Life is Just Messed Up Sometimes

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Robert Hicks
5 years ago
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1 Life is Just Messed Up Sometimes I. Introduction. a. Imagine you could map out a perfect life for a young person today. i. Born to godly parents. ii. Surrounded by supportive extended family and friends. iii. Develop a close network of good friends. iv. Get a good education. v. Which leads to a good job. vi. Meet the love of their life. vii. Build a good career. viii. Raise a close family. ix. Part of a strong church. x. Kids grow up to be faithful. xi. Kids marry Christians, and they raise faithful kids. xii. Finish a successful career. xiii. Enjoy retirement with the wife of your youth. b. How many of our lives work out exactly like that? i. None of us. ii. What I have described is a utopian picture (the ideal type of life that we would draw up). 1. But the fact is that life s not perfect. 2. Life is filled with ups and downs. iii. Title of the lesson. 1. Life is Just Messed Up Sometimes. c. Personal Illustration. i. My childhood was far from perfect. 1. I grew up in a town where there weren t many Christians at all. 2. I was a pretty awkward and shy kid. 3. I got picked on quite often. 4. Today they would say I was bullied. ii. We moved to Nashville my junior year of high school. 1. Things started getting a little better for me. 2. I wasn t quite as shy and awkward. 3. And there were more Christians around. 4. But then, during my senior year of high school, my dad who was a preacher had an affair with a lady from the church. 5. My world came crashing down. iii. There have been other situations that have happened in my life that are less than perfect. 1. But I have told you these to point out the fact that: 2. Life s just messed up sometimes. iv. I m not the only one.

2 1. Most everyone in this audience can point to situations where we got the wrong end of the stick. a. A raw deal. d. This morning s lesson. i. To talk about what s real. ii. And to encourage us to overcome the challenges that we face in life. II. Circumstances don t remove accountability. a. Before we go any further, we need to make this basic point. i. We are all accountable to God for out own actions. ii. 2 Corinthians 5:10, For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad. b. Can we offer excuses on why we did this or that? i. The answer is yes. ii. Can I blame some of my struggles on what my dad did? 1. Yes, and I would probably be right. 2. That if my dad had done things differently, that might have changed my life. iii. Regardless, God has made it clear that we each bear 100% of the accountability for our lives. c. From the very beginning. i. Genesis 3:11-13, And He said, Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you that you should not eat? Then the man said, The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate. And the Lord God said to the woman, What is this you have done? The woman said, The serpent deceived me, and I ate. ii. Were they right? 1. Yes. 2. It was Eve who was tempted first. 3. It was the devil who tempted Eve. iii. But who was punished? 1. Each one of them. 2. Excuses did not excuse them from accountability. 3. They were punished for their own actions. d. Likewise with us. i. Can we find someone or something to blame when we mess up? ii. Most definitely. iii. Just know that it won t remove your accountability. iv. God is going to judge you based on your actions, and no amount of excuses will change that judgment. III. We can t always control what happens to us, but we can control how we respond.

3 a. A familiar saying. i. It s not what happens to you, but how you react that matters. 1. Greek philosopher Epictetus. ii. We ve heard that point so many times. iii. But how easy is it for us to get caught up in things that happen to us that we perceive as unfair. b. It s all about choice. i. Some bad things happen to us because of our own bad choices. ii. But there are a lot of bad things that happen to us through no fault of our own. iii. But we still have a choice. 1. How am I going to react? iv. I have a brother who is 16 months older than me. 1. The situation with my dad affected both of us. 2. We each had a choice. 3. I have tried to learn from my dad s mistakes, and those events have probably helped me live a more faithful life. 4. Unfortunately, my brother left the church and has been pretty much religious lessor the last years. I may be wrong, but I think those events played a large role. v. But the point is about choice. 1. We may not get to choose what happens to us. 2. But we do get to choose how we react. c. Biblical example. i. Do you remember King Hezekiah? 1. You may remember him for his prayer to God when God told him that he was going to die. 2. He was a faithful king of Judah Kings 18:5-6, He trusted in the Lord God of Israel, so that after him was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor who were before him. For he held fast to the Lord; he did not depart from following Him, but kept His commandments, which the Lord had commanded Moses. ii. But do you also remember his father? 1. His father was a King named Ahaz Kings 16:2-3, Ahaz was twenty years old when he became king, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem; and he did not do what was right in the sight of the Lord his God, as his father David had done. But he walked in the way of the kings of Israel; indeed he made his son pass through the fire, according to the abominations of the nations whom the Lord had cast out from before the children of Israel. iii. The point is that Hezekiah made his own choices. 1. He didn t follow the example of his father. iv. Do you also remember Hezekiah s son? 1. His son was King Manasseh Chronicles 33:9, So Manasseh seduced Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to do more evil than the nations whom the Lord had destroyed before the children of Israel.

4 v. The point is the same. 1. We make our own choices. IV. While we live in an imperfect world, we journey toward the promised land of perfection. a. This world. i. There is a lot to love. 1. But our world is not a perfect place. ii. But there are so many things that cause us pain. 1. Misfortune. 2. Mistreatment. 3. Physical suffering. 4. Death. 5. People let us down. 6. Our own mistakes. iii. But isn t it a comforting thought to remember that this world is not our home. 1. Hebrews 11:13-14, These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off were assured of them, embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. For those who say such things declare plainly that they seek a homeland. b. Our Home. i. Life here may be messed up sometimes. 1. But we are assured that life there won t be. ii. Revelation 21:4, And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away. iii. 1 Peter 1:4, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you. c. Let us press on. i. To leave this world behind with all its sorrows. ii. And to inhabit the dwelling place of God. V. Strive to overcome like those who have gone before us. a. Biblical Examples. i. There are many examples of people in the Bible who had to deal with less than ideal circumstances. 1. We re not alone. 2. But they overcame. ii. Think about: 1. Joseph. a. Sold into slavery. b. Unjustly Imprisoned. 2. Job. a. Lost his wealth, family, health.

5 3. The prophets. a. Had to deliver hard messages. b. Rejected by their people. c. Imprisoned. 4. First century Christians. a. Persecuted Jews and Romans. b. Imprisoned and many killed. iii. Yet they overcame. 1. To overcome means that they fought through the difficulties in their lives and they emerged victorious. b. To Him who overcomes. i. Revelation 2:7, He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God. ii. Revelation 2:11, He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes shall not be hurt by the second death. iii. Revelation 2:17, He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give some of the hidden manna to eat. And I will give him a white stone, and on the stone a new name written which no one knows except him who receives it. iv. Revelation 2:26, And he who overcomes, and keeps My works until the end, to him I will give power over the nations. v. Revelation 3:5, He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments, and I will not blot out his name from the Book of Life; but I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels. vi. Revelation 3:12, He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall go out no more. I will write on him the name of My God and the name of the city of My God, the New Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God. And I will write on him My new name. vii. Revelation 3:21, To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne. c. How do we overcome? i. Where do we start? ii. 1 John 5:4-5, For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world our faith. Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?

INTRODUCTION: The Biblical warning.

HOW TO OVERCOME INTRODUCTION: The Biblical warning. Rev 2:7 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which