When I Said I Do - To Love and To Cherish

I understand that not everybody reading this is married.  

Some are engaged.  

Some are single and loving it. 

Some are yearning for a relationship.  

Some have lost a spouse to death.

Some are divorced. 

I hope that as we go through this five-week series, God will show up and encourage and strengthen you. Over the next five weeks, we will examine the traditional Wedding Vows exchanged during many wedding ceremonies.  And, on the last week of our series, you and your spouse are invited to stand and RENEW your WEDDING vows…

Do you remember when you said, I Do?

On December 11, 1999, Kristy Lumpkins and I stood at the wedding altar at Grace Baptist Church in Nashville, TN, in front of a crowd of roughly 300 people and made a covenant to remain married to one another, no matter what. We exchanged vows, lit a unity candle, and were pronounced legally and spiritually husband and wife. Then we kissed one another…and let me tell you…that kiss was awesome.

Kristy grabbed me by the back of my neck and laid one on me.  Do you think I’m teasing you? 

Here is a photo:

After we were pronounced husband and wife, we walked down the center aisle.  Friends from church, college, and high school cheered us on. Her family cheered us on. My family cheered us on…They celebrated and cheered for us. After we left the worship center, we were briefly alone, and as we hugged and embraced…I broke down and sobbed. I could not believe Kristy Lou followed through on her YES to marry me.  I felt honored and humbled and had difficulty believing she had married me. 

I was fearful that Kristy would break up and end our engagement…

But Kristy showed up on our wedding day, walked the aisle, and said, I DO.

That, in a nutshell, is the story of our wedding day.  Chances are excellent that your wedding was probably similar. When you exchanged vows with your spouse, the officiant turned and asked you to repeat after him something like this:

I, Joe

take you, Kristy

to be my wedded wife,

to have and to hold from this day forward,

for better, for worse,

for richer, for poorer,

in sickness and in health,

to love and to cherish,

forsaking all others,

till death we do part,

I pledge to my life in Holy Matrimony…

The exchange of your vows was more than just a promise. It was more than just a piece of paper. It was more than just a legal formality. In front of your family, friends, community, and God, you made a covenant with one another that no matter what – the two of you will stick together through the highs and lows of life. Whether you go broke, get rich, stay healthy, or get cancer. You vowed that no matter what…you will continue to love and cherish one another, forsaking everybody else until you die.

That is HUGE.

It was a vow, and you exchanged rings for each of you to wear.  

Those rings declare to everyone who will see or interact with you: “I am married – so back off, Bubba!”

Now – nearly 25 years later…30 lbs later…2 ½ years of battling depression…Nine houses…Six states…Six years of infertility…Four children and three with T1D…

We still say, “I do.”

It hasn’t always been easy – but despite the difficulties we have experienced, we have always known that we are entirely devoted to one another.

What about you? Do you still say, “I Do?”

Today, we are going to focus on the line in the vow… “To Love and to Cherish.”

Paul described LOVE in 1 Corinthians 13.  He writes: 

1 Corinthians 13:1-11 (NLT2) 

1  If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2  If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn’t love others, I would be nothing. 3  If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it; but if I didn’t love others, I would have gained nothing. 4  Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud 5  or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. 6  It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. 7  Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance. 8  Prophecy and speaking in unknown languages and special knowledge will become useless. But love will last forever! 9  Now our knowledge is partial and incomplete, and even the gift of prophecy reveals only part of the whole picture! 10  But when full understanding comes, these partial things will become useless. 11  When I was a child, I spoke and thought and reasoned as a child. But when I grew up, I put away childish things. 

This passage is by far the most definitive in defining and describing LOVE. Several years ago, I asked my daughters, “Girls, what is a way to show love to people who are mean to us?”

My five-year-old Violet said, “Punching them.”

Sofia said, “That’s not loving them.”

Violet said, “It is for me!”

I think sometimes, in marriage, we need clarity around the meaning of love. Like Violet, we can have a wrong understanding of love. The first point I want to make is…

WITHOUT LOVE, MARRIAGE IS NOISY

In the First Century, most PAGAN TEMPLES had a big GONG or a Cymbal hanging at the entrance. When people came to worship, they would hit the GONG or the Cymbal to awaken their PAGAN GODS so they would listen to their prayers.  

Paul is saying that even if he could articulate eloquently in every language but didn't have love, his life was as useless as this ridiculous pounding on a gong to awaken nonexistent gods. It is important to remember that, inside of marriage, we can go through all the motions and not demonstrate love to one another.  

You can go to work, do the dishes,

Do the laundry, fill the cars up with gas, clean the house, pay the bills, and you can complain about it the whole time.

Have you ever been around a clanging cymbal?

It is a little irritating and obnoxious. And when you are doing things in your marriage without love– it gets noisy and irritating, too. And, this is true for...

ALL RELATIONSHIPS.

We can DO all the right things in marriage and all relationships – but it is obnoxious if we serve without love. If we do the laundry without love – it is irritating. If we pack lunches without love – it is noisy. If we work in customer service without love – it is irritating. It is noisy if we serve in any ministry area without love.

So, are you showing love to your spouse daily, or are you growing more irritated with one another? Sometimes, we do things without love – and sometimes, we love our spouse WRONG. Sometimes, people THINK they are showing love to their spouse, but they are not. Male or female, we each have a Love Language.  When your spouse speaks your love language, it fills your love bucket up, and you feel loved.

FIVE LOVE LANGUAGES

1. Words of Affirmation

2. Quality Time

3. Receiving Gifts

4. Acts of Service

5. Physical Touch

I love it when my wife compliments and encourages me…and…I love it when we touch.  (that’s why we have four kids…) If your Love Language is Quality Time and your spouse intentionally spends quality time with you, you feel loved. But, if your Love Language is Physical Touch, and your spouse intentionally gives you gifts, your love bucket never feels full. If you are out of sync with your spouse, if you haven’t yet learned to speak their love language, you can buy them gifts, do acts of service, and speak words of affirmation, but if their love language is physical touch – they still will not feel loved and valued by you! 

You may have thought or said, “She says she doesn’t feel loved, but I am always doing things for her. I am always encouraging her. I am always buying gifts for her. How can she not feel loved?” 

Great! Because if you want to experience becoming ONE with your spouse, you have to learn to speak your spouse's love language. I will give you two options to get better at loving your spouse:

www.5LoveLanguages.com

www.betterlove.com

5LoveLanguages.com is a free test.  It is excellent, simple, and a good place to begin.

BetterLove.com is $35 for a couple, but it is a more comprehensive approach. It will offer an assessment and a Better Love Action Plan.  

If we are not willing to learn to speak the love language of our spouse, we are being selfish. 

Paul said: 

1 Corinthians 13:4-5 : (Love) does not demand its own way. 

When we do demand our own way, we are being selfish, so remember: 

SELFISHNESS DESTROYS RELATIONSHIPS

Selfishness destroys the oneness that your marriage could experience. During creation, we discover the goal of marriage. Afterward, we see a description of how God formed Adam from dirt and how Eve was created from Adam’s rib.  Adam exclaimed when he saw her, “Woah, Man – bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh.”   

The author of Genesis went on to explain God’s purpose in marriage:

Genesis 2:24 (NLT2) 

24  This explains why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one. 

God’s goal for every marriage is that TWO separate people would grow together as ONE. Oneness.  TWO people seeking to GROW together in ONENESS. Oneness means that you are leaning in the same direction. Oneness means working together to advance God’s Kingdom in your marriage.

Oneness means you are quick to forgive. Quick to seek forgiveness. It means you accept apologies and show mercy to one another. Oneness means when your spouse does upset you – you show them the same mercy God shows you. And DEMANDING your way in marriage ruins God’s plan for you.  You will never know the joy of ONENESS if you always insist on having things your way. And, if you are always demanding to have your way, gently, it is time you…

GROW UP AND LOVE SACRIFICIALLY

The Apostle Paul said in verse 11:

1 Corinthians 13:11 (NLT2) 

11  When I was a child, I spoke and thought and reasoned as a child. But when I grew up, I put away childish things.

In the context of this passage, Paul says he became a MAN when he began to practice LOVE!  Children think only about themselves, so grow up! A child cannot see from another person's perspective or understand from another point of view, so grow up. Children demand their way, stomp their feet, and hold their breath when they do not get their way. And – if you find that you are always insistent that your spouse does things your way – it is Time that you grew up.  Tell the boy in you to sit down. It is time for the man to stand up. Tell the little girl in you to sit down.  It is time for the woman to stand up.

Stop being selfish. Stop throwing temper tantrums when you do not get your way. It is time to put childish ways behind you. God loves you. He wants to help you and your spouse put childish ways behind you. If you allow God to help you put childish ways behind you, you will open the door to the most amazing years in your marriage… it is never too late to start.

Philippians - God Provides

We are concluding the sermon series from Philippians.  We will look at his closing thoughts, and I hope you will see Paul’s mutual love for the Philippian believers. Now, remember. Paul wrote this letter to thank the Philippians for a financial gift they sent him while he was under house arrest.  And they sent a man named Epaphroditus with the offering to give it to Paul. While Epaphroditus was there, he cared for Paul, got sick, almost died, got better, and now Paul is about to send this letter back with Epaphroditus to read this letter to the church.

Let’s read:

Philippians 4:15-23 (NLT2) 

15  As you know, you Philippians were the only ones who gave me financial help when I first brought you the Good News and then traveled on from Macedonia. No other church did this. 16  Even when I was in Thessalonica you sent help more than once. 17  I don’t say this because I want a gift from you. Rather, I want you to receive a reward for your kindness. 18  At the moment I have all I need—and more! I am generously supplied with the gifts you sent me with Epaphroditus. They are a sweet-smelling sacrifice that is acceptable and pleasing to God. 19  And this same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from his glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus. 20  Now all glory to God our Father forever and ever! Amen. 21  Give my greetings to each of God’s holy people—all who belong to Christ Jesus. The brothers who are with me send you their greetings. 22  And all the rest of God’s people send you greetings, too, especially those in Caesar’s household. 23  May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. 

If you are a skeptic, I know what you are thinking. Paul was not buttering the church to get them to send more money. He is actually being warm and sincere and grateful for the way they blessed him. I encourage you to read through Acts 16 and 17 and discover how Paul met the Philippians and how the church was launched. In short, Paul and the Philippian church had a very warm and special friendship.  From the very first, their hearts were joined together through generosity.

They generously bandaged his wounds when he had been beaten and thrown into prison. They generously gave him a place to stay, food, and encouragement. Even after he left town, they kept sending him help to partner with him in telling others about Jesus. 

That’s why Paul said…

Philippians 4:15-16 (NLT2) 

15  As you know, you Philippians were the only ones who gave me financial help when I first brought you the Good News and then traveled on from Macedonia. No other church did this. 16  Even when I was in Thessalonica you sent help more than once. 

The Philippian believers were generous from the moment they surrendered their lives to Jesus. And now Paul wanted them to know that…

LIVING GENEROUSLY GENERATES REWARD

Philippians 4:17 (NLT2) 

17  I don’t say this because I want a gift from you. Rather, I want you to receive a reward for your kindness. 

Paul was reminding them of this very simple principle.  In life, the more generous you and I are to others, the more others will be generous to us. Before you tighten your grip on your wallet, I don’t think Paul is only referring to financial generosity. The Philippians believers had seen the generosity of time, love, and encouragement Paul gave them.  

Paul was generous with his worship after he had been beaten in the prison. After being locked up in the inner dungeon, Paul was generous with his love. Paul was generous in sharing the good news of Jesus with the prisoners. Paul modeled the generosity of God’s love for others. And the Philippian believers were pouring out the same generosity they had received from Paul.

When Kristy goes out of her way to be generous toward me with her love and tenderness, I want to go out of my way for her. When others are generous and kind to us, we want to show kindness to them. Paul spoke about this simple principle in his letter to the Galatians.  He writes:

Galatians 6:7-9 (NLT2) 

7  Don’t be misled—you cannot mock the justice of God. You will always harvest what you plant. 8  Those who live only to satisfy their own sinful nature will harvest decay and death from that sinful nature. But those who live to please the Spirit will harvest everlasting life from the Spirit. 9  So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up.

So, if you sow “doing what is good” to others, you will reap a “harvest of blessing” if you keep it up. I love sharing this example of people who practice generosity in our church. Twice a month, around 40 people show up and distribute food.  Over 1700 people in our community receive food from our partnership with a local food bank each month. It's hot. It's humid.  The lines are long. But the people serving smile, love, and the sow generosity to bless other people.

If you are a follower of Jesus, by that I mean you believe that God created the world, but the world chose to sin. You believe you lived in disobedience to God, and the punishment for disobedience was eternal separation from God. And, you believe Jesus was God in the Flesh who paid the price for our disobedience on the cross. You believe that Jesus generously suffered, died, was buried, rose from the dead, went to heaven, and will one day return. And because you believe these things, you surrendered your life to God, trusted and received Jesus as your Savior. If you had a moment like that, you are a follower of Jesus.

And now that you are a follower of Jesus, there is a promise that you can claim, as found in Philippians 4:19.

GOD WILL MEET EVERY NEED, SO PERSEVERE WHILE WAITING

Philippians 4:19 (NLT2) 

19  And this same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from his glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus. 

Every single person in this room has needs in their lives.  We make some of our needs known to everybody, but we keep other needs private. You may make it known that you need more coffee on Sunday morning, but you may not make it known that you are overwhelmed with credit card debt. You may make it known that you are hangry, but you may not share that you are lonely. You may make it known that you and your spouse argued this morning, but you may keep it hidden that you have been quietly thinking about divorce. But God wants to meet your needs.  God wants to work miracles in your life.  God wants to restore your marriage, restore your relationships, and restore your life. 

You may be walking through a difficult season in your life right now, but I invite you to persevere. For the next few minutes, I will highlight the perseverance many people showed during a difficult season at Beach Church.

In 2019, Beach Church was recognized as the 83rd fastest-growing church in America.  The parking lot was filling up. By the spring of 2020, the church was averaging over 1,500 in worship, and because of the growth, the staff was preparing to launch a third worship service. But by 2022, because of internal strife and division, worship attendance had dipped into the three-and-four hundreds, leadership left, and people wondered if God was finished working in Beach Church. Morale among staff and members was at an all-time low. The 1,900-seat worship center felt emptier each week, and visitors stopped attending. Many feared that Beach Church would soon close its doors for good. 

It wasn’t easy. It was hard.  For many, that season felt heavy, confusing, and uncertain. Yet you continued to serve at Guest Central when there weren’t many guests. You continued to serve in the parking lot when there weren’t any cars to help park. You continued to serve on our First Impressions team and maybe over-greeted the few guests who visited. Your friends tried to convince you to go to church with them. People said to “give up” and “sometimes churches die.”

But you continued to give, you continued to serve, and you continued to keep moving forward when church life got hard. And today, people are walking through the doors at Beach Church like never before. Our lobby is filled with joy, laughter, tears, and prayers each week. Entire families are surrendering their lives to Jesus, getting baptized, and experiencing hope! Since the beginning of 2024, we have welcomed 1400 guests in worship, gave away over 500 bibles, baptized over 174 people, and have had over 65 professions of faith. To keep up with the movement of God, we have added a Family Pastor, a Student Pastor, and today, a Director of Children’s Ministry.  

And…

Two weeks ago, Outreach Magazine contacted me to inform me that in 2024, Beach Church was ranked as the 58th fastest-growing church in America. Thank you for trusting God when things weren’t clear. Thank you for trusting God when you were discouraged. Thank you for wedging your foot into the door and keeping it propped open for people to come and experience the life-changing love of Jesus.   

We are a church where the broken overcome. We are a church where marriages can be restored. We are a church where those who have been at the end of their rope can offer a ladder to those who are now at the end of theirs. And friends, because a group persevered in the waiting…

YOU HAVE A PLACE AT BEACH CHURCH

Philippians 4:20-23 (NLT2) 

20  Now all glory to God our Father forever and ever! Amen. 21  Give my greetings to each of God’s holy people—all who belong to Christ Jesus. The brothers who are with me send you their greetings. 22  And all the rest of God’s people send you greetings, too, especially those in Caesar’s household. 23  May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. 

As Paul closes his letter, we see the incredible sense of love he has for this church. If you haven’t yet felt that sense of belonging here at Beach Church, it may be because you have not yet begun to live transparently. I remember the initial weeks after I surrendered my life to Jesus. From the time I surrendered my life to Jesus at 18, I stepped up to serve in any area that would take me.

I got involved in leading the student ministry. I got involved in teaching Sunday School. I got involved with ministries that met on my college campus. I took the first step and initiated relationships. I believed that I would be loved and accepted, and I was.

For the first three years after I gave my life to Jesus, I was a dirty, hard-working construction worker.  I had a beat-up car, worn-out clothes, a mullet, and didn’t quite fit in with the little Baptist church I attended. Still, I believed everybody loved and cared for me because they were part of God’s family, so I kept initiating relationships and getting involved.  Not everybody understood me, but I loved them anyway.

And you get to be you here at Beach Church. You can have a mullet and be stuck in the 1980’s, and it’s okay. You can have a flattop and be stuck in the 1950s and it’s okay. You can listen to emo and be stuck in the 2000s, and it's okay. You can have a lifted four-wheel-drive truck or drive a Tesla; it's okay. You belong here at Beach Church. You have a place, whether you are a young married couple, single, divorced, or parents, grandparents, or great-grandparents. If you continue to persevere and trust that God will meet your needs, you will find a place to belong.  But you must be willing to take the first steps. 

Jesus didn't do life alone. He invited the disciples to join him. Don't sit back and wait and just randomly bump into people. Be intentional. Begin to experience that sense of belonging by downloading the Beach Church app. If you can play an instrument or like to sing songs of worship in the shower, you may be a good fit for our worship team.  Take the initiative, complete the app's digital connect card, and let us know.

Philippians - Contentment Through Trouble

I post on Social Media quite often.  

You can find me on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.  If you follow me, you know that I post pictures of my family, travel highlights, and of course, food and restaurants.

I want to confess something to you: If you follow me on social media, you will not see the REAL Donahue family. You will not see my arguments with my wife, frustrations with people, posts about messing up with my kids…or when the kids are driving me crazy.

I may provide a tiny glimpse occasionally, but mostly I stay away from that side of me…and…people like me are the problem with social media!  

Week after week, I see people “taking a break from Social Media” because they look at our posts, compare themselves to the image we portray, and think, “I give up. I’m never going to have it all together.”

We will feel dissatisfied with life, never feel like we measure up to the world's expectations of us, and ultimately, we will never be content.

As Paul wrote this letter, he was chained up, under house arrest, with Roman Guards standing over him.  He was poorly clothed, rarely bathed, and had meager food rations to sustain him.  But we would never guess Paul lived in those conditions for two years because he seemed so happy and content when he wrote this letter.

Today, we learn the secret of Paul’s strength. We learn how the apostle Paul was able to strengthen, instruct, and encourage the church in Philippi even while he was imprisoned, confined, and lived in meager conditions.

At this point in Philippians 4, Paul begins to express his gratitude for a financial gift that the church had sent to help provide for him. He knew they were concerned about him, and they showed a willingness to help him by collecting an offering from the church and sending it to Paul.

Let’s read.

Philippians 4:10-13 (NLT2) 

10  How I praise the Lord that you are concerned about me again. I know you have always been concerned for me, but you didn’t have the chance to help me. 11  Not that I was ever in need, for I have learned how to be content with whatever I have. 12  I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little. 13  For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength. 

As Paul began to thank the Philippians for the gift they sent (we can assume it was a financial gift, clothes, or even food). First, he acknowledged that they had always been concerned about him, but they had not yet had an opportunity to show their concern…until he was placed under house arrest. If you are a part of a Lifegroup, maybe you have experienced something similar.  Maybe somebody in your life group had a baby.  You may throw a baby shower for them…or sign up to help with a meal train.

You were always concerned about them, but you only showed concern when they had a need. But Paul wrote from a slightly different perspective. Paul worked with his hands for a living. As he traveled and shared Jesus's Life-Changing message, he worked wherever he went to earn a living.

Acts 18:3 (NLT2) 

3  Paul lived and worked with them, for they were tentmakers just as he was. 

Paul never charged churches for his services.  He supported himself.  He never wanted to be accused of preaching about Jesus for profit.  So he worked with his hands wherever he went.  But now that Paul was under house arrest, he could not work to earn a living. He had no source of income…and to add insult to injury, Rome forced him to stay under house arrest—in an apartment that Paul had to pay for. Any money he had went toward paying rent to keep him in prison.

Paul was BROKE. 

Paul wrote this thank you from the perspective that even though he was in need (the word means poverty), he was still ok…because he learned the SECRET of being content in any and every situation: 

HAVE I LEARNED TO BE CONTENT?

Are you okay with having nothing? 

Would you be okay without food, clothing, or shelter? 

Paul said he has learned to be content with nothing or with everything. Whether his table was filled with delicious food or he went without, Paul was content. I love my wife, Kristy.  She is a teacher, and she is amazing.  But if she doesn’t stop to get a bite to eat on her way home, she comes home HANGRY.

Irritable. Frowny. She is not content – at all. I get like that, too.  When I haven’t eaten in a while, I get HANGRY, too.

And when the two of us are Hangry simultaneously – look out, Donahue children! Unless they are all hangry – and then it's pandemonium!

Yet – God desires that you and I learn to be content with little or a lot. We must understand some biblical principles to learn the secret of being content. The first thing necessary to understand is that…

GOD IS SOVEREIGN

The Bible calls Solomon the wisest person that ever lived. Since the Bible describes Solomon that way – I will not argue with it. Listen to how the wisest man on the earth described the work of God:

Ecclesiastes 3:14 (NKJV) 

14  I know that whatever God does, It shall be forever. Nothing can be added to it, And nothing taken from it. God does it, that men should fear before Him. 

Whatever God desires to do, he will do. I can never add anything to what God does. What He does is so good that I could never make it better. God has the power, wisdom, and authority to do anything He chooses within His creation. God is concerned about your character. The difficult things he has allowed to come into your life are to sharpen you and develop your character.

Paul understood the sovereignty of God. 

He understood that God loved him and that even though he was under house arrest for telling others about Jesus, God allowed his arrest to happen for Paul’s benefit. If you want to learn to be content, you have to trust that God is Sovereign. Also, along those same lines, if you want to become content, you have to understand that…

GOD IS UNSTOPPABLE

There was a man named Job in the Old Testament.  Job was a man blessed beyond measure. He had children who loved him, livestock, fields, and land.  His posts on social media would embarrass all of us. He was blessed beyond measure. He worshipped God, and God blessed him. 

So, one day, Satan boasted to God that people on the earth were faithless. God asked him, “Have you considered my servant Job?”  Satan said, “He is only faithful because you protect and bless Him. Remove your protection, and I will show you he will turn on you, too.”

So, God removed his protection from Job, and Satan destroyed everything. His children, his cattle, his crop.  He had painful and infectious sores pop up all over his body…

Everything Job loved was taken from him.  Now that I think about it…the Devil attacked Job, wiped out everything, but left his wife. That sounds intentional.

And, if you wanted to “Amen” that comment…We are kicking off a Marriage Series in two weeks.  “When I said I Do.”  We will examine the covenant we made with our spouses and end the series by giving you an opportunity to get all gussied up, stand at the end of the service, and renew your Marriage Vows.

God removed his blessing of protection on Job, and Job’s blessings and health disappeared. Rather than blaming God. Rather than becoming like the rest of the faithless people.  Rather than cursing God. 

This is what Job said about God:

Job 9:12 (NKJV) 

12  If He takes away, who can hinder Him? Who can say to Him, 'What are You doing?' 

In other words, If God will allow something I love and hold dear to be taken away from my life, I cannot stop him.  

Whining does not help.

Crying about it does not help.

A pity party about my troubles does not help. 

If you want to learn to be content, you must accept that God is UNSTOPPABLE, and to learn to be content…

ACCEPT THAT LIFE IS HARD

The third passage that has helped me to learn to be content is from the Apostle Paul.  As we looked at last week, Paul described some of the hardships he faced as a follower of Jesus.

He wrote this:

2 Corinthians 11:24-27 (NLT2) 

24  Five different times the Jewish leaders gave me thirty-nine lashes. 25  Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked. Once I spent a whole night and a day adrift at sea. 26  I have traveled on many long journeys. I have faced danger from rivers and from robbers. I have faced danger from my own people, the Jews, as well as from the Gentiles. I have faced danger in the cities, in the deserts, and on the seas. And I have faced danger from men who claim to be believers but are not. 27  I have worked hard and long, enduring many sleepless nights. I have been hungry and thirsty and have often gone without food. I have shivered in the cold, without enough clothing to keep me warm.

Regardless of the challenges I have faced in life – nothing compares to what Paul experienced.

An alcoholic, abusive father raised me. He did unspeakable things to me. One night, he was drunk, grabbed my mom by her hair, and swung her around the house.I went to a shelter for battered and abused families. I was placed in an adolescent psychiatric hospital…

But nothing compares to the hardship Paul experienced. And Paul had all that stuff happen to him AFTER HE BECAME a follower of Jesus!

If your life has grown more complicated since you became a follower of Jesus, it may be because the devil is trying to destroy your faith like he tried to do to Job. If you want to learn to be content, you must accept that life is hard. But the hard will be good for you.

Paul wrote in his letter to the church in Rome:

Romans 8:28 (NLT2) 

28  … God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.

Even if something evil happens to you, if you love God and lead people to a relationship with God, He will redeem the bad for good. God will take the terrible and make it terrific. 

BECAUSE…

THE SECRET TO STRENGTH IS CONTENTMENT IN CHRIST

Philippians 4:12-13 (NLT2) 

12  I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little. 13  For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.

If you can begin to TRUST the CHARACTER and the HEART of GOD.  

If you can begin to trust in his Sovereign Love for you.

If you want to be able to withstand anything that comes against you…

If you want to walk through fire and not be burned…

You must trust that real strength is found through CONTENTMENT in CHRIST.

It's okay not to be OK.  

You and I are never going to be perfect.  

Your spouse will never be perfect. 

Your children will never be perfect.

Your life will be filled with complex challenges.

But don’t throw in the towel on your trust in God. Don’t give up on your relationship with Jesus.  

When life gets hard, consider the hardship Paul experienced BECAUSE he was a follower of Jesus.  

Paul remained content because JESUS was living inside him, giving him strength.

God is SOVEREIGN.

God is UNSTOPPABLE.

Life is HARD –

But GOD will never allow anything to happen to you that could separate you from his LOVING PRESENCE – and even the bad stuff that happens can turn out for GOOD. Maybe you have not yet surrendered your life to Jesus. Perhaps you have not yet turned your life over to God and asked Him to forgive your sin. You can right now.