Skip to content "HIGH SEAS" Part 5 with Kenny Luck Nov 19 · 47 min ...more
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Navigating Adversity with Faith 0:00 Welcome to the men's global livestream. If you have a Bible, I want you to hold 2 spots. 1 in Hebrews chapter 12 and the other in Lamentations chapter 3. That's the book after Jeremiah0:13 in the Old Testament. We are in part 5 of a series called High Seas, No Way Around, But But Through, and we're talking about the reality of adversity and how the unexpected storms of0:24 life can catch us off guard. They can dash our expectations, and they have the potential to sink your confidence in God. And here's the issue. When your0:36 confidence in God is low, your vulnerability to the world, the flesh, and the devil is high. And so it's important that we talk about this because life is a battle.0:48 Right? And so what we're gonna do is we're gonna take a look at God's mind on the pressures of life. When it comes to pressure, now that we're talking about this, you know,1:00 we know and understand how pressure has a purpose in in different dimensions of life. Right? If you're an athlete, if any of you guys are are jocks or old jocks, you understand1:12 that your coach needed to put you in pressure so that the reality of the game, wouldn't feel so different and you would perform. If you are a business person, if you've ever trained anybody in business or1:24 sales, you know, you put people into situations, presentations, sales calls, sales situations, you know, in their training, right, because they need to experience the pressure and1:36 perform in the pressure to grow. Right? There's a purpose behind that pressure. If you're a parent at all or if you've been parented. Right? We know that if we rescue kids1:48 from all pressures and become lawnmower parents and they never experience any adversity, they're gonna hate us later because they're just just like, why didn't you let me experience that? Now I'm2:00 in it, and I can't imagine it. So we have to put them under a little bit of emotional pressure. Now why share those things about adversity and pressure? Because the same is true2:11 in growing in your relationship with God. It requires him to put us into situations or allow situations that are painful, that are uncomfortable,2:23 that are unexpected, that might tempt us, to put us in the pressure, right, to call out our face, call out our trust, call out our dependence2:36 on on him, right, And to achieve his goal for his process for us, which is what? To become like Christ. Right? Now God's2:48 word is full of examples of men who are in the pressure cookers of life, delays, difficulties, trials, tribulations, and they gotta navigate these2:59 storms. Right? And there's no way around. There's no relief. You know, there's no there's no easy fix to the situation. They have to3:11 go through it and get to the other side of it in their faith. And so for part 5, we're gonna look at God's man, Jeremiah. Now Jeremiah is the man of God, the prophet of God. He3:23 has served really good kings, and he's served really bad kings. He's been through the best of times. He's been through the worst of times, right, including3:35 the Babylonian captivity where the Babylonians laid siege on the city of Jerusalem. And here's the thing, is that not only did he have foresight3:47 and predict that that was gonna happen for 40 years, calling Israel to repentance, but get this, they never listened. And so as a result, he3:59 had to experience the horrors of war, starvation, siege, captivity, and the book of Lamentations is this highly4:11 poetic and devastatingly beautiful series of laments. That's why it's called Lamentations. What what are laments? Well, they're they're passionate4:23 expressions of grief and sorrow. Imagine, for 40 years, your main purpose is to say, watch out. If if you don't repent and if you don't turn back to4:34 God, this judgment is is gonna happen. And imagine doing that for for 40 years. Right? Relentless opposition to his4:46 message. So just his message. So imagine being in your job and your main purpose, you get opposed in your main purpose for success in the job for 40 years. So if you've ever said,4:58 man, I can't catch a break. Well, you ain't got nothing on Jeremiah. Right? And yet the man of God in the middle of all that relentless5:10 pressure will not let go of his faith. He won't let go of his belief. He he stubbornly holds on to the idea that somehow, someway,5:22 God, because he knows God, he knows he's good, he knows he sees, he knows he's a creator, he knows he's able. God is going to redeem this for good, and he5:34 surrenders once again in the middle of a relentless adversity to god. But listen, and this is cool, man, he has it5:45 out with his maker. And so Jeremiah models for us exactly how to have it out with your maker under relentless pressure5:58 when you feel like you've bent as far as you possibly can and you're about to break. So here's where we're headed in part 5. Alright? We're gonna get god's mind on kind6:09 of the pressure and opposition that he allows for his purpose. Alright? Then we're gonna make some observations. And then we'll see God's man, Jeremiah, model for us how to navigate and6:21 negotiate kind of a relentless season of life, which I know many of you feel like you're in. Alright? So let's first look at Hebrews6:33 chapter 12, our first main text. Right? And just watch how God looks at what's happening to us here on earth and how he's aware6:45 of how life can be hard, opposition can be hard, it can drain us. But then listen for how God points us and coaches us in the midst of it. Alright? Hebrews chapter 12 verses6:57 2 through 7. Keep your eyes on Jesus who both began and finished this race we're in. Study how he did it because he never lost7:09 sight of where he was headed. That exhilarating finish in and with God. He could put up with anything along the way. Cross,7:21 shame, whatever. And now he's there in the place of honor right alongside God. When you find yourselves flagging in your faith, go over that story7:32 again, item by item, that long litany of hostility he plowed through, that will shoot adrenaline into your souls. In this7:44 all out match against sin, others have suffered far worse than you. To say nothing of what Jesus went through, all that bloodshed.7:56 So don't feel sorry for yourselves, or have you forgotten how good parents treat children, and that God regards you as children? My dear child, don't shrug off God's8:08 discipline, but don't be crushed by it either. It's the child he loves that he disciplines. The child he embraces, he also corrects. God is educating8:20 you. That's why you must never drop out. He's treating you as dear children. This trouble you're in isn't punishment. It's training the8:31 normal experience of God's children. Now God's word right there just gave us a very valuable thing for navigating the reality of adversity. You wanna know what that is?8:43 Perspective. Many times when you're in adversity, all you have to have is the right perspective. You gotta have the big picture. If you're8:55 you're in the trees, you gotta see the trees from the forest. Right? And so here's us in the jungles of life, and here's God. Who has perspective, the9:07 person in the jungles or God? And so here in in in Hebrews chapter 12, it gives us kinda God's perspective looking down on us to encourage us. And, man, isn't the9:19 big picture comforting? It's kinda like, okay. Now I can make it through the process that I understand some of these purposes in the process where down here in the jungle of9:31 life, alright, you're not seeing all that, but God sees it, and he's giving you some insight and perspective that offers you a powerful thing, hope. Alright? So let's unpack what we just read.9:43 And what we saw in in in that passage is some some contrast. Alright? And sometimes getting through something is is about the following observations. Alright? Getting through9:55 something is seeing the difference between, write this down, the beginning versus finishing. Right? There's the beginning of a race versus finishing a race. Now there's that old adage.10:06 Right? It's not how you start. You said it probably mumbled under your breath somewhere, wherever you are. It's how you finish. Right? Finishing well is the goal. It's10:18 not how we start. But, you know, having done men's ministry for over 30 years, that men are notorious as really excited, passionate starters, horrible finishers.10:30 Why? Because they have to endure. Right? They have to go through the same process that they understand is positive in other dimensions of their life that involve pressure and testing and10:42 training. Right? But we don't like it. And and somehow in our relationship with God, we feel like that shouldn't be a part of it. Alright? But the Bible is saying, hey. You know what? It's not how you start. It's how you10:54 finish. Alright? Number 2, it's seeing the difference between where I am now versus where I'm headed. Right? And that's what the scripture says. Jesus began and finished the race we're11:06 in, studied how he did it. He never lost sight of where he was headed. Okay? Because when you're here, if you're just thinking about what's going on here and you're not you don't have a hope of where you're11:17 headed, alright, there's nothing pulling you forward. Right? And that's what's great about being a man of God. Right? You your your sins are forgiven. You have a home in heaven. You have a purpose for11:29 living. That home in heaven thing, forever with Jesus. Right? And we have a little bit of time here. Man, that pulls us through. So you have to see the difference. Here's the perspective between beginning11:41 and finishing, alright, and where I am now and where I'm headed, number 3. We have to see the difference between his process and my process. Alright? The encouragement from scripture is to go over11:53 Jesus's process. Study Jesus's process. See how he was focused on his finish. See how he was focused on where he was where he was headed.12:05 And, oh, by the way, see what he endured and that he trusted God all through it. Now that is what's going to give you some energy to12:18 to go through what you're going through. When we see someone go through the worst of the worst, it gives us perspective that maybe what we're going through, maybe the delays we're experiencing or12:29 the difficulties we're experiencing, we can kind of put them up against each other, and we can go, alright. I got I got my mojo. His process is not my12:41 process. Number 4, we have to see the difference between feeling alone and being alone. I love how the passage just lets us know that others are suffering the same way we12:53 are. In fact, I was in a men's group just the other day, and and, 1 of the guys in the group just relayed a horrible set of circumstances. And I knew personally behind13:05 every other face, they had their own set of challenges that are right alongside their blessings. Right? And we have to have that perspective that life isn't it's not so much13:17 peaks and valleys. It's more like train tracks. Right? Right alongside your blessings are challenges. So when you see a dude, just know if it's bad, it's not all13:29 bad. If it's good, it can't be all good. Why? Train tracks. Right? And that's what Jesus said. Right? In this world, you'll have tribulation, but take courage. I've overcome the world. Yeah, we're blessed.13:41 We have joys. We have people. We have relationships. We have provisions, support, but we also have earth, flesh, devil, injustice,13:53 broken people, fragmented relationships. And guess what? They're riding right alongside each other. And so maybe for some of us, we have to adjust that expectation. But listen. I don't care14:05 what you're going through. Other people are going through what you're going through. You might feel alone in your circumstance, but you're not alone. And can I just coach you up if that's14:17 how you feel? Don't compare your insides with other people's outsides. For the very fact that I just mentioned, that how you feel on the inside and then you14:29 look at other people and maybe you pull up to a stoplight or you see some 1 of your buddies just like, man, he's got it all together. No. He doesn't. There's nothing going wrong in his life. Everything's going wrong in14:39 my life. No, it's not. Because life is good and bad. People are good and bad. Marriages are good and bad. Jobs are good and bad. All right? Families are good and bad.14:52 Right? Health is good and bad. There's always something going on behind a people's person's exterior. Alright? So don't get into when you feel alone in your problem15:04 and woe is me and you play the victim that nobody else understands me. No. We we all understand you. Why? Because all of us are going through15:15 something. Lastly, you got to see the difference between troubles versus training. Alright? I love what the Bible says. It says this trouble you're in isn't punishment, it's15:27 training. The normal experience of children. Right? So that brings in that initial point I was making about how we gotta train our kids. We don't rescue our kids15:39 from from from every conflict or from every trouble, or we don't let them get out of stuff or just bail out on things. Not good dads. Good fathers say, well, you made a commitment. You're15:51 gonna have to ride this 1 out, Sonny. Right? We let them stay in it. We let them stay in this country. Why? Because, pressure doesn't leave you the way it finds you. Alright? You'll become bitter, or you'll become16:02 better. And that's why to grow up kids, to get them mature, we have to not rescue them all the time from the consequences of their own choices and commitments, and we have to let them experience and16:14 endure the situation. Same is true to grow spiritually and accomplish God's purposes. God allows us to be in situations. He's training us, and that's where we get into the16:26 spiritual battle part. Right? Oh, it's just trouble. It's just trouble. It's just trouble. It's just trouble. No. God is training. God is perfecting. You know? God is developing. It's not16:38 a stumbling block. It's a stepping stone to Christ likeness. He has a vision for your life, and he allows certain things in your life to accomplish that vision, which is16:50 to make you like Christ. Romans 8 29. So there's a little foundation, another foundational thing. We're just trying to get comfortable with the uncomfortable, so to speak, of17:02 life. Alright? Even though we try to protect ourselves from pain and try to protect ourselves from from bad things happening, you know, But then inevitably, life will bowling17:13 ball all of that. Don't be disillusioned. Don't be confused. God never said that you were gonna walk down the yellow brick road, and he was gonna mow17:25 all the obstacles down in front of you so that you could walk unhindered, he's a good father. He wants to grow us up. He wants to mature us in our faith, and that requires a certain amount of pressure and17:37 challenge to call out our faith and trust. Alright. Let's look at Jeremiah. Alright? Because we see a man, a man's process with God, in the Bible for a reason. Jeremiah's17:49 story is in the Bible for us to see, he's a man, he loves the Lord, he serves the Lord, but he's going through hell. He is totally in18:01 the fire, and what I love about Jeremiah is that he puts together being human, being honest with God, but being undaunted18:13 in his faith, and that's what I really want us to see and apply for ourselves, because that's why it's in God's word. So let's listen to this, this experience, this18:25 this set of experiences between Jeremiah and God and the dialogue here to start off. In Lamentations chapter 3, this is the the setup for the rest of the study. Verses 13 to 21.18:38 He, God, shot me in the stomach with arrows from his quiver. Everyone took me for a joke, made me the butt of their mocking ballads. He forced18:49 rotten sneaking food down my throat, bloated me with vile drinks. He grounded my face into the gravel. He pounded me into the mud. I gave up on life19:01 altogether. I've forgotten what the good life is life. I said to myself, this is it. I'm finished. God is a lost cause. I'll never19:13 forget the trouble, the utter lostness, the taste of ashes, the poison I've swallowed. I remember it all. Oh, how19:25 well I remember the feeling of hitting bottom. Okay. Wow. I mean, have you ever been in a room19:38 with other people in it where someone has just just let it out. Right? Just let out the fire of their bitterness and and disappointment. I mean, just19:49 even reading that, I I'm like, wow. Jeremiah. Okay? But it's it's his unvarnished reality of Jeremiah's adversity.20:01 And, you know, God's not in in deception and fantasy and faking it. Where's God? God's truth, which means God's in reality. So when20:13 we're not able to speak truth and reality of our situation, and maybe we're holding back because we feel like we can't handle it or we can't, you know, talk about our own reality. That means we're suppressing20:26 truth inside. We're not letting it out, which he created us to do and he put us in relationship with him to do. Man, you see Jeremiah just let it all hang out. Right?20:39 And then there's this transition, and that's where we're gonna go. So out it comes. He's having it out with God, and now we're just gonna look at how he stubbornly20:51 hangs on to his face in the presence of a relentless, unchanging circumstance. And the first thing that he does is he remembers God's21:04 capacity. Alright? Lamentations 3 21 to 23. So here now after he says, oh, how I'll I remember it all, the feeling of hitting bottom. Listen to what21:16 he says. But here's the 1 thing might want to circle that. Here's the 1 thing I remember, and remembering, I keep a grip on hope. God's21:27 loyal love couldn't have run out. His merciful love couldn't have dried up. They're created new every morning. How great is your21:39 faithfulness. Woah. Right? What's he doing? Okay? He's he's being honest with God, and then there's that transition. And I would say this is 1 of the big21:51 buts of the Bible that we really need to study. Right? So he's super honest with God, but then he's remembering God's capacity, which is also true.22:04 And he's reflecting on it, and what does he remember? He remembers God's capacity. He lets God be God. He's like, okay. You're God. You're unlimited. You're loving. You're my creator. Right?22:16 So even though I'm in this horrible situation, alright, your loved can't run out because you're God and you're infinite, and I know that you created me and22:28 that you love what you create and that you're merciful and your love and mercy aren't going away because my circumstances have changed. And that's what the devil22:40 says. The devil's just like, well, look at your circumstances. So God must not be God. Not true. Right? Just because Jesus was crucified didn't mean22:52 that God stopped loving us or God stopped loving his son or that God's purpose wasn't being worked out. His capacity to love and be merciful and to create newness and to be23:04 faithful in the midst of adversity is unchanged by yours and my circumstances. So Jeremiah begins to reflect on truth23:16 that begins to push back his feelings into the facts about God. He remembers God's capacity versus what?23:28 Accepting God's scarcity. He rejects that. Right? And a lot of times, that's what we do. We forget. Man, we have that scarcity mentality.23:39 Well, God can't do that. God can't do this. God's not with me. God got no. There's a purpose behind your process. God's capacity is unchanged. His abilities are not in23:51 short supply. Okay? So God has a lot of capacity. That's what Jeremiah remembers. That's how he begins to fight stubbornly back into his faith and keeping a grip24:03 on hope. Secondly, he shows us that I renew my commitment. Alright? So it's the next verse there where Jeremiah is is talking about God's faithfulness. How great is24:15 your faithfulness? Verse 24, I'm sticking with God. I say it over and over. He's all I've got left. What does he do? He24:27 renews his commitment. Right? He remembers God's capacity, and then he renews his commitment as he remembers who God is and that God is unchanged by our circumstances and that he's still God,24:38 he's still loving, he's still merciful, he's still faithful, all of a sudden he's like, oh, you know what? I'm sticking with him. Some of us right now need to do the very same thing where we just24:50 need to say it. Look at what he says. I say it over and over. I'm sticking with you, God. Right? You're you're all I've got in this, and you don't know that God is25:02 all you need until God is all you got. Might have heard that before. It's true. You know, when you're at the end of self and you've run out of resources, you remember God's25:14 capacity. He's got resources. And he loves me, and he's merciful, and he's faithful. Maybe I should recommit myself to God. I know25:26 that, there are some of you right now, that's exactly what you need to do. You just need to say, God, I'm back. I'm I'm gonna stick with you.25:38 Help me with this process. Right? I don't feel great about my life right now, but you know what? You have resources, and you can deliver those resources to me because you're unlimited. So I'm sticking with you,25:51 and I'm gonna say it over and over today. I'm sticking with God. So he remembers God's capacity. He renews his commitment. Third, he rests in his strongest hope. Write that26:03 down. I rest in my strongest hope. So there is this building of remembering, renewing, and now he's starting to feel and26:15 experience that rest. Look at what he says in Lamentations chapter 3, next verse, verses 25 and 26. God proves to be good to the man who passionately26:26 waits, to the woman who diligently seeks. It's a good thing to quietly hope to quietly hope for help from God. Now26:38 I wanna make sure that that we understand what what passionate waiting is. It's kinda like wait. Those that seems counterintuitive. When you wait, you know, you might have the image of,26:50 just somebody going, okay. Send the deliverance, Lord, in the middle of all this circumstance. Right? But in the Bible, when it and it says when it says wait upon the27:02 Lord and it's a good thing to quietly hope, it's not, a passive physically passive, spiritually passive thing. It's actually an active thing. That's why the Bible says27:14 passionately wait for God. What does that involve? Well, it means you're gonna continue passionately waiting on God means you're gonna continue to obey the Lord's word and do what the Holy Spirit says. You're27:25 gonna continue to trust. You're gonna continue to live out your faith in the midst of your relentless adversity, not in the absence of it. Okay? That27:37 is waiting on the Lord. Right? You might have heard the passage from Isaiah that that that those who wait upon the Lord will renew their strength. Well, these prophets, these men of27:49 God, Isaiah, Jeremiah, they got it. Right? They're like, okay. I'm in the fire. Waves are pounding. No way but through. Gonna remember God's capacity. Gonna renew my28:01 commitment. And as I do that, I'm going to rest in my strongest hope. I'm gonna quietly, passionately, faithfully, spiritually28:14 hope in the Lord. What does that look like? I'm just gonna continue to believe and trust God. I'm gonna continue to obey God. That's a word from the Lord that some of you really needed to hear this morning. You're gonna28:24 continue today. Alright? God's saying, my son, you're gonna continue to obey me today. You're gonna quietly hope. You're gonna continue to pray. You're gonna continue to trust. You're gonna be, God's28:36 man, whether the circumstance changes today or tomorrow or it never changes, you're gonna hope in me because I'm gonna redeem it. I can redeem it now. I can redeem it in a few weeks. I can redeem it in a year. I28:48 can redeem it when your heart stops and you come to me, but I will redeem it. You continue to obey. Alright? Fourth. Right? I reject no.29:00 Fourth. I remember I remain teachable and humble. Sorry. I got a little confused there. So I remember god's capacity, renew my commitment. I rest in my strong scope. I remain teachable and humble.29:11 That's on the screen. Alright? So that's the next verse, verse 27 to 30. Listen to this. The the conversation goes on. It's a good thing when you're young to stick it29:23 out through hard times, when life is heavy and hard to take. Go off by yourself. Enter the silence. Bow in prayer. Don't ask questions,29:35 wait for hope to appear, don't run from trouble, take it full face, the worst is never the worst. You see Jeremiah kinda29:47 getting a little bit more perspective and getting his legs spiritually right here. He's he's realizing, you know what? This is training. This isn't trouble.30:00 Right? Pressure. This pressure I'm experiencing, it really has a purpose, and I'm gonna seek it. Alright? So if there's there's purpose in my pressure and there's purpose in this relentless30:12 problem, I'm gonna I'm gonna run toward it. I'm not gonna run away from it. I'm gonna run toward the purpose in this. I'm gonna seek the purpose in this. I'm gonna enter the silence. Right? I'm30:24 gonna go into the void and start praying. I'm gonna bow humbly. I'm gonna be quiet for a little bit. I'm gonna bow, humble myself before the Lord in prayer.30:37 I'm gonna wait. I'm gonna listen. I'm gonna ask God what he wants to teach me. I'm not gonna run from this trouble. I'm gonna face it because because pregnant within this adversity30:49 is god's purpose. That's the gold. Right? Great things come out of pressure. Right? Turn up the heat, purify the gold. Pearls have to31:01 be under the pressure, the water pressure down at the bottom inside that clamshell in order for it to come out. Diamonds have to be in pressure. And what do they come out as? Precious jewels. The most precious31:12 things. The most precious jewelry, the most precious metals. Right? They're all forged under pressure. Right? Precious things come out of31:24 pressure. And so he's remaining teachable and humble versus rigid, cynical, prideful in this because he knows there's treasure31:36 in there. It's like a good thing. Stick it out. Right? And don't run. Don't go off by yourself. Right? Which is what the devil wants you to do. Just like, get out of here. Right? Leave,31:48 divorce, run from the problem, abandon. Right? Don't face respond don't take responsibility. That is not gonna grow any of us up, men. We take responsibility, and32:00 we take responsibility because god is with us. We don't run from pressure. We go to it. There is no problem that you face that god's not bigger than, and it's never listen to me. It's never god's32:11 will for you to run from a problem. Why? Because there's a process and a purpose behind that problem. And you might not know what it is,32:23 and it might be hard to find, but it's in there. And you're gonna seek God, but don't run. And I love that last line. The worst is never the worst. It just feels like it's the worst. Can I just say something to a lot of32:35 you out there? Your feelings about what's going on in your life are not the facts. Right? Now how can I say that with such confidence because I get down in dumps and I feel like my feelings32:47 are the facts? And then God's just like, no. They're not. Yes. They are, God. Look around. No. They're not because I'm at work. Right? Nothing that you're going through is fatal or final when there's god.33:00 Right? Because god can work all things together for the good of those who love him and for those who are called according to his purpose. So you can declare right now, hey, I'm called according to God's purpose.33:11 I'm God's man. God is working all this together for my good. Can't see it. Can't feel it right now, but I declare it in Jesus' name. Some of you need to do that. Right? God's at33:23 work. Alright? Number 5, I reject the enemy's lies. So there is this remembering, renewing of commitment, resting in hope, remaining teachable and humble. He's33:35 getting his legs. Now he's just like, alright. Now I'm going on the offensive. The next set of verses, alright, which follows the worst is never the worst. Then in verse 31. Why?33:47 Because the master won't ever walk out and fail to return. If he works severely, he also works tenderly. His stockpiles of loyal love33:58 are immense. He takes no pleasure in making life hard and throwing roadblocks in the way. Right? And so you can see that there there's a reason34:10 why this is a battle. Alright? Because when you're under a lot of pressure over a lot of time, man, you can you can get really doubtful about God. And the lie is is that34:22 he's walked out on you. Jeremiah says, the master won't ever walk out on you. You can you can believe the lie just like, man, God's punishing me. Right? No. God's working tenderly.34:34 He's not all about he's not he's not doesn't take pleasure, you know, in making life hard. That's another lie. Boy, god, you really god really is he's a tough 1, you know, on me.34:46 He he enjoys throwing roadblocks in my way. Right? No. Jeremiah says his stockpiles of loyal love are immense. Right? A loving thing sometimes as a parent is34:58 allowing a hard thing for your kid. Come on, dads. Say amen. Right? Well, guess what? You're God's son. And that passage in Hebrews that we read, it's like he's a good father.35:10 He allows that stuff for people that he loves. Why? Because he has a purpose to grow us up, to mature us, to make us more like Christ. And a lot of times when we read the Bible where it says, if we suffer, with him,35:22 we'll also be glorified together with him. You know, we we we want all the forgiveness and the mercy and the grace and and and the guidance and the counsel in heaven and all of those things that are in Christ. But you35:33 know what? True men of God realizes that suffering too makes us like Christ in ways that comfort does not. And suffering is actually was a part of Jesus's35:45 process. It's a part of our process. This is Jesus. Jesus is in you. Right? This is me. I'm in the same process as Jesus. I'm being35:57 perfected as God's man by my sufferings, same as Jesus. Alright? Sixth, I reflect on how I'm living. So36:09 it's that domino keeps falling. I'm remembering. I'm renewing. I'm resting. I'm remaining teachable. I reject the enemy's lives. And then it's just like, no. I'm at this place where I'm free of all this self absorption.36:20 Right? And I'm actually entering the spiritual process. Now I gotta look in the mirror and say, you know what, Lord? What do you want me to know about me? Listen to what Jeremiah says after36:32 he says, God takes no pleasure in making life hard throwing bullet roadblocks in the way. Verse verse 40, he says, let's take a good look at the way we're living and reorder our36:43 lives under God. Let's lift our hearts and hands at 1 and the same time, praying to God in heaven. We've been contrary and willful, and you haven't forgiven. You know, that's36:55 where Jeremiah this is his process. It's unique to him, but there's also an overriding principle that's there for us, which is kinda taking an inventory. When37:07 you're put under a lot of pressure, some things about you bubble to the surface because pressure always reveals substance. Okay? When we're put under pressure, our character37:19 comes out. Our attitudes come out. Right? Because we're getting squeezed. Right? And when you squeeze something, stuff comes out. So Jeremiah37:31 in this situation is like, let's hey, everybody. Believers in God, followers of God, men of God. Let's take a good look at the way we're living and reorder our lives. Some of you under37:42 intense pressure, God has revealed some things about you or to you where it's just like, you know what? That's gotta go. That didn't work for you. Look at this part of your character that's come out in37:54 the midst of this pressure. That's gotta go. This isn't helpful. You need to cut your losses on that. Let's reorder our lives. Look at but not not in just any way.38:07 Reorder our lives under God. What does that involve? Lifting your hearts and hands at the same time, praying to the God of heaven and owning owning38:19 your part. Right? Owning sin. Owning what's really happening. In this instance, Jeremiah says, we've been contrary and willful. Alright? Means,38:31 I'm the captain of my own ship. We've taken over your place. You know? That's a good word for all of us because we all do it. Right? We all play God. We all try to be the masters38:43 of our own universe, and, you know, we take control of situations. We run ahead of God. You know? And and so that's what I love about the Bible. Here's a man of God38:55 just going, alright. This is why we're in the situation we're in. Okay? Alright. Lastly, and this we're gonna skip a few verses down. Listen to this where39:07 Jeremiah then receives God's presence and promise in the midst. Alright? So just kind of following along. We've remembered God's capacity, renewed our commitment, rested in our hope,39:18 remained teachable, rejected the enemy's lies, reflecting on how we're living. Then what's the last step? I receive God's presence and promise. Wow. Listen to what he says in verse 57. We're gonna skip a39:30 few verses down. And he says, you get this. You came close when I called out. You said, it's gonna be alright. YouShow more In this video 0:00 Navigating Adversity with Faith56K followers
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