In this world, you will have trouble.
Last week we considered Jesus' words in John 16:33 (NIV) where he says, "In this world you will have trouble." Taken alone, this statement sounds rather pessimistic. We might have expected Jesus to say something more hopeful like, "Your troubles are over." But no, in this world you will have trouble.
In fact, the truth of his statement is readily evident. Many of you were deeply moved as you prayed during our 24 hour prayer vigil. If you prayed, you know you are not alone. We all face trouble of some kind. Not a single one of us is exempt from trouble. Alcoholism. Divorce. Deployment. Job loss. Chronic pain. Cancer. Life decisions. Moral decisions. Hurt. Anger. Feelings of revenge. Resentment. Jealousy. Personal loss. Grief. Depression. Struggle. Temptation. Bankruptcy.
This morning I want us to consider three statements that all of us must come to terms with during our lives. Here is the first.
I can't.... I'll never.
These are words of surrender. Go ahead and fill in the rest of the statement. I can't overcome my loneliness. I can't shake my depression. I can't make my spouse come back. I can't forgive. I can't stop eating. I can't stop looking. (Fill in your own words!) I can't pay the bills. I can't protect my child. I can't do the right thing. I can't get rid of the pain. I can't control my impulses.
We don't surrender easily. We believe that God helps those who help themselves. And so we tell ourselves to take control, to try harder, and to press on. We google our trouble. We try different doctors. We put our hope in politicians. We exhaust our options. We tap our resources. Yet Jesus' words haunt us. And no matter how hard we try, our trouble remains. Now you have to understand that for most people, this is the end of the line. These words are a death sentence.
Isn't it amazing how quick the words of surrender (I can't) become words of defeat (I'll never)? I'll never walk again. I'll never overcome my addiction or overcome this cancer. I'll never be holy. I'll never be happy. I'll never change. We live in an I can't and an I'll never world!
But then Christ comes along and says in John 16:33 (NIV), "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." And in John 14:1 (NIV) Jesus says, "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me." And in places like Mark 10:27 (NIV) Jesus says, "With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God." Jesus forces us to wrestle with God, and wrestle with the possibilities, and wrestle with faith, and wrestle with the power of God.
God can.
As you look at this second statement, how would you fill in the blank? I am not asking what can God theoretically do, but what can God actually do? What do you believe God can actually do about your trouble? And do you have the faith to ask for it?
We are always guilty of putting limits on what God can do. I've heard people say, "God doesn't heal like that (using miracles) today." God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. If he did it yesterday, he can do it today, and tomorrow, and forever. When I pray, I just go for it and I ask for a miracle. Jesus created us from the dust of the ground. Jesus drove out demons. He calmed storms and walked on water. He regenerated limbs, healed leprosy, restored sight to the blind, caused the deaf to hear, and raised the dead. Jesus touched people who were in the most troubling and dire circumstances of his day.
When I pray, I just go for it. Nothing is impossible for God. God can do anything. In Mark 11:22-24 (NIV) Jesus says, " 'Have faith in God,' Jesus answered. 'I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.' "
There is far more I don't understand about prayer than I ever will understand. But of this I am certain-- we are to pray boldly. We are to pray confidently. We are to pray expectantly. We are to pray persistently. Nothing is beyond God's power or capability. He still moves mountains. He still brings healing. He still amazes. We needn't despair in prayer. We needn't limit God by saying, "He can't" as we limit ourselves by saying, "I can't."
Now keep in mind that I have carefully worded each of these statements. Most people that we know in the world never get beyond I can't to God can. Now let's turn our attention to a third statement.
God will.
To say, "God will" is quite a bit different than saying, "God can." You can think of the difference in these two statements as a lower case hope and an upper case HOPE. Our lower case hope concerns what God can do and might do for us in this life. But an upper case HOPE concerns what we know God will do for us in all eternity.
So let me ask, in light of all your trouble, what do you absolutely know God will do for you for all eternity? Let's go back and consider Jesus' words in their full context.
In John 14:1-4 (NIV) Jesus says, "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going."
Regardless of what God can or might do for us in this life, we can know without any doubt that Jesus is preparing a place for us in heaven, that he will come back to take us to be with him, and that we can know with certainty the way to eternal life.
Our hope isn't in what we can do for ourselves. It isn't necessarily what God can do for us now, though we shouldn't rule anything out! Our HOPE is that God will grant eternal life to all who believe!
Look what the apostle John writes in 1 John 5:13-15 (NIV). "I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life. This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us-- whatever we ask-- we know that we have what we asked of him."
Did you notice John 5:14? This is the confidence we have in approaching God. If we ask anything according to his will, he hears us! Here is a verse to consider. 1 Timothy 2:4 (NIV) says that God, "...wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth." That's our HOPE! John 3:16-17 (NIV) says, "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him."