Desperate

Have you ever been in a really intense circumstance? In a situation where it looks like there is no hope to get through? How we act under the stress of adversity defines our spiritual and emotional condition. This teaching will help you handle those life events graciously.

Let me begin with a personal testimony to set the stage for what the Lord will teach you as you read through this sermon.

Way back in 1999 I started a new job in Maryland. After a long haul we finally sold our house in Charlotte and we were all packed up and ready to move. The packers were done and the truck was coming in the morning. The phone rings. Our realtor, almost in tears tells us that they buyer’s mortgage didn’t go through. “Oh God, now what do we do?” Feeling ready to just cry I took a walk to let the dust settle in my head and heart. By the time I got back to the house I knew what the Lord was directing. We asked the people we were buying our house in Maryland if they would be willing to rent to us week to week until this situation was settled. They were willing and off we went to a new city, and a large beautiful house. Only one week later our buyer was able to arrange for a mortgage which enabled us to close on the house in Maryland. God came though in a miraculous way. We lived there four years and made a large sum of money when we sold that house to move north for another job.

What do you do when it looks like there’s no hope? When you’ve waited, and prayed, and waited and prayed and nothing is changing and it seems like God is far away?

Let’s look at some heroes from the Bible and see what God did in their desperate circumstances.

 

Stephen’s in a bad situation in Acts 6 and 7.

Stephen was a Deacon and in the Jerusalem church at that time that meant he was like a waiter. He was passing out food. Much of that church lived in 3^rd world poverty and the deacons were appointed to pass out the donated food. As he did this he had many opportunities to pass out the realities of the Gospel. As always happens, there were some legalists who didn’t like what he was saying

Acts 6: 10       And they were not able to resist the wisdom and the Spirit by which he spoke.

11        Then they secretly induced men to say, "We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and God."

12        And they stirred up the people, the elders, and the scribes; and they came upon him, seized him, and brought him to the council.

13        They also set up false witnesses who said, "This man does not cease to speak blasphemous words against this holy place and the law;

14        "for we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and change the customs which Moses delivered to us." (NKJ)

Now what’s Stephen thinking at this point? Doesn’t this scene sound like Jesus’ trial? Surely he knows what’s coming – it’s a lynch mob. Before I got saved I studied some things about mob rule and learned how to stir up a riot. People tend to follow the crowd and get caught up by whatever spirit is motivating the crowd.

Look at what God does in this situation.

Acts 6:15        And all who sat in the council, looking steadfastly at him, saw his face as the face of an angel. (NKJ)

In the next chapter we see Stephen launch into an amazing speech. Obviously the anointing was all over him, he had no time to prepare this speech. He takes the religious leaders through a beautiful history lesson. He hits on all the major events from Abraham to Solomon then turns it right against his accusers. Super natural things are happening here. Look back at Acts 6:15. Read Acts 7 to get the full speech, its great. For now, let’s look at Stephen’s conclusion and the reaction:

Acts 7:52-52    "Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who foretold the coming of the Just One, of whom you now have become the betrayers and murderers,

53        "who have received the law by the direction of angels and have not kept it."

54        When they heard these things they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed at him with their teeth. (NKJ)

In the natural it’s getting really ugly,

Acts 7:55        But he, being full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God,

56        and said, "Look! I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!"

57        Then they cried out with a loud voice, stopped their ears, and ran at him with one accord;

58        and they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul.

59        And they stoned Stephen as he was calling on God and saying, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit."

60        Then he knelt down and cried out with a loud voice, "Lord, do not charge them with this sin." And when he had said this, he fell asleep. (NKJ)

Did Stephen have intestinal fortitude or was this an example of a super natural gift of Grace? You’ll have to answer that for yourself. I can not believe it was the former. Here was a supernatural event that reshaped the future of the world because of its long term effect on Saul who latter became Paul the Apostle. Stephen was just a man like any of us, serving the same Jesus we do.

If you like great action drama with great life lessons, read Acts. Paul’s life story takes up much of this book. The apostle Paul was in many tight spots and suffered many things for the sake of the Gospel. We should not have the mind set that says, Oh, that was Paul, the great apostle, that stuff doesn’t happen to ordinary people like us.” History is filled with stories of ordinary people going through horrendous situations and/or doing spectacular things.

Let’s look another dramatic story with a great life lesson - Paul getting ship wrecked near Malta. Remember, Paul was just a man like any of us, serving the same Jesus we do.

Read Acts 27 if you want all the details, let me summarize to save time.

Paul was on trial in Jerusalem but a Roman citizen. Apparently to save his neck from the Jewish authorities he appeals to Caesar. Now Caesar is in Rome and that’s a long way from Jerusalem. They put him with many other prisoners under Roman guard and sent them to Rome. Most of that trip would be by boat and the boats in those days were nothing like the cruise ships of today. They pull into a port along the way and Paul advises that they spend the rest of the winter there because the Mediterranean gets pretty ugly that time of year. Paul says, "Men, I perceive that this voyage will end with disaster and much loss, not only of the cargo and ship, but also our lives." (Acts 27:10). It wasn’t a great place to stay and the centurion in charge was persuaded by the ship captain to go and off to sea they went

They don’t get very far and they hit a very bad storm. After 3 days they stopped trying to go in any direction and let the storm drive the boat and threw the ship's tackle overboard.

Acts 27: 20    Now when neither sun nor stars appeared for many days, and no small tempest beat on us, all hope that we would be saved was finally given up.

 

No hope – what a desperate place to be. Now let’s see what God does.

21        But after long abstinence from food, then Paul stood in the midst of them and said, "Men, you should have listened to me, and not have sailed from Crete and incurred this disaster and loss.

22        "And now I urge you to take heart, for there will be no loss of life among you, but only of the ship.

Where does he come off to say this? Every natural indication is that they are all doomed. The answer is that God did something super natural to change everything.

23        "For there stood by me this night an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve,

24        "saying, 'Do not be afraid, Paul; you must be brought before Caesar; and indeed God has granted you all those who sail with you.'

25        "Therefore take heart, men, for I believe God that it will be just as it was told me.

26        "However, we must run aground on a certain island."

Somebody heard from God. Paul was able to give a word from God that brought hope and direction. The storm didn’t stop but Paul encouraged them some more.

33        And as day was about to dawn, Paul implored them all to take food, saying, "Today is the fourteenth day you have waited and continued without food, and eaten nothing.

34        "Therefore I urge you to take nourishment, for this is for your survival, since not a hair will fall from the head of any of you."

35        And when he had said these things, he took bread and gave thanks to God in the presence of them all; and when he had broken it he began to eat.

36        Then they were all encouraged, and also took food themselves.

How do you react when you’re hungry & you see someone eat? Paul had something good; they saw it and wanted some too. Do our lives reflect this to spiritually hungry people?

I hate to be left in suspense, so here’s the rest of the story.

39        When it was day, they did not recognize the land; but they observed a bay with a beach, onto which they planned to run the ship if possible.

40        And they let go the anchors and left them in the sea, meanwhile loosing the rudder ropes; and they hoisted the mainsail to the wind and made for shore.

41        But striking a place where two seas met, they ran the ship aground; and the prow stuck fast and remained immovable, but the stern was being broken up by the violence of the waves.

42        And the soldiers' plan was to kill the prisoners, lest any of them should swim away and escape.

43        But the centurion, wanting to save Paul, kept them from their purpose, and commanded that those who could swim should jump overboard first and get to land,

44        and the rest, some on boards and some on parts of the ship. And so it was that they all escaped safely to land.

Wow, what drama; but there’s a key lesson for us – in desperate situations we can trust God to do whatever it takes to accomplish all he intends to do through the situation. The problem is that we don’t always recognize our circumstance as so desperate. It’s easy to get content with less than God intends for us. It’s easy to get used to things as they are and loose the vision of what they are supposed to be. We tend to take the path of least resistance or to leave well enough alone. In doing so we miss so much, and worse yet, we do not accomplish all God intends.

In an obviously desperate situation, Paul had an angelic visitation. This happened several time in the Word. Let’s turn to Daniel 3.

Dan 3:28        Nebuchadnezzar spoke, saying, "Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, who sent His Angel and delivered His servants who trusted in Him,

Other situations are not so obviously desperate. Circumstances in the natural may be OK, no unusual problems. These are times when it’s easy to miss God unless your heart is in tune with Spirit of God. In Daniel 9 we see a man who saw something in the Scriptures that sent him to his knees.

Dan 9:3          Then I set my face toward the Lord God to make request by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes.

Daniel saw the spiritual condition of the Jewish people and saw in the Word what God intended to do about it. Read the next 19 verses and you’ll get a great lesson in intercessory prayer. The result is found in verses 20 & 21:

Dan 9:20        Now while I was speaking, praying, and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my supplication before the LORD my God for the holy mountain of my God,

21        yes, while I was speaking in prayer, the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, being caused to fly swiftly, reached me about the time of the evening offering.

Daniel, like Paul in Acts, has an angelic visitation and receives a word of encouragement and direction. Whether these men had an angelic visitation or heard from God in other ways isn’t the point. The point is that they were men of prayer who interceded with desperation. They prayed through until they had a breakthrough. We need to be so desperate for the Lord to do great things through our churches. We should be able to relate to Daniel 9 because the circumstances in the natural are not so life and death as with Paul in Acts 27, yet in the Spirit concerning the change God wants to bring about in our localities, it is a time for the prayers of desperation.

I can tell you from experience that this kind of burden can only be something birthed by God in your heart. The only way one can give birth is by getting pregnant and that happens through an intimate relationship. God desires to put prayer burdens in His people, burdens that you will feel in your gut. As we draw close to God in prayer, in Church, at the altar, in the Word, or wherever, He draws close to us. It’s great to feel His Holy presence - but don’t stop there. As a church, it is time to get into the Secret Place of the Most High, to follow Him into His chambers and have a life changing experience. Your prayer life will never be the same; your times alone with God will get longer and more intense. You will love to spend time at the altar, just seeking His face with others of like mind and heart.

I believe what God is saying to the Church is to draw closer to Him. I was talking with my former pastor in Charlotte and we said simultaneously, “You can’t give what you don’t have.” As a group of believers, we need to get something supernatural that we can give to our communities. What characterized Jesus’ ministry? Signs wonders and miracles attracted people so that He had an audience to speak Words of life to. Its time to find that place of prayer Paul must have found in the lower decks of that boat and seek God together, so that we can ask Him together to speak to our hearts and give us that prayer burden that births His plans and purposes for our churche

s. This is too big a job for any Pastor. Pastor’s can’t do it all; it’s safe to say we need to share this job. I invite you to find an altar and spend some time waiting on God. Let your church leaders pray for you that God would accomplish all His plans and purposes in and through you.