That Doesn't Fix My Problem

Have you ever gone from the moment when everything was going your way to the moment when nothing was going right? It’s easy to testify that God is with us when we are getting results and everything is going right, but what about the moments when everything is going wrong? Do you still believe God is with you?

In week 2 of our series, God With Us, we learned about the danger of becoming offended not just towards people but towards God.

Dive into this message with Pastor Eric as he uncovers the truth behind this verse:

“And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me.” (Matthew 11:6 NKJV)

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God With Us

Have you ever found yourself in a situation where you were doing everything that you possibly could to follow Jesus, and yet you found yourself in a storm? When we follow Jesus, we don’t typically visualize that a challenge or a struggle would be part of the plan. We expect Jesus to lead us around the storm, not through the storm.

In week 1 of our new series, God With Us, we learned that Jesus can bring a great calm to a great storm despite our little faith.

Dive into this message with Pastor Eric as he reveals that when we call on Jesus as Savior, the world will see Him as Immanuel, “God with us.”

“‘And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins. Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel, which is translated, God with us.’” (Matthew 1:21,23 NKJV)

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Where Is God In All of This?

Right now, you are spinning at 1,000 mph. Your forward progression is catapulting onward at a rate of 67,000mph.

But do you feel it?

No?

The earth’s revolution is 1,000 mph, and the earth moves around the sun at 67,000 mph. It’s happening, but you are unaware. Do you find that strange?

Perhaps, even more mind-boggling, at the center of all of this galactic movement in the Milky Way, is a black hole.

A. Black. Hole.

I wonder if this cosmic reality is God’s way of painting a picture of how easy it is for human life to spin at reckless speeds while orbiting around nothing?

Every person and every home revolves around something or someone. And, most likely, we are doing so at fast, hurried paces. For some, it may be education, and the priority is to gain good grades. For others, it is sports, and the focus is to win. Yet still, others orbit around money, and the priority is work.

What do you orbit around?

What is the center of your universe?

If you were to hire a biographer to capture your life’s story, she would want access to at least three things: your checkbook, your calendar, your conversations. This access, once analyzed, would provide answers to these questions: How do you spend your money? How do you spend your time? And, what do you talk about in emails, texts, and conversations? But, more specifically, it would answer one thing primarily, “What is at the center of your life?”

Take an honest look at your life by evaluating just these three parts of your life: finances, schedule, and conversations. What does the examination reveal you to be orbiting around?

If the answer to all of these questions -- or even just one -- isn’t God, then it is likely that your life is off-center.

We might even have become self-centered. Gravitationally-driven by selfishness. Blind to its consequence as a result of self-entitlement. Numb to any conviction due to self-righteousness. And it might be happening fast. Really fast. Too fast. Dangerously, circling ever closer to a black hole of self-indulgence; so, we must attempt to discern any places in our life that are orbiting towards demise.

Maybe the best way to determine where we are off-center is to evaluate where we lack peace. In John 20:19, the resurrected Jesus appeared and stood in the middle of the room. Upon arriving in the center of his disciples’ gathering, he pronounced, “Peace be with you.” All of these men were afraid for their lives. They were hiding. They had locked the door in fear. But, Jesus came into the center of their room, their challenge, their situation, their relationships, and decreed, “Peace be with you!”

When Jesus is at the center, it doesn’t matter what situation surrounds us; peace will still be with us!

I pray this is your experience as you choose to allow Jesus to take his rightful place at the center of your life.

I would love to share more with you on this subject, “Where Is God In All of This?” including some struggles we have had in our own family as we have too often been made aware that things were off-center or hurling out of orbit. You can find those thoughts here: https://youtu.be/n04YLhF9iLw