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We Need To Trust God Through The Struggles Pt. 4 · Time with God with John North

• 0:05
  Speaker 1: Good morning.
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: You know, everyone you know goes through tough times, don't they?
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: There's nobody on earth who just has an easy sail
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: through life. You might feel like that about some people,
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: you know, but the reality is, whether or not you
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: see it, there are stresses and pressures and difficulties in
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: everyone's life. Some people's lives are tougher and harder than others,
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: but every one of us needs to learn how to
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: trust God.
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: In the midst of the turmoil of our lives.
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: We saw yesterday in the Bible in 2 Corinthians chapter 11,
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: the many difficult experiences the apostle Paul went through.
• 0:48
  Speaker 1: But in chapter 12 of 2 Corinthians, the apostle Paul
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: shares a much deeper, more personal experience of coming to
• 0:57
  Speaker 1: trust God in the midst of turmoil.
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: In the beginning of chapter 12, Paul shares about this
• 1:04
  Speaker 1: incredible spiritual experience he had of revelation from God about
• 1:09
  Speaker 1: things that he's not even allowed to write about. He
• 1:12
  Speaker 1: can't write about them. They're so incredible, and he says
• 1:16
  Speaker 1: in verse 7, and because of the surpassing greatness of
• 1:21
  Speaker 1: the revelations, for this reason, to keep me from exalting myself,
• 1:28
  Speaker 1: to keep me from becoming too proud.
• 1:31
  Speaker 1: There was given me a thorn in the flesh.
• 1:35
  Speaker 1: Some kind of physical problem that Paul had a messenger
• 1:40
  Speaker 1: of Satan to buffet me, to keep me from exalting myself.
• 1:47
  Speaker 1: And concerning this, I begged the Lord 3 times that
• 1:52
  Speaker 1: it might depart from me. Now Paul had prayed for
• 1:55
  Speaker 1: other people with physical problems before and seen God heal them.
• 2:00
  Speaker 1: And so here he comes to God with this struggle
• 2:03
  Speaker 1: he's having 3 times. He begs God to take it away.
• 2:08
  Speaker 1: This is what he says.
• 2:10
  Speaker 1: God said to me,
• 2:13
  Speaker 1: My grace is sufficient for you.
• 2:17
  Speaker 1: For power is perfected.
• 2:20
  Speaker 1: In weakness.
• 2:22
  Speaker 1: You see what God was saying to Paul. I'm going
• 2:25
  Speaker 1: to leave that physical struggle in your life because it's
• 2:30
  Speaker 1: going to keep you from becoming a proud person because
• 2:33
  Speaker 1: of how I have dealt with you, what I've revealed
• 2:36
  Speaker 1: to you, these experiences that you've had, these spiritual experiences.
• 2:41
  Speaker 1: I don't want you to get proud, Paul, because if
• 2:43
  Speaker 1: you get proud, you think you're something hot, then you're
• 2:47
  Speaker 1: not useful to me any more. I can only use
• 2:51
  Speaker 1: people who know.
• 2:52
  Speaker 1: That they are weak and I am strong.
• 2:56
  Speaker 1: Here's Paul's response to that. Most gladly, therefore, I will
• 3:02
  Speaker 1: rather boast about my weaknesses.
• 3:07
  Speaker 1: So that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore,
• 3:12
  Speaker 1: I am well content with weaknesses, with insults.
• 3:18
  Speaker 1: With distresses
• 3:21
  Speaker 1: With persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ's sake, for when I
• 3:26
  Speaker 1: am weak, then I am strong. What about you in
• 3:30
  Speaker 1: your life?
• 3:31
  Speaker 1: Are you experiencing weaknesses, some kind of physical struggle? What
• 3:36
  Speaker 1: about insults? Are people treating you badly?
• 3:41
  Speaker 1: Distresses. Is there something distressing you in your life right now?
• 3:46
  Speaker 1: Persecutions
• 3:48
  Speaker 1: Difficulties.
• 3:51
  Speaker 1: Paul says, I'm well content with these things because when
• 3:54
  Speaker 1: I'm weak then I'm strong. That is, Paul says God
• 3:58
  Speaker 1: is using these things in my life.
• 4:02
  Speaker 1: To keep me from becoming proud, to keep me dependent
• 4:06
  Speaker 1: on Him for His strength to go through them. And
• 4:09
  Speaker 1: when I'm dependent on Him in recognising that I am
• 4:13
  Speaker 1: deeply in need of God, then I become useful to
• 4:17
  Speaker 1: God on a much bigger scale, and God is able
• 4:20
  Speaker 1: to use me in other people's lives. So I'll put
• 4:23
  Speaker 1: up with these things as long as they make me
• 4:26
  Speaker 1: useful to God.
• 4:29
  Speaker 1: I wonder
• 4:30
  Speaker 1: How do you think God might want to show His
• 4:33
  Speaker 1: strength in your situation?
• 4:37
  Speaker 1: How does he want to work in your heart and
• 4:41
  Speaker 1: life through the struggles you're facing now? Learn to trust him.
• 4:48
  Speaker 1: I'm John North.