Finding Joy in the Hard Times
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Introduction
Introduction
Personal Story: Bill and Pat (believers who experienced the pain of loss, but continues to trust in God and live by faith).
Key thought: Whether experiencing the blessings of life or the hardships of living, the believer finds joy by trusting in God.
Biblical Story: The story of Job
Job 1:1 “Job…was blameless and upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil.”
Seven sons and three daughters.
Wealthy and considered “the greatest of all the people of the east.” Job 1:3
Experienced the loss of all his children, all his wealth, and even his health.
Job’s wife rebuked him and his friends accused him.
Job is the quintessential representation of experiencing the hard times of life.
We all go through seasons of hardship, pain, and suffering. The question is not if but when—and, more than that, it is how we go through the hard places of life that makes the difference.
I think of the kids that will attend this years Royal Family Kids Camp.
What hard times have they experienced in their young lives that could potentially affect their future?
How can they move from merely surviving to a place of God’s blessing?
Whether you are young or old, a Christian or an unbeliever, from a strong family or tossed from one person to another—everyone faces the hard places—hard times.
Broken family and marriage—abuse.
Loss of a job, struggle to make pay bills—bankruptcy.
Illness, death of a friend or family member.
Betrayal, unresolved anger and bitterness.
Being alone.
We live in a fallen world where sin abounds.
When you experience the hard places, it is easy to believe that their is no hope.
You may feel like the King Solomon in the Old Testament:
15 What is crooked cannot be made straight, and what is lacking cannot be counted.
So, we are faced with a choice—a course of action:
Take matter into our own hands—when we are pushed around, we push back. We buy into the notion that God helps those who help themselves.
OR, we put our trust in God.
The FIRST way may give us temporary happiness.
The SECOND way will give us lasting joy.
Is it possible to experience real joy in the hard times?
Is it possible to experience real joy in the hard times?
How can we experience real joy, no matter what we are going through in life?
1. Maintain Your Faith in the Grace of God.
1. Maintain Your Faith in the Grace of God.
God’s grace—his unmerited favor—sustains us in His redemptive purpose.
2 Corinthians 8:1-2
1 We want you to know, brothers, about the grace of God that has been given among the churches of Macedonia,
2 for in a severe test of affliction, their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part.
The people of this church experienced “a severe test of affliction.” But even in their suffering, they experienced abundant joy (overflowing, more-than-enough joy).
Now, there is something else we see in Paul’s celebration of this church in Macedonia that helps us experienced real joy:
2. Demonstrate Your Faith through Generosity.
2. Demonstrate Your Faith through Generosity.
2 for in a severe test of affliction, their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part.
Giving, even when you have little, reveals the true condition of your heart.
If your heart (attitude, decision making, thoughts) recognize the power and reality of the grace of God, then the demonstration of compassion toward others is a natural, spiritual result.
A generous heart:
Seeks to love others unconditionally.
Seeks to meet the needs of others.
Seeks no credit—but gives the glory to God.
TRANSITION: But I see something else here that helps us experience real joy:
3. Keep the Lord the Center of Your Life.
3. Keep the Lord the Center of Your Life.
5 and this, not as we expected, but they gave themselves first to the Lord and then by the will of God to us.
When you are out of alignment with God, you experience turmoil, discouragement, and stress—not joy.
But when you center your life, your goals, your dreams to the Person and Will of God—joy and peace are the results.
Conclusion
Conclusion
For Job, although he experienced unimaginable loss, he recognized the power of God’s grace.
23 “Oh that my words were written! Oh that they were inscribed in a book!
24 Oh that with an iron pen and lead they were engraved in the rock forever!
25 For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon the earth.
26 And after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God,
27 whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another. My heart faints within me!
Job believed—had faith in his Redeemer—through this life and the life to come.
For Bill and Pat—the hardship was extreme. But they chose not to lose heart, but to believe (no matter what may come) that God is good. That truth gave them a sustaining joy. Pat soon died. However, Bill kept the faith and chose to life by faith.
You can too!
ROYAL FAMILY KIDS STAFF AND COUNSELORS
Invite RFK team forward for prayer and commissioning.
You will minister to kids who have experienced neglect or abuse. Their hardship may be difficult to understand.
As you minister to kids in hard places, you will find that you may be in a hard place as well.
Maintain your faith in the grace of God.
Demonstrate your faith through generosity.
Keep the Lord the center of your life.
Questions for Reflection and Discussion
How would you define joy (especially as it relates to your relationship with God)?
What do you think a person can do to build their faith in God, especially during the hard times of life?
How does a person experience joy through generosity?
Why do you think keeping your life aligned with God and His Will brings joy and peace?