How to Live and Cope with Loss in Your Life | Tony Evans Sermon

tonight I want to take our collective time I wonder how many people have had to wrestle with God we've had to wrestle with God let me say it's straw more strongly how many have been disappointed by God God has in your in your sense let you down he didn't come through for you it's probably something you wouldn't readily say out loud sounds very unspiritual but God has disappointed you God has let you down he hasn't come through like you hoped he would believed he would thought he would well you're not alone the Bible has stories in it of people who didn't feel like God knew what he was doing who felt let down by the deity who felt abandoned who felt confused who felt that God wasn't there when they needed him particularly if it's something major something that's not just the run of the mill but something that was terribly significant you felt God was just not there for you of course this is the question of job he wanted to know why do the righteous suffer he didn't understand and even his friends couldn't help him out trying to figure out why he was suffering the truth would be told me and God have been wrestling me and God have been wrestling with why he took sister Evans at this particular point when there was so much prayer so much expectation so many signals of healing and things went in the other direction so the reality is most if not all have those times in our lives when we struggle with God when the statement that his ways are not our ways and his thoughts are not our thoughts becomes very real in your situation because in light of what happened he sure wasn't thinking what you were thinking in his way sure wasn't the ways that you had planned things to work out so these are real questions one biblical writer one biblical author who raised this question that I've mentioned from time to time is the Prophet Habakkuk three chapters of this minor prophet if your pages get stuck together in the Bible you'll miss it well it's only a couple of pages in the Bible I would tell you it comes after nay hum but that won't help many of you comes right before Haggai and that would help will help many of you either but between Nahum and Haggai is the Prophet Rebecca Rebecca gives us some of his sentiments in verse 2 of the first chapter when he says how long O Lord will I call for help and you will not hear I cry out to you violence yet you do not save does anybody feel him here his question is how long do I have to pray about this talk to you about this plead with you about this and heaven is silent he has a question in verse 2 he says why his first question is how long now his question is why why do you make me see iniquity he caused me to look at the wickedness yet destruction and violence are before me strife exists contention arises he wants to know first how long and now he wants to know why in that our question why why I asked that question today actually not only did why did you take the Stephan's but why and one of the exams wasn't it discovered earlier so it could've been dressed earlier that was a why - I mean we we get to these exams every year why wasn't it caught earlier and it could have been arrested so you asked why so he says how long and then he says why to show you how a infected an effect that he was by his confusion chapter 3 verse 16 he says I heard and my inward parts trembled at the sound my lips quivered decay entered my bones and in my place I tremble because I must wait quietly for the day of distress for the people to rise who will invade us to make that short he said I'm unraveling I tremble at the outlook of what I see coming here's a man a prophet of God who is hurting deeply now the backdrop of this book is God is bringing judgment on his people for their idolatry and their rebellion against him and he's going to use the Babylonians to bring the judgment and the back of the Prophet is struggling with number one the fact of judgment and number two he's going to use people worse than the Israelites to do the judging and he can't figure out God's thinking I can't figure out God's perspective it makes a statement that we've all either heard or said in chapter 3 verse 20 but the Lord is in his holy temple let all the earth be silent before him the Lord is in his holy temple let all the earth be silent before him in other words all your talking is not going to be able to figure this out all your talking your crying your weeping your complaining and all you got to do is read the book of Job cuz that's 42 chapters of talk and in chapter 42 there are no clear in their understanding he's no clearer he does not know about chapter 1 and he's never told about chapter 1 about why he's in this predicament that he's in so Rebekah is struggling with the why question the how long question and the not being able to figure it out and all he can do is be silent now in the secular world they would offer us a number of suggestions about facing this kind of situation when the world doesn't make sense some would encourage us to resignation that is well I just have to accept it because there's nothing I can do about my despair so they resign themselves what will be will be and that's just how it is so that's one approach when you're in despair and you don't know your way out of it just to resign and say yeah that's it another approach to dealing with despair and disappointment is detachment 1 is resignation the other is detachment I don't want to think about it I don't want to deal with it so I'm going to find something to distract me from it whether it's amusement entertainment whether it's drugs a relationship whether it was something so that I don't have to think about it because this distracts me this puts me in another mental zone sometimes it's the bed I'm just want to sleep so that I don't have to think about it the problem with detachment is your despair and knows how to work around it it knows how to seep in when those gaps come it knows how to bring something to mine or somebody say something or do something that brings it back so you got to keep finding more escape to detach you from the pain of the problem under the difficulty so some people resign others detach then never he men look bravado these are the one who say well oh you chin up you you you you you gonna be dis set just determination to kind of just grit your teeth and just by sheer determination you're gonna overrule this thing that is crushing you so there are many ways that people seek to beat their despair when the questions are how long and why and as he says I tremble in my despair but I want to offer you through the Prophet Habakkuk another approach when God does not make sense when you are disappointed with him frustrated with him when in your quiet moments and you're not trying to be particularly spiritual or religious you're just trying to be honest with God respectful but honest Rebecca helps me out helps us out in verses 17 to 19 of chapter 3 though the fig tree should not blossom and there be no fruit on the vines though the yield of the olive should fall fail and the fields produce the fields produce no food though the flock should be cut off from the fold and there be no cattle in the stall well let's pause right there he says though the circumstances are bleak all those are ways of talking about things that are not working out fig trees that don't blossom vines that don't have grapes on the olives of being coming from the olive trees and the fields are barren not producing food all that's bleak says though though this is the reality yet verse 18 I will exalt in the Lord I will rejoice in the god of my salvation the Lord God is my strength and he has made my feet like Hinds feet and makes me walk on my high places let's spend a few moments here I want to Center for a moment on two words his situation is bleak his circumstances are out of his control because most of these problems are tied to the fact there is no rain and he can't make it rain it's out of his control you can't you can't do anything more to make it better in our situation there was nothing we were not willing to do and nothing that was within our control that we didn't try it was totally we couldn't make it rain we couldn't make it rain he was out of our control that's his situation here but then he utters two words four important words he says I will no stay with me here he says I will but what he decides to do goes the gangs how he feels see we've been already told how he feels he's got all these questions and he says in 16 he's in distress so we know what his emotions are doing they're there they've hit rock bottom no cattle no fruit no food no no his emotions of our flat but he makes a choice says I will sometimes faith and feelings get along sometime you feel faith fish Nathan faith and feelings have become partners and you you feel in this thing this thing is bubbling up in you it's in so they're working together but sometimes they get divorced your will must always be the engine your emotions must always be the caboose the moment the caboose is pulling the train your journey is in trouble and that is because you can't always control how you feel feelings change all the time based on influences impact circumstances situations happy say a glad man frustrated irritated exacerbate you know feelings are all over the place you're crying one minute you're laughing the next I walked in the house it's just walking out from the office because yesterday I walk across the door and I just broke out crying I just broke out cry just weeping like a baby I didn't plan that that wasn't scheduled but just crossing that precipice I just broke down and started crying that's another time I just passed by a picture - broke I cried didn't plan it but the emotions took over at that moment so you never you can never ignore the reality of emotions emotions how you feel is real motions are never to be dismissed like they don't exist or that they don't matter but what he did was say I will I'm going to make a decision in spite of my distress and despair in spite of unanswered questions about how long and unanswered questions why I'm going to make a decision I will exalt in the Lord I will rejoice in the God of my salvation I will do that I have made a choice as we would say in more contemporary language to praise Him anyhow not to praise him for what I'm feeling but to praise Him in the midst of what I'm feeling I will praise Him since I will exalt in the Lord the God of my salvation he says I will rejoice I'm going to when you read the Psalms you see this regularly David praising God while in the mists of describing pain so he's describing pain psalm 42 you know he's looking at all the negatives he says but I will yet praise Him how will yet praise he makes a decision when God has disappointed you let you down hurt you and you don't understand why and he has it at least yet answered your questions the way I'm gonna get through this he says is through my praise and if I'm looking through my feelings to give me the motivation to praise they can't help me because there's no cattle in the store no figs on the tree no crop on the ground my circumstances won't give me the that I need so you can come to church and if the sermon is right and if the choir is right you can get a little ghetto you know no for by the time you get home that's because you were piggybacking off of somebody else but he's talking about his own will I will rejoice celebrate the god of my salvation even though my situation has changed what is the result of this celebration because with the celebration watch this now comes a change of focus he's talked about his problem he hadn't he hadn't dismissed his problem but what he has done is shifted his focus I'm going to focus on the God of my salvation in the book of Job God from chapter 38 to 42 is describing how awesome and great he is to job and how job really read and understand much and the job says in 42 he says and I've heard about you with the hearing of the air but now I've seen you with my own eyes and I repent in sackcloth and ashes his God focused didn't change his problem but it changed his perspective in the midst of his problem what happened when he by his will in spite of his circumstances got his praise Oh verse 19 the Lord God is my strength when you're in despair by the nature of its impact on you you are weak you need the physically weak or emotionally weak psychologically weak circumstantially weak you just weak you get up and go has gotten up and gone you're weak he says but the Lord has given him strength strength didn't come because the circumstance changed strength came because God entered into his equation in your despair don't fall into the trap of drawing from him rather than drawing to him and then he goes further and get this he's gotten strength and he has made my feet like Hinds feet and makes me walk on my high places I read that again he's given me strength verse 18 and he has made my feet like Hinds feet and makes me walk on my high places the picture here is of a mountain goat or a mountain deer he's talking about high places Melton's you have to climb a mountain the beauty of a mountain goat or a mountain deer is sure-footedness while they climb they have the unique ability because of the strength in their legs to climb the mountain without falling into potholes or pits they're able to navigate the terrain of the mountain now I know we would all prefer it to read and he makes my high places disappear I would prefer that that my high places disappeared I would love that but what he did was he says what God did was strengthen my legs because he made my feet like Hinds feet he did something with my strength he did not cancel the mountain he changed my footwork both by strengthening me and showing me how to navigate the terrain when you are driving and you cross a bridge usually means there is something that's dangerous below you a bridge is connecting two points of contact usually over something a body of water a valley of some kind something that if the bridge was not there you either couldn't cross it or if you try you would plunge to disaster bridges aren't designed to eradicate the danger they're just designed as a path to get you across it the bridge that God gives is strength and that strength he says is the Lord God is my strength he has changed my footwork and makes me walk on high places he gives me the ability to climb this mountain and then navigate the terrain sounds a lot like the end of Isaiah 40 doesn't it they they wait on the Lord shall renew their strength they shall mount up with wings like eagles run I grow every walking nothing they will they will be able to keep going when in your own humanity you want to quit I would love I would love to be able to say that when we follow God the mountains disappear sometimes they do sometimes they do but there are those times when they don't and you have to learn to become a spiritual mountain climber you have to ask God for strengths but he got the strength in his rejoicing right now and I know it's too early one for me I have to start my day asking the Lord for strength for today and to say even sometimes with tears rolling down I'm going to praise you anyhow don't have to do that have questions why I have questions don't understand have questions why now a lot of reasons for those questions that time will not allow me to get into know where to be appropriate but just a lot of questions we all have why questions if you haven't had one keep living there'll be a why question and you praise God if you get an answer because many times he does give answers but they don't sometimes he doesn't explain himself so if I were to entitle this time with you tonight I would simply call it trusting God in the dark trusting God when there's great lack of clarity when he has not made himself inextricably clear you have to wonder what he's doing why he's doing it why is he doing it now why is he doing it in this way why does it hurt so bad why does it hurt this long praise God for those times when he gives you a clear answer but according to a Beck I praise him even when he doesn't and let him give you new strength so what I want from tonight's what I want to encourage you tonight is to make your praise a way of life so that when you get into this situation you don't have to start from scratch you don't have to start from the beginning because you you you beginning your day just worshipping Him surrendering to him and praising him but it's also while we need one another because some time you need somebody to help you praise because it just ain't coming out with unity it ain't coming out so we can encourage one another so may God help us as we move forward in ministry as a church and then your individual lives to trust him in the dark like we do in the light

Channel: Tony Evans

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Id: EhJZdpRl_qU

Length: 35min 14sec (2114 seconds)

Published: Thu Jan 23 2020