God's Glory - Part 3

Life is rough. You didn’t ask for this but it was given to you and it was given to you for a reason.

In conclusion, I ask you… What are you doing with what you have been given?

I have a couple thoughts I would like for you to leave with you:

• What has your response been to what you have been given? 
• What are you doing with what you have been given? 

I can’t finish my testimony without first going to the Bible. This is where I have found the encouragement to go on.

Let's go back to that list...

• Paul was given a thorn in the flesh. 
• Joseph was sold into slavery. 
• The man that lay by the pool of Bethesda was an invalid for 38 years. 
• The servant girl was taken from friends and family and so was Daniel 
• The man in John 9 was blind from his birth. 
• David lived for years on the run and hid from the enemy who was trying to track him down. 
• The widow of Zarephaph had nothing and was on the last meal when the prophet found her. 
• Zebedee was left abandoned in the boat. His sons literally forsook him and the family business to follow this “Jesus”. 
• David and Bathsheba suffered the death of their baby. 

So how did these people embrace their battles. What were their attitudes?

1. Paul had a thorn in the flesh, one that even seemed to get in the way of his ministry. In 2 Corinthians 12 he tells us that he begged God to take it away three times. However, God replied “My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. .” Listen to Paul's response… Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.

2. Joseph was sold into slavery by his own family. He was lied about by his boss’ wife and eventually thrown into jail. He just kept plugging along. He did what was right, no matter the circumstance and no matter how hard his life became. He became the best slave. He became the best jail-mate and eventually became the best interpreter.

3. The servant girl shared about her “faith” in her God even though she was far away from her home and in a foreign land.

4. In John 9 is found the story of the blind man by the pool. We see this blind man give God the glory without even trying. This uneducated blind man had more wisdom than the Pharisees with all their Scriptural background. He gives testimony:

“One thing I know, that, whereas I was blind, now I see.!” – V. 25 ...If this man were not of God, he could do nothing. He is testifying of Jesus’ work in his life.

5. David and Bathsheba sinned. This is one of those temptations that they brought on themselves and because of their sin they had sad consequences. They were told that they would lose their baby. Even though David was in the wrong, he still loved that little baby and he wept and pleaded for God to save the life of that little one. (2 Samuel 12:15). He mourned. He fasted. He was so distraught that they could not even get him off the floor.

Before I go on with the story, I want to ask you. Have you ever been so desperate that you were laid out on the floor weeping, thinking that you would never see sunlight again, the world was so dark and you just begged God to PLEASE give you a different load. I can remember when I was a teenager, looking into the mirror and asking God for a miracle. ..to just up and heal it. I remember pointing in the mirror and telling Him. “You can fix this!!!”

Ladies, I think most of us have come to a point like this in our life. Where we just couldn’t believe this was happening. When we were laid out on the ground in grief.

Life is simply rough…. But it’s what happened next that we need to learn from David.

Verse 18 tells us that the child died. God said NO to David’s request.

READ 2 Samuel 12: 18-25

David realized that this was life.

God said no and He had to trust God and move on.

It wasn’t that he just got over the baby and forgot that the baby existed. I have to think the memory of that baby always hurt a little bit. I’m sure that Bathsheba lost a part of her heart that day, too. But neither of them gave up on life. They kept living and they kept investing their lives in each other and their family.

David went and comforted Bathsheba and, during that intimate time, she conceived again, which led to Solomon’s birth. They invested in Solomon’s life.

Maybe you are reeling from an event that you brought on yourself. Remember from their lives, even during that rough trial that they brought on themselves, God did not forsake them or abandon them.

He still loved them and when Bathsheba conceived again God actually gave Solomon a different name. The name He gave Solomon was Jedidiah, meaning beloved of (Yah) God.

So…

• Paul DELIGHTED in trial 
• Joseph did right no matter what was happening to him 
• The servant girl shared her faith through her situation 
• The blind man gave God glory 
• And David begged and pleaded, but when God said "no", he got back up and invested his life in the ones he had around him.

What did God do with what He gave them? 

• Paul had an amazing ministry and Go received the glory, not Paul. 
• Joseph eventually was the tool God used in saving his family from starving. One of my favorite verses in the whole Bible is Gen. 50:20 “But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive.” 
• The man that lay by the pool of Bethesda for 38 years was HEALED. 
• The servant girl that was taken from her friends and family helped in healing her master. Note: we never see her life change for the better. Only someone else’ life. 
• The man in John 9 that was blind was made to see. 
• The widow who had nothing and was on the last meal was able to provide for her family just because of her trust in God’s man. 
• Zebedee was the father of two of Jesus’ disciples who had large ministries --God used their lives immensely. 
• David and Bathsheba eventually had a son named Solomon who built the temple of God. 

I would like to end with this story…

One of my dear friends tried to have a baby with her husband for about 5 or 6 years. She was so angry at God that she strayed from Him, nearly going wild in the world because of it. Eventually the Lord led her back to Him and she realized that God was refocusing her eyes on adoption. My friend and her husband were able to adopt the most precious little girl. My friend thanks God regularly for not giving her the chance to birth a baby because, if she had, she would have never had the opportunity to mother this beautiful little girl.

Let me close with these questions.

What has God given you?

What is your attitude toward what God has given you?

What are you doing with what God has given you?

Have you given up? Are you just getting by? Or are you delighting in God? Is your journey a light to those around you in this dark world?

You never know. Maybe God will use you to save your family. Maybe God will use your situation to help save someone else’ live. Maybe you will be healed but maybe you won’t.

Don’t give up! Cry, plead, beg God… but when He says no, get up and start investing what you have into those around you. You never know what kind of ministry God has for you. Pray today that God will show you. - Rejoicing in the Present