Jesus Offers Hope - When Life Doesn't Make Sense, Part 2

Do you know someone right now that is going through a horrendously difficult time. Maybe they lost their job, maybe they're coming out of addiction but get a major problem with one of the kids and you said will pray about it and they prayed about the fact is, it's gone from bad to impossible. Now what today will talk about how God meets us in our times of deepest, deepest need. Stay with welcome to this Edition of Living on the Edge Chip Ingram the mission of these daily programs is to intentionally disable Christians, the Bible teaching of the brewery and thanks for being with her sister picks up where he left off last time in a series offers hope.

He reminds us that we all experience times in life doesn't make sense uses the life of the apostle Paul is an example for what were to do bad to worse.

Before we begin, let me encourage you to use chips message notes while you listen to include his brief outline and all the supporting Scripture references to download these message notes just go to the broadcast tab@livingontheedge.org Listeners to fill in notes. If you have your Bible turn out to John chapter 11 for part two of chips message.

Life doesn't make sense. Notice Jesus response to her her into her pain when Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who would come along with her also weeping. He was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. Here's what I want to remind you, it may be hard, you may not understand it, it may be difficult but I'll tell you one thing I learned when I was crying in my basement Jesus was crying with me and he had not abandoned me and he loves you and is for you and he may not turn the switch and fix the problem. Remove the cancer getting your house back because your marriage to come back altogether.

All at once.

Find the person you're looking for is a single person give you the job that you're always looking for but in the midst of what you can't understand.

If, like Martha and Mary you'll come and then be honest and telling you what this does make a lot of sense to me and shoot it really straight and then sit and listen. He says I'll meet you here. I do love you. Your pain elicits the heart of God.

The notices response. Where have you laid him. He ask.

Come and see.

Lord, they replied and then you had this's short powerful.

Jesus wept. God's purposes are bigger than fixing my problems and your problems in getting your life to work out in my life to work out when and how we want way bigger. He cares deeply, but some of them said could not he who open the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying. This is the third time. What I basically saying will yet seems like he really cares these crying now is very compassionate but it was really compassionate.

He'd been here four days ago would help a guy in the midst of our difficulty are temptation is to begin to believe that God doesn't really care. I got a letter from a lady I never know how God does all this but came in the mail yesterday and she's a listener to Living on the Edge and she says I'm a Romans 12 school teacher and I continue get down on my knees in my classroom and I pray each morning for each my students since last year we've joined a Bible teaching church with community groups or small groups. In my marriage is been restored and that's no small accomplishment on God's part.

Since we buried a teenage son and both of us are recovering from addiction. Our son Chris that we lost, died of leukemia. He was diagnosed when he was 10 years old and at the time there were no books out there for children with cancer. As you read the whole story you you find a woman who is in a really really difficult, painful life doesn't make sense and a 10-year-old boy gets leukemia and they go through a journey to his early teens, and if you know anything about what happens when you lose a child over 80% of people that lose a child end up in divorce in the journey and the pain as they were trying to deal with those things. They found that alcohol would relieve some of the pain in both she and her husband become alcoholics.

Somewhere along the line she began to listen and ponder and seek after God and she realized that she needed to draw near to him and she got a good Bible teaching church and she began to seek after God. And then she had this dream that maybe God could use this difficult, painful thing with my son to help others. I tried for two years to get a publisher for my book.

She entitled it. The baldheaded princess.

You get it you know when you go through chemo and you lose all your hair, and was a book about dealing with that as a child and eventually I got discouraged so I surrendered it to God and I ask him to teach me what ever I was supposed to learn from that experience. Did you see the process God takes us through Martha surrender Mary surrender. You surrender me surrender a horrific losing of a child finally wanting to do something good to think that what's the deal. I don't understand. And finally it's okay hey what your agenda your way, your time, I'm gonna surrender it to you. You just see a theme here surrender just believe. Believe. Do you believe do you trust me, then one special day I received a phone call from an interested publisher. They one of the book in the day they called it was our son Chris's birthday. God was telling me that he has the perfect time for everything. He knows how impatient I am and he wants me to trust him and have faith in him. Even when it seems like nothing is working out just like my marriage and my alcoholism since last year I've been reading the Bible daily and I came across Hebrews 11 one now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. I am certain that our Chris is in heaven and that God will continue to use my writing to help others see the journey God doesn't always show up in wave the magic wand of answered prayer to take us out of some things he delivers us through it and its purposes are beyond. If you never begin to look at life through the lens of eternity you will never be able to make sense of this life through just the now God's purposes are bigger than his love is greater. Notice what happens now Jesus decides in this case he's going to go ahead and solve the problem. Jesus verse 38 once deeply moved, came to the tomb and it was the cave of the stone across the entrance. Take away the stony said, ever the pragmatist Martha, the sister of the dead man said. By this time there's a bad odor. Friedman therefore days.

Then Jesus said and did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God.

So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said father I thank you that you have heard me.

I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here that they may believe circle it that you sent me when he said this, Jesus called out in a loud voice, Lazarus, come out the dead man came out his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen and is a cloth around his face and Jesus said to them, take off the grave clothes and let him go now. Did you notice how Jesus chose to solve this problem but you do what you do. Did he touch you spoke he spoke in the midst of your pain. He speaks, we talk about life in Christ and bio before God in community on mission.

This is about in the midst of your pain and hurt you end up living in the Psalms and you live in the Gospels and you say, God, this doesn't make any sense and God I hurt God I want this to be fixed in God.

I want her to come back or not. I want him to change from this addiction that has or God do something with my kids or God, please do not been single all God, please, I need a job God turn my house around and through all that you draw near to him. He draws near to you but I will tell you he speaks life through his word. David followed him, and in some 119 would say if your word had not been my delight, I would've perished my flexion. I do not understand how it works but it will tell you it's a living and active, intuited sword piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit of joint and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

It's it's a written word, but in the heart of a person who is desperate and hurting. It will become the living word in the spirit of God will take the word of God and begin to give you promises and hope, and by the way, it's not hope for next week when you have thoughts like I can't take this. I can do one more week like the Scots is absolutely not you can just do the next 10 minutes. I'll give you grace for the next 10 minutes. I can't live one more day like this, you absolute grace comes tomorrow for the pain that you feel when you get to tomorrow, but Gotto be in the tomorrow all you have to do is say I don't know how but I'm going to hang on. I'm going to hope. I want to meet you and what will happen is to speak and often instead of solving or fixing your problems or making your life work out. Remind the way I want when I want to begin to reveal himself to you in ways that you never dreamed and reveal things about you to you that you never dreamed and in that process of transformation occurs. The apostle Paul would take the same truth in Romans chapter 5 and I put in the discussion questions they don't need to write it down, but he says therefore being justified by faith we have peace with God, he says, and then in verse to the Romans five says and not only this, but we exult in our tribulation or our difficulty or pain or adversity, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance.

Who pimento and perseverance brings about character, and character brings about hope and hope doesn't disappoint, because the love of God is poured out in our heart in the midst of that process when it's so difficult there's nowhere to go and there's nowhere to go and and you know what the will of God is. You just don't give up and you don't get in and what happens is the perseverance produces a character change. A level of trust and when you see that kind of change you realize there's hope for ever and there's hope now and in the midst of that you feel the compassion of God. He pours his love into your life in your heart, and he does it through his word and you heard he does it through community. He does it through the lives of others and he does a purging purifying supernatural thing through you. I will guarantee the most loving, kind, Christlike people that you will ever meet in the world have suffered deeply as part of the agenda. The epilogue is to responses.

Therefore, many of the Jews who had come to visit. Mary and it seem what Jesus did put their faith. You can circle that phrase. It's the same as believe put their faith in him. Then watch them suffer. They watched what happened. They watched Jesus in the midst of your pain and my pain in our struggle and how respond its most powerful thing in the world many people around you will believe not because God shakes the magic wand and wow but they watch you go through the process and not give up hope. But there's always the other group, the skeptics, no matter how much evidence they respond the same but some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done little tattletale, then the chief priests and the Pharisees called a meeting of the Sanhedrin.

What are we accomplishing this task. This man is performing miraculous signs.

If we let him go on like this. Everyone will believe in him and in the Romans will come and take away our temple and our nation. 1 Translation Says Our Pl. in our nation put a box around temple put a box around nation.

These are the two enemies of your faith not imagine this, someone reports their eyewitnesses.

The sky was dead. He was dead for four days this Jesus rabbi guy you to the controversial guy we watching he really loves his ladies he prayed, you know, he wept and that he just quit and he just spoke words and the guy came out. You know what mommy the first movie it peeled off the stuff and they run things in their response instead of bowing down saying what more evidence could anyone ever need that this man is God. Instead, what if everyone believes in him will lose our place temple and our nation. Our place or the temple is your position in our nation underneath. You can write power to the two enemies of faith are.

They knew that if Jesus rained and was identified as the Messiah, that their role, their status, their position is going to change, and they knew the Romans would come in and they would change their nation and so they would lose their power, they lose their control and your desperate attempt to hang on to your position and your power or control over your life and your circumstances and your family and your job and your world and your self-made security in home and money are the things that prevent you simply believing, and they will but prevent me somehow we've grown to believe that unless there's so much money and some accounts somewhere and we own our own home and our marriages if were married are deep and intimate and wonderful in our kids are getting into the right schools and all these little circumstances are lined up. Then life is good and God is faithful and that may pass for 20 century or 21st-century evangelical American and much Christianity around the world, but it has little or nothing to do to the gospel or the New Testament of Jesus Christ. God never promised that God promised that he be with you. God promised that these good God promises you have an eternal hope in God promised that regardless of what you go through in a fallen world will never leave you or forsake you, and that he loves you and that you and I need to surrender and ask how do I fulfill your agenda.

That's what that prayer is your kingdom come, your reign in your will be done. How on earth as it is in heaven. And every time we get to see that kind of a person that Romans 12, Christian what you find is life in them and around the very bottom. I put a couple questions that I like you to ponder. Sometimes we, God lets her problems go from bad to impossible. So we can you fill it in. Might belief Jesus said this is the work of God, that you might believe in him we have sent what he supposed to believe exactly 2 things, believe in the depth of his love for us and second choose to believe in the extent of his power available to us. He is the resurrection and the life you can bring life you can change in circumstances, he can do anything, but he does it to us according to our faith. So I would ask you where in your life you have a bad or impossible situation.

I'd encourage you with the family or friend or in your small group to maybe read out loud. Romans 51 to 5 in and kick that around. If this is the process God takes normal people through, I'd encourage you. Question three to read second Corinthians 12 nine and 10 and realize that people who love God with all their heart, that are far more holy than we will ever be asked God specifically like the apostle Paul for some deliverance and God said no and told him that his grace is sufficient for him and that he does supernatural amazing things in her difficulty in our weakness and then I would encourage you to ask yourself who do you need in your life to make it through your present difficulty God is and what you go through the loan and for some of you sit here, go you know I don't have one of those right now that then asked the next question who in your network might need you to jump into their life and sick could I help you through this. I really want to love you want to be the Christ will sit with you and cry with you, pray with you. That's how the body works will be right back with his application message when life doesn't make sense from a series Jesus offers hope does it feel like you hit rock bottom, like you've done everything right, only to have your circumstances go from bad to worse. Are you in desperate need of hope right now on this four-part series trip reveals how it's possible to experience God's supernatural hope even in the midst of the worst life throws at you hear from the Gospels why we can place our absolute confidence in God and hang onto the hope he wants us to have every day for limited time the resources for Jesus offers hope are discounted and the MP3s are always free. You'll find everything you need@livingontheedge.org or give us a call at triple late. 333-6003 that's AAA 333-6003, or LivingontheEdge.org hapless nurse Special offers before we go any further, here's a quick word from ship I want to ask you something really important.

Would you choose to become a financial partner with us not using that language to disguise the fact that I'm asking you to giver her trying to be fancy or asking for money, but when you invest in this ministry is more accurately saying yes I will partner with you. Yes, I'll go to work with you.

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I want to thank you in advance for whatever God leads you to do and thank you. Thanks so much for being a partner fixture is partnering with Living on the Edge is an idea that makes sense to you. We'd love to have you join us helping Christians live like Christians will change the world we live it, to give a gift. Just give us a call at triple late. 333-6003, or if you prefer to give online you can donate securely by going to LivingontheEdge.org hapless nurse Donate generosity is greatly appreciated. Now with some final thoughts peers chip as we wrap up today's program.

I want you to go back with me in your mind to how I finished, you did some teaching there from second Corinthians 12 and about how God's power is perfected in our weakness and I really encourage you to think truly think about someone who's going through something this just maybe it's horrific but they're really really hurting. Maybe they're ready to say you know God didn't show up for me, this doesn't work, but you know there hurting and that's the person that you need to reach out to you know our program isn't just about what do you get, but we want to equip you to love people to be the hands and feet and Jesus himself right now in my life. It's been a sort of a tragic last 10 days. So much so that I sat down with chorizo and I made a list on a yellow pad and it was this person has cancer. This person's cancers returned. This close friend.

His wife 43 years old. Three kids just died of cancer.

I don't know about you, but how how the world we grapple with those kind of things when life doesn't make sense.

Here's what I do know I know that when Jesus is present and he's present in you is his follower and he's present in his word and there's not a need to give people a lot of advice. You just need to be with them. You need to hug him. You need to pray. You need to call them today you need to ask him how are you really doing.

Don't say can I bring something over take something over. Don't say if there's anything I can do what it would be just do something and just love them all.

When we heard Jesus is going to show up, but I want to remind you that he often shows up inside the body of another believer video screens and podcasts will never hug anyone. They'll never cry with anyone. That's what we need to do. Here's the question, who needs you today. Don't delay, don't procrastinate meet them, love them care for them today. Let's be the body of Christ you know a great way to soak in the truth like trip was just saying is with the chipping remap. You'll find a series there and many more all free, but God's word poor into you in such a way that you get perspective and the freedom he longs for you to enjoy and him will and selects time.

This is Dave Drewry saying thanks for listening to this Edition of Living on the Edge