SUNDAY 16TH SEPTEMBER, 2018

HOPE FOR DAYS YOU FEEL DEFEATED

MEMORY VERSE: “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring”? (Psalm 22:1)

INTRODUCTION:- Some days can seem harried, horrible, pressured and tense. We know God’s truth, we believe His goodness and yet we still find ourselves struggling, minds racing before our feet even touch the floor in the morning, our focus gets blurred. Our fort becomes weak to carry us. At such a time, we cry out in despair to God like Gideon (Judges 6:13), David (Ps. 22:1) and many other saints of old, and of course He hears us.

LESSON OUTLINES

Hope From Gideon’s Story

In our present world we tend to listen to the lies of other voices that do more harm than good (John 10:4). The constant media headline tells us how dark and broken our world is. Images and reminders all around us shout that we are “not enough”. The enemy is great at heaping on guilt, condemnation, and fear. The problems we face seem more like giants of impossibility than anything good that God can ever bring from it.

The truth is, some days we don’t feel like much of a strong warrior for God’s purposes. We just feel really weak, afraid, alone, defeated, dejected, and discouraged. But often, out of His goodness and grace, when we find ourselves right smack in the middle of huge feelings of defeat, God shows up strong.

Gideon certainly had no reason to feel strong, mighty or anything like a warrior at that moment. He and his people were facing great suffering and defeat at the hand of the enemy. He doubted God was even with him.

In fact, when the Angel showed up, he was threshing his wheat in the pit of a winepress, instead of a hilltop where this was usually done. He was fearful and trying to keep hidden from view of the enemy who had been raiding their land. Gideon questioned “If God was with me, then why did this happen?” This sounds familiar? Have you ever been there? If God is really here, then why? If God is really good, then when? If God really cares, then how?

Yet, the LORD is here (Ezekiel 48:12, Malachi 3:6), He remains forever faithful, even unto the end (Lam. 3:22-23). Jesus was with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the fiery furnace (Dan. 3:25). They were at peace even though they didn’t know whether God would actually keep them alive or not (Dan. 3:17-18). All they knew was that God was with them and would see them through one way or the other. And that is what you need to realize; God is with you and will see you through one way or the other. And that is God (Ps. 188:8-9). God has a plan for you and it is good (Jer. 29:11). You walk with Him because He is walking with you. That is how to get peace in a really bad situation.

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION

Where be all thine miracles?” Believers today should not be afraid to ask the same question. God wants to do powerful things for and through His people, and if such things are not happening, we must examine our depth of devotion and re-commit ourselves to His plans until we see evidence of His miraculous power at work in individuals and churches.

QUESTIONS