Latest / INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living / What to Remember When You Hit Bottom Msg 68 - Pastor Chuck Swindoll Insight for Living

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What to Remember When You Hit Bottom Msg 68 - 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 say step in. We long for there
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  Speaker 1: to be, well, stillness, peace, a sense of tranquility, but
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  Speaker 1: there isn't. In fact, there rarely will be in the
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  Speaker 1: world around us. It must be found within us. My
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  Speaker 1: hope that today, as we gather a ray of hope
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  Speaker 1: from Jeremiah's words in Lamentations 3, that a touch of
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  Speaker 1: peace will return, along with a good measure of hope
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  Speaker 1: and anticipation of what God may be doing around us,
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  Speaker 1: and equally important, within us. My Bible is open to
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  Speaker 1: Lamentations 3. I want to read a few excerpts from
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  Speaker 1: this fine chapter in which you will find some of
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  Speaker 1: your favorite verses, though again, you may not have known
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  Speaker 1: where you could put your finger on them. You'll see
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  Speaker 1: today where they are. I'm reading from the New Living Translation.
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  Speaker 1: Your Bible will read in a similar way. Follow along
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  Speaker 1: as we stand together for the reading of God's word.
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  Speaker 1: I am the one who has seen the afflictions that
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  Speaker 1: come from the rod of the Lord's anger. He has
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  Speaker 1: led me into darkness, shutting out all light. He has
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  Speaker 1: turned his hand against me again and again all day long.
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  Speaker 1: He has made my skin and flesh grow old. He
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  Speaker 1: has broken my bones. He has besieged me, surrounded me
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  Speaker 1: with anguish and distress. Verse 20. 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 when I remember this. The
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  Speaker 1: faithful love of the Lord never ends. His mercies never cease.
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  Speaker 1: Great is his faithfulness. His mercies begin afresh each morning.
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  Speaker 1: I say to myself, the Lord is my inheritance. Therefore,
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  Speaker 1: I will hope in him. And finally, verse 55. Toward
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  Speaker 1: the end, verse 55. I called on your name, O Lord,
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  Speaker 1: from deep within the pit. You heard me when I cried.
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  Speaker 1: Listen to my pleading. Hear my cry for help. Yes. Yes.
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  Speaker 1: You came when I called and you told me do
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  Speaker 1: not fear. Bow with me, will you, as we pray.
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  Speaker 1: Help us to learn to stop our Father even in
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  Speaker 1: the rush of things, even as events unfold. Teach us
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  Speaker 1: the power of Momentary stopping and entertaining the silence of
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  Speaker 1: the moment and absorbing the reminders that you are God
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  Speaker 1: and we are not. You are in charge. You are
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  Speaker 1: in control and we are neither. You are our God.
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  Speaker 1: And in that there is great comfort. There is a
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  Speaker 1: resurgence of hope. There is a renewal of inner peace.
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  Speaker 1: Help us to stop and learn again that you alone
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  Speaker 1: are our God. When we would be afraid and entertain
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  Speaker 1: alien thoughts. When we would panic and run, trying to escape,
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  Speaker 1: stop us, slow our pace, remind us of the great
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  Speaker 1: benefit in waiting on you. There are some today who
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  Speaker 1: wait in pain. We remember them. Our hearts go out
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  Speaker 1: to them. Some are in deep grief, having lost an
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  Speaker 1: individual who meant much to them. We pray for them.
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  Speaker 1: That you would bring comfort and wonderful reminders that there
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  Speaker 1: is a home beyond this one that is fairer than day.
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  Speaker 1: And by faith, we can see it afar. And there
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  Speaker 1: are some dreadfully worried because of their preoccupation with the
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  Speaker 1: world around us and the devastation we're witnessing. Bring back
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  Speaker 1: to us the reminder that it is of the Lord's
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  Speaker 1: mercies that we are not consumed because your compassions fail not.
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  Speaker 1: They are new every sunrise. Thank you for the privilege
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  Speaker 1: of worship. We do so with confidence that you will
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  Speaker 1: minister to us and then through us to others as
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  Speaker 1: we absorb truth to live by through which we make
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  Speaker 1: wise decisions and measure our words and speak with kindness.
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  Speaker 1: and forgive often. Make even these moments meaningful as we
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  Speaker 1: pause to hear the music and to let the wonder in.
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  Speaker 1: For Jesus' sake, I pray. Everyone said, Amen. Please be seated.
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  Speaker 1: I hope that someday you can go to Switzerland. And
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  Speaker 1: when you do, don't miss Geneva. Geneva, that lovely city.
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  Speaker 1: And when you're in Geneva, take time to be with Jeremiah.
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  Speaker 1: He's waiting there, silently. And when you are with him, listen.
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  Speaker 1: Just be still. Remember his life and listen. You'll find
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  Speaker 1: his statue in the square. not far from John Calvin's
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  Speaker 1: church and not that far from John Knox's auditorium, where
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  Speaker 1: the two of those men, get this, in the 16th
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  Speaker 1: century preached like prophets. And Geneva heard truth like it
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  Speaker 1: had never heard before. Their words came from a pain-filled past.
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  Speaker 1: They had been unappreciated and mistreated. But before Knox returned
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  Speaker 1: to his homeland, Scotland, to lead the Reformation, and before
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  Speaker 1: Calvin was gone, the two of them had plenty to
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  Speaker 1: say both of them from the scriptures I've been there
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  Speaker 1: and I've stood under the gaze of Jeremiah he's on
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  Speaker 1: a pedestal shrouded in a dark cloak, and that timeless
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  Speaker 1: gaze looks right down on you. I was there virtually alone,
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  Speaker 1: and I remember saying other things, but especially, thank you.
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  Speaker 1: I wasn't talking to a statue, I was talking to
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  Speaker 1: the man who lives in my mind and in ours now,
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  Speaker 1: who had been through so much. For four decades, don't
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  Speaker 1: miss that, decades, Jeremiah held forth faithfully as a man
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  Speaker 1: of God, speaking to people who didn't want to hear
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  Speaker 1: what he had to say And they told him so.
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  Speaker 1: They resented him. They rejected him. They even imprisoned him
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  Speaker 1: on occasion. They shoved him aside. They pushed him back.
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  Speaker 1: They ignored his message. He told them with warning, you're
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  Speaker 1: heading for devastation. Our city will fall. The enemy is
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  Speaker 1: preparing and he's coming. They wanted nothing to do with
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  Speaker 1: his message. They wanted to listen to false prophets and
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  Speaker 1: fake preachers and phony priests who told him everything was
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  Speaker 1: going to be fine. It's fine. Jeremiah knew better and
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  Speaker 1: he told him so. I often will use Jeremiah when
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  Speaker 1: I speak to young men and women training for ministry
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  Speaker 1: at nearby Dallas Seminary. when it's my privilege to speak
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  Speaker 1: in the chapel, I will on occasion not to discourage them,
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  Speaker 1: but to bring back some reality, remind them that not
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  Speaker 1: all congregations are smiling and friendly and generous. Not all
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  Speaker 1: the saints are kind to God's messengers. Not all places
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  Speaker 1: are easy to serve. You may be called to one
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  Speaker 1: of those settings. Learn some things from Jeremiah. Learn the
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  Speaker 1: value of speaking the truth regardless. Being ready in season
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  Speaker 1: and out of season. Reproving and rebuking and correcting and
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  Speaker 1: instructing with great patience. Because the time has come when
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  Speaker 1: there will be many who will not want to hear
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  Speaker 1: the truth, and they'll be looking for fads, getting their
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  Speaker 1: ears tickled hearing what they want to hear rather than
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  Speaker 1: what they need to hear. Well, Jeremiah did what he
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  Speaker 1: should have done, and as a result, you know by
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  Speaker 1: now 586 BC the city of Jerusalem fell the Babylonians
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  Speaker 1: laid siege they destroyed the temple of Solomon they devastated
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  Speaker 1: the buildings and the beautiful place of Jerusalem the city
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  Speaker 1: of Zion lay in ruins and then they marched off
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  Speaker 1: the best of the city the people who could take
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  Speaker 1: that 700 mile walk to Babylon and they left the infirm,
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  Speaker 1: the broken, the aging, among them Jeremiah, who walks through
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  Speaker 1: the rubble and sees the bloated bodies in the streets
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  Speaker 1: and witnesses the starving children running free without their mothers
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  Speaker 1: and dads. Oh, they were taken into exile The Babylonians
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  Speaker 1: didn't care about those kids. Let them starve. Jeremiah sees
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  Speaker 1: it all, not only before the fact, as his prophecy
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  Speaker 1: reveals for 51 chapters, but when it falls, chapter 52,
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  Speaker 1: and on into his lamentations. I call it his journal
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  Speaker 1: of woe. He's so sad. He's thinking again and again,
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  Speaker 1: if only they would have listened. If only they would
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  Speaker 1: have heeded what I had to say. But alas, look
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  Speaker 1: at this. Look at this. Look at this. Isn't it
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  Speaker 1: interesting God preserved Lamentations for all of us to read
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  Speaker 1: so many years later? As many of our cities are
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  Speaker 1: 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 death. any of that. It's based upon our
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  Speaker 1: Lord's acceptance and his word. Someday our Lord will return
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  Speaker 1: to gather us in and heal us once and for
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  Speaker 1: all of all our terrible wounds. In the meantime, we
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  Speaker 1: must not waste our pain. I get this closing line.
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  Speaker 1: Suffering promotes counsel we could not otherwise give. and messages
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  Speaker 1: we could not otherwise deliver. Had I never known pain,
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  Speaker 1: I would have no message for you today. Had I
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  Speaker 1: succumbed to pain and taken my own life, you would
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  Speaker 1: not 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. That's 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 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.
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  Speaker 2: Never.
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  Speaker 1: Never. Second, I remember his mercies, plural, always more mercies
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  Speaker 1: than misery. His mercies never cease. I remember that. In
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  Speaker 1: the pit, at the bottom, I remember, Lord, your loving
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  Speaker 1: kindness never ceases. Your mercies never end. Your faithfulness never
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  Speaker 1: never diminishes, it's always great. I remember that. Such thoughts,
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  Speaker 1: please observe, are provided for us every morning. I love it.
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  Speaker 1: Verse 23. His mercies begin afresh each morning. Think of
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  Speaker 1: it as each sunrise. Even when you can't see the
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  Speaker 1: sun behind the clouds, that sun is there. It's coming up.
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  Speaker 1: Every morning, every morning, every single morning, his loyal love
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  Speaker 1: is fresh. His mercies, which is his ministry to us
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  Speaker 1: in our misery, never cease, and his greatness never diminishes forever.
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  Speaker 1: New every morning. I sit on my back porch, screened-in
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  Speaker 1: back porch. I look out over those short trees behind
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  Speaker 1: our back porch, and I see the sun beginning to rise.
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  Speaker 1: And I remember your loyal love isn't ceasing. Your mercies
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  Speaker 1: are not running out. Your faithfulness is not diminishing. Thank you, Lord,
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  Speaker 1: for the sunrise. Thank you for the reminder. I don't
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  Speaker 1: care what the news said last night. I don't care
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  Speaker 1: how bleak it may seem. In the outlook, I'm taking
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  Speaker 1: the up look. And when I look up, I see
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  Speaker 1: loyal love, divine mercies, and phenomenal, undiminished greatness all pouring
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  Speaker 1: forth from the Lord. He never takes a hike. He
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  Speaker 1: never goes away. In the message, we read, I remember
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  Speaker 1: it all. Oh, how well I remember the feeling of
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  Speaker 1: hitting the bottom. But there's one other thing I remember,
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  Speaker 1: and remembering, I keep a grip on hope. God's loyal
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  Speaker 1: love couldn't have run out. His merciful love couldn't have
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  Speaker 1: dried up They're created new every morning. How great your faithfulness.
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  Speaker 1: And then he concludes, I'm sticking with God. I say
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  Speaker 1: it over and over. He's all I've got left. He's
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  Speaker 1: all I've got left. And so verse 24, I say
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  Speaker 1: to myself, look at this, in place of self-pity, As
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  Speaker 1: a result of the sunrise and the things I'm remembering
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  Speaker 1: coming to mind, I say to myself, the Lord is
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  Speaker 1: my inheritance. COVID-19 is not my inheritance. It is not
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  Speaker 1: my inheritance. Devastation in cities is not my inheritance. My
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  Speaker 1: inheritance is not a few who are attempting to take
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  Speaker 1: charge of Furthermore, my inheritance is neither Republican nor Democrat.
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  Speaker 1: My inheritance is the living God. My inheritance is the Lord,
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  Speaker 1: my God. He is the one full of mercy, full
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  Speaker 1: of love, full of greatness. That's the sunrise every morning.
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  Speaker 1: For a number of years, we enjoyed the presence of
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  Speaker 1: Sam Johnson. Sam Johnson, a war hero, Shot down over
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  Speaker 1: North Vietnam, the Viet Cong captured him, put him in
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  Speaker 1: what they called the Hanoi Hilton, and there he lived
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  Speaker 1: for almost, get this, seven years. Seven years! Let that
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  Speaker 1: sink in. Eating whatever crawled across the floor, snakes, lizards, roaches, rats, whatever,
• 33:51
  Speaker 1: he survived. He told me on one occasion, Chuck, the
• 33:56
  Speaker 1: way I was able to make it is inside my
• 33:59
  Speaker 1: head was another message. Inside, I was telling myself, this
• 34:05
  Speaker 1: isn't the end. This isn't even the beginning of the end.
• 34:09
  Speaker 1: I like Churchill's conclusion to that, but this may be
• 34:16
  Speaker 1: the end of the beginning. That's a good way to
• 34:18
  Speaker 1: look at it. It's not going to start all over again.
• 34:22
  Speaker 1: I've been through the beginning. But I'm moving toward a
• 34:26
  Speaker 1: time when God will take charge and there will be relief.
• 34:30
  Speaker 1: We'll be rescued. I'll be liberated. I'll get out and
• 34:34
  Speaker 1: be able to tell my story. Furthermore, I've got companions
• 34:37
  Speaker 1: who are believing with me. It's in here, men and women.
• 34:41
  Speaker 1: It's in here. It's not on the television set. It's
• 34:45
  Speaker 1: not on your radio in your car. It's not in
• 34:48
  Speaker 1: the news you're reading. It's in the Word of God
• 34:53
  Speaker 1: planted in the mind of that nullifies self-pity and says
• 34:58
  Speaker 1: to self-pity, take a hike. I'm not listening to your
• 35:02
  Speaker 1: pleading voice telling me life is over. It's not over.
• 35:08
  Speaker 1: You think life is over? I'll give you a little experiment.
• 35:11
  Speaker 1: Go home, go in the bathroom, stand next to a
• 35:14
  Speaker 1: mirror and go, if it fogs over, you still have hope, okay?
• 35:22
  Speaker 1: If it doesn't, call 911. You got a real problem.
• 35:27
  Speaker 1: But it'll fog over every time. You know why? Because
• 35:32
  Speaker 1: you're still here. He's got a plan. You still got
• 35:36
  Speaker 1: breath in your lungs. You didn't give it to yourself.
• 35:39
  Speaker 1: God gave it to you. You got a beat in
• 35:41
  Speaker 1: your heart. You didn't give that to yourself. He gives
• 35:44
  Speaker 1: you that electrical charge every time it beats. Every time.
• 35:52
  Speaker 1: Sometimes that kind of bugs me. I'll lay down at night,
• 35:55
  Speaker 1: and I'll lay on this left side. I don't know why,
• 35:58
  Speaker 1: but that's how I sleep. 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,
• 37:09
  Speaker 1: enter into a world where God has a chance to speak.
• 37:14
  Speaker 1: Listen to him speak. My loving kindness is yours. My
• 37:19
  Speaker 1: mercies are yours. My faithfulness is yours to claim. My
• 37:24
  Speaker 1: inheritance 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
• 37:37
  Speaker 1: and how bad things are. Not with the Lord. He
• 37:45
  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 And I
• 38:48
  Speaker 1: want to tell you a true story. Verse 55. You
• 38:52
  Speaker 1: heard me when I... No, he says, I called on
• 38:55
  Speaker 1: your name, O Lord, from deep within the pit. There
• 38:59
  Speaker 1: it is. I called on your name. You heard me
• 39:04
  Speaker 1: when I cried. Listen to my pleading. Hear my cry
• 39:08
  Speaker 1: for help. Yes, you came when I called. You told me,
• 39:12
  Speaker 1: do not fear. There it is again. Do not fear.
• 39:16
  Speaker 1: Do not fear. For long enough have we been focusing
• 39:24
  Speaker 1: only on a virus. For long enough have we been
• 39:29
  Speaker 1: focusing only on news of chaos and destruction and devastation.
• 39:36
  Speaker 1: Long enough have we watched the squabbling between various parties
• 39:41
  Speaker 1: of people and spent our life talking about that. No
• 39:45
  Speaker 1: wonder our hope is worn thin. None of that is
• 39:50
  Speaker 1: coming from the Lord. All of that is horizontal. So
• 39:57
  Speaker 1: change the perspective. Take time to read very slowly and
• 40:02
  Speaker 1: very carefully these verses I just read. In fact, look
• 40:07
  Speaker 1: at verse 28. Let them sit alone in silence beneath
• 40:13
  Speaker 1: the Lord's demands. Let them lie face down in the
• 40:17
  Speaker 1: dust for there may be hope at last. Lord, I
• 40:23
  Speaker 1: don't 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,
• 42:15
  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
• 43:38
  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 it.
• 44:48
  Speaker 1: Or out from it. Occasionally they engage. In spectacular acts
• 44:55
  Speaker 1: of love. And compassion. We're impressed. But surprised. For they
• 45:04
  Speaker 1: were never known. To do that before. Then it turns out.
• 45:11
  Speaker 1: To be a stunt. A stunt. No personal involvement either
• 45:20
  Speaker 1: precedes or follows that act. They are plausible and convincing,
• 45:30
  Speaker 1: but in the end, they do not run the race.
• 45:35
  Speaker 1: Believing through the tough times, praying through the lonely hours.
• 45:46
  Speaker 1: They have no sense for what is real in religion.
• 45:50
  Speaker 1: The proper label for such a person is religiopath. Ever
• 45:59
  Speaker 1: heard of that? I had never heard of that until
• 46:03
  Speaker 1: I read it from Peterson. The proper label for such
• 46:07
  Speaker 1: 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. I
• 46:41
  Speaker 1: love hidden but persistent, that brought him to the human
• 46:46
  Speaker 1: wholeness and spiritual sensitivity that we want. What we do
• 46:52
  Speaker 1: in secret determines the soundness of who we are in public.
• 47:01
  Speaker 1: May I repeat the principle? What we do in secret
• 47:08
  Speaker 1: determines the soundness of who we are in public. Prayer
• 47:16
  Speaker 1: is the secret work that develops a life that is
• 47:19
  Speaker 1: thoroughly 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 is 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
• 48:36
  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
• 50:50
  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
• 52:29
  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.
• 53:25
  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 of And the sunrise brought me
• 53:44
  Speaker 1: to the top. Thank you in advance. Especially for those
• 53:52
  Speaker 1: who come to Christ today. In his name I pray.
• 53:58
  Speaker 1: Everyone said. Amen.
• 54:05
  Speaker 2: The preceding message. What to remember when you hit bottom.
• 54:10
  Speaker 2: And the sound recording. were copyrighted in 2020 by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc.
• 54:15
  Speaker 2: All rights are reserved worldwide. Duplication of copyrighted material for
• 54:20
  Speaker 2: commercial use is strictly prohibited.