Often after
we have done a good thing for God or for others we are surprised to find out that it is misunderstood, not appreciated, or
used against us because others become jealous. Jesus did many miracles and was told to leave, was spoken
harshly about afterwards, was accused of having a demon and so on. Should we be so surprised if after doing
something good for God we get attacked? No, but we need to understand how to deal with these hard times
should they come. This chapter is about how to deal with hard times even after doing good things!
The word teaches us to overcome evil with good Lets' take a look at this.
1 Samuel 17:40-58
40. “And he took his staff
in his hand, and chose him five smooth stones out of the brook, and put them in a shepherd’s bag which he had, even
in a scrip; and his sling was in his hand: and he drew near to the Philistine.
41. And the Philistine came
on and drew near unto David, and the man that bare the shield went before him.
42. And when the Philistine
looked about, and saw David, he disdained him: for he was but a youth, and ruddy, and of fair countenance.
43. And
the Philistine said unto David, Am I a Dog, that thou comest to me with staves? And the Philistine cursed David
by his gods.
44. And the Philistine said unto David, Come to me, and I will give thy flesh unto the fowls of the
air, and to the beasts of the field.
45. Then said David unto the Philistine, Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a
spear, and with a shield: but I come to thee in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou
hast defied.
46. This day will the Lord deliver thee into mine hand; and I will smite thee, and take thine head
from thee; and I will give the carcasses of the host of the Philistines this day unto the fowls of the air, and to the wild
beasts of the earth; that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel.
47. And all this assembly
shall know that the Lord saveth not with sword and spear: for the battle is the Lord’s and he will give you into our
hands.
48. And it came to pass, when the Philistine arose, and came and drew nigh to meet David, that David
hasted, and ran toward the army to meet the Philistine.
49. And David put his hand into his bag, and took thence
a stone, and smote the Philistine, and slung it, and smote the Philistine in his forehead, that the stone sunk into his forehead;
and he fell upon his face to the earth.
50. So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone, and smote the Philistine,
and slew him; but there was no sword in the hand of David.
51. Therefore David ran and stood upon
the Philistine, and took his sword, and drew it out of the sheath thereof, and slew him, and cut off his head therewith. And
when the Philistines saw their champion was dead, they fled.
52. And the men of Israel and of Judah arose and
shouted and pursued the Philistines, until thou come the valley, and to the gates of Ekron. And the wounded of the Philistines
fell down by the way to Shaaraim, even unto Gath, and unto Ekron.
53. And the children of Israel returned from chasing
after the Philistines, and they spoiled their tents.
54. And David took the head of the Philistine, and brought
it to Jerusalem; but he put his armor in his tent.
55. And when Saul saw David go forth against the Philistine,
he said unto Abner, the captain of the host, Abner, whose son is this youth? And Abner said, As thy soul liveth, O King, I
cannot tell.
56. And the King said, inquire thou whose son the stripling is.
57. And as David returned
from the slaughter of the Philistine, Abner took him, and brought him before Saul with the head of the Philistine in his hand.
58. And Saul
said to him, Whose son art thou, thou young man? And David answered, I am the son of thy servant Jesse the Bethlehemite.”
After reading these verses what questions do you have?
Answer the following questions:
How many times have
you done a good thing for someone and only trouble came because of it?
How did you deal with it?
David has long been known as a man after
God’s own heart, here we find him to be just a boy, but when you look into his background you find that he was a shepherd
boy
that spent days in the pastures
tending to his flock and talking with God. His wisdom and strength came only from the Lord and not from the conventional or
traditional wisdom of his day. He chose not to fight using sword and spear; he left his armor behind, and
went forth into battle in the name of the Lord. What an awesome faith he had in God! And because of his faith and his obedience
to God, God gave him the victory. It was to the delight of the Lord to see his will be done! Often we are
called into battle in our lives and are tested in our decision to trust God or to do things man’s ways. When we are,
it is upon us to stand firm in the strength of the Lord and to believe in the words of Christ that he will never leave us
nor forsake us. So step out! And Step into Christ glory! David is now the hero because he stepped out in
faith trusting God and thereby won the victory for God’s people.
1 Samuel 18:6-16
6. “And
it came to pass as they came, when David was returned from the slaughter of the Philistine, that the women came out from all
the cities of Israel, singing and dancing, to meet King Saul, with Tabrets, with joy, and with instruments of music.
7. And
the women answered one another as they played, and said, Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands.
8. And
Saul was very wroth, and the saying displeased him; and he said, they have ascribed unto David ten thousands, and to me they
ascribed but thousands: and what can he have more but the kingdom?
9. And Saul eyed David from that day forward.
10. And
it came to pass on the morrow, that the evil spirit from God came upon Saul, and he prophesied in the midst of the house:
and David played with his hand, as at other times: and there was a javelin in Saul’s hand.
11. And
Saul cast the Javelin; for he said, I will smite even to the wall with it. And David avoided out of his presence twice.
12. And
Saul was afraid of David because the Lord was with him, and was departed from Saul.
13. Therefore Saul removed
him from him, and made him his captain over a thousand; and he went out and came in before the people.
14. And
David behaved himself wisely in all his ways; and the Lord was with him.
15. Wherefore when Saul saw that he
behaved himself very wisely, he was afraid of him.
16. But all Israel and Judah loved David, because he went
out and came in before them.”
After David does well he becomes a target of danger. The bull’s eye
was now placed directly upon David’s back because King Saul was threatened by David’s popularity and jealous of
his fame. God had left Saul and was with David, and King Saul opened the door for an evil spirit to enter
into his heart. In fact God himself allowed this spirit to take over Saul’s heart. In the book of Galatians chapter
five, we read of the fruits of the flesh vs. the fruits of the spirit. Saul was guilty of allowing his flesh response to take
over and it exposed his jealousy, and Jealousy we find, is one example of the fruit of the flesh!
After reading these verses what questions do you have?
Answer the following questions:
What would you do if you were David?
Has anyone ever been
jealous of you? What did you do?
What should our reaction to hard times be?
The role that faith plays:
Mathew 8:19-27
19. “And a certain scribe came, and said unto him, Master, I will follow thee
whithersoever thou goest.
20. And Jesus saith unto him, the foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests;
but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head.
21. And another of his disciples said unto him, Lord, suffer
me first to go and bury my father.
22. But Jesus said unto him, Follow me; and let the dead bury their dead.
23. And
when he was entered into a ship, his disciples followed him.
24. And, behold, there arose a great tempest in
the sea, insomuch that the ship was covered with the waves: but he was asleep.
25. And his disciples came
to him, and awoke him, saying, Lord, save us: we perish.
26. And he saith unto them, Why are ye fearful,
O ye of little faith? Then he arose, and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a great calm.
27. But
the men marveled, saying, What manner of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him!”
The Military teaches
“The Three M’s” My Mission, My Men, and Myself in that order. It would seem that Jesus is teaching a set
of priorities to his disciples also. In life we must abide by certain priorities lest we are confused as to what things are
important and in what order of importance we should follow. To understand this order we must first understand why Jesus came.
This is found in Luke 19:10 where Jesus states, “I have come to seek and to save the lost. This is the statement that
sets priority. The mission is to seek and to save first. The fact that Jesus is forewarning
the scribe that to follow him means to have no place to live and no place to rest is an awakening to us. To follow Jesus will
require us to deny ourselves the luxuries of the world in order to prepare for the life to come, the eternal life with Jesus
our Lord. There are priorities, which often will require that we place our loved ones in the number two
slot and ourselves in the number three, behind the mission of seeking and (Jesus saves) saving.
After
reading these verses what questions do you have?
Answer the following questions:
Will hard times come when we follow Jesus?
What did the disciples have to little
of?
To whom did the disciples
call out?
Mark
11:20-26
20. “And in the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the
roots.
21. And Peter calling to remembrance saith unto him, Master, behold,
the fig tree which thou cursedst is withered away.
22. And Jesus answering saith unto them,
Have faith in God.
23. For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this
mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things
which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.
24. Therefore I
say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.
25.
And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive
you your trespasses.
26. But if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in
heaven forgive your trespasses.”
Isn’t it amazing that despite the miracle on the boat where Jesus caused the winds to
obey him and brought calm to the sea, the disciples soon after forgot all about it at the withering of the fig tree?
This is exactly what we do. We
forget the miracles that Jesus has done in our lives and for some reason expect some different
experience to happen. With excitement Peter called this to remembrance as though the rebuking of the winds
and the calming of the sea was just an accident and this type of miracle to happen again was amazing. Jesus said “O
ye of little faith” at the rebuking of the winds and here he simply says “Have faith in God” The reinforcing
of what they needed more of is the answer to all of our issues, Faith, faith, and more faith. This is more
than a common theme throughout the many miracles of Jesus’ ministry it is a fact of daily life. Have
faith in God today, everyday and always forevermore! This is how to deal with hard times.
After reading these verses what questions do you have?
Answer the following questions:
What do you have to do when you
pray before you can receive?
Why is faith so important in times of difficulty?
Mathew 5:38-48
38. “Ye
have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth:
39.
But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other
also.
40. And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have
thy cloak also.
41. And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him
twain.
42. Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not
thou away.
43. Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbor, and hate
thine enemy.
44. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to
them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;
45. That
ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth
rain on the just and on the unjust.
46. For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not
even the publicans the same?
47. And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others?
do not even the publicans so?
48Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.”
Have faith you say!
I have faith another says, but all of us must realize that faith worketh by love. How shall we who walk in faith show others
our faith if we are in the business of retaliation? Remember, mission first then others and then ourselves.
If we are seeking to strike back for an offense committed unto us then where is our love and what then of our faith? Jesus
not only tells us that to follow him we may not have a place to rest our head, but he also tells us that we must deny ourselves
and walk in love.
After reading these verses what questions do you have?
Answer the following
questions:
In times past how
did people treat their enemies?
When Jesus came what did he teach about enemies?
Love and faith go hand in hand and compassion rather than
revenge is how we ought to treat others when it comes to those that despitefully use us. We must remember Jesus on the cross
and what he said; “Father forgive them for they know not what they do.” Luke 23:34
Romans 12:17-21
17. “Recompense
to no man evil for evil. Provide things honest in the sight of all men.
18. If
it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men.
19. Dearly beloved,
avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.
20. Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing
thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head.
21. Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.”
Here is where faith
comes in, to activate our faith in God we are put to the test; we must overcome evil with good! This is an action not merely
an ignoring of the situation. Our faith in God requires us to lay every issue at his feet and understand who he is. He is
Almighty God who says “Vengeance is mine I will repay” Lay it at his feet and walk away from the offense and go
and love the offender! Wow, now that is a test of faith in God! God will not give us
more than we can handle and therefore desires to defend us and to vindicate us. When he says “All things work to the
good to those that love Jesus” he is assuring us that he is in charge and on top of the situation. He also tells us
“If God is for us who can be against us?” God is for us but we cannot forget that he is there
and take matters into our own hands. When times get tough lay them at his feet asking God to work on your
behalf. Trust God to do what he says!
DO NOT TAKE MATTERS INTO YOUR OWN HANDS AND RETALIATE!
After reading these verses what questions do you have?
Answer the following questions:
Why is it important to be honest
to all people?
What should you do for your enemies?
Yes, we are all going to have hard times, we will be persecuted, we will suffer at the hands
of evil people, but there is a way to handle this. Take a look at the message below titled “Pressing Forward”
this will give us some very important instructions on how to endure hard times.
