Romans: Finding Joy in Difficult Times

Spirit, lead me where my trust is without borders.

Let me walk upon the waters, wherever you would call me.

Take me deeper than my feet could ever wander,

and my faith will be made stronger in the presence of our Savior.

I don't know how you feel when you read those words.

I don't know where you're at in your journey with God.

I realize that sometimes when we speak on trials and tribulations,

it's very difficult because we know that people come in

and are different places in their life.

They're dealing with things that are heavy and beyond their control,

and some people have been in the pit for a long time,

and they're just wanting to get out of the pit,

and they're wondering if God knows them,

is listening to them,

is aware of what's happening in their life.

It was 1990,

and I had just,

we're going to get some wind up here,

I just arrived in northern China,

and I was there to teach the local Christians.

You know, I'd heard about the tough times the Christians were going through,

and I'd been praying for them for a long,

long time in the States.

I prayed for the tribulations and the trials,

and that they would make it through it,

that they would stop.

And it was not long until I got in the north part in my university

that I heard a story.

The story had happened a couple months before I got there,

but it was still fresh in everybody's mind.

Three men, three students,

had been caught smuggling Bibles into the university,

into their part of the town,

and they were arrested by the authorities,

and they were put in prison for a month without food.

At the end of the month,

the authorities wanting to make an example of them

and to teach everybody else in the community and the university

not to do that anymore,

brought them out in front of the students and the faculty

and the university at that part of the town

and put them on display.

There was a table full of food.

It was the best food that they could have at that time.

To them, after 30 days of not eating,

it must have looked like this amazing, amazing banquet.

There was a table with the Bibles piled up in front of it.

And then there was a third table.

There was a table filled with these containers

full of waste and excrement and filth.

And they brought the three young men out,

and they asked them in front of everybody,

they said, if you deny Christ, you're going to be set free.

You'll be allowed to eat from this banquet.

We won't bother you anymore.

But if you don't, it'll be more torture and struggles,

and life is going to be very difficult.

And right here and right now,

we're going to force you to drink these three containers of crap.

I was told that without a hesitation,

the three men went over,

and they grabbed the containers of sewage,

and they just started guzzling it.

The crowd that was watching them went crazy.

It went berserk.

I mean, there was total chaos.

Teachers and students rushed the table,

and they grabbed the Bibles,

and before the authorities could do anything,

they ran off with the Bibles.

And the authorities just sat there going,

they couldn't believe what they'd just seen and what happened.

A little later on,

we were able to talk to some of those people who rushed the table.

And we asked them, why did you do that?

What was that all about?

And they said there was something.

There must have been something in that book

that was very special,

that was very precious,

to make those young men do that,

to stand up to the tribulation,

to stand up to the trials.

There must have been something incredible in those books,

and we want that.

We want it.

I remember after my first time to go home,

I went to one of the leaders of the house church.

I said, I'm about to go back to America,

and I want to pray for you.

How do I pray for you?

What do I tell the people in America?

Do I tell them to stop praying for tribulation?

Do I tell them to stop praying for trials?

Do I tell them to stop praying for heartache?

And he looked at me kind of in surprise,

and he said, Tobin.

He used my Chinese name,

Mi Taoping.

He said, in 1949,

when all the missionaries left here,

there were about 800,000 Christians in our country.

And now, 30 years later,

because of what God is doing,

there are 40 million of us.

How can you pray for the persecution to stop?

How can you pray for our trials to stop?

Please just pray instead

that we'd be faithful,

that we'd be strong.

I went home to Montgomery, Alabama,

to my massive mega church,

where people were living very, very comfortable lives.

And they asked me,

well, how can we pray for the people in China?

And in my mind, I was thinking,

how can I pray for the people in Montgomery, Alabama?

Maybe I should be praying for tribulations.

Maybe I should be praying for trials.

Maybe I should be praying for difficulties.

We're in the book of Romans.

Paul has been teaching the book of Romans now,

and we've been in it for about eight weeks,

but he's been teaching it through five chapters.

Remember, in the first couple chapters,

he's been arguing, and he's been defending.

He's been this lawyer.

He's presenting his brief, his case.

He wants everybody to know that he's right.

He's truthful.

It's logical.

And you have to believe.

But now, in chapter five,

he just starts teaching with confidence.

He's not trying to persuade anybody.

He's trying to show people,

this is true.

This is what's happened to me.

This is my experience.

This is my experience.

Remember, up to this point in chapters one and two,

the people have been kind of

wandering away from God.

I mean, they think they're with God.

They thought that they were close to God.

They thought that they were 51% good,

that things were going well,

and as long as they were more good than they were bad,

as long as they didn't do anything too bad,

as long as they could fix themselves,

they'd be okay.

But Paul says something very different there.

He says, you know, guys,

we are under God's wrath.

We are not at peace with God.

51% is not going to hack it.

In fact, we are so bad off in our slavery,

in our selfishness, in our sin,

that we're in bondage to our lives.

We think that we're free,

but we're slaves.

But God, chapter 3 and 4,

sends his son.

And he sends his son into this world

and into our lives

to make all things new through Jesus.

Now he's given us his free gift of grace.

Now we have a new relationship with God.

Now we can never be taken away from God.

Now we can never lose God.

Once we're made right with God,

we're always right with God.

Paul says that on the cross,

Jesus hung there,

and God took all of our badness,

all the things we messed up with,

all of our bad thoughts,

all of our bad actions,

all of the things we should have done,

but we didn't do,

all of these things that separate us from him.

He took all of those things

and he placed them on Jesus.

And his wrath was poured out

and Jesus died.

And on us,

he took all of God's and Christ's good things.

He laid all of the perfections of Jesus,

all the things that Christ did right

because he did everything right,

he lays them on us.

And now it's a gift.

And now you and I,

as a gift,

are made perfect.

And we get to this place in chapter five

where Paul wants to teach us

what it means to be made perfect.

He wants to teach us

what it means to be made right in God's eyes.

And in these verses one through 11,

he's gonna talk about five or six different things,

but today I just wanna talk about one thing,

one truth, one idea.

I know it's the beginning,

it's a journey.

We're gonna start off.

Some of us,

it's gonna be the first time we're gonna hear it,

but we need to hear this

if we're God's people

he's gonna talk about this idea of suffering,

pain,

trials,

and tribulations

that we're gonna face as God's people.

I mean, when you read the passage,

verses three through five,

it's almost as if

Paul is anticipating the question

that's gonna be answered

after you read verses one and two.

I mean, after you read verses one and two

and you read things like verse one,

we have peace with God.

The idea is there that we're no longer at war with God.

We're no longer combatants with God.

We're no longer hostile to God.

Now we are with him.

And this peace is forever.

When he talks to the words in chapter two,

we have total and free access to God.

Now, it was this idea that would have been revolutionary

because before when you worship God,

you had to go to the temple

and you entered in through these certain numbers of doors.

And at this door, the Gentiles got stopped.

And at this door, the Jewish women got stopped.

And at this door, all the Jews got stopped.

And only one person could go through the final door.

And it was the high priest

and he could only do it once a year

to make atonement for God's people.

But in verse two, he says,

now we have total access.

We have free access.

That all those walls are torn down.

All those curtains are destroyed.

That you and I every day

can come to God

and talk to him

and worship him.

And you don't need a priest going before you.

I mean, I love praying for people.

And people come up and ask me

to pray for them all the time.

But my prayers are no more special

than your prayers as God's children.

That's what Paul's saying.

You have total access to him.

In verse two, he says,

you have a sure hope.

And it's not hope like we talk about,

like I hope this happens.

But in Hebrew and Greek,

it means it's a certainty.

It's for sure.

It's never going to change.

We have this hope in the future.

It's never going to change.

It's because of what Christ did on the cross.

And this hope is that we're going to be with God.

And in the end,

no matter what we're going through right now,

no matter what happens,

it's going to be okay.

And then someone asked this question.

Well, that's what it seems like

when you read Paul's writing.

And the question is this.

Well, that sounds really good.

It sounds really good that we have heaven.

It sounds really good that we're justified.

It sounds really good we can talk to God.

It sounds really good that ultimately

everything's going to be okay

and we're going to be okay

and we're going to be there in the end.

That sounds really good.

But what about here and now?

What about now?

I mean, right now, life is difficult.

Right now, life is hard.

Right now, I am in pain.

Right now, there's tribulation.

Right now, there's incredible pressure.

How does all this talk about

chapters 1, chapters 2, chapters 3, chapters 4,

future, future, future?

What does it mean to me right now?

And Paul talks about that.

And so today, what I want to talk about

really briefly

is I want to talk about tribulation.

I want to talk about trials.

I want to talk about pain.

I want to talk about suffering.

It's going to be the beginning.

So don't expect it all to come here,

but my hope is that we start to think about this

and dialogue this as a church family.

That if you're in your community group,

you're going to be talking about it this week.

In your lunch times after work

with your other fellow brothers and sisters,

you're going to be talking about this week.

What does it mean for me to be a Christian

and go through tribulation?

What does it mean for me to be a follower of God

and be stuck in all the mess

that is here right now?

So I want to talk about

how we should think of tribulation.

What is tribulation?

And what we can learn about it?

What can we learn from it?

Now in Paul's day,

there was two schools of thought

about pain, suffering, and tribulation.

These two schools of thought ruled everything.

The first school of thought was the Epicureans.

It was started by this Greek philosopher.

The Greeks, didn't they have all the fun?

They just sit around and think,

and no one worked,

and what a great life.

And so this guy's Epicurious,

about 340 B.C.,

thought through this philosophy of life

on how to deal with pain and suffering,

and he said this.

He said,

we're always going to have pain.

We're always going to have suffering.

There's no way we can get rid of it.

So the key to life

is to have more good things

than bad things.

Fill your life with pleasures.

Fill your life with great things.

Fill your life with fun experiences.

Do as many good things as you can do

to counterweight the bad things

that happen to you.

And in the end,

hopefully your good experiences

will outweigh your bad experiences,

and you'll be said to have had a good life.

I mean, it's kind of like

the expat lifestyle in Hong Kong, isn't it?

You work incredibly hard,

and you play really hard.

You work incredibly hard,

and you play really hard.

You work incredibly hard,

and you buy a lot of stuff.

I mean, we're Epicureans, right?

We're trying to outweigh the bad

with the good.

Now, there's another group of philosophers

in Paul's day,

and they were guys called the Stoics.

They were started by this guy named Zeno.

I don't know, again,

the Greeks have the greatest names,

so Zeno, what a fun name.

And so Zeno, basically,

he expounded this idea.

This is how you handle pain.

This is how you handle suffering.

You know, the Stoics were kind of like,

they're kind of like the British people

of Paul's day.

Now, I know I usually pick on Australians

and South Africans,

but I'm going to pick on the British today.

The Stoics were kind of like the Brits.

You know, the Brits are just,

you know, bad stuff comes your way,

keep a stiff upper lip.

I mean, bad stuff comes your way,

and you're like that guard,

guarding everybody in Buckingham Palace.

You don't move.

You don't think.

You're just there.

You're stoic.

I mean, when bad stuff comes away,

you know, hey, who cares?

Stay calm.

Carry on.

If you stay calm and carry on,

everything's going to go away.

So bad things in life really,

really don't matter

because you're a rock.

You're a Brit.

Nothing can move you.

Now, I will say that is not totally true

because this last Sunday at the Rugby Sevens,

I saw a lot of British people totally moved.

I think it was probably the first time

since the university

that I had somebody cuss at me.

I thought it was great.

I mean, he didn't know what I did,

and we're walking around,

we're talking about rugby,

and I'm holding my Diet Coke.

And he's like,

what the are you doing drinking a Diet Coke?

Why aren't you drinking a beer?

Here, have some of this bloody lemon pie and eat it.

I was like, wow, that's kind of refreshing.

So I realized that to get a British person un-Stoic,

you just give them a couple beers,

and they'll be speaking.

But in Paul's day,

they didn't have that opportunity,

and so they had these guys called Stoics,

and they just stay calm, carry on,

everything's going to be okay.

But all of a sudden in this passage,

Paul says something radical.

I mean, we don't realize it when we read this,

but this is the first time in human history

people would have heard words like this.

Paul says that when plans, pain, and tribulation

come into our lives,

that God's in control.

That God has allowed these things

to come in there.

That there's nothing that's happening to you right now

as God's children

that surprises God.

That God is using these things

to put pressure on you.

The word tribulation,

and I looked around,

I couldn't find an example of it,

but it's the word tribulum.

It's like a big, big rake,

a big piece of wooden wood,

and it has these wooden spikes sticking out of it.

And the tribulum was this rake,

and you just kind of threw it down on the grain,

and when it hit the grain,

it put pressure on it,

and it broke the grain and the chaff,

and it separated those things.

The tribulum was this pressure,

and you threw it down on the grapes,

and you hit it in the grapes,

and you hit it in the grapes,

and it separated the bad from the good

in the grapes.

And for the first time ever,

Paul is saying that God knows what's going on.

He knows the tribulum is coming into our life.

He knows that the pain and suffering are happening,

and he has a plan for it.

He has a plan for it.

The word tribulum,

or tribulation,

or trial,

in Greek means,

and I'm just going to use this as a definition.

We're going to use it for the next couple weeks

or whenever we talk about it.

It means anything that comes into your life

that's going to bring you to a point

of making the decision,

are you going to trust God,

or are you not going to trust God?

A trial,

a tribulum,

is anything that comes into your life

that's going to bring you to a decision,

or point of decision,

or are you going to trust God,

or are you not going to trust God?

A tribulum can be anything.

It can be an event

that makes your life out of control.

It can be your health issues.

It can be relationship issues.

It can be work issues.

It can be financial issues.

It can be anything

that makes life harder,

anything that threatens your faith

in God's faithfulness,

anything that threatens your faith

in God's goodness,

anything that threatens your faith

in God's power,

anything that threatens your faith

that God is in control.

A tribulation, Paul says, is anything that comes into your life and threatens your thought that God is good and that he loves you as his children.

And Paul says, by the way, those things are going to come.

If you live like you don't want them to, if you live like you're not expecting them to,

if you live like when they come and they hit you and you go, oh, I wasn't expecting that.

But Paul says, you've lost the story of what God wants to do in your life.

I've thought about this a lot.

I thought about it a lot when I went back to Montgomery, Alabama,

to talk to the people about what was going on in the church there.

I know I'm going to offend most of us.

Because I think in this point, God's word can be very offensive.

But I think most of us think that trials are bad.

I think most of us think that tribulation is terrible.

I think that most of us run from trials and tribulations

and that most of us spend most of our time avoiding discomfort.

I think most of us, and I'm talking to myself,

our main goal in life

is to be happy

and to feel good about ourselves.

I think that most of us,

our main goal in our life

is to be happy

and to feel good about ourselves.

We do that by we control things.

We try to control our circumstances.

We try to control our living conditions.

We try to control our food intake.

We try to control our safety.

We try to control our health.

We try to control our sleep.

We try to control our relationships.

We can try to control our work.

But the minute we lose control of those things,

the minute life comes unglued or unraveled or out of control,

the minute those things happen,

I get unhappy.

I get unhappy.

And I spend a lot of effort and a lot of time

trying to grab my control back.

But Paul says,

Tobin, if you live your life like this,

if you live your life trying to avoid the tribulations

and trying to avoid the pain,

trying to avoid the suffering,

trying to avoid the trials,

if you live your life like this,

you're always going to be disappointed.

You're always going to be unhappy

because life as a child of God

is always going to be full of those things.

I asked somebody who I know in our congregation

who's had a couple trials and tribulations

to come up and share a little bit of their story.

And so I want to just introduce my wife.

But don't laugh

because her tribulation and trial isn't marrying me,

though it might be.

And so I've asked Christina to come up

and just share a little bit about what God's been doing in her life.

So Christina,

you're right there.

So Christina,

before we were talking last night and this morning,

she goes,

wow, I'm going to be a little nervous,

so can you do something to relax me up

and make me feel not so nervous?

So I thought I'd just get up here

and we can just talk about sex.

So we want to talk about our sex life and sex.

That probably relax everything.

Okay, you did it.

You did it.

I'm fine.

I'm fine.

I don't want to talk to you anymore.

But I thought,

so Christina is one of my heroes.

And it's really neat to be a husband

and be married to one of your heroes.

And so I thought that I wanted just you to share a little bit

about one of the trials and tribulations that you have gone through in your life.

Okay.

Well,

maybe one of my trials is living with my husband.

Or should I say,

no,

it's a pure joy.

Tobin wanted me to share one of the first trials,

big trials in my life when I was younger.

So when I was about 21 or 22 in university,

I was in the U.S.

And my parents were back.

My father was working in Malaysia at the time.

So we were halfway across the world from each other.

And I had my wrist.

My wrist was hurting me.

And so I said,

okay,

I have tendinitis in my wrist.

And so I was like,

okay,

I'll just go to the medical clinic at my university

and see if there's anything they can do about it.

So I went in and they took some blood tests.

And it was a Friday.

No,

no,

it was a,

must have been a Thursday.

So they come back,

say,

come back tomorrow,

Friday.

And we'll,

you know,

tell you what we find out.

So I go,

I walk into the medical clinic at my school

and all the nurses are saying,

that one right there,

that one right there.

And I was like,

okay,

that's a bit weird,

a bit strange,

a little bit,

you know,

uneasy feeling.

And then they,

they take me back into the room

and the,

and the doctor says,

well,

we don't know what's wrong with you,

but you have low platelets in your body

and forget about your hand.

Let's deal with your blood.

And so to this day,

nobody's ever addressed my hand again.

It's no longer priority.

But they said,

we don't know you might have cancer.

You might have leukemia.

We don't know what you have.

So we think you need to go to a real doctor,

go and go to the hospital.

So have a nice weekend.

And we'll,

you know,

talk to you later.

I was like,

okay,

oh my gosh.

So I started,

like a normal person would do,

started freaking out.

And I ran,

ran home to my roommate

and told her what the doctor said

and started freaking out

and started going,

oh my gosh,

you know,

maybe I'm going to die tomorrow,

you know.

And so,

of course,

it was always on a weekend.

You always get news on the,

on,

you know,

then you have to wait the whole weekend.

Doesn't it seem like that?

Always seems like that to me.

So I had to wait

and to go,

go back on Monday to the doctor

and,

which started a series of tests.

And basically,

I have low platelets.

In your blood,

there are three things.

There are red blood cells,

white blood cells,

and platelets.

And platelets is what makes your blood clot.

So they weren't so concerned about my,

breaking an arm.

You see that.

You see the brokenness or the,

the blood or how much blood you're losing.

They're more concerned about internal bleeding

and more specifically hemorrhaging to the brain,

right?

So I would,

they said,

so I went to the doctor

and week after week,

I went back for more tests

and more checking my blood.

And my platelets,

you're supposed to be 150,000

to 300,000 of platelets in your blood,

in your body.

I was,

I had gone down to 50.

30,000.

And then,

50,000.

And then,

it went down to 40,000.

And then 30,000.

And then 20,000.

And the lowest my platelets got down to

was 19,000.

And at 15,000,

they say,

we better,

we need to put you in the hospital

and you need to be bedridden

because we're concerned about your,

you know,

walk.

So I'd walk along the street

in university in the sidewalk

and see a crack

and go,

oh my gosh,

I better be really careful

with this crack

because if I fell down,

I could have internal bleeding

and not know it

and,

you know,

all of it.

And then I did intramural sports,

basketball,

and I was like,

okay,

I guess I better not do that.

That's just not safe.

I found myself studying for finals

in a hospital bed,

just hooked up to IV

just to get medicine

to coat my platelets

so I can keep going out

and doing what I needed to do.

So how it all ended up,

this went on for about a year.

This whole process

was probably about a year

worth of my life.

And what,

in the end,

I had a surgery

at the end of this

particular trial.

I had a surgery

and they said that

80% of the time

when you take out

your spleen,

your spleen is seeing

your platelets as bad

and it's destroying them.

So you take out your spleen

and it solves the problem.

Your platelets go back up

to a normal level.

So I had my spleen taken out

and I have a lovely scar

across my whole stomach

to prove,

to,

you know,

show my,

that I had this surgery.

And,

and my platelets

went back up

to a normal level

of 100 for me,

100,000,

which is great for me.

So today,

and today,

how does that affect me?

The only side effect

it has for my life today

is when I'm pregnant.

And for some reason,

when I'm pregnant,

my platelets

dropped back down again.

And so,

when my first pregnancy,

we didn't know

what,

what we had in store,

what,

how,

how it would affect

my delivery

and how much blood

I would make,

how much blood

I would lose

and,

and could I handle

a delivery or not.

But that's another trial,

another whole story

for another day.

I won't go into that one.

Okay.

That's good.

And we're glad

you're here.

Thank you.

What did you,

what was God teaching you

during this time?

What were you learning?

Well,

soon I learned

very quickly

that I wouldn't,

I was,

there was no way

I could live

week to week

depending upon

my blood level count.

That if my blood level

count was high,

I was high.

If my blood level

count was low,

I was low.

So I was living

this emotional roller coaster

and I realized

very quickly

there's no way

I can do this.

I, you know,

I'm going to be a wreck.

I'm going to be emotional,

a physical wreck

doing this.

And so,

the first thing I did

was I started to pray.

I started to say,

Lord,

help me take this away.

What do I do?

Help, help, help.

You know,

this is beyond me.

Help me.

And this,

this is what started

probably a lot

of the questions

I started to have

because God

didn't take it away.

It kept week after week.

It still stayed

and it would go

lower and lower.

And so,

I started questioning,

did I not have

enough faith?

Was my faith

not enough?

Is that why

my prayers

weren't being answered?

Is that why

this wasn't going away?

Or did I do

something wrong

and the Lord

was trying to

discipline me

and this is why

this is happening to me?

I didn't understand

why this was happening

to me, right?

I had plans

for my life,

you know?

I was in university.

I was going places.

I had lots to do

and lots of plans

and the Lord stopped.

It all came

to a complete stop

and said,

no, stop right here.

And I spent more days

in the hospital

than I did,

you know,

at school.

This really drew me

to seek the Lord

more and more

and learn more

about who he was

and his character

and I was like,

I have to know

why and what

about God.

Why is this happening

in my life?

And I looked,

I started reading

verse after verse.

I did a whole,

somebody challenged me

to do a whole study

on the word blood

since that was my issue

and so I did a whole study

on blood

which, you know,

Jesus can relate

to blood, right?

So,

but one of them

was like Mark,

in Mark 9,

there's a man

who brings his son

to Jesus

because his son

is ill

and his comment

to Jesus

is help me believe

within my unbelief

and that gave me

so much encouragement

that it was God's job

to give him the belief

that he didn't have

the belief,

he didn't have the faith

but he was asking

the Lord

to give him the faith

that he needed

to get through this

and also in James 5,

talks about prayer

and the prayer

and the prayer

of a righteous man

is powerful

and effective

and I didn't know,

I didn't understand

but I just was like

I'm going to trust

and I'm going to obey

and I'm going to keep praying

and the power

of a righteous man

is powerful

and effective

and I'm going to stand

on that.

I said,

I'm going to stand

on your promises Lord,

I'm going to stand

to things I know

is true about you

that he gives,

he gives our faith

for that time of need

that he is the giver of life

that it's free

for him to give

and for him to take away.

I need to accept that

and be content

and learn to be content in that

and that one other thing

was that wherever my body is,

my physical body is,

that's where he wants me

because he knows,

he enabled me

to be like this

in this situation

and so if my only place

that my body can be

is in a hospital,

that's where he wants me.

If it's at home,

that's where he wants me.

If I'm able to go out,

that's where he wants me

and so to accept

and yield my self

to his will for my life

and what he wants for me

and my motto started

to be in my life,

I am not going to allow

anyone or anything

to rob me of the joy

that the Lord has for me.

How does this,

if you think about that,

where you've been

and the transition

of those things,

how does that affect you today

like where you're at right now?

Okay.

Because I know you never imagined

being married to such a

handsome husband

or those type of things,

so how does that affect you now?

Humility is not a problem,

is it?

Okay, thank you.

Actually, just after Tobin

asked me to talk about this,

I've talked about a lot

of other trials in my life,

but not this one,

and so it really made me

look back at this

because it was like

when I was 21 or 22,

and I realized,

wow,

that really has shaped

that incident

and those things I learned then

really shaped the trials

that I go through today

and how I've handled them,

and it's shaped who I am,

who I've become today,

and how I view hardships,

and so that's pretty amazing.

I think it was always role modeled

in my family,

in my parents.

It was always,

it was modeled to me

to have a thankful heart,

to be thankful in all circumstances,

regardless of your circumstances.

My grandfather was a medical doctor,

and so he had a verse up

that cheerfulness is the best medicine,

and he would go around

telling people jokes all the time,

and when he got older,

the same jokes all the time,

and then my father

had a severely handicapped brother,

and those people in our lives

are such a blessing to us,

and they bring special appreciation

in our lives,

and so I saw that in my father

and in my extended family

and just appreciating life

and what we had,

but even,

and even today,

with my parents,

my parents are going through

health issues,

and with their struggles,

they still have such a thankful heart,

and they go around,

they go around saying,

praise the Lord,

you know,

so that's wonderful,

so,

but even,

even seeing,

even seeing that role modeled

in my family,

I realized that it didn't really,

it took me experiencing my own struggles

to truly learn,

to choose,

and to be thankful to the Lord,

and that's what brings real joy

in my life to the Lord

is through those things.

I think I learned from this

to be more,

to have empathy

and more sympathy with people.

I truly enjoy going

to the waiting room now

and sitting with the person waiting

for somebody who's having surgery

and praying for them,

talking,

making jokes,

you know,

I truly enjoy that

because I've been there

and I,

and I see that

when I was needy,

when I had that need,

someone was there for me

and I,

so I truly enjoy that.

And through my,

some of my other struggles,

like when I had an ectopic pregnancy

and had miscarriage

and when Tobin had his heart attack,

I see that,

that I was able to be

more thankful

and not so in despair

about the situation.

I still deal with fears.

I think those,

some of it did create

some different fears

that maybe I wouldn't have today.

Some of them irrationally.

I think that I went through

a lot of questions

about life and death

and our mortality.

And so,

like,

one irrational fear

that got transferred

to flying on an airplane.

And so,

which is not very helpful

since we live on an island,

you know.

but,

but whenever I get on an airplane now,

you know,

I have to,

I recite,

I recite the verse

to myself.

Do not fear

of sudden disaster

for the Lord

will be your confidence.

Do not fear

of sudden disaster.

The Lord will be your confidence

and there I go,

you know.

And I'm like,

I'm going to trust the Lord.

I wish it was something else.

There's other dangers

in the world

besides flying

and I wish

it was that one

but it's not.

So anyway.

And every time,

I always have,

I also have to ask him

to take my mind captive

to his,

to his thoughts

and his word

and ask,

and every time

I have a little panic moment,

you know,

what if something happened

to Tobin

or something like that

then I would say,

you know,

Lord,

I've seen

that you,

you are going to take care of me

and I,

and I ask him

to take those thoughts captive

and not go there

with those thoughts.

But the most of the thing

I think I do

is I just,

is I cling to his promises

and I say,

I'm,

I'm counting on you,

God,

to come through

with these promises

for me in my life

that he will never,

ever leave me

nor forsake me,

that he has his perfect timing

for me

and I've seen it

in my past

and I know it

for my future,

I believe it

for my future,

that his angels

are watching over me,

all of us,

which is an amazing

concept to think about

and that ultimately

in 2 Corinthians,

it says,

you know,

we,

we may feel pressed,

we may be pressed,

but we're not going

to be crushed.

We may be perplexed,

but we will,

we don't have to be

in despair

and I think

the way,

the reason

that God can tell us

that is because

that's what Jesus,

when he died for me,

that's what he did,

that I might be sad

in life,

but I don't have

to despair

because I have

the hope in God

and in the Lord.

Thanks, honey.

So I'll get in trouble

tonight when we go home

about the sex comment

so you can pray for me

in the trials

and tribulations

that I will face

later on.

In verses 3 through 5,

for the first time

in human history,

Paul says something

that the Epicureans

and the Stoics

never heard.

He says that as Christians

we can actually rest.

He says as Christians

we can actually have peace.

He says as Christians

we can actually have joy

as we go through trials

and tribulations.

He says that the tribulations

are proof

that God is with us,

that God is doing something

in our lives,

that God loves us too much

to have us where we are.

He says that trials

and tribulations

are God's ultimate

development plan

in our life.

And the question is

are we going to accept

God developing us?

Verse 3,

the sufferings help us

to focus.

They help change

our focus.

They help us

to become single-minded.

They help us to align

to think of what God

is thinking of.

Here's a question for you.

Where's your focus?

As you're sitting

through the day

what are you focusing on?

What is the hope

that brings you

through that day?

What is the hope

that you focus on

that takes you

through the trials

and tribulations?

Paul says that God

is using those things

to take our mind

off the things

that bother us

and distract us

and to put them

on to God.

It actually says

that these tribulations

are going to bring us

patient endurance.

Verse 4,

he says,

this perseverance

leads to a tested character.

He says that

as we go through

these sufferings

and these trials

that our character

is tested,

it's refined,

it's made strong,

and that we don't have

to doubt

God's faithfulness.

Ultimately,

he says,

you always go to the cross

if you lose your way

and you work your way

from the cross,

which is the ultimate symbol

of God's faithfulness

to your life

here and now.

The trials and tribulations

bring about perseverance.

The perseverance

brings about proven character.

And all of these things

kind of cascade

like a waterfall

into verse 5

where he says,

all of these things

bring about hope.

And it's not just a hope

in the future,

but it's a hope

here and now.

And it's not just a hope,

I hope I get this promotion

or I hope this works out well,

but it's a certainty

that wherever we are at

as God's people,

he's there.

And he's working

through the trials

and the tribulation

in the difficult times

in our life.

The problem, I think,

comes when we come

into trials.

And after a period of time,

we start to doubt

God's goodness.

We start to doubt

God's faithfulness.

We become angry.

And Paul says

throughout the first part

of Romans

that if that's our reaction,

we're still living

in Romans 1 and 2.

We're trying to work out

our justification.

We're trying to be good people.

We're trying to make

our life good.

And when things don't happen

that we want to have happen,

we become angry

because we think

we deserve better.

But that's not grace.

That's not grace.

Paul says

when we understand

that we've been bought

by God,

when we understand

that he paid the price

of his son,

when we understand

Romans 3

and 4

and 5

and 6

and 7,

that when those trials

and tribulations

and temptations

and difficult times

come into our life,

we know that it's because

God wants to do

something in us.

We know that it's because

God is in control.

We know that the only reason

we're here right now anyway

is not because we're so cool

and we're so good

and we so have our life together,

but the only reason

that we're here anyway

is because God gave us

this gift.

And sometimes

I forget that.

I forget that.

Sometimes when things get hard,

I forget that.

And the message

of Romans 5,

1 through 11 is

don't you ever forget that.

Because that's a truth

that is true

of all God's children.

And God is with you

wherever you're going

and he's allowing

those things to happen

for a momentary time

because he wants

to do something

incredibly special

in your life.

And the only way

he can do that

is like a little kid.

You take your little kid

who's looking

at the wall socket

and they want to stick

their finger

in the wall socket.

And as a loving parent,

you come over there

and you take them

and you move their head

and you face them

some other place.

You take them,

you move them head,

you face them

some other place.

You eventually take them,

you pick them up,

trial,

tribulation,

difficulty,

and you move them

away from where

they want to be.

Because you know

that if you don't move them

out of that situation,

they're never going to become

whom they're supposed to be.

That's the message

of Romans 5,

Romans 5:1–8

verses 1-8.

Does that make sense?

To me,

that is the most amazing truth

as I think about us

walking with the Lord,

that God is so committed

to us in his grace.

Three final thoughts,

three final thoughts,

and we're done.

Often our first reaction

to pressure,

tribulations,

the tribulum,

the trials,

the pain,

the suffering,

our first reaction

is usually to say,

God, I need you,

help me,

help me get out of this,

Lord, I need you.

But then after you've screamed

that for about two days

or three days,

you start to become angry.

And you start to become upset.

And usually the first thing

that we do,

what Tobin does

is he removes himself

from God.

He stops talking to God.

He stops praying to God.

He stops reading God's word.

And the next thing

that Tobin does

is he removes himself

from the people of God.

Does that make sense?

Trials, tribulations,

pray,

help me,

it's not working.

God,

I'm so disappointed with you.

I'm so angry with you.

I stop reading,

I stop praying,

and I stop hanging out

with other Christians.

Don't do it.

If you do it,

you will never become

whom God wants you to be.

You need to be praying.

You need to be reading God's word.

You need to be accountable

to other people.

You need to be in fellowship.

But often my first reaction

after the suffering

has gone on

for more than a week

is I start to doubt

God's goodness.

Second thing,

you are never called

to deny your pain,

your hurt,

or your feelings.

Scripture never says,

don't feel pain.

Don't be a Brit.

Scripture never says,

be stoic.

Scripture says,

speak what you're feeling.

Share it with the community.

Share it with God.

But do me a favor.

Please don't go around

going,

I got cancer!

Praise the Lord!

Isn't that amazing?

I got cancer!

Praise the Lord!

Praise the Lord!

Because people who aren't

in the family of God,

they think you're weird.

I mean,

that's stupid.

And you want me

to tell you something?

That is stupid.

Because cancer

is evil.

Broken relationships

is evil.

Pain and suffering

is evil.

It's all because

of the fall.

It's all because

we made poor choices.

So instead,

when you're going

through that time,

say something like this.

God,

in the craziness,

I don't know

what's going on,

but I'm so thankful

you're here.

God,

my life is out of control.

I don't know

where this is going to go.

I don't know

what's going to happen next.

I've been praying

for so long.

But I'm so thankful

you're here.

And I trust you.

Don't deny your feelings.

Don't deny your pain.

Don't deny your suffering.

But realize

that God

is in the midst of that.

And he's breaking

that rake across you

because there's

a lot of things

on you

that he wants

to separate

and to tear apart

because there's

something amazing

underneath there.

And you can't be

that type of person.

You can't be

that person

that God wants you

to be.

until he runs

that rake over you.

Finally,

this whole thing

is a process.

It's a journey.

I mean,

sometimes it is

a hard journey.

It doesn't happen

instantly.

It doesn't happen

instantly.

But it happens.

hang in there.

God

never

gives up

on you.

The moment

you think that,

you look at the cross

and you realize

that he gave

the most important thing

in his life

for you.

If he gave

the most important thing

in his life

for you,

surely he's going

to take care of you

while you're

apart from him.

Surely he's going

to be with you

in the midst

of the trials.

Surely he's going

to be with you

in the midst

of the tribulation.

Surely he's going

to be with you

in the midst

of the difficulties.

It's a process.

Don't expect it

to happen like that.

But know that

when it happens,

God is going

to do something

amazing

in your life.

I love

to scuba dive.

I've been certified

to about four levels

down.

I do deep dives.

I do nitrox.

I do all those things.

When I first started

to scuba dive

under the water,

it scared the crap

out of me.

Because I would

look down 30 feet up

and you would see

the bubbles going

up there

and you would see

the water up there.

And the scuba diver

told me,

the very first guy,

it was an Aussie guy,

he was drunk one time

and we were talking

and he was training me

and he goes,

this is your regulator.

Your regulator

is one of the only

foolproof pieces

of equipment

in the world.

There are not many

pieces of equipment

that are foolproof.

But your regulator is.

You breathe in,

it gives you air,

you breathe out,

stuff goes out.

You breathe in,

you give you air,

you breathe out,

stuff goes out.

Don't ever take

your regulator out.

There's going to be times

you're going to feel

like taking your

regulator out.

You're going to be under

and you're going to cough

and you're going to want

to take your regulator out.

Don't take your regulator out

because you're going to drown.

Keep your regulator in.

He goes,

I was drunk one time

and I went down

for this,

how do I do that?

I'm talking like a Texan.

I went down

for this deep dive

and I threw up.

And he goes,

when you throw up,

your first reaction

is take everything

out of your mouth

and pfft, pfft, pfft.

But you're 100 feet

underwater

and you do that

and you drown.

And he said to me,

you know,

even when you throw up,

your regulator works.

Two years later,

I'm doing my rescue dive

certification.

I've had four dives

in the day.

I'm exhausted.

I mean,

I went out for lunch.

I ate something

and I was really,

really sick.

And so I'm 45 feet

underwater

and I have to throw up.

And I have no idea

what I'm going to do.

And all of a sudden

in my mind,

I'm thinking,

the regulator's foolproof.

The regulator's foolproof.

Don't ever take it out.

Keep it in.

Don't ever take it out.

Take it in.

And so I'm underwater.

I can't get up.

I'll get the bends.

I'm about to throw up.

And the only thing I do

is I stop everything.

I take my hand

and I push my hand

on my regulator

so that I don't pull it out

and I throw up.

40 feet underwater.

I mean, it's amazing.

You know what?

The regulator worked.

Blah!

Pfft!

Fish come in.

But I keep breathing.

Blah!

Poo!

Fish come in.

Blah!

You know what?

That regulator works.

You know when you go

scuba diving with me now?

You know what I say?

This is the only foolproof

piece of equipment

in the world.

No matter where you are,

no matter what happens to you,

no matter what kind

of situation you are,

don't ever take

your regulator out

because you will be able

to breathe oxygen on demand,

exhale on demand.

They don't get mixed up.

Even the vomit goes out.

You don't breathe in

their vomit.

It goes out.

You're okay.

This is the only thing

you need.

How do I know that?

I know that.

Because I went through a trial

and now I trust that regulator.

Paul saved

Jesus.

He's the only thing you need.

If you're down

and it's out of control

and things are out of things

and you don't know

what you're going to do,

you think you're going to drown,

you hold on to him

because he'll take you through.

Don't pull him out.

Don't separate your life from him

because he'll take care of you.

He'll take care of you

if you let him.

If you let him.

God's throwing a rake

across some of us right now.

We're getting crushed.

We're getting pressed.

We're feeling uncomfortable.

He's doing something new

in our life

but he has that promise

that his son is always there.

He won't let you down.

He won't let you down.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.