Understanding and Recovering from Discouragement

y Soul it his well it is well with my S it’s is with My Soul it is wor with My Soul is well it Is Well with My Soul it is well it is with My Soul is my my through it all through it all my eyes on you through it all through it all it is wor through through it all through it all my eyes are on you it is one with me Father we come to you today trusting and believing that the work of

your spirit in our lives will continue to provide us the Comfort we need and the promised teaching and being reminded of the things that are true about you and of your son who is our savior in whose name we pray amen you may be seated children you may leave and if you’re new with us and you have children we have special things planned for them and I’ve been told that if I forget to dismiss the children that I may be dismissed to the class with the

children so if I forget to say that at the beginning of the message somebody wave at me Sheree or somebody remind me of that we are here today to continue the third in three parts of really what it means to live fundamentally according to the tenants of Christ week one was what it means to live by faith last week it mean we as talked about what it means to be committed to a life of forgiveness forgiving others and today we’re going to talk about what it

means to persevere in the midst of difficulties our series is called face to face and the purpose of that is to wrap our lives around with the four digit acrostic what would Jesus Jesus do wwjd and if your mind and your heart based on these messages is directed toward that then we’re accomplishing what we pray we will accomplish today Steve is as we speak sitting at a campfire in anoris and praying for us as a church and we’re glad he’s getting time away as well we

are addressing the subject that we kind of keep tamped down in the Christian church someone says to you how you doing and you say I’m fine well you know in a passing comment like that it’s hardly opportunity to go much into a dialogue but I always taught my students that from time to time when you’re asked how you’re doing you should respond with a quart of milk and a sack of peanuts and more than half the time the people say oh that’s good glad to hear

it they’re not listening but the thing that’s tamped down in the Christian church is that we pretend we’re doing good all the time and we’re not in fact if anything the cander of the Bible teaches us that hard times come for everyone as a parent when you’re training your children to brace them up for the realities of life you do things like we did when we bought and read Judith Judith’s vce book Alexander and his Terrible Horrible No Good Very Bad Day Alex Alexander had a

bad day he woke up and gum was in his hair he went in the bathroom and dropped his sweater in the sink he went to the dinner table with his two brothers and his brothers got prizes out of their cereal boxes he didn’t have any prize in his cereal box on the way to school he didn’t get to sit by the window in the car poool he got to school and the teacher gave them an assignment to draw a picture of a castle and Alexander being

the contrary little fellow that he was said I’m going to draw an invisible Castle so when the teacher asked Alexander to show him his castle he showed a blank sheet of paper nobody was amused by that so school didn’t go well he he went into the playground and his best friends ignored him he headed home after school and to a dentist appointment and dread the dentist found a cavity at dinner his mother made him eat lime of beans and then at the end the end of

the day even his favorite cat didn’t sleep on the bed with him and those hard times for Alexander were common Fair within the lives of a child but you know the things we plan and things we do don’t always turn out the way we want them even as adults as a fledgling Vineyard farmer about 10 12 years ago we had the first of crop coming on and we were a gassed to discover that a few thousand Birds also noticed that our grapes were ripening not knowing

what to do we put my son on a four-wheeler with a shotgun and all day long he went up and down that Vineyard shooting birds for which a couple days later someone informed us that of the birds we were shooting Robins were a protected species and it was 0 per robobin and we had a few dozen 0 bodies laying out there in the vineyard so we hoped and survived that rather ignoble start to farming and I can only tell you that now because the statute of

limitations has passed and I’m good but you know it’s true what Peggy Lee sang when she said is that all it is and her wonderful Southern smoky voice she sang through the lyrics of is this the best that life can offer well I’m here to tell you that life can be challenging Elijah went from a victory at Mount Carmel to feeling sorry for himself but because God was not acting on his behalf we go to the Apostle Paul who writes with some honesty and cander that

in the midst of his ministry and life he writes we do not want you to be uninformed Brethren about the hardships we suffered in the province of Asia we were under great pressure far beyond our ability to endure so that we despaired even of life that’s the great Apostle Paul saying I was at the end of my resources it was King David the Conqueror of Goliath the one who would wrestle Bears who has his sins and his family turned on him the scriptures record that he

scribbled on the Gate of his home and saliva dripped from his beard not necessarily a winning day for David so the first thing we have to debunk is the fact that that doesn’t happen to us flat out it happens to every Christian you’re going to run into things where you get to the end of your resources and you have to just stop and say what in the world am I supposed to do I have permission to tell you that this week Ed and Jim Judy diory

are going through that and if you were a husband in that situation you would be asked to and you would turn off the life sustaining machines that kept your wife alive and while expecting on Wednesday that that would be the last of Judy’s days Ed writes this morning about an hour ago Judy’s not awoken yet for the last 48 hours she had a couple days where she opened her eyes and squeezed a hand she hasn’t awoken for 24 hours please pray that God’s will will be

done and for him to reign in every circumstance and detail of this doesn’t that sound like Ed so we certainly are praying for Ed and Judy and what barring the unforeseen will be the last hours of Judy’s Life what do you do you know the Theology of God loves me and as a wonderful plan for my life has bits and swirls to it things that even the best of us get to the end of our resources and say what am I supposed to do turn to

Matthew chapter 11 let’s see your Bibles good thank you you know it really is good for you to bring your Bibles and thank you for that I I love it because you can flip around without the restrictions of an electronic screen and today we’re talking about again the subject of what it means to face discouragement and how to live in the midst of it and we are in Matthew 11 where we talk about John the Baptist this is the last of our three Series in July

when I come back we’ll do three weeks just on the parable of the soils all three weeks and in August we’ll do three weeks just on Matthew 13 but on this we’re asking and answering the question what happens when everything that you think in life is nailed down comes up verse one after Jesus had finished instructing his 12 disciples he went there and to teach and preach in the towns of Galilee when John heard in prison what Christ was doing he sent his disciples to ask

him are you the one who was to come or should we expect someone else Jesus replied go back and Report John what you hear and see the blind receive sight the lame walk those who have leprosy are cured the deaf here the dead are raised and the good news is preached to the poor and he then has a summary exclamation that you see all over the New Testament blessed is the man who does not fall away on account of me as John’s disciples were leaving Jesus

called them back and said what did you go out and into the desert to see a reed swayed by the wind if not what did you go out and see a man dressed in in fine clothes no those who wear fine clothes are in King’s palaces then what did you go out to see a prophet yes now he’s still talking about John I tell you and more than a Prophet this is the one about Whom It is written I will send my messenger ahead of you

and will prepare your way before you quoting out of Isaiah and Malachi that there would be one that comes before Jesus to Proclaim that Jesus is coming I tell you the truth among those born of women there’s not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist yet he who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he an absolutely incredible passage and it gives us really a three-step process on how to handle the unexpected it starts in verse two when John who was in prison

put there by Herod because he said to Herod you’re married to your brother’s ex-wife and God do not approve of that and he got thrown in prison and apparently had time to ponder and get discouraged now this is John the Baptist who came into the town surrounding the Ministries and Times of Jesus saying prepare for the way of the Lord this is John the Baptist who had highs in his life maybe the greatest of which is in Matthew 3 when Jesus Came From Galilee to the

Jordan to be baptized by John but John tried to deter him saying I need to be baptized by you and do you come to me Jesus replied let it be so now it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness then John consented as soon as Jesus was baptized he went up out of the water the moment was Heaven was open and he saw the spirit of God descending like a dove and Lighting on him and a voice from Heaven said this is

my son whom I love with whom I’m well pleased that’s the kind of memory that you go to sleep thinking about the highs of your life had to be a cat an amazing time for John and it must have propelled him through his years in the desert as a cousin of Jesus anticipating that he was God’s Prophet to announce the coming of Jesus so what happened between Matthew 3 and Matthew 11 he hit a brick wall he hit things that didn’t he didn’t expect he was

in this prison and he knew his life was on the line so so his disciples whom he had contact with he said let’s be straight go to Jesus and say to him are you the one who was to come or should we expect someone else step one in handling discouragement step one ask the right questions be honest in your questions we talked about that last week in terms of the subject of forgiveness you’re not keeping any secrets from God he knows your struggle but he wants

you and me to be in our knees before him and say Lord I I don’t understand is my ladder leaning up against the wrong wall PA can you imagine John wondering that this is confusion at its deepest piercing level because it not only affects John’s physical circumstances but his understanding of the kingdom of God this one who he believed was Yeshua was Yahweh was one come from God who predicted to Abraham and Isaac and and brought in by the by the prophets to be the ones

who rescued Israel and he believing all that and knowing all that and having the affirmation of God the Father to the one says are you really the one first step when you’re discouraged be honest enough to ask the real questions step two become a historian so John ever was never a really good student that’s I’m not asking you to be a student I’m asking you to look at verse four go back and report to John what you hear and see those who have been who had

leprosy and are healed and those who are deaf can hear and those who are dead are raised and the good news is preached so the first the second step after we’re straight in our questions to Jesus is to reflect on the goodness and faithfulness of God in your life in the past just as in the first century Jesus demonstrated who he was by The Miracles and signs and wonders that he performed some of us are more fragile than others I admit that some are more subject

to being discouraged easier than others I’m not easily discouraged I’ll say that carefully but I can tell you by my deepest moment in life was when I was 20 years old and I’d been driving a car to take my brother to Parkrose high school we were hit he was killed I was in a hospital for a week then we had the funeral and so about 10 days after the death of my brother I found myself standing in his bedroom at the age of 20 what am

I supposed to do now I’ve got a single parent and a sister and all my brother’s stuff here I I don’t know what to do and I was flat out discouraged but in that situation and in multiple situations after that where God has met me at the level of my questions where he’s given me the grace to recover from personal failures in my marriage and when he’s allowed me to have the continuing contact with my children and people in churches as I encourage them God’s faithfulness

to me has been consistent so the second step in handling discouragement is out of those low times say where is God’s imprint on my life and how has he proven his faithfulness to me even as Jesus proved who he was in the first century and then the first third step is always the third step and it is to persevere it is the passage blessed is the man who does not fall away on account of me you know sometimes the Bible gives us descriptions of life that

are at the 100% level we learned that two weeks ago when the Centurion when Jesus offered to go and heal his servant he said you don’t have to go just say a word and then Jesus said I haven’t seen such great faith in all of Israel this is another one of those statements it comes when Jesus is describing Elijah he describing John the Baptist he said he’s like Elijah he’s one that’s come from God and in fact he says among those born of women there’s not

Arisen anyone greater than John the Baptist do you see how God meets us at the level of our fragility fragileness I guess is a better word to the man Bor born blind he gently addressed not only his critics but the man and his parents to the woman caught in adultery he reprimanded those who were criticizing and slandering her and said to the woman neither do I condemn you go and sin no more Jesus will meet you at the level of your Brokenness doesn’t matter what it

is if it’s in a hospital room where you’re looking at turning off a respirator if it’s in a bedroom where you’re trying to contemplate the Unexpected death of a family member God’s purpose is to allow us the grace and encouragement to persevere so it’s no surprise that Jesus himself says blessed is the man who does not fall away and in fact he goes farther than that he says based on the exclamation of John who the greatest born of woman he says but you can be greater

than him for those who are least shall be much so the subject of understanding how God works in our life is something that strategically has to include hard times you don’t get to where God wants you to be without being broken you don’t get to the place of maturity that honors god without going through the fiery Kiln Paul wrote about that in 2 Corinthians chapter 1 if our screen is working we’ll get it 2 Corinthians chapter 1 verses 3 and 4 where Paul wrote pleased be

to God our Father our Lord Jesus Christ the father of compassion and the God of All Comfort who comforts Us in all our troubles in that we can comfort those who have trouble with the Comfort which we have receive from God so God does not see us as an end product in terms of the mercy and compassion that he has for us he wants us to be ones who realize God’s nurture and encouragement and then with that same Comfort we’re to give it out to others

and if that’s not enough Paul reminds us in that same chapter that in fact the purpose of that and of God’s Comfort to us is to allow that we can be ones who are ministers of mercy and Grace to those around us so he says now it’s to God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ he anointed us set his seal of ownership on us and put his deposit in our hearts as a deposit guaranteeing what is to come so God’s doing an

investing process in your life and mine it’s a spiritual investing process we are sealed by the Holy Spirit when we believe in Christ but now the capacity to grow the capacity to be people who reflect the person of Jesus to those around us is something that as Paul says is an anointing that expands in us in our heart in our lives and those who live seek to live in a way that reflects wisdom you say well John that’s well for you to say but I’m a

mess I I have I have done things in my life that are not salvageable really jeepa the Old Testament said was born illegitimately and God used him Rahab came up from a life of prostitution to a woman comparable in faith to Abraham James 2 Jacob and Abraham by the way tried to apply deception in a way to prove God’s purposes Thomas got to the end of his life and said can I see your hands to know that you’re the Savior with Peter he notably at one

point even to a servant girl denied that he was associated with Jesus with Moses he murdered to try and get the upper hand on what he believed God was going to do for his people so there’s no thing and we don’t even go to the Apostle Paul before he was converted that can happen in your life that disqualifies you from the kind of Grace that God wants to give you to grow you up so would we’d have to say that to Peggy Lee there are high

tides and low tides in life but if you’re asking the question if that’s all there is there is a Biblical answer you know for Faith two weeks ago we said faith is the conviction of that which is unseen the hope of what is ahead and we went through the Litany of faith and said whether your faith is great or good or medium are moderate are sparing are faltering if it’s mixed with faith and if it’s mixed with fear and doubt Jesus says come to me and

I will give you rest for forgiveness we found that the driving force in a Christian’s life is Jesus himself who as Paul wrote put aside all malice and forgive others as Christ has forgiven you forgiveness is letting go of the right to hurt someone else because they hurt you we to be people of faith and people of forgiveness but we’re also be people people who persevere s c gone wrote a book called Rebel Yale in which he did a biography of Stonewall Jackson Stonewall Jackson was

a general in the southern Army out of Virginia and for the two years that he served the southern Army he had major military victories but he never let it distract him from his faith in fact at one point remarkably though it’s just anecdotal to my mind it caught me at one point he noted that he made a special trip out from away from his army to a town where he supported a black church in a black Sunday school class I thought that’s wonderful that’s just wonderful

that he did that but anyway soel Jackson got to the end of his military career and friendly fire took him down he was shot three times and the worst of the injuries was a bullet that went through his arm into his side they amputated his arm and for eight days they thought he was going to live and then he took a turn for worse because he had pneumonia so the doctor started coming in and his wife came in and he recognized that he was soon to

die and on his deathbed Stonewall Jackson said this you know I see a river and I see trees on the the other side of the river and I’m resting in the shade of those trees as I wait for Jesus and he died in my first year or two here at Grace Point we had the lovely pleasure of having Steve McCracken here and at one point I mean Larry mcra we had Steve we had Larry McCracken the father and at one point after one of the services

I told Larry that story about Stonewell Jackson and he said to me six words that I’ve never forgotten he said I’m rather looking forward to it that was Larry saying I know I’m near and like Stonewall Jackson I’m at peace God’s worked in my soul I know where I’m going that’s the product of persever that’s the product of a life of faithfulness and you say well does that mean that I can recover from anything that happens to me not necessarily I mean we read in Hebrews

chapter 11 that some of the Saints who had persevered were notable for their victories the author of the Hebrews wrote well think about consider what a great force it is to consider the lives of Moses and Jacob and others that have gone in front of us but then before you get to the end of the chapter you get to the the seier side the the physical flip side of a life of faith when the author writes in fact there are those who did not persevere in

in the same way they were ones who died not having received the Fulfillment of their faith and then the author says in a remarkable way the world was not worthy of them so whether your faith materializes in God working in your life in your lifetime or not God’s faithfulness is still there Proverbs is right when it says God mocks the proud but gives Grace to the humble so where does that leave us it leaves us with a favorite story that I’ve told once before in the

years that I’ve taught here and it fits today so I’m going to tell it again it’s the story of ignash pusi a Polish composer he actually was more than a composer he was a politician and while he was in Poland he became a man in power such that that at the Treaty of ver he was one of the signers on the Treaty of vers that ended World War I but his passion was not only playing the piano but composing and Performing and so both in Europe

and then ultimately in the end of his life in America he had a number of concerts that he performed at and including the New York Met and Carnegie Hall and the story is told one night of pusi gett

Transcript machine-generated from the sermon audio, so it may contain errors. 4,360 words.