Today on real life radio. You ever pray like that? God, make me the object of your affection. Pray like that. This is real life.
Welcome to Real Life Radio with Pastor Jack Hibbs. I'm David Jay, thanking you for joining us today as we listen, learn, and are challenged by God's Word, the Bible. Looking for real answers in real time? JackHibbs.com is your go-to destination for resources on faith, world events, and everything in between. Explore Happening Now, where Pastor Jack Hibbs takes a timely, no-nonsense look at today's biggest issues, blending biblical insight with the latest headlines.
Now, whether you're curious about the world around you or you want guidance on a personal level, Pastor Jack has you covered. And by the way, don't miss the Real Life Network. It's packed with relatable, family-friendly content that really speaks to everyday challenges and triumphs, offering something really valuable for every member of your family.
Now, if you're new to the faith, you want to refresh your perspective, start with that tab that says Know God, an accessible, welcoming space to learn and reflect and find your footing.
Now, whatever your path, JackHibbs.com has the tools and the insights and the encouragement that you need. Tune in, log on, find something real. Once again, the website, jackhibbs.com. On today's edition of Real Life Radio. Pastor Jack continues his new series called First Samuel with a message titled, Life When the Bottom Drops Out.
Samuel was a man dedicated to God from birth, the last judge to rule Israel and the first of the prophets raised up during a time of great difficulty, adversity, and of course uncertainty.
Now you see, the period of the judges was coming to a close and though Samuel was ordained as a prophet, it was actually his mother Hannah who gives us one of the most powerful examples of prayer, crying out to God through her helplessness and pain as a once barren woman.
So today, Pastor Jack teaches us that Hannah picked up the pieces of her life by turning to God in all of her anguish. And God heard that. He granted her request and gave her Samuel, who would live in the temple and serve the Lord for the rest of his life.
Now with his message called Life when the bottom drops out. Here's Pastor and Bible teacher Jack Hibbs. Envy. Jealousy. Strife, division, that's what hurts.
That's what hurts the church.
So, listen, every one of us have been hurt. And if you haven't been hurt, cheer up. You will be hurt. And the cool thing is, the cool thing is, you can respond like Hannah. And you can say, listen, I've taken this thing that you've done in my life, I no longer hold it against you.
I have taken my concern. And I've given it to the Lord. and I refuse to have a critical eye I refuse. And it is my absolute heart's desire that you know what I'm talking about. If you don't, that you find that out.
Because listen, I've been there, and one of the most liberating things is to let that critical heart go, let that critical eye go away. It is so fun. You know what? I mean to tell you. It's the best.
It is liberating. Hannah's such a great example. Often though When a critical eye is created in us, and we let it be, we begin to justify our own position. We harden ourselves. Verse 16, she says, For out of the abundance of my complaint and my grief have I spoken until now.
This is beautiful. She's so humble. She's not sh she doesn't come up to the Priest and she said hey listen here man, you know If you had a spiritual backbone and any discernment from God, you would realize that I'm in a great, great, perilous emotional condition here, and I was crying out to God. She's not critical. She's humble.
She's not justifying her position. She could have said, you know, Eli, sit down. Let me tell you something. My name means grace. And uh let me tell you about your boss.
Yahweh, God. Who you work for. You wanna know what's going on in my life? She never did that. She couldn't do that.
What a great example. In 1 Peter chapter 5, verse 5, Peter tells us, God resists the proud. You know what that word in the Greek means? He sticks out his chest. Can you imagine how big God's chest is?
They stick their chest out. Come on, God. And it's like God get him. Come on, go! It's this attitude.
The Bible says God resists the proud. You want to stick your chest now? God says, my chest is bigger than your chest. You wanna fight? Yeah, when?
My mom was a little tiny Well she was She was about 4'11. And uh Pure Portuguese. And she spoke horrible English. But my brother and I used to get her so upset. And she'd come after us.
And she'd be swinging at us and we'd hold her forehead like this.
Well, she's swinging. Isn't that mean? And it was just the cutest thing, though.
Now I say it's cute. But you know, we know we had pushed her too far because Having that Portuguese Temper. She'd say, that's it. We knew, listen, we knew we were in trouble. When she was no longer resisting the palm of her hand, she would she was like, and as long as we had tension on the palm of her hand, we knew that we had her under control.
But as soon as she relaxed, She did a 180-degree turn and took off toward the kitchen. And you could hear the kitchen drawers open. And out comes whatever she grabbed. And I have to tell you, my brother, we used to go out the bedroom windows. And it was like, oh man, and we're laughing and it's like, it should go.
But the thing is, as long as there was resistance, nothing was happening.
Now If we relaxed and said, come on, mom, as soon as we relaxed, not. Her relaxing, that meant danger. But when we relaxed... And then it was we'd laugh and it was all cool. Peter tells us, God resists the proud, but he gives grace to the humble, ease and favor to the humble.
Therefore, he says, humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time. Stop resisting. Don't justify your position. Hannah, give it up. And Hannah is such a great example of this.
Number two, secondly, verse 17, then Eli answers and said, go in peace. To attack the position of others is human. It's the way that we are. Because our very human nature finds faults with people, we look for failures to justify our own position. And we all know there's no scarcity of material on anyone.
We can attack anyone and be accurate about it. Is it the right thing to do? No. He says go in peace. What does she do?
Well, okay, yeah, but I want to tell you a few more things, Eli. Oh no, she goes in peace. Verse 17. Life when the bottom drops out regarding this critical eye. Often, when that happens, This is one of the notorious signs, is that we'll begin to build walls of defense.
We'll begin to build a wall of defense. Why? Because we've been hurt. And the God of Israel, he says, grant you your petition, which you have asked of him. I have that marked, which you have asked of him.
I love it. Ask of him, my friend. Go to God. If you do not go to God with your petitions, with your prayers, with whatever concerns you, If you have a life that you feel the bottom is dropping out, one of the great things that you can destroy your life about is start building walls of defense, emotional walls. It's easier to take down the Berlin Wall than to take down an emotional wall of a heart.
And many homes are ruined or in a state of ruin right now because the wall is so high. She will never forgive him. He will never forgive her. And everything that they do in their relationship is always under a cloud. Of unforgiveness, because a wall of defense has been built so high.
And by building a wall, we say, I will never grant you the power to ever hurt me again. And listen. I know that feeling is justifiable in your heart and you've got all the great and true reasons why you've built that wall. But haven't you realized the moment you built that wall, it casts a shadow in your own life? And no longer is the sun of righteousness shining in your life like he once did.
Because he doesn't live like that. Jesus, when reviled... did not revile back. And somehow we think that we're doing God a favor by taking our friend or our foe through some kind of a boot camp for the rest of their life. That now we're somehow the Holy Spirit in their lives, and we're gonna set it straight for them, and we all justify it.
by having a wall built around our hearts. It's wrong. Ephesians 4.30 tells us, Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you. I'll put it this way. Uh it it means take the trash out.
Just take it out and dump it at the curb. Hebrews 12, 13 through 15 says, pursue peace. With all people. And holiness. That means living right.
dedicated to God, without which no one will see the Lord. Looking diligently lest anyone fall short of the grace of God, lest a root of bitterness spring up. and cause trouble, and by this many have become defiled.
Well You're listening to Real Life with Pastor Jack Hibbs. To learn more about this ministry or to catch up on some previous episodes, go to jackhibbs.com. That's jackhibbs.com. And now, let's get back to today's message. Once again, here's Pastor Jack.
Third point, we'll run through them quickly and we can. Verses 18 to 20. The first thing that we see here often When we sense that the bottom falls out is that we have a cynical Heart and mind. Cynical, by the way, and cynicism says something like this: Everyone's against me. Everyone's against me.
It says in verse 18, and she said, Let your maidservant find favor in your sight.
So the woman went her way and ate. Ah, she went and ate. Remember what time of the feasting and festival it was? They went up to feast. They went up to celebrate.
Remember, her husband says, Haven't you eaten, sweetheart? She can't even eat until now she's got it right with God. She's connected with the Lord. Maybe that's why I fight my way. Maybe you do too.
I love what Gail Irwin says. He thinks that when we get to heaven, we've done it all wrong, that God wanted us all to be fat. We've been resisting God. We should have eaten more. She says, Let your maidservant find favor in your sight.
So the woman went her way and ate. And all the women said, Well, all the men said. Amen. Hallelujah. And her fate.
Yeah. and her face was no longer sad. It's because she ate. She ate, the Bible tells us, I'll paraphrase it: what good is it if you have? Everything you like.
Get your best meal out there on the table. What good is it, the Bible says, if you have a fantastic meal, but you're living in a contentious house?
Solomon says, I'd rather live on top of the shack. More peaceful up there. What a great example. I love that when it says, and she said. Let your maidservant find favor.
She's not cynical. Ladies, Could she have been cynical? Yeah. Secondly, cynicism says no one. and nothing is real.
Cynicism says this. Nobody's for real. Oh, I'd like you to meet. I'd like you to meet this person or that person. I have to tell you, cynicism.
This is cynicism. When it says nothing or no one is real. A friend of mine. Said, hey Jack, I want you to meet this girl. She's a good Christian girl.
I want you to meet her. And I said, That's a joke. I was uh twenty years old. And my friend Rick says, I want you to meet this nice Christian girl. I've known her for a long time.
I want you to meet her. She's right over there. I was at the beach, Orange Street, Newport Beach, and we're. There and There's this girl with her friend, and my friend Rick says, I want you to meet this girl. Good Christian girl.
And I said, that's a good Christian girl. They don't exist. Is what I told them. They don't exist. There are no Christian girls.
Meet this Christian girl. I had no idea, and I don't remember that day. I mean, I remember the day, I don't remember the date. But little did I know that in a matter of a couple of months I was going to be proposing. And all the while, man, I'm fighting it and kicking it and thinking, there's no Christian girls.
And then, you know, and in the midst of all, you know, the relationship coming together, I'm thinking, this can't work. Why, I was cynical. There were no Christian girls. I believed at that time God had called me to build a company and be rich. And a Christian, of course.
But no women. There are none. And God had a plan. Cynical, cynicism thinks like that. There's nobody.
There's nothing. This is all I'm going to take my Christianity. I'm going to live in my own house. I'm not going to go outside my door. I'm going to create my own little.
World And that's a path of destruction. You know, as a Christian, you were made. to live outside of your life. Cynicism. It says in verse 19, Then they arose early in the morning.
Oh. I love this. and worshiped. before the Lord and returned. and came to their house at Ramah.
And then finally, very quickly, verse 19: none. Cynicism often says, none are with me, but they worship together. They worship together. Cynicism says no one or nothing is for real. It also says that there's nobody with me.
I'm all alone in this. Nobody understands my plight. Nobody... is with me. But the Bible says in Elkana Nuhanna His wife, you know what that means.
Okay, and the Lord remembered her. It doesn't mean the Lord forgot her. It's the Lord is honoring her. And verse 20 tells us that cynicism's says and whispers and speaks to us depression. Be depressed.
And so it came to pass in the process of time that Hannah conceived and bore a son. and call his name Samuel, saying, because I have asked for him from the Lord. The Bible tells us in 1 Thessalonians 5:15 through 18, it says, Rejoice always. Pray without ceasing. That is being an attitude of prayer all the time.
And in everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. And that means right now, the thing that you think is causing the bottom of your life to drop out, God says, this is my perfect will. And I'll end with this. Number one. What was Hannah's success?
She called out to God and said, Look on the affliction of your maidservant.
So start crying out to God if you haven't. Quite frankly, Those of us who have problems and have pursuits and things going on in life and need God's direction, you'll find here from 7 to 7:30 on Wednesday nights. If you can make it, some of you can't, but that, frankly, this place ought to be packed. At 7 to 7:30, or else your life is perfect and there's nothing going on. Say, well, I can pray at home.
Yes, you can, but you know what's wonderful? As you come at 7 o'clock and come into that prayer service every Wednesday before church begins, there's something about it. Look on my affliction. Pray for yourself. Number two, she says, God, remember me.
That doesn't mean he forgot. It means, Lord. Count how long I've gone through this. Consider the scale and the magnitude of my dilemma. Recognize and evaluate, O God.
Thirdly, do not forget your maidservant. That word means to keep at the forefront of your mind, O God. to hold as a priority my life. You ever pray like that? God, make me the object of your affection.
Pray like that. And fourth and finally, She says, but give your maidservant a male child. And God did that very thing. God granted her, he appointed her. He gave her a son.
What a wonderful woman How much we can learn from her. Father, in Jesus' name, we thank you for Hannah. And Lord, I pray for all of us. We all unite together tonight, and we ask, Lord, make us like Hannah. And Oh God, just the excitement to think.
of a woman who prayed and longed and yearned so long for a child. And you were the one who had closed her womb. And you decided to open it. And when you did, A prophet was born. But Lord, help us not to forget that the very thing she cried for.
That child she was willing to give back to you within an instant. It's amazing to me that she never owned that child. She never had her fingerprints on that boy. He was all yours. From start to finish.
And so, Father, from this we pray. That you would take the spirit that was in Hannah. and cause it to be within us. Not only for Hannah, too. Be, as it were, living in our heart by spirits, but Father, for every one of these characters in this tremendous book that brought you pleasure and glory.
I pray, Lord, together with these, your people, a bold prayer. That you would descend upon us a double portion of the anointings that were upon these great people of God. Yeah. For these last days for they are dark and wicked. And we need, Lord, all.
That you have for us, and Lord, we don't want to. Withhold or refrain your good hand.
So Lord, we pray that you would cause us to be the object of your affection. That you would look upon us as a priority of your work. And we humbly pray this, Lord, in Jesus' name, and all God's people's hand. Amen. That's Pastor and Bible teacher Jack Hibbs, here on Real Life Radio, with his message called Life When the Bottom Drops Out.
You know, this message is part of Pastor Jack's new series called 1 Samuel. It's a great series highlighting the life of the prophet Samuel, who was called by God during one of Israel's darkest times to lead the people back to the heart of true worship. And we'll pick things up next time right here on Real Life Radio.
So as you heard from our broadcast, Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. And if you'd like to know what a commitment to Christ can mean in your life personally, we would love to help you out with that. Go to jackhibbs.com slash know God. That's K-N-O-W-God. And there you'll be guided through what a commitment to Christ can mean in your life and the freedom that you'll find in knowing God.
Don't miss out. That's the Know God tab at jackhibbs.com. I sat right beside June Hunt at the uh in Dallas at the um The CBN convention for the last dinner is pretty cool. She's awesome. She's sweet, but you'd never know.
I mean, when we were sitting there talking, I thought... This lady is so sweet, she's probably with someone. Who's prominent in our art? Oh, yeah, she is. She is.
She's with Jesus. She's with Jesus. She is all the time. She is, too, man. June Hunt walks with the Lord.
I was so impressed with her. She is a wonderful woman of God. We've got a book that we could not endorse enough. And it's not only because we love June Hunt, but this is a book. That literally has over 11,000 biblical references in it.
It's the biblical counseling reference guide. Davey, this is amazing because, look, we all need this book because why? It references and answers 580 real-life topics, issues of life. And it's been said it's not a book that you'd read from cover to cover. True.
She covers all kinds of topics like anxiety, anger, forgiveness.
Well, look, in fact, I'll do book roulette, which is not a good thing to do. But with this book, you can do it.
So I'm flipping through the book. I'm going to stop and I'm going to open it up. What do you got? And here is a string of verses on complaining and grumbling. No kidding.
So the Lord must have had us open it up. For producer Johnny. Just kidding. But you guys, this book, it's that wonderful. Here's another one: Grief.
And I'm looking, there's, I don't know how many verses here on what does the Bible say about grieving? We all need to know this. Please get this book. If I had the money, I'd. Buy it and give it to all of you.
The Biblical Counseling Reference Guide: 580 real-life topics, 11,000 verses. June Hunt. I mean, it's just over the top. You know, she really, she really seems like a person that just leans on the word of God. You know what I mean?
Yeah. Every once in a while, you meet somebody, you go, wow, this person knows the word of God. I tell you what, I hope she's not listening to this broadcast right now because she'll be embarrassed. But. When I've been around June Hunt, I have the deep sense that I'm in the presence of someone who really knows the Lord in a very intimate way, a very personal way.
This woman walks, speaks, and ministers in the grace of God. She's a wonderful saint. And we just thank the world of her. And you guys, all that wisdom and guidance coming from the Bible and organized by June Hunt. It's kind of a tool that you turn to when life hits with hard questions and stuff.
And when a counseling situation comes up, it's great to have.
Well, and you mentioned the word counseling, as is the title of the book, the Biblical Counseling Reference Guide. What I would like to do is encourage everybody, because people will hear the word counseling and they'll think either A, they don't need it or B, they don't know how to give it. How about this? This book will equip you to give out. Biblical guidance.
Yeah. To those who ask, and for yourself. And June Hunt, again, we've talked about how precious she is, but she's the founder of the wonderful ministry, Hope for the Heart. And she's I tell you what, she's a treasure in the church today. And we're grateful to God for her.
The Biblical Counseling Reference Guide by June Hunt. It's our thank you gift for your donation of any size to real life this month. And if you'd like to order your copy, and we hope you will, just visit jackhibbs.com/slash real radio. That's jackhibbs.com/slash real radio. Order your copy right away.
This program is made possible by the generous contributions of you, our listeners. Visit us at jackhibbs.com. That's jackhibbs.com. Until next time, Pastor Jack Hibbs and all of us here at Real Life Radio wish for you solid and steady growth in Christ and in His Word. We'll see you next time here on Real Life Radio.
