Sunday 02:26:12

Greater Grace. Hosea 2:14-15 God intends all our trouble to be a door into greater grace and greater revelation of his sufficiency for us. 2 Corinthians 4:8-9 2 Corinthians 4:16-18 We sit back and let our view of God and life be shaped by constantly shifting feelings about our ever-changing circumstances. We choose to passively listen to circumstances when we need to [start talking back]. We act like Jesus' work on the cross and God's kindness toward us have no real bearing on our lives. Of course they do. Of course they matter. They matter in every circumstance of life. Full sermon: Hosea 2:14-15 God is talking through Hosea about how he is going to restore Israel. He talks about Israel as an unfaithful wife. "into the desert"- he will take everything away so she will finally see his kindness. He simplifies life for her. He takes away all the men of her unfaithfulness and all the things they gave her. Why? Because they were false. They did not love her like he did. They confused her. He took them away so she could see her true husband's unconditional love and forgiveness to win her back. "I will give her vineyards and the valley of Achor for a door of hope" (Hos 2:14). The valley of Achor was the "valley of trouble" where the Israelites fled from the battle with Ai after they were routed because of the sin of Achan (Josh 7:26). The valley of trouble was an inlet to the promised land, the land of rest. He will make your troubles the door of your hope and an inlet to greater grace. God intends for trouble, suffering, hardship, sickness, failure, even sin, to be avenues into greater grace. The things that discourage us the most are intended by God to show us more of his grace and strength. So trouble and affliction can be for me an opening for more grace. What I see as bad, God intends for my good, for greater revelation of his sufficiency for me. When I walked through sorrow, He showed me his peace that passes understanding. When I walked through sin, He showed me his amazing grace. When I walked through fear, he showed me his concern for me and sovereignty. When I walked through disappointment, he reminded me of his unconditional love. When my world seemed out of control, he showed me he is the rock. When my pursuits came up empty, he showed me his fullness. God intends all our trouble to be a door into greater grace and greater revelation of his sufficiency for us. Our problems are very real. Illness can affect not only the body, but the soul as well. Financial problems can drive you into despair. Worry over the lives and the souls of our children when they are struggling can seem endless. 2 Corinthians 4:8-9 We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. But these are not our greatest issue. Our greatest problem is that we are fallen creatures. We are warped by sin. Our hearts have a natural bent away from our Creator and toward sin. Our minds do not comprehend what we have lost and are content with the things of this world in place of a relationship with our Heavenly Father. 2 Corinthians 4:16-18 Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. Our greatest need is for healing, not of our bodies, but our souls. We need our hearts healed so we desire God over his creation. We need God to restore our souls. We need God to transform our minds to fix my misconceptions about him and about what is truly important. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. I am not saying that we should just shrug our shoulders when we go through trouble and try to act like it is no big deal. It is a big deal. But we need God to change our perspective. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. How do we fix our eyes on the eternal? Don't sit silently and let your circumstances do all the talking. When we have trouble, we let our trouble do all the talking. We can't find our keys and we say, I'm so stupid. We are late for school or work we get angry with other drivers who slow us down. We have a disagreement with our spouse and we think it is hopeless. CJ Mahaney in his book The Cross Centered Life writes, "We sit back and let our view of God and life be shaped by constantly shifting feelings about our ever-changing circumstances. We choose to passively listen to circumstances when we need to [start talking back]." "We think with our feelings," Sinclair Ferguson. We allow our feelings to guide our thinking. Emotions are a wonderful gift from God. And our relationship with God should bring to our lives strong godly affections. However, our emotions should not be vested with final authority. This should be reserved for Gods Word alone. We act like Jesus' work on the cross and God's kindness toward us have no real bearing on our lives. Of course they do. Of course they matter. They matter in every circumstance of life. Talk back to your circumstances. Your sin has been atoned for. Jesus died for that sin. He stood in your place. God has forgiven you and will help you, not because you are sinless, but because he is merciful. Expend your energies admiring, exploring, expositing, and extolling Jesus Christ. Sinclair Ferguson. Don't listen to your circumstances, talk back. Speak the truth. This matters most: you are forgiven. You have hope. Your hope is based on the sacrifice of Jesus. Let this truth define your life.