But the Bible encourages us as believers not to sorrow as those who have no hope.

Transcription

1 Overcoming Loss Isaiah 53v4 Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; The word sorrow comes from a sense of loss. When people lose a loved one or a job or experience loss through a crisis or tragedy, they begin to grieve and sorrow. But the Bible encourages us as believers not to sorrow as those who have no hope. 1 Thessalonians 4v13 NKJV But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. That s the first step to overcoming loss. Getting over the grief. Whatever Jesus bore on the cross, we must resist. (Eg. Curse, sin, satan, grief, poverty, sickness) As believers, we have hope. Hope means, a confident expectation of good. We have confident expectation of good happening to us. You must live in a continual state of expecting good things to come to you and good things to keep happening for you. People say, Oh, don t get your hopes, so that you won t be disappointed. That depends on where and who you are putting your hope in. If it s in the world and if it s in people, then yes, you can and will be disappointed. But if your hope is in God and in the promises of His Word that brings hope, then you must get it up as high as possible because faith needs hope in order to work. Have you heard people say, Well! All good things must come to an end. All good things are not coming to an end in your life. All good things will keep coming to you.

2 Before I talk about Overcoming Loss I want to talk for a few minutes on how to Avoid Loss. Acts 27:9-25 NKJV Paul s Warning Ignored 9 Now when much time had been spent, and sailing was now dangerous because the Fast was already over, Paul advised them, 10 saying, Men, I perceive that this voyage will end with disaster and much loss, not only of the cargo and ship, but also our lives. 11 Nevertheless the centurion was more persuaded by the helmsman and the owner of the ship than by the things spoken by Paul. In other words, what do you know Preacher. These men are experienced people who live at sea. I have seen people who are more persuaded by their own experience. Oh I tried that and it didn t work. No, faith tried you and you withdrew. You don t find out who people are when things go their way, you get to know who they are when things don t go their way. We need to be like Abraham in Romans 4, He was fully persuaded by what God had promised him. Stop being persuaded by what others say especially those who look so intelligent but are actually violating the Word of God. 12 And because the harbor was not suitable to winter in, the majority advised to set sail from there also, if by any means they could reach Phoenix, a harbor of Crete opening toward the southwest and northwest, and winter there. In the Tempest 13 When the south wind blew softly, supposing that they had obtained their desire, putting out to sea, they sailed close by Crete. 14 But not long after, a tempestuous head wind arose, called Euroclydon. 2

3 Most people s process of living is to go along everyday hoping nothing bad happens today that they can t handle. And if and when it does, they try to change it with a few moments of crying and tears, and what most people call prayer. When all the time, by invoking spiritual laws on a daily, hourly basis, they brought into their lives the very conflict that they are crying about and don t have any idea of it. Spiritual laws govern life. There is no such thing as accidents and luck. There is cause and effect. 15 So when the ship was caught, and could not head into the wind, we let her drive. 16 And running under the shelter of an island called Clauda, we secured the skiff with difficulty. 17 When they had taken it on board, they used cables to undergird the ship; and fearing lest they should run aground on the Syrtis Sands, they struck sail and so were driven. 18 And because we were exceedingly tempest-tossed, the next day they lightened the ship. 19 On the third day we threw the ship s tackle overboard with our own hands. Now they are trying to fix it themselves. Working with their hands to deliver themselves. And all that could have been avoided if they had just listened and not ignored the warning. 20 Now when neither sun nor stars appeared for many days, and no small tempest beat on us, all hope that we would be saved was finally given up. 21 But after long abstinence from food, then Paul stood in the midst of them and said, Men, you should have listened to me, and not have sailed from Crete and incurred this disaster and loss. 22 And now I urge you to take heart, for there will be no loss of life among you, but only of the ship. 23 For there stood by me this night an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve, 24 saying, Do not be afraid, Paul; you must be brought before Caesar; and indeed God has granted you all those who sail with you. 25 Therefore take heart, men, for I believe God that it will be just as it was told me. 3

4 But the good news is this, even if you messed up, even if you missed it, even if it was your fault, God can re-route you. He is the Great Rectifier, the Great Changer and the Great One of Grace that can turn your mistakes for your good. He can restore you and you can recover all that you have lost. All you have to do is repent. Ask God to forgive you and commit yourself to do whatever He tells you to do. That is how you avoid loss. How to overcome loss The first step to overcoming loss is overcoming grief and sorrow. Isaiah 51v11 NKJV So the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with singing, with everlasting joy on their heads. They shall obtain joy and gladness; sorrow and sighing shall flee away. We are commanded not to sorrow. We are not to yield to this ungodly sorrow, because it steals our joy and it s the joy of the Lord that is our strength. If satan can t steal your joy, he can t keep your goods. Nehemiah 8v10 NKJV..Do not sorrow, for the joy of the Lord is your strength. (AMP): "Do not grieve and be depressed." We must stir up the joy of the Lord. We must rejoice in our Maker. We must praise the Sacrifice of Praise. Hebrews 13:15 NKJV Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name. When you pray, you come into God s presence, but when you praise He comes into yours. 4

5 Let s look at the life of David and how He overcame loss. 1 Samuel 30v1-3 NKJV Now it happened, when David and his men came to Ziklag, on the third day, that the Amalekites had invaded the South and Ziklag, attacked Ziklag and burned it with fire, and had taken captive the women and those who were there, from small to great; they did not kill anyone, but carried them away and went their way. So David and his men came to the city, and there it was, burned with fire; and their wives, their sons, and their daughters had been taken captive. David and his men are totally exhausted, coming home from a battle against the Philistines. And he comes home to find that his city is burned with fire and everything is taken, including his family. 1 Samuel 30v4 NKJV Then David and the people who were with him lifted up their voices and wept, until they had no more power to weep. David and his men cried so much that they no longer had power to weep. They were all so consumed with grief, distress and anguish because of the huge loss they had just encountered. 1 Samuel 30v6 NKJV Now David was greatly distressed, for the people spoke of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved [bitter], every man for his sons and daughters. They were all bitter Don t let life, people and negative circumstances turn you into a bitter person. David was greatly distressed, and I m sure he was greatly depressed too. So not only is David dealing with his own personal situation, he is also dealing with leaders and people who want to stone him. They were probably blaming God and because David represented God, they wanted to stone him and get back at Him. But then the story begins to change. 5

6 1 Samuel 30v6 NKJV But David strengthened [encouraged] himself in the Lord his God. That s the 2 nd key to overcoming loss. First, overcome grief and sorrow and 2 nd begin to encourage yourself. Begin to praise your way out of depression and heaviness. Begin to speak to your soul and encourage yourself. You must begin to praise the sacrifice of praise. I believe that is what David begun to do. He began to speak to his soul and began to recall the psalms and to bring up all the victories that God had given him before. Psalm 43:5 NKJV Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God; for I shall yet praise Him, the help of my countenance and my God. Psalm 34:1-2 NKJV I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul shall make its boast in the Lord; the humble shall hear of it and be glad. Psalm 103:1-5 NKJV Bless the Lord, O my soul; And all that is within me, bless His holy name! 2 Bless the Lord, O my soul, And forget not all His benefits: 3 Who forgives all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases, 4 Who redeems your life from destruction, Who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies, 5 Who satisfies your mouth with good things, So that your youth is renewed like the eagle s. 6

7 He began to encourage himself. He changed his position and got out of a place of grief, crying, sorrow and anger. He made the choice to resist that sorrow and grief. What I want you to notice and pay attention to is this! While they were crying, God said nothing. Or if God was saying something, they couldn t hear Him. Because when you are in a place of depression, sadness, grief and sorrow, it is almost impossible to hear God s voice speaking to you and guiding you. You must break out of that space and place of depression and begin to resist. But the minute David got his praise back on, adjusted his attitude and stirred up his winning attitude, resisted grief and sorrow, things began to change. He began to hear God s voice speaking to him and guiding him. 1 Samuel 30v7-8 NKJV Then David said to Abiathar the priest, Ahimelech s son, Please bring the ephod here to me. And Abiathar brought the ephod to David. So David enquired of the Lord, saying, Shall I pursue this troop? Shall I overtake them? And He answered him, Pursue, for you shall surely overtake them and without fail recover all. You are going to recover all. God is going to restore to you the years that the locust has eaten. Joel 2v25-26 NKJV So I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten, The crawling locust, The consuming locust, And the chewing locust, My great army which I sent among you. You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied, And praise the name of the Lord your God, Who has dealt wondrously with you; And My people shall never be put to shame. Our God is a God of restoration. Psalms 90:14-15 NLT Satisfy us each morning with your unfailing love, so we may sing for joy to the end of our lives. Give us gladness in proportion to our former misery! Replace the evil years with good. 7

8 That is what God is busy doing right now in your life. But you must make a decision to get up from that pity party. That depression. That grief and sorrow and begin to resist it, pursue the enemy, for you will surely overtake him and without fail recover all. Don't cry over what you ve lost, because God is able to give you much more than that. 2 Chronicles 25:9 NKJV Then Amaziah said to the man of God, But what shall we do about the hundred talents which I have given to the troops of Israel? And the man of God answered, The Lord is able to give you much more than this. Just like David, enquire and ask the Lord. Ask God to give you wisdom about your situation and to show you the way forward. 1 Samuel 30v9-31 NKJV David got his strength back. God gave him a Divine Connection. He found the enemy and in verse 19 it says; And nothing of theirs was lacking, either small or great, sons or daughters, spoil or anything which they had taken from them; David recovered all. And that is how your story is going to end. You will recover all. God will replace what the locust has eaten. God will replace your evil years with good. So let me encourage you to get up. You don t drown by falling in the water, you drown by staying there. Don t sit and stay in condemnation. Rise up from that depression and prostration in which circumstances have kept you. Isaiah 60:1 AMP says: Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord rises upon you. Pastor Lester Holland Sunday Message 3rd December