Sermon Tone Analysis
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A best-selling book by a secular psychiatrist put it very well with this simple opening statement: “Life is difficult.”
Life Is Difficult
Adversity and its accompanying emotional pain come in many forms.
There may be the heartache of an unhappy marriage or the disappointment of a miscarried pregnancy or grief over a spiritually indifferent or rebellious child.
There is the anxiety of the family breadwinner who has just lost his job and the despair of the young mother who has learned she has a terminal illness.
the stabbing pain of unexpected grief.
There is the humiliation of rejection by others, of demotion at work, and, worst of all, of failure that is one’s own fault.
Finally there is the despair of realizing that some difficult circumstances—a physical infirmity of your own or perhaps a severely handicapped child—will never change.
All of these circumstances and scores more contribute to the anxiety and emotional pain we all experience at various times and in varying degrees.
Some pain is sudden, traumatic, and devastating.
Other adversities are chronic, persistent, and seemingly designed to wear down our spirits over time.
In addition to our own emotional pains, we often are called upon to help bear the pain of others, either friends or relatives.
None of the illustrations I’ve used in the preceding paragraphs are just imaginary.
I could put names alongside each one.
Most of them are on my personal prayer list.
When friends and loved ones hurt, we hurt.
Others experience the frustration of dashed hopes and unfulfilled dreams: a business that turned sour or a career that never developed.
Still others experience the sting of injustice, the dull ache of loneliness, and the stabbing pain of unexpected grief.
There is the humiliation of rejection by others, of demotion at work, and, worst of all, of failure that is one’s own fault.
Finally there is the despair of realizing that some difficult circumstances—a physical infirmity of your own or perhaps a severely handicapped child—will never change.
Bridges, Jerry.
Trusting God (p. 1).
The Navigators.
Kindle Edition.
All of these circumstances and scores more contribute to the anxiety and emotional pain we all experience at various times and in varying degrees.
Some pain is sudden, traumatic, and devastating.
Other adversities are chronic, persistent, and seemingly designed to wear down our spirits over time.
In addition to our own emotional pains, we often are called upon to help bear the pain of others, either friends or relatives.
None of the illustrations I’ve used in the preceding paragraphs are just imaginary.
I could put names alongside each one.
Most of them are on my personal prayer list.
When friends and loved ones hurt, we hurt.
War, terrorism, earthquakes, famine, racial injustice, murder, and exploitation occur daily in various parts of the world.
On a much smaller scale, those whose lives are free from major pain still experience the frequently frustrating or anxiety-producing events of daily life, which momentarily grab our attention and rob us of our peace of mind.
Bridges, Jerry.
Trusting God (pp.
1-2).
The Navigators.
Kindle Edition.
Bridges, Jerry.
Trusting God (p. 2).
The Navigators.
Kindle Edition.
Bridges, Jerry.
Trusting God (p.
3).
The Navigators.
Kindle Edition.
One author has aptly captured the flavor of how such little frustrations can cause us to doubt God in a devotional book for high schoolers entitled,
If God Loves Me, Why Can’t I Get My Locker Open?
And it is in the crucible of even this minor level of adversity that we are tempted to wonder, “Can I trust God?”
As Solomon said, “[We] do not know what a day may bring forth” ().
Someone has described life as like having a thick curtain hung across one’s path, a curtain that recedes before us as we advance, but only step by step.
Bridges, Jerry.
Trusting God (p.
3).
The Navigators.
Kindle Edition.
Such events, unfolding in ways contrary to our desires and expectations, frequently fill our hearts with anxiety, frustrations, heartache, and grief.
Bridges, Jerry.
Trusting God (p.
3).
The Navigators.
Kindle Edition.
n.
Bridges, Jerry.
Trusting God (p. 4).
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