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“We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed; Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body.”–II Cor. 4:8-10.
I was looking at some images from the Gulf Coast and all those people lost so much, blown away by the powerful surge of Hurricane Katrina. It was like a half-tsunami, half-tornado that wouldn’t quit…and the wasteland left behind extended from the coast northward for 90,000 square miles.
We have sat speechless, watching the surreal scenes, and this time it’s not half way around the world, but in our own backyard. Like 9/11
Have we gotten use to live with War?
Tonight Kym and I always watch the 11 o’clock news…About 10 min into the news she looks at me and says, it sure is good to know that God has everything under control.
WOW! HE DOES…What seems to be chaos to us God understands..Has it ever occured to you that nothing has ever occerd to Him!?!
The surge of trouble is nothing new to God’s people. The Bible is filled with stories of those in trouble.
1.The Hebrew children had their fiery furnace.
2. Daniel had his den of lions.
3. Joseph was cast into prison.
4. Paul was shipwrecked and beaten with stripes.
5. Peter was sent to prison.
6. John was exiled at Patmos.
7. James had his head cut off.
8. David fled from Saul.
9. Samson had his eyes put out.
Makes me think of the verse in Psalm 34:19
Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the Lord delivered him out of them all.
Clyde Gordon, who was completely paralyzed from his neck down, edited a magazine called The Triumph. In it he said:
“Christ is no security against storms,
But He is perfect security in storms.
He does not promise an easy passage,
But He does guarantee a safe landing.”
Someone else said, “The road to success is always under construction. It seems that those who seem to have it hard always get more done.”
Paul said in I Corinthians 10:13, “There hath no temptation (trouble) taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation (trouble ) also make a way to escape.”
One old preacher said that we ought to be good to everybody because everybody is having a tough time
7 ways God may use a “Chaos” in our lives:
1. To Direct Us.
Sometimes God must light a fire under you to get you moving. Problems often point us in a new direction and motivate us to change. Is God trying to get our attention?
2. To Inspect Us.
People are like tea bags…if you want to know what’s inside them, just drop them in hot water! Has God ever tested your faith with a problem? What do problems reveal about you?
James 1:2-3
My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; [3] Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.
3. To Correct Us.
Some lessons we learn only through pain and failure. It’s likely that as a child your parents told you not to touch a hot stove. But you probably just like me learned by being burned. Sometimes we only learn the value of something by losing it.”
4. To Connect Us.
Trouble not only draws people together, but it also draws them to the Lord. David said, “Before I was afflicted, I went astray” (Ps. 119:67). Many a person has called for a preacher in time of trouble to make things right with God.
5. To Protect Us.
A problem can be a blessing in disguise if it prevents you from being harmed by something more serious. I read about a guy who was fired for refusing to do something unethical that his boss had asked him to do. His unemployment was a problem – but it saved him from being convicted and sent to prison a year later when the management’s actions were eventually discovered.
Joseph said to his brothers in Genesis 50:20
But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive.
God is the only true “surge protector!”
6. To Perfect Us.
Problems, when responded to correctly, are character builders. God is far more interested in your character than your comfort. Your relationship to God and your character are the only two things you’re going to take with you into eternity.
7. To Project Us.
Philip. 1:12
Now I want you to know Brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the Gospel
Did you know that an eagle knows when a storm is approaching long before it breaks? The eagle will fly to some high spot and wait for the winds to come. When the storm hits, it sets its wings so that the wind will pick it up and lift it above the storm. While the storm rages below, the eagle is soaring above it.
The eagle does not escape the storm. It simply uses the storm to lift it higher. It rises on the winds that bring the storm.
When the storms of life come upon us we can rise above them by setting our minds toward God. The storms do not have to overcome us. We can allow God’s power to lift us above them. It is not the burdens of life that weigh us down; it is how we handle them.
Isaiah 40:31
But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.
God is at work in your life – even when you do not recognize it or understand it. He’s in the storm with you. He’s calling you to rise above it…to be a water-walker, not a boat person.
Keep your eyes on Him during the storm so it doesn’t get you down!
No fear can haunt us. And no foe can daunt us because we have Jesus and that’s all we need!
Peace to you my friend in the midst of the chaos. take heart, Jesus Knows..He’s got the whole world in His hands!