Dealing With Difficulties

TEXT: 2 Timothy 3:1 This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.

2 Timothy 3:1 You can be certain that in the last days there will be some very hard times. (Contemporary English Version)

2 Timothy 3:1 You should also know this, Timothy, that in the last days there will be very difficult times. (The New Living Translation)

2 Timothy 3:1 But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. (NIV)

In these different translations we have seen and heard words like perilous times, hard times, difficult times, and terrible times. The point that I want you to get is that regardless of how we say it difficult times are a part of life and are to be expected. We should expect times to become more difficult the closer we get to the return of the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul is warning Timothy of the collapse of a society into an ungodly state of living just prior to the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.

        I believe that it is safe to say that you and I are living in those difficult times and that we feel the effects of it. There are times in our daily lives where we feel hard-pressed because of the difficulties that we face. There are times when we face such difficulties that we feel that we want survive them. But somehow by the wonderful grace and mercy of God we make it.

        Difficulties have a way of revealing the true character of who we are. God allows difficulties to come into our lives to test and prove us. James chapter 1 and verse 2 tells us that God allows these difficulties times, these troublesome times or these hard times to come in order to test us and to develop us. In fact James says that when these difficult times comes we are to count it pure joy knowing that they will produce patience and endurance with in us. That is if we allow God to work in our lives to accomplish His will and purpose in us. It's not a question if you will be tested but when you will be tested. James did not say if difficulties and troubles come; but when they come. Difficulties are coming into our lives if we are ready or not.

        During your life on this earth you will have a series of tests. No test is easy but it does help when you are prepared for it. Studying God's word, praying, seeking the face of God and faithful attendance to the house of God is preparation for the difficult test that God allows to come into your lives. The dictionary defines difficulty as, “something obstructing one's course and demanding effort and endurance if one's end is to be attained.

        God wants you to overcome the difficulties of life. God allows the difficulties that we face to be a test of who we are and to test the quality of our character. I want us to look at four difficulties that we all will have to face at some point in our lives.

I.          A MAJOR MOVE THAT AFFECTS CRITICAL CHANGE. (This Is A Test of Our Willingness)

A.        With every move there is a change. You cannot move from one place to the other without something changing.

Hebrews 11:8 "By faith Abraham when he was called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance obeyed and went even though he did not know where he was going."

1.      This was a major move for Abraham. But with this move came great change. God asked Abraham to pick up every thing he had and move to another place. God was telling Abraham to leave his comfort zone behind him. God was saying to Abraham, "Abraham, I am taking you to a new level of faith. I am taking you to a new level of anointing. I am taking you to a place that you have never been before. A place of my Presence, Power and Provision."

2.      Abraham could have asked, “God where are you taking me? God, where am I going? How long is it going to take to get there?" But that's not what Abraham did. He just simply took a step of faith in the direction that God told him to.

3.      This was a major change for Abraham. This was a difficult change for Abraham. In the first place he was 75 years old. He was ready for retirement. Abraham was ready for social security, God says, Abraham leave your comfort zone and come and go with me.

4.      While Abraham was ready to call it quits, God was saying it's time for a major move and some critical changes.

5.      Here is the first test of a real believer. A real believer will follow God's leading without questioning where God is taking him.

6.      Every step that we take either moves us closer to God and His provision for our lives or it moves us away from God and His Provision for us. Are we willing to follow God to the place of His glory and provision for us?

B.        Most Christians live in a comfort zone.

1.      The comfort zone is a frame or state of mind more than it is a physical location. Most Christian have reached a place in their lives where they are satisfied with just being saved and on their way to heaven

2.      God wants us to leave our comfort zone and make a major impact in the lives of other people.

3.      God wants us to move in the direction that He has prepared for us and bring about a positive change in the lives of others as we go.

4.      God says, Start moving and I will direct you. If your faith hasn't led you to take any risks it's not faith.

II.       DELAYED PROMISES THAT PRODUCE DREAMERS. (This is a test of Our vision)

A.        We often face the difficulty of a delayed promise.

Hebrews 11:9 By faith he made his home in the Promised Land like a stranger in a foreign country. He lived in tents as did Isaac and Jacob who were heirs of him of the same promise.

Hebrews 11:39 And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise:

1.      Promise is a very important word in the vocabulary of faith.

2.      God said, "I'm going to give you the Promised Land." And Abraham may have wanted to, when? God wants us to base our lives on promises not explanations. God promised him the Promised Land but after he got there, there was a delay. In fact Abraham not only waited his life, he waited Isaac's life and Jacob's life -- three generations and they still were living in tents. They couldn't even settle down. How would you like to live in a tent for three generations? Can you imagine Sarah saying, "Abraham, when are we going to get a real house?"

3.      I can handle a test in life if I know there's going to be an end to it, I can see out there at the end. But the hardest kinds of tests to handle are the tests in life when you don't know if they're ever going to end. That's difficult. The delayed promise that you have been waiting on that brings difficulty into your life. You wondering God, "when are you going to come through on that promise?" Folks never quit or give up.

4.      Abraham never gave up. He never went back to Ur. Abraham waited on the fulfillment of the vision that God had promised him of a son and the promise land. He never lost sight of what God had shown him and revealed to him.

5.      Some of you are going through this test right now. You have a vision of things getting better. The question is, "When are things going to get better?" God I've had this vision locked up inside of me for so long. When will I see it come to pass? There are times when God makes a promise to you that may not come to pass in your lifetime. That doesn't mean that God failed to fulfill a promise. It may simply be that God will bring it to pass in the lifetime of your children or grandchildren.

Hebrews 11:39 said, "These all died in faith not having received the promise."

6.      God's word said that the world was not even worthy of such people because of the strong faith that they possessed.

7.      Let me ask you a question. What have you been expecting God to do in your life that hasn't happened yet? Abraham had to wait three generations. All God's saints had a delay. Moses waited eighty years. Noah waited 120 years. Abraham waited his lifetime. God always gives His believers the Waiting Test. Abraham never lost sight of his vision of the promise land or the dream of having a son that would one day fulfill his hope and dreams of being a father of many nations.

Hebrews 11:10 For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.

B.        I don't know about you but I'm looking for a city where the foundations have been laid and the city built by God.

1.      A major move that brings critical change -- a real believer will follow God's leading when he doesn't know where. A delayed promise that produces dreamers -- a real believer will wait for God's timing when he doesn't know when.

III.    IMPOSSIBILITIES THAT BECOME GOD'S POSSIBILITY. (This is a test of our ability)

Hebrews 11:11 "By faith Abraham even though he was past age and Sarah herself was barren was enabled to become a father because he considered God faithful who had made the promise."

A.        We've talked about Abraham before. Abraham is 99 years old and he still doesn't have a son. And God says he's going to be the father of a great nation. He had already changed his name to "Father of many nations." How embarrassing!

1.      It was physically impossible for Abraham and Sarah to have children. The Bible says when God said you're going to have a child, they laughed. They named their kid Isaac which means "laughter". The Bible said Abraham looked at himself and said, "No way!" And Sarah looked at her body and said, "Double no way!" Abraham laughed and Sarah laughed, but God had the last laugh!

2.      Our impossibilities become God's possibilities.

Ephesians 3:20 Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,

a)      Some of you are worried and discouraged and down and you're saying "I just don't know how God's going to do it." And you don't know how God's going to help you.

b)      There is one more difficulty that we have to face. And we see it in Abraham's life and it is the greatest test, the ultimate test. I'm so thankful that God tells us in advance it's going to come because it will come in your life. You can count on it.

IV.    SENSELESS TRAGEDIES THAT DEVELOP STRONG COMMITMENTS. (This is a Test of Our Commitment)

A.        When Abraham was asked to offer up Isaac as a burnt offering, Abraham could have said this is senseless. Others would have said what a tragedy. But from God's perspective it was a question of Abraham's commitment.

1.      It's when God asked Abraham to sacrifice his own son, Isaac. Isaac, the miracle boy! The miracle baby! The promised child! Isaac was the one that was to bring fulfillment to all of Abraham's hopes and dreams. God says, "I want you to sacrifice your son!

2.      "By faith, Abraham when God tested him... offered Isaac as a sacrifice. Abraham remained committed to God even though he couldn't make sense out of what God was asking him to do. And even though God had said to him, “It is through Isaac that your hopes and dreams will be fulfilled," Abraham was so deeply committed to God that he obeyed God.

B.        Abraham was having a test and it was a test of his commitment.

1.      We all face things that seem to be a Senseless Tragedy. When we face senseless tragedies in our lives it brings us to a place where we rely upon God for strength to go on. It is through the senseless tragedies that we are made stronger in the Lord Jesus Christ. Tragedies have a way of bringing us to the end of ourselves and driving us closer to God. It brings us to a place where we have to trust God with the outcome of our lives and the outcome of every situation that we find ourselves in.

a)      There are a lot of things in the world that does not make sense. We often say, "It's not fair that this happened to me! This is not supposed to happen to my family!" Who said that life was ever going to be fair? That's why there's a heaven and hell. One day God is going to settle the score of all the unfairness that you and I face in this world

2.      Abraham had no assurance that God would save Isaac or spare him. He didn't have any assurance of that. But look what he did have.

Hebrews 11:19 "Abraham reasoned that God could raise the dead and figuratively speaking he did raise Isaac back from the dead."

3.      What was Abraham's confidence? If God can give me a son at age 99 when my wife and I are already physically incapable of baring children, if God can do that kind of miracle, He can raise him from the dead after he's been sacrificed. That was his confidence.

4.      Some of you have been through some senseless tragedies in your life. But through it all God was with you and brought you through. Your commitment to God was what enabled you to go on.

5.      Others however have allowed the senseless tragedies to drive them away from God because they where shallow in there commitment to God.

6.      A real believer will follow God's direction when he doesn't know where. A real believer will wait on God's timing when he doesn't know when. A real believer will expect a miracle when he doesn't know how. And a real believer will trust God's purpose and love and character when he doesn't know why. That's the difficulties that test our faith and commitment.

7.      God never gave Abraham any explanation for any of the difficulties that he went through. But God was there to see Abraham through every Difficulty he faced. God may never give you and me an explanation for the difficulties that we face but He will be there to see us through each one.

Conclusion: Are you ready to get a grip on the difficulties of life? The most difficult thing that I can imagine is trying to live a meaningful and fulfilled life without the Lord Jesus Christ. Life without the Lord Jesus Christ is just existing in this world without a real purpose in life. God wants all of us to move out of our comfort zone into an area of ministry that will bring change in our church and our community. Some have been facing delayed promises. I want to encourage you to keep dreaming, in fact dream big because you serve a BIG GOD. Keep the vision that God put in you alive. Refuse to surrender to doubt and unbelief. Be like the Saints of old and say, "If I don't see it come to pass I'll die believing and holding on to the promises of God. Some are facing an impossible situation. You can't see any way out. God say's follow Me and I will bring you out. God say's your impossibilities are my possibilities. Others have been through or are going through some senseless tragedies. God is saying, "Stop trying to make sense out of everything and just trust Me. I will never leave you nor forsake you." Allow God to strengthen your commitment.

Some of you may be saying, "God, When are You going to meet my need? Some of you are grieving over the difficulties that you have faced and gone through in your life. It's time to allow God to bring healing to your broken heart and wounded spirit.

Mark 9:24. "A man comes to Jesus and says, `I want you to heal my son.' Jesus said, `If you have faith to believe, I'll heal your son.' God acts in our lives according to faith. He says, `Lord, I believe. Help me with my unbelief.'"

I love it because Jesus healed the boy on the basis of a father's faith. It was enough. "God I want to believe. I do believe. Help me with all my doubts." God said, "That's enough! He's healed." It doesn't take a lot of faith. It's just a little faith in a big God that gets big results.

There may be times when I may not have a lot of faith. But it's a little faith in a big God that gets big results.