Grace Explained 111_Why Do We Have Problems?

Today we will look at as Christians why we have problems and how we are to handle, and be thankful for the problems in our life.  

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Hello, and welcome to another episode of Grace Explained. Today we're going to look at a question that a lot of people think about, especially Christians. I think Christians for some reason think the moment that they're saved and they've put their trust in Christ, that they're not only saved from hell, but they're saved from all their problems, they're saved from issues. That again, the moment they put their faith and trust in Christ, that all of a sudden God is going to do everything for them. And God is going to take care of all their problems, take care of all their situations, take care of all their issues, and that there's not going to be any problems. And then when they have problems in the world and they have problems in their life, and there's issues, they're trying to figure out why in the world am I having issues? Why in the world am I having problems? Why isn't God helping me through this? Why isn't God taking care of all these problems? Why isn't God saving me through this? And so they get very discouraged at the at the you know that at the lack of of God not taking care, taking care of them or taking care of their problems. And honestly, it's just a lack of understanding, is what it is. So if you will, um you can look in your Bibles in Romans chapter 5, Romans chapter 5, and we're going to read verses 1 through 5. But we're going to break it down and we'll look at it. There's a couple verses that we want to specifically take a look at. So he says in Romans chapter 5, verses 1 through 5, therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand and rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. And not only so, but we glory in tribulation also, knowing that tribulation worketh patience, and patience experience, and experience hope, and hope maketh not ashamed, because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us. So as we go ahead and we look through this, he says in verses 1 and 2, therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand and rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. And those two verses there are a lesson by themselves. But what we really want to look at is really the next the next verse and verse 3 and 4. He says, and not only so, so he's talking about rejoicing. Because you have access by faith and to grace, you rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. So this is something you rejoice in. And again, when things are going well, most people are are happy and and rejoicing and and life is great. And then it says, and not only so, but he goes on and he says, but we glory in tribulations also. So tribulation, that word tribulation is is it's pressure, it's afflictions, it's troubles. That so when we have tribulations in our life, when we have troubles in our life, when we have afflictions in our life, when we have problems in our life, um, it becomes stress to us. And when I think of tribulation, in that pressure, you think about a pipe, and as the pressure builds up and builds up and builds up and builds up, and it can only build so much, and then finally what happens? The pipes burst. And so that's what happens with people when they have a lot of pressure, they have a lot of problems, they have a lot of issues, they have a lot of troubles, they have a lot of trials and tribulations in their lives that sometimes people know how to handle it and they can they can they can find a way to release it. But a lot of people's stress is one of those things that they just have problems with, they have issues with. It's not just understanding that we have tribulation, but but this pressure, this stress that we have, we're to glory in it. And that's something that's very hard for us to understand. In our human nature, we don't like problems. I don't know of one person who says, hey, I'm gonna look forward to what problems I have today. We don't. I was watching a um a documentary on Navy SEALs, and the whole point of just finding the group that becomes Navy SEALs and can be trained as Navy SEALs, the training just to go through that is nothing but stress. And the whole purpose of that stress is to see who can handle it and who can't and who can't handle it, and it's all over that mind over matter, and there are people that some things happen to them and they just you don't know there's an issue, and then there's other people that when things happen to them, even little things, you know immediately it happens because they're just gonna let the world know. And so how do we what do we do when we have these problems? I mean, are we upset? Do we blame God for having the problems? God, why are you giving me these problems? I shouldn't have these problems. What what's what's going on? And what Paul tells us in Romans 5 3 says, we glory in tribulations also. You're not to complain about them, you're not to be upset about them, but you're to glory in them. First Thessalonians chapter 3 and verse 4, Paul says to the saints of uh Thessalonica, he goes, For verily when we were with you, we told you before that we should suffer tribulation, even as it came to pass, and ye know. So in 1 Thessalonians, he tells them, the saints there, that hey, we told you before that we're gonna suffer in tribulations. And Paul did. Paul was was chased, Paul was beaten, when he was caught, he was beaten, Paul was thrown in jail. When you think of the Philippian jailer, he was he was thrown in jail, but instead of being in jail going, we didn't do anything, why are you guys doing this? You don't have no right, you need to let us out, this is wrong, what are you doing? Instead, they were singing praises to God. Paul knew why he was there. Paul was there because he was preaching the gospel, and Paul knew that. But the thing is, instead of saying, You have no right to to throw me in jail, I've done nothing wrong, I have freedoms, you can't just throw me in jail because I'm preaching the Lord Jesus Christ, they threw him in jail. And instead of him complaining, instead of him him whining about it, instead he he starts singing songs of praise, and he starts singing songs rejoicing. In Ephesians chapter 3, verse 13, he says, Wherefore I desire that ye faint not at my tribulations for you, which is your glory. Listen, he went through a lot of tribulations. He went through a lot of problems for what purpose? To preach the gospel. He went through a lot of problems, through a lot of troubles, through a lot of trials, for what purpose? To be able to teach the saints about God's grace and be able to show them God's grace. Folks, living here in the United States, we have freedom. We have freedom of religion, we have freedom of speech. And we can we can preach, teach, do whatever we want. We can stand on street corners and preach on a street corner. I see it all the time. We can we can have a church, we can have a Bible study, we can do anything we want, and the government's not going to come and close us down. I know a gentleman who was preaching the gospel, he lived in China. He was an American, he was a missionary in China, and people had to hide him in closets and in rooftops because the police were coming and looking for him. Why? Because he was preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. And so they had to hide him, or he would have been thrown in jail. So our country is much different than a lot of other countries in the world. You can't go to the Middle East and stand out on the street corner and preach Jesus Christ. You'll be arrested, and more than likely, you'll be beaten, and more than likely, you'll be killed. Why? Because you preach Christ. Those are the tribulations that are really happening to people today. And so Paul says we glory in tribulations also. Listen, we get a flat tire, we're late for work, our toilet overflowed, the dishwasher doesn't work, we we have an illness, a sickness, a disease that we can't get rid of. There's all these things that that happen in our lives, and there's one way we can handle them. We can glory in those tribulations or we can not. Paul tells us that we should rejoice in the troubles of life. Philippians chapter 1 and verse 29. If you look at Philippians 1 and verse 29, he says, For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake. How many people, the moment that they trusted Christ, they thought, oh, this was great, because now I have the opportunity to suffer for Christ. We don't think that way. Human nature doesn't think that way. But Paul tells us that we should rejoice in our troubles and our problems in life. Why? Because it's been given to us on the behalf of Christ, that not just to also believe on him and have the free gift of eternal life and all the spiritual blessings that we talked about a couple weeks ago, but that we should also suffer for his sake. If you look at chapter 4 and verse 4 of Philippians, Philippians 4, 4, he says, rejoice in the Lord always. And again I say rejoice. He doesn't say rejoice in the Lord most of the time. He doesn't say rejoice in the Lord sometime. He doesn't say rejoice in the Lord when things are going great. He doesn't say rejoice in the Lord when when you just got a raise. He doesn't say rejoice in the Lord. No, he says rejoice in the Lord always. Rejoice in the Lord no matter what problems, no matter what issues, no matter what troubles in life are coming. You're to rejoice in the Lord. When? Always. And again I say rejoice. We should always be thankful for the things that we have in Christ and not think about the things we don't have on this earth, or the physical things that we're lacking, or the things that we've lost. But we should be thankful for the things we have in Christ. And so we should always be rejoicing in Christ and what we have in Him. Back to Romans chapter 5 and verse 3, he says, And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also, knowing that tribulation worketh patience. You know, the one thing that you do is you know something. You know that tribulations will work patience. And that, you know, patience. When I was younger, patience was one of the things I didn't have. I was very um, very, very um, oh, how should I put it? Uh impatient. And if something wasn't done right away, um I wanted it done right away. Part of that's immaturity, part of that's lack of understanding of some of the scriptures, you know, there's just a lot of things. And and just not having the patience, I was just like, it was very upset about that. But he says, he says to us, he goes, um, that we knowing that tribulation worketh patience. That word patience is the suffering of afflictions, pain, toil, so it's the suffering of afflictions or pain or toil or calamity, provocation, or or other evil, and you suffer those afflictions, those pains, those calamities in your life with a calm, unruffled temper. Endurance without murmuring. That's the definition. To suffer these afflictions, these problems with a calm, unruffled temper. The other thing is to have endurance without murmuring. So we're to be patient. I always tell people when I get in line at the grocery store, I get in line at any store, and someone gets behind me, I look at them and I go, Oh, you picked the long line, and we go, this is shorter than the other two. I said, I know, but something's gonna happen in front of me that's gonna stop this line and make it go slower because it's just what happens to me. I doesn't matter what line I get in, something's gonna happen, and the other lines are gonna go faster. And that used to bother me. I mean, it used to bother me. I used to get mad about it, and now I'm like, well, wait a second. It's just what it is, and I would just endure it and start it and just start enduring it. But then I heard a preacher say one time, he says, patience isn't just endurance, but patience in the scripture is cheerful endurance. So I'm thinking, are you kidding me? I've been patient, I've been enduring, I've learned to finally endure, and now you're telling me I should be cheerful about it? I should be cheerful with my endurance? And so what we understand is that we know that tribulation works patience. And it's not just enduring, but it's being cheerful. It is suffering of the afflictions with a calm, unruffled temper and being happy about it, being cheerful about it. And I can tell you, to this day, that doesn't always happen with me. There are times that I'm just go, I shrug my shoulders and go, okay. And then there's other times like, oh, I gotta get going, all this is going on, what's happening? And so these things we have to understand, whatever our problems are, that there should be a cheerful endurance. That's the patience we look for. 2 Thessalonians chapter 1 and verse 4. He tells, he tells them in 1 Thessalonians that that he says we should suffer tribulation. Paul's talking to the to the saints of Thessalonica, saying, we, Paul, and those ministering with them should suffer tribulation and members of the body of Christ. But then he goes in 2 Thessalonians 1, 4 and he says, We glory in your patience and faith and all your persecutions and tribulations that ye endure. What he's telling them is, guess what? You guys are going to endure persecutions. You're going to endure tribulations. You're going to go through these things, but we glory in your patience. We've glory in your endurance, and not just your endurance, your endurance and your calm, unruffled temper, but we glory in your cheerful endurance. We glory in your patience and faith in all persecutions and tribulations. Back to Romans chapter 5 and verse 3. And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also, knowing that tribulation worketh patience. And then in verse 4, and patience experience. The knowledge that we get from the patience that we endure through the problems and tribulations that we have in life, that knowledge derived from those from from the tests or the tribulations, there's there's something that we learn from those things. There's something that that that we learn to get to get through those things. I remember telling my wife once, I said, I saw someone on post on on Facebook how how horrible a day it was because she got a flat tire and all these things. And it had just been just a couple of weeks that my wife had lost her her first husband. Um he had passed away from cancer, and her attitude and her her mindset and the way she was handling it was was just totally different. She wasn't, woe is me, and life is horrible and and things are bad, and and why me and why him? She wasn't doing any of that. But this person was like, and I told her that, and I said, it, I I wanted to post something, you know, and comment on that post, like, really you're gonna worry about having a flat tire when a friend of yours that you know just had their husband pass away just you know less than a month ago, and you're gonna you're concerned about your tire. And when I mentioned that to her um when we were talking, she goes, if that's all she has, if that's what made her day bad, then that's good. Because again, she was thinking positive, then life is good for her, and if that's the worst thing, then then I'm happy for her. And I was just like, oh, if that's ridiculous. I mean, listen, it's a flat tire. But the point is we we know we learn things from our tests and our trials and our tribulations, and they and they help us, and they help us help us learn things. 2 Corinthians chapter 1 and verse 4, they help us learn how to go through those things. They help us, those problems and tribulations and trials help us endure those things, help us get through those things. And as we endure them cheerfully, then what it does is it helps us, that knowledge of how to do that through the scriptures, that helps us how to help others. He says in 2 Corinthians 1 4, he says, who comforted who comforted us in all our tribulations, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God. So what we understand is the tribulation and the problems and the trials we go through, God comforts us through those things. How's he comfort us? A lot of times it's through the scriptures and through prayer, and he comforts us through those things, and that, and the reason we're comforted is so that we may be able to comfort them which are in trouble. We're because of our comfort, because we've had to go through those troubles and trials and tribulations and problems, we're able to comfort others, and we're able to help others and comfort them through their troubles by the comfort that we have. In ourselves by the comfort of God. So what it does, it's hard for, you know, when you when someone says, Oh, I lost my, you know, my my my spouse just passed away, or this happened, or that's happened, and someone goes, Yeah, I understand. I I lost my dog two months ago. They're not the same thing. They're just not. And people are trying to be show empathy, but there is no empathy because comparing your dog dying to your spouse dying are not the same thing. And what happens is when we have problems and tribulations that we go through and we work through those things with patience, and we get experience by that patience, we get experience of those things, we now have the empathy, the ability to identify with or understand another person's situations or feelings that we wouldn't have had before. So instead of going, oh, why is this problem happening, or why'd this happen to me, or what's going on, or why, instead of doing those things, we should rejoice in those things, knowing that it's giving us some knowledge and some understanding so that we can help others when they're going through their problems and their tribulations. Romans chapter 5 and verse 4 again, it says, in patience experience and experience hope. That hope there isn't a hope as in, oh boy, I sure hope this that happens, or oh boy, I sure hope my team wins, or boy, oh boy, I sure hope, you know, I sure hope uh I I get a raise, or oh boy, I sure hope. It's not that I don't know if it's gonna happen and I hope it does. I I'm I'm I'm wishing it to happen. It's not that type of hope. The hope in the scriptures is is a confident expectation of a sure thing. When when Paul talks about our hope in the scripture, in the scriptures, it's a sure thing it's gonna happen. And we know it's gonna happen. There's no doubt in our mind it's gonna happen. It's the confidence in a future event, not a wish, not a desire, but we have confidence that this thing is going to happen no matter what. Romans chapter 8, verse 23 and 24. We know we have a hope in Christ that others don't have. And it's not on this earth. The hope isn't that we're gonna get out of our problems, the hope isn't that our troubles are gonna go away, the hope isn't you can pray and you can pray and you can pray. The hope isn't that those things are going away, the hope is something far better than that, something far more glorious than that. He Paul says in Romans chapter 8, verse 23, and not only they, but ourselves also, which have the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption. Remember, we talked about adoption the other day, and the uh when we talked about adoption, it's not just we're now a child of God, but we're a full-grown, mature son of God, and an heir of God, and a joint heir with Christ. Everything that Christ has, we have. He says, waiting for the adoption to wit the redemption of our body. For we are saved by hope. Saved, what's what are we saved from? What are the things? You know what? Tribulations. We glory in tribulations also. You know what? You are saved from your problems. You are saved from tribulations, you are saved from your troubles. We are saved by hope. But hope that is seen is not hope. For what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? What is it that we're looking for? Titus 2.13 talks about looking for that blessed hope and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ. The moment that Christ comes back, the true people call it the rapture, the scriptural word is the resurrection. The moment the Christ comes back and we're resurrected, and our vile bodies are changed and fashioned like unto his glorious body, that's our hope. Our vile bodies, folks, I haven't told you this. A year ago I was diagnosed with cancer. My body has cancer in it. But you know what? One day I'm gonna have a body fashioned like unto his glorious body. I'm not gonna have for eternity, I'm not gonna have a body of cancer that's decayed. And no, there's gonna be a resurrection, and one day I'm gonna have a body that's gonna be just like Christ's glorious body. And I'm not gonna have any sickness, any illness, any disease, nothing. I'm going, that's my hope. And it's not, well, I sure hope it happens. It's a confident expectation of a sure thing. I know without a shadow of a doubt, that's my blessed hope that I will one day get that glorious body like Christ. Romans 5 and verse 5, he says, and hope maketh not ashamed, because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us. How are we able to deal with our problems? By understanding who we are in Christ, by understanding our security in Christ, by understanding our blessed hope that we have in Christ, that one day we will get a body fashioned like unto his glorious body, and that we'll know for sure the things that we have. Romans 8 and verse 18, and we'll close with this, for I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that should be revealed in us. Folks, it doesn't matter what happens, doesn't matter your troubles, your problems, instead of trying to get rid of them, rejoice in them. Instead of trying to get rid of all your problems and tribulations, glory in your tribulations. Because you have a hope that is far more exceeding than anything you will ever attain on this earth. If you don't know what that hope is, if you've never never heard of this hope, if you don't even know if you have eternal life, remember that the Lord Jesus Christ died on the cross for our sins, was buried and rose again the third day, and the moment that we put our faith and trust in Him and Him alone and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, we will receive the free gift of eternal life. And not only that, but we will have the hope that we will have a body one day fashioned like unto Christ's glorious body. And we will have we will we will have a glory that cannot be explained or comprehended in our minds. And this is something that we get. We have remember all those spiritual blessings in Christ. Until next time.