A New Beginning presents a great book from Pastor Greg Laurie called Hope for America. Yes, we're in a political season right now. We need to vote. We should be informed on the issues as Americans and as Christians, but we should also recognize the ultimate hope for our nation is turning back to God. So I talk about this and a lot more in a book I've written called Hope for America. And I want to send it to you for your gift of any size.
Get your copy at harvest.org. Today on A New Beginning, Pastor Greg Laurie says some believers are surprised when crisis comes knocking at their door. Somehow in our minds we may believe as Christians that we are exempt from suffering. We won't get cancer. We won't have spouses ever leave us. We won't have problems with our kids, etc.
Well, if that's the way you think, it's time for your wake up call. Because I don't care how much you love the Lord, crisis is going to come into your life. Jesus told us to cast our cares upon Him, but He never said, In this world you shall have no problems. The Bible tells us to be anxious for nothing.
It doesn't say you won't have anything to be anxious about. When the disciples cried out to Jesus in the midst of the storm, it was a real storm. But today on A New Beginning, Pastor Greg Laurie shows us how the Lord is with us in the midst of the storms of life.
He may not deliver us from the storm, but He will deliver us through the storm. So it is a day like any other day. You get up out of bed. You take a shower. You brush your teeth. You have your breakfast.
You read your Bible. You pray. You commit your day to the Lord. And then it happens. A call from a police officer or a friend telling you there has been an accident. A call from a doctor telling you that you need to come in immediately because of something he found and the tests he did on you.
A note on the counter from your spouse saying they are done with the marriage. A new pain in your body that you have never noticed before. The list goes on. Crisis. It hits hard. It hits fast.
And it takes no prisoners. Pain is knocked at your front door and is moved in without your permission and it refuses to leave. This crisis is so epic that you are now going to look back on it as a dividing point of your life. You are going to remember your life before and after this crisis. You would not wish what is happening to you on your worst enemy.
But it is a reality in your life. For Job it was when his world came crashing down on him in one day. For Joseph it was a betrayal of his brothers that changed the course of his life.
For Jesus it was the religious leaders and one of his own handpicked disciples that turned on him. For you it might be something else. It could be compared to a mighty and unexpected storm that has overtaken your little boat. And you are wondering, am I going to survive this? Am I going to get through this?
Is there any hope for me? Well let's read a passage together now. Matthew chapter 8 verses 23 to 27. A familiar story of Jesus and His disciples in one of the many storms they encountered.
Starting in verse 23 of Matthew 8. Now when He got into a boat His disciples followed Him and suddenly a great tempest arose on the sea so that the boat was covered with the waves but He was asleep. And His disciples came to Him and awoke Him saying, Lord save us we are perishing. And He said, Why are you so fearful, O you of little faith? He arose and rebuked the winds in the sea. And there was a great calm.
So the men marveled saying, Who can this be that even the winds and the sea obey Him? Ok. So what can we learn from this story? Here is a few points.
Number one. Storms will come into our lives. And I am using the metaphor of a storm for a crisis, a tragedy, a hardship, bad news in general. Storms will come. Now by the way this was a serious storm that these disciples were facing in the original language.
The word that is used for storm is also used to be translated out as an earthquake. So this was a mega storm covering the boat so you could not even see your craft any longer. Mark's gospel tells us the waves were breaking over the boat so much so that the boat was already filling up. The Amplified translation of that verse says, A whirlwind revolving from below upwards swept down on the lake and the boat was filling with water and they were in great danger. Now understand a lot of the disciples of Jesus were seasoned sailors.
So storms were not new to them. They were more like the guys on that TV show The Deadliest Catch. You know. I mean when you look at the kind of waters those guys get into I would be crying for mommy.
Ok. But it is just another day fishing for them. So these guys were not a week in any way. This was a seriously dangerous storm. And so they are crying out. So when a storm comes into our life. When a crisis comes. Here is the first thing we usually ask. Why is this happening to me?
What have I done to deserve this? Now understand at the outset there are no real answers to questions like this. It is very unlikely we will ever have the answers to the whys of life until we get to heaven. So instead of spending too much time on why though I will deal with it a little bit let's talk instead more about the what. As in what am I supposed to do now that crisis has hit.
And listen. My objective is to bring hope to you. To say if you are in a situation that seems bleak there is always hope and I don't want you to give up. In fact the very hardship you are going through right now may turn out to be one of the greatest blessings of your life. But somehow in our minds we may believe as Christians that we are exempt from suffering. We just won't have tragedy befall us. We won't get cancer. We won't have spouses ever leave us. We won't ever have anyone we love die in any kind of an accident.
We won't have problems with our kids. Et cetera. Well if that is the way you think it is time for your wake up call. Because I don't care how much you love the Lord. Crisis is going to come into your life.
You cannot control these things. Ironically I have had people say to me after our son went to be with the Lord, why does this happen to you of all people? And I find that to be a curious question. Oh I get a free pass because I am a preacher. Hey I live in the same fallen world that you fall in.
Live in. And fall in. And the Bible says that the rain falls upon the just and the unjust. However I do think it is really important to not make the mistake of trying to always find cause and effect for everything that happens. In other words sometimes if something bad happens we will say, well they were evil and because they were sinful this came in their life.
Yeah that may be true. But listen to this. Sometimes bad stuff just happens. And there is no cause and effect at all. Because sin is in the world. And because sin is in the world we have aging and we have sickness and we have disabilities and even death.
Those things were never part of God's original plan. On one occasion the disciples of Jesus brought up the topic of a tower that had fallen on a group of Gentiles. And the rhetorical question was asked, were they the worst sinners in Jerusalem? So the idea was hey everybody knows about that tower that fell on the Gentiles. Now understand Gentiles were like non-Jews, non-believers, pagans. So yeah everybody knows about the tower that fell on those non-believers. And obviously the reason it fell on them is because well they were non-believers. And then Jesus went on to say, were they the worst sinners in Jerusalem? No I tell you that unless you repent you will also perish. Here is what Jesus is saying. Don't you say that happened because they were sinners. Do you think they were the worst sinners?
News flash. Unless you repent you will perish. So here is what I think the Lord was saying. Bad things happen.
Inexplicably. So let's just understand that. And to the point sometimes bad things happen not because we are godless but because we are godly. Take the case of Job. What did Job do wrong? When you read the first chapter of his book it just talks about what a wonderful man of God he was. How he prayed for his family. How he cared about them. This guy was so right on that God was bragging on him in heaven saying to the angels, Satan among them, have you considered my servant Job a perfect and upright man.
One that fears God and shuns evil. So let's just leave those things in the hands of God. We don't know the whys.
But we know this. God has a plan. Randy Alcorn wrote, quote, if we come to see the purpose of the universe as God's long term glory rather than our short term happiness then we will undergo a critical paradigm shift in tackling the problem of evil and suffering.
He continues on, life could be summed up in this way. The world has gone terribly wrong. God is going to fix it. First for His eternal glory. Second for our eternal good. It is so well written.
So here is what Randy is suggesting. He is saying look if we can see the big picture that the purpose of the universe is God's glory not our happiness. See we tend to think of the world as revolving around us. We are the star of our own film.
Aren't we? We are the featured character in our own novel. And then this happened to me. And that happened to me.
Chapter 2. And then you know and on we go through life. And so when something happens why is this happening to me? What about me?
Wait a second. The bigger picture is ultimately God's glory not my personal happiness. And the fact of the matter is is through hardship my hope will grow.
That almost sounds contradictory. Like the best hothouse for hope as it were would be a trouble free life with no threat. With no storms. Everything would just be nice and tidy and clean.
No. The best place for hope to grow believe it or not is actually in adversity. Romans 5 says, Because of our faith God has brought us into a place of undeserved privilege. And it is through our problems and trials that we develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character. And strength of character strengthens our confident hope of salvation.
And this hope will not lead to disappointment because we know how dearly God loves us because He has given us His Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with His love. Wait a second. Did Paul just in the same paragraph use the word trials, problems, and then did he just say God loves us? Exactly. But wait. If God loved me wouldn't He remove the trials and the problems?
Maybe He might and maybe He won't. That is up to God according to what needs to happen in your life. We already reflected on the story of Lazarus who was ill. He was a personal friend of Jesus. So Mary and Martha His sister sent word to Christ.
The one that you love is sick. And then when Jesus heard this news He intentionally delayed His trip. So by the time He had got to Bethany Lazarus was dead. But yet it is interesting it says when Jesus heard these things because He loved Mary and Martha and Lazarus He waited. He waited because He wanted to do something even greater than what they wanted. They wanted a healing.
He wanted a resurrection. Pastor Greg Laurie will have the second half of his message in just a moment. We're encouraged when we hear from families who have been impacted by the Harvest Crusades and Harvest Ministries. In July I traveled from San Francisco to hear Pastor Greg's message at Harvest 2024 in Anaheim, California. It was there that I rededicated my life to the Lord. The following week I heard that Harvest was doing baptisms at Pirate's Cove in Southern California and so I surprised my nine-year-old daughter who had wanted to be baptized by driving back down so she could be baptized there.
I have never heard a louder, I love you dad. All I can say is that it has been one of the most memorable events in my life as a dad. A huge thank you to all at Harvest Ministries.
What a great story of this father and daughter. If you have a story to share would you contact us and let us know? Email Pastor Greg. Send it to Greg at Harvest dot org.
That's Greg at Harvest dot org. Well today Pastor Greg is bringing us hope to help us face the times of unexpected crises that will inevitably come upon our lives. So coming back to our story here are the disciples in this radical storm fearing for their very lives. Yet despite this condition these overhead waves Jesus was sound asleep. Now I have seen a boat very similar to the boat these guys would have been in.
You go to Israel today. There is a little museum that houses what they call the Jesus boat. And this is a boat that was recently found that is like the kind of boat these fishermen would have had. No one knows if it is the boat. But it is certainly like the boat. And this is not a sophisticated craft. This is not a big cruise ship or something like that.
This is just a very simple little boat. And Jesus manages to go to sleep underneath the top deck there. It wasn't a very big area.
It would have been wet and cold. But yet He is exhausted after a hard day of ministry. And I wonder if you have ever felt like Jesus was asleep when you were calling on Him. Hey Lord where are you?
Are you paying attention? Well in a technical sense Jesus was asleep. But in a broader sense God never sleeps because we are told in Psalm 121 verse 4, He that watches over Israel neither tires and he never sleeps. See Jesus was asleep because He was resting confidently in the will of His Father. And that is what the disciples should have done too. He told them they would be fine. In fact in Mark's version of the same story He said let's cross over to the other side. And that meant that they were going to cross over to the other side. He didn't promise them an easy trip.
But He promised them a safe arrival. And so they could have rested in that but instead they are freaking out. They are panicking. They are trying to wake Him up.
But that brings us to a point. We need to cry out to Jesus in the midst of our storms. We need to cry out to Jesus in the midst of our storms. Verse 25 they say, "'Lord save us.' Though the shrieking of the storm did not wake Him, the cry of His people did.
The moment His children cried out He responded immediately and powerfully." People will often do that in times of crisis. You know as they say there are no atheists and foxholes.
I am sure there are some. But usually in a time of great difficulty where your life is in danger most people will call out to God. This story is told of a hardened old sea captain that was very vocal about his atheism. And one night during a radical storm he was washed overboard and his men actually heard him crying out to God for help.
So they finally rescued him. And the men asked him, didn't you say you didn't believe in God? And the old guy said, well if there isn't a God there ought to be at times like this.
As C. S. Lewis said, even atheists have their moments of doubt. And so even the nonbeliever can cry out to God. But these are the Lord's own followers crying out to Him. And the Lord will often let us hit bottom so we will see our need for Him. Thomas Watson said, quote, when God lays men on their backs and they look up to heaven. And by the way we should never think of prayer as a last resort but instead make it our first resort.
That's right. Look if you are ill by all means I don't have a problem with you going to the doctor. If you have a situation there is nothing wrong with calling the police. You want to take the practical steps. But the first thing you should do is pray. Lord help. Lord intervene. Lord show me what to do. Lord give me wisdom. Sometimes people will do everything they can do to fix their situation and nothing has worked.
And they say, well all we can do now is just gulp. Pray. Oh poor little you. All you can do now is call on the almighty God the Creator of the heavens and the earth. Cry out to the Lord. If you are ill ask God for His healing.
Touch. I don't care what the doctors have said. I don't care if there is only a 10 percent chance of survival. You are talking to God and you can reach out to Him. You remember that woman that had that medical condition in the Scriptures and she had spent all of her money on doctors. Probably quack doctors trying to resolve it.
Nothing worked. And she reasoned if I can just touch the hem of His garment I will be healed. And when Jesus passed by with as much faith as she could muster she touched His garment and immediately she was healed. You cry out to the Lord. You call out to the Lord and trust in the Lord. And remember this.
God is still in the miracle business. Whatever your situation is. And if you know someone who is ill let's take a case in point. Someone you know got cancer.
They need hope. I have actually I witnessed this recently and I was flabbergasted by it. Someone revealed that they had cancer. And someone else said to them, oh yeah my uncle died of that same cancer.
I wanted to smack the person. I mean what could be more heartless than that. This person needs hope you see. Now I think a person who has cancer knows they could die of it. You don't have to remind them of that. But on the other hand has anyone who has gotten cancer ever been healed of it or have they ever had a surgery that removed it. Of course.
Lots of people. So let's emphasize that in the interim. Let's not be a comforter who torments a person.
Better to say nothing than to say something like that. Be praying for those people and tell them that you will keep praying for them. So they call on Jesus. And He comes up on deck and He stops the storm in its tracks. Verse 26. He arose and rebuked the winds and the sea and there was a great calm. See when we call out to the Lord He is moved by that.
And He is ready to intervene. So don't feel bad about calling on the Lord. Then we could also point out that God has His purposes in the storms of life. God has His purposes in the storms of life. Remember that God is in control and He has a plan. It has been said, the hammer shatters glass but it forges steel. So we look to the Lord because we recognize that through these hardships He can accomplish great things.
Why? Because God knows all things in the past, the present, and the future. And God is uniquely qualified to know when to ordain or permit evil and suffering and when not to.
Let me say that again. God knows all things in the past and the present and the future. Therefore God and God alone is uniquely qualified to know when to ordain or permit evil and suffering and when not to. So if the Lord allows it in your life or even brings it into your life He has a plan in mind for it. Now we love to follow the Lord when things are going the way we want them to go.
As with my grandchildren the other day. That is why maybe I still have some glitter on me because they are all girls. And so I was in a world of pink and all that. So we were playing some game and let's play this. Oh they are all excited.
Jumping up and down. Let's play this. Well we get the toy out and we are playing it. And then they move from that to another toy.
Then from that to another toy. And now it looks like a whirlwind is whipped through the room. And so then I said, now it is time to clean up.
And all of a sudden they weren't happy anymore. I always have to clean up said one. Yeah I do too said the other. I said no. Come on now. We took it out to play with it. Let's put it away.
And they were not happy. And in the same way the Lord says, ok come on and we are going to do this and I am going to open this door and then this is going to come over to the Lord. I love following you. This is so great. Ok now we are going to go through this little rough patch. Whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa.
I don't want to go through that. It is like Psalm 23. One of the greatest Scriptures in all of the Bible. The Lord is my shepherd.
I shall not want Him. He makes me to lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul. You set a table before me in the presence of my enemies. My cup runneth over.
Man life is good. But then He says, yea though I walk to the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil for you are with me. We love those green pastures and we love those still waters.
But we are not really excited about a valley. Especially when shadow of death is written over it. But He is with us in those times as well. That is what it is to follow the Lord. Pastor Greg Laurie with some straight forward insight today on the trials and crises of life and how the Lord will prove Himself faithful in the crucible. And Pastor Greg has a lot more to come from this presentation here on A New Beginning. You know Pastor Greg somebody may be listening right now who is facing some real challenges.
They don't particularly count themselves as religious but boy they could sure you some help about now. Yes sometimes God will let us go through hardship so He will get our attention. The Psalm has said before I was afflicted I went astray but now I have kept your word. So maybe something is happening in your life that has caused you to look up as in looking up to God and you are saying help. Listen that is not a bad place to be. In fact that is a really good place to be. It has been said when you get to the end of yourself you get to the beginning of God.
Do you feel like you are at the end of yourself right now? Then why don't you pray. In fact I would like to lead you on a prayer. Maybe you have never prayed before. You don't even know how to start praying.
That is okay. Prayer is just talking to God. Let me lead you in a simple prayer. You can pray it after me in fact. And this is a prayer where you are asking God to enter into your situation but more significantly you are asking Christ to enter into your life. See that is what being a Christian is. It is having Christ living inside of you.
It is a relationship not some religious thing. So if you would like a relationship with God, if you would like God to walk with you through your times of difficulty you could pray this prayer after me right now. Just pray these words if you would. Lord Jesus I am scared and I need your help and I am asking you to enter my life. I am asking you to forgive me of my sin. I know that you died on the cross for my sin and rose again from the dead. But I want to receive you now as my Savior and my Lord.
So I invite you into my life and I choose to follow you from this moment forward. Thank you for hearing this prayer and thank you for answering this prayer. In Jesus name I pray. Amen.
Amen. And listen if you have just prayed that prayer along with Pastor Greg and you have meant those words sincerely the Lord has heard you and forgiven you of your sin. And we want to welcome you into the family of God. Let us help you begin living for the Lord each day. Pastor Greg would like to send you his New Believer's Bible. It is in an easy to understand translation and has scores of helps to get a New Believer started. So get in touch and we will send you the New Believer's Bible free of any charge. Call us at 1-800-821-3300. That is 1-800-821-3300.
Or write A New Beginning, Box 4000, Riverside, CA 92514. Or go online to harvest.org and click the words Know God. And Pastor Greg we are so thankful for the work God is doing through this ministry. We are touching lives for eternity. And we are really thankful for our friends who see the fruit of this ministry and invest so this work can reach even further.
Isn't that right? Absolutely. When you invest in Harvest Ministries you are investing in the souls of men and women, boys and girls. And what is the value of a soul?
Well let me personalize it. What is the value of your soul? What is the value of the soul of your husband, your wife, your son or your daughter or your mom or your dad or your best friend?
Well I would say you probably couldn't put a price tag on it. It is so valuable. Well listen God says all souls are mine.
God loves us and sent His Son to die on the cross to pay the price for all of our sins so we could be forgiven and come into a relationship with Him. I can't think of a better investment of my resources, of my money than in the work of the kingdom of God. So we would ask you to prayerfully consider investing in Harvest Ministries as we continue on to fulfill the Great Commission. Yeah that's right and you can make your donation right now at harvest.org or write us at A New Beginning, Box 4000, Riverside, CA 92514. Or call 1-800-821-3300. That's a 24-7 phone number 1-800-821-3300. Well next time Pastor Greg continues this important reassurance about trials, how to recognize their value in our lives and how to survive them. Join us here on A New Beginning with Pastor and Bible Teacher, Greg Lord.
