Hindsight Is 2020

Introduction

As we look at this last Sunday in 2020, I thought back to all the things we had planned as a church. We started with the slogan “2020 Vision”, as did many other churches all throughout the nation. What I have learned from the “lost year” we have called 2020 is that there is no clear vision into the future. From planned trips to Dollywood, the Ark Encounter, VBS, our church dinners, Creation Kingdom Zoo, Trunk or Treat, Christmas Caroling, we had a great schedule planned for this year. And as best as we hoped, we prayed, and we planned, all that can changed in the blink of an eye. None of us ever expected for 2020 to take on the uncertainties of the Covid pandemic. Today, we have over 19 million people who have contracted the virus, with over 335,000 deaths. We have been teetering between meeting in person to virtual school, sermons, meetings, everything we have done in the past, all the things we were comfortable with, the things that came second nature all changed immediately. Even our churches have faced persecution, pressures from church members to open the doors, pressures from the community and government to remain closed or offer virtual services. Pastors have been put in a no-win situation. But we have also been given an opportunity to reflect, to see what God wants us to do. It has given us time to be still, seek Him, and hear His voice. While this year has shaken us to the core, has given us reasons for concern, and still gives us uncertainty about the future, we still have hope in the Lord. It has been a truly troublesome time in most of our lives, and I don’t know if we will ever return to any semblance of “normal” anytime soon, but we have a promise of better things. We are given some biblical truths and promises that we should take comfort in. We are told that there will be troublesome times that will accompany this life, especially as the day of the Lord’s coming draws nearer. But we are also told that trouble is not victorious over believers, and finally we are given the promise that troubles of this life have already been overcome.

Troublesome Times

2 Timothy 3:12–13 ESV

12 Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, 13 while evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.

What better person to look for as a mentor during difficult times than Paul. He had suffered persecution and other afflictions, and he tells us that anyone who tries to live a Godly life will suffer persecution. Paul says it is a given, but through it all we know the Lord delivered him and we can take comfort that during troublesome times during this life the Lord will deliver us also! Yes, this means physical delivery during times of uncertainty and stress, it means mental delivery from the stress and strain of a changed lifestyle, and even spiritual delivery of attacks from Satan and his demons.

But what seems to make times like these more difficult for a believer? Why does it seem to take a toll on us when we pray for relief, we pray for deliverance, we pray for protections, but we are not spared? Oh church, we tend to forget that the tings we ask for must be within God’s divine will and plan. At times, we want the easy out, we want to be spared from the trouble of this world, and simply put, that’s not part of God’s divine plan for our lives. You see, these trials and tribulations is what strengthens our faith!

James 1:2–3 ESV

2 Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, 3 for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.

Now, when I was younger, I liked to lift weights. I likes the thought of building muscle, and I would spend time out in the back room with my tape player (yes dating myself) and my weight bench. One thing I learned real quickly was that the more weight I lifted, the more pain came the next day. You see, to gain strength, there was always pain. Remember the old saying, no pain, no gain? The same applies to us as Christians, we never grow if we never endure trials and tribulations. No pain, no gain. But the pain we go through, the testing of our faith, produces steadfastness - the ability to endure under difficult circumstances - because we know that troubles are not victorious over a Christians life.

Trouble Is No Victor

1 Peter 5:10 ESV

10 And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.

All these things we are going through on the earth are only temporary inconveniences to the believer. How do I know this for sure? God is referred to here as the God of all grace - this grace refers to being favored by God, and because God favors us, he blesses us. Every blessing we receive comes from the favor of God - even the blessing of life here on earth. But God desires for each of us to have and eternity with Him in glory that comes by believing in His Son Jesus Christ. When we accept Jesus as our personal Savior, it doesn’t mean we won’t go through troubles, trials, and tribulations of life, but it does mean that we have an eternity promised to us in heaven with God, free from all the troubles we had in the old world. God desires that for us, and no matter how bad the suffering is here on earth, God will keep and protect us. How does He do this? He restores us - he rearranges our broken relationship back to how He intended from the beginning. He takes everything that is broken and misplaced in our lives and puts them back together into His image and likeness. He does this through the trials and tribulations we suffer through this life. He confirms us - God reinforces Himself in us, just like re-bar in concrete, we are strengthened, not wavering in the trials of life - immovable in God. He strengthens us - giving us the strength necessary to endure the trials and tribulations, and OVERCOME! And finally, he establishes us - he is our firm foundation, giving us something solid to rest upon. When we go through these trials and tribulations of life, we can rest solidly in God. But these things are conditional - He can only restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish us IF we are willing to place our faith and trust in Him. Through that faith, we can boldly proclaim that all our troubles have been overcome.

Trouble Overcome

Romans 8:28 ESV

28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

God works out all things for good - as believers we should take great comfort in knowing God has a purpose and plan for all things we endure and go through, and it will all be for His, and ultimately our, good. We can’t see the future. We don’t know what lies ahead in 2021. We don’t know what one single event or multiple events may change our whole future. But as believers, we can find peace and comfort in knowing that God knows, and He will take all these events that are occurring in our lives and work them out for our ultimate good.

Let’s look a little closer at this statement “for those who love God” - notice that the peace and comfort is conditionally given to those who choose to follow God and love Him unconditionally. This implies that there is a constant relationship between us, as believers, and our creator God. He cannot care for the person that does not accept His care. He cannot care for the person who only wants to be cared for when it is convenient for them. God wants to care for the person who given their whole heart to Him and chooses to live Him. Why does God want good for us? Because we are called according to His purpose - we delivered from the struggle and suffering in this life because we have a renewed purpose to live a pure and holy life for God. It is then that we have been delivered from and truly overcome this world.

John 16:33 ESV

33 I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”

It doesn’t matter who we are, the greatest world leader or the most insignificant everyday laborer, the world, at its best, is still full of trials and tribulations. No human can avoid these things, but Jesus reminds us in this verse that, even though the world provides us with tribulation, we are not of this world that, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, this world as we know is has been overcome - sin has been defeated eternally. That should provide believers with an overwhelming peace, knowing that we too have overcome the things of this world through the resurrection of Jesus! And one day, Satan, sin, and death will be overcome eternally.

Revelation 20:1–3 ESV

1 Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding in his hand the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain. 2 And he seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years, 3 and threw him into the pit, and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he might not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were ended. After that he must be released for a little while.

Revelation 20:7–10 ESV

7 And when the thousand years are ended, Satan will be released from his prison 8 and will come out to deceive the nations that are at the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them for battle; their number is like the sand of the sea. 9 And they marched up over the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city, but fire came down from heaven and consumed them, 10 and the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.

Just as Satan brought temptation into this world and, as the result of the disobedience of man, sin, there will be a time when he is judged for his actions. As Christians, this gives us the ultimate hope - WE WIN IN THE END! But notice closely, a true overwhelming and eternal peace can only be known by a person who knows Jesus Christ as their personal Savior, has turned their life completely over to Him, and loves Him as unconditionally as He loves us.

Conclusion

While we don’t know what the next few days of 2020 will hold, nor 2021, or the rest of our lives as that goes, we do have a promise given to us as believers by the one who does. My questions for you today is this, have you had a difficult time trying to find peace and comfort during these uncertain days? Have you felt unsettled and in turmoil not knowing how this pandemic will end, or what our new “normal” will look like? Today, you can find eternal peace in and through Jesus Christ. Are you willing to place your faith in Him today? We know there will be more troublesome times ahead, but have seen scripture today that tells us that these troubles are not victorious over believers in Jesus Christ, and in the end they are defeated for eternity. If you desire that peace, if you truly want to have complete comfort, then ask Him into your life today.