Real Life Radio

Jack Hibbs: A depth to the difficulty. The hardship in your life, is it bringing you, taking you to Jesus? That's its intended purpose. Are you kicking against God, and you're fighting and swinging and punching? This is Real Life.

David J: Welcome to Real Life Radio with Pastor Jack Hibbs. I'm David J. Thank you for joining us today as we listen, learn, and are challenged by God's word, the Bible.

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Guest (Male): On today's edition of Real Life Radio, Pastor Jack continues his series called "The Disciplines of Life" and a message titled "Disciplines of Difficulty, Part 2." Following Jesus can sometimes be hard, even uncomfortable. But those difficulties, well, they're actually part of how God matures us as believers.

You see, when we truly follow Jesus, life can get challenging. People may not understand us, some will criticize us, while others will totally reject us. But this doesn't mean something's wrong. It often means we're doing the right thing. So, today Pastor Jack teaches that difficulties are often a test of a real commitment towards the Lord.

Anyone can follow God when life is easy, but when it becomes difficult, well, that's when it shows whether or not we are truly committed to His will. Now, with his message called "Disciplines of Difficulty, Part 2," here's pastor and Bible teacher, Jack Hibbs.

Jack Hibbs: Service tonight, Lord God, overwhelm us with your presence. Father, and override our inadequacies as pastors and teachers, as listeners. This is the body of Christ. This gathering right now is a little freckle on the entire body of Jesus Christ throughout the world tonight. What an amazing thought. The body of Christ, the church.

Father, tonight I pray that you'd equip us, Lord, as we look to the discipline of difficulty again. We pray that you'd anoint this in Jesus' name. And all God's people said, amen. Church, grab your Bibles and turn, if you would, as you know already, to Matthew chapter 28. And as I told you last week, keep your finger right there and go to Matthew chapter 9. Matthew 28, Matthew chapter 9.

We know this, that Jesus came and He spoke to His disciples and He said to them, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, of all people groups, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world."

Then turn to the left. Matthew chapter 9, verse 9 says, "And Jesus passed on from there, and He saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office, the toll booth of the Roman Empire. And He said to him, 'Follow Me.' And so he, that is Matthew, arose and followed Jesus. And now it happened as Jesus sat at the table in the house, that behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with Him and His disciples." You ought to underline that. That's beautiful. They didn't run away from Him. They came to Him. That's an attractive church, by the way. People shouldn't run away from a church; they ought to be drawn to it.

"And when the Pharisees saw it," these are the religious nincompoops of the day, self-righteous, "when they saw that happen, they said to His disciples, 'Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?'" And I'm grateful Jesus does. Difficulty. It's the hardships we talked about last time. It's things that we need to deal with.

As I mentioned that Noah Webster says that it's an arduous thing. It's a thing that's hard. Difficulty means that it's hard to understand. It means that there's occasions of labor, perplexity, hardship that requires perseverance. Difficulty is something that is to be overcome. He says it's something to be solved or defeated. And I love this, Noah Webster says it's an obstacle which is between you and your intended goal. Obstacles, difficulties, hardship.

And as I mentioned before last time, no one wants to sign up for these things, but we will have them as they are native to life. And we looked at part one or we touched on it last time. So church, jot it down if you would. The discipline of difficulty number one means this, that we discover God in the difficulty.

The difficulty that you and I are living through as we looked at last week is something that we discover God in that thing. For each and every one of us, when trying times come, we are instantly faced with the reality of where is my support? Where is my strength? Where is my help? And we'll have a tendency, and I understand this, as humans we have a tendency to run to people quickly for help.

I understand that, and I'm not putting that down. That's what a family is for. That's what a church family is for. That's what loving one another is all about. But there comes a point in time, Christian, listen, there comes a point in time and a level of difficulty in life that the discipline takes you beyond what human comfort can give you.

Did you know that? Those are hard times when you and I are driven to none other than the Lord Jesus Christ and Him alone. And I'm talking about to the life of the Christian tonight, discovering God in the difficulty. And we know that we're encountering God in the difficulty as we shall see when we begin to understand and embrace that difficulty.

It's amazing. Hardships and trials and hurts and pains. I was listening to a program this week driving. It was a Christian radio program and someone had said, and it was a call-in program, and somebody had said to the host of the program that they had turned in their own child because they found out their child was doing drugs.

And they called the police weeping, and they said, "You need to come and you need to lock up my child, arrest my child," because that person had known in their own life as a kid growing up that they wouldn't listen to their parents, they wouldn't listen to authorities, they wouldn't listen to anybody until they themselves had spent time in jail. And that parent, loving their child, did not want to have that same difficulty of life for their child, and so they cut straight to the chase.

Man, let me tell you, you want to talk about tough love? That's tough love. And you might say today in our liberal way of thinking, "Well, if that parent really loved that child, he wouldn't have called the police." I disagree with you. I disagree with you. And as I mentioned last time, sometimes God disciplines us strongly. And sometimes it is in those things of difficulty, but always with encouragement.

Number one, because there's a purpose to the difficulties that are in the Christian's life. There's a purpose for it. We know that in Matthew chapter 9, if we keep reading down in verse 12 of Matthew chapter 9, it says that when Jesus heard what the Pharisees had said to them, He said, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick." Jesus wants to heal us.

And so in the Bible, it also speaks, and I love this, you're going to get a lot from Philippians tonight. By the way, if you're ever going through a hardship, do what I do. After 33 years of being a Christian, this is what I've learned: the book of Philippians is always a life raft in the midst of life's challenges. Philippians. Default. Press the button. Go straight to the book of Philippians.

Paul says in Philippians chapter 1, verse 12, "But I want you to know, brethren, that the things which happened to me have actually turned out for the furtherance of the gospel." Gospel-centric in his thinking. "So that it has become evident to the whole palace guard," that's the Roman Empire, centurions and all, "and to all the rest that my chains, my imprisonment, are in Christ. And most of the brethren in the Lord, having become confident by my chains, my imprisonment, my jail time," says Paul, "are much more bold to speak the word without fear."

Isn't that tremendous? How could this man Paul think like that? Because he had such a Christ-centered life. He saw everything through the spectacles, through the lens of Christ. Everything that was going on in his life, blessings and difficulties, he saw them through the lens of Jesus.

In Psalm 34:4, the Bible says, "I sought the Lord and He heard me and delivered me from all my fears," says the Bible. Isn't that a great one? I think you ought to memorize that verse, church. We all ought to hang on to that verse. Psalm 34:4. I sought the Lord, that's your part. And He heard me, that's God's part. And He delivered me from all my fears, that's what we get to enjoy.

The believer, are you not a Christian tonight? You need to grab that verse and say, "God, is that real? Is that in your Bible? I want that for my life." And God says, "You come, you seek me." The Bible says in Jeremiah 29:10, 11, and 12, God says that when you come after me, I will be found by you. I will listen to you. I will bless your life when you come to Him.

Comfort and ease, as I mentioned last time, never ignites the flame of faith. It's challenges, it's difficulties that ignite our faith because, listen, it's that difficulty in your life and mine right now that causes the Bible to become Technicolor. In Psalm 95, verse 4, it says, "In His hand are the depths of the earth, and the mountain peaks belong to Him."

The second thing we saw last time is this: discovering the fellowship in the difficulty. This is an amazing thing to me. You guys listen. We're the same people. We look different. We're different heights, we're different weights. I understand that. But I'm talking about the spiritual core of who we are. And I'm saying that to say this. You and I have this in common. When things are going really good, we honestly don't cry out to God as intensely as we ought to. Would you agree with that?

When it's going easy, listen, haven't you in the last year or year and a half sought God harder as your company is threatening layoffs or closing their doors? Haven't you sought God harder if you've embarked upon that pursuit or that endeavor? Haven't you sought God if a newborn baby's come into your life, or haven't you sought God when your child becomes a teenager? Have you noticed that people are seeking God?

Why is America seemingly turning back to God right now? Because we're living in difficult days. And that's good. First of all, thank you Lord that you're the God to turn to. And second of all, for the believer, hardship's not a bad thing. Fellowship. There's a fellowship where we meet Christ that we can only meet Him in the place of difficulty and a place of hurt.

There's a fellowship there. In 2 Corinthians chapter 1, the Bible says verse 8, "For we do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning our trouble which came to us in Asia. That we were burdened beyond measure." This is Paul speaking. This is how Paul complains. "We were burdened beyond measure, above strength, so that we despaired even of life." Can you imagine how bad was it for the apostle Paul who never complained to come real close to say, "We even despaired of life."

"Yes, we had the sentence of death in ourselves. What a tremendous thing. That we should not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead." You know what he's saying there? Church, are you with me? You're sure quiet tonight. You need some coffee? Huh? He is saying, and imagine this, preaching the gospel. He's in Asia. He didn't have a, he couldn't get on a Delta airline flight. These guys rode donkeys and camels.

He goes from Jerusalem. Now he's in Asia. And he's saying, "You know what? We've had a hard time." Wouldn't you think if someone's preaching the gospel, it'd be easy for that person? Don't you think God would give them a special pass because they're Christians? Nope. In fact, Paul says we're used, he says ministers are used as examples of the power of God in our lives. Think about that.

Guest (Male): You're listening to Real Life with Pastor Jack Hibbs. To learn more about this ministry or to catch up on some previous episodes, go to jackhibbs.com. That's jackhibbs.com. And now let's get back to today's message. Once again, here's Pastor Jack.

Jack Hibbs: Discovering the fellowship that's in the difficulty of your life. It is Warren Wiersbe who says regarding the challenges in our lives, they will either make us bitter or better. It all depends on who you're fellowshipping with. Are you one who has a propensity to hang out with a bunch of complainers and gripers and critics? You're going to become just like them.

Or you can understand when Paul says, "Hey, you know what we're going to do? We are hard pressed. We despair even of life." He says, "But rather than trusting in men, we trust in God who raises the dead." Paul is saying, "Hey, if this ministry kills us, it's better for us to trust in God than man." Isn't that cool? I do, do you? Do you trust in God?

Is He not the only one that can take us through all the way through to the end? You look at all the stuff that's going on in the world, and I thank God that we have fellowship with Him. And when hardships come, He's the God that's listening. Thirdly, under this point, discovering God in the difficulty is that we discover the depth to the difficulty.

The depth of it. Jesus is in the fellowship of difficulty. And then there's a depth to the difficulty itself. When God brings that to us, it's an awesome moment. And that's when God gets close, and that's where there's an understanding of the depth of how great our God is. I've told you this before, when Ashley, our youngest daughter, was eight months old, she got sick. She's allergic to antibiotics.

We didn't know that. Doctor gave her an antibiotic. It lyses her blood cells. She has Stevens-Johnson Syndrome. She's allergic to synthetic antibiotics. She can't have them. They'd kill her. We didn't know. She's bleeding from the inside out. You ever seen a person bleeding from the inside out? Their skin, just beneath, you touch their skin and the blood comes through the pores. She's suffocating to death.

They told us, "You know what? She's got less than a 50% chance to live." They put her in quarantine at St. Jude's, and a pediatric hematologist just went after that issue. I mean, just attacked it. And she said, "Now we wait. We wait for seven days." Let me tell you something. When you're gripped with that moment, you realize real quick, you know what? We had her for eight months. Jesus brought her into the world. And you realize real quick, Jesus owns her.

And when that moment comes, there's a depth to the fellowship of the understanding of the difficulty that God's in control. And He doesn't often ask us for input on our part. He doesn't say, "Jack, what do you think I should do on this?" And Lisa and I, one Saturday morning, we were sitting in the cafeteria because that week Lisa lived at the hospital.

And one Saturday morning, we were sitting there and we were just so tired and Pastor Chuck Smith walked by. St. Jude's Hospital. Walked right by. And we saw him. "Pastor Chuck, Pastor Chuck!" We ran. "Our daughter Ashley's in the hospital. We don't know if the office told you or not." We were, of course, fellowshipping at Costa Mesa. And Pastor Chuck says, "Well, that's why I'm here. I'm in between weddings. I thought I would come over and pray for her."

And he said, "I prayed with her. She's..." And he goes, "Listen, she's going to be fine." Nobody knew that. Nobody knew she was going to be fine yet. And Pastor Chuck's not one of those guys that just speaks this thing on you. "Oh, it's good! You're going to be a millionaire! And you're going to be fine!" He doesn't talk like that.

He usually says, "Well, just trust in the Lord." But Pastor Chuck had said, "You know what? Ashley and I just had a little time," that's how he put it, "Ashley and I just had a little time of prayer, and she's going to be fine." Nobody knew that. And she was fine. But let me tell you, that answer did not come through the mouth of a man until God had settled the reality in Lisa and my heart that there was a depth to this and it's a realm that God presides over.

And Philippians 1:20, the Bible says, "According to my earnest expectation and hope that in nothing shall I be ashamed, but with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ will be magnified in my body." Listen to what he's talking about. "Whether by life or by death. For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain."

To understand that there's a depth to the suffering that you're going through. I was studying for today's message and I had to have a repair guy come to the house. And the guy was there and he didn't know me from Adam. And he's doing whatever he's doing and I'm sitting there and I'm just typing away on my computer. And he turns around out of nowhere and he says, "Hey, can I ask you something?" "Yeah." And he goes, "I just went through a divorce and how does somebody get through a divorce? It's hard."

And I thought, "Man, do I have a label across my face?" We had a great time of fellowship, this guy. A depth to the difficulty. The hardship in your life, is it bringing you, taking you to Jesus? That's its intended purpose. Or are you kicking against God, and you're fighting and swinging and punching?

You ever seen someone come close to drowning? Only one time in my life down in Newport Beach. I saw, I didn't actually see it, I heard about it. A lifeguard, you ever seen those guys go out, head out in the water when someone's going down? They're like animals. Those lifeguards hit the water like little torpedoes, man.

And that guy's going out after some guy that's drowning out there. And the guy wouldn't let him, you could see the guy attacking the lifeguard. And the lifeguard just swam away from him and he just waited. Yeah, have you ever seen it? He just waited until that guy that's going, I guess when you're drowning, you'll take down people down with you. So the lifeguard's waiting, he just waited, he's waiting until the guy starts drowning. Now, they do. And then the lifeguard grabs them.

Why? Because in the depth, he began to understand, "I can't save myself in this difficulty. I need help." Philippians chapter 1, verse 28 says, "Do not in any way be terrified by your adversaries." I like that. I don't know, you guys, keep it on the screen. Look at that. "Do not in any way be terrified by your adversaries."

You want to know why? Keep it on the screen. You can just see David. He's standing there, little ruddy guy, right? He's got his sling. He's got his five stones. He's going to go after Goliath. And standing behind David is the God of Israel. He had a little snot running down his nose, he had dirt all over his face. I wonder what Goliath saw. But man, I think maybe Goliath saw God standing behind David. There was certainly an angel attached as a propellant to that stone that sunk into his head. Do not in any way be terrified by your adversaries. Somebody coming against you? They're coming against the living God.

Guest (Male): Pastor and Bible teacher Jack Hibbs here on Real Life Radio with his message called "Disciplines of Difficulty, Part 2." 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 that highlights 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.

David J: I love the book of the month. Pastor Jack, it's "Why Doesn't God Answer My Prayers?" written by your friend, Erwin Lutzer. It's a great book, isn't it?

Jack Hibbs: It is a great book and just the title alone is going to make it a bestseller because who cannot relate to this? Right, right. Powerful.

David J: So for someone who's been praying for a long time and hasn't really seen an answer, an answer that they want for that matter, how does this book encourage them to keep going?

Jack Hibbs: You know, Davey, first of all, just because we pray doesn't mean it's a prayer that should be answered. We don't always know how we ought to pray. Scripture makes that very clear. We do know that Jesus said in John 15:7 that if we pray the scriptures really, if his word abides in us, we can ask God. So just because we pray doesn't mean we're asking the right thing, and Dr. Lutzer will point this out in the book.

What we want to do when we pray is to have our will come under the authority of God's will. That's what prayer does. Prayer is not a Christmas list. It is the transformation of our will coming in alignment with God's will. And this is a great book for people to get that answered. "Why isn't the prayer... I've been praying to win the lotto for 30 years and the lottery I have not won it yet. Why isn't God answering my prayer?" Well, because God loves you, my friend. That's why He's not answering your prayer.

David J: So if somebody's faith has taken a hit because they feel like God hasn't answered them, how could this book help rebuild their trust in God?

Jack Hibbs: It's going to point them to the scriptures. That's where they need to realize, "Wait a minute, I've been blaming God for not performing for me. Wait, He loves me. Father knows best." In fact, over time, we can all agree, and friend, listen up if that's your question, is over time we often realize I'm so glad God did not answer my prayer request. I was off on that. And so getting back into the word of God, and this book will help you do that, will cause you to trust God again because listen, God's trustworthy, period. It's our emotions that got us sideways in this area, not His theology. He's true.

David J: "Why Doesn't God Answer My Prayers?" by Dr. Erwin Lutzer is available for a gift of any amount at jackhibbs.com/realradio.

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. 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.