Finding Strength in Difficult Times

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Today is Palm Sunday and I know this is not the ideal place to gather on such a special Sunday

And I do not know how long this will continue on

But I am thankful we can continue to meet, even if its like this

AND we look forward to the day when we can see each other face to face!

Thank you all for you faithfulness to this ministry

This morning we are going to to talk about “Finding strength in difficult times”

We all go through difficult times

Some of us are in one right now

And they can be overwhelming at times

My children haven’t been to school in almost a month

Every morning I wake up and am reminded of that reality

Every morning I wake up and am reminded of that reality

But we know that difficult times are promised

And God uses them to make us more like Jesus

But God doesn’t just tell us life is hard, He gives us the road map to get through them

Jesus lived a perfect life, sinless perfection and went through more than most of us ever will

But God did not send Jesus in the midst of difficulties and expect him to make it on His own

God was right there with Him every step of the way

I want us to look at the example Jesus set, and lean how we can find strength in difficult times.

Luke 22:39

#1 Strength is developed when we make meeting with God a Priority

Jesus went out to the Mount of Olives “as He was accustomed”

It was His custom to spend time alone with God

The Mount of Olives was special to Jesus

On that first Palm Sunday this was the place Jesus came to first

This is where He would ascend from

Later on that week Jesus would teach from here about His second coming

And this is where he spent every night of the last week in His life

Luke 21:37

The New King James Version Chapter 21

And in the daytime He was teaching in the temple, but at night He went out and stayed on the mountain called Olivet. 38 Then early in the morning all the people came to Him in the temple to hear Him.

This place was where Jesus could get alone with God and fellowship with Him

The Son of God who was God in the flesh knew the vital importance of spending time with God alone

He preached during the day and spent every night alone with with God

Our Scripture says, “Jesus went out to the Mount of Olives as He was accustomed”

Because this is where he would prepare for battle

In fact he would spend all day in the temple teaching and then spend the night at this very place called the “Mount of Olives”

After the Last Supper, this is where Jesus wanted to go

Are you spending regular, consistent, meaningful time with God?

This is where he would face the great stress that laid before Him

This week marks the beginning of Holy Week

Jesus was a marching soldier to the end of his life on earth

He knew what waited for Him

Its the last week of the life of Jesus as He prepares for the cross

He knew Judas would betray Him

This would be the hardest week of His earthly ministry

From this mountain Jesus would teach about the end of this age

He knew they would crucify Him

The weight He had to bear was not humanly possible

The suffering was coming

The rejection

The shame

The guilt of the world would be placed upon his shoulders

So Jesus met with God every night in a personal way

After they had taken the Lord’s Supper, they went out to the “Mount of Olives”

Do you meet with God regularly?

BUT He went where he was accustomed to going

Mark 1:35

The New King James Version Chapter 1

Now in the morning, having risen a long while before daylight, He went out and departed to a solitary place; and there He prayed

Strength is found when we make meeting with God a priority

This brings us to the place where we are now

And I believe the best time to meet with God is first thing in the morning

In Luke 21

Luke 21:37–38 NASB95

Now during the day He was teaching in the temple, but at evening He would go out and spend the night on the mount that is called Olivet. And all the people would get up early in the morning to come to Him in the temple to listen to Him.

In

I don’t think its legalism to get up and meet with God first

I think the very best part of our day is when we wake up

Jesus would spend his last week of his ministry teaching in the temple and at night He would go spend it on the Mount which is called Olivet.

Our minds are clear

Our hearts are clear

What is so special about this mountain that it gets mentioned again and again

And if you have kids like me they are asleep

You will hear God much better early in the morning

This mountain has a great spiritual significance to it

I am a firm believer you will grow closer to God when you meet with Him before the world wakes up

Verses 40-41

#2 Strength is delivered through deep, personal, prayer

Here is was a symbol of mourning, rejection, weeping

David was thrust from the city by his own

He was forced away from the

It was here that Jesus would go to talk to God about his upcoming ordeal

He knew that Judas would betray him this time.

He went there in between His preaching

This is also the place Jesus would ascend to heaven from

WHEN WE PRAY IT STRESSES A DEPENDANCE UPON GOD

Jesus tells them to “pray that they might not fall into temptation”

We do not know exactly what the temptation was

The temptation to sleep?

The temptation to flee?

We do not know for sure

BUT I want you to notice what Jesus does: “He withdraws from them about a stones throw to pray”

This was a time when Jesus knew the importance of dependance upon God

There is something significant about your personal prayer life

When life is overwhelming

When things are not ideal

When life gets difficult, your personal prayers will bring you better results

When you go to God directly yourself, you will get better results!

BAPTISTS LOVE PRAYER REQUESTS

And there is nothing wrong with people praying for other people

In fact Jesus set the example when he prayed for all of us in John 17

We should pray for people

One of the best things you can do for someone is pray for them

BUT we should not lay the burden of prayer upon another and neglect it ourselves

Whta would have

First and foremost we should be the ones on our knees before we ask anyone else to pray

Jesus had been praying all week

Jesus prayed regularly

Jesus asked the disciples to pray

THE JESUS PRAYED

If you have a petition for God and expect someone else to ask Him, then you may as well forget it

Your personal prayers are the vehicle with which God delivers

Two examples:

King Hezekiah

The Assyrian army was standing outside the walls of the city ready to break them down

They had already defeated Israel, and all the surrounding cities

The Scripture says, “Hezekiah tore his clothes and covered himself with sackcloth”

So he sent a servant to tell Isaiah to pray for him

Nothing happened

Then the Assyrians sent a letter to him of further threats

THIS TIME Hezekiah took the letter and spread it before the Lord and PRAYED

Do you know what happened?

God sent an angel of the Lord that killed 185,000 Assyrians that night

Elijah

The sin of the entire world

This was not just the sin of the disciples

Or even the sin of all of Israel

Or even the sin of all the Middle East

The cross Jesus was to carry would have the sins of all the world for all times nailed upon it!

This was a time when Jesus knew the importance of dependance upon God

All the sins from Adam to the end of this age

The suffering of the cross

We see the cross as hope and it is to us, but to Jesus it was a terrible place of wrath

Jesus would experience physical death which could be considered the fear of all fears

Jesus sweat drops of blood because of this

He was a might man of God

Which is real scientific problem under extremely high stress

The separation from God

Jesus knew there would be a time when his perfect union with God would be different

So in all of this Jesus cried out to God

The wicked woman Jezabel wanted him dead

He knew it so well he even withdrew himself to go and pray

He fled to a deserted place, sat down by a tree, and prayed that God might take his life!

But God did something better, He sent an angel to Him to strengthen him

Not once, but twice

Personal Prayer to God is the most powerful form of prayer

Don’t neglect your personal prayer life!

Verse 41, “Not my will but Yours be done”

#3 God’s Enabling Power is Recieved within His Will

We don’t know what Jesus had been praying about all week

Jesus says His request is less important than the Father’s will “Not my will, but Yours be done”

Jesus had asked for prayer and then went to God personally about the great stress he was facing

AN ANGEL CAME AND STRENGTHENED HIM

But we read specifically what was in this prayer

A submission to God’s will

“Not My will, but Yours be done”

One thing we cannot ignore here is the true humanity of Jesus

The way to faithfulness in the midst of hostile rejection is a dependent spirit that communes with God

I think one thing we cannot ignore here is the true humanity of Jesus

He was stressed out!

He had so much on his plate and what we see is raw human emotions

And in a powerful moment of acceptance, Jesus says “Not My Will but Yours!”

But He was obedient to will of God

God’s enabling power is recieved in the His will

The most precious words you will ever utter to God are “Not my will but Your will”

God has a plan for you

Often that will is not easy

Often that place is hard and difficult

Sometimes it even looks hopeless, but if you want the strength to endure, it is recieved in His will

Verse 43

AN ANGEL CAME AND STRENGTHENED HIM

After Jesus submitted to the will of God, an angel appeared before Him

There is no reason to doubt this was the physical manifestation of an angel

I’m not telling you, you are going to see angels, but I believe in all my heart God will send angels to our needs

“For He will give His angels charge concerning you, to guard you in all your ways. They will bear you up in their hands, that you do not strike your foot against a stone”

Elijah was strengthened by an angel

Hezekiah was rescued by an angel

And Jesus was strengthened by an angel

And I believe in all my heart God sends angels today

For those who submit to the will of God, He sends help!

My “angel”

For several years I was in a difficult place

It wasn’t a place I would have chosen, but it was God’s will for my life at that time

Every day was a challenge, and I prayed more than I ever had in my life

We had a singing on a Wednesday night at church

And I remember really being really down that night....just broken

It was a bluegrass band and they sang a song that I will never forget

It brought me strength like nothing else could have

The chorus went like this:

Just hold on a little longer, helps on the ways

A brighter day is coming, for those who believe and pray

Help won’t help tomorrow, if you give up today

Just hold on a little longer, helps on the way

For those who know my story, you know how long I had to hold one

And God gave me that song that night, because He knew I needed strength

I prayed, God sent an angel to give me strengh

If you are in a difficult time, hold on a little longer, help is on the way

If you are in a difficult time, hold on a little longer, help is on the way

Verse 44

#4 Strength is Inextricably Linked to Trust

The angel strengthened Jesus to continue despite his deep sorrows

Jesus returns and finds the disciples sleeping

The more we trust God, the more ability we will have to persevere

Jesus displayed ultimate trust when He met with God daily

He displayed trust when He Prayed to God personally

He displayed trust when He submitted to God’s will in His life

And IN HIS TRUST GOD GAVE HIM THE STRENGTH HE NEEDED

Strength and Trust cannot be separated

If we do not trust God we will do very little in this life for God

The more we trust God, the more He will use us

Jesus prayed God let this cup from Me

The agony of what lay ahead caused Jesus to sweat drops of blood

Jesus was their greatest need not the other way around

By the way we should not read this as a metaphor

It should have been them sweating drops of blood, rather than Jesus

Hematidrosis is a condition in which capillary blood vessels that feed the sweat glands rupture, causing them to discharge blood, occurring under conditions of extreme physical or emotional stress.[4] Severe mental anxiety activates the sympathetic nervous system to invoke the stress- Fight-or-flight response to such a degree as to cause hemorrhage of the vessels supplying the sweat glands.[5] It has been suggested that acute fear and extreme stress can cause hematidrosis.

And this points even further to love of Christ

Jesus was stressed out in a way like we couldn’t imagine

“No greater love than this, that one should lay down his life for his friends”

And He prayed “more earnestly”

Meaning he trusted God even more

Prayer is just saying to God I cannot do this without you!

When we pray we are saying to God I need you!

I need you in this relationship

I need you in this loneliness

I need you in this career

I need you in this uncertainty

I need you in this illness

IT IS SAYIN G GOD IF YOU DONT SHOW UP THEN I HAVE NO OTHER HOPE!!

GOD IS OUR LAST RESORT

THERE IS NOTHING ELSE!

AND THAT IS EXACTLY WHAT GOD WANTS

GOD WANTS OUR UNDIVIDED ATTENTION

GOD WANTS OUR UNDIVIDED TRUST

GOD WANTS US TO SEEK HIM IN ALL THINGS BIG OR SMALL

AND UNLESS WE LEARN TO TRUST GOD WE CAN DO NOTHING FOR GOD!!

Where did Jesus get the strength to endure this difficult thing He faced?

He was

He prayed to God personally: It is provisonal (We must take our petitions to God personally)

He submitted to God’s will: It is loyal (We must strive to be fully obedient to God in everything)

Strength is inextricably linked to trust

Every time Jesus went to God, He was there

We may be in a situation right now where it seems like the Lord has completely forgotten us

There have been many times when I have wondered where God was

We want to remind Him sometimes hey, are you seeing this?!

But God is very aware

That same praying Jesus, He is very much at work right now

John 5:16–18 NASB95

For this reason the Jews were persecuting Jesus, because He was doing these things on the Sabbath. But He answered them, “My Father is working until now, and I Myself am working.” For this reason therefore the Jews were seeking all the more to kill Him, because He not only was breaking the Sabbath, but also was calling God His own Father, making Himself equal with God.

Jesus agin repeats His instruction again: PRAY

John 5:17 NASB95

But He answered them, “My Father is working until now, and I Myself am working.”

Jesus again repeats His instruction again: PRAY

Our source of strength comes by way of prayer

It comes when we learn to depend upon God

It comes when we put ourselves humbly at the feet of Jesus and cry out o Him

He may not deliver you, as He did not deliver His Son

But God gave Him the strength He needed to stay in the will of God

There is not safer place that we can be than in the will of God

How much are you trusting God today?

Are there areas where God is calling you that seem difficult or impossible?

Listen if God is calling you, then you can trust Him

If God is calling you to do something, go and do it today

Whatever it is, go on faith and watch God use you in mighty ways

And maybe you’ve never put your trust in God like that.

That all begins with a relationship with Him

It all begins with a relationship with Him

That all begins with a relationship with Him

Jesus models the perfect relationship with the Father

It was trusting

It was intimate

It was obedient

Jesus faced death, but he knew God would raise Him from the dead

Do you have that blessed assurance?

Can you say today that your relationship with God has trust, intimacy, and obedience?

Knowing Jesus intimately begins by admitting how much we need Him

He is the only cure for our sin

He is the only way to heaven

He is the only way tot he Father

If you want to know Him today, pray this from your own heart:

Dear Jesus, I need you

I have sin in my lifer and I believe you are my only hope.

Forgive me of my sin

Come into my life, and help me life for you

Amen

Announcements

Make prayer a priority this week

Pray for the lost

Pray for God’s will in your life

Pray that He would show you what He is teaching you during this time.

If you didn’t fast last week, do it this week. It’ll bless your soul

I am praying for all of you

Look forward to seeing each one in the near future

Next Sunday is Easter, lets be ready to worship the Lord

I will see each of you Wednesday at 6:30!