Why even try anymore?
What's the point?
Everything he did seemed to fail.
Even those little life successes
seemed to be followed by a
bursting bubble of disaster.
There was this overwhelming feeling
like everything was falling apart in his world,
like he was the only
decent person, maybe the only believer left.
Finally enough was enough.
He just wanted to die.
Have you ever felt like that?
Completely overwhelmed by life?
One bad news story after another.
One epic story of evil after another.
If you've felt that way,
you're not alone.
The great prophet, Elijah, felt that way, too.
We hear about it in 1 Kings, chapter 19.
So, God led Elijah out to Mt. Sinai,
to encourage Elijah.
That's where God gave the 10 Commandments
to Moses over 500 years before.
God was going to show his presence,
to pass before Elijah.
Well, there was this great, powerful, raging wind.
But God wasn't there.
Then there was this earthquake,
shaking the ground, quaking.
A blazing fire raging.
But God wasn't present in either of those.
Finally,
in 1 Kings 19:12,
this encouraging verse that tells us God
made his presence known
with a still, small voice.
A gentle whisper.
Oh, what a great
encouragement for Elijah and for us.
Sometimes when we see all these struggles in life,
we want God to bust out the fireworks of his power.
"C'mon, God!
Show us your glory!"
But like Elijah, we often look in the wrong place.
If you want to see
or hear God's presence,
then listen for the gentle whisper,
the still small voice.
No, God's not going to speak to you in your dreams or
whisper in your ear or
give you some divine Snapchat message.
We're talking about his word.
In his scriptures, God speaks to us
about his love, about his grace, about his son,
Jesus Christ.
If you want hope,
if you want God's presence,
if you want power,
then listen
to the mighty but gentle whisper
of God's word.
Do you know what redwood or Sequoia trees are?
These are those
mammoth trees that can be over 350 feet tall.
Trees so wide in certain parks,
they carve roads through the middle of the trunk.
Now I want you to think about the
opposite end of the spectrum.
Can you picture in your mind
a reed in the water?
Swaying in the wind,
so frail, so fragile,
as if the right breeze could snap it in half?
If you had to describe
your faith life right now,
which would you be?
That massive, mighty strong
and sturdy sequoia or redwood tree?
Or maybe the reed,
tossing in the wind?
I know in my life,
I often feel like
that reed,
turning and twisting with every wind of change,
barely hanging on,
barely surviving,
barely keeping my head above water.
When you have moments like that,
I want you to think about this
great passage of comfort.
It's Isaiah 42:3.
This verse is talking about Jesus,
and it says this,
It's sort of a strange and lesser known verse
but it's one of my favorites.
I just love these pictures.
Jesus is so gentle
and compassionate with his grace and mercy.
When you feel like a bruised reed,
like you're going to break,
it tells us that Jesus is so gentle and loving,
he won't let you break.
If you feel like
a smoldering wick, like a candle
all the way down to the bottom,
just a little flame left,
he won't let you be snuffed out.
Know that Jesus is with you
because he promises that he is.
And this is our mighty
savior, God, who conquered death and the devil.
This Jesus will support you
and strengthen you every day,
even if you feel like you're going to break.
Tell me if this sounds familiar:
You are just about to complete
your most peaceful,
restful night sleep
you've had in a long time when
all of a sudden, the most annoying
noise in the planet
blares in your ear.
Your alarm.
Wah! Wah! Wah! Wah!
Ugh.
Oh, but your day's just getting started
because groggily,
you jump out of bed
and you stub your toe,
nearly break it on the corner of the bed.
You burn your toast, too,
because your mind was distracted by
that massive
pile of bills on your desk.
Then you nearly drop your coffee mug
because you're looking at your calendar
and schedule for the week.
It's so crazy full,
it almost makes more sense
to turn it upside down.
You chase all over town,
all over God's green earth for work,
following your kids around,
taking them all over; maybe your grandkids.
You're running errands.
Only to come back late at night,
crash on your pillow and do it again
when your alarm wakes you up.
Sound familiar?
I bet sometimes
you feel like you have this
monstrous,
mountainous burden that you're
carrying on your shoulders everyday.
When you have those moments
and you're overwhelmed by
the troubles and anxieties of life,
I want you to think about this
comforting Bible verse, 1 Peter 5:7,
What a wonderful verse this is.
It's so comforting.
Let's dissect it for just a moment.
This is not
a suggestion from God.
If you think about it or get around to it.
No, this is a command.
Do this.
Cast.
Pile it all up.
And notice how it mentions your anxiety.
All your worries,
all your doubts.
Cast it.
Well, maybe just the big things in life.
Maybe your biggest life struggles,
your biggest troubles.
Don't bother God with the little things, right?
No.
It says cast
ALL your anxiety.
And where should you put it?
Personal life coach?
Seven step program?
Self-help book?
Shiny new car?
No.
Cast all your anxiety
on him.
On God.
Now why would I do that?
Why would the God of heaven and earth
care about little ol' me?
A poor
pathetic sinner among some 7 billion people?
Well, here's the best part of the verse.
Cast all your anxiety on him,
because he cares for you.
The God of heaven and earth
cares about you.
And you know this
because God so loved the world
that he sent his son,
for you.
When you're feeling burdened
and weighed down
by all the troubles of life,
do this:
Cast all your anxiety on him.
Because he cares for you.
How does God answer your prayers?
Maybe you've heard before one of
those little Sunday School rhymes?
"God answers prayers
with 'yes,' 'no' or 'maybe so.'"
Or sometimes people say
God will answer prayers with
a "yes" or a "no" or a "not yet."
Those can be understood fine
but I've heard it taught this way
and this is how I teach people.
God answers your prayers
in two ways:
with either "yes"
or "I've got something better."
Think about that for a moment.
Let's say
you're praying for this
job promotion or a bonus,
something that will help you provide
for your family, a good thing.
Well, God's going to answer
with either a "yes"
and you get that bonus or promotion.
Or something better.
Maybe it's a bigger promotion or
down the road,
it's a different job you'll love more.
Maybe,
maybe it's nothing and God has something better
in teaching you patience and contentment
and perseverance.
Or let's say you have that diagnosis
you did not want to hear.
A bad illness, sickness, even cancer.
And you pray and pray, "Lord, take this away!"
Well, God is going to answer
in two ways:
with either "yes,"
making you a survivor,
taking away that sickness.
Or "I've got something better."
Again, teaching you patience and trust
in him or
even best case,
that you're in heaven
which is better by far.
With everything in life,
we can be confident
that God gives us a "yes" or a something better.
And here's how you know that:
A great passage of comfort, Romans 8:28,
Our God's love
for us
is so great that
even the worse tragedies or trauma,
the worst suffering or sadness
will be work for our good
in his grand master plan.
Whether that's a future
bigger blessing down the pipeline
or a test of faith that strengthens us
or drawing us closer to himself.
You can know
that everything is worked out
for your good
because God loves you.
We live in a culture of change.
If you don't like something,
no problem.
Just change it.
Don't like your appliances?
Upgrade to something better.
Don't like your countertops,
your cabinets, your tile floors?
Rip 'em out,
put in something new.
Don't like your clothes?
Buy some new stuff.
Get some new gear.
Don't like your phone or your car?
Just upgrade.
Everything in life, even the small things.
One day we like Big Macs.
The next day we like Whoppers.
One day we love Coke.
The next day we love Pepsi.
One day we love PCs.
The next day we come to our senses and
we love Apple computers.
Everything is change in life.
Change, change, change.
Can you imagine
if God was like that?
If he changed
the way we do?
What if God said to you,
"I love you.
I forgive you."
But then the next day,
"Ooooh.
Ah, you did that?
I'm not sure I love you so much anymore."
No, this will never be true
about our God.
Because of what he tells us in this comforting verse,
Hebrews 13:8,
This is the God
whom the Bible tells us
was the beginning and the end.
He's the first and the last.
He was there before time existed.
He'll be there after time stops.
This is the God who stands so
far outside the bounds of time,
that in the Old Testament
he described himself simply by saying,
"I Am."
This world may change.
Times may change.
Culture may change.
You may change.
But your savior God never does.
He is consistent in his love and forgiveness.
He is persistent in his mercy and grace.
Always dependable.
Always reliable.
Always keeping his promises.
When you feel
like you can't rely on
anyone or anything, then you can know this:
You can always depend on God,
because Jesus Christ is the same yesterday
and today and forever.
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