What to do when everything is not ok

Introduction

Tonight, I am going to give the worst introduction to any sermon or motivational speech you have ever heard. EVERYTHING WILL NOT ALWAYS BE OK.

Now if I left you with that, I doubt I will ever be asked back here nor will any of you ever want to hear from me again.

But I am telling each of you 0 lies. I promise you not everything will always be ok.

But dont take my word for it, take it from Jesus. The first half of John 16:33 “

33 “These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have trouble,

See, Jesus was great at cheering up his disciples too.....

All jokes aside, tonights message is not just to tell you that everything will not be ok, but it is to help tell you WHAT TO DO, when everything is not ok.

I will be the first to tell you though that I am preaching as much to myself tonight as I am to you and I pray you are encouraged as much as I have been in preparing this message.

I know this semester you will be focusing on the word REMEMBER. That is the theme and I want us to focus on that tonight. What does it mean to remember? I know thats an elementary question, but seriously think about it.

We remember good times

We remember bad times

we strive to remember text books and lessons

we work to remember grocery lists or medications

we asks ourselves to remember and sometimes others ask us to remember

Sometimes a smell or sight can cause you to remember

SO what is the reason that this is the theme for this gathering and these small groups. What are you being asked to remember? Keep those questions in your head as we dive into tonights passage.

Jeremiah’s Lament

Let’s talk about the prophet Jeremiah. Jeremiah was not a bullfrog, but he was indeed a prophet. He began his tenure as prophet under the reign of a 13 year old King named Josiah. (how must that have been)

For forty years, Jeremiah prophesied to Judah that Jerusalem would be destroyed, the people would be sent into captivity, unless the people of God would repent. Time and time again. He spent his EVERYTHING, to have the people of God look at him, laugh and continue into their wicked ways.

Could you imagine the heartache? The pain? Each day wondering, what is my purpose? What am I doing? Nothing is working. No one is listening. Im a failure. Nothing he did worked to change the circumstances around him.

Lets be real.

Sometimes you pray

Sometimes you seek counseling

Sometimes you cry

Sometimes you scream

Sometimes you change behavior

Sometimes you try a medication or doctors advice

And guess what..... the circumstances dont change. Everything isnt ok.

I began a path into a battle with crippling anxiety many years ago. I began with anxiety and depression before it was ok to struggle with anxiety and depression. I remember nights screaming, and crying to the Lord, punding my fist on the ground and begging him to take it away. I turn 34 this year, I still deal with anxiety and depression. My circumstances did not necessarily change. But guess what, my dependence on God did change. My proximity to Him did change. My understanding of Him did change.

The New International Version Lamentations

All the warnings Jeremiah declared to the people about Jerusalem came true. The Babylonians invaded the nation, burned God’s temple, destroyed the city and took away the people. In Lamentations Jeremiah records five poems of sorrow for the fallen city.

I cant go through this whole book of Lamentations tonight, so i challenge to study it on your own and dive into it this week.

In chapter 1 and 2 Jeremiah begins to speak of the Lords judgement in Jerusalem

Look at the first 5 verses of the Book

The New International Version Chapter 1

1  How deserted lies the city,

once so full of people!

How like a widow is she,

who once was great among the nations!

She who was queen among the provinces

has now become a slave.

2 Bitterly she weeps at night,

tears are on her cheeks.

Among all her lovers

there is no one to comfort her.

All her friends have betrayed her;

they have become her enemies.

3 After affliction and harsh labor,

Judah has gone into exile.

She dwells among the nations;

she finds no resting place.

All who pursue her have overtaken her

in the midst of her distress.

4 The roads to Zion mourn,

for no one comes to her appointed festivals.

All her gateways are desolate,

her priests groan,

her young women grieve,

and she is in bitter anguish.

5 Her foes have become her masters;

her enemies are at ease.

The LORD has brought her grief

because of her many sins.

Her children have gone into exile,

captive before the foe.

IT IS IMPORTANT THAT YOU DECIDE WHAT YOU CALL TO REMEMBER

What if, when it is all said and done, there is no hope for Israel and this is what you choose to remember. I would actually contest that the modern Jew does indeed not have much more than this to remember. Jesus was the Son of God sent to save not just Israel but all who believe. Without Him, they have nothing.

But imagine when life continues to hit you, just like it always does and you have circumstance after circumstance that arises and the only thing you do is remember how bad your life has always been. All that you call to mind is how bad it could be, is and is going to be.

WHAT YOU CHOOSE TO REMEMBER MATTERS

Going to the store. Remembering to go to the store does not matter, but why my wife asked me to go is what matters. . Not just getting what I want.

The New International Version Chapter 2

How the Lord has covered Daughter Zion

with the cloud of his anger!

He has hurled down the splendor of Israel

from heaven to earth;

he has not remembered his footstool

in the day of his anger.

2 Without pity the Lord has swallowed up

all the dwellings of Jacob;

in his wrath he has torn down

the strongholds of Daughter Judah.

He has brought her kingdom and its princes

down to the ground in dishonor.

3 In fierce anger he has cut off

every horn, e of Israel.

He has withdrawn his right hand

at the approach of the enemy.

He has burned in Jacob like a flaming fire

that consumes everything around it.

WHEN THINGS ARE NOT OK, IT IS OK TO EMBRACE THE PAIN YOU ARE IN

Jeremiah does not just try to forget the pain he is feeling and the issues of the circumstances surrounding him. As a matter of fact he will say later in chapter 3 that he chooses to remember them. Life is not as simple as just forgetting it and moving past it.

We are human and that is not helpful to us knowing the goodness of God. As a matter of fact, when trials come we are taught to embrace it.

Philippians 2:1–11 (NASB95)

. 5 Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. 8 Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

Jesus did not hold on to what was good but embraced what was to ultimately come and that was for the Glory of God.

I have been forced to hug, although uncomfortable, the cross I have to bear

3:1-20

The New International Version Chapter 3

I am the man who has seen affliction

by the rod of the LORD’s wrath.

2 He has driven me away and made me walk

in darkness rather than light;

3 indeed, he has turned his hand against me

again and again, all day long.

4 He has made my skin and my flesh grow old

and has broken my bones.

5 He has besieged me and surrounded me

with bitterness and hardship.

6 He has made me dwell in darkness

like those long dead.

7 He has walled me in so I cannot escape;

he has weighed me down with chains.

8 Even when I call out or cry for help,

he shuts out my prayer.

9 He has barred my way with blocks of stone;

he has made my paths crooked.

10 Like a bear lying in wait,

like a lion in hiding,

11 he dragged me from the path and mangled me

and left me without help.

12 He drew his bow

and made me the target for his arrows.

13 He pierced my heart

with arrows from his quiver.

14 I became the laughingstock of all my people;

they mock me in song all day long.

15 He has filled me with bitter herbs

and given me gall to drink.

16 He has broken my teeth with gravel;

he has trampled me in the dust.

17 I have been deprived of peace;

I have forgotten what prosperity is.

18 So I say, “My splendor is gone

and all that I had hoped from the LORD.”

19 I remember my affliction and my wandering,

the bitterness and the gall.

20 I well remember them,

and my soul is downcast within me.

These are strong words

have you ever felt this way.

GOD ISNT AFTER YOUR MISERY, HE IS AFTER YOUR HEART SOUL AND MIND

But here is where we start turning to the bright side. Here is where I have come tonight to land this plane to tell you the number one thing to do when everything is not OK.

WHEN EVERYTHING IS NOT OK, REMEMBER.... YOU HAVE HOPE IN THE LOVINGKINDNESS AND FAITHFULLNESS OF GOD

Lets finish our reading in Lamentations

21-33

The New International Version Chapter 3

21 Yet this I call to mind

and therefore I have hope:

22 Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed,

for his compassions never fail.

23 They are new every morning;

great is your faithfulness.

24 I say to myself, “The LORD is my portion;

therefore I will wait for him.”

25 The LORD is good to those whose hope is in him,

to the one who seeks him;

26 it is good to wait quietly

for the salvation of the LORD.

27 It is good for a man to bear the yoke

while he is young.

28 Let him sit alone in silence,

for the LORD has laid it on him.

29 Let him bury his face in the dust—

there may yet be hope.

30 Let him offer his cheek to one who would strike him,

and let him be filled with disgrace.

31 For no one is cast off

by the Lord forever.

32 Though he brings grief, he will show compassion,

so great is his unfailing love.

33 For he does not willingly bring affliction

or grief to anyone.

246 times the word HESED is used in the OT and it is the greatest word in all of Scripture in my opinion. It is Gods loyal love. It is God being exactly as he says he will be forever and ever faithful to love His people regardless of circumstance.

When Adam and eve were cast out

When Israel abandoned God and he rescued them and took them to the promise land

When Gomer cheated

When Job was distraught

When Abraham could not fulfill the covenant

When Peter failed

When Jesus hung on the cross

When you are depressed and covered in anxiety

When you watch your parents go through a horrible divorce

When you watch a relationship brutally end

When you are given a diagnosis that most likely will not change

It is the Hesed of God that you must call to mind. It is our eyes fixed to the promise that He has made to you and eye and the understanding that His faithfulness will never change.

John 16:33 “33 “These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have trouble, but take courage; I have overcome the world.””