Rev. David Holwick ZO
First Baptist Church
Ledgewood, New Jersey
December 27, 2009
Deuteronomy 8:1-6
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I. Everybody's got problems.
A. It is year's end, and time to make an assessment of our life.
1) Usually, this means identifying the bad things we need to
change.
2) Some people are probably doing more assessing than others.
a) Tiger Woods. Not a good year. Most likely had a lonely
Christmas and will have a lonely New Years party.
b) Governor Jon Corzine. Super rich but lost anyway.
c) Brett Favre [Farv]. Big ego, bad shoulder.
d) Umar Farouk Abdul Mutallab, burned by chemicals on
plane, will soon feel heat of justice system.
B. Your problems are probably less newsworthy.
1) Difficult time at work - assuming you still have a job.
2) Tension in your marriage.
3) Frustration over choices your kids are making.
4) Habits that have escalated and are now having an impact
on your life.
C. Our approach to problems can define us as a person.
1) Are you getting a handle on them?
2) Are you learning anything from them?
3) Do you see it as a spiritual lesson?
II. Problems don't come out of nowhere.
A. We often attribute them to bad luck.
1) The Bible acknowledges there are random events that happen
to us that we don't deserve.
2) At the same time, it says these seemingly random acts are
still under God's control.
3) We may never figure out what his purpose was in it, but the
Bible assumes everything has a divine purpose.
a) Not everyone agrees.
b) Is God's hand on every trigger?
Dr. William Sloan Coffin was the famously liberal pastor
of New York's Riverside Church.
In 1984 his son Alex died in a car accident.
The night after Alex died, a woman approached William
and said, "I just don't understand the will of God."
Instantly he turned on her in anger and shouted,
"I'll say you don't, lady!!"
"Do you think it was the will of God that Alex never
fixed that lousy windshield wiper of his?
That he was probably driving too fast in such a storm...
That he probably had had a couple of 'frosties' too
many?"
Coffin later wrote:
"God doesn't go around this world with His fingers on
triggers, His fist around knives, His hands on
steering wheels.
God is against all unnatural deaths.
The one thing that should never be said when someone
dies is, 'It is the will of God.'
Never do we know enough to say that."
#35875
B. Bad choices by us.
1) Although a grieving father may not be able to acknowledge it,
many of our problems actually are our own fault.
2) We may want to blame someone else, or even God, but we all
have the ability to make lousy, sinful choices.
3) And those choices can have painful consequences.
III. Four possible purposes of problems.
A. Problems can show where we are weak. 8:2
1) In Biblical terms, it exposes our wickedness.
a) This was one of the reasons God tested the Jews in the
the wilderness of Sinai.
b) He wanted to see what was really in their hearts.
2) Tiger Woods is a prime example.
a) He was talented, good looking, and super rich.
b) But he wanted a little more, and it has devastated him.
c) What he would not admit to his life, he now must
confess to the world.
3) Ideally, exposure of sin should lead to repentance.
In one of his commercials Tiger Woods did for Accenture,
his image appears along with these words:
"It's what you do next that counts."
a) What will you do next?
b) (Phone call from a brother who has been defeated by sin.)
B. Problems can be intended to humble us. 8:3
1) Pride is one of the hardest sins.
a) Problems can show us we are not the all-powerful
creatures we imagine ourselves to be.
b) Paul's thorn in the flesh. 2 Cor 12:7-10
1> First he had an awesome supernatural experience.
2> Then God zapped him to keep him humble.
A> We don't know exactly what it was, but it was
probably health-related.
B> It taught him to rely on God's power rather
than his own strength.
2) Problems can lead us to a greater dependence on God.
a) They remind us that we don't live on bread alone.
1> We need something with more substance.
2> We need God's Word, the Bible.
25 years ago a missionary in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, encountered
an African pastor passing through on his way home to Chad.
At the time, Chad was experiencing a brutal civil war.
The missionary's church provided 20 kilograms of supplies,
about 44 pounds, to Christians in his situation.
What did the pastor want -- sugar, powdered milk, medicine?
"If I could have some Bibles or a few good books..."
"How's that?" the missionary asked.
"Back home we lost everything in the war.
We learned to place less importance on that which passes away
and more importance on that which lasts."
The missionary was taken aback by this.
He had become so focused on meeting physical needs that he
had forgotten the spiritual side.
He concluded, "We must not fail to share our bread with those
who are hungry...
But neither dare we forget that 'man shall not live by bread
alone.'"
#2060
b) Comment by Jean Trengove this week - "I don't know
people cope without God in a situation like this."
C. Problems can increase our faith. 8:4
1) The Jews were in a terrible wilderness, but they survived.
a) God provided for them in incredible ways.
b) Their clothes did not wear out and they had supernatural
food.
2) In hard times, focus on your past problems - and solutions.
a) How did God get you through it?
b) He can do it again.
1> Don't dig yourself into a hole with depression.
2> God can provide a way out.
D. Problems can mold us into a stronger Christian.
1) God's goal is to conform us to the likeness of Jesus.
a) Romans 8:29 follows 8:28.
b) Even hard things can have a good purpose if it makes
us more mature as Christians.
c) Not everything that happens is good, but God can work
it out for our good.
2) Paul learned contentment through his troubles. Phil 4:10-12
a) He actually learned no matter what his situation was.
b) That is the key - our contentment, our peace of mind,
should not be dependent on our circumstances.
c) It is dependent on our relationship with God.
IV. Now what?
A. Identifying the reason for problems is only half of it.
1) And not the most important half.
2) The critical thing: What do we do next?
B. How people cope.
1) Many deal with problems by turning to destructive behavior.
a) Addictions are often a way of medicating yourself.
b) It often becomes a bigger problem than what drove you
to it.
2) Escapism and fantasy are also popular.
a) Living through others (sports ().
b) Drowning yourself in work.
3) Taking direct action.
Doctors of old times tested the sanity of mental patients
with the following test:
The patient was placed in a room with a sink.
The faucet was turned on and a stopper was put in the drain
until the sink overflowed.
The patient was then handed a mop and the door was closed.
If the patient had enough sense to shut off the water, pull
the plug, and then mop up the water, he was considered
capable of going home.
But on the other hand, if the patient mopped like crazy and
never bothered to shut off the water and/or pull the plug,
he was considered still insane and needed to be
detained a little longer in the mental institution.
There are people in this world that are mopping like crazy...
and they're not in mental institutions.
They're people who we'd consider quite sane BUT they are
plagued by their own personal demons, and they haven't
figured out how to stop the flooding in their lives.
#28983
a) If your marriage is in turmoil, arrange to see a
counselor.
b) If you are out of work, pair up with someone in the same
situation and plot out together how you will find a
new job.
c) If an addiction has you by the throat, tell someone you
trust and take concrete steps to get it under control.
4) Every problem has a solution.
V. We don't have to know what it all means.
A. We don't need explanations - we need hope.
Tom Long concluded his article on "Preaching About Suffering"
with these words:
The Christian "answer" to the problem of suffering and evil is
not a philosophical claim that allows one to say,
"Now this explains it, this solves the problem."
Rather, it is a retelling of the Christian story in such a way
that people are enabled to live one more day, one more hour.
#9
1) We can be forgiven.
2) We can endure.
3) We can have joy again.
B. We have a Savior who has been where we are.
1) He actually suffered a lot more than we have.
2) And God gave him a great victory, against all odds.
3) He has a victory for you.
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SOURCES FOR ILLUSTRATIONS USED IN THIS SERMON:
# 9 "One More Day, One More Hour," by Tom Long, Internet, February 2,
1997. Contributed by Grant R. MacDonald, Senior Minister,
St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church; Kitchener, Ontario.
# 2060 "Spiritual Food," by Charles Daniel Maire, Abidjan, Ivory Coast,
Leadership, Summer 1984 Summer.
#28983 "The Test of Sanity,"www.sermoncentral.com email newsletter,
January 17, 2005.
#35875 "Is It The Will Of God?" by Rev. Jeffrey Stratton, Kerux Sermon
#19684. Stratton's sermon gave me many helpful ideas,
especially for Section III.
These and 35,000 others are part of the Kerux database that can be
downloaded, absolutely free, at http://www.holwick.com/database.html
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