Put It In His Court

Introduction

We are still in passion week and as Jesus comes to reveal more and more you can tell the scene is becoming more and more intimate. Jesus is sort of elaborating off of when we talks about being plugged into the vine, but now he is letting the disciples know that they are going to be going through some hardships at one point or another in their life.

There will be tough times

This is not what we like to hear when we come to Church, but it is the truth. There are people who literally won’t preach this. That there will be moments in your life when it is just going to be tough. You are going to want to cry. You are going to want to be worried or may already be worried. You are going to feel that anxiety or stress coming on in your life. Jesus promises there are going to be some pretty tough things to be coming the disciples way and promise still remains true today.

Why? Because we live in a fallen sinful world and things are going to happen in our lives that we are not a fan of. Maybe you are experiencing a death or a loss of a job. Maybe you are experiencing hopelessness of indecision and your future doesn’t look like it is going where you though it would. Maybe experiencing a persecution from friends in your work or school because they don’t believe the same way you do or buy into the God that you follow. Maybe you are worried things aren’t going to work out for you with school or a job or a relationship. Maybe you are lonely right now and you just don’t feel that anyone cares about you or your situation. Maybe you are just tired and you can’t quite find the rest. Maybe you are just discouraged because things haven’t been working out for you.

God is going to comfort you in a way that really brings peace

Well today we are going to take seriously the words for Jesus when he says these moments are going to come. It might look different from someone else’s situation, but one thing is the same. I will be the rock that is going to get you through just like I am the vine that brings you the life you truly seek. I mean these are promises of comfort. Let’s bold that word promises.

I love the words of apostle Paul in

2 Corinthians 1:3–4 NIV

3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.

God’s comfort is legitimate.

Look at this. God promises comfort for all of those moments I mentioned above that you may be going through. What is amazing about this book that we read and teach and plug into is that is has a situation for literally everything that we as humans go through. Now that is amazing. Look at this

There is comfort when you are worried

1 Peter 5:7 NIV

7 Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.

Example of Baba always worrying

I absolutely love this idea because when you are worried and when you are anxious it feels as if that worry and if that anxiety are literally suffocating you but here Peter is saying you take that anxiety and worry and you case it upon the Lord because he cares for you. Wow what an idea. How would the mental health crisis look like in America if this was applied in a lot of these situations. God cares for you and because of His death on the cross we are able to take our worry, take our anxiety, take our stress and uneasiness and throw it upon Him and rest in His presence. How do we do that? Well we got to come to Him in the closet. There is no formula that you need to follow. There is no 12 step plan it is just coming to His presence and saying Lord here. I don’t need this cloak of worry.

There is comfort when we are lonely

This one is pretty common especially in a day and age when social media is the most prominent thing in many of our lives. You say nahh David I don’t go on social media that much. That’s fine and in fact iPhone has this new feature called screen time where it will actually tell you how much time you are spending on there. Some of you might be extremely convicted tonight by your screen time IOS feature. But seriously in a day and age when social media is so prominent it is so easy for so many of us to feel lonely. To feel as if no one really cares.

The Washington Post recently put out a health article saying that 3 or more hours a day on social media leaves teens, but I believe it doesn’t stop there, more likely to experience depression, loneliness, aggression, etc… There is actually I believe an epidemic of loneliness in this world that needs to be addressed. I believe in this room tonight there are people who are struggling with extreme loneliness.

I want to cover that loneliness tonight with the promises of scripture. David says these words in Psalm.

Psalm 73:23–24 NIV

23 Yet I am always with you; you hold me by my right hand. 24 You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will take me into glory.

David knew that God is there. Like we talked about last week we are surrounded by Him and in this very passage that we are studying today Jesus promises that I am sending the helper, the counselor. He is coming to be with you every moment of your life and tonight some of us need to start preaching this to ourselves. God is with me. God is with you.

The promise of comfort when we are tired

Some of you might be tired. Tired from what? Tired from trying to fight off that temptation that seems to be coming over you on a daily basis. Maybe you are physically tired from your hefty work load or school load. Whatever you are tired from. Whatever is making you weary, well there is a promise for you tonight as well. Look at this.

Philippians 4:12–13 NIV

12 I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. 13 I can do all this through him who gives me strength.

Philippians 4:12-13

I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength. I remember my wife living by this principal before we got married. She was all over the place from school, to work, to choir, to something else and I always remember her saying whenever I feel tired I ask Jesus to give me strength to keep going. I remember sort of getting annoyed at that , but after a time I realized well this is exactly what God promises. He can give a super natural strength and energy into our lives. The Spirit of God is powerful and if we think he won’t then we are thinking too small. Maybe your tired and weary and burdened today. Well you can do all things through Christ. Key is through Christ. Through our relationship with Him. Through the work of the Spirit in our lives. He will bring your restoration and energy and rest.

The promise of comfort when we are discouraged

We have all been here. We have all been discouraged. Some of us might be discouraged right now. There is this verse I want to read you and sort of just do a mic drop because there is nothing that I will say to you that will make it anymore powerful. It is straight truth and fire.

Romans 8:31–39 NIV

31 What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? 33 Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. 34 Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 36 As it is written: “For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” 37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

What more do I need to say? You are more than a conqueror. But David I don’t feel strong enough. No you are more than a conqueror. But David I’ll never be able to do this or that. Well maybe God never called you to do this or that, but what He did call you to do you are more than a conqueror. You didn’t just conquer you obliterate with the Holy Spirit by your side working through you. When we are going through seasons of discouragement more often than not what is happening is we are buying into the lie that this somehow isn’t true. It is time to start changing our mentality.