Peace in the Midst of Pain

[0:00] be with you this morning grateful for the leadership in the church and thank you brothers and sisters for the privilege to share god's word with you this morning last monday i came from mission conference in california we have and before that another mission conference mission fist in vancouver british columbia where i have the privilege to share about the ministry and to speak and god willing it's use day this coming begun for almost a month to jordan and gaza and in my way have a few days to speak in holland and share about the ministry so appreciate your prayers um i like if i may uh read a few verses from philippians well-known verses philippians 4 verse 6 to 9 i'm reading from niv don't be anxious about anything but in every situation by prayer and petition with thanksgiving present your request to god and the and the peace of god which transcends all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in christ jesus finally brothers and sisters whatever is it true whatever is noble whatever is right whatever is pure whatever is lovely whatever is admirable if anything is excellent or praiseworthy think about such things whatever you have learned or received or heard from me or seen in me but it into practice and the god of peace will be with you may god bless his word let us pray just ask god indeed to open our hearts and our minds this morning lord this is uh our prayer this morning and thank you for the blessing to share and the blessing to listen to your word we just pray to pray to open our hearts our minds we pray uh to give us the freedom as uh uh we share and as we listen we pray protection on the meeting and over every one of us forgive us our weaknesses lord jesus our sins cover it under your precious blood and we give you all the honor and all the praise in jesus name amen um i want to share with you this morning about how to maintain or keep god's peace in the midst of pain i was reading uh tim killer book uh walking uh with god um in pain and suffering through pain and suffering and uh there's things i i learned and uh things we went through in our life and ministry and i like to share with you how to maintain god peace in the midst of pain i feel loved one if we lost god's peace in our life i think not much left for us i remember uh as a new believer as a young believer um more uh experienced the peace of god at that time to be honest with you later in life uh when uh more challenges uh more difficulties uh sometimes uh

[4:04] i miss uh for one reason or another god peace and uh i struggled with that and seek the lord and uh i hope what i share with you this morning will help us all uh how to maintain this precious thing in our life different cultures have really to deal with pain and suffering otherwise people will turn to become angry and become bitter if they didn't have answers i'm not saying here we have all the answers about pain and suffering even in our life even as a christian there is no immunity for pain and suffering for the christian our lord jesus um told us in advance and warned us um that there will be cross and there will be tribulation and there will be suffering for those who want to live a godly life um with with the lord uh i want to share with you about uh some of the sources um of pain and the concept of pain in different uh culture and the misconception of pain and suffering why god allow pain and suffering in our life and hopefully how together by the grace of god be able to maintain uh god peace um in the midst of pain uh there is different sources uh of pain and suffering in our life you know so uh prophets 19 talks about laziness where it could cause hunger could be the call one of the cause and also um prophets 11 talks about bad relationships or bad friendship could cause pain and suffering i myself could be the cause uh of that if there's um unwise decisions i made that will cause um pain in my pain in my life um sometimes unfortunately uh in the u.s we hear people enter a school where's kids and uh with a gun and they kill and injured uh many many many students uh sometimes of course if we break the laws of the lord um that will cause suffering in our life sometimes things out of our control if there is a horrible disease unexpected uh could cause pain in our life regardless what is the source um i want to say probably not all of us this morning here uh at at present time experience pain and suffering but maybe in the past you you did uh and maybe some of us now experience pain and some of us probably in the future so all of us in way or another loved one experience this kind of pain what is the concept of pain you know um in buddhism will say the cause of pain it's because we live in materialistic a word and that is a natural result of the world we live in um that people experience pain uh hundurism will say karma which um the pain that you experience now in your life it's because as a result of a previous life or sinful life you lived before and now you're paying the price of your previous uh sins islam will say um don't ask just if god want to do it you know submit and um just take it don't question it even uh other people will say the cause of pain uh sometimes because of certain desires in your life

[8:09] and that uh disappointment which you experience because these desires is not fulfilled that cause this kind of pain in the west they say because we live in a material world and naturally this is the result but they didn't see unfortunately the spiritual uh extent of uh the pain and suffering in christianity we see the cause of pain start in genesis 3 um where verse 15 to verse uh 19 because of sin and we see that the land or the earth will produce start to produce thorns and the man will go through a pain as he provide for his own family and mothers will experience pain as they give birth but there's misconception about uh about pain um you remember in the life of job the first thing his friends told him when they saw the pain and the suffering in the life of jail of job they said job you must did something horrible that these things happened to you and we know what they what they said wasn't right if you remember in john 9 when um the disciple asked jesus when you they saw the boy who born blind and they asked uh the question uh the question who have sinned that this boy born blind and of course jesus respond neither not the boy not the parents that sinned that the boy born the blind because there's misconception and bad heresy at that time in the tradition the jewish tradition they think that the baby in his mother womb could even sin this is why i asked jesus the question who have sinned you know the boy or his mothers and we see the response of jesus that the lord will be glorified in all of that even paul who wrote almost half of the new testament by the power of the holy spirit he experienced some pain and suffering or some disability in his own life and some um uh theologians see maybe it's like in his walk or in his sight so i cannot say you know that um the things um we see that always because of uh certain sin why god allow suffering in our life again we didn't really have all the answers and sometimes we have more questions than answer why god allow pain and suffering in our life somebody give this illustration why as a parent you allow your um your child who is two years old to take a painful shot and you allow him to do that of course simply because um your concept and your maturity as a parent who's 30 years old or 40 years old is much more than your uh child who's two years old how much more our heavenly father um who's um whose all wisdom that he allow us sometimes to go through pain and suffering veganism will say pain will not bring you closer to god but christianity teach us pain is essential to our faith the scripture said in philippians chapter one we're not only called to believe in him but to suffer for him and as i said our lord jesus many times warned us that there will be a cross and there will be suffering c.s lewis said

[12:10] god whisper to us in our pleasures god whisper to us in our pleasures speak to our conscious but he scream or shout if you will in our pain and we know loved one our faith will be tested not when everything is going fine but our faith will be tested in the most difficult time of our life this is why james chapter one verse two he said consider it all joy loved one when you go through different kind of tribulation because he said the testing of your faith and the word testing at the time of james is used to examine the coin if it's genuine or false and this is the time when my faith and your faith will be tested to see if it's real or not and then he said the testing of your faith will produce perseverance and if perseverance you pass that test you will have this virtue of patience and then you'll be lacking nothing and you become more like a man or woman of god and also pain and suffering will build our character and this is what romans five said that suffering produce perseverance and perseverance will produce character that you become the man of character that the lord want you to be a man of integrity honesty relationship with other and to be the person he wants you to be and then he's a character will produce hope and hope will never disappoint you because the love of god is born in our life why the lord allow pain and suffering because in the time of pain and suffering if we handle it in the way that the lord want us to do to do that we will discover the treasure of darkness and this is what we see in isaiah 45 verse 3 and maybe you wonder if there is a treasure in darkness i want to say in that difficult time when you go through you will see the lord in a way probably you didn't see him before or you experience him in a way it's very unique and you will learn lessons that probably you will not learn in any other way why the lord allow us to go through that i want to say because he know you very well when the lord allow job to go through all the difficulties as you know where he lost his wealth and health and family he knew job very well more than we knew ourselves and he see that what how much job will bear um um and also the lord see how job will be after he will go through that fire he knew how much he can handle and how much he cannot and simply also that the lord allow us to go through that because then we able to comfort others who will go through similar things that we went through and we experience that that the people who can really understand our pain the one who really went through something similar or the same thing we went through and also i want to say suffering that the lord allow it because it will teach us even how to pray if you remember in romans 8 it said there is time we didn't know how to pray

[16:12] there is time we didn't know what to say especially if we go through agony and this it says romans 8 that the holy spirit which lives inside of us will take that groaning that agony that pain that hurt that grief the holy spirit will take that and put it in front of the loving god who understand the language of the spirit and he respond according to our need also suffering i want to say prepare us to heaven romans 8 17 if we share in his suffering we will share in his glory the present suffering is no way to compare with the glory which will be revealed in us second corinthians 4 16 to 17 therefore we don't lose heart though outwardly we are wasting away yet unworldly we are being renewed day by day for our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all again the question how loved one to keep god's peace in the midst of suffering i know some of us went through a lot of life and if we have a chance this morning to share many of you only god knows what you went through but i want to say loved one what you went through or what i went through it's about consider 10 percent 90 percent but 90 percent it depends how i deal with the things which happened to me which is more important do i become a better person do i start to complain or i seek the lord in the midst of pain what you want to show me lord i want to pose i want to kneel i want to throw myself in your presence i want to listen to you in spite of the pain help me how to deal with it how to become a better servant how to become a better man we as a christian loved one not only believe infinitive god you know other religion stop there that they believe in infinitive god god is there far away but we as a christian and only we see it in christianity we believe not only infinitive god but we believe in personal god what if we believe in god what if we believe in god who just have all the authority and he can do anything and everything he's so powerful but he didn't feel with us what about if we believe just got a god who's really feel with us as a human being but he's not able not capable to do not powerful enough we see in the christianity the god we believe in not only have all the authority all the power to do but also he is god who suffer i like sometimes to talk about god who serve a servant god if you will and we see god is not with all the authority but god also

[20:20] who suffer with us only in christianity in veganism they didn't see they didn't believe divinity can be unite with the human bodies but only just in christ the logos the eternal word of god the son who's always in the true and father son and holy spirit one being three person only in christ that eternal word of god became a flesh and it will among us yes john 1 and john 1 14 i want to say jesus experienced pain in the cross the suffering god when jesus was on the cross loved one for the first time ever where is the true god always united on the cross there was i didn't want to say separation between the son and the father but there's were kind of a crack in the relationship in the fellowship of the father and the son where jesus said this word my god my god why you have forsaken me for the first time the son experienced this emotional pain which is so deep and for the first time for a while the son lost his peace with the father he lost that peace to give you and give me that peace in the darkest hour of our life life and jesus became not only bear our sins on the cross but he became sin for us can you imagine that he took our iniquities and give us his forgiveness took our sin and give us his righteousness his forgiveness how to keep the peace of god in the midst of pain i want to say as a christian if we lost god the presence if we lost god peace in the midst of pain and the challenges and suffering and persecution i didn't know what how much left for us and my prayer for you and for me god help me give me the discipline give me the trust give me it train my mind the train my heart how in the darkest hour of my life to continue to experience your peace and your presence which is the most precious thing for me in my journey of life and in my journey of faith tim color share a few things i think very helpful don't ever put your ultimate hope in this life in anything which will be out of your control our ultimate hope in the living god but if i shift and just put my ultimate hope in things in this life that i don't have control over that's easy if something happen to these things i will lose god peace all of us love

[24:20] love our families very dear to our hearts we're willing to do everything and anything for our families but i want if i put my ultimate hope in my family and god forbid if something happened to them that out of my control which i cannot control and if it's happened then i very easily be leave or lose god peace in my life same thing with your profession or your career your success if you're able in this life to accomplish certain things things and you have certain success but you're not always able to keep that accomplishment and that success so if your ultimate hope in your profession or in your career god forbid if something happen then very easy you will lose god peace in your life tim color talks about two men young men in his church and he said both of these two young men engaged of course each engaged to a lady and what's happened to both of them his fiance each one said no i cannot continue the first one it was very difficult for him because he put all his dreams ultimate hope in this young lady he engaged to that one day they will get married and have their family they have and when she said no i cannot continue he wasn't able to accept that because he put all his hopes in this and it was very difficult for him it destroyed him and turned to drugs and become addicted but the other person it was very painful for him too but because his ultimate hope it was in the living god he was able to handle it it will be okay yes it hurts yes it's painful but god will help me he walk alongside of me in the midst of my pain and suffering and then he talks about another two young men both of them pursue want to pursue to become actors and their dream that they will get this interview where hopefully they be involved in a certain film and that film will be the stage that probably after that they become popular and the story said both of them went to the interview and unfortunately both of them been rejected one of them again it was very difficult and destroyed him because his ultimate hope was if i get that the other person again was able to overcome because his ultimate hope was in the living god how to keep god peace in the midst of pain we need to rearrange our priorities in life loved one our faith in the living god first our family then to know the lord better and to make him known and i try to remind myself when i go through tough time and maybe you heard me saying this before

[28:23] hannah which is bigger your problem or your god which is more difficult the challenge you facing now or your faith you know loved one if i make my problem bigger than my god i'm in trouble but if i see things in the right perspective everything will be okay to know who's my god is his purpose in my life his will in my life and who i am as the child of god in the midst of pain i never forget the story of maybe you heard it spofford who is american lawyer in 1871 he lost all his business in chicago fire and after two hours he was able to get some of his business back and he sent his wife anna and his four little girls to london and the story said why we are in the atlantic ocean their ship it's hit by another ship and their ship start to be to sink down what this godly mother did she hold the hands of her four daughters and she start to pray as the ship going down and the waves scattered the family the four daughters the four daughters drawn and died they found anna the mother unconscious floating on the water and rescued by a ship they brought her to london and then she sent very short message to her husband in two words saved alone saved alone the grieving father took a ship from the states through the atlantic went to pick up his wife anna to bring her back home when the ship he was on getting close to the international water in france the captain of that ship said to the father here was your four daughters drawn and died the godly man start to wrote the song where he said the peace of god is running like a river all my sins all my sins been nailed on the cross and the question what makes this man write a song like this any person in his position either he will feel guilty that what's happened to him and to his family as a punishment of god this is why he cried out that all my sins nailed on the cross and also he could turn bitter against god why are you doing this to me but he say the peace of god is coming like a river on my life i want to say when you go through a tough time speak to your soul and this is what psalm 42 says

[32:23] why my soul you are casting down why you the agony why you groaning in me my hope in the living god speak to your soul and don't allow your soul speak to you but speak god word god promises to your soul and you can express your emotions and your tears in the presence of god and we see this is in the life of jesus where at least the scripture mentioned three times where jesus cried as we know in the front of lazarus tomb when he was in gethsemane before he went to the cross and also over jerusalem the words i just read to you in philippians 4 6 to 9 i call this is a divine prescription for our souls and our spirits where he say don't be anxious about anything i want to say when the lord gives this kind of order because he is the one who created us he's the one who designed us he knows what is good for us and he whisper to everyone of us my son don't allow anxiety don't allow anxious or worries control your life lord what you want me to do there is a replacement instead of anxious anxiety he said by a prayer handle handle handle your anxiety handle your worries through prayer even if you pray the scripture in the presence of god the two things anxious or worries and prayer is contradict but this is how we need to handle it life is so fragile handle it with a prayer prayer and thanksgiving and then he said the result will be the peace of god which more than you can comprehend will guard your heart and the word guard in the greek here it's used to protect the city from the attacks of the enemy because as you know this is the battle where the evil one can attack us through our thoughts and through our minds but the lord will siege and protect your mind and your thought as you handle it with prayer and thanksgiving before the lord and then we see what the lord wants us to think about to overcome and to keep the peace to think in like what it say is noble whatever right what's pure what's lovely admirable praiseworthy one of the things was difficult for us and we need to deal with it reconstruct our thoughts sometimes and if you will to reconstruct our minds all of us believe certain things and we heard if you didn't meet the criteria or if you didn't meet the standard there is something wrong on you you know we believe certain things but when we come to real life to implement it sometimes maybe we feel shortcoming and then we feel we are not good enough and then we start to feel guilty and the anxiety to come over us this is why

[36:18] I say we need to evaluate certain things certain thoughts in the presence of God as we seek him I just want to end with just a couple of minutes about Job I want to say for Job we see the grace of God even Job sometimes he crossed the line have doubts but in the same time we see the grace of God that God didn't turn away from Job in spite of his doubt and his difficult questions sometimes but we see the grace of God where God embraced Job another thing about

[37:22] Job Job didn't allow pain and suffering to push him away from God rather he allowed pain to push him to run toward God and this is my prayer for you and for me this morning if you go through pain anxiety or suffering may these things will help you to run toward God and I just want to say in the end Job didn't have answers for all his questions why God allowed this to happen to me there are things in life we didn't have enough answers maybe have more questions but only then when Job saying in the presence of God I didn't understand why I didn't have answers for all my questions but I trust you you are good God and only then when he threw himself in the presence of

[38:24] God when he threw himself in the bosom of God only then he able to experience the peace and the presence of God and felt contentment inside and this is my prayer for all of us if we didn't have an answer but I believe you are good God you are the one who created me in his image the one who breathed life in me the one who redeemed me I trust you I throw myself in your presence and his peace and his presence will give us the real contentment and the real meaning of life that you continue by his grace to move forward and to live life for him and not to allow anything is more or big in this life is steal or take God peace from our life let's pray

[39:28] Lord we bow before you we thank you Lord for your presence in our life Lord you see the struggles we went through or my brothers and sisters going through now Lord I pray to help us all whatever we going through help us not to lose your peace your presence Lord God thank you for the honor and the privilege which you give us sometimes to go through the fire you know us more than we know ourselves and we trust you

[40:37] I pray for my brothers and sister and for myself whatever we go through help us to learn help us to grow help us to be more like you and for the things what you teach us help us to share it and to use it to be blessings for others help us to be like Job that not allow pain to push us away but rather to run toward you and to throw ourselves in your presence we love you help us to live the rest of our life Lord Jesus for you in Jesus name we pray amen