Why does life have to be so hard?

Why does life have to be so hard? Intro: You ever wonder why some people have all the luck and get all the breaks and nothing good ever happens for you? You ever wonder why some people seem to cost through life but your left to struggle? You ever wish you could just stubble across the winning lotto numbers and all your problems will be fixed? As a pastor I have wondered how come some ministries and churches just seem to take off and grow like crazy and it seems at times mine is barely staying afloat. You may even wondered yourself why can’t my love one be healed like someone else’s, way cant I get a great paying job like so and so did. The list could go on and on…. If God isn’t a respecter of person and says what He does for one why hasn’t He done it for me yet? I wish I had the answer to all these questions but I don’t but what I do know is that God knows the beginning from the end and He commands us to Trust Him and in all our ways to acknowledge Him and He will direct our paths. Central truth: God is still in control So in attempt to make since of all this I would like to make a few points. Points: 1. Who are you blaming for your circumstances? Should we blame the devil for such a crisis? Or is it our own fault? Where is God in all this? Passing the blame began with Adam, who blamed Eve for offering him forbidden fruit. She in turn blamed the serpent for deceiver he. Gen 3:11-13 Ever since, we’ve been blaming one another or the government or the devil for the trials we suffer. Jesus identified the one most responsible when He said John 10:10 10 The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. He is the source of all evil. In the midst of distress, Satan wants us to blame God, rather than turn and acknowledge Him as our source of help. But we do have a choice. We can buy into the temptation to blame God and others. Or we can take responsibility for our own actions and attitudes and seek forgiveness for those that are wrong. We can choose to agree with Jesus when He said I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly Jesus purpose for coming to earth was to provide a way for us to live a meaningful life at every level and dimension- spiritual, physical, and emotional. 2. Why do we suffer? God created Adam and Eve, placed them in the Garden of Eden, and made every provision for them. They had no need to worry about anything! But when they chose to disobey God’s command, they brought a curse upon themselves and upon all mankind. Genesis 3:19 19 By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food When they were dismissed from the garden to fend for themselves, anxiety about the future became our legacy as well. 3. God made a way out. Genesis 22:15-18 15 The angel of the Lord called to Abraham from heaven a second time 16 and said, “I swear by myself, declares the Lord, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, 17 I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, 18 and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me.” You see there were requirements to receive God’s provision A. To obey His Word. B. To keep our eyes and hearts focused on Him, not just on His blessings. C. To resist the enemy’s emphasis on how negative the circumstances may appear. D. To be concerned about the needs of others. Believers who meet the requirements of obedience can still claim God’s promises of blessing and provision today. •I know many of you feel that you are in captivity you’re your current circumstances. •God puts you into captivity to grow you. • Are you in a time of restriction, limitation, or constraint? • Get large. Use the season of restriction to go deep in God. • • Your prison is actually an invitation to get large in intimacy, get large in understanding, get large in the knowledge of Christ, get large in righteousness, get large in holiness, get large in the word and prayer, get large in good works, get large in meekness and humility, get large in faith and hope, get large in servanthood, get large in love. • Never waste a good prison sentence. Turn your prison into an incubator. • Is it possible to get so large that the prison can no longer hold you? •Jesus is still with you, and He is skillfully crafting your story. • •If you will continue to abide in Him, He will so increase you in this season that you will emerge from the captivity large enough to enter your promises, take your promises, inhabit your promises, and hold onto your promises. Leviticus 26:3-5 3 “If you follow my decrees and are careful to obey my commands, 4 I will send you the seasonal rains. The land will then yield its crops, and the trees of the field will produce their fruit. 5 Your threshing season will overlap with the grape harvest, and your grape harvest will overlap with the season of planting grain. You will eat your fill and live securely in your own land. Leviticus 26:10 10 You will have such a surplus of crops that you will need to clear out the old grain to make room for the new harvest! Its a new season, its a new day, freash annointing its coming your way, a season of power and of prosperity, its a new season coming your way. Central truth: God is still in control