All of us facing adversity, challenge and angst…those who are treading through the mud of distress, heartache, and deep sorrowful pain, that we once thought; not possible, unimaginable, are all going through a night of affliction of sorts.
Night, can mean so many things to so many people. It’s hard to narrow down the term or the feeling, and maybe it’s not meant to be pidgin holed into a corner in our mind. I guess in a general way, night can represent a time of trial and contesting the status quo. Tasking our abilities to weather the storms that life can bring and the testing of the Lord’s investment in each of us.
Like it or not and mostly not… we human beings (made in the image of God), seem to be built for adversity. There is something deep within us, that has been created by our God that kicks into gear just when we need God’s grace and mercy the most, to edify us and rise to the occasion.
Unfortunately, a lot of the adversity in our lives like our ancestors the children of Israel in the Old Testament, were the authors of their own adversity. Time after time, just as things were going well for Israel, God’s people would turn away from the Lord out of arrogance, stupidity, and selfishness. Here are the words of the Prophet Nehemiah, who will give an abbreviated rundown of our fallen nature by talking about God’s family. Reading from Nehemiah 9:26-31,33;
26 “But they were disobedient and rebelled against you; they turned their backs on your law. They killed your prophets, who had warned them in order to turn them back to you; they committed awful blasphemies. 27 So you delivered them into the hands of their enemies, who oppressed them. But when they were oppressed they cried out to you. From heaven you heard them, and in your great compassion you gave them deliverers, who rescued them from the hand of their enemies.
28 “But as soon as they were at rest, they again did what was evil in your sight. Then you abandoned them to the hand of their enemies so that they ruled over them. And when they cried out to you again, you heard from heaven, and in your compassion you delivered them time after time.
*Interrupting the Prophet to say; If this rollercoaster existence sounds kind of like your own life, with it’s ups and downs… Being close to God and in harmony with Him, and then at other times, not so much. Welcome to the human condition. Like Israel back then we in the here and now, struggle in our sin and missing the mark in Him who loves us in spite of us. Now, verse 29;
29 “You warned them in order to turn them back to your law, but they became arrogant and disobeyed your commands. They sinned against your ordinances, of which you said, ‘The person who obeys them will live by them.’ Stubbornly they turned their backs on you, became stiff-necked and refused to listen. 30 For many years you were patient with them. By your Spirit you warned them through your prophets. Yet they paid no attention, so you gave them into the hands of the neighboring peoples. 31 But in your great mercy you did not put an end to them or abandon them, for you are a gracious and merciful God.
**Interrupting Nehemiah once more to say; Israel is a blessing to all of us, all people and nations because in addition to teaching the world right from wrong with God’s Law, Israel also has instructed us in what not to do and the consequences of sin, first hand. All the while God remains constant, in-tune, and faithful to His creation! Verse 33;
33 In all that has happened to us, you have remained righteous; you have acted faithfully, while we acted wickedly.
To avoid repeating the same mistakes Israel did over and again, or even our own foolishness, we must be in the business of going to the Lord and asking Him for His mercy, grace, and growth. For starters, I am reminded of today’s Call to Worship read by Shelly. What I am about to read for you, is a template for coming before the Lord and asking God for growth in Him. This time please let me read, Psalm 119:33-40;
33 Teach me, Lord, the way of your decrees,
that I may follow it to the end.
34 Give me understanding, so that I may keep your law
and obey it with all my heart.
35 Direct me in the path of your commands,
for there I find delight.
36 Turn my heart toward your statutes
and not toward selfish gain.
37 Turn my eyes away from worthless things;
preserve my life according to your word.
38 Fulfill your promise to your servant,
so that you may be feared.
39 Take away the disgrace I dread,
for your laws are good.
40 How I long for your precepts!
In your righteousness preserve my life.
When we come to the Lord for His instruction for our lives, we begin a habit that begins a track along a faithwalk that leads into eternity. That very path that we are on, is a daily process for each of us learning how to be better people. People of God.
That title (people of God) sounds really noble, doesn’t it? That’s because it is noble, and only achievable because of what God does inside us. It’s His Grace that makes what’s going on deep within us surface and become outward a way of life for all to see. And when the world sees us actually acting like the people of God, they are mystified! Because we are striving to be the opposite of how the rest of the world thinks, acts, and believes.
Here is your Lord’s instruction on this counterintuitive way of not only acting, but in outright believing, from a change in attitude, that comes from a change in heart. Reading from the Message prelude this time to include, Matthew 5:21-24;
21 “You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘You shall not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ 22 But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to a brother or sister, ‘Raca,’ is answerable to the court. And anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell.
*Interrupting to say; name calling really is that bad, and once it starts it rarely ends without real hurt and pain. That hurts more than I would like to share with you. Verse 23;
23 “Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, 24 leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift.
That is how important our relationships are with other people to God. And if you are the person that someone is coming to for your forgiveness, forgive! In fact, even if someone is not asking for our forgiveness, we must be in the business of forgiving. Here once again is your Lord’s word on forgiving… Reading from Matthew 6:14-15;
14 For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.
I didn’t say that, Jesus your Lord did!
That’s pretty definitive! Forgive and be forgiven, or carry a grudge and reap the whirlwind of shame, loneliness, and despair. Cuz that’s what hell is, and it awaits those who chose to create ongoing bedlam instead of seeking harmony and fellowship. For it takes much more effort to be a peacemaker in good faith to the people in your lives at times. It also takes being willing to humbly build up others, instead of tearing down. Our goal must be as the Apostle Paul instructs us in 2 Corinthians 6:3-4 stating;
3 We put no stumbling block in anyone’s path, so that our ministry will not be discredited. 4 Rather, as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: in great endurance; in troubles, hardships and distresses;
Or what we call, putting other people first in our lives. By doing so, we are serving God, and loving our neighbor. When we are following our Lord’s instruction, we are focused on what really is important, and not chasing after stuff of this world. That stuff, you name your poison, often is represented by us in our thoughts with the love of money. But it can be anything that you put before God and other people.
Money is just the most convenient way of lusting after what the world has to offer and often is how we get stuck in our darkness, night if you will, of our going it alone with out God, His family, and all that both stand for. For a deeper word on this thought, we have Paul’s adice to Timothy. A young Pastor who Paul was mentoring and growing in his faithwalk. Reading from 1 Timothy 6:10-12;
10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.
*Interrupting Paul briefly to add; the love of money is systematically linked to loving all and any of the junk of this world before God. It’s Idolatry, and it is poison to each of us in time. Now on to verse 11;
11 But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. 12 Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses.
Fighting the good fight is what brought many of us here to the house of the Lord. We tried doing it on our own, and it failed miserably. That’s why this is a hospital, and God through us is performing triage 24×7, and all us require His doctoring skills of life over the death we as people are often consumed with. Membership into this family begins with a confession to the Lord, and then an invitation for Him to live within you. The first step of forever and the beginning of daylight in our new lives.
For those of you who have already invited the Lord into your lives and are experiencing the horrible challenges that this life often, no always seems to offer… Hang in there. God has given you the tools to rise to the occasion, and overcome the darkness of your wilderness moment. For some of us, our wilderness moment seems to be an ongoing onslaught, and there are times when you don’t know if you can make it through the next day let alone the next hours. Hang in there!
You are not alone, and God has given you the tools to overcome. If you dig deep into yourself with Him for a change, you will find resilience and strength. But when you retreat to that dark place (I know where you go), that where we all find the night of our darkness, and only the Lord knows the way out. He will walk with you (not for you, or you won’t get well),… out of the prison of your own making.
When we do begin this new walk with God, today’s Message Reading begins to resonate within each of us, because it’s now recognizable how we are to conduct our lives with God and each other. Please let me reread Romans 13:8-14;
8 Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law. 9 The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not covet,” and whatever other command there may be, are summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” 10 Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.
*How do you know a person is full of God’s Spirit? When they act and teach just as our Lord would, over and over again. And my friends, that is Paul. Verse 11;
11 And do this, understanding the present time: The hour has already come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. 12 The night is nearly over; the day is almost here.
**Interrupting Paul again to say; When we awake from the slumber that we have basked ourselves in sin in, and begin to walk in the light with our Lord, night begins to recede opening up daylight and life anew. Continuing now halfway through verse 12;
So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. 13 Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy. 14 Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the flesh.
Ouch some more my friends. But good medicine for all of us in this Hospital today! By the way, notice how carousing and drunkenness, sexual immorality and debauchery,are directly connected to: dissension and jealousy. One feed the other in the darkness of our rebellion! But it need not when we awake from our slumbers, get up and walk in and with our Lord.
In our defiance of the old us, there is plenty there to bask in with the sunlight of salvation in His grace! And for those of you who are right now overwhelmed in the challenges that life brings your way, … please let me reassure you that Daylight is coming. You are not alone, and you never will be. Into eternity you will have people in your existence who love you, think about you, and are praying for you. Do not let the few who tarnish every setting they touch with negativity, taint your future and the hopes that follow your faith in Him!
In fact, do not let the few harden your heart so that you carry around their burdens of shame, guilt, and the pain of going it alone without God’s aid. For you have been called with your brothers and sisters into something so much bigger than any one of us.
Knowing the truth of my words, makes everything more manageable in our lives. Even God’s word begins to take on new meaning and dimension. For example, please let me finish with a psalm of praise. A praise of God only possible when we are in and with our Lord in relationship. Reading Psalm 149: 1-5;
1 Praise the Lord.
Sing to the Lord a new song,
his praise in the assembly of his faithful people.
2 Let Israel rejoice in their Maker;
let the people of Zion be glad in their King.
3 Let them praise his name with dancing
and make music to him with timbrel and harp.
4 For the Lord takes delight in his people;
he crowns the humble with victory.
5 Let his faithful people rejoice in this honor
and sing for joy on their beds.
My hope and prayer for all of you this week my beloved family is that you will weather the storms and bleakness of this life, and then reemerge stronger in Him who loves you!
Amen!
Benediction; Based on Psalm 149:1-2 &
Numbers 6:24-26
May you1 Praise the Lord.
And Sing to the Lord a new song,
his praise in the assembly of his faithful people.
2 May God let you rejoice in your Maker;
let the people of Zion be glad in their King.