DISAPPOINTED WITH GOD!
Philippians 4:4-13
INTRODUCTION: As the apostle Paul wrote to the church at Philippi, he was writing to a Church in trouble. Nero was thirteen when he became the fifth Roman emperor and was taught by his mother to hate Christians. The weather caused a famine across the Roman empire. Paul’s message to the Church there is the same message our churches need today: “It is not so much about who is on the throne in a country as Who is on the Throne in heaven!” Today we have trouble in our homes as well as in our nation.
I. TROUBLE TRUSTING GOD!
Do you have trouble trusting God to not only control but to meet the needs of your life today? What should we do when it feels like our lives are out of control and God does not seem to be helping? When things go wrong in our lives should we be like little children and throw a temper tantrum or should we say, “The battle is the Lord’s and through Him I am more than conqueror!” Romans 8:37-39; Jeremiah 17:5-8; 2 Corinthians 1:3-4.
II. OUR GOD IS IN CHARGE AT ALL TIMES!
Our God was still in charge even when He allowed His only begotten Son to be crucified: John 19:7-16. God gave Pilot power. But God also gave Pilot free choice. Pilot didn’t have to be a wimp! So many of our good questions God never answers but He has told us all we need to know to live godly lives: Deuteronomy 29:29. Yes, our God has secrets. But God has also revealed to us all we need to know to live a godly life: 2 Peter 1:3-4. Psalm 23:1-6 is still as true today as it was the day King David wrote it. Fear in this life can be tempered with the Father factor: Philippians 4:4-7. When Paul wrote that he was in a Roman jail using the time to be a blessing to others. Discouragement is dissatisfaction with the past, distaste for the present, and distrust of the future. We must learn to trust in God’s promises that He will turn ourdisappointments into His opportunities if we will but trust Him: Philippians 4:12-13. When we walk by faith and not by sight we can learn to rejoice in our trials knowing that they only come to make us strong: James 1:2-8; Philippians 4:8-9. As Christians when trouble, trials, sorrow, and even death come we need to see it from God’s prospective. Jeremiah 29:11-14.
III. WHEN WE TRUST IN GOD’S PROMISES IT MAKES ALL THE DIFFERENCE!
Our faith in our Lord’s wonderful promises make all the difference in how we chose to respond to those times we are disappointed with God! Romans 8:26-29. By sight we see that many things in this life seem to be against us but God in His Word lets us know that not only does He know exactly what is happening to us but that He is also interceding for us and working to turn our trials into blessings as we continue to trust in Him! Hebrews 12:11-15. We must learn to trust our Lord and to grow in our faith through the trials He allows into our lives: 1 Peter 4:12-19. We must take on the very mind of Christ: Philippians 1:27-30. It is time for each of us to decide once and for all will we trust our God even when we are disappointed with what He allows into our lives and walk by faith and not by sight? Philippians 3:10; Hebrews 5:7-8; Colossians 1:24. Yes, our Lord did all that was necessary to save sinners, but bringing someone to saving faith may very well require you to suffer for our Lord’s glory. We have the choice each day to trust our Lord even when things don’t go the way we wish they would or to turn and run from our God and His plan for our lives.