From His Heart

Dr. Jeff Schreve: This is the big question: How can you, how can I, turn our hard times into holy times? How can we take the devastating things that come into our lives and turn those into devotion, into a deeper walk with the Lord? How do we get better and not get bitter?

Larry Nobles: Life on earth is full of suffering and heartache, and no one is immune from hardship. But is there a way in which you can turn your hard times into holy times? This is From His Heart with Pastor Jeff Schreve, where today, if bitterness is part of your life, you'll be encouraged with the message, "Making Hard Times Holy Times."

Pastor Jeff reveals how the hard times we experience can cause us to draw closer to the Lord and fully understand how desperately we need Him. This lesson is the second message from the five-message series Life Goes On: How to Face a New Normal, which is also one of our two special gifts this month for your support to From His Heart. I'll tell you more about that later. Just go to fromhisheart.org. Now, if you can, open your Bible to Isaiah chapter 6 and learn the measure of faith needed when you want to make hard times holy times.

Dr. Jeff Schreve: Life Goes On. That's what we've entitled this series, "How to Face a New Normal," how to face the changes that come to all of our lives—unwanted changes, unexpected changes. Things just come into your lives like that, but that's the way life hits us: change-ups and curveballs and screwballs, and things that we're not ready for, challenges, hardships, and tragedy.

Through it all, God is there. You know the great name for the Lord: Jehovah-shammah, "the Lord ever-present." God is there in the midst of heartache and pain and suffering and tragedy. David said in Psalm 34:18, "The Lord is near to the brokenhearted; He saves those who are crushed in spirit." This is the big question: How can you, how can I, turn our hard times into holy times? How can we take the devastating things that come into our lives and turn those into devotion, into a deeper walk with the Lord?

How do we get better and not get bitter? We find three encouragements from Isaiah chapter 6. It says in verse 1—the great chapter in the book of Isaiah, Isaiah chapter 6, his vision, his call. He says in verse 1, "In the year of King Uzziah's death, I saw the Lord." I saw the Lord. Three encouragements today from the first eight verses of Isaiah 6. Encouragement number one: In your hard times, you can seek the Lord more seriously.

Isaiah saw the Lord because he sought the Lord. And it was in the year of King Uzziah's death. That is important because King Uzziah was king in Judah, the southern kingdom. Remember, there were twelve tribes of Israel, and they were Israel at one time, but when Solomon's son Rehoboam became king, the kingdom split. Ten tribes went north; two tribes stayed south. The two tribes in the south were known as the kingdom of Judah. Their capital city was Jerusalem.

The ten tribes of the north were called the northern kingdom; they were called Samaria, they were called Ephraim. Well, they became godless very quickly or apostate very quickly, and they went after false gods. But the southern kingdom, that was the lineage of David. They stayed true for the most part. Uzziah was king from about 790 to 739 BC. He had a 52-year reign. Some of that was with his dad, Amaziah.

When he was sixteen years old, he became king, co-regent with his father, and they did that for a number of years, and then he was king by himself. His dad Amaziah was a good king, and Uzziah for the most part was a good king. He did right in the sight of the Lord. You read about him in the Old Testament and you find out toward the end of his life, he got proud. His heart was lifted up because so many blessings were coming his way.

And he did something really stupid. He went into the temple and assumed the office of the priest and burned incense. He wasn't supposed to do that. He was the king; he wasn't the priest. Leprosy broke out upon him, and he ended up dying a leper. So he had a bad finish to his life, but overall God gives him a thumbs up on his life. He did right in the sight of the Lord.

Under his rule and under his reign, Judah was experiencing economic prosperity. They were experiencing military victories, and there was peace and the people were secure. But now he is dead. When a king dies, especially someone who has been ruling for so many decades like this and everything has been good, then fear sets in to the people. What's going to happen next? What is his son going to be like? What's the leadership going to be like?

Isaiah, according to rabbinic tradition, was related to Uzziah. They were cousins. So not only was Isaiah experiencing the fears that the people were experiencing because the king is dead, but it's also his cousin who is dead. So that's a double blow, and there is heartache and pain and suffering. So what does he do with that? He seeks the Lord. Now, we don't know if he was in the temple, but it would make sense that he went to the temple to seek the Lord.

See, in your hard times, and in your heartache and pain, you can seek the Lord more seriously, more desperately, more earnestly and fervently. Don't we all do that? When life is going well, it doesn't mean we're not praying, doesn't mean we're not seeking the Lord, but it's not the same as when you get the report from the doctor that says you have cancer. Then all of a sudden your prayer goes to a whole new level.

Deuteronomy 4:29: Moses is talking to the children of Israel. He's telling them, "This is what's going to happen when you go into the land," and he's saying, "Beware lest you forget the Lord your God, because if you forget Him, then you're going to experience His chastisement for doing that." And he said even in the midst of the chastisement, "But from there you will seek the Lord your God, and you will find Him if you search for Him with all your heart and all your soul."

The Lord says in Jeremiah 29:13 something very similar: "And you will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart." And see, hard times, as much as we don't like them, hard times drive us to seek the Lord more earnestly than we do when everything is going well. You mark it down: God does business with those who mean business. God is a God who doesn't see as man sees. Man only sees the outward; the Lord looks at the heart.

The Lord knows when you and I are really seeking Him or when we're just going through the motions. He knows when we're just kind of, "Lord bless me here, bless me there, bless me over this other place." He knows when we do that, and He knows when we're really pressing in, when we're really calling upon His name. God does business with those who mean business. I heard a story about three pastors. They had gotten together; they were kind of visiting in the pastor's study.

A telephone repairman was there in the pastor's study. He was finishing up some work, connecting the phone lines. And these three pastors started talking, and they were talking about the most effective posture for prayer. One of the pastors said, "Well, you know what I've found? The most effective posture for prayer—you want to really get a hold of God—get on your knees, because it's on your knees where you call upon the Lord."

And the other guy said, "Yeah, that's good." But he said, "What I've found is you stand up and you raise your hands to heaven." He said, "When you stand up and raise your hands to heaven, that's when you really get a hold of God." The other guy said, "No." He said, "Fellas, I think you're wrong." He said, "What I've found is when you get flat on your face before the Lord, that's when you get a hold of God."

Well, the telephone repairman was over hearing all this stuff, and he had to butt in. He said, "Fellas, listen, I don't mean to butt into your conversation." But he said, "Let me tell you what. The most effective praying I ever did was when I was a hundred feet up in the air hanging upside down from a telephone pole." He said, "That's the posture of prayer, because then you're in trouble." And when trouble comes, then you pray.

You're not looking at your cell phone while you're praying. You are calling on God. God does business with those who mean business. And when you pray in your hard time, in your devastation, in your sadness, you remember this: God cares about your pain and your suffering and your heartache. He cares. Jesus wept at the tomb of Lazarus. John 11:35—everyone's favorite verse to memorize because it's two words: "Jesus wept." He did. He wept at the tomb of Lazarus. He cares when you and I are hurting because He's a good God.

Larry Nobles: Oh, He really is, even when the hard times come. Maybe especially when they do. We'll continue to study this truth when Pastor Jeff Schreve returns on From His Heart in just a moment. As we've been reminded today, life can be interrupted. It really can. Whether it's an unwanted divorce, a physical malady, a death, a lost job, a family feud, or financial reversal, trials and tragedies will interrupt our happy lives.

They can leave us shattered and shaken if we're not ready. Pastor Jeff's book will help you get ready. It's called Life Interrupted, and it'll encourage you and help you to get through the major interruptions and significant changes that come with your life. This powerful book is one of our special gifts of thanks for your support to From His Heart this month of any amount. And with that gift, we'll send you the book along with the five-message series Life Goes On: How to Face a New Normal.

You can get the series in the format of your choice, both for your gift today. To receive these copies—the series and the book—call 866-40-BIBLE (866-402-4253), or go online to fromhisheart.org and learn how to allow God to pour out His grace and love and bring healing to your wounded heart as you face your new normal. Go to fromhisheart.org or call 866-40-BIBLE. Now, let's get back to today's message called "Making Hard Times Holy Times."

Dr. Jeff Schreve: The Scripture says in Exodus 3:7, when the Lord appeared to Moses at the burning bush, "And the Lord said to Moses, 'I have surely seen the affliction of My people who are in Egypt, and I have given heed to their cry because of their taskmasters, for I am aware of their sufferings.'" God is aware and God cares.

Exodus 34, where the Lord reveals Himself to Moses—you know, Moses asks the Lord, "Lord, show me Your glory." And the Lord says, "Well, I will show you the back side of My glory. No man can see My face and live. You can't see My full glory because it would kill you, but I'll let you see the back side of My glory, I'll let you see the afterglow of My glory."

And He put him in the cleft of the rock and He covered him there with His hand, and then He passed by. And as the Lord passed by, remember what He said: "The Lord, the Lord God"—very first word—"compassionate and gracious." Very first thing that God says to Moses about Himself: "I am compassionate." That word compassionate means to be tender, to be affectionate, to be full of mercy and sympathetic sorrow. That is God.

So in your hard times, you can seek the Lord more seriously. Second encouragement: In your hard times, you can see the Lord more clearly. In the year of King Uzziah's death, I saw the Lord. How did you see the Lord, Isaiah? Because I sought the Lord. And because I sought the Lord with all my heart, I saw the Lord.

Look at it again: verse 1. "In the year of King Uzziah's death, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of His robe filling the temple. Seraphim stood above Him." Seraphim are angels; they're the burning ones. They stood above Him, each having six wings. With two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew.

And one called out to another and said, "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory." And the foundations of the thresholds trembled at the voice of him who called out while the temple was filling with smoke. Isaiah saw the Lord. John, in John chapter 12, speaks of this experience, and he says very clearly that Isaiah saw Jesus.

Who is sitting on the throne? The Lord Jesus Christ. And what do we see more clearly about the Lord Jesus Christ from this vision that Isaiah had? First of all, we see that He is large and in charge. The Lord on the throne is large and in charge. Now, in the year of King Uzziah's death, I saw the King, I saw the real King, I saw the Lord, the King of kings.

We have that expression, "The king is dead, long live the king." And that's an expression that says the one king died, but there's a new king coming. Well, there is a King who's the King of kings and He is the eternal King, and His kingdom has no end, and He is sitting on a throne. He is large and in charge. It says, "I saw the Lord."

That word Lord, anytime in the Old Testament you run across the word "Lord" where the L is capitalized but ORD is not, that's the Hebrew word Adonai. Adonai means the owner, the master, the controller, the sovereign. I saw the sovereign owner-controller of it all. And what is He doing? He is sitting on a throne.

He's not fretting on the throne, He's not sweating on the throne, He's not pacing around the throne. "What am I going to do? What am I going to do next? I didn't want Uzziah to die. What's going to happen next?" He's not doing that. He is sitting on the throne. He is in charge of everything. As one man said, "God rules with His feet up on the desk."

He has everything under control. And you and I don't need to fear an uncertain future. As the saying goes, "I may not know what the future holds, but I know who holds the future." And the one who holds the future, the one who sits on the throne, has nail scars in His hands. He cares for me. He loves me. He is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in loving-kindness and truth.

And it says that the train of His robe was filling the temple. The way kings back in those days—the greater the king, the longer the train of his robe. God is so great that the train of His robe fills up the whole temple. He is the great, the awesome, the powerful God. He is Lord of hosts, Yahweh Sabaoth.

Because two words are used for the Lord here. There's Adonai—"I saw the Lord sitting on a throne"—and then when he says, "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts," that word is all caps. Lord in all caps is the personal name of God: Yahweh or Jehovah, YHWH, the four letters, the tetragrammaton. He's Yahweh Sabaoth, the Lord of hosts, the Lord of angel armies. He is in charge.

And it's good to remember, especially when the bottom drops out of your life, that a sparrow doesn't fall to the ground except by your Father. Nothing comes into your life, comes into my life, that doesn't first filter through God's fingers of love. He knows everything that's going on, and nothing can happen to you and nothing can happen to me unless God allows it to happen. God is large and in charge.

Secondly, God is holy, holy, holy. The seraphim, the burning ones, they are standing above Him, hovering above Him. They have six wings. Now, the ones that we read about in Revelation chapter 4, called the four living creatures, they also have six wings. They also are about the throne of God. They also say, "Holy, holy, holy." The Bible says in Revelation 4, day and night they do not cease to say, "Holy, holy, holy."

Perhaps these seraphim and the four living creatures are the same. We don't know that for sure, but it sure seems there's a connection there. And that's what they say. They have six wings. With two they cover their face because they're right there in proximity, right next to the blazing glory of God. And even the mighty angels, who when they speak the foundations of the temple shake, they cover their face before God.

They cover their face before the glory of God. They have six wings. With two they cover their face; with two they cover their feet. You say, "Why do they cover their feet?" I'm not entirely sure why they cover their feet, but I know this: When Moses met God at the burning bush, one of the first things He told him to do is "Take your shoes off, Moses. The place on which you're standing is holy ground."

And these angels are on the most holy of grounds because the Shekinah glory of God is right there, and they cover their feet. And then they use their two wings to fly, and they hover around God. And day and night they do not cease to say back and forth, calling out to one another, "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory." God is not just holy God. God is holy, holy, holy.

Why is that repeated? Some have said, "Well, maybe that's to emphasize the Trinity." Perhaps. But to the Hebrews, if you wanted to emphasize something, a characteristic or some specific, you would repeat it. You repeat for emphasis. And so God is not just holy; He is holy, holy, holy. Jeremiah did it when he was talking about the land of Israel. He called it "the land, the land, the land."

Ezekiel did it when he was talking about the ruin that was coming on the land because of their sin. He said, "A ruin, a ruin, a ruin is the land." God was going to forsake the land because of their sin. So that is done in the Scripture to show us the emphasis. And God is emphasizing here—the angels are emphasizing—the fact that God is holy. He is set apart.

He is not like anything or anyone else. He is completely pure, completely sacred. We have lost the understanding of the holiness of God in our world today. In America today, definitely. You know, we like to think of God as love, and God is love. But did you know nowhere in Scripture does the Bible repeat three times about any attribute of God other than holy?

God is love, 1 John chapter 4, and He is, and that's wonderful. "The Lord, the Lord, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in loving-kindness and truth." That is wonderful. But this is the only attribute—His holiness—that's repeated three times for emphasis. Adrian Rogers used to say, "If you had to ransack the Bible and come up with one word that best describes God, you would come up with the word 'holy' because God is holy."

And we have taken His holiness and we have said, "Well, I don't really like the holiness of God, and so I'd like for God to be just loving and nothing else. I'd like for God to be just merciful and nothing else. I'd like for God to be just kind and nothing else." God is not the God you want Him to be. He is the God who is holy, holy, holy.

Larry Nobles: We're going to pause right there in our lesson for today. Pastor Jeff will be back tomorrow with a short review and then continue exploring how the holiness of God gives us a sure foundation, making the hard times holy times. As we move through the hottest time of the summer, we're looking forward to a cooler fall and the beauty of the leaves that do fall.

Changing seasons are glorious. Changing lives are sometimes complicated, demanding, and challenging to say the least. Our lives can and do and will have seasons of terrible difficulty, and they often will begin with a surprising and even shocking problem that erupts. But when we trust God in those times, we discover that God is faithful—completely and undeniably faithful.

This month we want to help you to learn and navigate the seasons of suffering that come with life with a resource from Pastor Jeff called Life Goes On: How to Face a New Normal. This series is the one that we're airing now, and it comes on a USB flash drive, CDs, DVDs, or an immediate MP3 download. And we also would like to send you the book Life Interrupted.

Both Life Goes On the series and Life Interrupted the book for your gift of any amount to From His Heart this month. Call 866-40-BIBLE (866-402-4253), or go online to fromhisheart.org. We could not broadcast around the world as we do every day were it not for the help of our listeners. So thank you for praying about what God would have you do to help us this month.

Call 866-40-BIBLE or go to fromhisheart.org. Well, thank you for joining us today on From His Heart. I'm Larry Nobles with another heartfelt invitation to you to join us tomorrow for part two of this revealing and encouraging lesson from the Life Goes On series. It's called "Making Hard Times Holy Times." That's on Thursday when we'll again open up God's word and share real truth, real life, and real hope from His heart.