Troubles & Worries, But No Despair

Troubles & Worries, But No Despair                             Kelly Durant    August 1, 2015

2 Corinthians 4:7-9

7 But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.8 We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; 9 Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed;

2. Have you every screamed out loud, really cried out, to the Lord for help in distress?  One time my wife and I were traveling between Bogota & Cucuta in our 1984 Ford Fairmont. (In our 14 years abroad we only owned a car for 2 years) There are many steep mountainous cliffs on the way there and no ledges to pull off onto and many crashes occur when one semi-truck passes another between the mountain and the cliffs. The problem is coming around the curving mountains you are blinded to never know when you will face 2 trucks head on head on with one passing another!

This very scenario happened to me and my wife and by a miracle a small edge appeared by the cliff side and we pulled over on it to break to a frightening stop as 2 trucks passed us on that pitch dark single lane road. My wife and I both cried out, “Jesus, Jesus save us!” Instead of going off the edge of a mountain we were saved! How could God time it so precise with that ledge to save us! God has saved us from death many times, actually! Thanks be to God we did not die of heart failure either!

A near death experience, a sudden fear, or an accident will drive you seek God! It is just a natural response to either cry out to God, or to curse God, depending on your heart’s condition! Many times bad things happen to good people and in the end only God knows why. All we can do is accept that God has a plan and obviously His will is being done even though we may not like it, agree with it, or understand it.

It is painfully hard, but we have to accept that we are just frail people in frail bodies living in a broken sinful world where many tragedies happen daily! Our bodies, and our spirits housed within them, are not of iron but of clay and they can break easily. But if we seek Him, God can be our strength keeping us together. 7 “But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.” The power we have to endure all our fragilities living in these jars made of clay comes from God! To Him is the glory forever!

3. Each one of us here have had times of troubles and despair and most everyone relates to King David’s clamors to God in the Psalms. Psalms 3:4 I cried unto the LORD with my voice, and he heard me out of his holy hill. Selah. Have you ever yelled out to God for help? I have often!

The anguishes and pains we suffer in this life are very real and do hurt so much they often leave us with a scar. How many of you have scars on your bodies? What about a scar from a traumatic experience? Pain changes each of us! We either become close friends with God praying the whole time for hope and healing, or we may become embittered as those who have no faith, who curse God for allowing evil to happen to them or a loved one. I have met many bitter people in my life, and some of them have even been “so called” Christians. I hope you are not one of them here today!  How sad, right?  Here is a poem to reflect deeper …

       THE SCAR    by Kelly Durant

1-Writhen tissue

A deadened stain

Disfigured past

Evident pain

2-Nakedly exhibits

Itself indifferently

To the cringing, ill world

Indiscriminately

3-Exposed surface

Imbedded screams

Painted trauma

Recanting dreams

4-Cruelty left its mark

Let it be diminished

By the hope of God in

Surroundings unblemished

Cursing God gets no one anywhere! Job’s wife saw Job so miserable after losing his wealth, health, and family (who were killed by robbers) that she in Job 2:9 said this, “Then said his wife unto him, Dost thou still retain thine integrity? curse God, and die!” If Job would have done that he would have died in despair, failure, and humiliated by Satan, but He answered her to the contrary. 10 But he said unto her, Thou speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh. What? shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil? In all this did not Job sin with his lips.

4. Sometimes our pain in life can come from empathy as we suffer when someone we love suffers. Some Christians have this compassionate quality of love, but not all. People that truly love others are capable of putting their selves in the shoes, mind, and body of another. This connectedness causes you or me to want to help, console, and show compassion in the very way Jesus intended for us to do it in our love for one another.  Matthew 14:14 And Jesus went forth, and saw a great multitude, and was moved with compassion toward them, and he healed their sick.

In desperate times our prayers need more desperation! You may even need to scream and cry and let God know how hurt you feel! A little silent prayer will not do when you or I are under stress and afraid for an uncertain or difficult future. Let God know how you feel! God loves to feel us, hear us, and answer us! That is how David did it! His passionate prayers and songs are an encouragement to us even 3,000 years later!

To obtain comfort from God we must converse with Him in prayer! We must gain strength from Him by reading His Word! And we must support one another by doing what we can to make life easier in some way! 1 John 3:17 But whoso hath this world's good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?

5. The verses of today continue, 2 Cor.4:8 “We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair;” After you let it out and vocalize it in prayer, what should you do?  Should you stay awake and worry? Worry does nothing except bring you bad health! Over time it will bring you depression and insanity as well! 

God knows that everyone will have troubles in this life but through Him and the Holy Spirit, He desires that none of us suffer to the point of becoming psychotic, crazy mad, or falling into a manic despair. Despair should never be a condition of a Christ following child of God! God will comfort us with the Holy Spirit if we ask for it. (John 14:26)  It has been so hard for me to practice this next verse, but I have done my best in the past. Psalm 3: 5 “I laid me down and slept; I awaked; for the LORD sustained me.”

This seems so contradictory, David is distressed for his life as He could be killed any day by his enemies or Saul, but yet he writes that he is able to go to sleep in peace because he is trusting in God! Now that is faith and trust in God for real!

6. So what do we need to learn when we are in terrible situations? To take an attitude that after you cry out, after you pray, that you will trust God for the answer to the point you let God stay awake and not you!

David gave all his burdens to the Lord and then he went to bed! Have you ever prayed and trusted that intensely? Have you felt that intensity of peace from God’s Holy Spirit after prayer and then gone to sleep like that? This is true confidence, when a calm trust comes over you!

We hope in God knowing that He is the one who will do the miracles. After all He is in control of everything and there is nothing we can do that is going to override His supreme will. Our prayers will often get positive results, but God does want to see if we will honor Him or not.

7. Pain also is often the results of man’s cruelty to man. I sometimes get very concerned and worried over the current and future persecutions of Christians. I know their pain is very real and I suffer with them! After all about 13 million Christians have recently been displaced in the Middle East and are living in tents hiding from religious persecution. We want to save and heal in the name of God, and others want to kill in the name of their false god. Psalm 3:6 “I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people that have set themselves against me round about”.

Being afraid is something that grips you making your insides shake but it is something that God wants us as Christians to reject because we ultimately trust in Him for our lives and for our deaths! Multitudes of horribly evil people in society around the world are against you and me as Christians, but we do not tremble, despair, or lose our minds!

What is David referring to here? He was at war with the pagan nations around him! They all hated him and were hunting for him wanting him dead. Have you ever felt like, that thousands are hating you? We are at war against the world’s evils and it never is God fault that men chose evil instead of good. God and Jesus are there to save and heal us, but always recall suffering is Satan’s idea as a means of destroying us in this life and in the one to come.

8. If you are truly righteous, telling your friends about Jesus, you will be hated by Satan, his demons, and those who do evil! I want to tell you something shocking, if you really stand up for what is right, it is inevitable, you will have enemies and you will be afraid at times! Satan at some time or another will put you to the test as He did to Jesus.

And this takes us to the last part of the verse in 2 Cor.4: 9 “Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed;”  As Christians we are persecuted by our adversary, the Devil, and he sometimes may cause us physical harm. We must also recognize that our enemies are often those who make us worry and stress, and invoke on us spiritual anguish!

Evil people may even attack us! Persecution often includes more than just offensive words, it may mean a loss of a job, an embarrassing defamation of character, or as in other countries, a loss of home and belongings with the possibility of death or the death of one’s loved ones.

9. The pain we suffer in life often is an attack from Satan, but even in the midst of the trial we can recall that we can defeat Him as Jesus did when He was tempted. You may be faint, you may be sick but in the end God will win the victory for you if you do not give up!   

Amongst Christians though, each of us must be united to stand against those who are evil! We must fight when Satan harms any one of us in any way! Remember the fight is not amongst our selves as Christians (unless someone is obviously violating God’s principles) but our fight is against the principalities of darkness and spiritual wickedness!

Apart from the evils of accidents and sicknesses in this fallen world, we witness right here in our community many people practicing destructive devices from Satan. There is amongst all races exploitations and abuse, sexual trafficking, immigrant trafficking, voodoo, gang activities, and more! Drugs, prostitution, and fraud are everywhere and these evils bring cruel suffering upon our neighbors. We are called to do our part to save the victims and alleviate the suffering!

10. The question is, if God hears the cries of you and me and of everyone who is a victim in distress, are you willing to also hear, see, and show compassion and do something? God has no hands but ours to do good! You and I are called to love as Jesus did, and to put bandages on the broken as the Good Samaritan did while on his way to Jericho. The reason the Salvation Army exists and came to be was for its compassionate members to bless others with love, compassion, and prayer in this horrible hell of a world! But when a Christian loses their salty flavor, when they have no compassion or love, then God’s heart and many people suffer!

What is our response when there is pain? 1) To cry out to God praying to Him when in troubles and distress!  2) To trust God totally claiming His Word to us calm down so we sleep   3) To trust that God will avenge those who persecute or do evil, and   4) In the end, accept that salvation and blessings will come from God over time for trusting in Him!

Psalm 3:8 “Salvation belongeth unto the LORD: thy blessing is upon thy people”. It seems so simple, but it is true, God bestows to us who trust in Him healing, salvation, and blessings! How many of you feel like you are in a desperate situation right now and you need to cry out to Jesus? Trust in Him and accept His will and you will live in peace.