Sermon Tone Analysis

When circumstances aren’t turning out like you want them to turn out, when a relationship isn’t working out like you would like it to work out, when things just aren’t going your way, you basically have one of three choices.

1.

You can look down in discouragement and despair.

2.

You can look around for someone to blame.

Or

3.

You can look up to God in hope.

Those are you’re options.

The really important thing to remember is that you have a choice.

Now if you are in despair I know how hollow that may sound, but it is true.

You can’t control what happens to you to, but you can control how you respond.

We started a series last week called, “With God, It’s Never Too Late…” Last week I pointed out that with God it’s never too late for a new start.

This morning I want to show you that it is never too late to hope.

This is not a blind hope; there are good and sufficient reasons to look up.

No matter what is happening in your life, if you look up to God then it’s not too late.

Maybe you can relate to Psalmist who wrote psalm 88:3-4; let’s read it:

/For my life is full of troubles,/[anyone feel that way sometimes?]/

//and death draws near.//

//I am as good as dead,// //like a strong man with no strength left./

*(Psalm 88:3-4, NLT)*

 

  Aren’t you glad you came to church today to hear that?

Don't you feel like your ready now for the week now?

Don’t worry I not done yet.

I brought this passage to your attention this morning because it reminds us that for thousands of years people have been feeling that way.

And the corresponding truth is that, for thousands of years, God has been giving people hope.

So I want you to know that you are not alone when you feel that way.

In fact, if you’re feeling that way right now I want to encourage you this morning, because the corresponding truth to those kinds of feelings, the thing I want you to understand, is that with God, it is never too late to hope.

It’s never too late to look up.

In fact if you’re even feeling in despair you need to know that discouragement and despair are just hunger pains for hope.

It’s the sign that you are hungry for hope.

Another fact I want you to know is that everyone feels this way from time to time.

You are not weird, singled out for failure or just a hopeless mess.

Those things are not true if Christ is in your life.

There are many of you here this morning that could give testimony o that fact.

You know the kind of life transformation that is available to Christ followers.

So we all feel discouraged and sometime in despair; so the question I want to raise this morning is what can you do when you’re hungry for hope?

Do you just wait for your circumstances to change?

That’s what a lot of us do.

“I’ll wait for the circumstances to change and then I’ll be ok.

I just sit still and wait it out.”

But what if they don’t change and the good news is that you don’t have to give the power to your circumstances.

You may be facing the worst of circumstances of your life but the good news is that you don’t have to live without hope the rest of your life.

But you have a part to play.

You cannot be neutral; you must exercise faith in Christ.

There was a guy who had hope through difficult circumstances in the OT; that guy’s name is Abraham.

God had told Abraham that he’s going to lead him to the Promised Land, a land that was going to be a place where he’d be the father of a multitude of generations and it would be a rich place where they could really enjoy life; but in order to get there Abraham would have to leave everything that was familiar and follow God’s leading.

So Abraham takes God at His word and he sets out to discover this Promised Land but the journey leads him to a lot of rocks, a lot of challenges.

That’s about all that he found on his journey for a long time.

He had to live in tents; He had to travel from place to place, there were people who didn’t like him and wanted to take all his stuff.

There were all kinds of problems and famines and difficulties.

Yet Abraham still trusted God in the midst of the hardship, he chose to place his hope in God’s promise.

Look what the Bible says about him in Romans 4:18:

/Even when there was no reason for hope, Abraham kept hoping—believing that he would become the father of many nations…/ *(Romans 4:18, NLT) *

* *

   My question is how do you live that way?

How do you make that kind of choice in the midst of difficult circumstances, when things are not going your way?

Where do you find the strength to make that kind of choice?

The really good news is that God wants to give you that kind of strength.

So we’re going to talk together about what do you do when you don’t know what to do?

What do you do when you don’t know what to do?  Five things.

*1:  YOU MAKE GOD’S LOVE YOUR LIFELINE*

     If there is anything that is foundational to success it is this issue.

You must get this one right.

You make the fact of God’s love for you your lifeline.

What’s a lifeline?

A lifeline is what you hold on to when you don’t have anything else to hold onto, when you are drowning and it’s the only thing that can keep you from drowning.

Here’s the crazy thing.

When we face tough times the easiest thing in the world to do is make self-destructive behavior your lifeline.

That’s where we tend to go first.

We use them to try to escape our circumstances.

Because self-destructive behavior offers us a quick numbing effect.

And the really crazy thing is self-destructive behavior seem like they can help you cope with the problem.

So you turn to drugs or alcohol or lust or anger or self-pity or burying yourself in entertainment - All kinds of things that may numb the pain for a few hours, but they can never really save you and in most cases they make things worse.

Friends, don't make any of these things your lifeline, these are Satan’s imitations; they are his way of keeping you trapped.

In fact, don’t make things that might seem strong your lifeline either because they’re not enough.

Things like your job, it’s not enough.

What if you lose your job?

I know a lot of people who make their spouse – their husband or wife or children – their lifeline.

And that is not fair to your husband or wife or children.

Think about this: What if they’re going down with you?

What if they’re facing a circumstance worse than your circumstance?

You should deeply love your husband or wife and children.

They should give you strength and encouragement.

But to make them your whole lifeline is asking a human being to do what no human can do.

Only God’s love will last through any and every circumstance.

So don’t ask a person to do what only God can do.

Make God’s love your lifeline.

Look at Lamentations 3:21-23 says:

/Yet I still dare to hope// //when I remember this:// //The faithful love of the Lord never ends!// //His mercies never cease.//

//Great is his faithfulness;// //his mercies begin afresh each morning./

*(Lamentations 3:21-23, NLT)*

 

   I have hope when I think about God’s love.

I have hope when I think about God’s mercy.

If you drive into a gas station, what would you hope to find there at a gas station?

- Gas.

You go into a coffee shop, what do you expect to find?  - Coffee.

When you go to our God of hope and love, what are you going to find?

Not fear, not guilt, not condemnation; you’re going to find hope.

You’re going to find love because that is who God is.

Now because I think a lot of us hear me say, “Make God’s love your life line… you think, “Yeah, that’s a good idea.

I need to do that.

But how are you going to do that?

How do you bring that into your life when you’re feeling hopeless?”