Prepare for Hardship

Introduction

Big week this week — guys groups, retreat, presidential debate

9/11 (23 yrs.) and the presidential debate have the political consciousness of our country high, so looking forward to hitting on that later in the semester

“Reasonable Faith” coming up + invite cards under chairs

Explanation

If you want to be faithful to Jesus, you need to prepare for hardship. (v. 3-9)

The Bible is clear about this (2 Timothy 3:12, John 16:33, Matt. 10:16, 1 Peter 5:8)

Why don’t we face more persecution/hardship?

To echo Neil’s S point, some of you don’t feel like you need power from the Holy Spirit because your struggles with sin aren’t real struggles.

You don’t feel hardship because you haven’t tried to care for the spiritual well-being of believers beyond yourself.

You haven’t recognized spiritual warfare because you haven’t tried to share your faith.

Some of you are wondering if following the Lord really means Satan is going to try to hit you hard because you haven’t stepped out of the locker room onto the field to begin with.

To restate his point…If following Jesus doesn’t feel difficult pretty often, you’re probably not living countercultural (because swimming upstream is hard)

Read verses 10-11

If you want to prepare for hardship, you need to have proper perspective. (v. 10-11)

Isn’t it odd that he’s doing the very thing that’s going to get him persecuted by asking God for help with persecution?

He doesn’t try to find some loop hole, like saying he’s not proactively sinning just by refraining from prayer.

Being less than “all in” in order to stay comfortable means not being “in” at all.

Jesus gets everything or he doesn’t want anything.

Notice that he prays towards Jerusalem. It’s not magical (or Islamic).

He is remembering who he is and where he came from.

In his prayer, he chooses gratitude (like Phil. 4:6)

When you feel like this world isn’t your home, when you feel like resisting sin isn’t worth the effort, when you feel like “comfortable” would be just as Christ-like…

Remember who you are in Christ

Remember how God has carried you through before

Look to the cross like Daniel looked to Jerusalem

Read verses 12-28

If you want to have proper perspective, you need to know how the story ends. (v. 12-28)

Daniel didn’t know how his life would end…it doesn’t say he trusted God to save him, it simply says he “trusted God”

Is knowing the end of the story enough for you to be faithful in the meantime?

What about Perpetua’s story, who was eaten alive by wild beasts?

22 y/o, recently baptized, put in the arena in Carthage

Her story isn’t like Daniel’s

What about the several dozen Kandahmal martyrs, who were burned alive?

2008 Christians blamed for death of a Hindu monk in E India

Their story isn’t like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego

What about you, when you’re not sure what comes next?

Are you willing to go through the break up when you don’t know if you’ll find a godly man/woman?

Are you willing to forgive the friend who betrays, when you don’t know if they’ll let you down again?

Are you willing to turn to prayer again, when you don’t know if tomorrow will be another anxious day?

Are you willing to share your faith when you don’t know if you’ll lead someone to Christ?

All of them were able to stay faithful when “the stone was sealed”, so to speak, because they knew what happened after Jesus’ stone was sealed.

Exhortation

If you want to be able to do that, you need to know how your story ends.

Some of you are delaying turning to Jesus because you think you can change the end of the story yourself.

You can’t change the end of your story; only the author of the future can do that.

Others of you know how the story ends but are wondering, “If it’s true, should it really be this difficult?”

Look to the cross, look to the empty tomb, look to Jesus’ return