Feeling Desperate, Needy or Suffering? This Word is for You!

If you find yourself in a place of tremendous suffering in one way or another and you are absolutely desperate for God, this word is for you. I want to start off by sharing Luke 6:es 20- 23 in the AMP translation. And it says, "Blessed," meaning spiritually prosperous, happy, and to be admired, "Are you who are poor," which means in spirit, those devoid of spiritual arrogance, those who regard themselves as insignificant, and it also can mean monetarily poor. For the kingdom of God is yours both now and forever.

Blessed, which means joyful, nourished by God's goodness, are you who hunger now for righteousness, actively seeking right standing with God. For you will be completely satisfied. Blessed, which means forgiven and refreshed by God's grace. Are you who weep now over your sins and repent for you will laugh when the burden of sin is lifted. blessed, which means morally courageous and spiritually alive with life joy in God's goodness.

Are you when people hate you and exclude you from their fellowship and insult you and scorn your name as evil because of your association with the Son of Man. Rejoice on that day and leap for joy for your reward in heaven is great and absolutely inexhaustible. So you if you are facing trials and great great suffering that has pushed you into feeling absolutely desperate and poor and needy, God calls you most blessed in those trials right there in the pain, in the suffering and even the trauma God that's pushed you to that neediness. God says in that place you are spiritually prosperous, happy to be admired, joyful, nourished by God's goodness, forgiven, refreshed by God's grace, and spiritually alive with life joy in God's goodness.

So it is vital for us to maintain his perspective even at a time where it seems like the opposite of that. That is how he sees us and our lives. And um it reminded me of a Charles Spurgeon quote where he says, "I've learned to kiss the wave that slams me against the rock of ages." So, um, I asked God myself, "How can I see these trials that we're going through, these traumatic things as good things? Please give me understanding." And the Lord spoke to me and he said, "Because I work all things together for your good." And of course, that he was referring to um Romans 8:28 where he says, "He works all things together for those who are called according to his purpose." and love him.

Um, and then he told me to read 2 Corinthians 4 starting at verse 7. And it says in the amp, but we have this precious treasure, the good news about salvation in unworthy earthn vessels of human frailty. So that the grandeur and surpassing greatness of the power will be shown to be from God, his sufficiency, and not from ourselves. We are pressured in every way.

Hedged in but not crushed. Perplexed, unsure of finding a way out, but not driven to despair. Hunted down and persecuted, but not deserted to stand alone. Struck down, but never destroyed. always carrying around in the body the dying of Jesus so that the resurrection life of Jesus also may be shown in our body.

For we who live are constantly experiencing the threat of being handed over to death for Jesus's sake so that the resurrection life of Jesus also may be evidenced in our mortal body which is subject to death. So physical death is actively at work within us, but spiritual life is actively at work in you. And then jump to verse 15. For all these things are for your sake, so that as God's remarkable undeserved grace reaches to more and more people, it may increase thanksgiving to the glory of our great God.

Therefore, we do not become discouraged, spiritless, disappointed, or afraid. Though our outer self is progressively wasting away, yet our inner self is being progressively renewed day by day. for our momentary light distress. This passing trouble is producing for us an eternal weight of glory, a fullness beyond all measure, surpassing all comparisons, a transcendent splendor, and an endless blessedness. So we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are unseen.

For the things which are visible are temporal, just brief and fleeting. But the things which are invisible are everlasting and imperishable. So one, if we are see aren't seeing the goodness in our trials, if we aren't seeing the blessedness that Christ promised in his word, even in the suffering, in the trauma, in our death, then it's because we are lacking eternal perspective. We're lacking his view.

We have to know that all of our trials and suffering are light and momentary and fleeting and passing. And that we are living for eternity. For that eternal glory that far far far surpasses any suffering or attack that we can go through in this lifetime. And it can outlive anything of this earth, any person of this earth.

And so we have to look not to completely look away from the trouble that is here right now in front of us in this world that is temporary, brief, and fleeting. And we have to fasten our gaze on what is unseen that is everlasting and imperishable. And number two, we also have to be clear on what the Bible says being a Christ follower actually is. Um Paul makes it clear that Christ followers are always carrying around in the body the dying of Jesus so that the resurrection life of Jesus also may be shown in our body.

And he also makes it clear that all of these things, all of it, being pressed on every side, persecuted, attacked, struck down, etc. All those things are for your sake. Meaning, it's for um it's for the sake of the church. It's for the sake of Jesus's body.

And all the death and suffering we endure is for the sake of others of the people of God so that God's grace reaches more people to the glory of God. So at the beginning of our walk uh with Jesus, it's like our honeymoon with him, right? Like everything is roses. But if we continue on in our walk with him and we're willing to go deeper and truly surrender and give our lives to him and and be obedient, he will walk us through a season of dying and he will break you like bread to feed his people.

This life is not about us. It has nothing to do with us. It's on to his glory. And Christ did not die so that all of your dreams can come true and you get your dream life.

Christ died so that the father could be glorified through your death, through your surrender, through the laying down of your life for the sake of others. That's why he died. He died so that your life could feed others just as his did. Just as Christ surrendered, laid down his life to feed the body of Christ.

His death was for the glory of God and to feed all humanity. And that's exactly what we are called to also as his believers.