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Facing The Challenge
Introduction: Every day we have to face some sort of challenge in our lives.
- There are challenges on our jobs
- There are challenges in our homes and marriage
- Children face challenges in school.
Life is a challenge and in the end, the way you face it will make all the difference in the world.
The Christian faces challenges when he fails, when home life is not at its best, the job isn’t enough to take care of everything you need, etc.
That is when Satan steps in with the challenge:
- Do you need God?
- Do you need to be dealing with living right when nothing else is right whenever thing around you is wrong?
When your flesh says, “all I want is to be left alone, left to deal with this problem by myself.”
You aren’t alone, everyone faces this challenge even those who have been in church all their life.
Sinners deal with it in a different way they.
- Turn to the bottle
- Turn to drugs and any other method to dull the senses and give them a moment of peace.
Peace never comes without the help of God, but people do things in the time of their frustration that they would have never done before.
In this fast paced world we are in today, God is left out of the major decisions in our lives. Whether you are married or single, Godly guidance isn’t sought after and without proper spiritual guidance there can be no real solution to the problem.
We all will face some sort of challenge in our lives. Anything you have or are trying to obtain can be a struggle.
Peter and the disciples struggled all night fishing and caught nothing, but Jesus came and told them to go out again and cast in their nets.
Their statement was:
“We have toiled all night and have caught nothing”, but the difference this time was they had Godly directions.
John 2:1-14
2 And the third day there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee; and the mother of Jesus was there:
2 And both Jesus was called, and his disciples, to the marriage.
3 And when they wanted wine, the mother of Jesus saith unto him, They have no wine.
4 Jesus saith unto her, Woman, what have I to do with thee? mine hour is not yet come.
5 His mother saith unto the servants, Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it.
6 And there were set there six waterpots of stone, after the manner of the purifying of the Jews, containing two or three firkins apiece.
7 Jesus saith unto them, Fill the waterpots with water. And they filled them up to the brim.
8 And he saith unto them, Draw out now, and bear unto the governor of the feast. And they bare it.
9 When the ruler of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and knew not whence it was: (but the servants which drew the water knew;) the governor of the feast called the bridegroom,
10 And saith unto him, Every man at the beginning doth set forth good wine; and when men have well drunk, then that which is worse: but thou hast kept the good wine until now.
11 This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested forth his glory; and his disciples believed on him.
12 After this he went down to Capernaum, he, and his mother, and his brethren, and his disciples: and they continued there not many days.
13 And the Jews’ passover was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.
14 And found in the temple those that sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the changers of money sitting:
Jesus makes all the difference in the world.
My problem has always been to try it on my own and then find out that my ways wasn’t what God intended.
Sometimes my prayers are just not answered and I have learned to take that as God teaching me faith for something greater.
We struggle so hard trying to trust God until God says, “NO!” and then we wonder if He wants us to try something on our own. Been there too!
Abraham was promised a son, but before the promise came he tried to make it happen through Hagar resulting in Ishmael, who was never recognized as Abraham’s son in the eyes of God.
Genesis 22:2 And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.
One was born of the flesh (Ishmael) the other (Isaac) by the promise of God. Most of the time anything born of the flesh does not inherit the promise!
- Abraham grew weary in waiting on the promise, much like we do. We grow weary of waiting on God so we try and make it happen ourselves.
- Moses tried to force God’s hand when he killed the Egyptian, costing Israel forty more years of misery.
- Israel grew weary following Moses and built themselves a God they could see, which resulted in three thousand people dying.
- King David took things into his own hands and took something that wasn’t his and it cost him the life of his first-born son.
- Amnon loved Tamar more than anything and took the advice of the ungodly. He took her by force, therefore losing his love for her and causing her to face life alone. She loved Amnon and pled with him to ask for her hand in marriage, but his lust overtook his good sense.
Amnon died for what he did to Tamar, her brother Absalom killed him.
- Peter bragged about how strong he was and found later that it was his flesh and not the Spirit. He denied Christ, but later found out that the leading of God’s Spirit gave him sound directions into the things of God and he could truly say, “I am willing to die for Christ”.
Today we are facing challenges in our walk with God. I believe that we all have questioned his faithfulness by stepping out before we have sought counsel from the Lord.
Prayer is the key to all our answers and patience is a virtue. They that have much of it will prosper and they that have little will suffer much.
I don’t have all the answers to why God chooses to make us wait except that faith is given to them that wait upon the Lord.
2 Peter 3:8-14
8 But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.
9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.
11 Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness,
12 Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?
13 Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.
14 Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless.
