Have you ever gotten to the
point in your life where you felt like you were at the end of your rope?
Everything you tried seemed to just blow up in your face. Nothing went like you
had hoped, or even as you had planned. And, you felt as though you just kept
coming up against brick walls.
Your heart was in the right
place, and you were moving in a forward direction, but Satan just kept fighting
hard against you, using loved ones, friends, or church people to oppose you, and
to try to get you to compromise with the world, or to not take life so
seriously.
It seemed no one was on your
side, and “in your ball court,” except God. Even those who were supposed to
love and support and protect you had turned against you, and so you felt
without hope, without resources, and lacking the strength to fight anymore.
And, so you just wanted to throw up the white flag and say, “I surrender!” Have
you been there? I have!
So, what are we to do when we
get to that place? We need to call on God for help, for strength, for comfort,
for healing, and for direction. We need to also fight off Satan’s evil attacks
against us with the truth of God’s Word. And, this is the truth from his Word
regarding these times in our lives.
She Laughed
The Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and
say, ‘Shall I indeed bear a child, now that I am old?’ Is anything too hard for
the Lord? At the appointed time I will return to you, about this time next
year, and Sarah shall have a son.” Gen. 18:14 ESV
Abraham and Sarah were well
past childbearing age, and yet God promised them that they would have a son,
and that Abraham would be the father of many nations. The Bible says this about
Abraham:
“Without becoming weak in faith he contemplated his
own body, now as good as dead since he was about a hundred years old, and the
deadness of Sarah's womb; yet, with respect to the promise of God, he did not
waver in unbelief but grew strong in faith, giving glory to God, and being
fully assured that what God had promised, He was able also to perform” (Rom.
4:20-21 NASB).
I think sometimes we grow
weary when what we hope for takes too long, and so we get impatient with God,
and thus, when things get really hard, we are ready to “throw in the towel.” We
give up too soon, because we feel that what we hope for is not going to happen.
We have our eyes fixed on our circumstances, instead of on God, and so we
decide it is an impossible situation, and there is just no way that good will
come out of it. And, so we bail, because it got too hard, and/or because it
looked too impossible.
But, we forget that, with
God, anything is possible, according to his will and purpose. Nothing within
his perfect will is too hard for him to do. He is the God of impossible
situations. He is the God of miracles, too. So, we need to yield to God’s will,
pray for direction, and then do what he shows us, and move forward, not
backward. Instead of just giving up, we should see what God is up to, then
trust him, and then follow his lead.
Not Looking Good?
‘Ah, Lord God! It is you who have made the heavens and
the earth by your great power and by your outstretched arm! Nothing is too hard
for you. Jer. 32:17 ESV
“Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh. Is
anything too hard for me?” Jer. 32:27 ESV
God’s people were in
captivity. Jerusalem was under siege. Jeremiah was under arrest and being held
in confinement because of what he was prophesying in the name of the Lord.
Things didn’t look too promising. And, yet, God told Jeremiah to buy a field,
so he did, even though, by human understanding, it probably was illogical.
God’s people were in captivity
because, although God had rescued them, and he had provided for them, and had led
them, they did not obey him, but they did evil in his sight. So, God judged
them, and he brought disaster on them, but not to destroy them, but to bring
them to their knees, so they would return to him.
So, again, things were not
exactly looking good. The people were living in open rebellion against God. Sin
was abounding. And, now their land was being conquered. All looked pretty
hopeless. But, then God said, “Is anything too hard for me?”
You see, God had a plan. And,
his plan was to revive his people and to bring them back into fellowship with
him, so that he would be their God, and they would be his people. His plan was,
that through a very difficult circumstance, he would work a miracle in their
hearts and lives. And, that they would fear him, and so they would walk in his
ways. Now he would bring good on them. And, fields would be bought once more.
So, sometimes, when things
look utterly hopeless, we need to seek God’s face and allow him to show us what
he is doing in these circumstances, and how he is working all things for good
for those who love God and who are called according to his purposes. When
things seem to be at their very worst may be the time when God will break
through, and a miracle will happen. So, we have to know that nothing, within
God’s will, is too hard for God. So, we should never give up, but we should
trust him, walk with him, and do what he tells us to do, for he has a plan.
Nearly Impossible
But when he heard these things, he became very sad,
for he was extremely rich. Jesus, seeing that he had become sad, said, “How
difficult it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God! For it
is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person
to enter the kingdom of God.” Those who heard it said, “Then who can be saved?”
But he said, “What is impossible with man is possible with God.” Lu. 18:23-27
ESV
Hard, difficult, challenging,
and even nearly impossible is not too hard for God. We can’t do it, but he can.
We see stubborn and rebellious hearts, living in sin, addicted to all sorts of
sinful practices, children and spouses being abused, betrayed and abandoned, and
cruel and inhumane treatment of the oppressed at the hands of the wealthy and
powerful, and we wonder if there is any hope that this will ever end.
We see lives torn apart by
sin, hatred and violence, lies and betrayal, broken marriages, and children
exposed to all sorts of evil via internet devices, and we wonder when or if God
will ever intervene. We see the addicted, too, hanging on to their idols, often
unwilling to let go, or fighting to hold on, or trying to delicately balance
their sinful practices with their Christian lives, and we wonder if they will
ever come to their senses and truly give God their all in total surrender to
his will. Some people have already written them off, and have decided they will
never change.
Yet, I believe in miracles. I’ve
seen a soul set free! I know God’s power to change lives and to turn them from
darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they can receive
forgiveness of sins and a place among those sanctified by faith in Jesus
Christ. So, there is always hope until they are dead or until Jesus Christ
returns. Until then, we should keep praying, because with man, this is
impossible, this deliverance from our chains, but with God, it is not.
So, when things look bleak,
when our plans fail, when life kicks us in the rear, and the opposition is
strong, we need to put on the armor of God and fight Satan and his lies and
believe in God’s Word and his promises, and then just let him lead us as to the
way he wants us to go. Instead of running away when life gets too hard, we need
to run to God. He may say, “Leave,” but he may say, “Stay.” So, we need to do
what he says, and then just trust him with the results. He will give us all we
need to endure, and the wisdom we need to keep persevering, even when all looks
utterly hopeless. We just need to rest in him, rely on his strength and power,
and keep pressing on.
His Strength Is Perfect
Steven Curtis Chapman
His strength is perfect when
our strength is gone
He'll carry us when we can't
carry on
Raised in His power, the weak
become strong
His strength is perfect, His
strength is perfect
Sunday, December 31, 2017,
6:13 p.m. – Thank you, Jesus, for these encouraging and hopeful words. Help us
to hear you clearly, and to follow your lead, and to run to you and not from
you when things get hard.
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