Grant Partrick continues in our collection, CERTAINTY, and teaches us that when our hope is attached to God, it is durable because it is attached to a firm foundation.
Key Takeaway
How can we still have hope when we face uncertain times or circumstances? We know we have the God to be able to do absolutely anything. We don't know what He will choose to do, but we know that He can do and will do what is best.
In an uncertain world, how can we be certain of anything?
Last week, we learned that God hears us. In this message, we will learn that we can be certain God is able.
Psalm 61:1-4 describes how we feel all the time and what our response should be. The Psalmist feels far from God. He feels as far as the end of the earth, which is bad enough, but it's even worse when your heart grows faint and is overwhelmed. But from that distant place, we can cry out to God, and He hears us.
It wasn't the change in circumstance that gave David hope, it was just the fact that his God was powerful enough to change it that gave him hope. God is omnipotent. Omnipotent means God is all power, He is other than us. It's incalculable and incomprehensible how much power He has. If God is not able, then He's not worth worshiping.
If it feels like your back is up against a wall and you are having every door shut, remember God opens doors that no man can shut. We are the children of a great and powerful God, so we can remain hopeful in our uncertainty.
Genesis 1:1-4. God has always existed. He has no beginning. He spoke and created everything, therefore He is perfectly able to do anything.
Genesis 18. Sarah laughed when she heard she would conceive in her old age. God then asks, "Is anything too hard for the Lord?"
Jeremiah 32. The prophet, Jeremiah is in jail for prophesying the coming fall of the kingdom, when God told him to buy a field. This made absolutely no sense. The enemy was camping in that field, which had already been taken, as they were preparing to overtake God's people. But Jeremiah says there is nothing too hard for the Lord, and the Lord not only heard him but agreed, saying, "Nothing is too hard for the Lord."
Daniel 3:16-18. Three friends are going to be thrown into a fiery furnace because they refuse to bow down in worship to anyone but God. They tell the king they don't need to defend themselves because they serve a God who is able to save them, and even if He chooses not to, they will not worship him.
There is no circumstance or situation that can take your hope from you because He is able and can do anything. The world despairs because their only solution is themselves, and they are failing constantly.
Why do we have this hope? Because God has a long record of doing the impossible and has never once failed. God specializes in turning impossible things into possible things. He can do that for you.
Matthew 9:27-31. Two blind men are asking to be healed, and Jesus asks them, "Do you believe I can do this?" What a question. This applies to every situation we face. We think we need to throw in the towel when we really need to confess, "lead me to the rock that is higher than I." Earlier in the chapter, we get to the context of why these two blind men were crying out to Jesus. They had heard about Jesus' healing miracles for the women with the issue of blood and waking a little girl who was considered dead. The father knew just a word from Jesus would heal his daughter. The bleeding woman has kept hope alive for 12 years and believed that if she just touched the hem of His cloak, he could heal her. They both had to exercise great faith!
What are the things you've grown tired of praying for? Who are the people you've given up on? What are the limps you've gotten so used to that you think it will just always be this way?
Are you still showing up? Nothing is impossible with God.
In the book of Jude, he is warning the Church to be on guard, stand firm, and contend for their faith in the midst of uncertainty. Finally, Jude breaks out in a doxology, which is a moment of overflowing praise. He says after he has warned them; praise God who is able to keep us from stumbling. Hope became durable.
In Ephesians 3:2-21, Paul pens a different doxology that says God is able to do immeasurably more than you can ask or imagine. The absolute best we can do to express our praise of God through words or thought...He is more.
- Do you believe that Jesus is able to do whatever you need in your life? Whatever the impossible situation that you're up against, do you believe He can do it?
"Some of us need to repent from an unbiblically low view of God." -Ben Stuart.
When you go to Scripture and see all of the impossible things that God has done, it will cause hope to percolate in you.
Hope is powerful. Hope lives in the space between you asking and you seeing God's answer. It's saying, "God, I trust you." - The source of your strength determines the durability of your hope. "A failure to pray is a declaration of independence." -H.B. Charles Jr.
God eternally has us. We win. My hope isn't tied to my circumstances, it's tied to my King. - Let the faithfulness of God's past encourage you today. Write down His attributes and how He's worked in your life.
- Nothing is off the table for God. He is making all things right. See Mark 14:35-36.
Quote
"Hard and easy don't apply to God because God has all the power that there is."
A. W. Tozer
Discussion Questions
Message Topics
Scripture References
- Psalms 61:1-4
- Matthew 9:27-31
- Jude 1:24-25
- Ephesians 3:20-21
- Mark 14:35-36