Rock Bottom
(Play You tube video - Craig’s Rescue Story)
Rock Bottom means to reach the lowest possible level.
Who here has ever hit rock bottom? Who feel they are at rock bottom right now? How many have ever said or thought or asked God this question "why me God?" If you answered yes to any of these questions -you are not alone.
Hitting rock bottom has come to people ever since creation. Do you think that Adam and Eve hit rock bottom after that first sin and they were cast out of the Garden of Eden? Do you think they hit rock bottom after their first born Cain murdered his brother Abel?
It has come to followers of God and to those who are not followers. God gives us example after example in His word about those hitting rock bottom and what to do about it. There are so many examples that we don't have the time to share each one.
Psalms 40:1 - 5 For the choir director. A Davidic psalm. I waited patiently for the LORD, and He turned to me and heard my cry for help. He brought me up from a desolate pit, out of the muddy clay, and set my feet on a rock, making my steps secure. He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear, and put their trust in the LORD.
How happy is the man who has put his trust in the LORD and has not turned to the proud or to those who run after lies! LORD my God, You have done many things--Your wonderful works and Your plans for us; none can compare with You. If I were to report and speak of them, they are more than can be told.
When you read about David’s life, you will find him in this state more than once. What did he do? Scripture tells us that the Lord heard his cry. David talked to God and waited patiently, which tells us that the relief did not come quickly, he never doubted that his prayer would be heard, and made up his heart and mind to continue believing, and hoping, and praying, till his answer came. Those whose expectation is from God may wait with assurance, but must wait with patience.
Hosea 6:1 Come, let us return to the LORD. For He has torn us, and He will heal us; He has wounded us, and He will bind up our wounds.
Isaiah 40:31 but those who trust in the LORD will renew their strength; they will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary; they will walk and not faint.
Jeremiah the prophet lived in the final days of the crumbling nation of Israel. He was, appropriately, the last prophet that God sent to preach to the tribes of Judah and Benjamin. God had repeatedly warned Israel to stop their idolatrous behavior, but they would not listen, so He tore the 12 tribes apart, sending the 10 northern tribes into captivity at the hands of the Assyrians. Then God sent Jeremiah to give Judah the last warning before He cast them out of the land, decimating the nation and sending them into captivity in the pagan kingdom of Babylon, we know it today as Iraq.
Jeremiah, a faithful, God-fearing man, was called to tell Israel that, because of their unrepentant sin their God had turned against them and was now prepared to remove them from the land at the hands of a pagan king whom He called “My servant”.
Jeremiah, who was only about 17 when God called him, had sorrow over the fate of his people, and he begged them to listen. He is known as “the weeping prophet,” because he cried tears of sadness, not only because he knew what was about to happen, but because no matter how hard he tried, the people would not listen. He found no human comfort. God had forbidden him to marry or have children and his friends had turned their backs on him. So, along with the burden of the knowledge of the judgment coming, he also must have felt very lonely.
In his book Jeremiah maintains his call to prophecy to his people which leads him to admissions of personal grief, anguish, and fury of what it is like to do the work of God for forty years and to receive in return little more than condemnation and hatred from those to whom he has been sent to announce the demands of God. If you read the book of Jeremiah you will a see a prophet - a sad, weeping man of God hitting rock bottom.
Jeremiah 25:1 - 11 This is the word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah in the fourth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah, king of Judah (which was the first year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon). The prophet Jeremiah spoke concerning all the people of Judah and all the residents of Jerusalem as follows: "From the thirteenth year of Josiah son of Amon, king of Judah, until this very day--23 years--the word of the LORD has come to me, and I have spoken to you time and time again, but you have not obeyed.
The LORD sent all His servants the prophets to you time and time again, but you have not obeyed or even paid attention. He announced, 'Turn, each of you, from your evil way of life and from your evil deeds. Live in the land the LORD gave to you and your ancestors for ever and ever. Do not follow other gods to serve them and to worship them, and do not provoke Me to anger by the work of your hands. Then I will do you no harm.
"'But you would not obey Me'--this is the LORD's declaration--'in order that you might provoke Me to anger by the work of your hands and bring disaster on yourselves.' "Therefore, this is what the LORD of Hosts says: 'Because you have not obeyed My words, I am going to send for all the families of the north'--this is the LORD's declaration--'and send for My servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and I will bring them against this land, against its residents, and against all these surrounding nations, and I will completely destroy them and make them a desolation, a derision, and ruins forever.
I will eliminate the sound of joy and gladness from them--the voice of the bridegroom and the bride, the sound of the millstones and the light of the lamp. This whole land will become a desolate ruin, and these nations will serve the king of Babylon for 70 years.
Why did God allow His chosen people to hit rock bottom? Because of their disobedience and to open their eyes to the truth.
Why does God allow those who don't believe in Him to hit rock bottom? So that they might search for Him and find Him.
People are hitting rock bottom today and turning to all kinds of things to meet that longing in their heart because Satan is confusing them into what they believe and what not to believe.
Scripture tells us that in the last days there will be those who don't believe there is a God, or there are many gods. There will be those who don't believe the scripture that God created everything.
I have had my son Matt teach about the creation in the Bible. He uses an illustration about there has to be a creator using a simple piece of candy - a twizzler. A twizzler is made up of about 16 different ingredients.
Now who here this morning would believe that over millions of years and through the evolutionary process that a twizzler would just appear? No because to have a twizzler, there must have been a designer and creator in this case The Hershey Company.
Let's take one part of the human body - the brain. I choose this because I have a surgeon who has actually seen my brain and admits that I actually have one - even though he says it is small!!
I did a google search on Brain Facts and found some amazing things: The human brain controls the central nervous system by way of the cranial nerves and spinal cord, the peripheral nervous system and regulates virtually all human activity. The brain is made up of over 100 billion nerve cells with each brain cell connected to around 10,000 other cells, which equals around 1000 trillion connections in your brain.
With this information on just a small part of your body - would you be inclined to believe that over millions of years and through the evolutionary process that your brain just came to be or would you think that there was a designer and creator of your brain?
Revelation 4:11 Our Lord and God, You are worthy to receive glory and honor and power, because You have created all things, and because of Your will they exist and were created.
Hebrews 11:6 Now without faith it is impossible to please God, for the one who draws near to Him must believe that He exists and rewards those who seek Him.
We find so many faithful followers in scripture when it comes to hitting rock bottom. We find several while they were in exile that Jeremiah warned about. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego would not bow down to worship King Nebuchadnezzar- regardless of the punishment.
Daniel 3:15 - 23 Now if you're ready, when you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, drum, and every kind of music, fall down and worship the statue I made. But if you don't worship it, you will immediately be thrown into a furnace of blazing fire--and who is the god who can rescue you from my power?" Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego replied to the king, "Nebuchadnezzar, we don't need to give you an answer to this question. If the God we serve exists, then He can rescue us from the furnace of blazing fire, and He can rescue us from the power of you, the king.
But even if He does not rescue us, we want you as king to know that we will not serve your gods or worship the gold statue you set up." Then Nebuchadnezzar was filled with rage, and the expression on his face changed toward Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. He gave orders to heat the furnace seven times more than was customary, and he commanded some of the strongest soldiers in his army to tie up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and throw them into the furnace of blazing fire.
So these men, in their trousers, robes, head coverings, and other clothes, were tied up and thrown into the furnace of blazing fire. Since the king's command was so urgent and the furnace extremely hot, the raging flames killed those men who carried Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego up. And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego fell, bound, into the furnace of blazing fire.
Can you picture this scene? These 3 Hebrew men would not bow down to the king. These 3 men would not bow down to the pressures of the world, these 3 men even though their stand for God was going to mean death. These 3 men chose to be obedient to God no matter what the world was going to do to them.
Do you think maybe these 3 men who had been taken from their country, who were standing firm to the teaching of God, who were now facing death, that maybe their lives were hitting rock bottom - how could their lives be any worse?
Do we feel that way sometime? The world puts pressure on us to do certain things. I remember when I played Little League Baseball as a kid that games were never scheduled to be played on Sunday or even Wednesday because that was church times. God came first even in the eyes of non-Christians. But now we play and practice on those days and Christian people go along with it. I wonder what would happen if we would take our stand like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego did and say no - what would happen.
I know its tuff taking a stand like this, when my sons played baseball and wrestled Sunday sports were just starting and we as a family had to make a decision. We put God first. It was hard sometimes watching our boys not getting to participate like the other boys. Not getting the trophies and ribbons like the other boys got. Sometimes you felt like you just hit rock bottom. You might say you were mean parents for not allowing your sons to participate like other kids. We always let those decisions up to them to make. They chose to follow God. I don't see that those decisions hurt them any.
Look how Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego's choice to follow God not only affected their lives but the lives of others also:
Daniel 3:24 - 29 Then King Nebuchadnezzar jumped up in alarm. He said to his advisers, "Didn't we throw three men, bound, into the fire?" "Yes, of course, Your Majesty," they replied to the king. He exclaimed, "Look! I see four men, not tied, walking around in the fire unharmed; and the fourth looks like the Son of God." Nebuchadnezzar then approached the door of the furnace of blazing fire and called: "Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, you servants of the Most High God--come out!" So Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego came out of the fire.
When the satraps, prefects, governors, and the king's advisers gathered around, they saw that the fire had no effect on the bodies of these men: not a hair of their heads was singed, their robes were unaffected, and there was no smell of fire on them. Nebuchadnezzar exclaimed, "Praise to the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego! He sent His angel and rescued His servants who trusted in Him. They violated the king's command and risked their lives rather than serve or worship any god except their own God.
Therefore I issue a decree that anyone of any people, nation, or language who says anything offensive against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego will be torn limb from limb and his house made a garbage dump. For there is no other god who is able to deliver like this."
Jesus says this:
Mark 8:34 - 38 Summoning the crowd along with His disciples, He said to them, "If anyone wants to be My follower, he must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life because of Me and the gospel will save it. For what does it benefit a man to gain the whole world yet lose his life? What can a man give in exchange for his life? For whoever is ashamed of Me and of My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels."
When I think of a life hitting rock bottom I also think of Job. Here is a man who lived for God. Scripture tells us He was a man of perfect integrity, who feared God and turned from evil. He prayed for his family - scripture says it was his regular practice.
Job 1:6 One day the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came with them.
Job 1:9 - 11 Satan answered the LORD, "Does Job fear God for nothing? Haven't You placed a hedge around him, his household, and everything he owns? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions are spread out in the land. But stretch out Your hand and strike everything he owns, and he will surely curse You to Your face."
God allowed this to happen and in just a few hours Satan took away all Job had plus all his children. Do you think Job's life hit rock bottom?
Job 1:20 - 22 Then Job stood up, tore his robe and shaved his head. He fell to the ground and worshiped, saying: Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked I will leave this life. The LORD gives, and the LORD takes away. Praise the name of the LORD. Throughout all this Job did not sin or blame God for anything.
Satan determined to destroy Job and have this man turn his back on God returns:
Job 2:4 - 5 "Skin for skin!" Satan answered the LORD. "A man will give up everything he owns in exchange for his life. But stretch out Your hand and strike his flesh and bones, and he will surely curse You to Your face."
Job 2:7 - 9 So Satan left the LORD's presence and infected Job with incurable boils from the sole of his foot to the top of his head. Then Job took a piece of broken pottery to scrape himself while he sat among the ashes. His wife said to him, "Do you still retain your integrity? Curse God and die!"
After having all you own and all you children taken from you, and now your health, do you think you would hit rock bottom? Do you think Job did? As a Christian it doesn't mean that you have sinned when you hit rock bottom. God will use these times to teach you, to reveal Himself to you in a way that draws you closer to Him, or He might use a rock bottom experience to draw other to Himself through you.
Job 2:10 "You speak as a foolish woman speaks," he told her. "Should we accept only good from God and not adversity?" Throughout all this Job did not sin in what he said.
God allows rock bottom experiences to come into our lives. To the unsaved, He brings allows them so that we will call upon Him and receive Him. To the Christian, He allows them that we will draw closer on Him and depend on Him and not ourselves. He also uses our testimony to draw people to Himself and to draw Christians closer.
I want you to know this morning that nothing ever comes into our lives that takes God by surprise. There is a purpose and plan for each of us designed by God. His plan is for all of His creation to know Him. No matter what we go through in this life, no matter what rock bottom experience we may face in this life, God loves us and desires to restore each of us to Himself so that we will spend eternity with Him. Listen to what He tells Jeremiah He will do at the end of those 70 years in captivity:
Jeremiah 29:10 - 14 For this is what the LORD says: "When 70 years for Babylon are complete, I will attend to you and will confirm My promise concerning you to restore you to this place. For I know the plans I have for you"--this is the LORD's declaration--"plans for your welfare, not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.
You will call to Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.
I will be found by you"--the LORD's declaration—
In our rock bottom experiences do we call on Him and wait patiently for His answer to come?
In our rock bottom experiences do we call on Him to receive Him and allow Him to take over our lives?
No comments:
Post a Comment