We just thank you for this day for another opportunity to gather together to sing praises
and to learn from your word Lord I just want to thank you for those of us that are all
able to gather here today that you kept us safe through those uncertain storms last night
I just pray that you'd be with the families that were affected and that as we have more
weather rolling in you would also continue to just have your hedge of protection around
each and every one of us Lord I pray for this service that everything would be done decently
and in order these things I pray in Jesus name Amen all right for our next him turn if you
would to number 200 he's a wonderful savior to me just flip the page him number 200 he's
a wonderful savior to me on the first he's a wonderful savior to me
raise your hand and bring you one is our Bible memory passage of the week Hebrews chapter
six verse 13 keep working hard on that memory chapter and if you could quote it at the end
there will be a special prize for those that do that on the inside is our service times
listed Sunday morning 1030 glad to see no one got sucked up by the tornadoes last night
hey I'd still rather tornadoes over hurricanes because tornadoes just go in a little strip
and hurricanes just screws everyone so this is a lot better Sunday evening 430 p.m. Wednesday
evening 7 p.m. our soul winning times are listed there and our nursing home ministry
schedule for the Cameron's preaching today next weekend is brother Theodore's make note
of that our year statistics for soul winning and baptisms are listed there and please remember
to report any salvations you have to your soul winning leaders of those times or you
could email the church I'll update that for you please be in prayer for Miss Whitney Reed
for her pregnancy also our upcoming events got a couple things added here November six
through the 10th that's this upcoming weekend is going to be the missions conference at
Faithward Baptist Church so I'm really looking forward to flying out there this weekend and
getting to spend some time with them November 24th is going to be the transition from steadfast
Baptist Church to anchor Baptist Church we'd love to have you for that invite your friends
and family should be a great time December 20th there's going to be a ladies Christmas
party there's going to be more details given as the time gets closer but I just want you
to be able to mark your calendars for that it's going to be nurselings only preferred
as far as kids go for that so men do plan on staying home with the kiddos that weekend
and watching them so the ladies could have a good time a fellowship also December 21st
is going to be the last Saturday before Christmas I'd like to have a big soul winning push that
Saturday we'll get some coffee get some food catered here try to pack this place out get
a lot of soul winners out there preaching the gospel as people are usually thinking
about Christ around Christmas it's a good time where people's hearts are more likely
to be softened and could be a good time to reach them with the gospel so looking forward
to that online giving if you prefer to give online you could scan that code and that online
giving is now working also I just wanted to remind some the church here of some of the
church rules I don't know if this was ever even spelled out here but just so everyone's
aware you know we don't want anyone running in the building obviously if there's an old
person or pregnant lady that gets hit by a kid trips over and falls that could be a very
serious issue and so you know it's not that we just don't want kids to have fun or something
like that you know no running for the kids that includes my kids because it can be a
safety issue same thing with kids congregating by the front door you know sometimes there's
crazy people walking around out there we've had them walk into the church and you know
you just don't want something terrible like that to happen you know god forbid we would
ever have a kidnapping or something like that here you know we wouldn't really be able to
live with ourselves if we weren't taking care of our kids so please don't allow the kids
to be congregating by the front door at all also we have mother baby rooms but please
those are to be used if your children need to be calmed or fed or corrected or something
like that but that's not just a hey we're just gonna sit there all service every service
no matter what because you know we want to make sure that we're training our kids to
sit in church and to pay attention and so while mother baby rooms are a great thing
we don't want it to become a crutch where you're just teaching your kids like hey we
just play all church and we don't sit and listen or pay attention we want to be paying
attention in the sanctuary and use those when needed and then come back once the kids are
taken care of musical instruments we got some new equipment there and Lord willing we're
going to get a nice piano in the near future so I just want to establish this right now
that no one is to touch musical equipment play the piano touch any of that stuff over
there unless you are a musician for the church and you're practicing for church services
Lord willing also I'd like to get the church its own guitar I have an old one that I literally
found on the side of the road when I was a teenager but I'd like to get the church a
nice guitar someday and so but that's very easy to break so make sure that all of us
are you know watching our kids and not allowing them to touch that stuff no children on the
stage please and I do want the ushers which for all intents and purposes ushers right
now is just our safety team guys with the headphones I do want ushers enforcing the
church rules so if ushers go up to your kids and say stop running don't be offended I want
them to do that and quite honestly I don't care if any adult corrects any child because
you know like I said these are safety issues and we want to make sure that we're behaving
ourselves well in the house of God and that things are running smoothly so you know please
correct my kids if you see them running I've got lots of little kids they're gonna do dumb
things too.
Ushers if you see my kids running tell them to stop and I'm never gonna be offended for
that and you shouldn't be either don't you know be so soft if someone corrects your children
that's something that all of our kids need from time to time but just please make note
of those church rules.
On the back is our prayer list there's some updated prayers for this upcoming week please
be in prayer for those and if you have any requests please email the church and I'd be
happy to add those for you.
That's gonna be it for announcements this morning let's go ahead and go to our third
song.
All right our third song this morning number 304304 nothing between 304304 nothing between
304304 nothing between my soul and the saviour not a word of truth Jesus is my there's nothing
between my soul and the saviour so let's end the printing of his paper keep the way clear
singing this morning offering plates are being passed turn if you would to second corinthians
chapter number 12 second corinthians chapter 12 second corinthians chapter 12 it is not
expedient for me doubtless to glory i will come to visions and revelations of the lord
i knew a man in christ about 14 years ago whether in the body cannot tell or whether
out of the body cannot tell god knoweth such in one caught up to the third heaven and i
knew such a man whether in the body or out of the body i cannot tell god knoweth how
that he was caught up into paradise and heard unspeakable words which is not lawful for
a man to utter of such in one will i glory yet of myself i will not glory but in my infirmities
for though i would desire to glory i shall not be a fool for i will say the truth but
now i forbear lest any man should think of me above that which he seeth me to be for
that he heareth of me or that he heareth of me and lest i should be exalted above measure
through the abundance of the revelations there was given to me a thorn in the flesh the
messenger of satan to buffet me lest i should be exalted above measure for this thing i
besought the lord thrice that it might depart from me and he said unto me my grace is sufficient
for thee for my strength is made perfect in weakness most gladly therefore will i rather
glory in mine infirmities that the power of christ may rest upon me therefore i take pleasure
in infirmities in reproaches in necessities in persecutions in distresses for christ sake
for when i am weak then am i strong i am become a fool in glorying ye have compelled me for
i ought to be uh ought to have been command commanded of you for in nothing am i behind
the very chiefest apostles though i be nothing truly the signs of an apostle were wrought
among you in all in all patience in signs and wonders and mighty deeds for that for what is
for what is it wherein ye were inferior to other churches except it be that i myself was not
burdensome to you forgive me this wrong behold the third time i am ready to come to you and i will
not be burdensome to you for i seek not yours but you for the children not not to lay to lay up for
their parents but the parents for the children and i will will very gladly spend and be spent for you
though the more abundantly i love you the less i be loved but it but be it so i did not burden
you nevertheless being craftily craftily i caught you with guile did i make a gain of you by any of
them whom i sent under you i desire titus and with him i sent a brother did titus make gain of you
walk we not in the same spirit walk we not in the same steps again think ye that we excuse ourselves
under you we speak before god and christ but we do all things dearly beloved for your edifying
for i fear lest when i come i shall not find you such as i would and that i shall be found
unto you such as ye would not lest there be debates envying wrath stripes backbiting
whispering swellings tumults unless when i come again my god will humble me among you
and that i shall be whale many which have sinned already and have not repented of the uncleanliness
and fornication and lasciviousness which they have committed let's pray heavenly father lord
thankful to be safe and in your house better to give preaching of your word afraid that you help
us you feel brother awesome your spirit lord help us to apply preaching of your word to our life
amen title my sermon this morning is a thorn in the flesh a thorn in the flesh we're in second
Corinthians chapter 12 let's read verse number seven the bible says unless i should be exalted
above the measure above measure through the abundance of the revelations there was given to
me a thorn in the flesh the messenger of satan to buffet me lest i should be exalted above measure
now this phrase thorn in the flesh is a very popular phrase in fact it's something we still
use even in our modern vernacular people today over 400 years since the translation of the king
james bible still commonly use this phrase talking about you know thorn in the flesh in our lives
and here what paul is describing is that he was given some sort of physical issue some sort of
problem with his body and he says that he was given to him for a specific reason but this morning
i basically want to have two parts to the sermon first i want to talk about specifically paul's
thorn in the flesh and then i kind of want to talk about just the idea in general of why
god allows pain in our lives why god allows us to suffer and go through hardship so number one
let's talk about paul's thorn in the flesh let's read verse number seven again it says
unless i should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations there was given
to me a thorn in the flesh the messenger of satan to buffet me lest i should be exalted above
measure so here he was talking about how he got some sort of issue with his physical body
but he kind of clarifies what he's talking about because he said that there was a messenger
of satan to buffet him now the word buffet is not as common as something we talk about today but
the definition of buffet is this number one to strike as with the hand or fist number two to
strike against or push repeatedly or number three to contend against in battle so here he's saying
i was given this thorn in the flesh i was given this problem with my body and he says the messenger
of satan to buffet me meaning like someone was beating me up someone was punishing me
physically and if you read the new testament there's tons of description of the apostle paul
going through a lot of physical beatings going through a lot of serious issues with his body
let's look at some of that go to second corinthians 11 second corinthians 11 just
flip the page there and let's read about some of the things that paul went through
in his body second corinthians 11 verse 22 are they hebrews so am i are they israelites
so am i are they the seed of abraham so am i are they ministers of christ i speak as a fool
i am more in labors more abundant in stripes above measure in prisons more frequent
in deaths oft so if you know the context of second corinthians there's a lot of people that are
questioning paul's authority questioning his legitimacy as an apostle and as a man of god
and he's saying like look you got you have these guys that think they're hebrews they're israelites
that they're apostles and he's saying like sure i'm all of those things too and i'm going to go
ahead and speak as a fool because these people these people were suffering fools gladly they
were putting up with fools so he's like okay let me just talk like these idiots are talking for a
minute and i'll just tell you my credentials and he said starts telling about the things that he
went through in labors more abundant meaning hey he's working harder than everyone else
in stripes above measure meaning he was given physical beatings physical stripes on his body
above what was even acceptable or okay above measure in prisons more frequent you know the
bible is talking about how he's constantly going to prison and other apostles as well in deaths
oft we'll talk about that one in a minute and notice verse 24 this is really important the
first three words here of the jews you want to know why i point that out because in second
carthians 12 he says that there was messengers of satan to buffet him now he's going to describe
the people that beat him notice of the jews five times received i 40 stripes saved save one go to
john chapter 8 so here if we just compare scripture who are the messengers of satan that was buffering
paul it was the jews and so paul is literally defining the jews as messengers of the devil
and it wasn't just him doing that jesus christ said the same thing look at john 8 verse 37
speaking to physical jews he said this i know that ye are abraham seed but you seek to kill me
because my word hath no place in you i speak that which i've seen with my father and ye do that
which ye have seen with your father they answered and said unto him abraham is our father jesus
saith unto them if ye were abraham's children you would do the works of abraham but now ye seek to
kill me a man that hath told you the truth which i have heard of god this did not abraham ye do the
deeds of your father and they say then said they to him we be not born of fornication we have one
father even god jesus said unto them if god were your father ye would love me for i proceeded forth
and came from god neither came i of myself but he sent me why do you not understand my speech even
because he cannot hear my word ye are of your father the devil and the lust of your father you
will do he was a murderer from the beginning and abode not in the truth because there is no truth
in him when he speaketh a lie he speaketh of his own for he is a liar and the father of it so
jesus also taught this doctrine that jews are children of the devil and it has nothing to do
with their race or their physical lineage because jesus acknowledges hey you are the seed of abraham
yes you are the descendants of abraham but you know what you're not the children of abraham by
faith because you were the children of abraham in a spiritual sense you would believe in me jesus is
saying if you actually loved god if you actually loved the father you would love lord jesus but
you know what they couldn't hear jesus's words they couldn't accept his message why because their
father is actually the devil and they are ministers or messengers of the devil and you got paul coming
along what is he doing he's preaching the same exact message right you got these hyper dispensationalists
that teach well jesus preached one gospel and paul preached another no they preach the same gospel
which is why they both made the jews angry because the jews are of the their father the devil they're
following satan and so jesus comes along preaching the gospel they're angry at that they don't accept
that paul does the same thing he's preaching the gospel of jesus christ and what are they they're
beating up paul they beat up jesus they murdered jesus they beat up paul they tried to kill paul
why because they are the children of the devil that's why and when someone is persecuting
god's people like that you know they're gonna have serious issues look at verse 24 go back to
first corinthians or i'm sorry second corinthians verse 11 second corinthians verse 11 verse 24
so notice he's saying he's describing the physical issues that he went through
verse 24 of the jews five times received i 40 stripes save one could you imagine getting beat
39 stripes five separate occasions that's intense that's going to leave a mark that's going to leave
some scars that's going to have a lot of brutality on your body verse 25 thrice was i beaten with rods
and you know this isn't like the the stirring spoon in our kitchen used for children this is
like i'm thinking like rodney king you know what i mean like just getting beaten with rods
that's terrible once i was stoned thrice i suffered shipwreck a night and a day i've been in the deep
in journeyings often in perils of waters in perils of robbers in perils by mine own countrymen in
perils by the heathen in perils in the city in perils in the wilderness in perils in the sea
in perils among false brethren in weariness and painfulness in watchings often in hunger and
thirst in fastings often in cold and nakedness beside those things that are without that which
cometh upon me daily the care of all the churches so you know paul went through the ringer when it
came to the toll on his physical body why because he was being persecuted he was being beaten he was
being shipwrecked he was being whipped and on top of that he just had all the stress of false
brethren attacking him and just constantly being in peril in the wilderness and in sea and all these
issues and then he says on top of all the beatings and all the danger that which cometh upon me daily
the care of all the churches he's saying on top of that i'm just doing my job as a preacher and
running these churches and taking care of these churches with all this added stress on top of me
you know you can imagine that the the toll on paul's body was extreme he's not living a healthy
lifestyle he he's not living his best life now no he's suffering in the flesh pretty much his entire
life go to axe chapter 14 axe chapter 14 so you could see how if he's given a thorn in the flesh
you could see how easily that could happen because he's going through a lot physically makes sense
that he could have some sort of a permanent issue with his body given to him by the messengers of
satan to buffet him there was a specific incident that i think really uh just is the cherry on top
of all the terrible things that he went through and it's in axe 14 verse 19 the bible says
and there came that there's certain jews what a shock there they are again right from antioch
an iconium who persuaded the people and having stoned paul drew him out of the city supposing
he had been dead how be it as the disciple stood round about him he rose up and came into the city
and the next day he departed with barnabas to derby so notice paul one time was stoned so badly
that the jews thought he was dead and i think that could be one of the things that he's referring to
in second corinthians 11 when he says in deaths oft i mean because he just got like right up to
the point of death oftentimes many times and one of these times he's literally stoned so bad
everyone thinks that he's dead but the next day he gets up and he goes to derby and he starts soul
winning i mean that guy's intense this is a guy that just embraces the suck and just is a steadfast
christian no matter what he gets stoned and the next day he's out soul winning that's pretty
impressive go to galatians chapter number four galatians chapter number four so you think about
it you know he's gotten beaten with rods he's getting stripes from getting whipped he's been
shipwrecked he's suffering cold he's suffering nakedness he's getting stoned he's going through
a lot and a lot of people speculate as to what was the specific thorn in the flesh that he was
given and first i'll just say this he probably had a ton of different problems probably had a ton of
different problems but i think that his biggest problem and this is just my best guess from the
scripture is that he probably had a serious issue with his eyes that's what i believe and i'll show
you that in galatians chapter 4 verse 13 he says you know how through notice infirmity of the flesh
i preached the gospel unto you at the first and my temptation which was in my flesh you despise not
nor rejected but received me as an angel of god even as christ jesus so notice he was preaching
them the gospel during some sort of infirmity with his flesh he had some sort of serious issue
and thankfully people didn't despise him because of that or reject him because of that they still
received him and you know that's the attitude that we should absolutely have as well that you know
we're not judging a preacher or pastor based on their physical appearance or the height of their
stature or how handsome they are or anything like that or if they have some sort of physical issue
but rather it's the spiritual things rather it's what they're preaching that matters and of course
paul's preaching the gospel look at verse number 15 he says where is then the blessedness you speak
of for i bear you record that if it had been possible you would have plucked out your own eyes
and have given them to me so he's bringing up his physical issues his physical infirmities and he's
saying i was preaching to you even with these physical problems but you didn't despise me you
still loved me you still received me even as if i was jesus christ himself and i believe that you
would have even plucked out your own eyes and given them to me that would be kind of a random
statement if he didn't have any issues with his eyes to me it's kind of implied that he's saying
like hey i've got this serious problem with my eyes but you guys love me anyways and you guys
love me so much that you probably would have just given me your own eyes for me if you could have
done that so i think that's one clue now i found this article that says this can your vision change
after a concussion visual symptoms treatment center.com so think about paul's getting beaten
he's getting rods he's getting stoned it's very likely that he suffered serious concussions i mean
to the point where they looked at him and thought he was dead that's how bad he was beaten you know
he probably got hit in the head with rocks and had serious concussions now this is what this article
says it says if you've been hit in your head in a fall while playing sports or any other type of
accident your vision may have been impacted between 69 and 82 percent of people who've
experienced concussions report visual problems such as eye strain and double or blurred vision
now if you don't mind me asking who's ever had a concussion in here i have okay i had a concussion
playing baseball one of my teammates was not paying attention and we were swinging a bat off of a tee
and we're pretty close to each other but we're just hitting onto a tee into a fence and so usually
it's no big deal but he swings and he just completely lets go of the bat and the bat just
hits me full speed in the head and I just dropped like a ton of rocks. I had no control over any
motor functions whatsoever. My vision went like this. It looked like I could see through a straw
and my hearing went out. I was still conscious but I've experienced this and this is totally true
and every once in a while I still feel like a sharp pain in my head and I still see kind of
blurry just every once in a while it still bothers me but usually there's no issues but especially
when it was close to the injury I absolutely did experience this and if you had a concussion you
probably did too it says this head trauma causes the brain to move within the skull the movement can
stretch the fragile cranial nerves and even damage brain cells since vision relies on efficient
communication between the eyes and the brain a concussion can disrupt these neural pathways
affecting your vision the resulting condition is called post trauma vision syndrome what is
post trauma vision syndrome post trauma vision syndrome refers to a number of visual problems
that tend to occur following a severe head injury if you have ptvs you may have trouble with focusing
eye teaming or binocular vision that's your eye's ability to coordinate with each other and track
with each other depth perception eye tracking peripheral vision or eye alignment now if you
had a problem in this area you would be hating life i mean that would be terrible if like you're
trying to look at something in your eyes just kind of wander away from each other you can't track
something you can't perceive depth perception i mean vision is a nice thing to have and if all
of a sudden we started having issues with that we would be thinking about that all the time that
thorn in the flesh we'd be beseeching god to take this away from us if you had some sort of issue
like this these are things we just take for granted but this is saying here that if you have this
severe um head injury you could start having these types of issues it says any one of these visual
problems can negatively affect your ability to perform day-to-day tasks and significantly lower
your quality of life driving reading watching tv participating in sports enjoying hobbies and even
socializing can become difficult so if you have this issue it would just affect everything about
your life you know it would just lower the quality of life in every area and we would all be suffering
greatly if we were experiencing this then it says this can a concussion permanently change your
vision in some cases a concussion can permanently impact your vision especially if your visual
system or optic nerve has been damaged the good news is that most visual problems caused by head
injury respond well to neuro optometric rehabilitation therapy which the apostle paul didn't have at his
time so my guess is he probably had the severe severe head injury probably had severe eye problems
who knows the apostle paul could have had trouble tracking objects depth perception reading the bible
writing epistles kind of makes sense why he always has someone else writing his epistles for him
right and let me show you something else go to galatians six galatians chapter six and obviously
part of this is speculation but to me it seems to fit what we're reading so far galatians six verse
11 the apostle paul said you see how large a letter i have written unto you with mine own hand so the
apostle paul is emphasizing the fact that it's somehow this big special thing that he's writing
a letter with his own hand now you and i we wouldn't really point that out because it's just obvious
that yeah you're gonna write a letter you're just gonna write it with your own hand but think about
if paul has some sort of physical ailment with his eyes he wasn't able to see that well it would be a
big deal for him to write with his actual hand the letters of this epistle and this epistle is all
about salvation which is the most important topic so it makes sense that he would just buckle down
and say you know what i'm writing this by hand because this is the most important doctrine
salvation i'm gonna fight for this and i'm gonna suffer through writing this epistle even though
my eyes hurt even though i have these problems go to second credence chapter number 12 second
credence chapter number 12 also how he says like you see how large a letter i've written to you
the epistle to the glations is not really a long letter right it's fairly short so either he's just
you know he has a different definition of large because it's hard for him or it could be that
he's even like writing the letters really large because he can't see but glations by no one's
definition is a long epistle but if you have really bad eye vision it could be a long epistle let's
look at more things about his thorn in the flesh second credence 12 eight says for this thing i
besought the lord thrice that it might depart from me so he explains that he has this issue this
thorn in the flesh and he was beseeching god three different times to take this away from him and i
don't think this was just three prayers this was probably three just long stretches of time of him
just constantly going to god constantly begging him to take away this issue from him and you know
we could relate to that because if you imagine if this happened to you you would just be begging god
for him to take this away to change this problem but look at verse number nine we see god's response
and he said unto me my grace is sufficient for thee for my strength is made perfect in weakness
most gladly therefore will i rather glory in mine infirmities that the power of christ may rest
upon me so notice god's response to paul was basically telling him hey you are exactly where
you need to be in life the issues that you have the problem that you have the pain that you have
is exactly where you need to be because my grace is sufficient for you and because through you being
weak paul my strength is able to shine through using paul and it makes sense because paul was
being used to turn the world upside down he's starting churches everywhere he's preaching the
gospel everywhere and so you know god doesn't need a guy like paul getting puffed up and you
know getting into sin or something like that and becoming a castaway we need paul and so though
paul is suffering this terrible thing god is saying hey my grace is sufficient for you what's
more important than you having comfort is the power of christ resting upon you and paul had such a
mature christian attitude that he answered he said most gladly therefore will i glory my infirmities
that the power of christ may rest upon me and you know we we read those as just words in our bible
but this was a real man suffering real pain real just terrible issues he's dealing with and when
he found out that the answer was no god's not going to take away this problem he said that
he was willing to glory and his infirmities so that the power of christ can rest upon him
that's a pretty amazing response when you think about it when you think about you know if he did
have these serious issues with his eyes and he's saying basically like hey i'm willing to suffer
that for the rest of my life so that god's power can rest upon me and that's going to bring us to
part two of why god allows us to go through pain because i guarantee you every single person in
here has some problem in their life some thorn in the flesh you know maybe it's relationships
maybe it's finances maybe it's health maybe it's whatever but if you don't now you absolutely will
in your life and a lot of times people just ask the question well why why does god allow me to
go through pain number one to keep us humble god allows us to go through pain problems issues health
problems to keep us humble look at second corinthians 12 verse 7 notice what he says and lest i should be
exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations there was given me a thorn in the flesh
the messenger of satan to buffet me lest i should be exalted above measure and so when you think
about paul he's arguably the greatest christian alive at this time doing the most works for god
and you know he's just an absolute superstar christian and he's given all these revelations
i mean he wrote a huge portion portion of the new testament and so he's saying so that i wouldn't
become exalted so that i wouldn't become prideful above measure he said god gave me this problem to
deal with and you know what many times in your life in my life we are given problems issues pains
troubles tribulations trials so that we don't become prideful because what's worse than those
issues is becoming prideful and destroying yourself spiritually what's worse than suffering
temporarily on this earth and then getting a new body in heaven is just not having any issues but
you become so prideful that you do nothing for god that you waste this life that god gave you
and you end up having no rewards in heaven go to deuteronomy chapter number eight deuteronomy
chapter number eight and we're going to see how sometimes god just gives us problems to keep us
humble because the truth is human beings are naturally prideful we all have the flesh all
of us have that proclivity and if we just all the time had everything put together we have perfect
health we're super fit we have no health problems we have no money problems we have no relationship
problems you know what would happen to you is you would become prideful you would think how
awesome you are how great you are and you would destroy yourself from that pride look at deuteronomy
eight verse two and thou shalt remember all the way which the lord thy god led thee these 40 years
in the wilderness notice to humble thee and to prove thee to know what was in thine heart whether
thou wouldest keep his commandments or no and he humbled thee and suffered thee to hunger and fed
thee with manna which thou knewest not neither did the fathers know that he might make thee know that
man doth not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeded out of the mouth of the lord doth
man live so notice god is saying i suffered you to hunger i allowed you to go through that physical
pain no one likes to be hungry and quite honestly in america we probably don't even really know what
hunger is unless you've purposely fasted but it's not like in america we're just going through
seasons where we just can't find food where we're just not eating because of want but here god is
saying like i suffered you to hunger i allowed you to go through the pain the the trial of being hungry
for the specific reason to humble you so that you would remember that man doesn't live by bread
alone that this you know world and the things that we could buy and the things that we could
fill our our bellies with is not really what's most important in this life what's more important
is the words of the lord and that we're filling ourselves with those things because that is more
important look at verse number 10 he says when thou hast eaten and art full then thou shalt bless
the lord thy god for the good land which he hath given thee so he's saying when things are going
well for you when you're full when you're eating good food when you live in a nice house when you
have a good job when your health is good when things are going well for you in life he's saying
remember the lord remember to bless the lord look at verse 11 beware that thou forget not the lord
thy god in not keeping his commandments and his judgments and his statutes which i command thee
this day lest when thou hast eaten and art full and hast built goodly houses and dwelt therein
and when thy herds and thy flocks multiply and thy silver and thy gold is multiplied
and all that thou hast is multiplied then thine heart be lifted up and thou forget the lord thy
god which brought thee forth out of the land of egypt from the house of bondage and you know what
he's describing here is what every human being desires right every human being desires for things
to be going well with them and for their houses and goods and silver and everything to be multiplied
if people could just push that button and their problems would go away everyone would hit that
button but he's saying look when you get to this point when i bless you with these things
remember the lord don't forget him don't stop following his commandments you know just because
your life is going good just because i'm blessing you and you see this in life you see someone who's
faithful to church things aren't going well in life oftentimes people come to church because
their life is in shambles because they've been humbled and they're like you know what i need to
do something i need to go to church i need to get right with the lord which is the right thing to do
right but they go to church they start making changes in their lives they start soul winning
they start being free to thrive they start reading their bible and they start seeing the blessing of
god come upon their life because that's generally how it works right someone's i've seen someone
they start a business and they start just making tons of money they start doing really well and
then they just stop going to church and they just forget god they forget the lord they forget his
commandments and you know what happens oftentimes god has to give us problems to humble us now what
would be a lot easier is if we didn't have to get to that point if we would just humble ourselves
if we would lower ourselves before god has to do that to us then great oftentimes then god will
allow you to continue to reap those blessings but oftentimes people that are just constantly going
through problems and issues it's because god needs to humble us and we all need that humbling from
time to time go to luke chapter 14 or i'm sorry go to matthew 14 matthew chapter 14 i'll read luke
14 11 for whosoever exalted himself shall be abased and he that humbleeth himself shall be
exalted even the apostle paul needed to be abased a guy as godly and righteous as him even he needs
to be humble to have humility in his life otherwise he himself would be exalted above measure and you
know what would happen he would destroy his life he would destroy his ministry what's another reason
why we go through pain number two to help us rely on god to help us rely on god matthew chapter 14
matthew 14 verse 25 notice this and in the fourth watch of the night jesus went unto them walking on
the sea and when the disciples saw him walking on the sea they were troubled saying it is a spirit
and they cried out for fear but straightway jesus spake unto them saying be of good cheer it is i be
not afraid and peter answered him and said lord if it be thou bid me come unto thee on the water
and he said come and when peter was come down out of the ship he walked on the water to go to jesus
but when he saw the wind boisterous he was afraid and beginning to sink he cried saying lord save me
so notice jesus christ is walking on the water i mean what a cool thing that would have been to see
jesus christ walking on the water but the disciples they're terrified they're scared they're saying you
know is this a spirit or something like that and peter says you know i got a good idea hey lord if
that's you ask me to come out with you right and he starts to walk on the water but when he sees the
wind boisterous he starts to sink and you know what this represents he starts to have problems
he starts to have issues he starts to sink in the water i mean he's about to die right but why why
did jesus allow him to do that so that peter would look to jesus and cry lord save me and oftentimes
god allows us to get to that point in our life where our head is just about to sink underneath
the water we're just about to not be able to bear any more of these health problems any more of these
financial problems any more of these relationship problems and he just gets you right to the point
where you're about to sink and drown so that maybe you'll remember hey call upon jesus ask jesus to
help you turn your eyes upon jesus because oftentimes we just are we're in the flesh
we're just thinking about our own life our own issues our own problems and sometimes god has to
allow us to go through pain suffering scary situations so that we're reminded to rely upon
the lord so that we're not trusting in ourselves trusting in our flesh i mean if peter just could
just walk on water anytime he wanted i mean that'd be pretty cool right he'd think like man i'm pretty
awesome i could just walk on water but when you realize oh man i'm gonna sink and die if i don't
have jesus that would cause you to be humble right that hey i can't walk on water by myself
i can only do that if jesus helps me if jesus allows me and you know we need to realize in
everything in life hey you don't have a great marriage because you're awesome you're not a great
you don't have great kids because you're awesome you don't have a great business because you're awesome
you don't have a great church because you're awesome if anything is good in your life it's a
gift from god it's a blessing from god and you know what you're not that smart you're not that
cool you're not that good looking you're not that healthy if you have any of those things it's
because god gave it to you because god allowed you to achieve those things and you know what
sometimes if you get unbalanced if you forget that fact you might find yourself sinking in the water
until you remember to call upon jesus and to remember the lord in your life go to if you would
hebrews chapter number four hebrews chapter number four now the wise thing to do would be to learn
this truth and to constantly tell the lord that you need him to constantly remind him that you are
nothing that you're not special that you're not wise that you're not rich and just thank him for
all the blessings that he gives you tell the lord that you need him for everything that you do then
you're by humbling yourself you know god doesn't necessarily have to humble you as often you know
this is what we need to do look at hebrews 4 verse 14 seeing then that we have a great high priest
that is passed into the heavens jesus the son of god let us hold fast our profession for we have not
in high priest which cannot be touched with the feelings of our infirmities but was in all points
tempted like as we are yet without sin so jesus christ he was 100 man he knows what we are feeling
he knows what it was like to be lonely to be betrayed to be sick to be you know hurt physically
to he knows what it's like to die i mean he knows everything he's experienced it he's not a high
priest that hasn't been touched with these things he knows what you're going through because of that
verse 16 it says let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace that we may obtain
mercy and find grace to help in time of need you know what mercy means it means that you're being
given something that you deserve but you're asking for god to take it away from you even though you
deserve that pain and that suffering you know grace means it's like hey you don't deserve this
it's like god i know i don't deserve for you to fix my health i know i don't deserve for you to fix
my finances i know that i don't deserve for you to help me in all these areas but i'm coming to you
and asking for your mercy and grace that is humility see the truth is you can come boldly to the throne
of grace but the boldness is not like being bold and secure in yourself the boldness is knowing that
christ is there the boldness is knowing that god will listen to you that god cares about you that
god wants to help you that's the boldness but when you come to jesus remember that what you need is
grace what you need is mercy it's not hey god take away this financial problem because i'm awesome
because i'm great no just just recognize that every problem you have in your life you deserve
because you deserve to go to hell and so do i and it's just like hey lord i deserve it all
all these problems i need it i need it to keep me humble but lord if you please just be gracious
if you please just be merciful if you'd help me with those things you know that's the way that
we ought to go to the lord and oftentimes if you just humble yourself if you remember that you need
god you probably will go through less trials in your life now here's the thing not always
sometimes god knows no paul you really do need this no you know what my grace is sufficient for
for thee and you know what you're going to deal with this basically for the rest of your life
and if that's the case then our attitude should be hey i'm going to glory in my infirmities
because if that's what i have to go through for the power of christ to rest upon me then you know
what we need to be willing to do that it's a lot easier said than done because you know our problems
are real problems we're going through real pain in this life real issues but just realize that
sometimes god is giving to that giving us those things for a very good reason go to psalm 34 psalm
34 psalm chapter 34 verse 15 the bible says the eyes of the lord are upon the righteous and his
ears are open unto their cries so notice god is ready to hear from us he's ready to listen to us
verse 16 the face of the lord is against them that do evil to cut off the remembrance of them
from the earth the righteous cry and the lord heareth and delivereth them out of all their
troubles the lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart and saveth such as be of a contrite
spirit many are the afflictions of the righteous but the lord delivereth them out of them all so
notice the righteous will have many afflictions many problems but god's ears are open to our cry
he wants to hear from us and oftentimes why are we going through so many afflictions because god
wants us to remember that we need him god wants us to remember the lord and ask him to deliver us out
of all our troubles and you know what in this life when you pray into lord when you ask him
oftentimes even in this life he delivers you from your troubles oftentimes even in this life
when you go to god you humble yourself you realize i'm a sinner deserving of hell i deserve the
problems in my life but god will you please just be merciful to me will you please be gracious to
me will you please deliver me from these issues oftentimes he doesn't but you know what even if
he doesn't in this life you know that if you're saved he will eventually deliver us out of all our
troubles literally all our troubles every consequence of every sin every bodily pain
every broken relationship every financial issue hey when you're in heaven it's just it's all over
it's nothing but joy and peace and love of god and you know what the righteous that call upon him
someday will have all of their troubles taken away from them go to go to if you would first
peter chapter one first peter chapter one i'm going to read to you james 4-8 says draw nigh to god
and he will draw nigh to you cleanse your hands you sinners and purify your hearts you double-minded
you know we need to remember if we want god to draw nigh to us we have to draw nigh to him go
to first peter chapter one the third reason why god allows us to go through pain problems issues
is to strengthen our faith to strengthen our faith look at first peter 1-3 it says blessed be the god
and father of our lord jesus christ which according to his abundant mercy have begotten us again
unto a lively hope by the resurrection of jesus christ from the dead so of course because we
believe that jesus christ resurrected from the dead that he descended into hell and rose again
bodily we ourselves have a lively hope we have a hope that we too will resurrect someday when we die
verse number four to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that fadeth not away reserved
in heaven for you who are kept by the power of god through faith unto salvation ready to be
revealed in the last time see we're saved now but there's a part of salvation that's going to be
revealed when we die and we're going to get a literal glorified body someday and you know that
physical salvation has not been realized yet our spiritual salvation has but look at verse six
wherein ye greatly rejoice though now for a season if need be notice ye are in heaviness through
manifold temptations and you know what that's a lot how life is for us sometimes heaviness sorrow
sadness through manifold or many different temptations in life many problems many issues
verse seven why that the trial of your faith being much more precious than of gold that
parachute though it be tried with fire might be found unto praise and honor and glory at the
appearing of jesus christ whom having not seen you love in whom though ye not though now you see him
not yet believing you rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory receiving the end of your faith
even the salvation of your souls and so how does going through pain strengthen your faith well if
you go through problems and you go through issues a lot of times the natural temptation is to quit
serving god to give up just to say you know what life is too hard i'm suffering persecution i'm
suffering issues from following christ whatever the issue is and people just quit but you know
what will strengthen your faith is when you endure temptation when you endure problems and you keep
serving god why because you know that jesus is coming back because you know that one day you will
stand before the lord jesus christ that he will judge your works and that the wood hand stubble all
those things are going to be burned up going to be destroyed are going to be worthless but you know
what the gold the silver your faith being tried as gold you know that those things are going to
stand those are going to remain and you know you can have great joy knowing that yeah you know what
life is hard right now i've got problems i've got issues i've got a thorn in the flesh but you know
what if i just keep going god is going to reward me greatly for the work that i do for him in the
future go to roman's chapter number 10 roman's chapter number 10 sometimes god just gives us
problems temptations trials to try our faith to see if we will continue to be faithful serving him
to see if we're really living this life just to see how comfortable we can make our flesh
how great our life can be in this flesh or are you truly living for the next life are you truly
living for the spiritual kingdom he gives us problems to increase our faith roman's 10 verse
17 says this so then faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of god you know oftentimes
what you do when you're going through problems trials tribulations you know what it does oftentimes
is it causes you to draw nearer to the word of god and you know i've even heard people from people
recently that have said like hey you know there's been crazy things going on there's been all these
issues but it's really caused me to dive deep and to get close to the word of god you know that does
that increases your faith why because faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of god sometimes
god just allows you to go through all these issues so that you'll actually read your bible because a
lot of times again you're just living your life you're not thinking about god you're not thinking
about spiritual things but you know when you lose your health you're going to be in the bible aren't
you when you get a call and a loved one is diagnosed with cancer you know you're not going to pick up
some novel you're not going to pick up some some stupid book from barnes and noble or whatever you
know what you're going to pick up is the king james bible you know what you're going to do is you're
going to open up to psalms you know what you're going to do is you're going to open up to proverbs
you know when you get a when you when you get a call that your child is in the hospital or your
friend's been in a car accident or you've been diagnosed with something terrible or you lost all
your money or whatever you're not turning to nicolas sparks okay you're turning to the king
james bible you're turning to the lord and you know what's going to happen by that is you're going to
increase your faith i'm going to read for you psalm 119 71 says this it is good for me that i have
been afflicted that i might learn thy statutes man that is a counter-intuitive truth right there
that it is good for us to go through affliction pain suffering problems why so that we would learn
god's statutes why because when you go through those things you drive you get driven to the word
of god and so this is why i love the phrase hey embrace the suck why because it is good for me
that i have been afflicted and sometimes you just feel like your life sucks right and that's that's
okay that's normal but when your life sucks you know what you should do you should go to the word
of god to increase your faith because you know don't just waste your trials don't just waste your
afflictions i mean what's the point of going through all this if just you go through trials
you go through tribulations and you just go to the doctor and you just start popping some depression
medication it's like how is that helping you spiritually how are you gaining anything from
that spiritually you know what you should do when you're going through problems trials afflictions
is draw close to god to pray to him to realize that you need his grace his mercy and to read
the bible and to hear his voice first peter chapter 5 would you turn there first peter 5 verse 10 but
the god of all grace who hath called us unto his eternal glory by christ jesus notice after that you
have suffered a while make you perfect establish strengthen settle you how is it that we become
perfect christians not meaning sinless but meaning just complete well-rounded how to become people
that are established steadfast unmovable always abounding in the work of the lord strengthened
settled well it's after we've suffered a while because it's often suffering that drives us
to the bible that drives us to be spiritual go to romans chapter 5 romans 5 romans 5 verse 1 says
therefore being justified by faith we have peace with god through our lord jesus christ by whom
also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand and rejoice in hope of the
glory of god and not only so but we glory in tribulations also you know this is very similar
language to what he said in second corinthians 12 where he's saying hey i'll just glory in my
infirmities and here he's saying we're going to glory in tribulations also knowing that tribulation
worketh patience by the way don't ever name a church patience baptist church unless you want to
be given a lot of tribulation because tribulation works patience and patience experience and
experience hope and what is hope hope is a strong faith hope isn't like well you know i hope i'm
going to heaven someday and it's kind of like a doubt in your mind hope in the bible is usually
like a strong faith a strong conviction and when we go through tribulations we go through we get
patience we get experience we've been through the problems before we've seen god carry us through
it we've seen god carry this church through problems we've seen god help us in our personal
lives answer prayers we've seen miracles you know healings from god not you know laying our hands
on someone and swallowing snakes or swords or anything weird like that but god just healing
someone's body that's great that's a miracle and you know what what that gives us in the future is
hope but would we ever have that hope if we never had the tribulation no we wouldn't we'd be spoiled
brats we'd be prideful we wouldn't be relying on god and we wouldn't have hope for the future
tribulations that we're going to go through because here's the truth you're either in a trial you're
coming out of a trial or you're about to go into a trial that's life i saw a funny reel the other
day where it just said adulthood is just saying next week things will calm down and you just say
that every week of your life till you die it's like yes this is true you know oh next next week
life will calm down nope next week your kid will probably break their leg next week life will calm
down no next week we'll probably have protesters you know it's like that's just how life is right
just having problems problem after problem after problem but you know what we go through those
problems to have hope that god will get us through those next problems those next issues go to second
corinthians chapter one why else do we go through pain why else do we go through problems number
four so that we can comfort others so that we could comfort others look at second corinthians
one verse three blessed be god even the father of our lord jesus christ the father of mercies and the
god of all comfort who comforteth us in all our tribulation that we may be able to comfort them
which are in any trouble by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of god now this could
be a little tricky language but notice what he's saying he's saying look we're going through
tribulation and god is comforting us in that tribulation and you know why god is comforting
us in tribulation so that when our brothers in christ go through the same thing we could comfort
them with the same comfort that we received of god and oftentimes when you're going through problems
just realize hey maybe not everything is about you maybe you're not going through these problems
necessarily because of you maybe you're going through pain problems issues so that you could
help someone else when they go through the same thing when they lose their job you say hey i've
been there i've lost my job before and i've seen god carry me through it when you when when your
friend has a miscarriage and you could say hey i've been there too i've been there with you when a
family member gets cancer and you know you'd be like hey i've my family members had cancer too
whatever the problem is or or hey when another church gets protested i could be like i've been
protested too it's okay they'll honk by your house they won't do anything you're all right
you know why does god allow us to go through these things oftentimes it's not even because
of us it's so that we could help someone else in the future and you know that's not something
that people really like to hear but you know god wants us to be serving our brothers and sisters
in christ and our lives are not just about ourselves our lives are about other people
and often the reason you're going through those things is that you could help your brothers in
christ and your sisters in christ look at verse number five for as the sufferings of christ
abound in us so our consolation also abounded by christ and whether we be afflicted it is for your
consolation and salvation you say why are we being afflicted so that we can comfort you so that you
could be physically saved there which is effectual in the enduring of the same sufferings which we
also suffer saying like hey if you just endure it god will console you god will save you or whether
we be comforted it is for your consolation and salvation and our hope of you is steadfast knowing
that as ye are partakers of the sufferings so shall ye be also of the consolation and you know
if you never went through any sufferings you'd never be able to be consoled by god and you know
that is a special thing to be consoled by the lord and if you've never been through that then
you're not going to be able to console your brothers in christ when they go through those
problems go to job 23 why else do we go through problems pain trials thorns in the flesh number
five to fulfill god's plan to fulfill god's plan think about joe right the story of job where he
was the most righteous man alive at the time he was godly he hated sin he loved righteousness yet
all 10 of his children died he lost all of his health he's scraping himself with a pot shirt
sitting in dust and ashes having boils all over his body his wife is nagging him i mean that's
that's probably the worst of all of it right there he loses all of his money i mean just everything
is going terrible for job but why look at job 23 verse 8 behold i go forward but he is not there
he feels like god's presence is gone and backward but i cannot perceive him on the left hand where
he does work but i cannot behold him he hides himself on the right hand and i cannot see him
but he knoweth the way that i take when he hath tried me i shall come forth as gold my foot
hath held his steps his way have i kept and not declined neither have i gone back from the
commandment of his lips i have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food you know
why did job have to suffer why did job have to have his life destroyed by the devil well maybe
it's so that untold millions of people could read the book of job and see a man endure temptation
endure problems all the while remaining his integrity continuing to obey the bible not turning
aside from god's commandments to the left hand or to the right and esteeming god's words more
necessary than his physical food even while his life is destroyed and notice how he's feeling
he's feeling like god is gone he's like i'm looking for him behind me before me to the left to the
right i can't find him anywhere it seems like god's hiding his face from me but he says you know what
god knows the way that i take he's saying i believe that god has a plan for this even though in the
moment he feels like god isn't even there that's crazy and he's saying you know what i just believe
that when i go through this trial that i'm going to come forth as gold that there has to be a purpose
in this pain there has to be a reason there has to be a plan that god is working here and he's like
you know what even though i don't understand it i'm not going to go from god's commandments
i'm going to esteem the words of his mouth more than my necessary food and so why did job suffer
like that maybe so that untold millions of people would look to him as an example and would be able
to read the book of job when we're going through problems when we feel like god's presence is far
from us when we don't understand why we're going through so many issues problems trials and we just
say you know what i just believe that i'm going to come forth as gold and even if i don't understand
it even if i don't know where god is right now i'm still not going to decline from god's commandments
i'm still going to esteem his words more than my food go to second Corinthians five second
Corinthians five think about the lord jesus christ why did jesus have to suffer i mean jesus
is god in the flesh jesus never sinned jesus deserved none of the pain and suffering and
problems that he endured jesus never deserved to get mocked by the very people that he created
by the very people that he died for jesus never deserved to get spit in his face to have his beard
plucked out to have a crown of thorns placed on his head to be put on a cross being suspended by
nails through his hands and through his feet getting pierced by a spear and burning in hell
for three days and three nights jesus never deserved any of that why did jesus have to go
through that well it was to fulfill god's plan wasn't it second corinthians 521 for he hath made
him to be sin for us who knew no sin that we might be made the righteousness of god in him you know
why did jesus have to suffer why did he have to become sin you know dying for all the sins of the
world our brains can't even comprehend what's what that is like you know all just the sick twisted
disgusting sins that have happened in this world from the foundation of it up till the end you know
all the sins of child trafficking of torturing people of murder and warfare of all these disgusting
things and he jesus christ became sin jesus christ became a curse on the cross for us why did he have
to suffer that well maybe so that untold multitudes would have their sins forgiven and be saved and
spend eternity in heaven though we didn't deserve it why did jesus have to suffer well to fulfill
god's plan that's why and in our lives it's often the same thing why do we have to suffer you know
oftentimes we don't know but the truth is god could be working a plan in our lives go to hebrews
chapter number 12 hebrews 12 hebrews 12 verse 2 the bible says looking unto jesus the author and
finisher of our faith who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross despising the shame
and is set down at the right hand of the throne of god for consider him that endured such contradiction
of sinners against himself lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds you know what a contradiction
that the sinless lamb of god became sin for us and he's saying hey consider that lest ye be
wearied and faint in your minds you know when you're going through something and you don't
understand why don't quit don't faint don't be weary because you know what you weren't sinless
and died for sinners that's a lot more of a contradiction than whatever you're going through
verse four you've not yet resisted unto blood striving against sin like the lord jesus christ
did dying for sin you know i think about other men why was shadrach meshach and abednego why why
did they go through their problems why were they cast into a burning fiery furnace when they did
what was right when they decided no i'm not going to bow i'm not going to worship the devil with
these people and what did they get as a result of that blessings no problems in their life issues
kind of a big one like being thrown into a burning fiery furnace but why did they do that maybe so
that untold millions of people can read the book of daniel and say you know what i'm going to do
what's right i'm going to maintain my integrity even if everyone's standing against me even if
the consequence is death you know we could look to people that literally were willing to face death
and see god deliver them out of that you know that gives us great faith but during the time they're
probably thinking why was this happening well god had a plan for what they were happening for what
was happening to them and you know just think about in our life we often think about why am i
suffering why am i constantly going through problems why am i sick why am i having financial
problems why did i lose my loved one why did this person that i love so much get cancer
why did we lose this person well you know i don't necessarily know but god knows god knows and
oftentimes there is a purpose in our pain there is a plan that god has for us in our lives go to
romans chapter number 8 romans chapter number 8 romans 8 verse 26 says romans 8 26 likewise the
spirit also helpeth our infirmities for we know not what we should pray for as we ought but the
spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered you know we
sometimes we've got infirmities and we don't even know how to pray we don't even know how to come
to god and talk about these things but the bible says that the spirit of god helps us that he
intercedes that he translates if you will with groanings that cannot be uttered verse 27 and he
that searcheth the hearts and knoweth what is the mind of the spirit because he maketh intercession
for the saints according to the will of god and verse 28 says this and we know that all things
work together for good to them that love god to them who are the called according to his purpose
you know this is one of the greatest promises in the bible and people will often abuse this or
misquote this and just say that all things work together for good that's not true but the truth
is all things work together for good to them that love god and to them who are the called according
to his purpose all things work together for good for joe because joe actually his faith was tried
and he did come forth his goal god delivered him out of it god restored his children god restored
his health god restored his wealth and god used his story to help christians even today in 2024
right god helped shadrach, meshach, and abednego you know god did work all things together for good
to the lord jesus christ who suffered not in vain but so that untold multitudes can be saved and
it's the same thing for us whatever pain whatever problems we're going through if you love god if
you love god all those things will work together for good you know i think about i wonder how many
christians maybe their life their life could have gone two ways you know you think about people that
are really gifted athletically and usually people that are gifted athletically when they're young
they're just obsessed with that sport or that task that they're doing and they want to grow up and be
a professional football player basketball player golfer whatever but i wonder sometimes like maybe
god just takes though that young kid that young soul winner and maybe just gives him some sort of
injury which at the time things like oh this is terrible this is some sort of problem this is
infirmity in the flesh but really it was god working all things together for good for that person
because maybe their life would have gone towards something like that and their life would have been
just meaningless their life would have been just making money for themselves getting glory for
themselves but instead whatever problem prevented them from going down that route maybe they would
have then served god with their life then became a soul winner then done something for god and that
thing that you looked at as a problem or an issue was actually god working all things together for
good for you and for him let's go to second corinthians 12 last place we'll go to second
corinthians chapter number 12 second corinthians 12 verse 7 says unless i should be exalted above
measure through the abundance of the revelations there was given to me a thorn in the flesh the
messenger of satan to buffet me lest i should be exalted above measure for this thing i besought
the lord thrice that it might depart from me and he said unto me my grace is sufficient for thee
my strength is made perfect in weakness most gladly therefore will i rather glory in my
infirmities that the power of christ may rest upon me therefore i take pleasure in infirmities
in reproaches in necessities in persecutions in distresses for christ's sake for when i am weak
then am i strong so you know as we go through problems in our lives and issues and persecutions
you know it's okay to pray to the lord and ask god to remove those things from us but at the end
of the day if we realize that hey this isn't going away god wants me to have this problem
we should be willing to endure that we should be willing to have the spiritual maturity like paul
that just says hey you know what i'll just take pleasure in these infirmities that the power of
christ can rest upon us why because when we are weak in our flesh then we are strong through
jesus christ let's have a word of prayer lord thank you for this day thank you for the problems
that you do give us in our lives lord we know they're not meaningless but just pray that we
would take advantage of them by drawing closer to you humbling ourselves deciding to use those to
comfort others in the future and i just pray that you would help us all to realize that you have a
plan for our lives and that we would decide to stick close to you and to your will we love you
in jesus name we pray amen last hymn this morning will be number 316 i have decided to follow jesus
hymn number 316 3 1 6 i have decided to follow jesus 316 there on the first
turning back turning back