How God Meets Our Deepest Needs VII, When You Feel Worried

And we're going to get into the word, the message for today, and we have the Lord's table a little later on, and you're going to hear a wonderful testimony today about God's faithfulness. I can tell it's springtime, even though it's still a little chilly. It's interesting how our sleeping patterns shift, because the sun's coming up earlier, people are getting up earlier, and the first service we were really kind of pushing out the walls, and it's just that interesting seasonal thing. I want to caution those of you who think that Wallace Road behind us here is a test track for your new four-wheel drive, high-performance vehicles. Don't go over 80 back there, really, it creates some dust problems. I saw some of you a little bit late for this service, trying to sneak in. Boy, no speed bumps. My prayer is that we don't have to put speed bumps around here, because that would ruin my day. So cooperate with me on that, and be a little bit reasonable. While you have your outline out, I just want to also mention to our first-time guests today, this little communicator that's in your notes, and I know there's a number of you here for the very first time, we're glad you're with us. It's real important that you take a moment, sometime between now and the end of the service, fill this out and let this be your only offering. This is an important way that we know, if we're ministering to your needs, and if there's anything that we can serve, help you by serving you in some way, let us know that. And also, there'll be some great friendly folks out at the Welcome Center, right in the middle of the foyer out there, and they'll give you a complimentary cassette tape. Just a way of saying, we're glad you're here. These are by Dr. Kevin Lehman, who worked with us this week on our Real Families tapings, and I want to thank all of you who came as audience folks, and those who prayed for us. We now have 48 shows that we've completed on parenting, and I think that's just a great resource that's going to be serving families for years to come. But these are available to you as just saying, thanks for being here. If you look at your outline with me, I want to share something with you that happened to me yesterday. Because of the Real Families tapings, I had to produce my outline by Thursday. I usually do it on Friday, so I got it all done, and I sat down yesterday morning to finish the final draft of my message, which is all, I use notes to prepare, and I feel like some guys just stand up and sort of go with the flow, and that's okay. I kind of have to be prepared, and I just trust that the Lord will take whatever I prepare and bless it somehow. And I look at this, and I said, well, this is a message about worry. And I started writing this all out according to what I'd done in the outline, and I started to worry. I have way, way too much stuff here. Pastor Scott and the team, they're pretty good at keeping me sort of honest within our time frame. So I have great news for those of you who might be worriers. I want you to take your outline and turn it over. Now, some of you are just thinking, that's really cool. I like this church. The pastor's spoken for a moment, and he's halfway done already. We're not going to talk about the Sermon on the Mount this morning. I put those notes aside, and I'll pull them out another time. Very important things that Jesus said, but we'll come back to those at another time. And the reason is, I want to focus on some of these things that are very relevant to today. Now, what Jesus talked about was relevant to those people 2,000 years ago. They worry just like we do. But do you know that, as I thought about this all week, we have more reasons to worry than they do, don't we? I mean, in the context of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus says, don't worry about stuff and things and possessions and clothes and food and all. And we all still worry about that, but we have more things to worry about. Well, what's one thing that we worry about now that they didn't worry about then? Just one thing. How about flying? I mean, they didn't have to worry about airplanes or strikes or anything like that. I mean, some people worry about flying. In fact, our own Pastor Dave, he's not a great fan of flying, he would tell you. He flies when he really has to, but he doesn't care to fly that much. He worries a little bit about it. Now, there's a story out there. I don't know if it's true or not, but the story I heard was that on Dave's last trip at home, going home to Phoenix, he had a little extra concern about it, so he bought one of those flight insurance policies. He stopped at one of those little booths and bought a half million dollars of flight insurance policy. Then we got on the airplane, they served a Chinese meal, and when he opened up his fortune cookie, it said, a recent investment will pay great dividends. So, Pastor Dave, it didn't help his worry at all. It is an issue, and it's an issue for us. May I say, for those of us who know Christ and follow Him, it's an issue with us, just as it is with people who don't know the Lord. And my question, I guess, as I wrestle through this this week is, honestly, why is that so? Why do we still worry, even though Jesus said, look, I'll take care of you? Most of you could quote Matthew 6.33 to me. Seek ye first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. But we can quote it, and we may know it, but how many of you still worry? Now, don't put your hand up. But you still worry. Why is that? Well, I honestly came to grips with this myself and said, I think it's because most of us live in a very difficult world. I mean, it's not a cakewalk, trying to navigate all the responsibilities, the mounting pressures, the internal tensions that we feel, the uncertainties, the battles that we face. We live, this is interesting, we live in the most affluent, abundant, incredible culture, advanced culture of all time, don't we? I mean, as I look over history, it amazes me, the abundance that we have. And yet, we still wrestle with worry, we still struggle to gain victory. It has everything to do with this one fact, and I'm going to share it with you. It has everything to do with where we focus. And I want to start with a scripture that's not on your outline, but it's going to be on the screen up here, if you can look up. And I'd like you to check it with me, just maybe jot it down as a reference. You can look it up in your own Bible later. Romans 12, 2. It says this, Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, i.e., worry, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Would you say that with me? By changing the way you think. And then you will know what God wants you to do, and you will know how good and pleasing and perfect His will really is. That's Romans 12, 2. If I learn to deliberately change the way I think, focus my mind about the things that I come to know about God, I will be a changed person. If I learn to focus not on the problem, but on the person of Christ. If I learn to focus not on the difficulties, but on the deliverer, I can become a changed person. So I want to look at three broad areas today where worry seems to encroach in on our lives most violently. And I want to begin by saying, and by the way, if you're not going through a time of difficulty with worry right now, I'm glad for you. But I want you to take notes, because the chances are very likely that you will be, or I'm positive that you know someone that is right now going through something, and they're going to need this. The lion at the tape table after the first service assured me that this is correct. Number one, when you feel worried about the negatives of life, think about God's goodness. Think about God's goodness. All right, help me out. How many of you would say, right now I have at least one negative circumstance in my life I'm dealing with. Let me just see your hand if you're willing. Something comes to your mind right now. And you know, we live in a technologically advanced age, which helps us, it gets us ready to worry in advance. You know, we have idiot lights in our cars. They're called, for those of us who know a little bit about cars, they're lights that are installed so that you don't have to read gauges. And when the lights come on, it means you've got a problem. And the inference is, you're an idiot for waiting this long to fix it. All right, that's why they're called idiot lights. Well, my car, my car has a yellow light that says maintenance needed. But before the light comes on, all the time it comes on and starts to blink a little bit. So it doesn't really need maintenance yet. It's just getting me concerned about the maintenance I'm going to need. I said, will you just turn that off? I mean, I don't need to worry in advance about, I'm not worried. And see, we have all these reminders about things we need to do and we get all these prompts about stuff. And you see, there's so many ways that we're receiving these messages that maybe, in our minds, are pitching us toward the negative. And friends, it is very easy for negative things to pile up and to change the whole attitude of your day. Have you ever started your day on a good note and found yourself, not long into the day, being on a really negative note? A few Mondays ago, I made a phone call on a Monday morning. That's my day off. That's the day I don't come into the office. And I was following up on a credit card thing I didn't like. And I got, what do you do when you call the credit card people? They have all these prompts, don't they? You know, all these, push this and push that. And I finally got to the place where they say, you know, all of our associates are busy helping other customers. Now, what do you think of when you hear that? I don't think they're, I think they're sitting there eating donuts and drinking coffee, laughing at the blinking lights, don't you? Like, look at them this way, look at them this way. So, after seven or eight minutes of just waiting, I mean, I just felt my internal spirit going negative. And I caught myself and I said, this, this, this is silly to let this ruin my attitude for the day. And you see, I'm making a little bit of light of this, but if you get enough negatives, you can start to get depressed, as Pastor Dave talked about a couple weeks ago. And if you get depressed, it isn't long before if depression keeps going on, you can despair. And look what King David wrote. And by the way, he is a great model in the Psalms of someone who went through real life circumstances. Look at the first verse. I would have despaired unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord. So be strong and let your heart take courage and wait for the Lord. See, when negatives pile up, you can get depressed or even despair or you can think about God and you can think about the fact that His goodness never changes. I want to encourage every one of you to spend a few moments early in the day. I read something recently that just kind of stuck with me. Don't wait to the end of the day after the concert to tune your instrument. Tune your instrument in the beginning of the day before you play the concert. Spend a few moments early in the day thinking about the goodness of God. And if you wake up and even if you have a very difficult day ahead of you, I mean, can you think of one thing that you can praise God for and thank Him for first thing in the morning when you first wake up? What? You woke up. It's a good start. And then you can thank Him for being a child of God. If you know Christ, your Heavenly Father has got your day all mapped out. He knows what's going to happen. You can thank Him for the fact that His Holy Spirit lives in you and He's going to be with you. You can thank Him for the fact He's placed you in a great church where people are going to encourage you and support you. You can thank Him for your family, your friends, all the things that just go right through your mind and you can just really physically take some moments and thank Him for that. I've said this many times and I'll say it for as long as I'm able. There's nothing like the attitude of gratitude to change one's orientation in life. No more powerful expression out there than giving thanks to God. Beyond that, His goodness assures us that He's going to be working all things together for our good. Now, I talked about Romans 8.28 about four weeks ago so I didn't take the time to put it in here. But Romans 8.28 For I know that God works most things together. How many things? All things together for good to those who love Him and are called according to His purpose. And so I know that as I'm going through the day that the Lord's working even things that I don't understand how they're ever going to come good's going to come out of them. He's working them together. You know what? This is such a freeing way to live. Instead of the frustration of trying to sort out okay, why did you let this happen and what's going to happen with this? I can relax and I am learning this and I have to tell you for me, for Pastor Jay, this has been a learned experience. Learning to relax and trust God even when circumstances, negative things, may cause me internal frustration and turmoil. One of the most wonderful illustrations of somebody in the Bible who let negative things just kind of happen and he just allowed God to turn them into something good is Joseph in the Old Testament. And I was tempted to take a major detour here and just preach about Joseph for the whole morning. How many of you have a friend or relative or child that's named Joe or Joseph? Anybody? Scores of you. Very popular name. Probably because it's the name of Jesus' father in the natural, Joseph. But also, there's an Old Testament figure named Joseph. And if you know that story in the book of Genesis, here is a person that was abandoned by his family. His brothers left him for dead. He was then sent off into slavery. And then he did a good job and was promoted and then he was betrayed and then imprisoned. And I don't know if you recall the story. But negative after negative after negative. And he could have gotten so bitter. He could have just shaken his fist at God and said, you know, why are you letting this happen to me? And yet, the Bible says that in the end, God elevated him to second in command of all of Egypt. And his brothers stood before him. The brothers that left him for dead in the well. And they were fearful for their lives. And they looked up at Joseph and they thought for sure he was going to just have him taken out and done away with. And they're tearful and Joseph looks down at them and he says in Genesis 50, verse 20, he said, listen, what happened to me, you meant it for evil. But God meant it for good. And I want you to know something, friends. Whatever it is you're going through today, whatever is coming at you, if somebody outside of your own sphere of influence, somebody that you don't even know is causing you grief, if pain is coming at you, if problems and difficulties and circumstances that you don't even know why they're coming, I want you to know something. Someone may mean them for evil. Their intent might be to bring you down. But God will use them for good. And that is an incredibly reassuring promise of his word. Over the long run, God's goodness prevails. The way to win over worry is to think and focus on the goodness of God. Now many of you could give your own personal illustrations of this. Things that people mean for evil, but God is working for good. And I have to tell you, this principle has carried me through the last seven years of my life more than any other single principle as a Christian. I thought about this before I shared it today. The last seven years have been difficult years in some respect. You say, well, gee, everything looks like it's going pretty well to me. But you only see the surface. I mean, there were times in the last seven years that were very difficult. We were looking for property for this church just about at the end of our road. And then once we found the property, having all that we went through to have the church built and the financial challenge of all of that, and then some of the people who you were counting on who for one reason or another didn't live up to their promises. And then in the middle of all that stress and strain and pressure, a back problem that I'd had for several years got really, really bad. And four years ago I had to go in and have major back surgery. I mean, you know, the kind where they just fillet you basically, you know, just open things up and do all this and put, I have a card that says when I go through metal detector, there's enough metal in there to set off something and no bombing or anything intended, just right there. And so this was big time. And then just two years ago, my dad died suddenly. And more than once in these last five to seven years, I, like many of you, have been tempted to think, God, why are you letting this happen? And when those thoughts come into my mind, I'm so thankful for something that he taught me. He taught me that I can always count on his goodness. I can always look to him and know that he's going to work even those painful moments. I mean, there were times when I really couldn't even function because of pain. There were times because of grief that I was just really unable to do what I wanted to do. And I would take comfort, like from verse 19 of Psalm 31, look at it. How great is your goodness. You have stored it up for those who honor you. You do good things for those who trust you. And one of the things I used to do, friends, one of the ways I got through those last five to seven years, was I would take four by six cards and I would type in bold capital letters promises of scripture and I put them on my bathroom mirror and on my refrigerator and even in my car, places I was all the time. And I remind myself of the goodness of God, the goodness of God, that I could trust Him, even when I couldn't see things working out the way I wanted. Joseph taught it, the Bible says it, what the world means for evil, God means for good. Even things like lawsuits and lies that people tell about you and accusations, the Lord says, I'll weave them into something good. Don't doubt the goodness of God. Listen, the lie that Adam and Eve believed was that lie. The lie that brought the fallen humanity to this earth was the lie that Adam and Eve believed. When God said, listen, I'm going to put you in this beautiful paradise garden and you can eat of anything you want and you can share anything you want except this one thing, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, I don't want you to eat of that. And the devil came and whispered to them, he said, you know what, the reason God doesn't want you to eat of that is because that's the best thing. And if you have that, well then you'll be like God, in fact you'll be God. And so they believed that lie. They believed that God would withhold what was good from them. And that's what led to the fall of the human race. Friends, you have to trust God. When he says things to you like, sex is to be reserved for marriage only. You don't twist that around and say, well, you know, that might be true for a hundred years ago or three hundred years ago. It's not true. It's just as true today as it was when God spoke the words. And it's for your good. He's not trying to keep from you something like, well, but I have all these drives and if God created me like that, then why would he say I shouldn't exercise them? Because outside of marriage, the intimate bond that you build through sexuality goes with you for the rest of your life even if a partner doesn't go with you and it affects you. And so God wants to protect you. He's not trying to withhold things from you. Or let's take tithing, for example. When the Bible says that you're to honor God with the first fruits, and people can bicker about tithing this and that, but can I tell you, if you honor God with the first fruits, the first ten percent, Malachi three, verses six through ten say that he's going to open up the windows of heaven and pour out a blessing that you can't contain. And people say, I couldn't possibly live on 90 percent. I mean, I need every diamond I get. That government takes most of it anyhow. Can I tell you something? If you trust God, he will honor his word for you like you won't believe. So put him first in practical ways. If God is good, he'll keep his word to you. You can trust him. Now, someone's thinking, well, you know what, if God's so good, then why do things happen that are so terrible? Like, you know, a truck goes across a median barrier and crushes a car and a whole family is wiped out. Or why do illnesses strike people that are just such nice, wonderful people? Or, you know, why did I lose my job because the company downsized and I didn't do anything to deserve it? Or, you know, why am I moving away from all of my loved ones and those kinds of things? Friends, we don't live in a world that's all orchestrated and we live in a world where there's dynamics and motion. We're not puppets. And so these things do happen. As long as there is going to be free will, these things will happen. But when these negatives pile up, don't let worry move in. Just declare, God is good. I'm going to trust him. And you know what? That's the key. I'm going to trust him. Some of you right now are hearing me, but I'm not sure you're believing it. I want you to pray with me right now. Would you bow your head, please? And for anyone right now that's struggling with, I don't know if God's really good or not. I'm struggling. Let me pray for you right now. Jesus, this is a day that I know that you've brought people here who are in the middle of very negative circumstances. And Lord, they're under a crushing weight and they're not sure that they can trust you. And I pray right now that you would remind them of your love as demonstrated in the cross of Christ, that you loved us so much, that you didn't just send your son at a distance, but you sent him to be with us and even to die for us. So I pray you'd increase faith here, Lord, and you'd help these who are struggling today to trust you, that you are good all the time. Let them lay their burden at your feet. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen. And then there's the times when we're worried about the battles of life. And when those battles begin to rage, think about God's greatness. Think about God's greatness. See, when a situation appears to be bigger than you, bigger than your capacity to handle it, what do you do? You've got to think about something that's bigger than you are, something that has more resource than you. The difference between difficulties and battles is this. Difficulties, you know, you kind of feel like you can work your way through, but the battles, the heavy duty things of life, I don't know. Those things come along and they can just take the wind right out of you. And the fact is, there's going to be obstacles, problems, mountains in front of you that you just don't know how you're going to endure. I'm talking to at least a few people this morning right now who are in a marriage that you've been praying about, you've been trying to get through, and you see it slipping away and you don't know what to do and you don't know how you're going to make it. I'm talking to a couple of people this morning whose children have just turned communication right off with you and you're so deeply wounded by that and you don't know if you'll ever hear from them again. I'm talking to at least one person this morning who got a report from their physician this week that your physical condition is deteriorating and they're not sure that they can help you. I'm talking to some people whose hopes were built around a particular decision concerning your career and it's gone south and now you don't know. Have you just wasted the last few years of your life? And these are all mountains. These are battles that are bigger than you. You don't have the resources to win them on your own. King David knew what that was like and can I tell you this? Some of the battles that David faced, he brought on himself. You have to understand God doesn't just rescue us from the things that happen outside of us. Even our own self-inflicted wounds God can use for good. Look what the Bible says. Look at the second verse under Roman Numeral 2. God, because of your great love, answer me. You are truly able to save. Pull me from the mud and do not let me sink. Do not let the flood drown me. This is one word written from someone whose own sin had cost another their life. You see, in the end, dear ones, David remained a person, the Bible says, after God's own heart. How did he do that? Because he didn't focus on the problem, he focused on the person of God. He didn't focus on his own disappointment and his own failure and impossibility, but he focused on God's greatness. I want you to know today, if you stop thinking about what you can't do and start thinking about what God can do, your life can change and you can make it. I want you to hear testimony. You can hear me stand up here and talk about it, but I want you to hear straight from a couple that entered into one of life's darkest tunnels, one of life's most impossible situations, the loss of a child. I want you to hear their story. For many of you, this will be a new story. You didn't know anything about it. It's still fairly recent, but many of you are new since this happened. I want you to hear and open your heart. Give a warm welcome, would you please, to Steve and Joanne Merzlach as they come to share their testimony with you. Hi, Steve. Thanks so much for staying and sharing your heart with us, okay? I'll be reading this, but this is a collaboration of hearts that wrote this. Our trial began on July 2nd, 1998. Our 8-year-old son, Michael, had a fever and some minor back pain that had gone on for several days. After talking to the pediatrician, she advised us to go to the emergency room. When we got there, the doctors did various tests and x-rays that all came up negative. They decided that since Michael had experienced some back pain, that they felt they needed to do a spinal tap to check for the possibility of meningitis. The spinal fluid looked clear, and we were cleared to go home. When Michael went to get off the table, he yelled back to us that he could no longer walk. Later, we found out that the needle had penetrated a tumor and severed a nerve. The next day, we took him to Children's Hospital, and we spent an extremely long and stressful day in the emergency room, watching doctor after doctor trying to diagnose what was wrong with Michael. In the early evening, they decided to do an MRI and found a very large tumor inside Michael's spinal cord. The next day, on the 4th of July, the doctor did a six-hour operation that included opening up Michael's spinal cord and made an attempt to remove the tumor. The doctor indicated that he had removed the entire tumor except for a very small piece, which was attached to the spinal cord itself. I asked if it looked malignant, and the doctor said it did not. Three days later, we found out that Michael was diagnosed with glioblastoma multiforme, which is an extremely aggressive brain tumor. Our son had cancer. It was very unusual because this tumor does not normally start in the spinal cord. Pastor Jeff, who was our strength throughout our trial, just happened to be there at the time and was there for us after we had heard the news. We immediately thought the way to go was to be strong and be there for our family. It was not until we became very weak and turned the situation over to God that things started happening. Michael's journey through radiation and chemotherapy was about to begin. Just the thought of having an MRI frightened Michael. He did not like needles as most other kids his age. On his third MRI, which he had a total of about ten, we met a nurse, Bev McKnight, who was a member here of North Way. She introduced Michael to a skim numbing cream and vowed to be there every time that Michael needed an MRI. God provided for our needs, and further MRIs were a breeze. God also provided us with a Christian doctor, Dr. Leland Albright. After telling us that Michael's illness was terminal, he prayed with us that God would keep our relationship strong during this trial. We didn't realize at the time how important this prayer was and how much this trial would affect our relationship. Dr. Albright made sure that Michael was assigned the best oncologist in the hospital. Michael's movement was very limited due to a back brace that he would have to wear all the time. God provided for our family again. Although this brace was very uncomfortable, Michael never complained about wearing it, did not feel that he was any different from any of his other friends. We worried about how Michael would take the news that he would not be able to return to school. He accepted it like a champ. He never complained and actually couldn't be happier. Every step along the way we felt God's mighty presence. When Michael began his radiation, we were told that this could make him very sick since the radiation directed through the spine would also pass through his stomach. Through the six weeks of radiation, Michael was not sick even one time and actually enjoyed going for the daily treatments. After we found out that the radiation did not have any effect on his tumor, it was time for the dreaded chemotherapy. Michael was put on some very strong treatments which we again informed would make him very sick. During the entire time that Michael had chemotherapy, he never got sick even once. Michael enjoyed the treatments in the hospital and got a lot of time to play Nintendo. One evening, Michael started losing his hair due to the treatments and we were not sure how he would handle it. It did not bother him at all and he even made a joke and said I'll just glue it back on. When I would ask him to wear his hat, he would tell me Dad, I don't need one. You see, I was the one having trouble accepting it. I was the one it, not him. Although Michael was visibly getting better and was even able to ride his bike again, we got the news that it had spread to the brain and that his time on earth would be very short. Through the Make a Wish Foundation, we had a wonderful family vacation at Disney World where many memories were made. When we received this final diagnosis, God stepped in and took over. As many people would testify that had come to see Michael, there was a sense of peace in our household that was beyond comprehension. We went about life as normal and tried to make Michael as happy as possible. Michael knew very early that he would be passing away soon. He started asking questions like, does it hurt when you die and what is it like in heaven? You see, Michael at an early age accepted Jesus into his life and he knew what God had promised him. His sense of humor was there even to the last day. One night, the night before he went to be with the Lord, we had friends and family come over and see Michael for what came to be the last time. When they left, Michael said to me, why were all these people over here today, Dad? Were they here for my funeral? And he smiled. And I replied, not yet, Michael. Michael then proceeded to let us know what he wanted done with his toys. His main request was that Jason's brother take over his Beanie Baby collection and add to it. And we have been doing that and now we have over 100 Beanie Babies. The last days, five days of Michael's life, God again provided us with Dr. Reggie Giacacchi, a new member of North Way. She helped us spiritually through Michael's last five days. She and Pastor Jay came over to the house to help us in the middle of the night and Dr. Giacacchi calls four or five times every day to check on Michael. What a blessing to be connected to a doctor who would help us and minister to us from a Christian perspective. As we look back on this, we now realize how God has provided for us throughout. He provided for us financially, provided us with a church family who provided meals and prayer support. He put people in our path that were there when we needed them most and most of all gave us hope and peace throughout this trial. God is so good. The reason we can say this is because six years before, we had made one of the most