Victim or Victor? - Part 1

Welcome to the In Touch Podcast with Charles Stanley for Thursday, July 18th. Psalm 103 proclaims that God is in perfect control. The Life Principles series continues today with assurance that believers are never victims of circumstance. Sometimes when we're going through real difficult situations and circumstances, we might feel like we're sort of the victim of circumstances. We might feel like we're the victim of circumstances. We might feel like we're the victim of circumstances. Do you ever feel that way? That you're into something that you can't get out of or you don't know how to deal with it and it seems impossible? And you just feel like you're a victim of some circumstance. Where's God in all that? How does He operate when we feel that way?

What is your attitude about yourself and the circumstance you're walking through? Then we think about being a victim. A victim is someone who has been harmed in some fashion. It may be in their body. It could be in their money.

It could be in their position. All the different ways that people get hurt. Do you feel like you are a victim that somehow somebody's mistreating you? Where's God in all this?

Well, I want to answer that question. And answer the question, are we as believers victims of our circumstances? Or could we possibly be victors over those circumstances? So, I want you to turn to Romans chapter eight, one of the most helpful, one of the most reassuring, comforting chapters in the whole Bible. And when Paul comes to this eighth chapter, he talks about the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives and the comfort He is to us. And he comes to this twenty-sixth verse and reminds us that we have the Holy Spirit within us to help us pray. Because there are times when we don't know how to pray. We don't know what to pray for. And oftentimes, people ask me to pray for them. And I always ask them, well, what is it specifically you want me to pray for? And sometimes people say, well, just pray for them. Well, I don't know what that means.

Well, give me something specific. Well, sometimes about ourselves, we don't know what to ask for. And here's the promise that God gives us in this twenty-sixth verse of the eighth chapter. In the same way, the Spirit, that is the Holy Spirit, also helps our weakness. For we do not know how to pray as we should. But the Spirit Himself, the Holy Spirit, intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And there are times when we don't know what to ask.

We don't know how to deal with it. He says, the Spirit of God who is within us, He will pray through us and intercede in our behalf so that God knows where our heart is and all that. Now, it's the next verse I want us to look at, these next two verses.

He says, and he who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. And then verse twenty-eight, and we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God and to those who are called according to His purpose. Now, would you say that deep down inside you honestly and truly believe that God is causing all things to work together for good? What about tsunamis?

What about earthquakes? What about all these people who are dying? Is God in all of this? Do you really and truly believe that God is in control of everything?

Or just some things? You see, the way you and I believe and how we believe in the relationship of God to this earth, to this whole world of ours will affect how we view ourselves and how we view our circumstances. So, with this verse of Scripture in mind, what I want us to do is I want us to look at this passage of Scripture with a lot of questions that people have about why these things are happening and what's going on and where is God in all this.

And so, I want us to begin with this very idea, and that is that our view of God's relationship to this world and to us will directly affect our relationship to Him. Is God answering our prayer? Is He just standing on the sideline watching me hurt? Did God allow this to happen?

Did He cause this? How much of this is me? How much of this is Him? Where is God in all of these things? So, first of all, what I'd like to do is to sort of give you a little idea of how people think.

For example, the deist of people who say that there is a God and He created all of this. And what He did, He created the world with all of its laws and principles and things that govern it. And then He just said, okay, world, go. And so, God is removed from the world as you and I know it. And so, what I'd like to do is to give you a little idea of how people think about God's relationship to this world. In fact, the best way to describe what they believe is this. It's like God is this great clockmaker.

And He makes the clock, He winds it up, He sets it down in space, and then He just lets it unwind till finally it goes into nothing. And so, what I'd like to do is to give you a little idea of how people think about God's relationship to this world. Because that's the way they think. They think, well, there is no God.

Or if there is one, this is how it's all working. And therefore, that explains tsunamis and floods and deaths and so forth, that it's just nature and that's the way life is and that's the way it's going to be. Then there are the folks who call themselves pantheists. And that is, they believe that God's everywhere.

And that's the way they believe. And so, what I'd like to do is to give you a little idea of how people think about God's relationship to this world. And this and that's in God.

So, it's inseparable. Again, there's no understanding of the personal relationship to God that He desires and does have to this world and to individuals. And so, God is sort of mixed up in all of nature. Then of course, when I think about all the different kind of circumstances, I think about all the different kinds of circumstances.

I think about all the different kinds of circumstances. And so, whatever happens is what'll happen. And we don't make them happen. There's no God out there to make them happen. It's just the way life is.

They're fatalist. Now, can you imagine getting up every morning and thinking, well, I'm not making decisions today because even though I'm making them, they've already been made. I'm just living out what chance.

I'm just living out what chance. And so, I think about all the different kinds of circumstances that God has in His relationship with God. And I think about people who feel that way. And there are many people who feel like, well, you know, things are as they are and they cannot be changed and all this trying to change things and help, none of that really works because it's already a predetermined idea. Well, then thank God there is a Christian approach.

And so, I think, you know, there are many people who feel like, well, you know, things are as they are and they cannot be changed and all this trying to change things and help, you know, nothing, He created it. He is above it. He's beyond it. He's not part of it as far as being something. But He is above it. He's beyond it. He is also still in control of it.

And He keeps it together. And so, I think, you know, there are many people who feel like, well, you know, things are as they are and all this trying to change things and help, none of that really works. And so, I think, you know, in the affairs of the mechanics of the world, he's also personally involved in the lives of individuals. And if you don't believe that, you have an emptiness out there that cannot be filled, a sense of aloneness out there somehow that you think about the uncertainty and the chaos and all the things that are going on today, people searching for happiness and peace and no one to help them out. What a futile way to live your life, unfulfilled, no peace, no happiness, no joy.

Life is just as it is. Then there's the Christian perspective, and that is this God who created this earth, He didn't just let it go, He's still out there. Well, what about these tsunamis? Is God in that?

Well, let me ask you a question. If a tsunami can exist or an earthquake can happen apart from the will of God, there must be something out there more powerful than God. Somebody says, for example, well now what about Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden? Couldn't God have stopped that? Yes, He could have. Why did God allow evil in the world?

Was He in that? Well, let me ask you this. If God were not in what happened with Adam and Eve, then there must have been a force greater than God who overcame the power and the will of God and therefore God isn't sovereign, it's God in something or God in somebody else. We don't believe that because it's not true. So therefore, we have to see God from His perspective in everything that happens. Now, there'll be some things that you and I don't understand. We never will understand some things, and there's not anything in the Bible that says I am obligated to understand everything God does. Secondly, there's nothing in the Bible that says if I don't understand it all, then here's what's going to happen. God doesn't even expect us to understand it all. He says my ways are not your ways. My thoughts are not your thoughts.

My thoughts are higher than your thoughts, and my ways are higher than your ways. And therefore, I just know that there's some things I won't understand, but there's so much we can understand if we stop and think about it. So when I think about the Christian view, and that is because the truth is the Bible is the story of God's relationship to this created world of His and the individuals who make it up. That's what the world of God's all about.

So when somebody says, well, I don't believe the Bible, then what you've done is you have taken God's Book that tells us all we need to know about God and how He operates and thrown it aside. Then you have nothing substantial, nothing solid, nothing certain, no sense of purpose, no sense of direction. That is, what's life all about apart from God? What assurance do we have when it comes to these things that we don't understand? What about our personal lives? What about our personal lives? What about our personal lives? What about our personal lives? What about our personal lives? What about our personal lives? If I went around the room and said, how many of you, for example, have had things happen in your life that you don't understand?

Not only that, you didn't like it. In fact, you don't understand why God allowed it. In fact, maybe your belief is that if there were a God, He would not have let that happen in my life. Why does He let this happen to children? Why do planes crash? Why do planes crash? Why do planes crash? Why do planes crash? Why do planes crash? Why do planes crash? Why would God stop them?

Yes, He could. Why does He allow them to happen? You and I will never know all the answers to that question, but we can understand much about God if we will start with this. The Bible is the Word of God.

It is absolutely true. Now, apart from the Word of God, there is no acceptable explanation for what happens in life after death. And so, when I ask people that, what's going to happen when you die? What's going to happen when you die? What's going to happen when you die? And no one guiding and no one who is in charge, then we're just flipping through space with no sense of purpose and some direction.

How's it going to last? And then I think about people who are haunted with a myriad of questions such as, if you don't believe any of this, what about life after death? And so, when I ask people that, well, what's going to happen when you die?

I don't know. What's going to happen when you die? What's going to happen when you die? What's going to happen when you die? What's going to happen when you die?

What's going to happen when you die? And so, it's interesting that people who have everything going for them say, you know what, I don't need a God. And I've heard people say, I don't need God. I've got everything I need.

And I want to say to them, but you've forgotten the source. Everything you have came from the goodness of God. And what you're doing is you're denying the very essence of who's provided this for you. So, I want to think about some things that give us assurance today in the light of all of this. And I want you to think about what God is in control of our circumstances. The foundational truth in understanding what's happening. The foundational truth is this, that God is in control of our circumstances. You say, how could He be? I'm going to explain that. How could He be in control of our circumstances?

He is. So, I'm going to turn to several passages that you probably know by heart. But I want you to look at them because I want you to see that by all means you're going to understand what God is in control of. And I want you to know by all means you're going to understand what God is in control of. But you might know. Look in Psalm one oh three, verse nineteen. You've heard me quote it many times on purpose.

Listen to what he says. Psalm one oh three, verse nineteen. The Lord has established His throne in the heavens, and His sovereignty rules over all.

Over what? What's included in all? And I'm going to read this. And I'm going to read this. And I'm going to read this.

And I'm going to read this. All things, all events, all people, all situations, circumstances, over all. Now, that's the bottom line. You can be saved without understanding that God rules over all. I can understand that.

But let's think about this. Look, if you will, in Colossians chapter one. He said, I and the Father are one. He said, if you have seen me, you have seen the Father.

So, when you come to Colossians chapter one, listen to what Paul says. He says in verse thirteen, For he, that is Jesus, rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son. That is, we're talking about God the Father, what He's done through Jesus coming to the earth. His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, that is, the forgiveness of sins, now watch this, He, that is Jesus, is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, where the thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities all were created. For He, that is, the thrones and dominions, all were created, through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. So, what is He saying?

He's simply saying this. That God has created all things through His Son Jesus, for example, as He says here. Not only has He created them, but He says He holds them together. God's laws do not change.

The principles do not change. And so, He says that He not only has created all things, but He keeps control of all things. Now turn, if you will, to the hundred and thirty-fifth Psalm for a moment, and notice what the Psalmist says here. Hundred and thirty-fifth Psalm and the sixth verse, because somebody says, well, what influences God? Well, the sixth verse of the hundred and thirty-fifth Psalm says, whatever the Lord pleases, He does in heaven and in earth, in the seas and all the deeps.

What is He saying? God does what He pleases to do. He doesn't always do what I want Him to do, what you want Him to do. He doesn't always do what we think He ought to do and of what we desire for Him to do or what I can understand for Him to do. But He always does exactly what pleases Him.

He always does what He wants Him to do and what He wants Him to do. And so, what is He saying? Well, the issue is this, is God in control of what's happening?

And the answer is, yes, He is. Would we have people lose their homes and lose their jobs and many other hardships that people are undergoing? Would we do that if we had a choice?

No, we wouldn't. But think about this, when He says He's established His throne in the heavens and His sovereignty rules over all, He's established His throne in the heavens and His sovereignty rules over all, He's established His throne in the heavens and His sovereignty rules over all. And so, what is He saying?

Well, let me ask you this. If that be true, why does God allow evil in the world? If He's in control and He's a righteous God, why does He allow evil in the world? You say, well, He doesn't allow it and He's not responsible for what happened to Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden and they fell and so sinned into the world.

Why does He allow evil in the world? Well, He's not responsible for what happened to Adam and Eve. He's not responsible for what happened to Adam and Eve. He's not responsible for what happened to Adam and Eve. If He's not in control, there is something in the universe more powerful than God, and that's what's in control.

And you and I know that's absolutely not true. God is the one who's in control. Why does He allow these things to happen? He says, my ways are not your ways, my thoughts are not your thoughts, my ways are higher than your ways, and I'm in control of my thoughts and my ways of thinking. And so, He's in control. He's in control. He's in control. He's in control. He's in control. And so, He's headed. And therefore, things that we don't understand, things that we would not do in His way, but He's doing it His way because He has something in mind, and the thing that He has in mind ultimately will turn out to be good. Thank you for listening to Church Ministries, Atlanta, Georgia.