Hope in Dark Times

Hope in Dark Times

1 Kings 16:33

"And Ahab made a grove; and Ahab did more to provoke the LORD God of Israel to anger than all the kings of Israel that were before him."

In the verse above, Israel faced some very dark days. It must have seemed that there would be no hope. The Scriptures say that "Ahab did more to provoke the LORD God of Israel...than all the kings of Israel that were before him." For those who wanted to do right, this must have seemed as if they had no hope. Ahab destroyed the worship of God. He made Baal the national god knowing that Jehovah God would be angry with him. Yet, Ahab didn't seem to care. Those who wanted to do right had certainly entered a dark era.

Do you sometimes feel that you are in dark days in your life? Do you look around and see society and wonder if there is any hope? Are there times when you go to work and see the wickedness from fellow employees? Do you hear the cursing and see the vileness protruding from the lives of those around you? Do you feel that you are all alone in your stance for truth? These feelings can certainly grip the heart of any Christian who desires to do right when you look at the affairs of this world.

Fortunately, God is still on the throne and is not going to sit idly by and let the heathen blaspheme His name. If you only read this chapter, you would think that there is no hope in dark days. Yet, the very next chapter starts out by saying, "And Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the inhabitants of Gilead, said unto Ahab, As the LORD God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word." (1 Kings 17:1) In the darkest of times, God provided a man of God. In the worst years of Israel's history to date, God gave them an Elijah. You see, there was hope in dark times. God came through when they thought it was all over.

Christian, let me encourage you that in the darkest of times, God always comes through. When it seems as if it can't get any darker, I promise you there is still a light that can shine, for God is still on His throne. You may feel that all hope is gone, but it is not gone. God will come through for you just like He did for Israel.

I don't know what you are facing today, but let me encourage you to not give up hope. You may see hopelessness all around, but you must keep doing right and believe that God will come through for you. You must realize that the light of God can shine brightest in the darkest of days. The darker things get the brighter God can shine through your life. His light can only shine if you allow Him to shine through you. Elijah lived during the same times as every other Israelite, but He yielded himself to God and allowed God to shine His light through His life. You can either let the dark days cause you to live a life of hopelessness, or you can yield yourself to God and let your life be the light that God shines through. If you will be the conduit for God's light to shine, then you can be that beacon of hope that will lift the spirit of others when they believe all hope is gone.


Establishing Yourself in Life

Establishing Yourself in Life

1 Kings 2:1

"Now the days of David drew nigh that he should die; and he charged Solomon his son, saying,"

As a young adult it is always a difficult thing to get established in life. I can remember when I was a young man starting in evangelism, it was very difficult to get people to respect me in the ministry into which God placed me. There were those who thought I was too young to be in evangelism. There were others who understood I should be in evangelism, but they did not want to give me the respect of an evangelist. Getting established was a difficult thing, but it was not an impossible thing.

In the verse above, David prepared Solomon to be king of Israel. In the verses that follow, he showed Solomon how to establish himself in life as a young man taking the throne of Israel. There were some in the nation of Israel who did not think Solomon should become king. There were some of his own family members who were jealous that he was the one whom David chose to be king of Israel. Yet, we find in the verses that follow several things that David told Solomon to do that can help every young person to establish themselves in life.

First, secure confidence in what you're doing for the LORD. You will notice David said, "And keep the charge of the Lord by God,..." A young person must never let their age cause them to lack confidence. If God called you to do what you are doing, then you must realize you have God behind you. Paul reminded Timothy not to let people despise his youth. You cannot let your youth cause you to be insecure. Realize that God is the One Who called you into your line of work at a young age, so don't be hesitant about what you were made to do.

Second make sure your way of life is the right way of life. Your way of life are your habits in life. Be sure that you get rid of your bad habits. Bad habits will destroy your life quicker than anything else. As a young person getting started in life, it is imperative to establish good habits and routines which you follow every day.

Third, be sure to obey the Word of God. Obedience to God's Word will always give you the confidence you need in life. It will give you confidence because you are doing what you were supposed to do. Many young people have lost confidence in life because they were not doing what they knew they were supposed to be doing. Obeying God's commandments will certainly establish your life in the right way. God's commandments will establish your home life, your marriage, your business life, and your personal life.

Fourth, don't change God's methods to match your lifestyle. You will notice it says in the verse above, "...as it is written in the law of Moses,..." David reminded Solomon that the end does not justify the means. David wanted Solomon to understand that the methods will lead you to the desired results. You must be careful about falling for Satan's trap of thinking that good results is all that matters. You must establish at a young age that you do things God's way whether or not you get good results.

These four steps will help every young person establish themselves in life. These four steps will give them confidence to face whatever situation comes their way. No matter what your age, you must follow these four steps if you want God to establish your home, marriage, spiritual life, personal life and your business life.


A Blurred Focus

A Blurred Focus

2 Samuel 18:11

"And Joab said unto the man that told him, And, behold, thou sawest him, and why didst thou not smite him there to the ground? and I would have given thee ten shekels of silver, and a girdle."

Have you ever looked at a picture that just seemed a bit out of focus? When you first see the picture, you begin to rub your eyes and wonder if there is something wrong with your eyes. But, as you try to focus in on the picture, you realize that the focus was blurred. A blurred focus causes you not to see things as clearly as you could or should.

Joab seemed to have a blurred focus. Joab is interesting to me because of his change in position. At one time he had someone approach David about bringing Absalom back. He felt that David should show appreciation to his son for what he did to Amnon. Then, a few chapters later we see Joab scolded a young man for not killing Absalom when he had the opportunity. We then go to the verse above when Joab wanted to destroy a whole city for one man. You may wonder what all of these have in common. In each story his reaction was based upon how a person or situation affected David. It was not based upon right or wrong, it was based upon whether David was adversely affected by these situations.

Joab's focus was blurred because he was focused upon a man an not upon God. In fact, you find that Joab became disloyal when Solomon became king. His loyalty was not to the truths which David defended. His loyalty was to David himself. If David did wrong, Joab followed. If people treated David right, then Joab treated them right. If people treated David in a wrong manner, then Joab wanted them out of the picture. His blurred focus upon man caused him not to see situations clearly. Instead of focusing upon David, Joab should have kept his focus on God, and that would have helped him to see clearly.

Christian, you must be careful about blurring your focus. What I mean by this is you cannot base your opinions and actions upon how a person you look up to is treated. You must base all your actions upon the truths of the Word of God. Men are not the issue of life. That does not mean we can't learn from men, for there are many men whom God used in a great way from whom we can learn much. But, we must not have our eyes so focused upon man that it blurs our ability to see situations clearly.

The Word of God is a Book that is very black and white. God never blurs the picture for us. When you are done reading a passage of Scripture, you know very clearly what God intended. That is why you must keep your focus on God. He never changes. Man has a way of blurring the picture because man does change. Yes, you should honor those who hold position, and you can learn from great Christians from the past, but don't ever let them cause you to take your focus off God. If you stay focused on God and His Word, then you will never find yourself looking at a blurred picture.


When You Can't Do Anything Right

When You Can't Do Anything Right

1 Samuel 18:29

"And Saul was yet the more afraid of David; and Saul became David's enemy continually."

Have you ever known a person that no matter what you did you couldn't do anything right for them? David must have felt that way with Saul. The whole situation with David and Saul started when he killed Goliath. After defeating Goliath, the ladies of the city sang that Saul slew his thousands, but David his tens of thousands. That did not set well with Saul. Though David had nothing to do with this song that the ladies sung, that was the incident that turned Saul against him. After that time it didn't matter what David did; he couldn't do anything right for Saul. When he played the harp, he didn't do it well enough. When David skipped a dinner engagement with Saul and his men, it was taken personally. Looking through the whole incident, you can see that David became bewildered because he couldn't do anything right. Though it was not David's fault, he had to deal with Saul for quite some time.

Whether or not you deal with a person like this right now, eventually you will have to deal with one. This situation doesn't have to be of your own making, but it will happen. I know I have had my fair share of situations like this. You can seemingly do everything in your power to try to make things right, but the more you do, the more you seem to frustrate the situation. Let me give you some ideas on how to deal with a situation like this.

First, don't take it personally. Again, it may not be your fault, so you cannot take it personally. It is very easy to get to the point where you take everything this person does personally. If you do that, then you will only exacerbate the situation. You can't take it personally because you don't know what the person is facing. They could be facing serious problems in other areas of their life, and you happen to be the one who takes the blow for their situation. Simply determine not to take what they do personally.

Second, be sure you don't retaliate. When I look at David, he had every opportunity to end the situation by retaliating, but he allowed God to take care of the situation. When you retaliate, you will only make the situation worse. There will probably be many times when you will have to bite your tongue or hold yourself in check to keep from retaliating, but you won't regret suppressing any retaliatory actions.

Third, ask God to change the situation. Whenever situations like this happen to me, I always ask God to change the person who needs changing. I have found in most situations that God has to work on me as well as the other person. God allows situations like this in our lives to better us. If you will be open to the idea that you could be in the wrong, then God can change the areas where you contributed to the situation.

Finally, do good for the person. Though the person may not want your help in anything, they can't stop you from doing good for them. Find something where you can help them. It doesn't always have to be in the area of giving things to them, it could be in the area of doing something for them behind the scenes. God could use your efforts to turn the situation around.

Whatever you do, don't give up on trying to turn a relationship like this around. Always do right no matter what they do. When you become frustrated to the point of quitting, then be honest with God and tell Him how you feel. If you will continue to work on repairing this situation, eventually you could benefit from turning a tumultuous relationship into a great relationship.


Unrepentant Repentance

Unrepentant Repentance

1 Samuel 15:24

"And Saul said unto Samuel, I have sinned: for I have transgressed the commandment of the LORD, and thy words: because I feared the people, and obeyed their voice."

Saul was commanded by God to completely destroy the Amalekites. You would think this command would not be that hard to follow. Saul was told that he was God's tool to repay the Amalekites for what they did to Israel when coming out of Egypt. This command was not just a command to have a sentence fulfilled, but it was also a test to see if Saul would completely obey God.

When reading the story, you learn that Saul did not obey God. He and the people saved the best of the sheep, oxen and spoils. Saul saved King Agag as a trophy to show his strength. No matter how they justified their actions they were wrong because they didn't obey all of God's commandments. Samuel approached Saul about his disobedience, and his response to his sin showed his unrepentant heart. Though Saul said, "I have sinned:...," his actions showed that he was not truly repentant for what he did.

Your response to your sin shows whether you are truly repentant for what you did. There are many people who audibly say they are sorry, but their actions show the opposite. I like to say that they have unrepentant repentance. Their repentance is simply a show of words, and God is not interested in a show of words. He is interested in them getting things right with Him. Obedience is more important to God than anything else. Saul's response to his sin shows some very clear signs of an unrepentant heart.

The first sign of an unrepentant heart is that you try to cover your sin. In verse 13, Saul's first action was to cover up what he did. An unrepentant person will always see if they can get away with their sin. They will try to go on as if nothing happened, but something did happen. The core attribute of a lack of repentance is to get away with your sin at any cost.

The second sign of an unrepentant heart is to blame your sin on others. Verse 21 shows Saul blaming his sin on the people. When covering sin doesn't work, an unrepentant person will blame their sin on others. Your sin is not someone else's fault; it is your fault. Saul was blaming the people when he should have been looking at his own actions. An unrepentant heart will always try to deflect attention away from its own sinful actions.

The third sign of an unrepentant heart is to give excuses for your sin. In the verse above, Saul blamed his sin on a fear of the people. It really doesn't matter why you sinned, it is the fact that you have sinned and you know it. You can give any excuse as to why you sinned, but it all comes down to the fact that you sinned. Unrepentant people do not want to face their sin, so they will justify it anyway that they can.

The fourth sign of an unrepentant heart is that you are worried about people's perception of you. Saul asked Samuel to bless him for the people's sake. Saul never got it; the problem was his sin. An unrepentant heart will always try to salvage their reputation instead of dealing with their sin. They are more concerned with what people think about them than what God thinks about them.

Christian, whenever you sin admit it. The only person you hurt by not truly repenting is yourself. You can put on a show of repentance, but a truly repentant heart will eventually be seen. Do you have something you've done of which you've not repented? Always remember that repentance shows the attitude of your heart. A hard heart will not repent, but a contrite and soft heart will.


Emptiness

The Emptiness of Chasing Bread

Ruth 1:6

"Then she arose with her daughters in law, that she might return from the country of Moab: for she had heard in the country of Moab how that the LORD had visited his people in giving them bread."

There was a couple I knew years ago who seemed to be a very good Christian family. They were involved in the church, and they seemed to be one of the stalwart families in that church. I was preaching a revival meeting in the church where they attended and noticed that they were not there. I asked the pastor where they were, and he responded that they moved to another area because the husband accepted a new position on his job. Amazingly, a few years later I preached in the church where they moved their membership. While I was in that meeting, they requested to talk to me. They told me that their move was a mistake. The husband told me that he thought making more money would enable him to do more for God, but he realized after losing his children that he made the wrong move. Though they found a good church to attend, they left the will of God for their lives because they chased bread. The bread they thought would fill them left them empty.

Naomi and her husband made the same mistake. Verse 1 tells us that they left Bethlehem-judah because there was a famine in the land. They moved to the land of Moab to avoid the pains of the famine. Their intent was not to stay, but to pass through the land until the famine was over. Yet, they didn't pass through, they ended up staying for awhile to their detriment. They left the will of God for bread, but they found the bread did not satisfy. While in the land, Naomi's husband passed away, her two sons married heathen women, and eventually her two sons died. After all these tragedies, she moved back because she heard the "LORD had visited his people in giving them bread." Her whole life was about chasing bread, but she found out that chasing bread left her empty. The bread that she thought would fill her left her in a state of emptiness and bitterness. Chasing bread did not give her what she wanted.

Let me remind you that chasing bread always leaves you empty. You don't follow a job, you follow the will of God. You don't move to a new location because you can make more money, you move to a new location because that is God's will for your life. You must remember that God's will is not based on your finances or the economy. Just because you can do better financially does not make it God's will. Many people have chased bread only to find themselves living a life of regret.

Christian, God can take care of you in the famine as well as He can in times of plenty. If you start chasing bread, you will never stop chasing bread. You will find that no matter where you go, there will always be a place where you can make more money or acquire a better position. Instead of chasing bread, you need to trust God that He can take care of you right where you are. If you are honest with yourself, you will probably see that you have everything that you truly need.

Let me encourage you to place your roots in the will of God. Don't look at money and prestige as a determination to relocate, but always base a move off God's will. It is in God's will that you will find the fullness of life. If you chase bread, you will end up like Naomi, empty and bitter. Be satisfied with what you have, and determine that the only thing that will move you is God's will.