Getting Through The Pain | Bishop Dale C. Bronner | Word of Faith Family Worship Cathedral

this is bishop dale brother thank you so much for joining our youtube channel today if this is a blessing to you i want to encourage you to like it and then click the subscribe button and then turn on notification hit that little notification bell so that you never ever miss another one of our videos and then if you're in the metro atlanta area on a sunday check out one of our exhilarating services at 8 30 a.m 11 a.m or 6 o'clock p.m our scriptural lesson today comes from the 38th chapter of the division of psalms the old testament you don't throw away the old just because you get the new the old testament is old treasure the new testament is new treasure many things of christ were concealed in the old testament but revealed in the new testament psalm chapter 38 verse 10 through 15 notice these words my heart pounds my strength fails me even the light has gone from my eyes my friends and companions avoid me because of my wounds my neighbors stay far away those who want to kill me set their traps and those who would harm me talk of my ruin all day long they scheme and lie i'm like the deaf who cannot hear like the mute who cannot speak i have become like the one who does not hear whose mouth can offer no reply i wait for you you will answer lord my god i'm speaking today from the subject getting through the pain getting through the pain this is david writing crying out in pain and may i just let you know that just because you know jesus just because you've given your heart to jesus does not exempt you from pain it does not exempt you from trials from suffering from persecution from attack i don't know where we get this kind of fairy tale idea that once you give your heart to jesus once you get saved that you live happily ever after well quite the opposite may be true it may be the beginning of sorrows for you all hell may break loose against you you might start experiencing temptation start being cut off by people start finding attitude from people that had nothing to do that you have nothing to do against but what uh the reality is is that the new presence of jesus on the inside the indwelling of the holy spirit aggravates the demons that are in you they recognize the one in you who was jesus the christ and the world hated him and jesus said because the world hated me jesus said he's going to hate you too the world is going to hate you too and we tap into that sometimes the moment that we get saved and so it can be for many the beginning of sorrows and so the question is not if you will ever have a challenging day or a challenging season but when it's not if it is when trouble will come pain will come discomfort will come controversy will come so it's not a matter of if it will it's a matter of when it will and how you will be ready to deal with it as it comes you know i'm so grateful that god does not promise to us that we will never have these challenges but he does promise to us that he will be with us even during the darkest night and the scariest kind of challenges the scariest place that we could ever go through in our life he promises that he won't abandon us during that dark season so during the most challenging pressure time of our life he's saying i'm gonna be there with you i will be there with you i meant i don't care whether you're walking through the effects of a divorce whether you're walking through financial ruin and bankruptcy whether it is some kind of a chronic illness that you're suffering with whether it's sickle cell whether it is diabetes whether it is hypertension whether it's back trouble uh whether it's some type of bipolar disorder he promised that he would be with us when you go through the death of a loved one whether it is a spouse whether it is a sibling whether it is a child whether it is a friend whether it is a mentor he didn't say that it wouldn't happen to us but he said that when you go through those dark times i'm going to be right there with you if you're dealing with bullying in a school he didn't say that you'd never be bullied i was bullied but thank god i knew that i had the greater one on the inside of me that helped me to be able to keep the sanity of my mind keep my emotional and spiritual equilibrium well balanced because i realized that he was with me if you're on social media and you start getting criticism and attack there he'll be with you whether you deal with whatever type of public shaming whether it is false accusation he never promised that it would not happen but he said if it does happen i'll be with you if you deal with a legal suit somebody that's suing you over some issues of whether you have to go and deal with litigation he says i will be with you if you're stressed out trying to finish school he didn't say that you wouldn't experience the stress but he said i will be there with you whether you're bound by some kind of addiction that you're trying to get free of whether it has to be chemical substance abuse or whether it's uh addiction to pornography on the internet he said i will be with you whatever the challenge is whatever the trouble is whatever that perplexing season of your life is he said i'll be with you uh remember david the psalmist uh wrote about that in psalm 23 verse 4 yea though i walk through the valley of the shadow of death i will fear no evil why for thou art with me period thy rod and thy staff they comfort me see that's the main point is i'm not going to fear this thing because you're with me because daddy is with you you know any child that is being bullied they wouldn't be afraid of the bully if their mama were there or their daddy were there and god says you're going to deal with bullies but i'm there with you i got your back i got the holy ghost i've got a legion of angels to be able to uphold you with the right hand of my righteousness i've got your back whatever you deal with in your life i've got your back now i want to give you some scriptural uh ways to be able to deal with some of the challenges of life life has challenges it has pain it has discomfort if it happened to jesus he told us to equip ourselves with this mind that we were going to suffer on his behalf and sometimes we suffer for doing wrong we suffer for doing right and sometimes we suffer for no apparent reason sometimes you suffer just because of who you're related to sometimes you suffer because of who you are hanging with at the time who you're yoked up with and it had nothing to do with you directly but because of the associations the connections in your world so i want to give you some ways to be able to get through painful situation ways to get through painful situation here's the first thing pray pray that is the the most obvious one pray and i want to encourage you to use prayer as a first defense and not as a last resort use prayer as a first defense and not as a last resort prayer is not a toolkit for broken down situations prayer is designed for prevention it's designed as a daily kind of a maintenance for things notice what the bible teaches that how we are supposed to pray without ceasing it's the lifestyle of the christian first thessalonians 5 16 and 17 notice this always be joyful never stop praying always be joyful never stop praying in other words when you go through difficult seasons in your life don't let it rob your joy don't let it rob your joy you know why because the joy of the lord is your strength nehemiah 8 10 the joy of the lord is your strength he says always be joyful because there's a strength in that the moment that you become weakened you start leaning toward compromise and surrender the moment that you feel weakened and so the joy of the lord is your strength always be joyful joy is a constancy not depending on what's happening in your life it is a constancy that comes by the presence and the awareness of of of revelation that god is with you and that there is joy on the other side of that always be joyful and never stop praying king james version says pray without ceasing and the beautiful thing that i love about it is that when we pray the bible tells us to come to the throne of god so that you can find grace to help in the time of trouble in the time of need notice what that the word of the lord says uh that he in uh hebrews i want you to notice here how it mentions hebrews chapter 4 verse 15 and 16 this high priest of ours understands our weaknesses for he faced all the same testings we do yet he did not sin so let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious god because there we will receive his mercy and we will find grace to help us when we need it most you'll find grace to help you when you need it most come boldly to the throne of grace you'll find help at the time that you need it the most so pray moment that you're facing a difficult period in life going through a stressful season of life resort to prayer first don't let it be a last resort let it be a first line of defense is to pray about it pray about it pray about everything pray about it pray about it pray about it here's the second thing acknowledge the pain acknowledge the pain david acknowledged his pain he didn't try to say you know i'm a man after god's own heart everything is beautiful than hunky-dory it's wonderful today i'm blessed and highly favored and some people just will never honestly admit that they're dealing with some stuff that's about to break them acknowledge the pain notice what david did psalm 42 verse 3 and 4 notice this notice this is a man of god day and night i have only tears for food while my enemies continually taunt me saying where is this god of yours he says my heart is breaking as i remember how it used to be i walked among the crowds of worshippers leading a great procession to the house of god singing for joy and giving thanks amid the sound of great celebration david says i'm i was thinking about the good times and he says i'm my heart is breaking now he said i'm messed up he says day and night i only have my tears for food he said i can't even eat i'm just crying my eyeballs out i'm going through acknowledge your pain acknowledge your pain don't pretend that it's not there don't pretend that it's not there i love the words of james baldwin the great american writer that said not everything that is face can be changed but nothing can be changed until it is faced you got to face it if you face it god will help you fix it if you face it god will help you fix it you know everything everything that we deal with in life god can bring a a change to it but if you don't face it you'll never change anything that you're not willing to face and here's the truth of the matter is that denying the truth doesn't change the facts denying the truth doesn't change the facts and whenever you try to help a person and they start lying to you lying is a form of denial it says that they don't want to acknowledge the problem you know what you deal with an alcoholic they they won't even admit that they have a problem with it they they're in denial and as long as they're in denial you can't help them i mean if a person is caught in in in in a in an asserted kind of sexual relationship affair and if they won't own it it is their way of saying i'm not ready to change and i'm not going to let you help me the denial about it when they're lying about it you can't get help for anything that you're still lying about you cannot get help for anything that you're still lying about it's a form of denial to say no that's not me c.s lewis said that denial is the shock absorber for the soul it protects us until we are well equipped well-equipped to cope with reality and here's the truth that i want you to get is that what you deny or ignore you delay what you deny or ignore you delay but what you accept and what you face you conquer what you deny or ignore you delay but what you face and accept you conquer let me say it this way you cannot heal what you cannot feel you cannot heal what you cannot feel and so there are some people that they'll be going through painful situations and they won't even tell you they'll get in trouble they will i mean that their houses will go into foreclosure and they didn't even open up their mouth to their friends nor their relatives because of pride i mean they're in trouble you're gonna lose it they're gonna find out one way or another anyway they're gonna find out and then you wonder why didn't you come and ask somebody for help before it got to that point and see and because they won't own it they can't get help in that so uh there's old navajo proverb that says that you can't wake a person who is pretending to be sleep you can't wake a person who is pretending to be asleep so you have to acknowledge the pain you got to say you know what hey hey i'm hurting here uh hey if i can get some help can you imagine you you fall overboard you you're down at a dock and you fall over into the water and you don't know how to swim and you don't let anybody know you don't make any noise you won't get anybody's attention and you'll just go under and go unnoticed but if you fall in the water and and it begins to start feeling your your lungs and you're panicking and you're flipping around like a like a fish but you keep going down and then you can push yourself back up but you keep going down and after a while you you get tired of that you have to you have to ask for some help this is one well-educated man that had fallen to the water and he's trying to be all cool calm and collected and he's saying assistance assistance he's in the water assistance assistance and nobody was responding and finally help and all of his sophistication went out of the window and he got really desperate he screamed out help help help that was his acknowledging the fear of dying the fear of being out of his comfort zone the fear of being in a danger zone it was an alert that summoned the help it summoned attention so that he could get the help acknowledge the pain acknowledge the pain acknowledge the pain it was charles kettering that said that a problem well defined is a problem have solved just acknowledge the pain you can't get help for a condition in your body until you go to a doctor and say hey hey you know you know uh how how are you today i'm blessed and highly favored and you guys said no no no i've been having problems keeping my food down my back has been giving me trouble and a pain sharp shooting pain that nearly debilitates me hits me in a nerve like i'm stuck in a i mean you got to acknowledge the pain you have to acknowledge the pain acknowledge the pain pray acknowledge the pain david it's not against faith to acknowledge the pain uh there's a difference between denying what is and then calling those things that be not as though they were he didn't say to lie by saying i am not sick there's a difference between i am not sick than dealing with pain in my body and saying with his stripes i'm healed i'm calling in that that's not you understand what i'm saying but it's not to spend the time on the negative you're calling something that that is not as though it already were but you have to acknowledge i've got an issue i've got an issue pray and acknowledge your pain i'm going through some stuff right now i'm going through some stuff don't act like nothing is happening to you don't act like superman when you feel like clark kent you have to pray and acknowledge the pain here's the third thing that i'd recommend get around strength if you're going through a stressful season in your life get a round string um one stressor that is uh has been sort of unique to the covet 19 pandemic that has had an enormous impact on our psychological health is our social isolation that's that's what's been a real killer loneliness and isolation strip us of one of the most important coping mechanisms that we have known to man which is human connection human connection it is our most potent uh defense against mental illness is human connection when people get mentally ill somehow they pull away from even their familial relationships family this is one of the first signs of mental illness is people pull away from trusted relationships they pull away and they isolate and we get sick in isolation get around strength if you're going through a difficult time get around strength get around string dr james uh cohn c-o-a-n uh a professor of psychology at the university of virginia he conducted an experiment by taking patients and um hooking them up to an apparatus and creating a stressful environment to see how they responded and what he did in simple terms he gave them a mild shock electric shock and he shocked them while they were alone and then he shocked them while they were holding the hand of a trusted relationship a friend a family member and what he discovered in the lab was that when they delivered the shock while the person was alone the the the brains alert center for attack just just went haywire but when they were holding the hand of a trusted relationship a friend a relative it didn't alert this trauma center in the brain nearly as much it was so much calmer and it was proven that when you go through stressful situations if you can be connected to people that love you for you and not what you can do for them they have to love you for you you don't want anybody just serving you saying you know what am i what am i going to get out of this could you give me a glass of water and suppose they ask me if i give you the water what you're going to do for me you have to have people that are serving you who are in your life because they love you they love you just unconditionally they love you and when when you do that even when the charges of life when the shocks of life hit you they don't mess your mind up because you are anchored they become like a lightning rod that help to ground your emotions they help us so this is why i said get around strength get around strength it is a biblical principle i want you to understand that notice romans chapter 15 verse 1-3 notice this those of us who are strong and able in the faith need to step in and lend a hand to those who falter and not just do what is most convenient for us strength is for service not status each one of us needs to look after the good of the people around us asking ourselves how can i help that's exactly what jesus did he didn't make it easy for himself by avoiding people's troubles but waded right in and helped out i took on the troubles of the troubled is the way scripture puts it you remember the story of the the wounded man and remember the bible says that that a priest saw the situation and passed by on the other side and a levite saw the situation and passed by on another side but a samaritan as he journeyed stopped and had compassion on the man helped the man out he came in and and got into it you have to provide strength to those let let the the strong bear the infirmities of the weak and there's some people that just need your help of accountability accountability is not for control accountability is for empowerment it is to be able to allow one party to take the strength of the one who believes in them and use that as a fuel to help push them when when you have people that believe in you you would rather let yourself down than let that person down who believes in you are you listening i mean you you really you really hate to let people down that believe in you you'd rather let yourself down first because you tap into strength you tap into that strength but you cannot tap the strength of a strong person if you never tell them that you're weak you cannot tap their string you cannot tap their string so get around string get around string that's number three number four find the scripture find a scripture find the scripture the reason that you ought to find the scripture is because the word of god is breathed by god it is divinely inspired by god there's life in it hebrews chapter 4 verse 12. notice this for the word of god is living and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword piercing even the division of soul and spirit and of joints and marrow and is a discerner of the thoughts and the intents of the heart isn't that interesting find a scripture find a scripture you know why because scripture ultimately points us to jesus scripture ultimately points us to jesus notice what jesus said in saint john chapter 5 verse 39 he says you search the scriptures because you think they give you eternal life but scriptures point to me scriptures point us to jesus these are they that testify of me scripture points us to jesus scripture points us to jesus the book of revelations this is the spirit of prophecy prophesying about jesus it's about jesus it points people to jesus so i would encourage you if you're going through a difficult season in your life find a scripture that ministers to you let me say it this way stop listening for a prophetic word and start looking for a prophetic verse stop listening for a word and start looking for a verse god speaks if god ever gives you a word if he ever gives you a word if he ever gives you a word you just need a word from god to be able to stand on if you get sick and if god gives you a scripture that says this sickness is not unto death my god you've got your word you've got your word from the most trusted source that there is you know that come hell or high water that no matter how long what type of tests that they put you through what kind of medication and how weak you feel some days you know that you're not gonna die you got a word from god and you know that you're coming out of this no matter how long the night is how long the tunnel is all that you know is that i have a word from god this word uh it it's it grounds me it it roots me in my faith it strengthens me this is my rock of gibraltar here i got my word from god stop running around you gotta worry from me if god said anything people will prophesy to you stop listening for a word and start looking for a verse there's so many people that are asking bishop brother do you have a prophetic word for me i said yes i have 66 books of them i've got 66 books of them if you need a word from god get in your bible start reading the word pray you can close your eyes sometime out i can't tell you the number of times that i have said god i just need a word from you i didn't go to a concordance i didn't go running and asking anybody for a reference i fell out in desperation before god and i said lord speak to me speak to me god speak to me and i'm just just playing like tic-tac-toe like i'm casting dice and i'll tell you i've had the wind to blow the page to where i need it and god will focus my eyes rooted in the word because there's power in the word there's power in a word find the scripture stop listening for a word and start looking for a verse because there's power in the word of god that's power in the word wonder working power jesus is the word he came he sent his word and healed them and delivered them from that destruction is there a word from the lord is there a word is there a word is there a word it's amazing scripture helps us to focus our thoughts and feelings on god's perspective and who jesus is in our life it focuses us it points us all back to the great i am who spoke everything that god created he created by word nothing is done in the kingdom of god until something is said god will do nothing until he speaks and that's why you get a word from god if you get a word if you just get a word and sometimes god's word to you might not contain great detail his word to you is just something that says you're coming out you're coming out you don't know how you're coming out you don't even know when you're coming out but you know you're coming out i'm coming out of this and let me just tell you this sometimes when god speaks to you he doesn't go to the detail of the trouble that you're going to deal with somehow god selectively just chooses to omit from you the trouble that you're going to have to go through to get through what is destined for you are you listening to me when he began to speak to moses he didn't tell moses anything he showed moses the promised land but he didn't tell him anything about the red sea that he was going to have to cross but in front of every prophetic promise there's always a pressing problem and if you can't deal with the problem you can't possess the promise god doesn't talk about problems when he gives vision he talks about provisions and he's trying to get you to a place when he gave joseph a dream he didn't show joseph being betrayed by his brothers trying to kill him he didn't show them uh that he his brothers would sell him into slavery he didn't show him that potiphar's wife would lie on him and that he would wind up in prison god never showed him the pit god never showed him the prison god only showed him the palace god is going to show you not what you're going through he's going to show you what you're going to he doesn't show you the minutia of all of the trifling complaining people that are a distraction to your faith trying to make you believe that this thing is not gonna happen yes it is gonna happen that after you have suffered a while after you have suffered after you have suffered a while you will inherit the promise there's no glory without trouble in your story so you're gonna have trouble but god's saying i'm not here to talk about your trouble i'm talking about the glory i'm talking about the glory i'm talking about the glory he doesn't tell you if he ever put a dream in you for you to have your own business and become an entrepreneur he doesn't show you untrustworthy people that's going to steal from you he doesn't show you folks that will give you commitments and then back out on it he doesn't show you that you're gonna run into a problem with your supplier trying to get everything worked out for you he does not show you the legal issues that you're gonna have to deal with because somebody sued you over this that and he doesn't show you the trouble he shows you the glory i'm glad that he doesn't show you the trouble because trouble does not inspire you trouble makes you back up and say hey i'm not sure that i want that i think the reason that god hides the trouble from us is because he's trying to protect our destiny if we knew what we had to go through if god when you're at the wedding altar if god ever showed you everything that you're gonna deal with with the person that you're getting ready to say i do too some people be start shaking and sweating come on the top lip and they start quivering and and some of them were just they they just they fake like they sick and passed out some of them they if if god showed you a vision of everything that that human being is going to put you through you'll be uh no partner no you can keep that let me let me think about that some more just so you can get out of that there are some things that are for you that if god showed you everything that you were gonna have to go through in order to possess it you wouldn't do it here's the fifth thing a vision write a vision vision impacts your thoughts benjamin israeli said nurture great thoughts for you will never go higher than your thoughts nurture great thoughts but i want you to realize that when you go into a painful situation in your life time doesn't just heal you it's what you do with the time that causes you to heal healing is possible when you let go of past griefs and then take responsibility for moving forward in your life you know why i tell you to write the vision not only because of habakkuk chapter 2 verse two and three i'm not talking just right the vision make it plain writing a vision when you're going through pain reminds you it doesn't end here it gives you something to live for beyond your current circumstances so that you can endure the pain jesus for the joy that was set before him was able to endure the shame and the pain of where he was dr edith edgar says that the opposite of depression is expression and listen that means that if you don't ever get your dream out if you don't ever write your vision down the opposite of depression is expression get it out you'll feel so much better when you get it out write your vision write your vision it is an antidote to depression write your vision write your vision and start reading it habakkuk 2 told us it says write the vision so that he that reads it can run with it so that she that reads it can run with it write it read it run with it write it read it run with it write it read it run with it if you fail to express it you'll become depressed if you ever get on a dead-end job the thing that becomes so unfulfilling to us is that we are not able to express what god has placed in us what he's locked in your bosom if you're getting into a place and they won't let you express what god has placed in you we've become depressed and repressed the antidote to that is expression righteous vision you know why because vision has pulling power vision inspires hope and vision pulls you out of the woes of the present and it shows you the treasure of the future this is the power of vision so you have to see yourself on the other side of the storm and if you don't have a vision for what your future looks like here's a key to you envision it if you don't have a vision envision it if you don't have a vision envision it if you're sick envision yourself well get a picture of yourself when you with a picture of health and start looking at that every day and say lord i thank you for my healing envision it envision it envision it envision it and just persevere because vision gives you perseverance power because there is a reward on the other side of it notice what the word of the lord says james chapter 1 verse 12 blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because having stood the test that person will receive the crown of life that the lord has promised to those who love him here's principle number six you're going through a storm you're in a dark place find the lesson find the lesson you're in a painful situation find the lesson find the lesson find the lesson there's a zen proverb that says knowledge is learning something every day and wisdom is letting go of something every day notice that knowledge is learning something every day wisdom is letting go of something every day find the lesson find the lesson david was writing in psalm 119 verse 71 he said it is good for me that i've been afflicted that i might learn your statutes says lord it was good for me the stuff that i was afflicted that that i went through stuff that was uncomfortable for me so that i might learn your statute learn your way learn your word it's like lord it was worth it that what i went through taught me something don't go through trouble and and not get the lesson of trouble every trial is a test every storm has subject matter in it for you that possesses strength don't leave your struggle without your strength don't complain about it learn from it remember that learning is a gift even when pain is the teacher even when pain is a teacher and let me just tell you this the things that you learn from the teacher called pain those are not lessons that you quickly forget find the lesson in the storm god what are you teaching me in the midst of this because sometimes the storm that you're in in one season of your life might equip you and empower you for ministries to others who are going to go through that same storm you didn't even have a ministry until a storm came your way sometimes you have to understand that god when he really wants to expose the champion in you he always schedules an enemy and if you're a david and walking around with your chest out god says nobody will ever know you because your chest is out that's not the definition of a champion you want to know what a champion is god says all right you're going to meet goliath on a day this is somebody that's going to be several times bigger than you and when you face that challenge who will emerge from that fight will not be the same man that entered it a champion is coming out of that god schedules that so you find the lesson sometimes the biggest fight of your life becomes your greatest defining moment find the lesson don't leave the struggle without learning the lesson there are some people that come from one bad relationship hop out of one bad relationship and hop into another bad relationship because they didn't learn the lesson of the previous one and a lesson that's not learned must be repeated it must be repeated and you know that you've learned a lesson when your actions change you've had bonafide change you said you know what baby girl finally got it baby boy finally got it the way that you really know is because the actions change not because they tell you i got it they can mentally ascend to something that they didn't get the evidence is in the actions that change so david said it is good for me that i've been afflicted that i might learn your statutes you may not be able to rewrite the past but out of the lessons that you learn from the storms and the pain you can write a more meaningful future and he sets something for us let me give you the seventh thing six is the number of man but seven is the number of completion find something for which you're grateful if you're in a storm find something for which you're grateful find something for which you're grateful no matter how hard the storm is you know to at least say you know what this storm is it's watering my grass it's watering my flowers is keeping a balance in our ecosystem look for something for which you can give things first thessalonians 5 18 in everything in everything give thanks for this is the will of god in christ jesus concerning you in everything not merely for everything but in everything you'll find something good even in a negative situation even if it's somebody that challenged you all of the time they taught you how to think they taught you how to defend yourself they taught you how to stand up for yourself they taught you not to be hurt by by somebody looking at you sideways in everything give thanks you know what thanksgiving does gratitude does it focuses you on the things that actually give you a wonderful feeling on the inside because feelings follow focus feelings follow focus faith follows focus fear follows focus are you beginning to see a pattern that whatever you experience in your life the feelings the emotions they follow what you focus on when you think lovely thoughts you feel lovely and when you think fearful thoughts that bring anxiety in your life you feel anxious and nervous feelings follow focus so focus your thoughts on that which you're grateful it's a beautiful thing if you can ever come to that place may i say this to you that gratitude is a free antidepressant gratitude it's a free antidepressant the real blessedness of life [Music] it's not that you don't have any trouble it's not that you have everything that you could ever desire and want as shakespeare said happiness is not having everything you want happiness is wanting everything you have it is learning to take a gratitude that while i might not have everything that i even feel like i need i'm thankful for what i do have i'm thankful i am thankful i'm thankful i've taken the time over the course of the pandemic to write some of the things that i have learned in the pandemic and things that were treasures to me and gifts to me that could not be put on lockdown they couldn't put down on lockdown the glory of a sun rising in the day the sun has continued to shine every day of the pandemic every day without fail they could not stop the imagination that god puts in a human heart the gift of being able to dream the ability to be able to think more creatively i've learned to thank god in the midst not for what i don't have but what i have in the midst of trouble in the midst of pain that while your back might be giving you trouble i thank you that i can digest my food i mean in everything he said give thanks in everything you'll be able to find something for what you're thankful i never forget being in the rural areas of africa and such deep abject poverty some of those areas the pastors who live fairly well the pastors made 500 a year not not a week not a month a year are you listening 500 a year [Music] one day pastor and i sent him the money he just asked he said if i could just get the money just for a bicycle he said i pastor two churches in two different villages and if i could just have a bicycle it would help me to get from one location to the next one easier and he was so thankful my god for a bicycle money to buy a bicycle for his transportation not a rolls royce not a lamborghini not a ferrari a bicycle not for his own glory but to be able to serve people in rural communities with dusty unpaved roads and it nearly broke my heart when i came to the hut of an old woman skin aged wrinkled like rough leather that had been under the sun all around her face uh her face was leathery and to ask her looking into her eyes she's at her little hook for what she's so proud no running water no electricity and i said to her what would you do if you were given a hundred thousand dollars she thought for a moment she looked up and she looked me in my eyes and said these words i guess i would give it to someone who needed it she said i bathe in the stream down the hill i hang my clothes here i build my own fire that's my garden there i raised my own food she said i have everything i need and it dawned on me that wealth is not determined by how much you have but by how little you need she was not focused on what she lacked she was focused on what she had in everything give thanks in everything give thanks and i watch people complain about their children and then there's another family praying god open our womb so that we can have a child i watch people complaining about how much work they have and then somebody on the other side is praying god please let one of my applications be accepted i'm just trying to gentle let me get my foot in the door anything anything god gratitude is about a focus it's about a focus i choose to be thankful i choose to look for something every day every day i give thanks unto god praise according to scripture is the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name thanks to his name thanks to his name i don't know about you you may not have everything that you want but you've got the goodness of a god who loves you beyond measure and he sends things that you may not understand in the moment that's why life can only be lived forward but it can only be understood backward and sometimes after you get through you'll understand i wouldn't take nothing for my journey for all of my struggle and you begin to understand why the caged bird sings it's not singing because somebody locked him up and and took away their freedom the bird that is caged sings not because he's locked but because he has a song because she has a song and my question to you is do you have a song sing it you have a bell ring it you have a life limit you have a dream build it it's nothing until you use what you've got until you're thankful even in your pain and i'll just tell you this that whatever you birth you birth through pain you birth through pain you birth through pain the apostle paul writing to those that were lost he says i travail in birth again until christ be formed in you it pains you some time to even form your children in the image of jesus it pains you to work with people and to develop them it's a travailing there's always a discomfort whenever you're birthing something and whenever you're going to another level you go through the canal of transition that where you have contractions coming down on you a pressure that is getting you out of one comfort zone and birthing you into a brand new zone and what you were complaining about is the very pressure that was needed to get you out of the confining place where you are and to bring you into the openness of a whole brand new world god is expanding your territory but it will always cost you something it'll cost you everything that you've got but it'll pay you everything that he's got and i'm so grateful that when we look toward god but in the midst of pain and challenge and controversy controversy and stress in your life just remember to do these seven strategies beginning with prayer and ending with gratitude god will be glorified and will sustain you through it and you won't be the same person coming out of the struggle who went in the struggle you'll be better stronger wiser more spiritual more faithful to god and more gracious even toward others more compassionate the same person who comes out of a struggle is not the same person who goes in we are transformed by trouble and god will never abandon you in the midst of your struggle we hope that you enjoyed that message don't forget to like and subscribe and then press the notification bell so that you don't miss another one of our videos and if you want to partner with us click the give now button thank you for what you do

Channel: woffamily

Views: 223,768

Keywords: Bishop Dale C. Bronner, Word of Faith Family Worship Cathedral, Church, Sermon, Encouragement, Hope, Message

Id: zEZdf9JK6l0

Length: 53min 13sec (3193 seconds)

Published: Mon Mar 29 2021