Readiness for the Rough Times

Welcome to the In Touch Podcast with Charles Stanley for Monday, July 18th. Instead of being surprised by trouble, believers should prepare for it before it arrives. Let's learn to be ready for the rough times. Could you turn please to 1 Peter chapter 1? We are in the first epistle of Peter and we are in the first chapter and beginning with the 13th verse tonight and going through the 16th verse, that is readiness for rough times. That's what Peter is giving us here, five steps to getting ready for rough times. And he says beginning in verse 13, therefore, gird your minds for action. Keep sober in spirit. Fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. As obedient children, do not be conformed to the form of lust which were yours in your ignorance. But like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior, because it is written, you shall be holy for I am holy.

Now think about this for a moment. When you and I know that we're going through a difficult period or we sort of see it coming on or we enter into it, we're just inside the door. Sometimes if we know what's happening, we know how to respond.

If we don't know what's happening, oftentimes we respond incorrectly. But I think if you'll notice what he says in this passage, here is a good way to set your mind when you suddenly find yourself in a difficult situation, in rough sledding in your life and things aren't going your way, whatever the reason for the difficulty may be. He says there are five things that you and I can do to ready ourselves for these rough times.

And I want you to jot them down. In the first one, he says in verse 13, therefore, gird your minds for action or remove all hindrances to your daily walk. Now, what does he mean by girding your minds? He's saying that you and I need to prepare our thinking. That is, we need to think correctly when we are undergoing persecution or difficult times and when we find ourselves surrounded in circumstances and situations that are beyond our control. He says, roll up your sleeves, take off your coat, get ready to go into action because the spiritual walk is just that. That is, he says, therefore, gird your minds.

That is, prepare your minds. Don't allow anger, hostility, jealousy, fear, worry, doubt and anxiety to plague you because whenever you and I are facing situations that are beyond our control and we allow those negative attitudes to begin to move into our life, sometimes they can paralyze us and stymie us and they do impede and hinder our walk. One of the reasons when you and I face difficult situations we don't respond right is because we walk into them or we are thrown into them and our attitude isn't right to begin with. When you begin with a negative attitude, when you begin unwilling to assume responsibility for your actions, when you begin with a critical spirit in the first place or you begin with fear, what is going to happen is you're going to respond in the wrong fashion. Therefore, the suffering of any situation intensifies when I move into it with a negative attitude. If I have God's perspective on it, then it will not be quite as intense. So he says, if you want to go through these rough times, the best way to prepare is to prepare your thinking, prepare your attitude so that you will not be hindered in your walkthrough.

He doesn't say that you're going to, it's going to be removed, but he says, prepare yourself for action. That is, you're going to have to go through some difficult times. The second thing he says is, he says, keep sober in your spirit.

Now, you could translate that or interpret that. When he says keeping sober is refraining from being intoxicated, but it also means something else. And that is to resolve, to keep your balance in your judgment.

First of all, he said, remove all hindrances from your walk. Secondly, resolve to keep your balance. Now, any time difficulty comes our way, we want a quick fix.

God fix it right now. We want somebody to give us an immediate solution. So if somebody comes along and offers us one, usually if we're hurting or we're fearful or we're anxious or we're full of doubt, usually we'll reach out for what appears to be a quick fix for the problem. And what Peter is saying to those believers is he says, beware of that. Be sober, be steady. And what he's saying is be balanced in your judgment. Don't allow your difficulty to throw you off balance so that you will grab any new idea, any new offered experience, any new fad, anything that comes your way. That's why Peter said, now be careful when times get difficult, you will be prone and tempted to reach out to anything and everything that offers you a quick fix. He says, be steady as you go. Be very balanced in your judgment.

Don't grab anything that offers you what appears to be a quick solution to your problem. The third thing he says is fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Or the third thing he says in our terminology is recognize that your hope is in the grace of God only. He says we're to fix our hope upon him. You're not to fix your hope on any pastor, any preacher. You're not to fix your hope on any theology. You're to fix your hope on the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is your hope. That is, your hope is to be found on the living Christ who lives and abides in you.

Now, think about this for a moment. When you and I are undergoing problems and heartaches and burdens, that is, if we see in this trial we are learning, in this trial God's developing us, in this trial God is equipping us, in this trial God is preparing us for something later on, it is amazing how when we have fixed our hope upon the Lord Jesus Christ and upon his promise and upon his divine guidance and his leadership, it's like somehow we're able to make our way through the maze of all that is going on because we know we're going somewhere. Now, listen, when you and I face those situations that are absolutely beyond our control and it looks like we're just up against a blank wall and nothing is happening and it's all happening to us and we're not getting anywhere, that is very difficult. That's why Peter said, now listen, he says in these tough times, in these rough times, he said, fix your hope upon the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, why did he say that? Because he knew as they fixed their hope upon him, they fixed their mind upon him, he would reveal to them that all of this isn't just an accident, this isn't something that's just happening, that God the Father is allowing this in your life for a very specific purpose. Now, listen to me carefully, my friend. Many principles God allows me to lay out to you week after week after week after week and some of you write them down, some of you don't, some of you may remember some of them, then all of a sudden, bang, the bottom drops out of your life.

If you know the principle, you will respond correctly. And the principle here is that we're to fix our hope upon the leadership and the guidance and the love and the acceptance and the protection and the watch care of the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, which is all a part of the grace of God. We're to fix our hope upon him knowing that in this very difficult trying time, our Lord Jesus Christ, like the good shepherd, is leading us through this because he has us going somewhere, he is preparing us for something. Anytime you realize that he is in preparation for something in the future, it is very, very helpful, elevating and comforting and assuring and uplifting and deepening to know that you're on your way somewhere. You're on your way to developing those characteristics that qualify you to be a saint of God.

As a newborn child of God, you are a saint. But in the development of these character qualities, our true sainthood is being expressed and is much more evident when people see us go through these difficulties and come out knowing that the Lord Jesus Christ has led us through them. So he says here, number three, fix your hope upon these things, resolve to keep your balance and then recognize that your hope is in the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ alone. Number four, listen to what he says. As obedient children, do not be conformed to the formal lust which were yours in your ignorance. All therefore, he says, resist your formal lifestyle.

Now I want you to listen to me very carefully. I have seen over and over and over again very fine Christian men and women who love the Lord, I believe. And I do believe that they loved him. Disaster hits them, difficult times come, financial problems begin to flood in upon them, relationships a little difficult, and what happens? In those rough times when they can't quite seem to put it all together, how many times does Satan move in in their moments of weakness, in their moments of doubt, in their moments of questioning why God is allowing this and what do they do in those moments of weakness? They revert back to what they absolutely know is not of God, their old way of living. They revert back to sin. They get themselves involved in all kinds of habits and all kinds of affairs. And what happens is in difficult times when God could mold and build their character and equip them and prepare them for something far more valuable in their Christian life, what do they do by responding unwisely instead of resisting the temptation?

Listen, because physically and emotionally we need to stay physically and spiritually well because Satan knows that when you are spiritually, physically, emotionally weak, he knows that he has a little inroad in those times that he does not have at other times. He says, resist, do not be conformed to your formal lust which were yours in your ignorance. Now, let's look at the old life for just a moment. The old life was indeed a life of ignorance. Before you were saved, you really didn't know the truth. Oh, you knew a few things, but you didn't know the consequences of sin. You didn't have perception.

You didn't have discernment. It is a life of ignorance. It is a life dominated by desire.

Listen to what he says. He says as obedient children now, don't be conformed to your former lust which were yours in your ignorance. You see, a life in the flesh is a life dominated by desire.

The desire for things, the desire for experiences, the desire for satisfaction, the desire for the gratification of flesh, all of that is the old lifestyle. So what happens to some very good Christian people when difficult rough times come, they don't want to drink or get on drugs or even they may. But in those difficult times, they find something that gratifies the flesh.

You know what they use it for? They use it as an escape to take some of the blunt off of the hurt they have. This is what causes people to get into all kinds of difficult situations and sinful relationships. There are those who used to drink, who stopped it, wouldn't dare take a drink. Difficult times come along, they don't know how to handle it, ill-equipped to do so, and what do they do?

They go back to do what they absolutely know is not of God, reverting back to their old formal lifestyle, which is a lifestyle dominated by ignorance and dominated by desire. What he's saying here is this. He says when rough time comes, resist the temptation to resort to the old. Listen, to resort to your old lifestyle as an escape mechanism to get rid of some of the pressure that's on you at the moment. And I see this happening to people in the most disastrous fashion.

They know better and yet they do it. And this is what he's saying. He says it is a life dominated by desire, it is a life of ignorance, and if you'll notice he says it is also a life characterized by futility. As obedient children, do not be conformed to the formal lusts which were yours in ignorance.

What was the life before you were saved? It was futile. You weren't going anywhere, you weren't getting anywhere, nothing was happening, you were just existing. He says be careful. When rough times come, you don't go back to your formal lifestyle because, listen, he says that was a life of ignorance dominated by desire, therefore you were in bondage and besides that it was characterized by futility.

You weren't going anywhere. If you will fix your hope on the person of Jesus Christ, I mean if all hell breaks loose and the bottom drops out and the top caves in, remember when you have your mind fixed upon him, God is leading you to somewhere. You are accomplishing something. God is achieving his goal.

God is accomplishing his purpose of shaping you into the likeness of his only begotten son. So then he says the fifth thing that we are to be aware of here. He says, beginning in verse 15, but like the holy one who called you, be holy yourselves also in all behavior because it is written you shall be holy for I am holy. Now what was he doing? He was going back to Leviticus chapter 11.

Go back there for just a moment if you will. The 44th verse, God says, for I am the Lord your God, consecrate yourselves therefore and be holy for I am holy and you shall not make yourselves unclean with any of the swarming things that swarm on the earth. And he's referring to some of their laws here. But several times he says in Leviticus about four times there, he says the same thing, be ye holy as I am holy, be ye holy as I am holy. Now back to 1 Peter chapter 1. He says, but like the holy one who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior. So the fifth thing I think he's saying is that realize that holiness is the only acceptable goal for the believer. Now when you were saved by the grace of God, the Lord Jesus Christ came into your life and his presence within you, the Bible says that you and I are the temple of the Holy Spirit of God. Therefore you and I are holy. Hagias is the Greek word which means holy, separated, sanctification.

All those words are the translations of the same Greek word hagios. That is you and I are holy because you and I have been separate under God. We have been sanctified unto him. Every single believer, saved by the grace of God, every single believer has been set apart by God through the Holy Spirit for, listen, for the purposes of God.

So the truth is that you and I don't really have any say so in this. We have a will and we can rebel against God. But when you were saved, he saved you to be conformed to his likeness. And listen, the holiness that he's referring to here is not a holiness that you and I put on. Now the emphasis of scripture when it comes to being holy is this. We are to walk obediently before God, not putting off, putting off, putting off. But God says that our holiness is the result of our submission to the Holy Spirit to express the holy life of Jesus Christ who is within us through us.

That is the expression of holiness. So when he said here in this passage, but like the holy one who called you, be holy yourselves in all your behavior. How are we to walk a holy life in our behavior? That doesn't mean that I won't avoid some things. Does it mean that I will not do some things? But I must understand the source of my holiness is not doing and undoing.

The source of my holiness is the submission of my will to the indwelling Holy Spirit that he may flow out of me and out of you the holy life of Christ which is a life of submission. Therefore, some things I will not do and some things I will do. So he says if you want to be prepared for rough times, here's what you do.

First of all, you remove those known hindrances in your life that will hinder your daily walk. Secondly, he says you are to resolve to keep a balanced judgment in those times because there'll be many fads and many offers of many experiences to come your way. He says you're to recognize that your hope is in the person of Jesus Christ so that you are moving towards something when you go through these difficult times to resist your former lifestyle when you attempted to go back to relieve the pressure and then to realize that holiness is the only acceptable goal for the believer. He says when you do that and you set your mind, you and I will be able to walk through those difficult times with confidence and assurance that God is in control. We're on our way somewhere and God is accomplishing something in us. And he will take you through the rough times triumphantly because remember he's living on the inside and he's promised to be everything you need. Thank you for listening to Readiness for the Rough Times. If you'd like to know more about Charles Stanley or InTouch Ministries, stop by InTouch.org. This podcast is a presentation of InTouch Ministries, Atlanta, Georgia.