Real Life Radio

David J.: For whatever reasons you think that God has abandoned you or somehow God's not real, I can't think of anybody more helpless and hopeless than a person going through this life believing that there is no God. This is Real Life. Welcome to Real Life Radio with Pastor Jack Hibbs. I'm David J., thanking you for joining us today as we listen, learn, and are challenged by God's Word, the Bible.

What do you do when heaven feels silent? When you've prayed, believed, even begged, and still nothing changes? When the person you love isn't healed, when the worst actually happens, when it feels like evil is winning? Where is God in all of that? This May, Pastor Jack Hibbs' featured resource is *Why Doesn't God Answer My Prayer?* by Erwin Lutzer. It's an honest biblical look at the questions most of us are afraid to say out loud. Not shallow answers, but real hope, real truth, the kind that meets you right in the middle of disappointment and points you back to God's greater purpose, even when you can't see it.

If you've ever wrestled with doubt, confusion, or silence from God, this book is for you. *Why Doesn't God Answer My Prayer?* is available for a gift of any amount at jackhibbs.com/realradio. That's jackhibbs.com/realradio. Get your own copy of the book of the month, *Why Doesn't God Answer My Prayer?* by Dr. Erwin Lutzer, at jackhibbs.com/realradio.

On today's edition of Real Life Radio, Pastor Jack continues in his series called Disciplines of Life and a message titled Disciplines of Despair. In our journey to develop a lifestyle that's usable by God, despair can sometimes overtake us. But when all seems lost, we can cry out to God, who can save us.

You see, our deep discouragement or hopelessness can actually be used by God to grow us spiritually. Despair drives us toward Jesus, and when we realize that we can't fix things on our own, it creates a dependency on the Lord instead of ourselves. So today, Pastor Jack teaches us that despair can teach us important spiritual lessons. When we cry out in depression, we can experience His help and learn to trust Him more deeply. Now, with his message called Disciplines of Despair, here's Pastor and Bible Teacher Jack Hibbs.

Jack Hibbs: And continuing our series, the Disciplines of Life, let's talk about the discipline of despair. So, that's kind of an unusual phrase, the discipline of despair. How can despair actually become something that God can use in a believer's life?

Guest (Male): We're going to be looking at the example of Peter. In total, all the disciples in this moment are in despair. They're on the Sea of Galilee. The wind is raging, and when it rages on that lake, the waves get insanely terrifying. This is not some sort of biblical hyperbole. We've seen it. It's scary. It's a stormy night. They all think they're dying.

And Jesus, the Bible tells us, is going to come near them walking on the water and intended to pass by. They're all screaming and they think they're going to be sinking and dying and drowning. Peter sees Jesus and says, "Lord, if that's you, bid me to come." Which is a beautiful thing. Peter knew Jesus enough to know, "I don't know if that's a ghost or not, but if it's Jesus, He's going to say something like, 'You can come to Me.'" He would say something that radical.

So, Jesus, "If that's You, tell me to come to You." Jesus says, "Peter, come." Peter steps out of the boat. We forget that Peter also walked on water. Peter's walking on the water, but he takes his eyes off of Jesus and looks at the size of the waves. In that, he starts to sink.

The despair was he looked at the circumstances instead of Christ, and he began to sink. That is the discipline of despair. In the midst of despair, you're not going to avoid despair. We're all going to have it. But you've got to keep your eyes focused on Christ, or else your despair will swallow you up. Peter can probably preach that message better than anybody.

Jack Hibbs: Last time you spoke, you talked about how Jesus was just walking across the water. He was just going for a walk. He's walking to the other side. Meanwhile, the disciples are in the boat going, "Save us, save us, we're all going to die." You talk about how storms are unavoidable in the Christian life. So, why shouldn't believers be surprised when those difficult seasons come?

Guest (Male): For us to be surprised, it's just naive. Think about it. There's nothing in this world that is valuable and meaningful and precious that did not come through some form of challenge. So when we think, "Oh, this is an overwhelming situation. I'm filled with despair. It's all over. My life is over. I'm going to end my life." No, it's not. And it's not as bad as it feels. You feel that it's monumental, when in reality, God is at work.

Jack Hibbs: Good stuff. Let's jump in.

As we look tonight, Father, at despair and desperation, the things that take hold of our lives and lead us to a brink of losing control of the wonderful things that You've given us, the promises and the peace that's available to the believer. Lord, tonight we pray also that for those who may not know You tonight, that Your Holy Spirit would be speaking to them and that they would just absolutely run to You tonight and say, "Lord, take away my despair."

Father, we pray that You would have Your way with us as a people, as a church, and for all those who are listening or viewing right now. Lord, just do an amazing work. We ask it in Jesus' name, and all God's people said, amen. Church, grab your Bibles tonight and turn if you would to Matthew chapter 28, verses 18 to 20. That's the theme verse of our series, The Disciplines of Life. Tonight, we're looking at despair, the discipline of despair.

To despair, we'll talk about that more in a moment, but Matthew chapter 28, it's all about being a disciple. As a disciple, in fact, it's my opinion that if you take this series that we've been going through and use them as a foundation for discipleship, I think it's a pretty valuable thing. Matthew chapter 28, verse 18: Jesus came and spoke to them saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.

Go therefore and make disciples, followers of Christ, of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the world." Now, turn a little bit to the left, Matthew chapter 14, verse 30. This is where we get our title for tonight, the discipline of despair.

Matthew 14:30: But when he, that is Peter, saw that the wind was boisterous, Peter was afraid. He was afraid and began to sink, and he cried out saying, "Lord, save me." In fact, what we ought to do right now, just while you're there, let me give you the background to that. It starts in verse 25. The sinking of Peter. Matthew 14:25: Now in the fourth watch of the night, Jesus went with them walking on the sea.

And when the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were troubled saying, "It is a ghost." And they cried out for fear. By the way, in the Hebrew mind, you and I kind of laugh and chuckle, "Oh, it's a ghost, they thought it was a ghost." Listen, in their thinking, in the Hebrew superstitions of the day, when they thought they saw a ghost, it was because they were transferring from the place of the living to the place of the dead. These guys thought that they were dying. They thought that their lives were coming to an end.

So when they said, "Oh, it's a ghost," their Hebrew mindset and the tradition of the day was, "We are dying and we're going slipping into the other world." So they cried out for fear. Verse 27: But immediately Jesus spoke to them saying, "Be of good cheer. It is I. Be not afraid." And Peter answered Him and said, "Lord, if it's You, command me to come to You on the water." So He said, "Come."

And when Peter had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus. But when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid, and beginning to sink, he cried out saying, "Lord, save me." It's the shortest prayer in the Bible. And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him and said to him, "O you of little faith, why did you doubt?"

And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased. Then those who were in the boat came and worshiped Him saying, "Truly You are the Son of God." The discipline of despair tonight. Note, first of all, the intensity of the moment. Peter cries out, "Lord, save me." It generated the shortest prayer on record. But listen, there's an amazing thing taking place. This man steps out of a boat and he's walking on the water to Jesus Christ.

What a radical moment. But we want to talk about the things that caused him to do that. Why would he leave a perfectly good boat and walk out on the water? The temptation for us, and it may be true to some degree, is "Man, what great faith Peter had." Well, Jesus said for a moment here, "O ye of little faith." Well, you say, "Jack, that happened because he began to sink after he stepped out there." Maybe.

What was going on in his mind? If they cried out for fear, if they were tormented by the situation that was around them, are you tormented by the situation around you? The thought is, it's better to get out of this boat and take a chance than to go down with this boat, go down with all these other guys whining and crying in the boat. Was Peter fed up with his company? I don't know.

Was Peter more spiritual than the rest of them? I doubt it. What was going on? Whatever was going on in his moment of despair, it was so radical that he said, "Lord, if it's You, bid me to come." And that's a beautiful thing because number one, Peter's thinking is, "If it's Jesus, I know the kind of things Jesus says. He says things that are impossible." Can somebody say amen to that? Doesn't Jesus say impossible things to us?

And Jesus, so all these years of ministry, Peter's got it down now, and he says, "Lord, if it's You, bid me to come, because only Jesus..." He probably looked back at the guys in the boat. "Only Jesus would say, 'Come on out.' If it's a ghost, maybe it's not going to happen. But if it's Jesus, He'll say something crazy like, 'Come on out on the water. The water's fine. Come on out.'" I don't know, but Jesus said, "Come."

And Peter steps down out of the boat and he begins to walk on the water. The moment you and I think about somebody walking on the water, we automatically think of Jesus. But that's nothing for Him to walk on the water. But it is something for Peter to walk on the water. And this is an encouraging thing because in the moment of despair, Peter's doing the impossible.

But listen, mark it down and I'll repeat it several times tonight. You need to hear this. The reason why Jesus asked Peter to come down out of the boat and join Him was not, listen, was not for Peter to be a water walker. That's not the point. Do you think God's interested in people walking on water? Have you ever wanted to walk on water? We've all wanted to walk on water. Have you ever thought about it?

I'd love to walk on water, I think. It's like walking on a cloud. I'd love to walk on a cloud. Wouldn't that be cool? I don't think God's interested in you and I walking around on a cloud or on the water. That's not the point. What do you get out of walking on water? Bragging rights? "I'm Peter, water walker." You know, he has a t-shirt: "I walked on water." Jesus isn't interested in walking on water and having us do it. Not at all.

Do you know what Jesus is into? Your moment of despair. It's all about you sinking that He's into. The whole lesson was not about walking on water. There wasn't a class. "Okay, guys, Peter will be the first one, and then after Peter, Andrew, you're next. So walk on water, you can do it." No. But the lesson to be learned is all about sinking and how to be rescued from the moment of despair. It's not about walking; it's about being rescued.

Jesus knew, listen, you don't want to hear this, but Jesus knew that Peter would sink before Peter ever got out of the water, got out of the boat onto the water. He knew that the boy was going to sink. In the moment of despair, Jesus would be there. The Bible says He immediately stretched forth His hand and He rescued Peter right out of the sinking moment of the ocean, of the sea.

And what about you and your life and your life's turmoil and tribulation and peril? Oh Lord, it's not about you living a cushy, easy life. Anybody can do that. The danger is living life eventually sinking without Jesus Christ. And the world is sinking tonight, sinking in emotion, sinking in grief, sinking in pain, sinking in sorrow, disappointment, bitterness. There are many people you and I know and they're sinking because of the perils of life. They don't know Jesus.

But to be able to say to them, "You know what, my friend, I heard a message at church the other night about Jesus reaching into your life and rescuing from the situation you're in." Jesus rescues people in despair. He loves that. It causes me to think that Jesus just waits ever so patiently when in the life of someone, difficulties and perils will come.

And for some people, it's not the good news that leads somebody to Christ. Sometimes it's not the good news; sometimes it's the bad news that leads someone to Christ. They come to the end of themselves. What lesson was Peter learning in that moment? When we talk about despair, Webster's Dictionary, Webster's 1828 Dictionary, says of the word despair: hopelessness, a destitution of hope. He says to have no expectation.

That is very, very threatening to me, that definition right there. To have no expectation. Expectation's important to me. The perception or the reality that all hope is lost. Despair is the abandonment of all hope, says Noah Webster. The Greek word for despair means this in the Bible. In 2 Corinthians, mark it down, 2 Corinthians 4:8, Paul says, "For we are hard pressed on every side and yet not crushed. We are perplexed," he says, "but not in despair."

And that word, not in despair, *exaporeō*. Do you recognize that word? To exasperate. *Exaporeō*. The word means to be at an utter loss, to be despondent, believing that one has become lost. The picture is someone lost at sea. They're swallowed with despair. And you don't have to be lost at sea and you don't have to be walking on a Sea of Galilee and be sinking to have Jesus rescue you from this tremendous discipline of despair.

But you can be caught up in a world that for whatever reason you think that God has abandoned you or somehow God's not real. I can't think of anybody more helpless and hopeless than a person going through this life believing that there is no God. What a tragedy that is. And so we look at this first point. The discipline of despair is this number one: that despair drives us closer to Jesus.

Will you write that down? The tendency for us is to run and not even talk about despair. "I don't want to talk about it," people say. "I don't want to hear that word." But wait a minute, because God is real. Church, listen tonight, God is real. He is alive. And all of a sudden, despair is not the giant that my emotions are telling me that it is.

Tonight, no matter who you might be, you can realize this, that despair can drive you closer to Jesus. And listen, Christians are not exempt from despair. When we get our eyes off of Christ, like Peter got his eyes off of Jesus, he began to sink. He saw how boisterous the waves were. J.C. Ryle in his commentary says that it must have happened as Peter was walking on the water, that as the waves were driving the sea up and down, that Peter began to look at the size of the swells rather than the size of the Savior.

And you and I can do that. We can look at all the things that scare us. What scares you tonight? Is it some phobia? That's a Greek word for fear. The Bible says that when we meditate on the perfect love of God, that that perfect love casts out all fear. God's love begins, listen, God's love begins to permeate our lives and it's the reality of His love.

It doesn't mean that you're running around with little daisies and flowers and sunshine happy hearts all over your shirt. That's not what he's talking about. He's talking about the reality of God's love coming into your life and so taking you over that it pushes out all the stuff that's not from God, and fear goes out the window. And you meditate on the love of God for you personally. God's love for you is awesome.

I want you to put this picture in your mind. Storms are great things to watch as long as you're safe. And this is a famous picture. You guys have all seen this before. Go ahead and leave it up. I've always asked this question: did that man know in the doorway that that wave was coming? What if the door was on the other side of that lighthouse?

By the way, that lighthouse, I don't know where it is but I've seen other pictures of it; it's pretty far out in the ocean. I don't even know how they built the thing. There's a man standing there with the door open with the raging ocean around that lighthouse. Storms. Storms are awesome if you're in a safe place. I remember a couple of years ago, we were all out at the river with some friends here from this church. We're having a great time. Our kids were with us, our dogs are out there, we're goofing off, having a great time.

This big storm rolls across the desert. We're watching it. "Wow." And we're all acting tough. "Yeah, it's a great storm. Boy, that's going to be a big storm. Whoa, look at that lightning! Whoa, look at that flash!" Waves just rumbling and shaking and that storm, it's kind of freaky looking when it comes over your head and the clouds are going like this over your head. "It's okay. We're all right."

And all of a sudden, right over our heads, ka-boom! You know, the flash and the boom at the exact same time. And you the static electricity, the hair, *whoo*. And the only smart one in the group was Jeff's golden retriever. She took off screaming and went right through the screen door into the house. We just stood out there and actually we didn't act tough. When that happened, we all screamed like little schoolgirls and started running. But you're not supposed to know that part.

But what compelled Peter to leave the safety of that boat in the midst of a storm? To him, it had become obvious that being with Jesus was better than being in the boat with the guys. I want to know why. I may be wrong, but I don't think it was this moment of heroic faith-filled action in Peter's life. I think Peter realized, "Wait a minute, if that's You, Lord, call me out." They had already been primed by the storm.

The storm had tossed them up and down. They were already terrified. And then they thought, "We saw a ghost." And you think, "You know what, this terrible thing in my life is bringing me to the brink of life. I'm almost done with it." Something's going on with Peter and it's a big deal, so much so that in the blackness of the night, he's going to step out onto the open water. That's not normal.

I believe that Peter thought, and Peter was thinking as the others, that they were lost, that this is our moment. But Peter made a great, great move. He'd rather be near Jesus than just hang around with a bunch of guys going down. And that's the key tonight. In the midst of your despair, will you run to Jesus? "I don't feel like running." Well then listen, you're not in despair enough.

It's like my mama used to say. She'd say, "It's time to eat." "I'm not hungry." "Well, if you don't eat now, you're not going to eat at all." And then a few hours later, "I'm hungry." And my mom was such a tenderhearted thing and I would abuse her terribly. She'd say, "What do you want to eat?" And she would make this offer. "Well, you can have this and you can have that." "I don't want that. I don't want that." You have kids like that? They do that too.

"I don't want that. Do you want this? No, I don't want that." Then my dad would say, "Then you're not hungry." Dads are great as the voice of wisdom. "You're not hungry." Why? Because if you're hungry, you'll eat snails if you're hungry. "Oh, I need Jesus." Do you now? Because listen, there's a great, great danger of really, truly wanting Jesus in the midst of your storm versus having the kind of Jesus that you just add him onto the other routines of your life.

Jesus is not a module that you add onto your life. He's the eternal God that you come to with your face down on the ground and you're laid out before Him asking for forgiveness and for rescuing. "Lord, rescue me!" And the storms of our lives as Christians, as much as we wouldn't want to admit this, they are unavoidable storms. They're difficult and they're all necessary for the believer, because none of us learn much about God on only sunny days.

In verse 29, it's amazing. Look at verse 29. It says Jesus said to him, "Come." And when Peter had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus. Jesus is teaching right here that He knows exactly what's about to happen. "Come on, Peter." And why would Peter do this? What would be the point of this, walking on water? I think he's going to Jesus at any cost.

David J.: Pastor and Bible teacher Jack Hibbs here on Real Life Radio and his message called Disciplines of Despair. Thanks for being with us today. You know, this message is part of Pastor Jack's series called The Disciplines of Life. It's a series highlighting the disciplines of a Christ follower and the high cost of sharing our faith with others. And we'll continue on the next edition of Real Life Radio.

Guest (Male) - Daniel Cohen: Daniel Cohen here from Israel. If you love Pastor Jack Hibbs' fearless approach to teaching God's word, you'll love the Real Life Network. It's built for warriors who want the truth, God's truth. On the Daniel Cohen show, we bring you stories the mainstream media downplays. It's time to start getting your news from people you trust, and it's totally free. Sign up now at realfienetwork.com.

David J.: Hey, thank you again so much for listening. And if you'd like to hear or see more of what we do here, you can always go to jackhibbs.com for all the latest on what's going on with this ministry. And please, if you're ever in the Southern California area, come see us at Calvary Chapel Chino Hills. We'd love to see you there in person.

It has been so good to be with you today, and I pray you find yourself in the grace and mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ. See you on the next episode here on Real Life Radio. This program is made possible by the generous contributions of you, our listeners. Visit us at jackhibbs.com, that's jackhibbs.com. Until next time, Pastor Jack Hibbs and all of us here at Real Life Radio wish for you solid and steady growth in Christ and in His Word. We'll see you next time here on Real Life Radio.