Journey of Hope Part 2 Chad Everett – Lead Pastor Mt. Carmel Illinois Church
God uses our Trials to Strengthen Us
Some things Mt. Carmel Illinois Church that we’re going through, is God using those to strengthen you for where he’s taking you. We want to have strong results, but we’ve got to be willing to resist the temptation to quit and give up along the journey patiently enduring. God’s just not making me wait for the sake of waiting, he’s making me stronger.
Why? Why are heavier things coming my way? It’s because Mt. Carmel Illinois Church he’s putting more weights on your bar, and being a good spotter in the gym.
It’s always going to challenge you to do more than you think you can do. You could, and I don’t know if you can relate to this. You’re like, I don’t connect with your lifting analogies. I get it. You just make something else up because Mt. Carmel Illinois Church that’s all I’ve got today. We could do running, we could do walking.
How many of you maybe walked with a friend and you realize you could walk a lot farther with a friend that you can walk by yourself. You’re walking with somebody else and you’re like, “Man, I’d like to stop right now. One more left. One more of that.” Then you get to the end of that lap and you’re getting ready to say to them, “Okay, that’s a good walk.” And they say, “How about two more?” Other people challenge us and encourage us, church.
That’s what I’m talking about. We have this end of ourselves and God’s saying, listen, I believe you can do more. The purpose is to make you better. When you get done with those two extra laps that you weren’t going to do on your own, do you or do you not feel better? No, I really don’t. Yes you do. Let me just tell you this, that he is the answer.
The Promise isn’t about the Thing You Receive, But the Person You Become
So what does it mean to obtain the promises? I want to throw this in. After he had patiently endured (exercised internal, external control) in trying circumstances, not in good circumstances, but in trying circumstances. Let me add this. So what does it mean to obtain the promises?
What if obtaining the promises was less about the things we get and more about the person we become. Come, let me throw this in. Don’t miss this.
After he patiently endured, he obtained the promises. When we think promises, we think of things and I we get things and I’m all for things. I’m all for a family or a better job and health. I’m all for all of that. But what if the patiently enduring to obtain the promises was less about the things that we can possess and more about the person we can become. Think about this for just a moment.
What if God wasn’t as concerned about the things in your hand as he was the person that you are? Because Mt. Carmel Illinois Church he can give you a new house if you’re the same person you still lose.
If I still cannot handle internal and external control in a new house, new car, new relationship, it doesn’t matter. I’m still me. If I’ve got 10 pound strength over here and I don’t want to work it out, I don’t want to use external and internal control, I just say, you know what?
That’s the way I am. It’s not my problem. It’s their problem. It’s them. They’re the problem. So I’ll go over here. Well, I’ll come over here into a new job, new situation, and new relationship. Guess what? I still only have 10 pound strength. I don’t get to leave my 10 pound problems over here and jump over here to 20 pound strength.
I’ve got to stay here and work this out because Mt. Carmel Illinois Church God’s willing to develop you as a person. Look what it says here in Romans chapter 8 verse 29: For whom he foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his son. What are we predestined to become? We’re predestined to be conformed to the image of his son.
It takes strength to respond like Jesus in the moment of adversity. What if it’s time already? Where does it go? What if the promises that we’re trying to obtain are not things at all? What if the reason God’s making me stronger by going through what I’m going through is because Mt. Carmel Illinois Church his goal is not the new job, his goal is the new man.
The Urges Don’t Go Away, but We Get Strong Enough to Control Them
What if Mt. Carmel Illinois Church the reason God wants me to work out and resist temptation, and resist urges…See I used to have a lot of problems and, and one of my issues I had, I have too many, too many to tell you about. This was not really BC, but early Jesus, not before Jesus, but early Jesus still I had an issue with anger, like instant anger.
I’m usually pretty chill and it takes a lot to work me up and but early Jesus stages, especially if something would happen that I didn’t like and it would just catch me the wrong way. I would have this voice that would just, everything about me would a scream.
So now if it happened to be a human or if it happened to be whatever’s in front of me, I would be hit it. I would feel this tension that I would either grab something to throw.
Thanks so much for watching with us. We love our online Mt. Carmel Illinois Church and Norris City Illinois Church family and we invite you to connect with us. We have a few different ways you can do that. Our website is theroads.church. We are on social media as well.
We’d love to pray for any needs you might have. So send us a message and let us know how we can partner with you in bringing the light and love of Jesus to your world.
Website: https://theroads.church
Podcast: https://theroads.church/subscribe-to-our-podcast
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theroadschurch
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theroadschurch
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/theroadschurch