“Good Trouble?”

Preached by Rev. Ed Brouwer at The Gathering Place, Osoyoos
Pulpit Series Volume 19 Issue 06 February 8, 2009

The Christian life is not always smooth sailing. No Kidding!

It certainly hasn’t been a picnic - it hasn’t all been through green pastures and beside still waters. There were dark canyons and rough mountains. But as I look back on those stressful days I realize that they didn’t end as disastrously as I thought they would’ve. In fact I’m amazed that those bad days brought no lasting harm at all. My losses became gains.
Although I still carry the scars. I can say as the Psalmist It is good for me to have been in trouble. Psalm 119:71
The Apostle Paul spoke of this when he said, We have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God and not of us II Corinthians 4:7

The Greek word Paul uses for "earthen" is "frail clay" meaning, "weak, easily broken". The fact is, we all suffer what the Bible calls "infirmities." "often infirmities" I Timothy 5:23

The Greek word "infirmity" here means "sickly, without strength, feeble of body or mind."

Infirmities of the mind are more widespread then you think.
I'm not talking about mental illness, rather those times when your feelings play tricks on your mind.

It's possible to go to bed feeling at peace and yet wake up the next day with a heavy cloud of gloom hanging over your head. All day long you are bound by your downcast state of mind.

Guilt, fear and anxiety are all infirmities of the mind.
And these infirmities cannot but help affect your feelings.

For instance, you might not be able to shake off some harsh words spoken to you a few days before. You may constantly battle feelings of rejection or unworthiness.

Ironically, my bad days usually come after a spiritual high or after preaching my heart out in a service. I can be easily overwhelmed with feelings of worthlessness and discouragement.

Feelings of doubt may try to enter your mind. You may voice things like: "I can't feel God's presence” “I wonder if He exists”

Let me encourage you...your heavenly Father knows exactly what you're going through and He'll see you through it all.

There may be awful trying days when you feel like giving into your emotions, wanting to give up or quit. But, I can tell you from experience that God always gives you strength to go on.
The Apostle Paul said, God...comforts those that are cast down II Corinthians 7:6

The Greek word for "comforts" here means "to call close." How amazing is that! When we experience bad days, our heavenly Father takes advantage of them to draw us close!
Paul said, My God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus Philippians 4:19 God is faithful to take care of all your concerns business, financial and otherwise.

Notice, God shall supply all your need that’s singular. In short, You need only one thing Jesus! Lay hold by faith.

Searching the Word I discovered that suffering is not “new”!

II Corinthians 1:8 we want you to know of our trouble we were pressed out of measure above strength, inasmuch that we despaired even of life:

Paul was saying “I’m going through something I don’t understand at all. I’m being pressed beyond my endurance, beyond my ability to handle it and I don’t know why. I’m not so sure we’ll make it.”

Consider:
II Corinthians 4:8-10 troubled on every side, yet not distressed; perplexed, but not in despair; Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed.

THE PRIMARY PURPOSE BEHIND ALL SUFFERING OF SAINTS IS TO QUALIFY US TO BECOME CONSOLERS.

I Corinthians 1:3-5 God comes alongside us when we go through hard times and before you know it, He brings us alongside someone else who is going through hard times so that we can be there for that person just as God was there for us. We have plenty of hard times that come from following the Messiah, but no more so than the good times of His healing comfort - we get a full measure of that, too.

When I’m really hurting (pastors hurt too), I don’t want to read some book that gives me ten steps on how to find victory!

And I certainly don’t need to go to some “big” name minister to “zap” me.
NO - I want to talk to some ordinary, unknown saint who has suffered heavily and yet come through it all praising God, comforted and full of faith!
I want someone who has been tested in the fires of affliction - one who has known loneliness, sadness, sorrow, rejection, heartache. I want someone who has been to the point of giving up - and yet has trusted God and come through it rejoicing, believing, stronger than ever.

Paul was able to rejoice in all his sufferings because he knew his tribulations were for other’s benefit.

The best teachers in any church are not the ones in the pulpit. Rather they are sitting in the pews, they’ve suffered, yet still worship the Lord.

God wants to build your faith on all His past deliverences. So that you will trust Him in every new and coming crisis.

II Chronicles 20:15-17 God says, Be not afraid nor dismayed by this great multitude; for the battle is not yours, but God's.... You will not need to fight in this battle: stand still and see the salvation of the LORD, fear not, nor be dismayed; go out against them: for the LORD will be with you.

II Corinthians 1:18-19 I think you ought to know, dear brothers about the hard time we went through in Asia. We were really crushed and over-whelmed and feared we would never live through it. We felt we were doomed to die and saw how power-less we were to help our ourselves, but that was good, for then we put everything into the hands of God who alone could save us, for He can even raise the dead, and He did help us and saved us from a terrible death; yes and we expect Him to do it again and again.
A final note; don’t allow your troubles to make you hard hearted, bitter and cruel. instead, make profit out of calamities and change losses into gain. Learn the art of changing your cross into a crown.
We know that all things work together for good to them that love God. Romans 8:28
I know there are times when we can’t possibly understand how this can be true. But if in spite of our difficulties we hold fast in faith, then one day we too, shall be able to sing, It is good for me to have been in trouble.

See, I’ve refined you, though not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction Isaiah 48:10
We carry this precious Message around in the unadorned clay pots of our ordinary lives. That's to prevent anyone from confusing God's incomparable power with us.
As it is, there's not much chance of that. You know for yourselves that we're not much to look at. We've been surrounded and battered by troubles, but we're not demoralized; we're not sure what to do, but we know that God knows what to do; we've been spiritually terrorized, but God hasn't left our side; we've been thrown down, but we haven't broken. What they did to Jesus, they do to us—trial and torture, mockery and murder; what Jesus did among them, he does in us—he lives!

We're not keeping this quiet, not on your life. Just like the psalmist who wrote, "I believed it, so I said it," we say what we believe.

And what we believe is that the One who raised up the Master Jesus will just as certainly raise us up with you, alive.

So we're not giving up. How could we! Even though on the outside it often looks like things are falling apart on us, on the inside, where God is making new life, not a day goes by without his unfolding grace. These hard times are small potatoes compared to the coming good times, the lavish celebration prepared for us. There's far more here than meets the eye. The things we see now are here today, gone tomorrow. But the things we can't see now will last forever