Trusting God in Difficult Times: Life lessons from Elijah

praise the Lord trusting God in difficult times I guess it's been said that each and every one of us fit into one of three categories we're either in the middle of a trial or tribulation or a test or we have just come out of one or we are just about to go into one Jesus Christ himself said that in this world we're going to have some trouble it's going to cost some fear at times it's going to cause some heartache it's going to cause some pain that's the reality of it he didn't tell us that to scare us necessarily he didn't tell us that because he couldn't take care of us he told us that we could it's true and so when we go through today's sermon or message I really want us to really grasp what it is the trust in God and why it is that sometimes we don't know for sure that this is not something that I am preaching to you or trying to teach you this is for me as well and some of the stories and some of the things that we're going to go over God has taught me what I forgotten and it's yet to reteach me and it's like this one going cycle but that's the reality of it all right so trust in God in difficult times so we're going to look at Elijah Elisha was a prophet and in order to really grasped Elijah and who he was we have to look at the bit of background to the time where he was ministering okay so he came on the scene when this gentleman named a hab who was the new king of Israel he took over from his dad who was the very wicked king named Omri and so Ahab is on the scene so the Bible tells us a couple of things about a hab the first is this he did more evil in the eyes of the Lord than any other King before now if the Bible tells you that the worst thing that you can think about probably isn't as bad as what he did the Bible tells us that King hab King Ahab did more evil in the eyes of the Lord than any other king before now that's saying something because if you trace it back to the beginning of all that mess there was some crazy stuff going on God always purposed that his people would know him that they would trust him but the reality of what they did as they got involved with other nations and corporated their gods and came outside of god's provision and protection it was a mess so there was a lot going on so for the Bible to make this statement is pretty profound one of the things that a hab did was he married Jezebel now Jezebel was the daughter of a king of the sidonians okay and they were bear worshipers so they just worshipped Balin a shimmer and other false gods and during this time period what oftentimes happened was that a king might marry the daughter of another king I would love yes but more also out of political alignments at times okay so it was like a full of something you could fall back on if things went wrong I made an alliance with you I married your daughter you've blessed it and that's so that you're fine going on as well but because he married Jezebel and got exposed to that he'll bail worship in a new way he started serving and worshiping male so this is a have the king of Israel the man who got put in place to watch over and guide his people and he is worshipping and serving bill and then he actually went as far as building a temple for bill in Samaria so you get an idea of how far away the nation of Israel based on their leadership had gotten away from God's plan and God's best and so the Bible also makes this profound statement he that's a had provoked God to anger more than any other king of Israel before him so not only did he go off the deep end in terms of taking idol worship up like 10 notches based on that God's anger was really really against him and unfortunately the people as well because the leadership represents the people and Men the leadership represents the people so let's meet Elijah Elisha was from Tish be all right Tish pay and he lived in Gilead he lived a life of opposition now this is a natural thing for prophets so basically what this mean is what we mean by this is that when God gave a prophet a message and he went to deliver it nine times out of ten it was a message of judgment because somebody was acting up and not do in what God wanted them to do in the first place and we all know where we're doing something and somebody comes to tell you that you're doing it wrong and you need to get it right just opposition that takes place this was the life of Elijah this was the normal life of a prophet okay so Elijah was used to this God would speak to him on the other thing to really to know about prophets I know sometimes we read through the Bible and we hear about this profit and that profit and we sort of grasp - those guys were super spiritual and whatnot no they weren't they were they were men of God and sometimes women of God has God used but keep in mind a prophet their job was to spend time with God now when you and I go to work there work with spending time with God that's the relationship that they have with God so that's what they did they didn't do anything else they spent time with God were they perfect no I'm not saying that but I'm just telling you what was their mindset and the calling that God had one a prophet okay he was sent to pronounce judgment on Ahab so here we have 1/2 this wicked King basically messing up the whole nation and the whole nation is going over to serving bail and what-have-you and based on Elijah's relationship with God as a prophet God calls him and he says you got to go talk to a hat because things are getting out of control and so he does that he goes to Ahab and he says eh-hem there's not going to be any rain for almost three and a half years and my word the rain will come but that might where the rain is going to stop that's the pronouncement that God has given me to give to you because of the sin that is so rampant in the nation and the way in which you have led it out okay and so that's what happens he goes and pronounces that and then we find that you know it's a drought so God takes care of Elijah by taking them to the stream and you probably know the story well he provides for him supernaturally by sending Ravens with meat and bread and the water was there and he would drink it and that's how he was sustained supernaturally by God during the first part of that drought and then after that God needed to continue to take care of Elijah all right so he sent him to a place called Sarah faith of Sidon that is where he met a widow God spoke to Elijah and he said I need you to go now to this other place the rivers dried up I'm not sending any more birds I got another assignment for you so go to this place when you get there you're going to meet all this Widow and she is going to take care of you and when she met him Elijah greeted her and said you know can you give me some water and she went to get some water for him and then she was on her way and Elijah was like well now that you're at it can you also bring me back some food and she was like well Elijah it's a famine just in case you haven't realized and we don't have any food what I do have I got a say for me and my family that's all I got my son so but Elijah said no I'm a prophet of God the God whom I serve he's real he's great and he wants me to tell you to do this and he will not only take care of me but he'll take care of your family until the rain comes again so that's what happens all right and then during that time while he's there at this widows house her son gets sick and eventually he dies very sad scenario there and she gets upset at Elijah Elijah you know I didn't ask for this you came to my house and all of this is going on and now what did you come to remind me of my sin my son is dead like what's up is that and so God uses Elijah to bring back that woman's son back to life he was dead he was dead no life but I'd used Elijah to bring him back to life all right so that's a bit of a background as we look at Elijah now fast forward a bit God comes back to Elijah with another message all right so after a long time in the third year the word of the Lord came to Elijah go and present yourself to Ahab and I will send rain on the land so Elijah went to present himself to Ahab now the famine was severe in Samaria and Ahab had summoned Obadiah his palace administrator now Obadiah was a devout believer in the Lord while Jezebel was killing off the Lord's prophets Obadiah had taken a hundred prophets and hidden them in two caves fifty in each and had supplied them with food and water so we're getting a little more information here it's a feminine things aren't good this was the Agri karien Society if there's no is a disaster okay and not only that you have Jezebel who is going around killing God's prophets now am either he was afraid of his wife it's just part of that as well if you study his traits but he had to know what was going on so he was compliant in these prophets being killed okay a hab had said to Obadiah go through the land to all the Springs and valleys maybe we can find some grass to keep the horses and mules alive so we will not have to die or kill sorry any of our animals so they divided the land they were to cover a hab growing in one direction Obadiah in another and as Obadiah was walking along Elisha Medan oh but I recognized them bowed down to the ground and said is it really you my lord Elisha yes you replied go tell your master Elisha is here now if you pick up the rest of the text is quite an interesting basically Obadiah says ah no I that doesn't make any sense to me Elijah you do know that a hab is trying to kill you he still blames you because when you pronounce judgment that's when the rain stopped he said three years of ceasing to kill you he has put a mark around in this nation as with the surrounding nations as to who knows where this Elijah is who's seen him and then you know if people don't know where he is or someone's lying you know it's threat of death and so now you're coming to me I know it's you Elijah I get that and I have the utmost respect for you but how in the world is this supposed to work out furthermore if I go to a hab to tell them that you're here and then I come back and then you're not then what I'm dead so this is what's going on you got to remember that this whole thing in Ahab's mind is he Elijah's form and so obadiah's grasping that here's the Palace administrator he is hearing some extra talk from the king and Jezebel he knows the deal and he's just like that doesn't make sense that's not boding well for my health Elijah but Elijah tells him to do that and eventually he does go and he calls a and Ahab comes back to meet with Elijah the first thing a hab says to Elijah is this o is Elijah is that you you troublemaker that's what it calls an interesting you read the text and Elijah said I'm not the troublemaker it's you your fathers and all your lineage that's the troublemakers that's why we're in this mess and so they're wrapping they're going back and forth a little bit and Elijah basically being led by the Spirit of God says you know what they have God from the beginning was trying to get your attention but you didn't want to listen so I've come back and the message is still to say and God wants to get your attention so are you going to listen and so he says this is it they have Godwin's you to summon all of the false prophets of mail all of the false prophets of Asherah we're going to go up on Mount Carmel I want you to assemble all the nation all of the people I want you to be there and we're going to have a showdown not anything to do with me but God God's going to show up and gods going to have to prove themselves once and for all as to who is God and who is not so that's what's going on here so you can imagine thousands of people probably a million maybe even two million people we're talking about the nation half of it anyway and so they're going up to Mount Carmel and they're there so you have these the best way you can think of about the false prophets is probably like voodoo priests okay I remember where we went to Haiti and the interesting trip and you would you know we would be doing our thing cream with the kids or eating or what have you and then you will start hearing this this this drumbeat and our next further explanation it was some of the rituals that the priests would be having well that's a similar idea as we consider the priests of bail okay and Asherah so you're up in this Multan now the showdown is going to take place Elijah says you know what this is how it's going to work get two bulls false prophets a bill you get you choose whichever one you want you go for us you choose it you cut it up get your all to do whatever you want put it on the altar and then pray to your God I'm going to do the same thing and the showdown is going to be defined by this the true God is going to show by fire and consume the sacrifice that was going to be it so that was it there up in the hill there going through all of this thing the false prophet started off they get their bull they cut it up put it on the altar and they start doing some really crazy dancing and so really crazy calling one their God bail and nothing happened just started in the morning and then it was noon day and they were still going and then they figured they needed to ramp it up a little bit so they started cutting themselves to I don't know get more of his attention and while that's going on Elijah is saying well maybe he's asleep maybe Bale is asleep maybe he's actually using the bathroom that's actually what the text actually means maybe he's previously got an appointment or something but he isn't showing up and so they're going on and they're going on and they're going on evening time comes they're still going on and Elijah basically says well that's enough now it's time to show the true God and what he can do so Elijah he calls the people close to him and you got to remember there's millions of people a lot of people false prophets over here a here soldiers and a lot of people and so Elijah calls over the nation there's people the Israelites and he says all right let's build the altar so he starts he gets twelve rocks to represent each tribe and he puts the altar back in place and he gets his bowl the second bull the one that was rejected and he cuts it up and he puts it on the altar or previously that he had the around the altar dug out and then they had someone come and dose it with water the altar the sacrifice so much so that there was all this water around there and then it was time to see what God would do that's really pick it up in the text all right so at the time of sacrifice the prophet Elijah step forward and prayed the Lord the God of Abraham Isaac and Israel Jacob let it be known today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant and have done all these things at your command answer me Lord answer me so these people will know that you Lord our God and that you are turning their hearts back again then the fire of the Lord fell and burn end up to sacrifice the wood the Stern's and the soil and also licked up the water in the trench when all the people saw this they fell prostrate and cried the Lord he is God the Lord he is God and then Elijah commanded them cease the prophets of bale don't let anyone get away they seized them and Elijah had them brought down to the Keshawn Valley and slaughtered there awesome story can you imagine being there and fire literally fire fell from heaven like fire think about that fire like fire just like fire you know what was it like to be there on that day you know the people's response was appropriate the Lord he is God it can't be maybe waiting for this bail thing to come into effect nothing has happened but God has shown up at Elijah's request and he's proven that he is God now the awesome thing that I want us to really remember or take from this is this we're looking at a man named Elijah who had implicit trust in God God had been using him over and over and over again and I reckoned that all the opportunities that he had to minister for God are not recorded in God's Word probably okay this is what God wanted us to know about Elijah what there was probably more but the reality of Elijah is that he knew God he trusted in God he had faith in God he prayed and things happened he knew what it meant to come and give it a judgment to somebody he knew what it meant to then go to a broken be supernaturally our captain and and-and-and-and-and ministered to by God by birds he knew what it meant to then be led away to another town so God could provide for him there he knew what it meant for God to use him in a mighty way to raise someone from the dead he knew what that looked like he trusted in God he also knew what the mountaintop experience looked like being among Carmel watching fire come down and proving once and for all that God is God he knew that this was based on a real intimate relationship that Elijah had with God he trusted God he had faith in God so you would think you would think that based on his relationship with God and the experiences that he had with God the one issue that would never ever come up ever again in Elijah's life is whether or not he'll trust God you would think that because he had seen God used him in incredible ways over and over and over again he saw God come down with fire and blow everybody away you would think maybe he had some other issues maybe he had some other concerns but you would think that the one thing that would never ever come up again is whether or not he would trust in God but that's not how the story goes when we meet Elijah soon after this event in chapter 19 it says now a have told Jezebel everything Elijah had done and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword so Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah to say this may the gods deal with me be it ever so severely if by this time tomorrow I do not make your life like one of them in other words Elijah you got to die Elijah was afraid and ran for his life when he came to brush Eber in Judah he left his servant there while he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness he came to a broom bush loo tree he sat down under it and prayed that he might died I have had enough Lord he said take my life I am no better than my ancestors you would think that this would be the last thing that would ever have to be settled again in Elijah's mind whether or not he was going to trust in God he had seen God come through in incredible ways there wasn't anything else that he could probably tell age are there not that he was an arrogant guy but he knew God so you would think that he would never have to deal with whether or not he would trust God again but that's not how the story goes so a couple of real important lessons for you in this for all of us when it comes to ministry okay ministry is rough sometimes Elijah was where God wanted him to be he was doing what God wanted him to do he was doing it with the anointing of God to actually do and God Himself came through and did it but it got beat up as a result Elijah was on that mountain all day he was a spectacle he wasn't liked in the nation anyway and he got millions of people you got this spiritually charged environment because wherever you see false prophets the Devils linked up in that period so on that Mount Carmel all that that's going on and then you've got these false guys going on they're doing this thing and then he's waiting around til noon time nothing happened and then his evening time sacrificed and Elijah comes and does his thing and God shows up in a mighty way now I'm not making excuses for Elijah I'm just telling you can get rough so this is something for all of us as pastors for directors and all of us especially as members because our expectation is that every member is going to be involved in at least one ministry and sometimes when you're doing God's work his way against rock and so Elijah comes from this experience having been exactly where God wanted him to be and he's pretty beat up he's feeling kind of rough okay and so this is what the first thing I want us all to grasp today don't let your circumstances of life change your mind about your God don't let the circumstances of your life change your mind about your God because what sometimes happens is when we look at our circumstances and we forget what God has done it leads to this experience and I think this is what Elijah might have been going through god I know you're real I've seen you do a lot of things you've showed me stuff that you haven't showed anybody else and I know that you're real and I know that you love me I know that you can provide for me I know that you can use me and you've anointed me to do work for you I know that there's no question about that but in this situation right here god this woman is trying to kill me and although you've come through in mighty ways before in this situation I don't think you can handle it God I know you've done some stuff before and I know that you can provide I know you can protect I know that but in this situation I'm not too sure and I think that's what Elijah might have been going through and this is something that each and every one of us have to have settled in our minds our circumstances don't determine goddess they're literally just an opportunity for God to show himself who he is so we can allow our circumstances to change our mind about who our God is because this is what God was saying we sang about it earlier in G in Matthew 19 Jesus looked at them and this is the reference to camel not being able to get through a needle and the disciples couldn't grasp it but Jesus was just basically saying look you're thinking and what you think has to happen and how it can happen that's man's thinking with man this is impossible but with God all things are possible so you might find yourself in a situation where you know what I remember trusting in God I remember what it looked like I remember when I was a Bible teacher and I was the kids were getting ministered to and this and now I'm gonna see is my life and I'm just like you know what I'm done I have no more I don't want to serve I am done just take me I'm finished and what God would want you to remind you is usually by the way usually when we come to that place is not the ministry that's causing us to feel that way we put it that way and it makes us feel better because we can label it but usually or many times I should say it's actually something else going on in our hearts or in our lives it's not usually the ministry so we have to be very careful sometimes you can say well you know that person I just can't work with them or minister is too hard or no one thanks me or all of that stuff or maybe that's true but usually when we get to a place like Elijah is something else going on but just remember nothing is impossible with our God nothing is impossible with our God now the one thing that I love about our God is just how loving he is and how careful he is now here is Elijah he is depressed brother has had it right you wouldn't really think that there's any recovery from it and God knows that and God doesn't just leave him stranded God comes to just restore mand be gentle with him and he says this this is Elijah he's already said you know what I'm done there's nothing left I am done then he lay down under the bush and fell asleep all at once an angel touched him and said get up and eat he looked around and there was by his head with some baked or bread baked or a hot curl and a jar of water he ate and drank and then lay down again now good then just leave Elijah and where he was he came to him isn't that awesome brother was stressed out he was faithful he was faithful it was a guy he was a man of God manica but he was having a bad day he was having a bad day and he was forgetting some things and God didn't just say well that's it you know he came alongside him and the angel of the Lord came and then the verse 7 the angel of the Lord came back a second time and touched him and said get up and eat for the journey is too much for you so he got up and ate and drank strengthened by that food he traveled 40 days and 40 nights until he reached Horeb the mountain of God I don't know what he ate why the two-course meal gonna 40 days maybe we'll get some of that when we get to heaven but of to course meal got on add enough strength to go for 40 days and there is where he spent there he went into a cave and spent the night and the word of the Lord came to him what are you doing here Elijah now whenever God asks what are you doing here the reality of that question implies that you're not where you're supposed to be if God is asking that question it means that you're not where you're supposed to be so you can say well well God you're the one who sent the angel and gave him the food and then you call them obviously to go to horror well that's God being loving and tender but the fact of the matter is God never implied or expected that he would be under that tree saying I'm had it so he wouldn't have to come through like you did and then this is a different scenario different story but this is the reality of it and this is what Elijah answers I have been very zealous for the Lord God Almighty the Israelites have rejected your covenant they're torn down your altars and put your prophets to death with the sword I am the only one left and now they are trying to kill me too one of the things that is very dangerous to our Christian experience is if we get to the place of thinking that we're the only one left and nobody knows about my issue no one faces what I face I am the only one left and what's dangerous about that is that when we feel like that and we'll have times I felt like that I'm not going to accident want to raise the hand if they have but I have the dangerous thing about coming to that conclusion is if we feel as if we're the only one left like Elijah did basically it's a slap in God's face which is God you couldn't take care of the other people and now I'm the last one and like how are you supposed to take care of me that's the mentality that comes with the I'm the only one left syndrome now that's not to take away from the real issues of pain and the real stories that we have in the real difficult situations that we face but you're not the only one going through it and this is something that Elijah ASA Lee came to the conclusion he said you know I'm Donald if anyone left Jezebel's killer for the other prophets I guess God you couldn't take care of them or at least maybe you get I don't know what happened but I'm doing the one left how can I leave my life in your hands when everything else is falling apart and I'm the one that's left and this is something that we all fall into the trap sometimes of change real pains real I'm not taking away from people's pain I look out here today and I know some of your stories and they're heartbreaking stories I know some of the stories that have ended some that are still smack in the middle and some that are coming to the end and they're hard but never think for a second that you're the only one going through it because when we think that and when we grabbed it and we grasp that basically we say to God God you can't take care of me like I'm the only one left you couldn't take care of that's just that you couldn't take care that's it you couldn't take um do you anyone left God and that's a very dangerous place because we're not going to trust in God when we think like that we're gonna try to take things into our own hands and so God has to remind Elijah a couple things he says well no Elijah that's not true I have reserved seven thousand in Israel all whose needs have not bowed down to Bill and whose mouths have not kissed him you're not the only one left I don't know if you got some false information and maybe Jezebel tell you something through a messenger or what but you're not the only one left that's not to say that you're not going through something difficult but you're not doing anyone left and I have not forgotten about you I haven't forgotten about you I haven't forgotten about you this Elijah might have come to the completion of you know what god I've never been here I faced a lot of difficult circumstances but I've never been here before so you know I don't know I better take this into my own hands and God's response would be while you may not have been here before but I've been taking care of my people some before you were even born I haven't lost one of my children yet I never will and so this is something that we really got a grass God I know it's hard sometimes we may not even feel like trusting but God you're faithful God you come through and this is what we need the grass don't fall into the trap of thinking that you are the only one that nobody else knows what you are going through don't think that and that's one thing that's awesome about the body of Christ as we get together as we share stories and small groups as we hear testimonies we recognize that you know what I'm not doing anyone you know one of the coolest things about this church when I first came to a couple of weird things I guess I could say that no but when I came to this church I came from a previous church and at the previous church we didn't raise hands we just didn't raise hands okay and that was fine we just inria scenes and so I come to church and long story short I'm leaving that church through some circumstances all good God was just doing something new and he wanted my wife and my to leave on to start something new I guess and you know I would have be arguing with God oh my god this doesn't make sense the ministry is going well and you know this doesn't seem to make sense but I'm gonna trust you so trusting him to the extent that literally the day that we left our former church was the first day we started our coolest and so when it came to the hail the whole hand raising thing it was too late I couldn't go back I was just like this is weird this is so weird and so you may look at me and say you know Pastor John and Leah stress tripping hands raised I thanked off what he's done in my life but that's not me I was never hand raised I wasn't a worshipper I could sing a few notes but I wasn't I didn't do that but God's done it and one of the coolest things even as I got to know some more people at Cornerstone was then you know I got to learn some stories about people and you know I found out that I wasn't the only screwed-up one like it's really you know you I gots been gracious in my life I'm alive okay my life should have been taking many times Benna drugs for way too long but now I'm in the drug code Jesus and this is it right so I get the punishment and you know I started learning some stories and I'm like it looks like you know not trying to compare people but I fit in all that to say I fit in I fit in I'm so I just wanted cause you it's not just your story that's what the the body is for all of us have stories and as we share them as we encourage each other we help each other realize that we're not the only one we're not the only one and that's not to say that your story isn't unique please I'm not saying that but what I am saying is God's grace is sufficient for you just as a sufficient for this brother and sister and it goes on and on and on and then and then so never think that you are the only one all right no a couple of things we're going to sum up real quick in Hebrews chapter 11 this is called the faith in action so I started that real quick alright so is basically a record of some of those heroes in the Bible who persevered they're acknowledged for their perseverance you read their stories independently and you realize that they weren't perfect that's for sure but they had a unique quality and it was called perseverance and the reality of perseverance is a is that is only perseverance when you're going something against something difficult you're not persevering if you're going with the wind that's not perseverance that's called coasting and I like coasting I'm fine with that 24th of May when behind you that works real well but when the winners against you that's where perseverance kicks in so in Hebrews chapter 11 we're gonna start in verse 17 just uh-uh-uh he can read through the chapter but basically it's just a story at the story of this difficult time in this difficult time but they kept going and they kept persevering and you're gonna see in there says by faith by faith by faith and you could basically translate that by saying by trusting God by trusting God by trusting God by faith by trusting God these things were accomplished so at verse 17 it says this chapter 11 verse 17 of Hebrews by faith Abraham when God tested him offered Isaac as a sacrifice he who had embraced the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only Son even though God has said to him it is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned skipping down to verse 22 by faith Joseph with his end was near when his end was near spoke about the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt and gave instructions concerning the burial of his bones by faith verse 24 when he had grown up talking about Moses he refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh's daughter he chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin he regarded this grace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt because he was looking ahead to his reward verse 30 by face the walls of Jericho because they trusted in God the walls of Jericho after the army had marched around them for seven days they fell by faith the prostitute Rahab because she welcomed the spies was not killed with this who were disobedient and what more shall I say I do not have time to talk about Gideon and Barak and Samson and Japheth about David and Samuel and the prophets talking about Elijah as well who through faith because they trusted in God they conquered kingdoms administer justice and gained what was promised who shut the mouths of lions quenched the fury of the flames and escaped the edge of the sword whose weakness was turned to strength and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies women received back their dead raised to life again they were there where others who were tortured refusing to be released so that they might gain an even better resurrection verse 36 some face jeers and flogging and even chains and imprisonment they were put to death by stunning they were sawed in two they were killed by the sword goes on and on you're not alone I'm not alone I have some tough times I came through some tough times I'm gonna have some more tough times but we're not alone and this is what God wants us to remember okay in Hebrews chapter 12 it says this therefore since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses but what witnesses the witnesses in chapter 11 there's a whole list of them they all had a different story they all had a difficult trial but they persevered did they do it by themselves no were they having times that they didn't want to trust in God absolutely but they persevered with God's help with God's strength by God's Spirit they persevered so when it comes to this great cloud of witnesses all right let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us now this is the thing sometimes we read this and we think about that cloud of witnesses as just that group in chapter 11 but the body of Christ is the cloud of witnesses to every testimony I look at out a will to when and got his eyes checked and he's back and he's still plugging he's that's part of the cloud of witnesses I look at my own story and I know some of you that have similar stories we're part of the cloud of witnesses we're part of the evidence that gods real that God still changes lives so based on that we need to realize that and run ahead with perseverance we got a train I don't know how many of you train like really really hard for me twenty-fourth I didn't I didn't run so that's another story but the reality of it is God Chris s furniture I don't know what his training routine is quite I'm sure it was upped by then I ran it I know that much I know he did more than I did when I ran in a couple of years ago the results period out right but the reality of it is perseverance takes training it takes training you're gonna have to go at it go at it again and then go at it again and then you might get some more breeze that hits you and your time might go down but then you gotta just readjust and you got to go at it again and you got to go at it again and you got to go at it again and as we're looking around and I'm seeing my brother who's going at it again by himself and with her and him and we're doing it together my repressive hearing and we keep on going but the cloud of witnesses is so important fixing our eyes on Jesus the author and perfecter of our faith for the joy set before him he endured the cross scorning its shame and he sat down at the right hand of the throne of God consider him this is the key to trusting God through difficult circumstances consider him who enjoyed such opposition because again opposition trials tribulations consider him who endured such opposition from sinners so that you will not grow weary and lose heart what usually happens when we stop trusting in God is that we lose heart we can chalk it up to a whole lot of other scenarios and this and that and yes there are other things that what we lose heart we lose heart we get tired we get frustrated we get well god you didn't do it my way so maybe I gotta take it back into my hands god I know you're real I know you're strong but I don't think you got what it takes for this situation this is a new situation and we lose heart and life's like that sometimes so what's the remedy we gotta fix our eyes on Jesus so this is all I want to encourage you with today don't let the circumstances of life change your mind about your God don't let them change your mind and I'm not saying that is easy I'm not but we just can't afford to let our minds be changed we'll go through some hard stuff we're gonna need the caller brothers and sisters to come alongside us but don't let our minds fundamentally change and shift from Hoegaarden because God's God the Bible says he is the same yesterday today and forever so don't let the circumstances of life change your mind about who God is and then don't fall into the trap of I'm the only one and no one knows what I'm going through because that leads to a life of disappointment and mistrust in God God you can handle everybody else but you can't handle me I got to take this one on my hand so the remedy for all of that is simple this focus on Jesus focus on Jesus but guess what if you don't know much about Jesus young and have a lot to focus on we got to get into God's Word we got to spend time with them we got to let him loose and blow our minds on some stuff we got to take time to do that but we got to get to know Jesus because he's the he's the author and perfecter he's the one this whole faith thing is not ours he gives it to us and then he gives it the holy spirit to actually exercise it but is God so that we gotta fix our eyes on Jesus amen and man let's then listen now we're gonna spend some time at the throne room the reality of WoW a message like this is that it applies to everybody it applies to me it applies to you and I don't have to know all about your story I don't god does but the reality of it is that there are going to be times when your faith is going to be tested there going to be some times when pain seems to get the best of you or relationships in your family seem to get the best of you relationships with your children they're going to get the best of you are you're going to be pulled to compromise on God's Word God's standards tests trials that's just what you can expect if you're looking for a life that doesn't have any of that sorry jesus said you can have some trouble you can have some trials but take hard I've overcome the world I've gone to heaven the Holy Spirit is present he's in our lives as we accept Jesus Christ as our personal Savior and we gotta trust Jesus we gotta trust and we gotta trust him we gotta trust him hallelujah Jesus bless you solid father we do bless you God for the opportunity to be at your throne god I thank you Father that we always have access to you God we always have access so we can pray to you God and Father we recognize a fresh God that life is like you said it would be Jesus at times it's hard but I pray Jesus that you would help us to focus on you that you would help us to realign our hearts and our minds are fresh today god father I bring before you got everyone here who is going through a difficult time God some have loved ones who are sick some have bills that they don't know how they're gonna get it paid some of relationships that are just crumbling God and they're ready to give up on them father but I'm asking in the name of Jesus God that you would move by your spirit God to give a persevering spirit of trust in you young even though it's difficult even though it's hard god I pray father that you and help us to do that guy I pray father for that parent who's wanting to give up on that child and said well this is it oh my god I thank you that my mother didn't give up on me God so father I pray that you would give a persevering spirit God that you would do that father God because we're your people yes we have your Holy Spirit yes we need your help yes God you're sending your word that you've given us life for everything for life and godliness we don't like anything but the reality of it is we need to come back to you to get filled up time and time again because life gets difficult God so help us God to humble ourselves and not try to take the steering wheel of our lives to God because we're gonna wreck it God but to let you drive us to the place that you want us to be God oh we bless you gonna thank you for your grace guy the same way you came and touched Elijah their God when he was depressed and strung out and said I'm done God you came and you minister to him God and you do that to us god help us to receive your ministry where we're battered god help us to receive your grace God and I think well I this is my thing and I love it and this is just know God help us to be humble and receive your grace gun hallelujah to your neighbor I bless you Jesus sar we praise you girl this message has been brought to you by cornerstone Bible Fellowship Permira to connect with us visit us at www.imtcva.org

Channel: Cornerstone Bermuda

Views: 257,488

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Id: YrQOwvQOExc

Length: 44min 5sec (2645 seconds)

Published: Sun May 31 2015