God's Solution in the Tough Times // When God Speaks, Part 2

Christianityworks Official Podcast

If only the going was always easy. But life’s not like that. Sometimes we have to travel through difficult times. Times that test our patience, our endurance and our faith. And it’s right in the middle of those times that God’s Word holds the answers that we need to make it through.

Life Wasn't Meant to be Easy

These days, it’s a bit unpopular for someone like me to be talking about obedience to God’s Word. It’s not something most of us want to hear. Aw, come on Berni, teach me about grace, tell me about God’s blessings, I want to know more about God’s love.

That’s the stuff people want to hear about and sure, they’re all really good things. I mean, really good things. But what about these particular verses of Scripture, John chapter 14, verse 15:

If you love me, you will obey my commandments.

1 John chapter 5, verse 3:

For the love of God is this, that we obey his commandments.

No, obedience to God’s Word is not a particularly popular concept these days. But the whole point of obeying God, is that the only things He tells us not to do, are the things that are going to bring harm to us and the people around us. So paradoxically, obedience brings freedom. Obedience sets us free from the consequences of our sin ... and sin ... sin always has consequences, right?

Okay that’s great. But what about when the going gets tough? What about when other people are doing the wrong thing, and we’re hurting? What about obedience to God’s Word in that place when the degree of difficulty gets ratcheted up to about a 9.9? Psalm 119, verses 20 to 24:

My soul is consumed with longing for your ordinances at all times. You rebuke the insolent, accursed ones, who wander from your commandments; take away from me their scorn and their contempt, for I have kept your decrees. Even though princes sit plotting against me, your servant will meditate on your statutes. Your decrees are my delight, they are my counsellors.

That’s amazing, because the man writing this Psalm, the man speaking to God here, is under a lot of pressure. But he’s taken a stand. He’s made a decision that he will long for God’s will, God’s Word, God’s ways, when? Just in the good times? No! At all times! Even when evil people are heaping scorn and contempt on him, even when princes are plotting against him. That’s a tough decision, but it’s the right one.

Many centuries later, the Apostle Paul put it this way. Galatians chapter 6, verse 9:

So let us not grow weary in doing what is right, for we will reap at harvest time, if we do not give up.

The time when God’s Word is most important, when God’s wisdom is most important, when God’s ways are most important, is when the going gets tough. Right in that moment when we want to give up honouring God by living His way, right in that instant, that’s when obedience to God’s Word is most important.

Because in that moment, the enemy wants to snatch your inheritance away from you. But don’t give up, because there’s a harvest coming. When? Well, at harvest time of course!

The trick, I guess, the piece of wisdom, the powerful Word that God wants us to hear today though, is don’t give up in doing what is right. Don’t give up honouring and obeying God. But that’s not always going to be easy is it?

One of the things I love about the Hebrew culture in which the Psalms of the Old Testament were written, is the powerful use of picture language to express deep emotions. The Jewish tradition is full of rich, evocative picture language, like Psalm 119, verses 25 and 26:

My soul clings to the dust; revive me according to your word. When I told of my ways, you answered me; teach me your statutes.

Just drink that picture in for a moment: my soul clings to the dust. It speaks of complete and utter desolation. It speaks of burdens so heavy, a body so weary, that it’s lying in the dust, barely able to move. Not even able to lift its head to look up at God.

When you’re in that place, it feels hopeless. It feels lonely. It feels as though you’re the only one who’s ever been there, and nobody else understands.

My soul clings to the dust. It’s a picture that we all get. It’s a picture that speaks into the desolation that we’ve all felt. Perhaps you’re in that place right now, where your soul is sucking in the dust, with nothing else to cling to. It’s the place where we want to give up, because we don’t have a single ounce of energy left in us. Yeah, we’ve all been there.

So, what do you do? What does the Psalmist do? What does he have to say to God?

God, revive me according to your word. When I told of my ways, you answered me; teach me your statutes.

The first part of that makes a lot of sense – God revive me. The obvious thing to do, the obvious place to turn, the obvious cry for help … although how often do we miss the obvious?

The question is, how does God bring that revival to an exhausted and completely depleted soul? Well, the psalmist knows!

Revive me according to your word. When I told you of my ways, you answered me; teach me your statutes.

You see, when we’re in that desolate, dusty place, we need a way back. A real, tangible way back. And that way is through the Word of God. It’s through God speaking to us. God’s Word is food for the starving soul. God’s Word is living water for a parched soul. But how often do we miss the obvious?

I’ve seen Christians from time to time praying for revival. But revival begins at home. There will be no revival unless and until the living water, the Spirit of God, overflows from His people. You and I need revival in our hearts. You and I need to be filled to overflowing with the revelation of God through His Word, the joy of God, the healing of God, the Spirit of God.

Revival begins at home! Lord revive me, according to your word.

God’s Word is a powerful thing, because not only does it bring revival to our hearts, not only does God breathe His Sprit into us through His Word, not only does God deliver His new life for us through His Word, but His Word also brings understanding. And understanding is wisdom.

Have you ever found yourself in a situation where you don’t understand what’s going on – either around you, or in you, or both? Sure you have, so have I. I mean, sometimes we don’t even understand ourselves, let alone our circumstances, or the way other people behave and think.

And the absence of that understanding, that wisdom if you will, makes life a difficult thing to live. Understanding as it turns out, is the key to living life. Psalm 119, verses 27 to 32:

Lord, make me understand the way of your precepts, and I will meditate on your wondrous works. My soul melts away for sorrow; strengthen me according to your word. Put false ways far from me; and graciously teach me your law. I have chosen the way of faithfulness; I set your ordinances before me. I cling to your decrees, O Lord; let me not be put to shame. I run the way of your commandments, for you enlarge my understanding.

Understanding is mentioned twice in that passage, once at the beginning and once at the end. Again we see that the Psalmist is going through difficult times – my soul melts away for sorrow – and yet the thing that he asks for is understanding.

That in itself is surprising enough. We spend our time asking God to take away the pain when our souls are melting away through sorrow, but the Psalmist is asking instead, for understanding. But understanding of what? Of the ways of God’s precepts. In other words:

Okay God, Your Word, Your precepts, they’re all fine, that’s a given. But now, God, I want to understand the ways of your precepts. I want to understand how the rubber hits the road. I want to understand how I can live them out, because I want your strength, I want to put false hope far from me, so teach me. I’ll cling to your Word, because I know that as I live it out, You are going to enlarge my understanding.

What a powerful prayer. It’s a prayer for on-the-job training. You imagine asking God for that, over and over again … imagine the understanding, the wisdom, the power that God is going to unleash in your life. Just imagine!

Here’s the thing: God wants to do powerful things in you and through you, He just does. And He’s put His Word there, the Bible, through which to give you, all the understanding you need.

Make me understand the ways of your precepts, and I will meditate on your wondrous works. Wow!

A Heart for God's Word

If I were to ask you today, what is the one thing that you’re focussing on at the moment, what would that be? What’s the biggest thing going on in your heart at the moment?

The truth is, that from time to time the things of this earth grab our attention. Some of those things are good things. Some of those things are bad things.

In a few months’ time my daughter is going to be getting married. Well, you can imagine, that’s pretty much the focus of things in our household at the moment. There’s nothing wrong with any of that, unless and until the things of this world bubble to the top of our priority list, above God Himself.

When that happens, our lives have a way of going pear-shaped. All of a sudden, when we get our priorities the wrong way around, we start to live out the consequences of that. So let me come back to that question: what is your heart focussed on at the moment? What’s at the top of your list, hmm? Psalm 119 verses 35 and 36:

Lead me in the path of your commandments, for I delight in it. Turn my heart to your decrees, and not to selfish gain.

This Psalm is written by a man who is speaking to God. So, when he says: lead me in the path of your commandments and turn my heart to your decrees, He’s asking God to do those two things for Him.

Psalm 119 blows me away. It’s the longest chapter in the Bible – 176 verses all-in-all. And the majority of it is a prayer, asking God essentially to help this man who is writing it, to get his life straight, by getting God’s Word into his heart. That’s the bottom line of the whole Psalm. God I can’t do it on my own, I need your help.

That’s a great admission, because it happens to be true. And here in verses 35 and 36, the Psalmist is asking God to turn his heart to God’s decrees rather than to his own selfish gain.

That’s the pivot point in our hearts isn’t it? Our whole lives swing on this hinge between honouring God and selfish gain. Between right and wrong. And that’s why I keep asking you: what’s the focus of your heart right at the moment? Where is your heart? Focussed on honouring God or on selfish gain? The answer matters. It matters a lot.

There is such power in the Word of God to set you free from your selfishness. Why is it that people leave their Bibles on a shelf somewhere gathering dust? God has the power to set you free. Free from the consequences of sin. All you need to do is to ask Him for His help and He will step in.

And here’s the thing about God’s help. It’s intensely practical. Intensely real. In our lives on this earth, you and I, we’re prone to trusting things that we can see. It’s only natural. We live in a physical world, so we trust in physical things.

We know, for instance, that tonight the sun will set, and in the morning it will rise again. We trust in relationships. We trust in our circumstances, good or bad. We trust in our pay packets and our bank balances. And to a point that’s as it should be … to a point. Up until the point where we trust in those things above and beyond who God is and what He says He will do. At that point, you’ve started trusting your life into things that are not worthy of that level of trust.

If you have a share-portfolio that’s worth a certain amount of money, hey, the market could plummet tomorrow. The same is true of every other physical thing on this earth – they can give way ... in an instant. And so often, we’re caught out, because we’ve place our trust in the wrong things.

That’s why we need God’s help, His intensely practical help, to get our hearts focussed on the right things. Psalm 119, verses 37 to 40:

Turn my eyes from looking at vanities; give me life in your ways. Confirm to your servant your promise, which is for those who fear you. Turn away the disgrace that I dread, for your ordinances are good. See, I have longed for your precepts; in your righteousness give me life.

So here the Psalmist is asking God to turn his eyes away from all those vanities, all those false idols in which we place our trust. What idols as you trusting in at the moment? In what vanities have you placed your trust? Hmm?

Father God turn my eyes from looking at those vanities and give me life in your ways, literally, give me living energy to pursue the way marked out by You O God.

That’s it! That’s what I need, that’s what you need. Living energy. Holy Spirit energy, to head God’s way, to trust God to lead us forward, rather than placing our hope in false idols.

Friend, God’s promises are true. Those false idols, ultimately are going to lead you to disgrace. But God’s promises will never fail.

God I’ve seen that your ways are good. I long for your ways. Lead me in them. Give me life.

What a great prayer. What a powerful way to change your heart. Try as we might, we cannot change our own hearts for ourselves. But God’s living energy, the power of His Word, the power of His Spirit – that’s where we get a change of heart. That’s where we get a change of focus.

God doesn’t want you to continue trusting in idols, dreading the disgrace that they will ultimately bring. He wants to shift your focus, transform your heart, with His living energy. Because when we walk in God’s ways, then all of a sudden we discover what freedom really is.

It pains me to tell you this, but for the first thirty-six years of my life, I thought I was free. Free to live my life the way I wanted. But now, looking back on that time before I accepted Jesus into my heart, I realise that I was nothing but a captive.

The best way to describe it, is that I looked successful and happy on the outside, but on the inside, I was plagued by fear and doubt. On the inside, I was a complete mess. That’s because I was a captive rather than living as a free man. That’s because the expectations of this world dominated my heart. Again, the Psalmist puts it like this, Psalm 119 verses 41 to 46:

Let your steadfast love come to me, O Lord, your salvation according to your promise. Then I shall have an answer for those who taunt me, for I trust in your word. Do not take the word of truth utterly out of my mouth, for my hope is in your ordinances. I will keep your law continually, forever and ever. I shall walk in liberty, for I have sought your precepts. I will also speak of your decrees before kings, and shall not be put to shame.

I really get that bit about having an answer for those who taunt me. The criticism, the mockery of others, used to be like arrows into my heart.

Let me ask you, to what extent are you marching to the beat of the world’s drum? To what extent are you dancing to the tunes of the expectations of others? And when you can’t meet those expectations, people criticise you, people reject you, they throw you out like a worthless piece of trash.

We spend way too much time and energy striving, sacrificing, performing in order receive the approval of others, only to fail, only to miss the mark, only to discover that it’s a pursuit that’s hollow and empty and simply not worth the effort.

But the more we get into God’s Word, the more we discover the steadfast love that God has for us, the more we get to know God’s Word and trust God’s Word, the less those things matter. And the less those things matter, the more we discover the freedom that we have in Jesus Christ.

I shall walk in liberty for I have sought your precepts! Yes! Hallelujah! Absolutely! Freedom. God’s freedom. There is such freedom when we get it into our hearts that we’re meant to live our lives for an audience of One. That’s what God has ready and waiting for you. True freedom in His ways, in His precepts, in His Word. Jesus said:

If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples; and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.

Jesus is the Way

It’s rather an odd thing, but one of the names that Jesus is given in the Bible, is that He is the "Word of God".

Now we normally use that term ‘the Word of God’ for the Bible itself, because, after all, it’s through the Bible that God speaks His words into our lives. Fair enough. But have you ever thought how powerfully God speaks to us through Jesus Himself, the very Son of God ... God in the flesh? This is how the Apostle John puts it. John chapter 1, verses 1 to 5:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.

We all travel through dark times, we just do. And in those dark times, what we need is light. Jesus came to be that light. This is what He said of Himself – John chapter 8, verse 12:

I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life.

Jesus is God speaking to us in a language that we can understand. And that’s why in my own personal reading of the Bible, I always make sure that from time to time, I cycle through one of the Gospels. Right now I’m just about to finish the book of Psalms and head into Matthew’s Gospel.

Why? Because Jesus is God revealing Himself to us – to you, to me. And I don’t know about you, but I need that Light in my life. I need Jesus speaking directly into my life. I need a deep, personal, intimate relationship with Jesus, as I walk with Him and for Him, day by day.

Without Jesus, we don’t know God, indeed, we cannot know God. Without Jesus we can’t find the way to God, because Jesus is the Way.

Might I ask you today, what darkness do you have going on in your life? What fears, what uncertainties, what worries are at the forefront of your thinking right at this moment? What situations are confusing you and confounding you and proving completely impossible for you to overcome?

Jesus is the answer. In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God. All things that were created, were created through Him and by Him. He has knowledge and wisdom and power beyond anything we can imagine.

And He is the light for all people. That includes you. And when that light, His light, the Light of the world shines in your life, the darkness simply cannot overcome it. Jesus is the answer.