sf726 - FINDING GOD_S PURPOSE IN MY PROBLEMS - 3 THE BASICS OF LIFE (1 Peter 4 12)
1 Peter 4:12-19
Introduction
The Basics of Life
First, we looked at the Bible.
Ø That's God's owner’s manual He's given to guide us through life.
Then we looked at the church.
Ø He has given us a spiritual family to give us support.
Today we are going to look at how God uses our problems to equip and train us for success.
Ø Many people think that when they go through problems God is mad at them.
Ø Wrong. Many times problems are exactly God's will for your life.
1 Peter 4:12, 19
Ø Sometimes God's will for our lives is that we have problems.
Ø God's purpose is always greater than our problems.
Five ways that God uses problems to equip and train us for life.
Ø To direct us.
Ø To inspect us.
Ø To correct us.
Ø To protect us.
Ø To perfect us.
1A. God will use our Problems to Direct Us
1B. To start us in a new direction
To motivate us to change
Proverbs 20:30 Blows that hurt cleanse away evil, As do stripes the inner depths of the heart.
Ø We do not change when we see the light, we change when we feel the heat.
Elijah at the brook (1 Kings 17:1-11)
One time Elijah was living by this beautiful brook and God was providing all his needs. Then it says, one day the brook dried up. Elijah got upset and said, "God what are you doing? The brook dried up!" God said, "Because I don't want you at the brook anymore." Sometimes things dry up in your life because He wants to move you on.
2B. To stop us for going in the wrong direction
Jonah - Great fish
Ø We would rarely change if we did not have problems. We would postpone difficult decisions, ignore illness if we never felt bad.
2 Corinthians 7:9 Now I rejoice, not that you were made sorry, but that your sorrow led to repentance…
Ask "Where is this problem leading me?"
Ø A problem never leaves you where it found you.
2A. God will use our Problems to Inspect Us.
We are kind of like tea bags -- you do not know what is in them until you drop them in hot water.
1B. Our problems will reveal our motives
Jeremiah 17:9-10 The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it? 10 I, the LORD, search the heart, I test the mind, Even to give every man according to his ways, According to the fruit of his doings.
2B. Our problems will reveal our maturity
God used the wilderness to show the Israelites that they were not ready for the Promised Land.
Deuteronomy 8:2 And you shall remember that the LORD your God led you all the way these forty years in the wilderness, to humble you and test you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not.
Problems should develop our maturity
James 1:2-4 My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, 3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. 4 But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.
Ø God often compares suffering as a refiner’s fire
Ø Sometimes we have to go through a refining fire because God wants to burn off the impurities in our lives.
Isaiah 48:10 Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction.
Ask: “What do my problems reveal about me?”
3A. God will use our Problems to Correct Us
1B. To get our attention
Leviticus 26:21 Then, if you walk contrary to Me, and are not willing to obey Me, I will bring on you seven times more plagues, according to your sins.
2B. To teach us how to live
We learn far more through suffering than we do through success.
Life is a school and problems are the curriculum.
Psalm 119:71 It is good for me that I have been afflicted, That I may learn Your statutes.
Some times that is the only way you learn.
When I was a little boy, we had cattle. We used an electric fence. I was told not to touch it, want to guess what I did. That is a principle of life. Some things you only learn by being burned.
3B. To assure us of His love
Hebrews 12:7 If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten?
How do you know if you are really a believer or not?
Ø You cannot sin and get away with it.
Ø If there is no correction in your life you ought to say, I wonder if I am really a believer?
Ask: What is this problem teaching me?
Ø You do not know that God is all you need until God is all you have.
4A. God will use Our Problems to Protect Us
1B. To protect us from future sin and its consequences
It prevents us from getting involved in something more harmful
1 Peter 3:17 For it is better, if it is the will of God, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil.
Sometimes God uses a problem today to protect use from a greater problem tomorrow.
The classic example of this in the Old Testament is Joseph.
Ø Sold by his brothers into slavery
Ø Framed for rape and cast into prison
Ø God was positioning him to be raised up as second in command in Egypt, second only to Pharaoh.
Genesis 50:20 But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive.
Ø People are going to intentionally try to hurt you in life. They intend it for bad. But God intends it for good.
2B. To prepare us for future success and its challenges
Often a problem is simply preparation for future success
Every successful person I know learned from failing.
Ask: “How is this problem protecting me. What is being prevented?”
5A. God will use Our Problems to Perfect Us
1B. By building our character
Romans 5:3-4 And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; 4 and perseverance, character; and character, hope.
God uses these things to build character in our lives.
Ø You are like a diamond in the rough. So God comes a long with a little problem, a chisel, and a hammer and works on that problem in your life.
God's number one purpose in your life is to make you like Jesus Christ.
Ø Not to make you comfortable, but to make the character of Christ in your life.
2B. By teaching us the truth
How does He do it? Through the Bible.
John 17:17 Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth.
3B. By giving us opportunities to live-out the truth
Ø Even if we read the Bible two hours a day, that leaves 22 hours of circumstances that God uses.
Hebrews 2:10 For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings.
Ask: “How can I grow from this problem?”
Application
The real problem is not our problem. The real problem is our response to the problem.
When does our response to the problem become the problem?
Ø When we lose our perspective.
Ø When we give up on important values.
Ø When we lose our sense of humor.
Ø When we have a pity party and start blaming everybody else
Think of a problem you are facing right now.
1. Lord, are you using this problem to direct me?
Ø If so, what do you want me to change.
Ø Do you want to send me in a new direction?
2. Lord, are you using this problem to inspect me? What does it reveal about my life?
Ø A weakness? A misplaced priority? A compromise?
3. Lord, are you using this problem to correct me?
Ø Maybe I brought this problem on myself and I am just reaping what I sowed.
Ø What do you want me to learn?
4. Are you using this problem to protect me?
5. Lord, are you using this problem to perfect me?
Ø God is at work in your life even when you do not recognize it and even when you do not understand it.
FINDING GOD’S PURPOSE IN MY PROBLEMS
The Basics of Life - Part 3
Sunday, November 16, 1997 - 1 Peter 4:12 & 19
1A. God will use our Problems to ____________ Us
1B. To _________________ us in a New Direction (Proverbs 20:30)
2B. To ___________ us for going in the Wrong Direction
(2 Corinthians 7:9 NCV) "Now I am happy, not because you were made sad, but because your sorrow made you change your lives. ….."
Ask: "Where is this problem leading me?"
2A. God will use our Problems to ____________ Us.
1B. Our Problems will reveal our ___________
(Jeremiah 17:9 NIV) "The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?
2B. Our Problems will reveal our ______________ (Deuteronomy 8:2; James 1:2-4; Isaiah 48:10)
Ask: “What do problems reveal about me?”
3A. God will use our Problems to ___________ Us
1B. To get Our __________
(Leviticus 26:21 NIV) "'If you remain hostile toward me and refuse to listen to me, I will multiply your afflictions …."
2B. To __________ Us how to Live (Psalms 119:71)
3B. To ____________ Us of His Love
(Hebrews 12:7 NIV) "Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father?"
Ask: “What is this problem teaching me?”
4A. God will use Our Problems to ____________ Us
1B. To Protect Us from Future ____ and its Consequences
(1 Peter 3:17 NIV) "It is better, if it is God's will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil."
2B. To Prepare Us for Future ________ and its Challenges
Ask: “How is this problem protecting me. What is being prevented?”
5A. God will use Our Problems to __________ Us
1B. By Building our Character (Romans 5:3-4)
2B. By ____________ Us the Truth
How does He do it? Through the Bible. (John 17:17)
3B. By Giving Us ________________ to Live-out the Truth
(Hebrews 2:10 NCV) "God is the One who made all things, and all things are for his glory. He wanted to have many children share his glory, so he made the One who leads people to salvation perfect through suffering."
Ask: How can I grow from this problem?