Surely Not Me...and Definitely Not Them (Part 3)

Storms of life.

Make us either better people or bitter people. That's what a storm does in every believer's life is going to make you better believe are going to make you a bitter believer either is going to make you come out of the storm stronger for Christ make you have greater power and greater faith and greater commitment and greater effectiveness for Christ.

A more powerful testimony to share or you can look at the storm and you look back. Even though if you come out of it and you say where was God when I needed him.

How could God let me go through this. Why me I don't deserve this and then you develop a cold love CO LV cold. Love you say Michael what is called love called love expresses itself this way. I will go to church but I will never get involved.

I will show up but I'll never commit to anything I'm going to stand on the sideline I my wave hello but I will never fellowship and I'll never have intimacy and I'll never have a relationship that's a cold love, but also the two important things that you must understand about the storms that come into our lives, they are never the same to everyone of us see what is a storm in my life my love your storm see what all is and what you whining about yourself and what is a storm to you might not be as strong to me at all.

So we all have different storms in effect is different and review them differently the second thing is this, there are basically three causes of varieties of storms. There are storms in our lives which we cause it's all action. It's something we have done and is the consequences of what we have done. There are storms of life that we did not cause but others around us have caused the storm somebody else did something somebody else said something that caused us a storm in our lives, no matter how well-intentioned they may be other people do say things that would cause us a storm and get caught in the backwash. The third kind of storms that is neither you have anything to do with it or somebody else anything to do with it, but really are those storms that are permitted by the Lord in order to test us and to prove us. The Bible talks about testing the believers like gold, you know, when you boil the gold to get into certain temperature. All the dross comes out and skimmed out of order the gold might be pure in this image. The Bible uses of testing of believers and that is why the first question you must ask yourself when you are in the midst of a storm. The first question that you must ask what is the cause of this plan that is brewing in my life. What kind of a storm is it and then I'll say go through what I called the three C's. What caused it. What is the cure and what are the consequences that cause the cure and the consequence can we say that together that cause the cure and the consequence and you must begin by asking the cause. Take time to examine what caused that storm in their life.

And then if you react to it biblically, then you will discover that this storm can turn into a wonderful wonderful opportunity for witnessing.

If you deal with that storm in a biblical fashion you're going to see that God is gonna bless you in such wonderful way you never thought possible.

Is that how can God bless me through the storm. He will if you react to it in a biblical fashion. Now there are some people who go through the storm and as soon as the storm of the sign of the storm in the last brewing to get discouraged. They really get despondent and they get discouraged and they refused to go through those three C's process.

They immediately react with despair in the face of the storm. The truth is, listen to me very carefully. Please God never never never wants us to despair. He wants us to pray, and I was thinking about this despair and I was thinking about how many people react to that.

When I remember myself acting in those situations. At times in my life and in despair. And I thought of something that's really relevant to me.

I have a very weak stomach especially comes to seasickness. Those of you who have the problem you understand what I'm talking about those of you who don't God bless you, forgive you about it about this passenger who was crossing the Atlantic on the ship and some way along the way. They began to face some really rough seas. I mean that ship was bobbing up and down like a cork and the passenger obviously had Mike Connor problem was leaning over on the rail and I will let you use your imagination here and he was turning into several shades of green and right then Stuart came by and it was trying to really encourage him and he said to him, don't be discouraged, sir. No one ever died of seasickness in the nauseated passenger looked at him with careful eyes and he said don't say that it is only the hope of dieting that is keeping me alive.

I know exactly how does their brother for in many ways. Jonah knew that only when he gets tossed overboard into the depth of the sea. The storm will calm. He knew that all them so, but easy.

God has had other plans for Jonah this look now at the three seats okay if you take notes, write them down because the cure in the consequence.

The cause of that particular storm was what was Jonah's disobedience as well because that's what he said he knew that he understood that he declared that and the reason so many Christians do not know how to cope with the storms in the life, the reason so many Christians do not know how to take and have victory in the midst of the storms in their lives is because they do not stop long enough and ask what is the root cause of the storm in my life. The cure can only come after you examine the root cause most people want to find a cure first. Then figure out the cause. But that's backward you cannot find a cure before the cause. Ask any doctor. He is not going prescribed medicine to you until he diagnosed the problem is that you have to diagnose up you have to figure out the root cause don't become obsessed with the cure before discovering the cause because most often God is waiting for you to discover the cause. Before he prescribed the cure. Don't focus only on the cure and how do I get out of this. How do I get out of this. How do I get out of this because the cure will come out of your discerning of the root cause of your storm did you cause the storm that somebody else because the storm in your life as a cure for that is that storm did not caused by you or somebody else. But the Lord permitted it in your life. There is a cure for that. But let me warn you that whenever you get into a storm in your life.

My goodness, there are a bunch of people. They immediately reporting their bony finger at you and say she it's your fault.

It is your sin. It is your lack of faith, and that heap false guilt on you before even you have time to find the cause, like Job's friend member Job Army no matter what he said his friends considering all you must've been a bad boy. Surely all of this would not happen if you're not a bad boy is it examine my life. I examine my life over and over and over.

I know I have not done anything they get things done and then you been a bad boy have tailored I don't want anything to do with the self-righteous creep for the eating.

I mean this is call friends thing our friends at all. Read my lips, no, one can tell you the cause of a storm in your life except you usually only one who can do that between you and God ought to be sure, sometimes you might reach out to some godly person to help you think through it help you identify the cause if you can, but that's very different from these people pointing their bony finger at you and say it's your fault.

Now back to Jonah the storm that threatened to break this Mediterranean cruise into was caused by Jonah himself. He was the one and he gave them the reason he told him is that on the guy but please listen carefully listen very carefully there storm was an indication that God had not had not been to get that had not given up on Jonah and that is why in spite of Jonah's rebellion in spite of his disobedience in spite of his running away from the call of God upon his life and the mission that God has for him in spite of all of that. None of that stopped God from using Jonah mightily afterward and this and that's what God wants to do with you. It doesn't matter what your past refusal to obey God. If it doesn't matter you pass disobedience. It doesn't matter your past doubt. It doesn't matter your past reluctance. God wants to use you name how what is in your workplace or in your neighborhood and your school or the community of the golf course or the sports arena wherever you are timid on this one. God wants to bring glory for himself out of your storm, whatever it may be God wants to make you a blessing in the midst of your storm.

God wants to bring victory out of your storm. God wants to bring revival out of your storm. God wants to manifest his power out of the storm in your life but you want first to identify the cause of the storm. Secondly, there is a cure. Look at verse 12 and 13 and 14 of John chapter 1 what he said he should pick me up and soul into the sea, and it will become call.

Jonah knew the cause, but also knew the cure. Instead, they refused and is a nun in the know we don't like what you say what we going to do really keep trying. Rolling original roll and roll and roll back the land. Not that they only refused the cure they were fearful that God will punish them for accepting the cure below the limitary something. There are several ways that you can rack to the cause of the store, you can run harder and harder and harder. You can try to get yourself involved in all sorts of busyness and activities in life and you can even bury yourself in your work that you can use your own strength to try to bring yourself out of the situation. You can dig deeper and try harder and you can grit your teeth a little more tough it out.

But the problem cannot be solved away. None of these things will work they will not work. The sailors tried everything and nothing worked. 11 limitary when it comes to the call of God in your life and one of the saddest thing that some people think that only God has a call in the life of those who are in full-time ministry is not biblical. It is biblical that he has a cough but has a call in every one of his children. Here's a call on your life. He's calling you, whatever you are. He's calling you right now, and the question is have you identified that call and have your brain that called or you're trying to be like Jonas I sure not me, Lord, and definitely love them when it comes to the call of God in your life.

He wants you to say all Lord here is my mind, think through it. Here's my heart.

Love through it here on my hands. Work through them here on my feet walk through them, a well-known South African theologian once said, is that the Christian life is not difficult to hear that is not difficult to sit it's impossible on our own strength. Absolutely it's impossible. The call of God in your life sounds so humongous you don't even want to face it. Only when Christ lives in you that the Christian life becomes fun and joy filled. Did you know that there are many Christians like the sailors on this Mediterranean cruise. They know the cure of the storm, but they don't want to follow.

They got their ideas.

They don't want to take the medicine they want to think with their emotions instead of thinking with the Holy Spirit. They want to use their human secular wisdom instead of biblical wisdom they want to apply humanistic principles instead of political principles they want to do it themselves and got a setting. All you need to do is confess and repent and make restoration. These sailors tried to throw cargo overboard.

It didn't work in very try to roll as hard as they could then work. There was only one way for the deliverance and the abating of the storm. It was to throw Jonah where now not to the sea is to throw him in the hands of God, as he was going to go is to surrender him to the sovereign God is to give them up to the loving arms of God and it was true that three days of death in the belly of the fish and then coming out again that God brought salvation to Nineveh and other a lot of people all around us who believe that they gonna make it to heaven if they try hard to be good enough for God and you and I know that is only through the substitutionary death of Jesus Christ on the cross of Calvary. His death, his burial, and resurrection can ever make it to heaven but me ask you this. You are rolling hard in the middle of the storm of your life.

Are you burning the candle on both ends.

Are you pushing every lever in your life and nothing is happening. Are you spinning your wheels and going nowhere. All you need to do say, surely Lord, it's me, and definitely got to them. All you need to do, start blaming everybody else and say Lord I'll go Lord I'll do Lord I'll give Lord our obey laws that are sacrificed. Lord, I will offer myself. Jonah recognize the cure from the storm. It was to stop running away from the will of God in his life is to stop running away from the ministry that God has given them is to stop running away from the plan of God under call of God upon his life, but the question is this.

Have you ever asked yourself why did Jonah asked them to swim into the sea. Was he suicidal was a self-destructive, was he fatalistic.

Did he have a modest complex. This is now none of the above when he said thrown overboard.

He was saying, I am done with running away. I am disobeying I am with wanting to do my own thing. I'm not ready to trust God fully, because the cure. The consequence look at verses 15 and 16, the raging sea immediately calm down. The moment Jonah surrendered to God's plan and God's call the moment he stopped saying, surely not million.

Definitely not them peace and calm was restored.

The clouds rolled like paper.

The sky was blue again.

Did you know the Jonah's effectiveness. For God did not begin when he got to Nineveh. None another. It began much earlier than that you consider your text. It began the moment he said yes Lord you know who won his first converts the sailors. These pagan sailors look at verse 14). The Bible, they called on the name of, not their pagan gods like they did in the beginning of the chapter. Not so.

In fact, this is the Lord is Jehovah. They called upon the name of Jehovah here on this one. God did not want to kill Jonah did not want to destroy Jonah God did not want to hurt Jonah. He wanted to save him and save others through him. He wanted to give him victory you want to use him might click he wanted to make him a blessing to many, just like we want with you, he saved you for a purpose he saved you so that you might help save others and bring the redeemed to the foot of the cross for me ask you this, as I conclude, what are you holding on to me.

What are you really grasping on clutching your hands and is saying not this, not this one. Are you refusing to hand back to God what is it that you refusing to surrender. Only you know that only I know of his irony doesn't want to take it from you anywhere.

He gave it to you he gave you if you want to think he can just click the strings and take away that is God hello now, but he doesn't because he really wants to multiply it for you.

He wants you to be willing to hand it to him before he can take it and blesses it and multiply it million times over. He wants you to surrender first and is waiting for you now. There might be somebody here today who have never really committed the life to Jesus Christ. You may go to church may be a religious person but have never really understood what it means to receive Jesus Christ as the only Savior, the one who redeems you not only just here and now. What you will but internally you can do that today. Some people through the years as I talked to them they would say, you know, I'm afraid to become a Christian. I'm referred to commit myself to Christ because Humira asked me to do this in email ascended to Africa Africa doesn't need you great giants of believers in Africa. God doesn't want anything nosing in the lose of the storms in your life and the guilt and the sin and the thing that make you feel empty but you got everything to gain peace with God in a relationship with his son forever. Father, you are an incredible God, you are merciful and gracious God, your persevering God and you keep on speaking to us and the keep on speaking to us and father forgive us for the hardness of our hearts, and when we hear the message of the message and then becomes a ho-hum. The devil immediately block the ears of our hearts.

You doing all right. You're doing fine is speaking to somebody else know the Holy Spirit speaking to you speaking to me and so father I pray in the name of Jesus and the power of his resurrection work in every single heart. Father God, I pray that this will be a turning moment in the lives of many of your children that I have to wait for storm and life in order to wake them up to your call. Father, we thank you that you love her so much. You don't want to destroy us. You want to use us and saw pray mighty things will begin to happen in every life is associated in this place. We thank you in advance for what you gonna do in Jesus name. Thanks for listening to this message from Dr. Michael. You sat recently featured on leading the way.

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