WENT A DAY’S JOURNEY INTO THE WILDERNESS. HE CAME TO A BROOM BUSH, SAT DOWN UNDER IT AND PRAYED THAT HE MIGHT DIE. “I HAVE HAD ENOUGH, LORD,” HE SAID. “TAKE MY LIFE; I AM NO BETTER THAN MY ANCESTORS.”
JONAH 4:8: WHEN THE SUN ROSE, GOD PROVIDED A SCORCHING EAST WIND, AND THE SUN BLAZED ON JONAH’S HEAD SO THAT HE GREW FAINT. HE WANTED TO DIE, AND SAID, “IT WOULD BE BETTER FOR ME TO DIE THAN TO LIVE.”
SOME TRIALS ARE HARD TO UNDERSTAND AND SEEM VERY UNFAIR. SOME MAY LAST A LONG TIME AND NOT TURN OUT THE WAY WE WANT THEM TO. IT IS MUCH MORE DIFFICULT TO DEAL WITH, WHEN THE TRIAL ACTUALLY INVOLVES A FRIEND OR LOVED ONE AND WE CAN’T UNDERSTAND WHY SUCH A GOOD PERSON IS INFLICTED SO PAINFULLY.
SO WE MUST COME TO THE UNDERSTANDING THAT THE BORN-AGAIN CHRISTIAN SHOULD NOT WALK THE WAY OF THE WORLD WHEN IT COMES TO PAIN AND SUFFERING. IN SUFFERING GOD’S CHOICE IS REVEALED AND OUR LIVES REFINED FOR HIS GLORY, AND SO WE MUST BE PREPARED TO PRAY:
1. DON’T TAKE THIS PAIN FROM ME BECAUSE I MIGHT NO LONGER CLING TO YOU IN WEAKNESS.
2. DON’T TAKE THIS PAIN FROM ME, BECAUSE I MIGHT STOP UNDERSTANDING THE DEPTH OF YOUR LOVE AND FORGIVENESS.
3. DON’T TAKE THIS PAIN AWAY IF MY HEART WOULD WANDER AND BEGIN TO LOVE THIS WORLD ALL TOO MUCH.
4. DON’T TAKE THIS PAIN AWAY FROM ME IF YOU ARE USING IT TO MAKE ME MORE LIKE YOU.
WARREN WIERSBE WROTE THIS ABOUT CHARLES SPURGEON:
“CHARLES SPURGEON HAD A PLAQUE WITH ISAIAH 49:10 ON IT. “I HAVE CHOSEN THEE IN THE FURNACE OF AFFLICTION.” IT IS NO MEAN THING TO BE CHOSEN BY GOD. GOD’S CHOICE MAKES CHOSEN MEN, CHOICE MEN… WE ARE CHOSEN, NOT IN THE PALACE, BUT IN THE FURNACE. IN THE FURNACE, BEAUTY IS MARRED, FASHION IS DESTROYED, STRENGTH IS MELTED, GLORY IS CONSUMED. YET HERE ETERNAL LOVE REVEALS IT’S SECRETS, AND DECLARES ITS CHOICE.”
WHEN DEALING WITH THE ISSUE OF SUFFERING AND PAIN WE CAN LEARN MUCH BY LOOKING AT JOB. JOB WAS JUST A MAN, BUT WHO WAS VERY OBEDIENT AND COMMITTED TO HIS WALK WITH THE LORD. HIS FAITH ALLOWED HIM A DEEPER WALK WITH GOD AND TO OVERCOME GREAT TRIALS.
IT IS IRONIC THAT JOB’S SUFFERING CAME BECAUSE OF HIS BLAMELESS WALK WITH GOD BUT THE PROGRESSION IS SIMPLE, THE GREATER MATURITY, IN ANYTHING, WILL BRING GREATER CHALLENGE IN ORDER TO GROW.
JOB WAS CHOSEN FOR THIS CHALLENGE NOT BY SATAN BUT BY GOD.
JOB 1:8 – 2:3: THEN THE LORD SAID TO SATAN, “HAVE YOU CONSIDERED MY SERVANT JOB? THERE IS NO ONE ON EARTH LIKE HIM; HE IS BLAMELESS AND UPRIGHT, A MAN WHO FEARS GOD AND SHUNS EVIL.”
