Enduring Hope

         Is it safe to say that this has been a rough year and many are still struggling to get back to something called 'normal'?

Mental health issues have risen significantly during the pandemic. Antidepressant use has hit an all-time high. One CDC report shows more than 40% of U.S. adults reported struggling with mental health or substance abuse. And 11% say they seriously considered suicide. It was reported that government statistics in Japan claim that more people died from suicide this past October than from COVID-19 in all of 2020 in that country. That's almost unbelievable.

I don't usually like to start off with negative stories, but I think the Church, and we as Christians have something vital to say about this very real issue. When you combine all of the anxiety, fear and uncertainty - people start to lose hope. And living through all of this is hard even with faith - but how do you have hope if you don't believe in anything bigger than yourself? Many people have replaced their faith in God with a faith in government - but this past year has demonstrated that there are problems bigger than even what government can solve.

Many people feel like 'the rug' has been pulled out from under them. And this lack of a foundation or purpose causes feelings of desperation. Many people who thought they had it all together now question what life is really all about. So what we need to recognize, believe, live out and share is that the Bible teaches that...

I. Life is bigger than you

If you don't have a connection to your Creator, you have no real sense of perspective. And the frustrations of this life can easily become overwhelming without that perspective. James, the brother of Jesus, wrote in James 4:14 (NIV)...

Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.

James wasn't trying to say that our lives didn't matter. He was an eyewitness to Jesus giving His life for us! It's not that we don't matter - we do! God cares so much about spending eternity with us that He gave His own Son on a cross. We matter immensely to God - but what James was trying to get us to understand was that life is bigger than us. Your time in this life is very fleeting.

In order to understand more about this life and how we fit into all of it, and why things happen the way that they do - you need to start with the premise that your life...

A. Is not your own

Yes, you are a unique creation from God - but your life is not just all about you and what you want. This life is not all about your personal happiness or your personal financial or professional success or even your personal comfort, dreams and desires. That's a very different way of thinking from how most people live.

And this is not about you belonging to the community as if the individual isn't important. There may be responsibilities we have in community; although you don't belong to the community - but - your life is not your own. This is a truth we see in 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 (NIV)...

Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; (20) you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.

Whether a person acknowledges it or not - we belong to God. God gave us life and God redeemed us with the blood of Jesus. If you don't understand that life is bigger than you; if you don't understand that your life is not your own - you will be very disappointed when things don't go exactly the way that you think they should. And in order to be able to handle and process the frustration and disappointment we will experience - each of us has to understand that we were...

B. Created for a purpose

'Why do bad things happen? Why did we have to endure a worldwide pandemic? Why are we still dealing with the vast repercussions and a nation that is still deeply divided? Why doesn't God seem to be listening to my prayers? Doesn't God care about what's going on? What possible purpose could there be for me in God's grand scheme of things...?'

The main passage I want us to examine this morning is found in John chapter 9. Jesus had been teaching for some time now and many people were starting to believe in Him. After a lengthy argument with traditional Jews that ended in Jesus having to slip away from a crowd who was trying to stone Him - Jesus came upon a blind man who probably had very similar questions...

John 9:1-11 (NIV)

As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. (2) His disciples asked him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" (3) "Neither this man nor his parents sinned," said Jesus, "but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life. (4) As long as it is day, we must do the work of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work. (5) While I am in the world, I am the light of the world."

(6) Having said this, he spit on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and put it on the man's eyes. (7) "Go," he told him, "wash in the Pool of Siloam" (this word means Sent). So the man went and washed, and came home seeing. (8) His neighbors and those who had formerly seen him begging asked, "Isn't this the same man who used to sit and beg?" (9) Some claimed that he was. Others said, "No, he only looks like him." But he himself insisted, "I am the man."

(10) "How then were your eyes opened?" they demanded. (11) He replied, "The man they call Jesus made some mud and put it on my eyes. He told me to go to Siloam and wash. So I went and washed, and then I could see."

There are times when we just wish we could ask God 'why' about all sorts of struggles and awful situations. Here's a situation where one man got a direct answer from God in the flesh. Why did God allow this good man to be born blind? Why did this man have to struggle with a disability from birth? So that at that specific time in history Jesus could come along and completely heal him to show God's power!

And if John, who recorded this passage, would have asked this man if he thought it was fair that he had to have spent all that time without sight so that Jesus could heal him to glorify God - what do you think he would have said...? Back to the story in John 9:26-33 (NIV)...

Then they asked him, "What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?" (27) He answered, "I have told you already and you did not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you want to become his disciples, too?" (28) Then they hurled insults at him and said, "You are this fellow's disciple! We are disciples of Moses! (29) We know that God spoke to Moses, but as for this fellow, we don't even know where he comes from."

(30) The man answered, "Now that is remarkable! You don't know where he comes from, yet he opened my eyes. (31) We know that God does not listen to sinners. He listens to the godly man who does his will. (32) Nobody has ever heard of opening the eyes of a man born blind. (33) If this man were not from God, he could do nothing."

This formerly blind man lectures the doubters and then scripture tells us he worshipped Jesus - I think he'd say it was completely fair. But in order for each of us to learn to consistently be able to respond in such a way requires...

II. A higher perspective

In order to be able to be content with his struggles and then be thrilled with his healing - this blind man had to come to grips with the fact that life was bigger than him, his life was not his own, and that he was specifically created by a loving God for a very amazing purpose. And this is the same God we serve today!

Now I can't say specifically how this will play out for each of us in our life circumstances. Some of us are in a season where we still feel 'blind' and are still waiting for Jesus to come along and fix everything. We don't know how God plans to act - but we do know that God's plans are better than ours!

The Apostle Paul intimately experienced this similar situation - that whatever our circumstances, God is in control and there is always a higher purpose at work even when we don't understand. Paul wrote, regarding his affliction, what he called his 'thorn in the flesh', in 2 Corinthians 12:8-10 (NIV)...

Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. (9) But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. (10) That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

Is everything that happens to us 'good'...? No. Was Paul's 'thorn in the flesh' a good thing? No - but God used it for good and when Paul embraced it - God was glorified! That's where I want to be!

No matter what this life throws at us, when you look at it all from a higher perspective, it will all be made right! Nothing can take away the grace that is in Christ Jesus, no circumstance, no tragedy, no physical limitations - nothing can take that away! Whatever happens to us in this life is nothing compared to what we gain in Christ!

Now that doesn't mean it doesn't hurt! It doesn't mean that these things won't slow us down, or weigh us down, or even bring us to our knees - they may! But in the long run, none of it will ultimately matter when you learn to fully embrace the fact that you were created...

A. To show God's glory!

When God made you, His purpose was to show off His amazing power and creativity and He fully intends to use you in this life to point others to Him. - Now, how we respond to Him, how we choose to respond to circumstances, that's up to us. But His plan, His purpose completely includes you! Again, Paul wrote in Ephesians 1:11-12 (NIV)...

In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, (12) in order that we, who were the first to hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory.

And something I think we might miss here - our destiny goes beyond just this life! You were created to show God's glory in this life - but this body, it passes away - but God's purpose for you does not! We were created to point others to God in this life - but there's a reason that Jesus pointed to the resurrection! God's intended purpose for us does not stop at the grave!

The blind man in our story experienced healing and restoration in this life. He was given an answer for his suffering in this life. Most of us will have to wait for that restoration and answers. But at the resurrection, when God makes us whole - we will continue to have a God given purpose. It may look very differently, but it will always be to glorify and to serve God.

We may play what we think is a very insignificant role in this life - but there are no insignificant roles in God's plan. And everything we experience, everything we learn, everything we endure - it all has a part in shaping us into who God wants us to be for His purposes for this life AND the next! God's purpose for your life continues into eternity! Bottom line, your purpose...

B. Is found in God

Whatever you do in this life, personally, professionally, relationally - all of it has its purpose in God.

What we do for a living, to provide a life for ourselves and our families - it has to be for more than just us. It also has to have its purpose in God. Your occupation, your skills, your talents, your pastimes - whatever you find to do - all of it can be done for God's glory. When you give all of this to God, when its purpose becomes greater than just yourself - then you will start to find personal fulfillment and personal joy.

Colossians 1:16-17 (NIV)

For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. (17) He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.

When you come to understand God's higher purpose for you and all of your life - then things start to fall into place and life starts to make sense.

So What?

You are here for a reason. You are here, in this life, at this time in history, enduring a worldwide pandemic, for a reason - for God's purpose! What are the specifics? I don't know. We may never know until we get home, but God has a reason that you are still breathing today.

God does not make mistakes. God certainly allows a whole lot of things that appear to us to be mistakes - He allows a lot of things, a lot of circumstances that are down right painful and appear tragic - from our perspective. But we serve a God who specializes in turning tragedy into victory. God doesn't lose. No circumstance is too difficult for Him to bring about blessing for those who trust and love Him.

Again, nowhere in scripture does it promise us that life is a bed of roses when we follow Jesus. But it does promise us that Jesus will ALWAYS be with us. No matter what! Jesus will be with us in our pain, in our tragedy - but He won't let us be beaten! Jesus defeated death so that we could claim victory in any situation.

God has not forgotten you - never! He has a plan to show His glory through you - if you let Him. Scripture says that if we draw near to Him, He will draw near to us. Choose today to draw nearer to God. Choose today to make prayer time, Bible reading - spending time serving God - choose those things today and God's purpose for you will become clear and you begin to understand God's higher perspective.