When Facing Storms In Our Life – Dr. Charles Stanley

[Music] you can't bring anything to God that's too big for him you come up you can't bring anything to God that's too heavy for him he can have it you can't bring anything to God for which he does not have a perfect answer every single time [Music] four decades ago we started in touch ministries to lead people worldwide into a growing relationship with Jesus Christ throughout the years we've seen God's greatness his love and his blessings in such awesome ways that we just want everyone to know him so let's open God's Word and seek Him together next on InTouch when facing storms in our life [Music] we all face storms in our life and they come in one of three forms they could be the physical or it could be emotional well it could be spiritual that's just part of life we live in a fall in the world when sin came into the world everything changed and so we have to learn how to adjust to the storms that come into our life because they're gonna keep coming always has been that way since Adam and Eve fell in the gardens it'll always be that way till Jesus comes there'll be all kinds of storms that we face and we either have to learn how to face them had to survive them or we get defeated by them we find ourselves missing out on God's blessing because we don't know how to respond to the storms in our life if I should ask you this morning can you remember a storm in your life in which you were challenged in your faith maybe challenging your beliefs about different aspects of the Christian life we could all stand the issue is do we know how to respond to them then we know how to respond to them in a way that we come out victorious and stronger as a result of the storm and I don't think that if God allows a storm in your life that its ultimate purpose is to bring you out stronger I didn't say he sins every strong because many storms are the result of sin in our lives but the issue is how do we respond to them and so when Paul was writing to Timothy and if you'll turn to 2nd Timothy chapter 1 he was writing to him because he knew that he was going through a storm in his life and he was the pastor of a church in Ephesus and that church was in turmoil and so he was going through a very difficult time Paul knew that he was and he wrote this second Timothy knowing that in mind so I want you to look at this first verse and we're just going to read through the seventh verse Paul an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God according to the promise of life in Christ Jesus to Timothy my beloved son grace mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord I thank God whom I served with a clear conscience the way my forefathers did as I constantly remember you in my prayers night and day which is his way of saying I'm praying for you Timothy and I know you needed he says longing to see you even as I recalled your tears so that I may be filled with joy for I am mindful of a sincere faith within you which first dwelt in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and I'm sure that it's in you as well word of compliment and assurance to him then he said for this reason I remind you to Kindle afresh the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands for God has not given you a spirit of timidity but power love and discipline now he knew that it was going through a difficult time he knew that he was very discouraged and he knew that he needed some help and so when he said in this verse Kindle afresh the gift of God which is in you that is if you think about a fire and it's getting dimmer dimmer and dimmer and you want to throw coal on it a wood on it a kerosene whatever it might be they cause it to flame up and what that word really means here is to inflame the gift of God within you he become discouraged he looked around he thought these folks were his friends and some other weren't he thought they wanted the truth of the gospel and they didn't and pastoring and a church like that which it was a crossroads of the world he was very discouraged and Paul said something to him here that is so very very significant and we too go through difficult times in our life storms that we don't invite storms that come from people we think that love us storms that come from seemingly nowhere but there they are so he was discouraged and he could tell by his writing that he was discouraged and he needed encouragement so he said for this reason I remind you to Kindle afresh that is stir up the embers that Kindle afresh the gift of God which is in you that is all of us have the Spirit of God who is within us when we trusted Christ as our Savior if I should ask you today can you remember time in your life when you felt that sort of cool and your Christian life is growing sort of cold and if I should ask you what happened you could probably tell me what caused it but the fire you used to have is no longer there and you began to doubt some things about the Word of God and at one time you would have defended the Word of God with your life and now you find yourself compromising when your friends ask you well what's going on in your life ah nothing they know that it is you know that it is and you're able to discern within your own mind and heart that you have drifted away from God to some degree or the troubles and the trials and the heartaches you of suffering is getting the best of you even lost your smile you've lost your Joy's you're about to lose your hope you've begun to even question the Word of God and some verses that you thought were just anchor verses for you and no longer significant to you you're not not reading the Bible like you used to you're not praying with enthusiasm and faith as you used to and so what happens is your spiritual life grows cool and then it gets cold and then you begin to wonder God is this real or is it not real that can happen to anybody it happens to people who go through difficult times but people who are not really versed in the Word of God people who listen to others and will tell you well you know if I were in your position when anybody tells you that throw up five red flags because they're about to tell you something that you probably do not need to hear if I were in your position they don't know what going on in your life they only know what they see what they reflect by your countenance Paul is writing the young Timothy and he knows what he feels Paul's been there he knows about persecution he knows about heartache he knows about troubles and trials and so he's writing to him and saying to him God's not given you the spirit of fear or timidity but of power and love and discipline therefore based on who you are and what you have do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord or of me his prisoner but join with me in suffering for the gospel according to the power of God who saved us called us with a holy calling not according to our works but according to his own purpose and grace which was granted to us in Christ Jesus from eternity that is spark it up Timothy for those are some coal on the fire you don't have to listen and believe what you're hearing and so as a result of it he's simply giving him some sound advice about how to respond to these things you don't respond the trials heartaches and difficulties by simply listening to your friends or your family because naturally they're prejudiced and it may be that God has you on a conviction about something that you need to get rid of in your life and your friends no listen God loves you everything's gonna be okay just ignore all these feelings no you can't you can't ignore the things that God has given you because he wants the brain change in your life about something and I've been through a few storms that I don't I wouldn't even want to discuss and all of us have storms that a public in storms that are private but we have storms and the issue is how do we respond and his response to Timothy was a response that all of us need to listen to carefully and so I won't get into the emotional storms and physical storms he went through but they're there when I think about people getting in difficult situations and become fearful and what's going to happen I think about them in this light it stifles my capacity to think and to act wisely if I give in to other people's comments and give in to my feelings sometimes it causes us to be very indecisive we can't make up our mind about things sometimes it diminishes our capacity to do the things and we really have struck me of doing because something is not right something's going on in our life that God needs to deal with there are trials it doesn't mean listen all trials are not the result of sin trials come because you're a believer trial comes because there is going to be separation there's going to be indifference there's going to be criticism there's going to be misunderstanding and that can happen within the family out of the family where you work whatever it might be we find these things happening and so what happens is it undermines our sense of self-confidence if you don't know how to respond correctly then you begin to wonder what do I believe am i right am I'm wrong am i listening to God did God really say that to me and so what happens is we are sort of tormented by our emotions and we vacillate go in from strength to weakness yes and no maybe and maybe not and you may be here this morning going through some difficulty a hardship or pain and you find yourself questioning or watch this the devil is your enemy and he will throw coals on your doubts and on your fears to encourage you to doubt God question his will for your life question your relationship to him stop reading the Bible stop praying talk to your friends join the crowd and the next thing you know you're backslidden you out of a feather fellowship with God because you're listening to the wrong people and not reading the Word of God and not bringing it to him listen this carefully you can't bring anything to God that's too big for him you come up you can't bring anything to God that's too heavy for him he can handle it you can't bring anything to God for which he does not have a perfect answer every single time you may have to struggle to get there if you have drifted in your spiritual life not reading the Word of God not praying and these things begin to develop in your life people begin to look for some solution when if you go back to the original cause you've a watch that you have ignored the fire and so now it's getting less and less the flames are lower and lower and you and look for something to blame for it blame yourself you neglected your relationship to God you neglected your time of prayer and meditation and even when you have been praying and things go wrong that doesn't mean you quit praying just that doesn't mean God's not listening and sometimes God allows very difficult situations in their life to do what to grows up you're not gonna always have everything your way because you're a believer and when we indicate to people just trust Jesus and everything's fine trust Jesus trust Jesus now he'll may break loose in your particular situation sometimes a husband or wife gets aid in the oven does not and sometimes the children get saved and the parents are not so listen Jesus not only as the Prince of Peace he's also the source of conflict when we had a relationships with people who don't believe what we believe so when I think about how God works in their life thinking about what he listened to what what Paul said to him now watch this he said for this reason I remind you to Kindle afresh the gift of God which is in you through the laying out of my hands now watch this but God has not given us a spirit of timidity that is of fear but of power love and discipline he says here's what God has given us and it's this part that I want us to look at primarily we have three watch this whatever you are facing in life you have three resources three resources that are adequate for whatever situation you may be facing that a divine there from God and they're encouraging so what of it listen to what he said he said stir it up don't don't give in to it stir it up and notice he said for God has given us power love and discipline think about that for a moment so what what kind of power the power of the Holy Spirit when you trusted Jesus Christ as your Savior the Spirit of the Living God came into you and watch this he didn't just come in he came into you - - sealed you as a child of God that settled that forever you eternally saved but also to empower you to enable you to live a godly life every single believer has within him or her the power the enablement the strength to live a godly life and so when troubles and difficulties come he says now don't don't forget this you have the power of the Holy Spirit living within you you need to Kindle that truth stir that truth up and ever been times in my life when I have a little discouraged and but I learned really quickly in life the first thing to do is not to go talk to somebody first thing they do is they get in the Word of God and find out what did he say and he said I will never leave you enough for safety and he said I will be there for you and he always has the right thing to say for us and he simply said stir it up he said now for God has not given us the spirit of timidity but of power the power of the whole of the Holy Spirit then he said not only power but he said love so think about this oftentimes we get discouraged here we don't feel loved maybe somebody has mistreated us and I'm sure and that's what that's what he was going through and when people turn against you and I can remember time in my life and years ago I probably they think that I don't remember most when I was becoming the pastor of the church and my friends who had been so kind to me and I'd been friends to them one Sunday this was in the heat of the battle one Sunday they'd meet me that - all talk you're done greet guests and so forth and they tell you tell me pass time pray for you 11 you just don't worry about a thing the next Sunday the same people would walk by me and look at me not shake hands not say a word and they told me four totally and I would find out that during the week they said something and so forth now you know what when you're walking in the spirit of God the love of God is gonna be in your heart and here's what he said he said put the wood on the fire throw some kerosene on remember who you are remember what you have you have not only the power of God but you have the love of God within your heart and that love goes two ways and that love is love from God for you God loves you Timothy don't forget that remember your mother and your grandmother remember how they loved you remember what they taught you about God's and you know you can stand most anything if you know God loves you and there may come times in your life and you feel like nobody else cares well let me ask you a question I think you can be honest about this would you rather the world love you but not God or had you rather God love you and not the world anybody knows answered that question right pretty you there there make sometimes in your life when you don't feel that love when you feel shut out banished ignored but God's relationship with you will never fall apart never never never and so he was saying to Timothy Timothy listen remember this three things you have the power of God within you second you have the love of God and not only that he uses this word self-control or a sound mind which really means a disciplined life he says God has given you the power the love and a sound mind you know what a disciplined life is about a disciplined life is an ordered life it's a life that's under control it's a life that faces difficulty hardships trials troubles dissension conflict separation whatever it might be and still stands unmoved did you get that same in it stands unmoved why because you're resting in the power of God and then the love of God for you and no matter what goes on you can still stand whatever the suffering whatever the storm may be that's blowing hard against your life a disciplined life is a life committed to Almighty God and does not waver with the winds all of the false doctrines God has given us a relationship listen that within him that makes us adequate for any storm the comes their way and so here is Timothy and he receives this letter can you imagine what he must have felt he read that Paul how did you know exactly what I was going through how did you know that what's happening and I think about it this way when everything around us who comes unglued and falls apart and we don't see any answer there's one place to go on your knees in the Word of God trusting him because he listened he will solidify your position he will he listen he will make it your way clear he will give you a sense of confidence and boldness and assurance that you can stand anything that comes your way if you're obedient to God so what was he saying - he said Timothy I know you've gone through a song running from a prison I know I know about that in Timothy knew about what Paula went through and so I'm sure when he'd read this letter he knew in his heart he was hearing reading the words of a man who had already walked the course that he was now suffering he was in a storm and I know this this morning didn't a group this size many of you are going through storms maybe it's them on your job storming your marriage so many your kids storm their parents still many of physical being stolen with your finances come from all different sources watch this the storm has many origins the answer is only one and that is our Heavenly Father through the Holy Spirit in his love and his ability to work in our lives to live lives that are settled on the word as he says here the sound mind a disciplined life a disciplined life takes that he takes the storms and no matter what comes it's immovable because it is sealed by the Holy Spirit filled with the Holy Spirit an adequate through the Holy Spirit that you've never trusted Jesus as your Savior none of those counts you've been trying to live in a world of conflict and sin and disobedience and rebellion and all the other things without him and so you have to come to the place you say Lord I've rebelled against you I've ignored you I'm asking you on the basis of your promise you said if we confess our sins you're faithful and just to forgive us of our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness I'm confessing my sin to you I'm agreeing with you that I'm living in sin I'm asking you to forgive me and I repent of my sin I turn away from that I'm turning to you as my only hope and asking you to forgive me and from this day forward by your strength your energy your power your discipline I choose to live a godly life I don't understand all that means right now but I choose to live it and I want to get in your word I want you to teach me the truth here's my life Lord God you'll never be the same sense it's a choice you make now watch this this world is going to change except for the worse if you're thinking things that you only get better and you'll be able to live the way you're living you're in for a mistake sin is sin this world we live in is wicked the devil is loose unbelievable things are happening and we have one hope one assurance that's to be found in the personal relationship with Jesus Christ you can have that if you'll do what I just said otherwise you'll get deeper and deeper and deeper into sin into me in the pain and the suffering with nowhere to go it's foolish when you have been offered the gift of the love of God the presence of the love of God the power of a loving God the provisions of a loving God if you will simply surrender your life to Him and ask him to do it Amen father we thank you for loving us thank you that no storm is too great for you and I pray for someone here today it was in the middle of a song who desperately needs rescuing and there you are willing to listen to their confession the surrender of their life to you and I pray father that those seated here today who are going through little storms medium storms big storms intense painful storms give them the courage to be willing to admit it confess it and take that step but something little Christ is their Savior for others to come back to the Word of God where they used to be crying out to you trusting you to mend their broken hearts fire up the fire within them that is now just cool coals for your adequate your sufficient and you'll do it because you promised in Jesus name amen [Music] if you've been blessed by today's program please visit us at intouch.org e in touch leading people worldwide into a growing relationship with Jesus Christ and strengthening the local church this program is sponsored by in touch ministries and is made possible by the grace of God and your faithful prayers and gifts

Channel: In Touch Ministries

Views: 591,449

Keywords: Charles F. Stanley, Charles Stanley, In Touch with Dr. Charles Stanley, In Touch Ministries, Preaching, Bible teaching, Dr. Stanley, Intouch ministries, intouch

Id: J_gzTjFfmJY

Length: 27min 2sec (1622 seconds)

Published: Fri Mar 16 2018