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. Coming up today, Pastor Greg Laurie points out it's often the tough times of life, not the good times, that turn our hearts to God. Prosperity has a tendency to make people proud and self-sufficient. You don't think you need God when you have your salary or your investment to your career or your homes and your health and your families. But when an economy goes south or a home burns to the ground or your health fails, then you turn to God and you're reminded of what really matters. This is the day when the lost are found. This is the day for a new beginning. Amazing grace, how sweet the sound.
Oh, can you hear when the angels are singing? This is the day, the day when life begins. Trials strengthen our faith. Just like exercise strengthens muscles, trials strengthen our faith muscles. Today, Pastor Greg Laurie points out we need to put our faith to work to show that our faith does work. The faith that cannot be tested is the faith that cannot be trusted. We're glad you're along today on A New Beginning for an important message to help us move forward in times of testing.
And for a replay of today's insight go to harvest.org. Today the title of the message is, Hope for Those Facing Crisis. How many of you are facing crisis right now? Raise up your hand.
Ok. Quite a few of you. And for those of you that didn't raise your hand it will come in time. So hopefully this will be something that will prepare you. So let's turn in our Bibles to Matthew chapter 8. 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 in 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 in the sea obey Him? Let's pray together. Father as we look in Your Word now we pray that we will find hopeful encouragement and get perspective on the challenges and pressures of life. So speak to us from Your Word we would ask in Jesus' name. Amen.
Ok. So what can we learn from this story? 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. 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? Here are some reasons why God allows adversity in our lives. Number one. Adversity levels us and keeps us humble. It levels us and keeps us humble. You see prosperity has a tendency to make people proud and self-sufficient. You don't think you need God when you have your salary or your investments or your career or your homes and your health and your families. But when an economy goes south or a stock market crashes or a home burns to the ground or your health fails then you turn to God and you are reminded of what really matters. God gave to Israel a warning as they entered into the promised land. See they had gone through 40 years of wilderness wanderings where they were literally dependent upon God for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Every day the Lord would bring manna to be waiting for them outside of their tent. But now they are poised to enter into the land flowing with milk and honey.
The land of abundance. And the Lord gave them this warning. He said, now as you enter into this land, He said, I want you to remember to not forget the Lord. After you have eaten and you are full do not forget the Lord. And that is what can sometimes happen. When you have a lot you forget the Lord. You take it for granted.
Now don't misunderstand what I am saying. Because I don't want to paint some bleak picture to you. You know life is misery and hard and difficult.
No. Hey. If you are in a time right now where you are in the green pastures. You are in the still waters. Life is going reasonably well.
Doors are opening up. Fantastic. Here is what I would say to you. Don't forget the Lord. Give Him glory. But if the bottom drops out and you get bad news I would say to you again don't forget the Lord.
Then you turn to Him and call on Him and ask Him for His help. But yes adversity levels us and keeps us humble. Also adversity teaches us eternal truths we would not otherwise learn. We will intrude in adversity we would not otherwise learn. You know generally in life we want to avoid pain.
We want to be comfortable. Right. I mean pain-free dentistry.
That is appealing. Right. Would you go to a dentist that says extra pain dentistry. We pull first and ask questions later. Whoa.
No. I don't want it to hurt. If you say I need a root canal I want it to be pain-free if possible. And we apply that to life. You know we are looking for that workout that doesn't require us to well work out. You know we want the pounds to just melt off.
So I don't want to go to a gym or a health club or something like that. I want to just take some little pill. Well I am sorry. No pain. No gain. Ok. And that is true of life too. No pain.
No gain. Pain comes in our life and it has its purpose. Pain reminds us of a deeper need.
Our need for God. See just like a hunger pain reminds us that it is time to eat. You can set the clock by my stomach. I am hungry first thing in the morning. I get up early. I get up around 5.30. And so I am eating breakfast before 6. So by 10 o'clock I am fully hungry for lunch. And now it becomes wait another hour and a half. And the stomach is saying feed me. Feed me.
You know. So it is not pain but it is a reminder I need food eventually. And pain reminds us that we need God. In his book The Problem of Pain C.S. Lewis writes quote, Pain removes the veil.
It plants a flag of truth within the fortress of a rebel soul. End quote. So God uses pain.
And listen to this. Randy Alcorn writes, If your faith is based on a lack of affliction, it is on the brink of extinction, and is only a frightening diagnosis or a shattering phone call away from collapse. Token faith will not survive suffering nor should it. What a great statement. Especially if your faith is based on a lack of affliction.
It is on the brink of extinction. Listen. The faith that cannot be tested is the faith that cannot be trusted. God wants you to toughen up and grow to be a man or a woman of God.
You can't be a baby in diapers for the rest of your life. So this is what adversity does. Another thing adversity does is it gives us a new compassion for others who are in pain. Adversity gives us a new compassion for others that are in pain. We live in a world of pain and hurt. And God comforts us so we can in turn comfort others. 2 Corinthians 1 says, He comforts us in all of our troubles so we can comfort others when they are troubled.
We will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us for the more we suffer for Christ the more God will shower us with His comfort through Christ. You know when you have come through something you want to help someone else. Let's say that you had cancer. And let's say that you chose the course of treatment and you have been cancer free now for five years.
Thank God. And then you just found out that a friend or a family member got cancer or maybe someone you don't even know. What do you usually want to do? You want to encourage them. You will go to that person and say, listen I have come through this.
Here is what I did. Let me pray for you. Let me encourage you. See you comfort with the same comfort that you have been comforted with.
I found myself walking into a lot of situations I previously would have walked away from at another time in my life. When I hear someone has lost a child many people I didn't even know I have made contact with. I have talked with them. I have prayed with them. It is not like I have any profound words for them. But I have a general understanding of what they are going through. And I want to just say to them as hard as it is to believe in this moment you are going to get through this. And God is going to be with you. And I just want to point them back to the Lord. Now don't think that is some big sacrifice. Actually it helps me. Because I don't want to waste my pain.
It is there so I want to use it as a tool to help other people. I remember years ago we had Lieutenant Colonel Brian Birdwell here. And he was in the Pentagon that was hit on 9-11.
Very little is said about those that died in the Pentagon. But he was there working and he was burned severely over most of his body. But he survived after many many skin graft operations which are incredibly painful. And he is a strong Christian. And I interviewed him and he told us his story. And he had an unexpectedly amazing sense of humor through all of this.
And just was a delightful guy to hang around. And after church this Sunday I interviewed him. I said, hey Brian why don't we go get some lunch. He said, I would love to but I can't.
I have a commitment. And I said, really. He goes, yeah I have to go visit some people. I go, I was surprised he knew anybody in Riverside because he is not from this area. He said, well I already made a commitment to go to the local burn unit.
I said, really. What do you do there? He says, well I go and visit burn victims and tell them there is hope. And he says, I do that wherever I go.
And I thought, there you go. You know you comfort with the comfort you have been comforted with. So God can use it as a tool in your life. Adversity prepares us for what God has ahead. Adversity prepares us for what God has ahead. Everything we go through is preparation for something else in life. God is changing you and getting you ready for something ahead.
But here is what you need to remember. Your troubles are not going to last forever. 2 Corinthians 4.17 says, our present troubles are quite small. They won't last very long. Yet they produce for us an immeasurably great glory that will last forever. So don't look at the troubles you see right now. Rather look at what you cannot yet see for your troubles will soon be over. But the joys to come will last forever. God's people will be better off eternally because they suffer temporarily.
Let me say that again. God's people will be better off eternally because they suffer temporarily. The tradeoff in eternity will bear this out. The argument for the greater good may be the strongest biblical case for the wise of human suffering.
But it requires great trust in our part. Meaning that I look at my suffering and I say it is going to all make sense in eternity and it is going to produce something in eternity that would have not been there otherwise. So in faith I am going to accept this truth and wait to see the outcome.
So that is the way it works. Then also there is a God who despite the worst tragedy can bring good out of bad. There is a God who despite the worst tragedy can bring good out of bad. Now that doesn't mean that He makes bad things good. But it means that despite bad things He can bring good.
That is an important distinction. Because a lot of times people are looking for cause and effect. In other words you are trying to connect the dots.
Ok. This bad thing happened so this good thing would happen and this even better thing happens and this super great thing happens so now I get it. And you look back over life and you say it all makes sense.
And you know what. Sometimes life works that way doesn't it? It certainly did for Joseph despite his setbacks. Betrayal by his brothers. He is elevated to the second most powerful position in all of the world. And he was even able to say to his brothers, you meant this for evil but God meant it for good to save many people alive in Genesis 50-20. So certainly God can do that.
But here is what Romans 8.28 says. All things work together for good to those that love God and are called according to His purpose. Ultimately all things work together for good. But sometimes you can't see that in this life. Because there are tragedies that will happen that make no sense at all.
And I think we make a big mistake when we always want to find cause and effect. You know well this person died. But that was so in the funeral service these three people would come to Christ.
So I guess it was all worth it. No. Guess what. God could have reached those three people in the funeral service without that person dying. So let's look at it a different way. This person died. I am sorry that happened. That is a tragedy in your life. But listen to this.
In the service despite this great tragedy look how God was glorified and three people came to Jesus. Isn't that wonderful? See the difference between those two things. Because if you are always trying to find cause and effect some things are never going to make sense. You might say, I am spending my life in a wheelchair. What is the good in that when I see people running around? You know I spend my life using a ventilator to breathe. What is the good in that when other people take their ability to breathe for granted?
Hey I am facing this problem right now and other people aren't. What is the good? I don't see the good.
I don't get it. So don't try to find cause and effect. Just say this is what has happened. But God is in control. God loves me. And despite this bad thing good things are going to take place in my life for the glory of God. Some will be realized in this life.
Some in the next. What could have been a worse case scenario than the crucifixion of Jesus? The Lord was betrayed by one of His own disciples. Then He was whipped by Pontius Pilate. Then He was sent with His cross to be crucified on it and there He died. Nothing could have been worse for His followers who had left everything to follow Him. But then He rose again from the dead.
And then they understood what the new covenant was all about. Out of the worst thing came the greatest good. That is why we call it Good Friday. So your crisis, tragedy, or heartache will ultimately work together for good either here or in eternity. You know sometimes people use the expression, it is all good man.
Hey dude it is all good. Well you know in a broad sense that is actually correct theologically. It is all good if you are a Christian. Either in this life or in the life to come. Shakespeare said, all the world is a stage and all the men and women merely players. Well if that is true then God writes a script and has decided what will happen to who. When you go to a movie the ones you remember are the ones that have conflict that is overcome.
Right. I mean if you go to a movie and it starts happy and the middle is happy and the end is happy you are bored. Where is the conflict? Where is the bad guy? Where is the adversity that someone has to overcome so Rocky will be you know punching, hanging meat, and running upstairs and the theme song da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da.
You know we are waiting for that. Because that makes an exciting movie. Ok. Well that is a movie. Now let's talk about life. Conflict comes in life. And God is in charge of these things. God does not use conflict to make the story better but to make us better.
If you have lived a conflict free life I would imagine you are probably a soft spoiled selfish person. But if you have gone through adversity I am sure you are stronger, more capable, and hopefully more caring. And sometimes God stops the storms but He will always be with us in it. Sometimes God stops the storms but He will always be with us in it. So the disciples call on Jesus.
He comes up on deck. Stop. Peace be still. And immediately the storm ceases and the water is calm again.
He does that sometimes. So you have your problem. Oh crazy financial need. God help. Boom. No. Check arrives.
Inexplicably. Oh we owed you some money the government writes. This is a miracle. You know you paid too much in taxes. And here is a check that happens to be in the exact amount of what you just needed. Or wait.
The answer comes in this other way or in another. You know God answers your prayer. And you say, Lord thank You. And then sometimes He answers your prayer differently than He wanted them to. He doesn't stop the storm. He doesn't take away the problem. He doesn't heal the illness. But He walks with you through it.
So in this case Jesus stopped it. But in other situations He walks with us through our problems. It is then that we must trust Him.
Again He said, Let's go to the other side. God will be with you in your storm. Psalm 46 says, God is our refuge and our strength and ever present help in time of trouble.
So we won't fear. Though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though the waters roar and foam and the mountains quake where they are surging. God will walk with you through it. Isaiah 43 says, God speaking, when you go through deep waters and great troubles I will be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty you will not drown. When you walk through the fire of oppression you will not be burned. Let's get over to the other side. That is what Jesus said.
So look. Storms will come and go. Problems will come and go.
And check this out. Life on earth will come and go. But then there is life that continues on in eternity.
In heaven if you put your faith in Christ. So here is my question to you. What would you rather have? A nice easy flight and a crash landing or a bumpy flight and a soft landing? Maybe your life is filled with a lot of turbulence. But better to have turbulence and land safe than have an easy flight and crash.
Listen to this. Life on earth is as good as it is ever going to get for a nonbeliever. And life on earth for the believer is as bad as it will ever get. So if you are a Christian this is as bad as it will ever be. Take the worst time of your life.
It is as bad as it will ever be. Listen to this. If you are a non-Christian this is as good as it is ever going to get. Because the Bible says that judgment is coming. So that is the hope we have that one day we will get to the other side. Let's pray together. Father thank You for Your Word to us today. Thank You for the hope of Scripture. And thank You for the promise that Jesus will never leave us or forsake us. But now we pray for some who have joined us who may not know You yet. They have not yet put their faith in You. They don't know with certainty that they will go to heaven when they die. We have talked about crossing over to the other side.
They don't have that hope that they will see You one day but they need that hope. Help them to come to You and believe and be forgiven today. In Jesus' name I pray.
Amen. Pastor Greg Laurie pointing out how to put our faith in Christ and have our eternity secured. And if you'd like to make that kind of change today Pastor Greg will help you with that in just a moment before today's edition of A New Beginning concludes. And then let us say a word of thanks to those who support us financially.
Those who make it possible for us to bring you these studies each day. We're definitely a listener supported ministry. It's the generosity of listeners that help us be here with these programs. So if you've partnered with us thank you. And if you have yet to partner with us well I hope you'll get in touch today and let us know that you're standing with us. Even a small investment would help. It's actually an investment in changing lives. Thank you for partnering with us.
You can donate securely online at harvest.org or call us at 1-800-821-3300. Again that's 1-800-821-3300. And then if you'd like to make a change in your relationship with God today Pastor Greg has some additional thoughts to share. Maybe as you've been listening to this message you've thought I wish I could come into this relationship with God.
I just don't know how. Let me tell you how you can come into a relationship with God right here right now. First of all you need to recognize you need God. You need to admit you're a sinner. I know some people choke on that word but the Bible says all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. But then you need to recognize that Jesus Christ the Son of God died on the cross for your sin. The Bible says while we were yet sinners Christ died for us. And then you need to believe in Jesus. Jesus put it this way for God so loved the world he gave his only begotten Son and whosoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life. You might ask how does one believe in Jesus?
To believe means to put your faith and trust in Christ in Christ alone and to receive him into your life as your own friend savior and Lord. The Bible says for as many as received him he gave them the power to become sons of God. Would you like to receive Christ and by that I mean would you like to ask Jesus to enter into your life and be your savior your friend your Lord if so you can just pray this prayer after me. It's a simple prayer you can pray it out loud if you would like or you could pray it in the quietness of your heart. But if you want Jesus Christ to forgive you of your sin if you want to go to heaven when you die or maybe you want to make a recommitment to the Lord just pray this prayer after me now pray these words if you would Lord Jesus I know that I'm a sinner but I know that you're the savior who died on the cross for my sin I turn now from my sin and I ask you to come into my life and forgive me of all of my sin.
Thank you for loving me thank you for hearing this prayer and thank you for answering this prayer in Jesus name I pray amen. Hey if you just prayed that prayer I want to congratulate you and say welcome to the family of God. Yeah that's right and listen we want to help you get started living for the Lord. Let us send you a copy of Pastor Greg's New Believers Bible.
It's in an easy to understand translation with hundreds of helps that'll guide you into a strong foundation for your faith. We'll send it free of charge if you prayed with Pastor Greg today. Just ask for the New Believers Bible when you call 1-800-821-3300. That's a 24 7 phone number 1-800-821-3300 or go online to harvest.org and click know God. Well next time good news for any with a marriage that's lost its joy. Pastor Greg brings a study called Hope for Hurting Marriages. Join us here on A New Beginning with pastor and Bible teacher Greg Laurie.
