April 8, 2025 • 25 mins
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Today on From His Heart with Pastor Jeff Shreeve, we'll
learn how to shine light in the dark times of life.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
Psalm thirteen teaches us so much about life, about the
dark times.
Speaker 3 (00:11):
We know David was.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
In a dark, dark time in life because he says
these words in Psalm thirteen, give me light in the
darkness lest I die. Maybe you're going through a dark time,
or maybe you just came out of a dark time,
or you know what, maybe a dark time is coming
up on the horizon. All of us can relate to
(00:33):
dark times. So let's learn from Psalm thirteen what to do.
Speaker 3 (00:41):
Wesco with true real from this home.
Speaker 1 (00:51):
Everyone goes through dark times. But when you do and
God seems like he's a million miles away, do you
question him? If so, should you Welcome to From His
Heart with Pastor Jeff Shreeve, where today we explore how
to relate to God when the dark times come, and
(01:12):
they will come if they haven't already. You see, God's
word has much to teach us about going through struggles,
and today's inspiring message from Pastor Jeff will remind us
that we are to rejoice and rest in the hope
of the Lord even in the dark times. That's the
title of the lesson today. It's from the series Roller Coaster,
(01:36):
Facing the ups and downs of life. Open your Bible
now to the thirteenth chapter of Psalms. Here's Pastor Jeff
Shreve with the message that will fill your heart with hope,
especially if your journey is taking you through some incredibly
dark times.
Speaker 2 (01:53):
We go through pitch black times in life. We go
through dark times in life. We go through times when
it seems like the autumn has dropped out, and God
seems like he's a million miles away. David had a
time like that. We know David was in a dark,
dark time in life because he says these words in
(02:14):
Psalm thirteen, give me light in the darkness lest I die.
Speaker 3 (02:20):
It was so dark for him.
Speaker 2 (02:22):
So three insights from Psalm thirteen about dark times.
Speaker 3 (02:27):
Insight number one.
Speaker 2 (02:28):
In the dark times, we can easily begin to question.
We question in the dark times. Look at verses one
and two. How long, oh Lord, will you forget me forever?
Will you hide your face? How long will you hide
your face for me? How long shall I take counsel
in my soul? Having sorrow in my heart all the day?
(02:51):
How long will my enemy be exalted over me? Maybe
you're in a dark place today and God is saying
I want to do a work in that situation in
your life.
Speaker 3 (03:04):
How long, oh Lord.
Speaker 2 (03:05):
It's as long as it needs to be for me
to teach you some lessons that I can't teach you
on the mountaintop. I can only teach you that in
the valley. So in the dark times, we can often
begin to question, how long, o Lord? So that's the
first insight. In the dark times, we begin to question
(03:25):
second insight. In the dark times, we can often begin
to despair. We go from questioning does God even care
about me? And the longer that you start to run
that through your mind, the easier it is to slide
into this desperation. And when you allow yourself to move
(03:49):
from questions into despair, and you let the darkness really
seep into your soul and you fall into a place
of depression, you start to live in sorrow all the day,
just like David said, And we start to live there
having sorrow in my heart all the day. The word
(04:12):
sorrow literally means affliction, grief, anguish. Now here is David,
and he's been promised so much you're annointed king. You're
gonna be the king of Israel. Well, when is that
gonna happen? God doesn't tell him.
Speaker 3 (04:27):
When, and he begins to live in sorrow.
Speaker 2 (04:30):
Hey makes sense, understandable that he was feeling that way.
It's normal, it's natural for him to feel that way.
Speaker 3 (04:37):
But it's not right. It's not right.
Speaker 2 (04:41):
Yeah, his circumstances are bad, but God doesn't want him
to live in sorrow all the day.
Speaker 3 (04:47):
You know.
Speaker 2 (04:47):
One of the famous psalms, most famous psalms, Salm twenty three.
David wrote that it's the shepherd's song. The Lord is
my shepherd. I shall not want And in Psalm twenty
three he says these words, even though verse four, even
the oh I walk through the valley of the shadow
of death, I fear no evil because you are with me.
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow
(05:12):
of death. I don't live in the valley of the
shadow of death. I don't set up shop in the
valley of the shadow of death. I don't put down
my tent pegs in the dark valley of the shadow
of death. No, I'm going through the valley of the
shadow of death. He had sorrow in his heart all
the day. He was beginning to live there in the
place of sorrow. God doesn't want you to live in
(05:33):
the place of sorrow. You don't put down your tent
pegs in the valley of the shadow of death. The
God who led you to it wants to lead you
through it. And here's David, and he's getting close now
he's just talking about feelings. Here, this is how he felt.
He felt like it's just not getting any better. I
have sorrow in my heart all the day. You know,
(05:56):
the Bible speaks of joy for the child of God,
far more than it speaks for happiness for the child
of God. Although the Bible does speak of happiness when Jesus,
Jesus gave the beatitudes. Blessed are the ones who are
this way and this way and this way. The word
macarios means to be happy. So the Lord is interested
in our happiness, but far more interested in us having joy.
(06:20):
You say, what's the difference between happiness and joy? They're
just synonyms. They're not synonyms. They're two different things. Here's
the difference. Happiness has to do with happenstance. It has
to do with what is happening to you. You know,
if your circumstances are good, you're happy. If your circumstances
are bad, you're unhappy. Happiness is kind of like a thermometer.
(06:43):
It registers conditions. Joy is like a thermostat. It regulates conditions.
It says, this is the way this is going to be.
I'm setting the temperature this way. Happiness it's on the surface,
what's good's It goes up and down based on circumstances.
Speaker 3 (07:03):
Joy can be constant.
Speaker 2 (07:05):
Now, even in the midst of suffering, and even in
the midst of sadness, there can be joy there. So
some of you you need to pull up your tent
pigs because you have settled down in the dark valley
of the shadow of death.
Speaker 3 (07:18):
And God doesn't want you to do that. No, no, no,
I didn't send you there to stay there. I put
you in it so.
Speaker 2 (07:25):
You could go through it, and we're coming through out
on the other side.
Speaker 3 (07:29):
But hey, when feelings are just all over the place,
you start to despair.
Speaker 2 (07:34):
You live in sorrow, and you start to wonder if
you can go on. You know, when you put down
the tent pegs in the dark valley of the shadow
of death and all you see is darkness, and that's
all you see on the horizon is darkness. Then you
wonder can I keep doing this? I don't want to
keep doing this. I mean, there is no hope for me.
(07:55):
And that's why David prayed, give me light, living Bible,
give me light in my darkness lest i die. Lord
enlighten my eyes lest I sleep the sleep of death. God,
I need for you to show me that you're still
at work in my life. God is good when we
(08:16):
pray honest prayers. And this is an honest revealing of
David's heart. This is an honest prayer.
Speaker 3 (08:22):
God is good to hear.
Speaker 2 (08:23):
That when we pray like that, when we just say, Lord,
I'm just flooded with all these feelings and all these emotions.
And God knew that he was in a dark place.
Lord wasn't caught off, caught by surprise.
Speaker 3 (08:34):
He led David there.
Speaker 2 (08:36):
Why because it's in the valley that he grows. And
God was growing up the king of Israel, the king
whose lineage his son was going to come through. And listen,
if God wants to grow a mushroom, he can do
that overnight. If he wants to grow a mighty oak tree.
Speaker 3 (08:54):
That takes some time. That takes some time.
Speaker 2 (08:56):
You know, you can come over to my house and
you say, well, I want to have a dinner with you, Jeff,
And I said, okay, let him put it in a
pop tart and we put in a pop tart. Doesn't
take very long put in a pop tart. It's not
much of a meal, right, pop tart and water. But
if you if I say I'm going to really cook
for you, well not me, but Debbie, she's gonna really
cook for you.
Speaker 3 (09:15):
She's takes time to put on a gourmet meal.
Speaker 2 (09:19):
God is at work building a masterpiece. He's not wanting
any mushroom Christians. He wants some oak tree Christians. The
scripture says in Isaiah sixty four that we would be
oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he
may be glorified.
Speaker 3 (09:36):
So God is at work. Why so long?
Speaker 2 (09:38):
Because God is at work, and he's at work in
the crock pots, say Lord, but I can't go on,
give me light in my darkness lest I die.
Speaker 3 (09:47):
And God is faithful to give you some light.
Speaker 2 (09:51):
He has done that in my life when the times
were tough and it got really really dark, and said,
oh God, one of my favorite prayers is some verse
seventeen says, this show me a sign for good, that
those who hate me may see it and be ashamed. Lord,
show me a sign for good, God today, that you
(10:12):
would show me that you know where I am, that
you know what's going on.
Speaker 3 (10:16):
God. I need an email. I need a phone call.
I need a friend to contact me. I need something.
I need some card in the mail.
Speaker 2 (10:22):
I need something from Heaven that would let me know
that you know exactly where I am, that you haven't
forgotten me, that you.
Speaker 3 (10:29):
Haven't put me on the shelf and closed the door.
Speaker 2 (10:32):
And God has been so faithful to bring that light
in my darkness. Listen, when we're in the darkness, pray, O,
Lord show me a sign for good, and Lord, help
me to be a sign.
Speaker 3 (10:46):
For good to other people.
Speaker 1 (10:51):
See it's not just about getting our needs met and
seeing light in our darkness, but helping others see that
light of God's goodness as well. Pastor Jeff Shreeve returns
on from his heart in just a moment to explain
exactly how our faith is put into action. Stay with
us everyone, I mean everyone goes through dark times and
(11:15):
can really get discouraged have you been there? Are you there? Now?
You know someone who is well? This month on from
his Heart, Pastor Jeff is in his eight lesson series
Roller Coaster, facing the ups and downs of life, and
you can get your copy of this resource at from
his Heart dot org and click the listen link. You'll
(11:36):
discover how to emerge from the dark times in your life,
trusting and striving for that bright future ahead. Of course,
one of the main reasons for discouragement in this life
is when we don't put all of our lives, all
of our thoughts, all of our efforts toward trusting the
truth we find in God's word. Our faith waivers God's work.
(12:00):
It has much to teach us about going through struggles,
and that's what we'd like to help you with too,
by sending you Pastor Jeff's series Nothing But the Truth
and his booklet Sticks and Stones What to Do When
the Going Gets Tough. For your support of any amount,
we'd like to send you this series and this booklet.
(12:20):
To get yours, call eight six six four zero Bible
eight six six four zero Bible or go online to
from his Heart dot org. God bless you for joining
in this effort to use broadcast media and online outreach
to bring people to Christ and encourage the saints around
the world. Now let's get back to the conclusion of
(12:43):
this hope filled lesson about dealing in the dark times
of life. Here again is Pastor Jeff.
Speaker 2 (12:50):
In the dark times, we begin to question. In the
dark times, we begin to despair. But now here's where
faith comes in. In the dark times, we can put
our faith into action. David goes on for four verses
about how he feels so cut off from God, and
(13:12):
then he says verse five, but but I have trusted
in your loving kindness. My heart shall rejoice in your salvation.
I will sing to the Lord because he has dealt
bountifully with me. But all this is going on, I'm
in this dark place. God feels a million miles away,
feels like he's forgotten me, feels like he's hiding his
(13:33):
faith from me. I just have sorrow in my heart
all the day. That's just how he feels. But here's
the way it's going to be. Campus Crusade years ago
came up in their little for Spiritual Laws, Track came
up with a little diagram.
Speaker 3 (13:48):
It talks about three things.
Speaker 2 (13:49):
It talks about fact it talks about faith, it talks
about feelings. That's how a Christian is to live. We're
to walk by faith and not by sight. But faith
is not faith in faith, it's faith in fact. It's
faith that's rooted in the truths of the Word of God.
It's rooted in an empty tomb in Jerusalem. And that
(14:12):
is a fact that Jesus died, and Jesus rose again
from the dead. He conquered death, hell, and the grave.
And we put our faith in that fact. And I'm
going to live by faith in the truth, in the
fact of the Word of God. But I have trusted
verse five, in the loving kindness, in your loving kindness.
Speaker 3 (14:33):
See, we can trust in God's unfailing love.
Speaker 2 (14:38):
The rock don't move, and his word is true, and
his love can't be undone.
Speaker 3 (14:43):
We sang that God's unfailing love. I'm gonna trust.
Speaker 2 (14:48):
Lord, even though I feel like you've forgotten me. I'm
not letting feelings control things here. I'm going to walk
by faith and not by sight and feelings you get
do you take a back seat because I trust that
you love me. Listen, this is so true. God's love
is unfailing. God's love can't be outdone. And God proved
(15:13):
his love to you and to me Romans five eight.
But God demonstrates his own love toward us in that,
while we were yet.
Speaker 3 (15:19):
Sinners, Christ died for us.
Speaker 2 (15:22):
Hey, many of us, you know what we do. We
base the love of God on circumstances. We base it
on our happiness, We base it on our happenstance. And
when things are going good, we say, well, things are
going good. God must love me. And then things aren't
going good. Well, God must must not love me anymore.
I must have done something to tick God off, and
he doesn't love me anymore. And then things turn around
because there's a roller coaster, and all of a sudden
(15:43):
we're up again. WHOA, I guess God loves me again.
God's not like that, you know.
Speaker 3 (15:49):
I've told you before.
Speaker 2 (15:50):
Many of us have a daisy theology. He loves me,
he loves me not. He loves me, he loves me not.
Speaker 3 (15:55):
We go through life like that. Hey.
Speaker 2 (15:57):
His love can't be undone. His love is con stunt,
and you need to trust in his love.
Speaker 3 (16:04):
You know.
Speaker 2 (16:04):
Sometimes you end up in a dark place because of
circumstances outside of your control.
Speaker 3 (16:09):
Loved one dies of cancer.
Speaker 2 (16:12):
This thing happens, that thing happens way outside of your control.
You get hit by an eighteen wheeler, drunk driver or
something like that, way outside of your control, and you're
in a dark place. But other times you're like the
prodigal son and you leave the father and you willfully
go out on your own to do your own thing,
and you end up in a dark place called a
pig sty. And at the pig sty you say, surely
(16:37):
God can't love me. No way can God love me?
Look what I did? I mean, when I end up
in a dark place and it's not any fault of
my own, so to speak, I can I can kind
of reason, well, it doesn't feel like God loves me.
But I hadn't done anything that I can think of
for God not to love me. You know, we base
it on performance. But when you when you deliberately end
(16:57):
up at the pig sty, you say, well, God done.
Speaker 3 (17:00):
Love me anymore? Who would I don't love me anymore?
Speaker 2 (17:04):
God says, I still love you because when you were
a sinner separated from me, that's when I gave my
son for you. But God demonstrates his own love toward us,
and that while we were yet sinners. Christ died for us.
There's nothing that you can do to get God to
love you any less, and there's nothing you can do
(17:25):
to get Him to love you anymore.
Speaker 3 (17:28):
So why don't you do what David did?
Speaker 2 (17:30):
And by faith you say, I have trusted in your loyal,
faithful love for me. We can do that, and then
we can rejoice in God's miraculous salvation. My heart, he
says in verse five, shall rejoice in your salvation.
Speaker 3 (17:47):
And salvation is a miraculous thing.
Speaker 2 (17:50):
And no matter what's going on in your life as
a believer, you can rejoice in the fact that you
belong to Him. That your heart. It's not a hotel
with checkout time at twelve noon. The Lord doesn't come
in and say, ah, this is a dirty place.
Speaker 3 (18:05):
Now I'm leaving. No, he comes in.
Speaker 2 (18:07):
And Jesus said, when when the Holy Spirit comes into
a life, he comes in forever. He will be with
you forever. He will be in you, with you and
in you forever. And so we can rejoice no matter
what's going on. Our hearts can rejoice in God's salvation
in the fact that we belong to him, it says
(18:29):
in Colossians, for He delivered us from the domain of
darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son,
in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. We're
here in the domain of darkness, and all of a sudden,
when we cry out to Jesus, Jesus, son of David,
have mercy on me. We see our sinfulness. We turn
from our sin, and we turn to the Savior. He
(18:51):
pulls us spiritually out of the domain of darkness, and
he transfers us into the kingdom of his beloved Son.
And the only way he did that was through the
blood of his cross. And my heart shall rejoice in
his salvation. I don't care what's going on. I'm my
beloveds and he is mine. His banner over me is love.
(19:14):
My citizenship is in heaven, from which we eagerly wait
for a savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. And lastly, we
can sing of God's goodness to us Verse six.
Speaker 3 (19:26):
I will sing to the Lord.
Speaker 2 (19:29):
Why David, because he has dealt bountifully with me. He
has been good to me. Hey, I thought you're in
a dark place. I am in a dark place, but
God has been good to me. I'm going through a
dark time. I'm going through a valley, but God has
been good to me, and I'm going to open my
mouth and sing. It's kind of like Paul and Silence
(19:49):
when they're in Philippi and they were beaten for sharing
the gospel, and about midnight they began singing, praying and singing,
singing hymns of praise because God had been good to them.
Speaker 3 (20:03):
Has God been good to you?
Speaker 2 (20:05):
The scripture says of God who delivered us from so
great a death, and does deliver in whom we have
set our trust.
Speaker 3 (20:13):
He will yet deliver us. God is a deliverer.
Speaker 2 (20:16):
He has delivered, he does deliver, He will yet deliver.
And one day the deliverance will be. He will take
you all the way to glory.
Speaker 3 (20:25):
He'll deliver you from every evil deed. So you can sing.
Speaker 2 (20:29):
And there's power when you sing praises, even through a
heart that's hurting.
Speaker 3 (20:36):
Let me close with this story. Years ago I heard
about a man and his daughter.
Speaker 2 (20:44):
His wife had passed away and he just had a
young six year old daughter and he was caring for
her by himself, and they had the funeral, and it
was such a sad day. It was such a dark
day for them. And they came home and the house
just seems so quiet and so empty. And at nighttime
he put his little girl to bed. She didn't stay
(21:08):
in her bed very long. When she came into the
father's room and she said, Daddy, she said, can I
stay with you tonight?
Speaker 3 (21:16):
He said yes. They got in bed. The lights were off,
and she said, Daddy, it's so dark.
Speaker 2 (21:26):
And he said I know. She said, Daddy, is your
face toward me? And he said, yes, darling, my face
is towards you. She said, Daddy, you can love me
even through the dark, can't you. And he said, yes, darling,
I can love you even through the dark. I go
(21:47):
to sleep and she did. But that father couldn't go
to sleep, and he slipped out of bed and he
got down on his knees.
Speaker 3 (21:55):
And he said, Father, it's so dark. My Lord spoke
to his heart.
Speaker 2 (22:01):
He said I know much, and he said, God, is
your face toward me?
Speaker 3 (22:08):
And he said, yes, my face is towards you.
Speaker 2 (22:12):
And he said, God, can you love me even through
the darkness? And he said, yes, my child, I can
love you even through the darkness.
Speaker 3 (22:23):
And that father God in bed slept in peace.
Speaker 2 (22:29):
Listen God knows about your darkness, and his face is
towards you, and he can love you even through the darkness.
And he asked this question, will you trust me?
Speaker 1 (22:46):
What a message of encouragement to the soul. The soul
that wonders if darkness will ever subside? You know now
that it will. You've been listening to the message dark
Times on from His Heart with Pastor Jeff Shreeve and
the series roller Coaster Facing the Ups and Downs of Life.
(23:07):
You know someone who'd benefit from hearing today's lesson, someone
who may not be sure that God cares about their situation.
Their pain is too ongoing and God seems to be absent. Well,
you can point them to from His Heart's website and
the listen tab where they can listen again or download
a free MP three of this broadcast along with the
(23:29):
sermon outline notes from Pastor Jeff. It's free, of course.
Now you heard part two of this message today, and
it's from the eight lesson series roller Coaster Facing the
Ups and Downs of Life. You can go to from
his Heart dot org, click the listen link to listen again,
or to send the link to a friend who also
is hurting. Just go to from his Heart dot org. Hey,
(23:52):
thank you for joining us today on From his Heart.
I'm Larry Nobles and we trust that you'll be able
to be here next time for another uplifting message from
the Ups and Downs of Life series called Hey, What's
the Deal God? Join us on Thursday as we learn
to get off the roller coaster of doubt that's right
here from his Heart. From his Heart is the listener
(24:38):
supported broadcast ministry of doctor Jeff Shreeve, speaking the truth
and love to a lost and a hurting world. Remember,
no matter what, God loves you and has a wonderful
plan for your life. Find out more go to Fromhishart
dot org.
Today on From His Heart with Pastor Jeff Shreeve, we'll
learn how to shine light in the dark times of life.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
Psalm thirteen teaches us so much about life, about the
dark times.
Speaker 3 (00:11):
We know David was.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
In a dark, dark time in life because he says
these words in Psalm thirteen, give me light in the
darkness lest I die. Maybe you're going through a dark time,
or maybe you just came out of a dark time,
or you know what, maybe a dark time is coming
up on the horizon. All of us can relate to
(00:33):
dark times. So let's learn from Psalm thirteen what to do.
Speaker 3 (00:41):
Wesco with true real from this home.
Speaker 1 (00:51):
Everyone goes through dark times. But when you do and
God seems like he's a million miles away, do you
question him? If so, should you Welcome to From His
Heart with Pastor Jeff Shreeve, where today we explore how
to relate to God when the dark times come, and
(01:12):
they will come if they haven't already. You see, God's
word has much to teach us about going through struggles,
and today's inspiring message from Pastor Jeff will remind us
that we are to rejoice and rest in the hope
of the Lord even in the dark times. That's the
title of the lesson today. It's from the series Roller Coaster,
(01:36):
Facing the ups and downs of life. Open your Bible
now to the thirteenth chapter of Psalms. Here's Pastor Jeff
Shreve with the message that will fill your heart with hope,
especially if your journey is taking you through some incredibly
dark times.
Speaker 2 (01:53):
We go through pitch black times in life. We go
through dark times in life. We go through times when
it seems like the autumn has dropped out, and God
seems like he's a million miles away. David had a
time like that. We know David was in a dark,
dark time in life because he says these words in
(02:14):
Psalm thirteen, give me light in the darkness lest I die.
Speaker 3 (02:20):
It was so dark for him.
Speaker 2 (02:22):
So three insights from Psalm thirteen about dark times.
Speaker 3 (02:27):
Insight number one.
Speaker 2 (02:28):
In the dark times, we can easily begin to question.
We question in the dark times. Look at verses one
and two. How long, oh Lord, will you forget me forever?
Will you hide your face? How long will you hide
your face for me? How long shall I take counsel
in my soul? Having sorrow in my heart all the day?
(02:51):
How long will my enemy be exalted over me? Maybe
you're in a dark place today and God is saying
I want to do a work in that situation in
your life.
Speaker 3 (03:04):
How long, oh Lord.
Speaker 2 (03:05):
It's as long as it needs to be for me
to teach you some lessons that I can't teach you
on the mountaintop. I can only teach you that in
the valley. So in the dark times, we can often
begin to question, how long, o Lord? So that's the
first insight. In the dark times, we begin to question
(03:25):
second insight. In the dark times, we can often begin
to despair. We go from questioning does God even care
about me? And the longer that you start to run
that through your mind, the easier it is to slide
into this desperation. And when you allow yourself to move
(03:49):
from questions into despair, and you let the darkness really
seep into your soul and you fall into a place
of depression, you start to live in sorrow all the day,
just like David said, And we start to live there
having sorrow in my heart all the day. The word
(04:12):
sorrow literally means affliction, grief, anguish. Now here is David,
and he's been promised so much you're annointed king. You're
gonna be the king of Israel. Well, when is that
gonna happen? God doesn't tell him.
Speaker 3 (04:27):
When, and he begins to live in sorrow.
Speaker 2 (04:30):
Hey makes sense, understandable that he was feeling that way.
It's normal, it's natural for him to feel that way.
Speaker 3 (04:37):
But it's not right. It's not right.
Speaker 2 (04:41):
Yeah, his circumstances are bad, but God doesn't want him
to live in sorrow all the day.
Speaker 3 (04:47):
You know.
Speaker 2 (04:47):
One of the famous psalms, most famous psalms, Salm twenty three.
David wrote that it's the shepherd's song. The Lord is
my shepherd. I shall not want And in Psalm twenty
three he says these words, even though verse four, even
the oh I walk through the valley of the shadow
of death, I fear no evil because you are with me.
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow
(05:12):
of death. I don't live in the valley of the
shadow of death. I don't set up shop in the
valley of the shadow of death. I don't put down
my tent pegs in the dark valley of the shadow
of death. No, I'm going through the valley of the
shadow of death. He had sorrow in his heart all
the day. He was beginning to live there in the
place of sorrow. God doesn't want you to live in
(05:33):
the place of sorrow. You don't put down your tent
pegs in the valley of the shadow of death. The
God who led you to it wants to lead you
through it. And here's David, and he's getting close now
he's just talking about feelings. Here, this is how he felt.
He felt like it's just not getting any better. I
have sorrow in my heart all the day. You know,
(05:56):
the Bible speaks of joy for the child of God,
far more than it speaks for happiness for the child
of God. Although the Bible does speak of happiness when Jesus,
Jesus gave the beatitudes. Blessed are the ones who are
this way and this way and this way. The word
macarios means to be happy. So the Lord is interested
in our happiness, but far more interested in us having joy.
(06:20):
You say, what's the difference between happiness and joy? They're
just synonyms. They're not synonyms. They're two different things. Here's
the difference. Happiness has to do with happenstance. It has
to do with what is happening to you. You know,
if your circumstances are good, you're happy. If your circumstances
are bad, you're unhappy. Happiness is kind of like a thermometer.
(06:43):
It registers conditions. Joy is like a thermostat. It regulates conditions.
It says, this is the way this is going to be.
I'm setting the temperature this way. Happiness it's on the surface,
what's good's It goes up and down based on circumstances.
Speaker 3 (07:03):
Joy can be constant.
Speaker 2 (07:05):
Now, even in the midst of suffering, and even in
the midst of sadness, there can be joy there. So
some of you you need to pull up your tent
pigs because you have settled down in the dark valley
of the shadow of death.
Speaker 3 (07:18):
And God doesn't want you to do that. No, no, no,
I didn't send you there to stay there. I put
you in it so.
Speaker 2 (07:25):
You could go through it, and we're coming through out
on the other side.
Speaker 3 (07:29):
But hey, when feelings are just all over the place,
you start to despair.
Speaker 2 (07:34):
You live in sorrow, and you start to wonder if
you can go on. You know, when you put down
the tent pegs in the dark valley of the shadow
of death and all you see is darkness, and that's
all you see on the horizon is darkness. Then you
wonder can I keep doing this? I don't want to
keep doing this. I mean, there is no hope for me.
(07:55):
And that's why David prayed, give me light, living Bible,
give me light in my darkness lest i die. Lord
enlighten my eyes lest I sleep the sleep of death. God,
I need for you to show me that you're still
at work in my life. God is good when we
(08:16):
pray honest prayers. And this is an honest revealing of
David's heart. This is an honest prayer.
Speaker 3 (08:22):
God is good to hear.
Speaker 2 (08:23):
That when we pray like that, when we just say, Lord,
I'm just flooded with all these feelings and all these emotions.
And God knew that he was in a dark place.
Lord wasn't caught off, caught by surprise.
Speaker 3 (08:34):
He led David there.
Speaker 2 (08:36):
Why because it's in the valley that he grows. And
God was growing up the king of Israel, the king
whose lineage his son was going to come through. And listen,
if God wants to grow a mushroom, he can do
that overnight. If he wants to grow a mighty oak tree.
Speaker 3 (08:54):
That takes some time. That takes some time.
Speaker 2 (08:56):
You know, you can come over to my house and
you say, well, I want to have a dinner with you, Jeff,
And I said, okay, let him put it in a
pop tart and we put in a pop tart. Doesn't
take very long put in a pop tart. It's not
much of a meal, right, pop tart and water. But
if you if I say I'm going to really cook
for you, well not me, but Debbie, she's gonna really
cook for you.
Speaker 3 (09:15):
She's takes time to put on a gourmet meal.
Speaker 2 (09:19):
God is at work building a masterpiece. He's not wanting
any mushroom Christians. He wants some oak tree Christians. The
scripture says in Isaiah sixty four that we would be
oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he
may be glorified.
Speaker 3 (09:36):
So God is at work. Why so long?
Speaker 2 (09:38):
Because God is at work, and he's at work in
the crock pots, say Lord, but I can't go on,
give me light in my darkness lest I die.
Speaker 3 (09:47):
And God is faithful to give you some light.
Speaker 2 (09:51):
He has done that in my life when the times
were tough and it got really really dark, and said,
oh God, one of my favorite prayers is some verse
seventeen says, this show me a sign for good, that
those who hate me may see it and be ashamed. Lord,
show me a sign for good, God today, that you
(10:12):
would show me that you know where I am, that
you know what's going on.
Speaker 3 (10:16):
God. I need an email. I need a phone call.
I need a friend to contact me. I need something.
I need some card in the mail.
Speaker 2 (10:22):
I need something from Heaven that would let me know
that you know exactly where I am, that you haven't
forgotten me, that you.
Speaker 3 (10:29):
Haven't put me on the shelf and closed the door.
Speaker 2 (10:32):
And God has been so faithful to bring that light
in my darkness. Listen, when we're in the darkness, pray, O,
Lord show me a sign for good, and Lord, help
me to be a sign.
Speaker 3 (10:46):
For good to other people.
Speaker 1 (10:51):
See it's not just about getting our needs met and
seeing light in our darkness, but helping others see that
light of God's goodness as well. Pastor Jeff Shreeve returns
on from his heart in just a moment to explain
exactly how our faith is put into action. Stay with
us everyone, I mean everyone goes through dark times and
(11:15):
can really get discouraged have you been there? Are you there? Now?
You know someone who is well? This month on from
his Heart, Pastor Jeff is in his eight lesson series
Roller Coaster, facing the ups and downs of life, and
you can get your copy of this resource at from
his Heart dot org and click the listen link. You'll
(11:36):
discover how to emerge from the dark times in your life,
trusting and striving for that bright future ahead. Of course,
one of the main reasons for discouragement in this life
is when we don't put all of our lives, all
of our thoughts, all of our efforts toward trusting the
truth we find in God's word. Our faith waivers God's work.
(12:00):
It has much to teach us about going through struggles,
and that's what we'd like to help you with too,
by sending you Pastor Jeff's series Nothing But the Truth
and his booklet Sticks and Stones What to Do When
the Going Gets Tough. For your support of any amount,
we'd like to send you this series and this booklet.
(12:20):
To get yours, call eight six six four zero Bible
eight six six four zero Bible or go online to
from his Heart dot org. God bless you for joining
in this effort to use broadcast media and online outreach
to bring people to Christ and encourage the saints around
the world. Now let's get back to the conclusion of
(12:43):
this hope filled lesson about dealing in the dark times
of life. Here again is Pastor Jeff.
Speaker 2 (12:50):
In the dark times, we begin to question. In the
dark times, we begin to despair. But now here's where
faith comes in. In the dark times, we can put
our faith into action. David goes on for four verses
about how he feels so cut off from God, and
(13:12):
then he says verse five, but but I have trusted
in your loving kindness. My heart shall rejoice in your salvation.
I will sing to the Lord because he has dealt
bountifully with me. But all this is going on, I'm
in this dark place. God feels a million miles away,
feels like he's forgotten me, feels like he's hiding his
(13:33):
faith from me. I just have sorrow in my heart
all the day. That's just how he feels. But here's
the way it's going to be. Campus Crusade years ago
came up in their little for Spiritual Laws, Track came
up with a little diagram.
Speaker 3 (13:48):
It talks about three things.
Speaker 2 (13:49):
It talks about fact it talks about faith, it talks
about feelings. That's how a Christian is to live. We're
to walk by faith and not by sight. But faith
is not faith in faith, it's faith in fact. It's
faith that's rooted in the truths of the Word of God.
It's rooted in an empty tomb in Jerusalem. And that
(14:12):
is a fact that Jesus died, and Jesus rose again
from the dead. He conquered death, hell, and the grave.
And we put our faith in that fact. And I'm
going to live by faith in the truth, in the
fact of the Word of God. But I have trusted
verse five, in the loving kindness, in your loving kindness.
Speaker 3 (14:33):
See, we can trust in God's unfailing love.
Speaker 2 (14:38):
The rock don't move, and his word is true, and
his love can't be undone.
Speaker 3 (14:43):
We sang that God's unfailing love. I'm gonna trust.
Speaker 2 (14:48):
Lord, even though I feel like you've forgotten me. I'm
not letting feelings control things here. I'm going to walk
by faith and not by sight and feelings you get
do you take a back seat because I trust that
you love me. Listen, this is so true. God's love
is unfailing. God's love can't be outdone. And God proved
(15:13):
his love to you and to me Romans five eight.
But God demonstrates his own love toward us in that,
while we were yet.
Speaker 3 (15:19):
Sinners, Christ died for us.
Speaker 2 (15:22):
Hey, many of us, you know what we do. We
base the love of God on circumstances. We base it
on our happiness, We base it on our happenstance. And
when things are going good, we say, well, things are
going good. God must love me. And then things aren't
going good. Well, God must must not love me anymore.
I must have done something to tick God off, and
he doesn't love me anymore. And then things turn around
because there's a roller coaster, and all of a sudden
(15:43):
we're up again. WHOA, I guess God loves me again.
God's not like that, you know.
Speaker 3 (15:49):
I've told you before.
Speaker 2 (15:50):
Many of us have a daisy theology. He loves me,
he loves me not. He loves me, he loves me not.
Speaker 3 (15:55):
We go through life like that. Hey.
Speaker 2 (15:57):
His love can't be undone. His love is con stunt,
and you need to trust in his love.
Speaker 3 (16:04):
You know.
Speaker 2 (16:04):
Sometimes you end up in a dark place because of
circumstances outside of your control.
Speaker 3 (16:09):
Loved one dies of cancer.
Speaker 2 (16:12):
This thing happens, that thing happens way outside of your control.
You get hit by an eighteen wheeler, drunk driver or
something like that, way outside of your control, and you're
in a dark place. But other times you're like the
prodigal son and you leave the father and you willfully
go out on your own to do your own thing,
and you end up in a dark place called a
pig sty. And at the pig sty you say, surely
(16:37):
God can't love me. No way can God love me?
Look what I did? I mean, when I end up
in a dark place and it's not any fault of
my own, so to speak, I can I can kind
of reason, well, it doesn't feel like God loves me.
But I hadn't done anything that I can think of
for God not to love me. You know, we base
it on performance. But when you when you deliberately end
(16:57):
up at the pig sty, you say, well, God done.
Speaker 3 (17:00):
Love me anymore? Who would I don't love me anymore?
Speaker 2 (17:04):
God says, I still love you because when you were
a sinner separated from me, that's when I gave my
son for you. But God demonstrates his own love toward us,
and that while we were yet sinners. Christ died for us.
There's nothing that you can do to get God to
love you any less, and there's nothing you can do
(17:25):
to get Him to love you anymore.
Speaker 3 (17:28):
So why don't you do what David did?
Speaker 2 (17:30):
And by faith you say, I have trusted in your loyal,
faithful love for me. We can do that, and then
we can rejoice in God's miraculous salvation. My heart, he
says in verse five, shall rejoice in your salvation.
Speaker 3 (17:47):
And salvation is a miraculous thing.
Speaker 2 (17:50):
And no matter what's going on in your life as
a believer, you can rejoice in the fact that you
belong to Him. That your heart. It's not a hotel
with checkout time at twelve noon. The Lord doesn't come
in and say, ah, this is a dirty place.
Speaker 3 (18:05):
Now I'm leaving. No, he comes in.
Speaker 2 (18:07):
And Jesus said, when when the Holy Spirit comes into
a life, he comes in forever. He will be with
you forever. He will be in you, with you and
in you forever. And so we can rejoice no matter
what's going on. Our hearts can rejoice in God's salvation
in the fact that we belong to him, it says
(18:29):
in Colossians, for He delivered us from the domain of
darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son,
in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. We're
here in the domain of darkness, and all of a sudden,
when we cry out to Jesus, Jesus, son of David,
have mercy on me. We see our sinfulness. We turn
from our sin, and we turn to the Savior. He
(18:51):
pulls us spiritually out of the domain of darkness, and
he transfers us into the kingdom of his beloved Son.
And the only way he did that was through the
blood of his cross. And my heart shall rejoice in
his salvation. I don't care what's going on. I'm my
beloveds and he is mine. His banner over me is love.
(19:14):
My citizenship is in heaven, from which we eagerly wait
for a savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. And lastly, we
can sing of God's goodness to us Verse six.
Speaker 3 (19:26):
I will sing to the Lord.
Speaker 2 (19:29):
Why David, because he has dealt bountifully with me. He
has been good to me. Hey, I thought you're in
a dark place. I am in a dark place, but
God has been good to me. I'm going through a
dark time. I'm going through a valley, but God has
been good to me, and I'm going to open my
mouth and sing. It's kind of like Paul and Silence
(19:49):
when they're in Philippi and they were beaten for sharing
the gospel, and about midnight they began singing, praying and singing,
singing hymns of praise because God had been good to them.
Speaker 3 (20:03):
Has God been good to you?
Speaker 2 (20:05):
The scripture says of God who delivered us from so
great a death, and does deliver in whom we have
set our trust.
Speaker 3 (20:13):
He will yet deliver us. God is a deliverer.
Speaker 2 (20:16):
He has delivered, he does deliver, He will yet deliver.
And one day the deliverance will be. He will take
you all the way to glory.
Speaker 3 (20:25):
He'll deliver you from every evil deed. So you can sing.
Speaker 2 (20:29):
And there's power when you sing praises, even through a
heart that's hurting.
Speaker 3 (20:36):
Let me close with this story. Years ago I heard
about a man and his daughter.
Speaker 2 (20:44):
His wife had passed away and he just had a
young six year old daughter and he was caring for
her by himself, and they had the funeral, and it
was such a sad day. It was such a dark
day for them. And they came home and the house
just seems so quiet and so empty. And at nighttime
he put his little girl to bed. She didn't stay
(21:08):
in her bed very long. When she came into the
father's room and she said, Daddy, she said, can I
stay with you tonight?
Speaker 3 (21:16):
He said yes. They got in bed. The lights were off,
and she said, Daddy, it's so dark.
Speaker 2 (21:26):
And he said I know. She said, Daddy, is your
face toward me? And he said, yes, darling, my face
is towards you. She said, Daddy, you can love me
even through the dark, can't you. And he said, yes, darling,
I can love you even through the dark. I go
(21:47):
to sleep and she did. But that father couldn't go
to sleep, and he slipped out of bed and he
got down on his knees.
Speaker 3 (21:55):
And he said, Father, it's so dark. My Lord spoke
to his heart.
Speaker 2 (22:01):
He said I know much, and he said, God, is
your face toward me?
Speaker 3 (22:08):
And he said, yes, my face is towards you.
Speaker 2 (22:12):
And he said, God, can you love me even through
the darkness? And he said, yes, my child, I can
love you even through the darkness.
Speaker 3 (22:23):
And that father God in bed slept in peace.
Speaker 2 (22:29):
Listen God knows about your darkness, and his face is
towards you, and he can love you even through the darkness.
And he asked this question, will you trust me?
Speaker 1 (22:46):
What a message of encouragement to the soul. The soul
that wonders if darkness will ever subside? You know now
that it will. You've been listening to the message dark
Times on from His Heart with Pastor Jeff Shreeve and
the series roller Coaster Facing the Ups and Downs of Life.
(23:07):
You know someone who'd benefit from hearing today's lesson, someone
who may not be sure that God cares about their situation.
Their pain is too ongoing and God seems to be absent. Well,
you can point them to from His Heart's website and
the listen tab where they can listen again or download
a free MP three of this broadcast along with the
(23:29):
sermon outline notes from Pastor Jeff. It's free, of course.
Now you heard part two of this message today, and
it's from the eight lesson series roller Coaster Facing the
Ups and Downs of Life. You can go to from
his Heart dot org, click the listen link to listen again,
or to send the link to a friend who also
is hurting. Just go to from his Heart dot org. Hey,
(23:52):
thank you for joining us today on From his Heart.
I'm Larry Nobles and we trust that you'll be able
to be here next time for another uplifting message from
the Ups and Downs of Life series called Hey, What's
the Deal God? Join us on Thursday as we learn
to get off the roller coaster of doubt that's right
here from his Heart. From his Heart is the listener
(24:38):
supported broadcast ministry of doctor Jeff Shreeve, speaking the truth
and love to a lost and a hurting world. Remember,
no matter what, God loves you and has a wonderful
plan for your life. Find out more go to Fromhishart
dot org.
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