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Hard
Times 17 November 1999 CAPTAIN ALISTAIR VENTER Reading: James 1:2-6
INTRODUCTION: Karen was ready to begin living. This woman in her early 50's had endured a difficult life. As if growing up immediately after the depression wasn't difficult enough, Karen, as a young adult had witnessed the breakup of her parents marriage, and the resulting conflict. In the previous few years she went through a painful divorce of her own to the father of her children. Divorce is devastating, but especially when you've been married 26 years. Karen had just finished raising the last of her three children. She had dealt with typical parental problems in raising her 2 girls and one boy: rebellion, disrespect, minor trouble with the law, and other challenges too numerous to name. Though she had experienced much happiness, Karen was well acquainted with the pain of life. But this was all behind her now. Karen married a wonderful man and together they built a beautiful new home that was paid for as a result of many years of saving their hard-earned money. It was at this time that Karen began to see things that had escaped her notice because of the busyness of life. She and her husband loved to sit in their screened in back porch and watch the humming birds feed and gather at the birdhouses that had been strategically placed in various trees. For hours they would sit and talk and watch the birds. Life was good. Karen had really never been sick, but she had occasionally struggled with migraine headaches. These headaches began to occur on a regular basis. After much endurance she decided that she ought to go to the doctor to make sure everything was ok. It turned that everything was not ok. The pain was not from a migraine but from a malignant brain tumor. Surgery would follow and the surgeons were able to remove it just in time. However, it was discovered that this tumor was a secondary tumor, which means that it had a primary source. That primary source happened to be the lung. Not only had the cancer spread from the lung to the brain, but also to the lymph nodes. For two years Karen struggled through radiation and chemotherapy. Almost two years to the day of discovering she had cancer, Karen passed away. Do you think that Karen ever wondered where God was in all of her suffering? How about her two daughters who had lost their best friend? Do you think they ever wondered why God didn't step in and heal their precious mother? What about her new husband, what did he think of God? How about the rest of the family who had so many times looked at Karen to provide a moral example and give good advice? In our own church this week we have had two people who have died – one who was 74, but one who was only 40. We have a little girl of 1 year old, weighing not even 5 kg, who is in hospital with heart and lung problems. Where is God in these hard times? How about you, have you ever wondered where God was in your hard times? Every single one of us here have had to endure hard times, and perhaps at this moment you are in the midst of major problems and difficulties in your life. Have you ever wondered why an all-powerful, all-knowing, all good God, who can do whatever he wants, would have a world in which there are so many people having bad times? I guess that this is a debate that has gone on through the ages, and people are still not sure why God should have allowed that. But I guess, if we had to be really honest this evening, much of our suffering and hard times are a result of MAN’S FREE WILL: God did not want to make us like a bunch of robots who he could control by a special push of a button. No, he wanted to give us the choice of choosing between good and evil. Of course, mankind from Adam down, have made the wrong choice – and unfortunately, we often have to live with the consequences of our choices. I believe that because sin has become so much part of this world, that that is why we see so much sadness and hardship and suffering. We often hear people saying: "But in heaven, there will be no more suffering, no more pain no more sadness" – but we aren’t there yet! How do I deal with the here and now? We read in the New Testament Church that Paul and Barnabus went to Lystra, Iconium and Antioch, strengthening the disciples and encouraging them to remain true to the faith. Then they said to them in Acts 14:22, "We have to go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God." That is one of the realities of being a Christian. We have to go through many hardships in this life. I cannot explain why we have trials and difficulties and hardship and pain. But there is something that I would like to remind you of, and that is:
When you are in the midst of pain and hardship, the only thing that you can possibly see and feel is that pain. But the Bible challenges us to look to God in the midst of such times, and realise that he has a purpose in allowing these hard times: A. GOD WANTS TO WORK SOMETHING IN US: We read in 1 Peter 4:12 & 13 "Friends, when life gets really difficult, don’t jump to the conclusion that God is not on the job. Instead, be glad that you are at the very thick of what Christ experienced. This is a spiritually refining process, with glory just around the corner". God allows difficulties to come our way so that he might be able to make us better people. I think we need to differentiate between what God allows to come our way, and what we bring on ourselves. You see, very often we make deliberate wrong choices and decisions that are contrary to what God’s Word tells us to do – and that can result in terrible hardship. Very often, we can reverse some of these hard times by simply being obedient to God. But sometimes, everything seems to bank up against us for no apparent reason – and we are left dumb-struck as to why these things are happening to us. I received a little word of encouragement this week through E Mail from Oswald Chamber’s One Minute Devotions that said: "God will take you through a number of experiences designed to make you useful in His hands, and to enable you to understand what takes place in the lives of others. Suddenly we come to a place of enlightenment, and realise: "God has strengthened me and I didn’t even know it!" To follow on from that, may I remind you of what Paul had to say in connection with hard times. He said in Romans 5:3,4 "…we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance character; and character, hope." Those are three things that God wants to work or produce IN US when he allows these hardships.
To persevere means simply to deal with circumstances without caving in. Perseverance is that quality that doesn’t run away when things get hard. To persevere is to say "I’m hurting but I’m hanging on!" David Wilkerson tells the story of two outstanding men of God, ministers, who both fell when they got involved in adultery. The one minister decided that he could not go on. Today he drinks and curses the Christ that he once preached. The other man repented and started all over. He now heads an international missions programme which reaches thousands of people for Christ. His failure, his pain, his devastation has been left behind, and through perseverance, he has been used by God again and again. The second thing that God wants to achieve in us is: Character is proof of what we really are. William Barclay explains that the word that Paul uses for character is dokime. Dokime is used of metal which has been passed through fire so that everything base has been purged out of it. In other words, all the impurities have been extracted. A person who has gone through all the problems emerges stronger, purer, better and nearer to God. Character is who we are – NOT who we say or think we are! The third thing that God wants to achieve in us is:
Hope is the confidence that God will never abandon you, no matter what comes your way. You will recall that Moses was faced with a dilemma in his life. He was instructed to go to Pharoah and to the people of Israel to lead them out of Egypt, and he was really afraid. He said to God: "Who shall I say sent me?" God simply said: "Tell them I AM has sent you". Take those two words for moment. I AM – that is a title for God. "I AM with you to the very end of the age", we are told. In your pain and your hard times, remember: "I AM all that you need". Remember "I AM there to deliver you". You need to have the faith in the great "I AM" – in God – who has promised to be with you even in the midst of the rough circumstances. He is your only hope! You and I have nothing else to hold on to BUT Him. Listen to what James says to us in the first chapter and verses 2-4, and the Living Bible puts it this way: "Is your life full of difficulties and temptations? Then be happy, for when the way is rough, your patience has a chance to grow. So let it grow and don’t squirm out of your problems. For when your patience is finally in full bloom, you will be ready for anything, strong in character, full and complete".
One other purpose that God has in allowing the hard times: B. GOD WANTS TO ACCOMPLISH SOMETHING THROUGH US: We read in 2 Cor 1:3-4 "All praise to the God and Father of our master, Jesus the Messiah. Father of all mercy. God of all healing counsel. He comes alongside us when we go through hard times, and before you know it, he brings us alongside someone else who is going through hard times so that we can be there for that person just as God was there for us" (Message) God wants us to be there in person for other people who are maybe really battling. I have looked back on some of the really tough situations that I have had to endure – often questioning God at the time why I had to go through such trial and hardship. But it has been those very experiences that have enabled me to come closer to others and help them with the same help that I received in my situation. There are three choices that we can make in Hard Time:
THREE CHOICES IN HARD TIMES:
Many people just bail out when the going gets tough. We see it in all walks of life. Parents battling with teenage children get to the point where they just give up and let them go their own way. Husbands and wives going through marital problems just give up and either take the course of divorce, or they just go through the motions of paying the bills, cleaning the home, being there for the children… Some people bail out emotionally, shifting their lives to auto pilot, and they just endure life. That is one option! The next one is You have heard the arguments, haven’t you? "I got a raw deal. I didn’t deserve that. I am a good person, why is this happening to me?" Anger turns to bitterness, bitterness to aggression and a desire for revenge. That person has not responded rightly to their circumstances, and normally end up very unhappy people, and very unpleasant people to get along with. That is the second option. But there is a third: We can meet God in the midst of our hard times. One of the greatest promises in the Bible is that which says: "He will never leave us or forsake us". Friends, He is there for you in the hard times and the good times. He will never bail out on you – he loves you too much. He cares about you too much – even although we fail him so often. You can come to Him, and find that he is there for you. He will help you though the storm, and although the going might be really tough, He will get you through! |