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What to Remember When You Hit Bottom Msg 6_8 - Pastor Chuck Swindoll Insight for Living · INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living

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  Speaker 1: I don't need to tell you these are tumultuous times. Really,
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  Speaker 1: I would call them treacherous. On occasion, devastating, troublesome, worrisome.
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  Speaker 1: So much is out of our hands. We watch the
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  Speaker 1: news and we feel helpless. We feel more than that,
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  Speaker 1: but helpless to step in. We long for there to be, well, stillness, peace,
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  Speaker 1: a sense of tranquility, but there isn't. In fact, there
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  Speaker 1: rarely will be in the world around us. It must
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  Speaker 1: be found within us. My hope that today as we
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  Speaker 1: gather a ray of hope from Jeremiah's words in Lamentations 3,
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  Speaker 1: that a touch of peace will return along with a
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  Speaker 1: good measure of hope and anticipation of what God may
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  Speaker 1: be doing around us and equally important within us. My
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  Speaker 1: Bible is open to Lamentations 3. I want to read
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  Speaker 1: a few excerpts from this fine chapter in which you
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  Speaker 1: will find some of your favorite verses, though again, you
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  Speaker 1: may not have known where you could put your finger
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  Speaker 1: on them. You'll see today where they are. I'm reading
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  Speaker 1: from the New Living Translation. Your Bible will read in
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  Speaker 1: a similar way. Follow along as we stand together for
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  Speaker 1: the reading of God's word. I am the one who
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  Speaker 1: has seen the afflictions that come from the rod of
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  Speaker 1: the Lord's anger. He has led me into darkness, shutting
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  Speaker 1: out all light. He has turned his hand against me
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  Speaker 1: again and again all day long. He has made my
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  Speaker 1: skin and flesh grow old. He has broken my bones.
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  Speaker 1: He has besieged me, surrounded me with anguish and distress.
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  Speaker 1: Verse 20. I will never forget this awful time as
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  Speaker 1: I grieve over my loss. Yet I still dare to
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  Speaker 1: hope when I remember this. The faithful love of the
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  Speaker 1: Lord never ends. His mercies never cease. Great is his faithfulness.
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  Speaker 1: His mercies begin afresh each morning. I say to myself,
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  Speaker 1: the Lord is my inheritance. Therefore, I will hope in him.
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  Speaker 1: And finally, verse 55. Toward the end, verse 55. I
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  Speaker 1: called on your name, O Lord, from deep within the pit.
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  Speaker 1: You heard me when I cried. Listen to my pleading.
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  Speaker 1: Hear my cry for help. Yes. Yes. You came when
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  Speaker 1: I called and you told me do not fear. Bow
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  Speaker 1: with me, will you, as we pray. Help us to
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  Speaker 1: learn to stop. Our Father, even in the rush of things,
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  Speaker 1: even as events unfold, teach us the power of Momentary stopping.
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  Speaker 1: And entertaining the silence of the moment. And absorbing the
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  Speaker 1: reminders that you are God and we are not. You
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  Speaker 1: are in charge. You are in control and we are neither.
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  Speaker 1: You are our God. And in that there is great comfort.
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  Speaker 1: There is a resurgence of hope. There is a renewal
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  Speaker 1: of inner peace. Help us to stop and learn again
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  Speaker 1: that you alone are our God. When we would be
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  Speaker 1: afraid and entertain alien thoughts. When we would panic and run,
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  Speaker 1: trying to escape, stop us, slow our pace, remind us
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  Speaker 1: of the great benefit in waiting on you. There are
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  Speaker 1: some today who wait in pain. We remember them. Our
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  Speaker 1: hearts go out to them. Some are in deep grief,
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  Speaker 1: having lost an individual who meant much to them. We
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  Speaker 1: pray for them. That you would bring comfort and wonderful
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  Speaker 1: reminders that there is a home beyond this one that
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  Speaker 1: is fairer than day. And by faith, we can see
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  Speaker 1: it afar. And there are some dreadfully worried because of
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  Speaker 1: their preoccupation with the world around us and the devastation
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  Speaker 1: we're witnessing. Bring back to us the reminder that it
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  Speaker 1: is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed
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  Speaker 1: because your compassions fail not. They are new every sunrise.
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  Speaker 1: Thank you for the privilege of worship. We do so
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  Speaker 1: with confidence that you will minister to us and then
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  Speaker 1: through us to others as we absorb truth to live by,
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  Speaker 1: through which we make wise decisions and measure our words
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  Speaker 1: and speak with kindness. and forgive often. Make even these
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  Speaker 1: moments meaningful as we pause to hear the music and
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  Speaker 1: to let the wonder in. For Jesus' sake, I pray.
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  Speaker 1: Everyone said amen. Please be seated. I hope that someday
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  Speaker 1: you can go to Switzerland. And when you do, don't
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  Speaker 1: miss Geneva. Geneva, that lovely city. And when you're in Geneva,
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  Speaker 1: take time to be with Jeremiah. He's waiting there, silently.
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  Speaker 1: And when you are with him, listen. Just be still.
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  Speaker 1: Remember his life and listen. You'll find his statue in
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  Speaker 1: the square. not far from John Calvin's church and not
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  Speaker 1: that far from John Knox's auditorium, where the two of
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  Speaker 1: those men, get this, in the 16th century preached like prophets.
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  Speaker 1: And Geneva heard truth like it had never heard before.
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  Speaker 1: Their words came from a pain-filled past. They had been
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  Speaker 1: unappreciated and mistreated. But before Knox returned to his homeland, Scotland,
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  Speaker 1: to lead the Reformation, and before Calvin was gone, the
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  Speaker 1: two of them had plenty to say both of them
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  Speaker 1: from the scriptures I've been there and I've stood under
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  Speaker 1: the gaze of Jeremiah he's on a pedestal shrouded in
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  Speaker 1: a dark cloak, and that timeless gaze looks right down
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  Speaker 1: on you. I was there virtually alone, and I remember
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  Speaker 1: saying other things, but especially, thank you. I wasn't talking
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  Speaker 1: to a statue, I was talking to the man who
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  Speaker 1: lives in my mind and in ours now, who had
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  Speaker 1: been through so much. For four decades, don't miss that, decades,
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  Speaker 1: Jeremiah held forth faithfully as a man of God, speaking
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  Speaker 1: to people who didn't want to hear what he had
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  Speaker 1: to say And they told him so. They resented him.
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  Speaker 1: They rejected him. They even imprisoned him on occasion. They
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  Speaker 1: shoved him aside. They pushed him back. They ignored his message.
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  Speaker 1: He told them with warning, you're heading for devastation. Our
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  Speaker 1: city will fall. The enemy is preparing and he's coming.
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  Speaker 1: They wanted nothing to do with his message. They wanted
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  Speaker 1: to listen to false prophets and fake preachers and phony
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  Speaker 1: priests who told him everything was going to be fine.
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  Speaker 1: It's fine. Jeremiah knew better and he told him so.
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  Speaker 1: I often will use Jeremiah when I speak to young
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  Speaker 1: men and women training for ministry at nearby Dallas Seminary.
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  Speaker 1: when it's my privilege to speak in the chapel, I
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  Speaker 1: will on occasion, not to discourage them, but to bring
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  Speaker 1: back some reality, remind them that not all congregations are
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  Speaker 1: smiling and friendly and generous. Not all the saints are
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  Speaker 1: kind to God's messengers. Not all places are easy to serve.
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  Speaker 1: And you may be called to one of those settings.
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  Speaker 1: Learn some things from Jeremiah. Learn the value of speaking
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  Speaker 1: the truth regardless. Being ready in season and out of season.
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  Speaker 1: Reproving and rebuking and correcting and instructing with great patience.
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  Speaker 1: Because the time has come when there will be many
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  Speaker 1: who will not want to hear the truth, and they'll
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  Speaker 1: be looking for fads, getting their ears tickled hearing what
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  Speaker 1: they want to hear rather than what they need to hear. Well,
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  Speaker 1: Jeremiah did what he should have done, and as a result,
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  Speaker 1: you know by now, 586 BC the city of Jerusalem
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  Speaker 1: fell the Babylonians laid siege they destroyed the temple of
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  Speaker 1: Solomon they devastated the buildings and the beautiful place of
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  Speaker 1: Jerusalem the city of Zion lay in ruins and then
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  Speaker 1: they marched off the best of the city The people
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  Speaker 1: who could take that 700 mile walk to Babylon and
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  Speaker 1: they left the infirm, the broken, the aging. Among them, Jeremiah,
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  Speaker 1: who walks through the rubble and sees the bloated bodies
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  Speaker 1: in the streets and witnesses the starving children running free
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  Speaker 1: without their mothers and dads. Oh, they were taken into
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  Speaker 1: exile The Babylonians didn't care about those kids. Let them starve.
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  Speaker 1: Jeremiah sees it all, not only before the fact, as
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  Speaker 1: his prophecy reveals for 51 chapters, but when it falls,
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  Speaker 1: chapter 52, and on into his lamentations. I call it
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  Speaker 1: his journal of woe. He's so sad. He's thinking again
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  Speaker 1: and again, if only they would have listened. If only
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  Speaker 1: they would have heeded what I had to say. But alas,
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  Speaker 1: look at this. Look at this. Look at this. Isn't
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  Speaker 1: it interesting God preserved Lamentations for all of us to
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  Speaker 1: read so many years later? As many of our cities
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  Speaker 1: are going through terrible times. You've seen it. So have I.
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  Speaker 1: You wonder what's next as you turn on the set.
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  Speaker 1: And it may be even worse than it was yesterday.
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  Speaker 1: We turn to Lamentations and we realize that there's a limit.
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  Speaker 1: There's a limit to God's patience and there's a limit
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  Speaker 1: to His grace, and we wonder if we're getting near.
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  Speaker 1: And then of all things, along with all of that,
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  Speaker 1: comes a virus that sweeps its way not only across Asia,
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  Speaker 1: but into our country, and then beyond into Europe, and
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  Speaker 1: now it's worldwide, and it's even on the rise from
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  Speaker 1: time to time, and you go, what's next? Jeremiah gives
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  Speaker 1: us the words, I am one who's seen afflictions. Chapter 3,
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  Speaker 1: verse 1. I've seen afflictions that come from the rod
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  Speaker 1: of the Lord's anger. He has led me into darkness,
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  Speaker 1: shutting out all light. He has turned his hand against
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  Speaker 1: me again and again all day long. He has made
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  Speaker 1: my skin and flesh grow old. He has broken my bones.
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  Speaker 1: He has besieged me and surrounded me with anguish and distress.
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  Speaker 1: Buried me in a dark place like those long dead.
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  Speaker 1: This man is at the bottom. Finally reached bottom. You've
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  Speaker 1: been there, I've been there. On previous occasions, we've all
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  Speaker 1: been there. In fact, this is a third chapter of
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  Speaker 1: a heartbreaking elegy recorded by Jeremiah, who with his own
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  Speaker 1: eyes sees and with his own hand writes, of all
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  Speaker 1: this that is happening around him, I don't know what
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  Speaker 1: version of the Bible you're using. As I said earlier,
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  Speaker 1: using the New Living Translation, and get this, on 17,
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  Speaker 1: 18 occasions, verse after verse after verse begins with, He has,
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  Speaker 1: He has, He has, He has, He has, meaning God has,
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  Speaker 1: God has, Jeremiah is driving home the point. We've reached
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  Speaker 1: the end. Just a few. He has led me into darkness.
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  Speaker 1: He has turned his hand against me. He has made
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  Speaker 1: my skin and flesh grow old. He has broken my bones.
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  Speaker 1: He has besieged me and surrounded me with anguish. He
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  Speaker 1: has buried me in a dark place. He has walled
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  Speaker 1: me in. He has bound me in heavy chains. He
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  Speaker 1: has shut out my prayers. He has blocked my way.
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  Speaker 1: He has made my road crooked. He has hidden like
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  Speaker 1: a bear or a lion. He has dragged me off
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  Speaker 1: the path. On and on and on. He has, he has,
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  Speaker 1: he has, he has. I know, I know. It gets monotonous.
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  Speaker 1: Anguish gets monotonous. Heartbreaks get monotonous. And let me tell
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  Speaker 1: you the dangerous part of it all. If we're not careful,
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  Speaker 1: we begin to entertain alien thoughts. Please hear me. Unlike
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  Speaker 1: Jeremiah's audience, please heed, hear and heed my words. When
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  Speaker 1: all of this begins to happen, You move into a
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  Speaker 1: realm of hopelessness. It's a dangerous place to be. I
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  Speaker 1: call it dangerous because that is where our adversary loves
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  Speaker 1: for us to be. He loves it when you lose hope.
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  Speaker 1: He loves it when a preacher loses hope. He applauds
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  Speaker 1: when he hears us saying things like, I've hit bottom.
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  Speaker 1: Because he knows at that point it is easy to
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  Speaker 1: make satanic choices. It is easy when we are at
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  Speaker 1: the bottom to have alien thoughts and come to wrong
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  Speaker 1: solutions and begin to feel fear that makes us want
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  Speaker 1: to hide. and panic that makes us want to run.
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  Speaker 1: And I'm going to go ahead and say it. And
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  Speaker 1: to put an end to our lives, which is the
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  Speaker 1: adversary's desire for every one of us. Never doubt it.
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  Speaker 1: He wants you to take your life. What makes it
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  Speaker 1: interesting is that those who do are invariably alone. There
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  Speaker 1: are not group suicides, not that often. Maybe in cults,
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  Speaker 1: but not that often. Usually an individual has wound up
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  Speaker 1: narrowing life and narrowing it, narrowing it until self-pity takes
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  Speaker 1: charge and now in this hourglass, tiny squeeze, he's alone.
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  Speaker 1: And that's when the thought hits. It's my only out.
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  Speaker 1: It's heartbreaking. Some of you have lived through it with
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  Speaker 1: a loved one. And you're left with this dreadful reality
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  Speaker 1: that She took her life, or he did. Let me
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  Speaker 1: back off from that, take a little breath here, and
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  Speaker 1: say a further word about self-pity, because that leads to it.
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  Speaker 1: I turn to my friend David Roper, who has written
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  Speaker 1: a burden-shared, fine little book. From it, I have found
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  Speaker 1: these words. Listen to Roper. To resist the pain is
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  Speaker 1: to miss the purpose of it. Right away, there's a
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  Speaker 1: lot of wisdom there. We want to run from pain. Wait, wait, wait.
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  Speaker 1: To resist pain is to miss the purpose of it.
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  Speaker 1: We must not feel sorry for ourselves. He goes on,
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  Speaker 1: self-pity is deadly and demonic. It's the evil one's way
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  Speaker 1: of stalling us into introspection and inertia. There is no
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  Speaker 1: place for giving up. Suffering isn't fatal. Our eternal destiny
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  Speaker 1: isn't riding on our circumstances. I love that line. Or
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  Speaker 1: on what people do or say. Our security is not
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  Speaker 1: based upon any of that. It's based upon our Lord's
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  Speaker 1: acceptance and his word. Someday our Lord will return to
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  Speaker 1: gather us in and heal us once and for all
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  Speaker 1: of all our terrible wounds. In the meantime, we must
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  Speaker 1: not waste our pain. I get this closing line. Suffering
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  Speaker 1: promotes counsel we could not otherwise give. and messages we
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  Speaker 1: could not otherwise deliver. Had I never known pain, I
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  Speaker 1: would have no message for you today. Had I succumbed
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  Speaker 1: to pain and taken my own life, you would not
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  Speaker 1: have anyone here today to speak. You would have someone,
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  Speaker 1: you wouldn't have me. But from the pain of my past,
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  Speaker 1: And it certainly is not as deep as many. I
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  Speaker 1: acknowledge that. But it's been deep at times. God has
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  Speaker 1: given a message. He's given counsel. And there may be
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  Speaker 1: some wisdom in it that came from the pain. Because
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  Speaker 1: I didn't succumb to self-pity, I lived through it. And
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  Speaker 1: I said to the Lord, guide me. Use this pain
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  Speaker 1: to give me insights I would not otherwise have. And
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  Speaker 1: it isn't me. It's anyone who goes through times of pain.
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  Speaker 1: Roper ends with a very moving bit of verse. Listen closely.
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  Speaker 1: Life is not as idle ore, but iron dug from
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  Speaker 1: central gloom. and heated hot with burning fears and dipped
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  Speaker 1: in baths of hissing tears and battered by the shocks
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  Speaker 1: of doom to shape and to use. What a profound statement.
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  Speaker 1: Jeremiah offers a far better option than self-pity, I'm pleased
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  Speaker 1: to say. When you hit bottom, you remember something important.
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  Speaker 1: If you're going to pull out of the self-pity, Jeremiah
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  Speaker 1: is our model. He does that very thing. Look, if
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  Speaker 1: you will, beginning at verse 19, and concentrate, okay? Let's
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  Speaker 1: all concentrate. The thought of my suffering and homelessness is
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  Speaker 1: bitter beyond words. So he's at the bottom, admittedly. He
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  Speaker 1: has no place to look but up. And look at
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  Speaker 1: what he does. He looks up. I will never forget
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  Speaker 1: this awful time as I grieve over my loss, yet
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  Speaker 1: I still dare to hope. Love those words in verse 21.
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  Speaker 1: I still dare to hope. I'm at the bottom. I've
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  Speaker 1: come to the pit of my life. Devastation is all
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  Speaker 1: around me. I dare to hope. When? When I remember this. Okay,
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  Speaker 1: men and women, this is what we remember when we
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  Speaker 1: come to the bottom. Here it is. Right from the
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  Speaker 1: inspired word of God, look for yourself. I remember this.
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  Speaker 1: What is it he remembers? Well, look at the next
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  Speaker 1: few verses. He will tell us. Verse 22. I remember
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  Speaker 1: the Lord's loving kindness never ends. His loyal love never ends. Never. Never. Second,
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  Speaker 1: I remember his mercies, plural, always more mercies than misery.
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  Speaker 1: His mercies never cease. I remember that. In the pit,
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  Speaker 1: at the bottom, I remember, Lord, your loving kindness never ceases.
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  Speaker 1: Your mercies never end. Your faithfulness never diminishes, it's always great.
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  Speaker 1: I remember that. Such thoughts, please observe, are provided for
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  Speaker 1: us every morning I love it verse 23 his mercies
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  Speaker 1: began afresh each morning think of it as each sunrise
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  Speaker 1: Even when you can't see the sun behind the clouds,
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  Speaker 1: that sun is there. It's coming up. Every morning, every morning,
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  Speaker 1: every single morning, his loyal love is fresh. His mercies,
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  Speaker 1: which is his ministry to us in our misery, never cease,
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  Speaker 1: and his greatness never diminishes forever. New every morning. I
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  Speaker 1: sit on my back porch, screened-in back porch. I look
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  Speaker 1: out over those short trees behind our back porch, and
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  Speaker 1: I see the sun beginning to rise. And I remember
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  Speaker 1: your loyal love isn't ceasing. Your mercies are not running out.
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  Speaker 1: Your faithfulness is not diminishing. Thank you, Lord, for the sunrise.
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  Speaker 1: Thank you for the reminder. I don't care what the
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  Speaker 1: news said last night. I don't care how bleak it
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  Speaker 1: may seem in the outlook, I'm taking the up look.
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  Speaker 1: And when I look up, I see loyal love, divine mercies,
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  Speaker 1: and phenomenal undiminished greatness all pouring forth from the Lord.
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  Speaker 1: He never takes a hike. He never goes away. In
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  Speaker 1: the message, we read, I remember it all. Oh, how
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  Speaker 1: well I remember the feeling of hitting the bottom. But
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  Speaker 1: there's one other thing I remember, and remembering, I keep
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  Speaker 1: a grip on hope. God's loyal love couldn't have run out.
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  Speaker 1: His merciful love couldn't have dried up They're created new
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  Speaker 1: every morning. How great your faithfulness. And then he concludes,
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  Speaker 1: I'm sticking with God. I say it over and over.
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  Speaker 1: He's all I've got left. He's all I've got left.
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  Speaker 1: And so verse 24, I say to myself, look at this,
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  Speaker 1: in place of self-pity, As a result of the sunrise
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  Speaker 1: and the things I'm remembering coming to mind, I say
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  Speaker 1: to myself, the Lord is my inheritance. COVID-19 is not
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  Speaker 1: my inheritance. It is not my inheritance. Devastation in cities
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  Speaker 1: is not my inheritance. My inheritance is not a few
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  Speaker 1: who are attempting to take charge Furthermore, my inheritance is
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  Speaker 1: neither Republican nor Democrat. My inheritance is the living God.
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  Speaker 1: My inheritance is the Lord, my God. He is the
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  Speaker 1: one full of mercy, full of love, full of greatness.
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  Speaker 1: That's the sunrise every morning. For a number of years,
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  Speaker 1: we enjoyed the presence of Sam Johnson. Sam Johnson, a
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  Speaker 1: war hero, Shot down over North Vietnam, the Viet Cong
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  Speaker 1: captured him, put him in what they called the Hanoi Hilton,
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  Speaker 1: and there he lived for almost, get this, seven years.
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  Speaker 1: Seven years! Let that sink in. Eating whatever crawled across
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  Speaker 1: the floor, snakes, lizards, roaches, rats, whatever. He survived. He
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  Speaker 1: told me on one occasion, Chuck, the way I was
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  Speaker 1: able to make it is inside my head was another message. Inside,
• 34:03
  Speaker 1: I was telling myself, this isn't the end.
• 34:05
  Speaker 2: This isn't even the beginning of the end. I like
• 34:13
  Speaker 2: Churchill's conclusion to that, but this may be the end
• 34:16
  Speaker 2: of the beginning.
• 34:17
  Speaker 1: That's a good way to look at it. It's not
• 34:21
  Speaker 1: going to start all over again. I've been through the beginning.
• 34:24
  Speaker 1: But I'm moving toward a time when God will take
• 34:27
  Speaker 1: charge and there will be relief. We'll be rescued. I'll
• 34:32
  Speaker 1: be liberated. I'll get out and be able to tell
• 34:35
  Speaker 1: my story. Furthermore, I've got companions who are believing with me.
• 34:39
  Speaker 1: It's in here, men and women. It's in here. It's
• 34:42
  Speaker 1: not on the television set. It's not on your radio
• 34:46
  Speaker 1: in your car. It's not in the news you're reading.
• 34:51
  Speaker 1: It's in the Word of God planted in the mind
• 34:54
  Speaker 1: that nullifies self-pity and says to self-pity, take a hike.
• 35:01
  Speaker 1: I'm not listening to your pleading voice telling me life
• 35:05
  Speaker 1: is over. It's not over. You think life is over?
• 35:09
  Speaker 1: I'll give you a little experiment. Go home, go in
• 35:12
  Speaker 1: the bathroom, stand next to a mirror, and go. If
• 35:18
  Speaker 1: it fogs over, you still have hope, okay? If it doesn't,
• 35:24
  Speaker 1: call 911. You got a real problem. But it'll fog
• 35:29
  Speaker 1: over every time. You know why? Because you're still here.
• 35:33
  Speaker 1: He's got a plan. You still got breath in your lungs.
• 35:37
  Speaker 1: You didn't give it to yourself. God gave it to you.
• 35:41
  Speaker 1: You got a beat in your heart. You didn't give
• 35:42
  Speaker 1: that to yourself. He gives you that electrical charge every
• 35:47
  Speaker 1: time it beats. Every time. Sometimes that kind of bugs me.
• 35:54
  Speaker 1: I lay down at night and I lay on this
• 35:56
  Speaker 1: left side. I don't know why, but that's how I sleep.
• 35:59
  Speaker 1: But when I do, I hear, ba-bum, hopefully, ba-bum, ba-bum.
• 36:05
  Speaker 1: And I don't like that. Some people say, just count
• 36:08
  Speaker 1: a sheep for every one of the bumps. I don't
• 36:10
  Speaker 1: want to hear the ba-bum. So I've learned if I
• 36:12
  Speaker 1: put my hand, that's a little tip I'm going to
• 36:15
  Speaker 1: pass along to all of you, no extra charge. If
• 36:17
  Speaker 1: you put your hand under your head, And you have
• 36:20
  Speaker 1: a wonderful wife next to you. That helps too. And
• 36:23
  Speaker 1: I've got now a little space and I don't hear anything,
• 36:27
  Speaker 1: but I love you, Chuck. This is the Lord. I
• 36:34
  Speaker 1: love you tonight. You're precious to me because you're mine.
• 36:39
  Speaker 1: And you have my inheritance. You have my future. You
• 36:46
  Speaker 1: have my hope. This is for you, Chuck. And in
• 36:52
  Speaker 1: silent ways, he breaks through and blots out all the
• 36:58
  Speaker 1: news that dragged me down. Turn off the television. For once,
• 37:08
  Speaker 1: enter into a world where God has a chance to speak.
• 37:14
  Speaker 1: Listen to him. My loving kindness is yours. My mercies
• 37:20
  Speaker 1: are yours. My faithfulness is yours to claim. My inheritance
• 37:24
  Speaker 1: is yours. My deliverance is yours. My compassion is yours.
• 37:30
  Speaker 1: It's all yours. But the world will never remind you
• 37:34
  Speaker 1: of that. It will only tell you what's going wrong
• 37:36
  Speaker 1: and how bad things are. Not with the Lord. He
• 37:44
  Speaker 1: doesn't live his life and his existence in in the
• 37:49
  Speaker 1: realm of bad news. He's sovereign over all, in all,
• 37:55
  Speaker 1: through all, and beyond all. You know when you latch
• 38:02
  Speaker 1: onto that? When you pray. When you pray. I encourage you,
• 38:11
  Speaker 1: drop to your knees, pour out your heart, Flush out
• 38:17
  Speaker 1: all the worry, all the fears. Get rid of that
• 38:22
  Speaker 1: and say, Lord, I need the reminder that you're in charge.
• 38:25
  Speaker 1: You're still in control, just as you were, just as
• 38:29
  Speaker 1: you were when Sam Johnson was imprisoned in that awful
• 38:34
  Speaker 1: place of torture. You were still there. You saw him
• 38:41
  Speaker 1: through it. Let me show you verse 55. Verse 55.
• 38:47
  Speaker 1: And I want to tell you a true story. Verse 55,
• 38:51
  Speaker 1: you heard me when I, no, he says, I called
• 38:55
  Speaker 1: on your name, O Lord, from deep within the pit.
• 38:59
  Speaker 1: There it is. I called on your name. You heard
• 39:04
  Speaker 1: me when I cried. Listen to my pleading. Hear my
• 39:08
  Speaker 1: cry for help. Yes, you came when I called. You
• 39:11
  Speaker 1: told me, do not fear. There it is again. Do
• 39:16
  Speaker 1: not fear. For long enough have we been focusing only
• 39:25
  Speaker 1: on a virus. For long enough have we been focusing
• 39:30
  Speaker 1: only on news of chaos and destruction and devastation. Long
• 39:37
  Speaker 1: enough have we watched the squabbling between various parties of
• 39:41
  Speaker 1: people and spent our life talking about that. No wonder
• 39:46
  Speaker 1: our hope is worn thin. None of that is coming
• 39:50
  Speaker 1: from the Lord. All of that is horizontal. So change
• 39:57
  Speaker 1: the perspective. Take time to read very slowly and very
• 40:02
  Speaker 1: carefully these verses I just read. In fact, look at
• 40:07
  Speaker 1: verse 28. Let them sit alone in silence beneath the
• 40:13
  Speaker 1: Lord's demands. Let them lie face down in the dust
• 40:17
  Speaker 1: for there may be hope at last. Lord, I don't
• 40:24
  Speaker 1: want to fake this. I want it to be real.
• 40:27
  Speaker 1: And I want it to come on my knees. I'm
• 40:30
  Speaker 1: going to count on you to do it. Start within
• 40:33
  Speaker 1: my mind and may it pass from my lips to
• 40:37
  Speaker 1: others so that I can be a source of encouragement
• 40:43
  Speaker 1: even in a dark time like this. Now the story.
• 40:49
  Speaker 1: Please listen carefully. The marathon is one of the most
• 40:56
  Speaker 1: strenuous athletic events in sport. The Boston Marathon attracts the
• 41:04
  Speaker 1: best runners in the world. In the spring of 1980,
• 41:08
  Speaker 1: Rosie Ruiz, R-U-I-Z, Rosie Ruiz, was the first woman to
• 41:22
  Speaker 1: cross the finish line at the Boston Marathon. She had
• 41:29
  Speaker 1: the laurel wreath placed on her head in a blaze
• 41:35
  Speaker 1: of lights and cheering. She was completely unknown to the
• 41:41
  Speaker 1: world of running. An incredible feat. her first race of
• 41:48
  Speaker 1: victory in the prestigious Boston Marathon. Then someone stepped back
• 41:59
  Speaker 1: and noticed her legs. They were legs that had loose flesh, cellulite,
• 42:14
  Speaker 1: not the legs of a runner. Questions began to be asked.
• 42:24
  Speaker 1: No one in the race had seen her along the 26.2
• 42:30
  Speaker 1: mile run. The truth finally came out. She had jumped
• 42:39
  Speaker 1: into the race during the last mile. There was immediate
• 42:47
  Speaker 1: and widespread interest in Rosie. Why'd she do that when
• 42:56
  Speaker 1: it was certain that she would be found out? Athletic
• 43:01
  Speaker 1: performance cannot be faked. But she never admitted her fraud.
• 43:09
  Speaker 1: Stay with me here. One interviewer concluded that she really
• 43:18
  Speaker 1: believed that she had run the complete Boston Marathon and won.
• 43:28
  Speaker 1: She was analyzed as a sociopath. She lied convincingly and
• 43:37
  Speaker 1: naturally with no sense of conscience. She appeared bright, normal,
• 43:48
  Speaker 1: and intelligent, but there was no moral sense to give
• 43:56
  Speaker 1: coherence to her social actions. Camping on that story, Eugene Peterson,
• 44:08
  Speaker 1: in his book, Run with the Horses, applies it with
• 44:13
  Speaker 1: great insight. Don't miss this. Now I quote. In reading
• 44:20
  Speaker 1: about Rosie, I thought about all the people I know
• 44:25
  Speaker 1: who want to get in on the finish, but who
• 44:28
  Speaker 1: cleverly arrange not to run the race. They appear in
• 44:36
  Speaker 1: church on Sunday, wreathed in smiles, entering into the celebration,
• 44:43
  Speaker 1: but there is no personal life that leads up to
• 44:48
  Speaker 1: it or out from it. Occasionally, they engage in spectacular
• 44:54
  Speaker 1: acts of love and compassion. We're impressed, but surprised, for
• 45:03
  Speaker 1: they were never known to do that before. Then it
• 45:09
  Speaker 1: turns out to be a stunt, a stunt. No personal
• 45:19
  Speaker 1: involvement either precedes or follows that act. They are plausible
• 45:27
  Speaker 1: and convincing, but in the end, they do not run
• 45:32
  Speaker 1: the race. Believing through the tough times, praying through the
• 45:42
  Speaker 1: lonely hours. They have no sense for what is real
• 45:48
  Speaker 1: in religion. The proper label for such a person is religiopath.
• 45:59
  Speaker 1: Ever heard of that? I had never heard of that
• 46:02
  Speaker 1: until I read it from Peterson. The proper label for
• 46:07
  Speaker 1: such a person is a religiopath. The world's full of them,
• 46:16
  Speaker 1: I might add. Peterson then concludes, no one becomes human
• 46:24
  Speaker 1: the way Jeremiah was human by posing in a posture
• 46:29
  Speaker 1: of victory. It was his prayers, hidden but persistent. hidden
• 46:42
  Speaker 1: but persistent, that brought him to the human wholeness and
• 46:47
  Speaker 1: spiritual sensitivity that we want. What we do in secret
• 46:54
  Speaker 1: determines the soundness of who we are in public. May
• 47:02
  Speaker 1: I repeat the principle? What we do in secret determines
• 47:08
  Speaker 1: the soundness of who we are in public. Prayer is
• 47:16
  Speaker 1: the secret work that develops a life that is thoroughly
• 47:20
  Speaker 1: authentic and deeply human. What do you do in secret? Well,
• 47:32
  Speaker 1: what are you like when nobody's looking? Are you a phony?
• 47:40
  Speaker 1: A religiopath? You want to look like a runner, but
• 47:47
  Speaker 1: you know you're not. Your prayer life is frighteningly scant,
• 47:55
  Speaker 1: to the point of being shameful. When was the last
• 48:00
  Speaker 1: time you literally were on your knees, pouring out your
• 48:04
  Speaker 1: heart for this country? For those who were so disillusioned
• 48:10
  Speaker 1: they think tearing something up is really building the country.
• 48:15
  Speaker 1: When is the last time you prayed through your fears?
• 48:22
  Speaker 1: You poured out your soul to God for strength. What
• 48:29
  Speaker 1: are you like when no one is looking? I suggest
• 48:35
  Speaker 1: that the place to begin for all of us. I
• 48:42
  Speaker 1: have no public ministry if what I'm doing in private
• 48:47
  Speaker 1: is shallow. They're just words. I'm just giving you words.
• 49:05
  Speaker 1: So I stood below the statue of Jeremiah. And I
• 49:12
  Speaker 1: really thank the Lord for that model. I want to
• 49:16
  Speaker 1: be like that. I don't want a statue. Forget that.
• 49:27
  Speaker 1: I want to be like that man was. Like Jesus,
• 49:37
  Speaker 1: who though he was rich, yet for our sakes he
• 49:39
  Speaker 1: became poor. that we through his poverty might be rich.
• 49:48
  Speaker 1: Who gave up all the glories of heaven to invade
• 49:52
  Speaker 1: this sorry, filthy planet and to deal with sorry, filthy
• 50:02
  Speaker 1: humanity who wanted nothing to do with him. But he
• 50:10
  Speaker 1: came And he died. In the meantime, in his private life,
• 50:19
  Speaker 1: he met alone with the father and said to him
• 50:22
  Speaker 1: again and again, I'm doing what you sent me to do.
• 50:28
  Speaker 1: That's why he's worth believing in. He's our model. He's
• 50:34
  Speaker 1: the one to follow. Please bow your heads. Just sit
• 50:41
  Speaker 1: still for a moment. I don't know how long the
• 50:47
  Speaker 1: virus will be with us, but it won't be with
• 50:49
  Speaker 1: us as long as our Lord is. He's eternal. I
• 50:55
  Speaker 1: don't know how long there'll be devastating things going on
• 50:59
  Speaker 1: in the streets, but it won't be as long as
• 51:02
  Speaker 1: the Lord is. He'll be here when all of that
• 51:05
  Speaker 1: turns a corner. The question is, what are you going
• 51:09
  Speaker 1: to be doing in the meantime? Grousing about a virus?
• 51:15
  Speaker 1: Worried about getting a few germs? Fussing over those who
• 51:22
  Speaker 1: don't have control over their own emotions? Complaining about people
• 51:28
  Speaker 1: who don't see things like you do? Or is it
• 51:31
  Speaker 1: going to be the Lord in first place? Each morning
• 51:38
  Speaker 1: when he makes himself fresh and anew is the time
• 51:42
  Speaker 1: for you to say, today is your day, Lord. I
• 51:45
  Speaker 1: give it to you. I hold nothing back. Think your
• 51:50
  Speaker 1: thoughts through me. Speak your words through me. Touch others'
• 51:56
  Speaker 1: lives through me. And I'll get out of the way
• 52:01
  Speaker 1: as you use me. But begin within me. Keep me authentic.
• 52:14
  Speaker 1: If you've never come to Christ, today's the day to come.
• 52:20
  Speaker 1: What on earth are you waiting for? He's available. His
• 52:28
  Speaker 1: death is effective. His cross awaits your coming. Come now.
• 52:37
  Speaker 1: Come now. Show us again, our Father, that you are
• 52:46
  Speaker 1: all powerful, that you do all things well. Even when
• 52:51
  Speaker 1: you wait and things go on and on that seem
• 52:53
  Speaker 1: out of control, you do all things well. Even when
• 52:57
  Speaker 1: we can't see the end that you have in mind,
• 53:00
  Speaker 1: you do all things well. Even when it's painful, you
• 53:06
  Speaker 1: do all things well. Remind us that we are not
• 53:10
  Speaker 1: here to be pleased. We are here to give and
• 53:15
  Speaker 1: to serve. We are here to become like your son.
• 53:24
  Speaker 1: Do that work, Father, in these treacherous days that we
• 53:32
  Speaker 1: might look back and say, in many ways, they were
• 53:35
  Speaker 1: some of the best days of my Christian life. I
• 53:40
  Speaker 1: was at the bottom And the sunrise brought me to
• 53:44
  Speaker 1: the top. Thank you in advance. Especially for those who
• 53:52
  Speaker 1: come to Christ today. In his name I pray. Everyone said. Amen.
• 54:05
  Speaker 3: The preceding message. What to remember when you hit bottom.
• 54:10
  Speaker 3: And the sound recording. were copyrighted in 2020 by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc.
• 54:15
  Speaker 3: All rights are reserved worldwide. Duplication of copyrighted material for
• 54:20
  Speaker 3: commercial use is strictly prohibited.