From Test to Testimony | Dr. Aaron Cole

good morning Welcome to Life Church I'm

Aaron Cole the senior pastor It's great

to see you today We welcome all of our

campuses Apple campus Brookfield campus

Milwaukee campus Germantown online

wherever you are joining us from and

connecting We're so delighted that

you're with us And uh man I don't know

what's going on in your world but you

don't have to shovel rain Amen

Amen Some of you are disappointed I know

you love the snow God bless your heart

But for those of us I you don't have to

shovel the rain That's all I was

thinking today A little wet but no big

deal So good Uh look at your neighbor

and just for a moment just say "Are you

awake this morning?" Just do that Like

are you

awake do I need to go to the for you and

get you a cup of coffee just ask them

"Should I get you a cup of coffee?" Just

make sure everybody's kind of

caffeinated Right caffeination and the

Holy Spirit It's an amazing experience

right it just works It just works Well

if you have your Bibles I want you to

turn with me to 2 Corinthians chapter 12

2 Corinthians 12 · chapter mention

Second Corinthians chapter 12 We're in

2 Corinthians 12 · chapter mention

the second week of this series We're

gonna be doing this series all the way

up to Easter And uh and this is this

series called Echoes when it talks about

your story um has an effect not just in

your own life but has a ripple effect

and it echoes and reverberates and it it

doesn't stop And I want to talk today

about how going from this is sounds

really preachery but it's from a test to

a testimony going from a test to a

testimony Part of what happens sometimes

in our lives is that there are tests and

trials that happen that don't

lift Now we sang a phrase in that song

that you know uh this season will soon

end Sometimes it doesn't Sometimes it

goes on for way longer Sometimes it goes

on for a lifetime

And it's in those moments where we kind

of go like we realize that God is not

some cosmic Santa Claus or ATM This

isn't some algorithm that the Bible's

not some code that all of a sudden you

figure things out and you get what you

want like it's a genie in a bottle

People I I encounter from time to time

just like you do Hey church doesn't work

for me and Jesus doesn't work What

they're saying is is that I went and I

didn't get what I wanted Now I'm looking

for something else And and in and in

America we have this easy Christianity

Just come show up be in a group very

consumeristic It's all about what you

want Most of the time when people go

from church A to church B it's never

about anything of substance It's

typically about something of I didn't

like the worship or the preaching got

too difficult I had one guy tell me one

time would you just quit like when you

tell stories you really get in my

kitchen and I just don't like it Just

preach the Bible And I'm like well I am

just preaching the Bible But if you look

at how Jesus taught it was 10%

information He was quoting the Old

Testament and 90% application And

there's something about that application

that just kind of gets in the cracks and

the crevices of our lives and creates

irritations that the Holy Spirit begins

to use and work and do And so what

happens is is that we like a very easy

Christianity We like a very we we we

don't want the wave pool We're too old

for that You know what I'm talking about

we want the lazy river Amen

couple of warm spots here and there but

that's okay man We're just the lazy

river all the way through And the truth

of the matter is is that that's not what

being a follower of Jesus is always all

about More times than not there are

trials and temptations and turbulences

and issues And in some instances they

don't just lift in a very quick hurry

And sometimes they even last for a

lifetime And sometimes we don't know why

And if we have enough faith and have

enough

strength then we're able to

last till we get to the other side and

then we totally get what God was doing

this side of eternity Today the passage

and the message we're going to talk

about is just that It's the Apostle Paul

This is probably one of the most debated

passages of scripture conjecturing upon

what Paul meant by these words So he's

writing to the church in Corenth in 2

2 Corinthians 12 · chapter mention

Corinthians chapter 12 So it's a letter

to this church And in verse 7 he starts

it this way So to keep me from becoming

conceited because of the surpassing

greatness of Revelations a thorn was

given to me in the flesh a messenger of

Satan to harass me to keep me from

becoming conceited Three times I pleaded

with the Lord about this that it should

leave me Look at verse nine

But he said to me "My grace is

sufficient for you for my power is made

perfect in weakness." Therefore anytime

you see a therefore you got to ask what

it's there for He's speaking to the

preceding Because of this I will boast

all the more gladly of my weakness so

that the power of Christ may rest upon

me For the sake of Christ then I am

content with the weaknesses the insults

the hardships the persecutions and the

calamities For when I am weak then I am

strong That's really easy to read But

how many of you would say "Hey man I can

be content with weakness insult hardship

persecution and calamity." Okay can can

you pass the salt i mean like like like

but we read that and we go that's

awesome But you understand Paul's a guy

just like us He's a man just like us

He's not deity He he had a he had a he

had a special revelation God gave him

insight to some things Therefore God

asked some things of him that were

difficult And and this is true anytime

you see this in scripture How greatly

God uses a person is directly related

and correlated to how broken they are to

the greater that God will use them is to

the greater that God will break them And

typically he breaks them before he

builds them God takes you down before he

takes you up And we always want to go up

and to the right But that's not the way

of the kingdom That's man's way That's

success in the marketplace That's

success from man's point of view That's

success in in athletics That's success

in the world in which we live in But the

truth of the kingdom is typically it's

the opposite direction And sometimes

it's that way for a lifetime until you

get on the other side and you realize

okay this is what God was doing I had no

clue this is what was going on You see

God can transform the greatest trials in

your life and into these powerful

testimonies of his faithfulness And he

can turn these moments of pain into

platforms of glory So how do you allow a

test to become a testimony how does it

become inspirational not just to you but

to others i I'd write this question down

if you take notes What is your test what

is your trial what is your as Paul would

call it thorn in the flesh what is that

for you everybody deals with this This

is like Superman's kryptonite This is

this is this is the test or the trial or

the thorn in the flesh So let's first of

all let's break this down Let's look at

this passage First of all the test this

is the most hotly debated conjectured

passage that Paul will write He says

again in verse seven so to keep me from

becoming conceited Why because of the

surpassing greatness of the revelations

a thorn was given to me in the flesh a

messenger from Satan to harass me to

keep me from becoming conceited Three

times I pleaded with the Lord about this

that it should lead me So Paul basically

we see in verse 7 has this revelation He

has this call He has this insight One

thing you have to understand about Paul

Paul was a man's man Like there was

nothing that was passive or easy about

him I always say in leadership you want

to be a brick wrapped in velvet You want

to be firm and well- definfined but you

also when people brush up in next to you

you want to be warm and engaging So but

every leader typically either ts tends

to be a little bit more velvet or a

little bit more brick right so velvet

you're you're warm and and engaging but

you're also you happen to have a

tendency to kind of give in and to try

to okay and consensus and let's just all

get along Everybody's a winner right

it's that kind of a deal The velvet side

of it the brick side of it is is is a

little bit more harsh and you're a

little bit more rough maybe a little

crusty and you're like "Nope this is a

rule This is the way it works This is

how it is This is sorry go to the back

of the line I don't really care It

doesn't matter to me that you're going

to miss your flight You you showed up

late You won't do that again will you?"

Right it's that kind of a deal right you

you you encounter people like that that

there are some people that they're very

kind and other people not so much And

and so the idea behind a leadership

behind leaders is that we should be this

brick wrapped in velvet Paul

is very much brick He He has very He has

to learn the velvet side Matter of fact

he and Barnabas who's another guy who's

his name means son of encouragement He's

velvet Paul is brick And so they they

part ways over a guy named John Mark uh

because basically he he basically wants

to go home And basically Paul says he's

a mama's boy and he has no he can't go

on the second missionary journey And

Barnabas is like I think you're being

overreactive He says no If you feel that

way you don't go either I mean this is

Paul So there's nothing passive about

Paul There's nothing there's nothing

light This is what I'm trying to trying

to get you to understand The other thing

is Paul is also a very astute person He

would have had all the degrees He would

have had all the PhDs from the leading

schools and universities He would have

been he's a Roman citizen and he's a Jew

which is got dual citizenship which was

very difficult to do But because of his

birth lineage and all this kind of he

has this So he has rights that the other

Jewish brothers like Peter don't have He

He He has access to power and control

these other guys don't have He He's been

to the very best of the best He

understands how to navigate power

leaders and power brokers He knows how

to speak to power His overall goal is if

he can get to Caesar he can convince him

and lead him to Jesus and turn the Roman

nation which was the which was the

superpower of the world at that time

over to a Christian nation and therefore

change the world He actually believed

all he needed was an audience You ever

been around somebody like that like like

you know like their ego enters a room

before they do This is Paul But part of

it is he has this revelation He has this

insight He understands how the Old

Testament melds together with the New

Testament He understands how Judaism is

not necessarily given away but it's this

it's this now we're grafted into the

vine that he'll write about in the book

of Galatians which is his first letter

that he writes which is powerful and

dynamic and very provocative for the

first world He he he gets how everything

comes together He has no problem going

to the power brokers in the first

century and saying "You're wrong." He

calls Peter on the carpet in Jerusalem

because he says "Hey when you're over

with this group of Christians you act

like this and you're over here you act

like that and you despise these people

and you're a hypocrite." I mean could

you imagine i mean Peter would be the

the quintessential pope of his day And

he's calling power on the carpet only

for Peter to come back and say "You're

right." I mean Paul has no fear He is

fearless And many times when you read

his writings he's coming in and saying

"So and so left me and so and so left me

and so and so." You know what you know

why because his octane was at a level

that very few people could keep up And

so here's this man who has been gifted

highly He is a high D on the disc scale

He is triple triple A He It's not even

just like an A personality He is triple

A It's all the power And he says "I've

been given all of this but to keep me

from becoming conceited I have this

thorn in the

flesh I have this test." Some

theologians have said it was an inner

psychological struggle such as grief

over his earlier persecution of the

church because he was the one that was

stoning and killing He would have been

he was there when Steven was stoned

which was the first martyr of the New

Testament He probably ordered it He held

their coats and watched them do it uh he

was powerful enough that he didn't get

his own hands dirty but he had somebody

else pulled the trigger Um it would have

been opponents who continue to persecute

him because now he has opponents from

the Jewish faith and believers

um that are that are said "Hey man

you're a turn quote You've left Judaism

and you've gone into Christianity You

bought into this Jesus Messiah junk and

and what are you doing?" And then he

also has people on the inside of the

church that go "I don't I don't really

know that I think he's saved I don't

really know that he's really had an

experience with God." It's very

interesting if you talk to Orthodox Jews

or you talk to like if you if whenever

the war gets over and we go to Israel I

was going to try to do a trip this fall

and I think there are three people that

want to go with me and so I I get it

right It's it's it I I get it Um

but this guide that we use he's

phenomenal He's he's not a Christian

He's he's a Jew Uh but just phenomenal

on insight Amazing

One of the things I learned early on is

he does not like Paul Like because Paul

is like a traitor Like Paul is a sellout

And so when we're anywhere I'm like "Now

didn't Paul do that here?" Yeah Yeah But

but but and he'll just go right on

because they just don't I mean it's just

this type of deal So there was this some

some theologians said that the struggle

could be that Some said it's some kind

of a physical affliction that he's

dealing with Here's a guy who will write

most of the New Testament under the

inspiration of the Holy Spirit

yet he has this thorn in the flesh

Here's what you need to know We don't

know what it is That's good because if

we knew what it was we'd go "Oh that's

not my problem." Right because because

we judge from the point of strength not

from weakness So if if if you're a

smoker and you can't break that habit

and I'm not I go "See I I don't

understand you I mean just walk away

from it's just it's just cigarettes It's

disgusting You know how much those

things cost?"

But but you know but at the same time

I'm I'm holding a bourbon in my hand and

I'm a drunk I mean like that that's what

we do We have a tendency to to judge

people from our own points of strength

not weakness And so when Paul has this

weakness we don't know what it is And

because we don't know what it is we

don't know what he what what what the

problem was So we can all read this and

go okay here's somebody who walked

through a trial in life who walked

through a test in life who who walked

through a persecution who walked through

a difficulty and and it was given to him

by God This isn't Satan This is given to

him The Lord allowed this into his life

so that he would keep him from being

conceited Because of the greatness of

the gifting that God had given him he

gave him something that would kind of

keep his feet on the ground if you would

See there was a reason for the thorn It

says right there to bring humility and

to bring reliance upon God And we all

experience tests and trials in life

Sometimes it's a difficult season

Sometimes it's a delayed promise or

response Sometimes it's an insolvable

problem Sometimes it's prolonged pain

But like Paul we can plead with the Lord

to remove the thorn But more often than

not God will allow the thorn to persist

so that we might be further shaped in

his image We don't like that I don't

like that Just so you know like I this

there's nothing about this message that

I go "Oh this is great I'm so awesome I

get to preach this passage because

because I have issues You have issues We

all have issues But some of these tests

and trials can can last a lifetime." Uh

but the thing you have to understand is

you're not alone And that's the reason

why this is written is because we don't

know what the problem is So whatever the

kryptonite that you deal whatever the

the problem that you deal with whatever

the trial that you're facing whatever

that may be it's not that Christianity

doesn't work It's not that God is dead

It's not that Jesus doesn't care It's

not that God loves somebody else better

than he loves you It's just simply this

that God's working something out in your

life That's reason why we run our own

race We don't run a race against anybody

else I'm not competing against you And

you're not competing against me because

we're all called to do different things

I'm not competing against Paul I keep my

eyes upon Jesus who's the author and the

finisher of my faith That's it And so

but but there are times you go "This

doesn't make sense It didn't make sense

to Paul." There's times where it's like

I didn't do anything wrong He didn't

necessarily do anything wrong Matter of

fact it was just so that he wouldn't do

something wrong Sometimes there are

things that happen in our life that we

don't completely understand this side of

eternity And we think we know and we

know in part and we understand in part

but not fully And we don't like that And

but can I just tell you that's okay It's

okay that you don't like it It's okay

that you don't understand it It's okay

that there are just some things inside

of eternity that doesn't make sense And

to realize that fairness ended in the

Garden of Eden We don't live in a fair

world And and I've heard preachers say

this before but I agree with this We

don't serve a just

God Oh what do you mean just is that I

should die and go to hell for my sins

Grace is that he gave his one and only

son Jesus Christ that came in my place

and he was tempted and tried in all ways

and all manner that I am yet without sin

And he went to the cross and he died on

the cross and he rose again for my sins

Thank God that he's merciful and that

he's

gracious So the second thing we see here

is the how do you how do you how do you

walk through this with God's grace this

is where God's grace shows up Again we

like talking about the grace of God

especially when somebody else's life

Amen In God gracious God I'm just

praying for God's grace in that

situation But when it comes to you that

becomes different right it's kind of

like if it's a it's a major surgery if

it's happening to me it's minor if it's

happening to you Okay 2 Corinthians 12:9

2 Corinthians 12:9

Let's read on But he said to me "For my

grace is sufficient for you for my power

is made perfect in weakness Therefore I

will boast all the more gladly of my

weaknesses so that the power of Christ

may rest upon me." So he's asked God

three times Three times to remove this

Three times remove this And again

anytime you see something free in

scripture it's meant to highlight it

It's meant to it's it's meant to to

magnify it It's meant to catch your

attention He's gone before God multiple

times And yet God's response has been my

grace is sufficient So God's response to

the thorn was not removal which is what

we want but grace and power through

human weakness It wasn't because Paul

lacked faith Wasn't because Paul didn't

believe You will hear some crack

theology every once in a while that will

say "Well if you just you know if you

just had more faith you would you you

know you wouldn't deal with that."

Well yeah I mean that's peering into

somebody's soul And and again that's

beyond my pay grade You can I just help

you with something that will help all of

us whether we're whether we're

Christians or not None of us have the

right to judge somebody's motives I

don't know your motives I can see your

actions I can see the fruit of your life

but I can't judge your motives I I I

can't I I can't do that And so the

reality is is is sometimes there are

things that just happen in our life and

God allows things to happen And there

are thorns that are there and and God

saying "Hey it's my grace and power uh

that's going to get you through It's not

going to through your human weakness."

See Paul's thorn was a platform that

became the demonstration of of God's

power Uh Awtoer said it this way that

the grace of God is infinite beyond

ability to measure For his grace has no

beginning and there's no end And just

can I just say this to you we all need

grace We not just somebody else needs

grace I need grace I need God It's by

God's grace that I'm saved through faith

in Jesus Christ It's a gift of God lest

I would become boastful There's nothing

that I did I'm not any closer to God

than you are I'm not any more have a

corner market because I'm the pastor

Matter of fact what you find a lot of

times in ministry is that people that

are in vocational ministry that is is

that there is a thing that they're

having to walk through in that whole

process There there there's a there's an

issue that they're walking through in

that entire process that sometimes no

one else knows There are struggles that

they're dealing with that no one else

knows about I mean I sat across from the

table a few weeks ago I happened it was

on a travel and I'm with with a pastor

and uh he attempted

suicide And was unsuccessful thank

God And this just

happened And I just said "Hey man I just

want you to know I love you and there's

no judgment for this or for

anything." and the pressures and the

weight of what he was dealing with and

his isolation and along with some other

things created just kind of a storm some

medication he was on and it just kind of

came out of nowhere and I said why

didn't you reach out and he said because

I thought I could handle

it You don't know what people are going

through You don't know you're I'm not

there right just so you know Right I'm

I'm thinking about enchiladas for lunch

so I'm I'm good Okay You don't know what

I'm going

through You look and you think you

know but you have no clue We don't have

any clue People that are pulling up in a

parking lot today what they're facing

people that are sitting in this room

what they're contemplating We We don't

know the struggle So I don't I don't get

to judge that All I can tell you is is

that God's grace is efficient Whatever

it is however you're feeling you're not

alone That God loves you and has a plan

for your life And that's not trit

Christianity That is his word And when

he says it is sufficient that's what he

tells Paul "For my grace is sufficient."

That's a present tense It means it

underscores the everpresent ability and

availability of the sufficiency of God's

grace That God's grace is there whenever

you need it as much as you need it as

long as you need it It's sufficient It

doesn't run out It it it doesn't expire

It it doesn't go bad like milk in the

refrigerator I It will always be there

It will always be available It will

always meet the need Whatever it is

God's grace is there if you'll accept

it So when Paul says "Hey I've got this

thorn in the flesh I've got this trial

I've got this this test And now I'm

asking God to remove this." But God says

"No I'm not going to remove it I'm going

to allow it in your life because I'm

allow my grace to give you strength that

will never run dry That will never come

up short It's going to be there This is

what I'm going to do I'm going to allow

my grace to work in you." So now Paul

has this leaning Every time this thorn

is affecting him he's got to lean into

it Whether it's whether it's internal uh

mental whether whether it's a physical

situation whether it's spiritual whether

it's all the above every time that comes

up he's got to lean in He's got to lean

in He's got to lean in He's got to lean

in And the truth of the matter is is

that that whole process of having to

trust in Jesus in that way is not

comfortable It's not easy Again this

doesn't preach great in America because

we don't want a Jesus like that We want

a Jesus that shows up and we want a God

that always parts a Red Sea that always

defeats the giants that that that always

sits at the banquet table We want we we

don't we don't want a messy uh dying

Jesus We don't we don't want a Jesus in

the middle of a trial We don't want a

Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane We

don't want to stay away for that We want

a resurrected Jesus It's what we want

But the only way to get there is to go

through all the messiness The only way

to get to that place is to go through

that The only way to get to heaven is to

walk through hell

sometimes And some of you understand

what I'm talking about because that's

where you're living That's where you're

at right now And the word of the Lord is

is God's grace is sufficient And that

sounds very simple And it is to say but

it's very difficult to live in the

moment But you have to continue to lean

in and continue to lean in and continue

to lean in And Paul says "I've learned

to be content in

this." Because then eventually what

happens is that test then becomes a

testimony Because and here's the deal

When you face the test for it to become

a testimony you have to make a choice

and a decision You got the thorn You

didn't ask for it You've asked God to

remove it He says "No my grace is

sufficient." So are you going to sit

down and become a victim and fold like a

cheap

suit or are you going to lean in and go

"Okay this is the

journey Okay this is what it is and I'm

going to become a victor and I'm allowed

this to be a testimony I'm allowed this

weakness I'm allowed this thorn I'm

going to allow this trial I'm going to

allow this test I'm going to allow this

that's coming into my life I'm going to

lean in and I'm going to I'm going to

reject the lie of the enemy that I'm a

loser and that God's dead I'm going to

reject the naysayers that'll all come

around and go "You should just do this

or that or you don't have enough faith

or no no no I'm just going to and I'm

just going to lean into this." Look at

it in verse 10 He says "For the sake of

Christ I'm content with what with the

weaknesses with the insults with the

hardships with the persecution and the

calamities For when I am weak then I am

strong This is a guy who does weakness

is not in his personal

vocabulary There is nothing about

him like that you you see nothing This

guy's shipwrecked He's been bitten by

snakes He's been left for dead He's been

physically stoned and left for dead And

he gets up I mean this is like John Wick

on steroids Like this guy does not You

don't know what that is Okay Yeah You're

like "Did he just say that?" Yeah I just

said that I'm just saying like like th

this is like the greatest action figure

ever Like again the this is not a

passive

individual And the reality is is that he

said "Look at the end of the day I've

learned through Jesus to be content I'm

okay with this I don't like it I've

asked God to remove it but I am not

going to be a victim And and so I'm

going to lean into the weaknesses I'm

going to lean into the insults I'm going

to lean into the hardships I'm gonna

lean into the persecutions I'm going to

lean into the calamities because here's

what I've learned This is an upside down

kingdom It's not when I feel strong I'm

strong It's not when I've got a good

selfidentity and I feel really good

about myself and gosh people really like

me It's not that No no no no It's when

I'm weak It's when I feel depleted It's

when I feel like a loser when I feel

like I can't seem to get over this that

God shows up and he makes up that

difference in that gap And that's what I

need to live And so I'm just going to

lean on him That every day I feel like

quitting I'm going to lean on him And

every day I feel like this has overtaken

me I'm going to lean on him And every

day I feel like I'm a loser I'm going to

reject the lie of the enemy And when the

insults come and the hardships come and

the persecution comes and the test of

trial comes I'm going to lean into it

I'm going to I preached this message a

couple years year years ago I'm going to

be like the buffalo I'm going to set my

face to the storm and I'm going to run

head first into it and I'm not going to

give up I'm not going to let up I'm I'm

I'm not going to shut up I'm just going

to keep going because his grace is going

to be sufficient and I'm just going to

trust he's going to be there See your

thorn can become a platform per for

perfecting and demonstrating God's power

Paul will write to Timothy in 2 Timothy

2 Timothy 1:8

chapter 1 verse 8 and 9 Therefore do not

be ashamed of the testimony about our

Lord nor of me his prisoner Paul's in

prison for his for the sake of the

gospel But share in the suffering for

the gospel by the power of God We don't

really want to do that do we but he says

I want you to share in this suffering

Come on Set in this pain with me Set in

this weakness with me For who saved us

and who called us into this holy calling

not because of our works but because of

his own purpose and grace which he gave

us in Jesus Christ before the ages

began I asked you at the beginning I'll

ask you again What's your

thorn what's your test what's your

trial i don't know what it is

with the suffering the addiction

whatever it may

be the thing that just doesn't seem to

just let

up that just seems to be

like lean into God's grace You got to

identify it What is that and when you

identify it then you got to choose Are

you going to lean into God's grace or

you going to quit

this is how it is You know you're either

going to lean into it You're going to

suck it up buttercup You're you're

you're gonna you're gonna you're going

to put on your on on your big boy pants

You're going to lean into this You're

you're you're going to go "No I'm doing

this I I'm going to trust in the Lord

I'm I'm I'm I am not I am going to

overcome this by the power that that

raised Christ from the dead that dwells

in me I I am not going to quit I am not

going to surrender I'm not I'm gonna

lean into it I'm not strong but he's

strong and in my weakness he perfects

his strength And so I'm going to lean

into his grace and I'm going to find the

peace and the healing and the hope and

the salvation And I may walk with a limp

for the rest of my life like Jacob did

but I am going to

walk And by the way I don't ever trust

leaders that have no scars or leaders

that don't walk with a

limp You've never been anywhere You've

never done anything I have a pastor

buddy that says "I don't trust anybody

that's never been in a fist fight."

you never been punched in the mouth once

or twice You don't like and get up and

tell about it I mean it's just like I'm

not suggesting that you go do that I'm

just But it's like because you just have

all these armchair quarterbacks that

want to sit back and right these 350

pound overweight guys in a lazy boy go

"Man if I was a if I was if I was a

quarterback I'd be doing less God I'd

drop back and I don't know what these

guys are." You can't even you can barely

pull the arm thing up just to get up

Like you have to have the assist I mean

come on Really

no no no no no no I'm gonna be in the

game

baby Right There are people that make it

happen people that watch it happen and

people that say "What happened i want to

be in the game." And that's what Paul

says I'm

allin And the testimony eventually will

become over the long

haul For Paul the testimony is is that

God's grace is sufficient And what an

incredible testimony that is

But I don't have to be strong Can I just

tell you people identify and they

connect to your weaknesses not to your

strengths Is this

true the more honest we are the more

real we are that man we're a fallen

people in a fallen world and life is

tough This is a full contact sport

Welcome to the jungle This is not easy

We have to raise our kids to live for

Jesus in a world that's becoming

increasingly more

hostile So how do you do that his grace

is

sufficient You you know depression

happens The Lord's speaking right now

Depression begins to happen when your

future is the future that's in front of

you is less than what's behind you Like

you have nothing to kind of get up for

it

it everything looks bleak It looks

hopeless And there's never any place in

scripture ever ever ever ever ever ever

New Testament Old Testament where we're

ever called to a lesser future Ever

There are times that the prophets of old

would would would predict that things

were going to be hard but God would

eventually show up when his people

turned There were times when you're

going to go in captivity but only for 80

years but then I will return

There's always this return There's

always God saying "I'm going to show

up." There's always this if and then

scenario If you'll do this then I'll

show this But there may be hardship So

it's not an absence of hardship God

gives and takes away but it's in that

leading that all of a sudden God's going

to show

up And this this morning as I got up

early I

remember we used to sing hymns in the

church

When I was a kid growing up there was

always take the himynel out and turn to

page him

number And one of my favorite hymn

writers was a lady named Fanny

Crosby She was born in 1820 She lived

almost 95 years She died in 1915 She

grew up and lived in New

York As an

infant she had an eye infection and due

to a medical error and a treatment she

went blind

But she would live for 95 years And that

amount of time she would write close to

9,000

hymns She would play musical

instruments She lived on very little

because she felt like the gospel of

Jesus Christ was the most important

thing So in New York she would give her

money to

urban missions basically to to rescue

missions that would kind of rescue those

who were downtrodden and had less

And you think of the bleakness because

at this point in time braille had not

been implemented She never she never

learned it She she learned a different

way of being able to to to to be able to

communicate in that regard And she

writes this hymn that is very powerful

The Methodist church would sing it a lot

but but I came across it back when I was

probably 18 years of age It's called

Pass Me Not Pass me not O Gentle Savior

Hear my humble cry Why on others thou

art calling do not pass me by Savior

Savior hear my humble cry While on

others thou art calling do not pass me

by I wonder as she's in the middle of

life writing these words This comes out

of the anguish and the pain and probably

the hopelessness and the helplessness

She had one child but that child would

not live

But she would go on to write probably

one of the most well-known of the 9,000

hymns blessed assurance for Jesus's

mine Oh what a foretaste of glory divine

heir of salvation purchase of God born

of his spirit washed in his blood For

this is my story This is my song

Praising my savior all the day long This

is my story This is my song praising my

savior all the day

long The second stanza says "Perfect

submission perfect delight." Think about

this A blind lady living in the 1800s

Visions of rapture now burst on my sight

Angels descending bring from above

echoes of mercy and whispers of love For

this is my story and this is my song

Praising my savior all the day long

Perfect submission all is at rest For I

and my savior am happy and blessed

watching and waiting Think about all the

visual verbs that she is using and has

not the ability to see But through the

spirit she's able to imagine Watching

and waiting looking above I'm filled

with his goodness I'm lost in his

love What trial what test are you facing

today

not

easy But if you will God will show up in

your

weakness Not in your strength but in

your weakness and his grace will be

sufficient I want to pray for you today

Father I just thank

you I just thank you

Lord that this passage is

written because it just lets us know

that we're not alone We all face trials

and

temptations and some of us go through

things that this side of eternity don't

seem to lift Yet we have a choice and we

have a

decision to either get mad and to

leave or to lean in and to

trust That's where faith comes in And

there are even moments where that's

tested where Lord I believe but help my

unbelief Because everything around us

says don't believe Don't believe don't

believe God is dead He's not there But

there is something inside of us that

whisper that echo of the Holy Spirit to

just ask us to

trust So I pray Lord whatever that trial

whatever that test whatever that thorn

in the flesh is that we're battling let

us once again give it to you Let us once

again lean into you And today let us

once

again allow your grace that is

sufficient to wash over us in Jesus name

Amen