February 8, 2025 • 26 mins
On today's Moody Presents with Dr. Mark Jobe he'll teach us from God's word in 1st Thessalonians 2 that being "defiant" for Jesus Christ means expecting trouble to come our way. But the trouble is we don’t anticipate it. There is a greater potential to fall away from faith in Jesus Christ when the hard times come. Let's learn together how to increase our faith, how to trust, and how to use the Bible as our guide all this and more on Moody Presents.
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S1 (00:00):
Today on Moody Presents with Mark Jobe. We're learning how
to anticipate and live with trouble.
S2 (00:06):
You could be in a place like this with tons
of people that have encouragement, gifts, and ability to pray
that love Jesus, that have been through a lot and
not allow it to seep into your life because you
have roadblocks that keep the good that's there from touching
your heart and your soul. How many of you know
what I'm talking about?
S1 (00:27):
Welcome to Moody Presents with Mark Jobe, senior pastor of
New Life Community Church and president of Moody Bible Institute
in Chicago. I'm John Yeager, and if there's anything that
I can say with certainty, it's that as long as
you are living, you will experience trouble in this life.
It's just part of being human in a fallen world,
(00:48):
isn't it? And, pastor Mark, that's what we're going to
be talking about today. Isn't that right?
S3 (00:52):
Yeah. And Paul warns us really in this passage, hey,
if you're a follower of Jesus, expect trouble in your life,
even if you're not a follower of Jesus, expect trouble, right?
But be prepared for it. You know, if you're a
believer right now and thinking that if I come to Jesus,
he's just going to take all the troubles out of
my life, open up doors, smooth things out. That's not
(01:15):
the gospel. The gospel says that following Jesus comes with
its own challenges. And so as believers, we shouldn't be
surprised when it comes into our life.
S1 (01:25):
Thanks, pastor Mark. Well, those problems don't magically go away,
but that doesn't mean we're left without help. As you're
about to discover, what do you say we dive into
today's teaching segment? Again, our message is called living with trouble.
And it starts now.
S2 (01:41):
As I look at this passage, I'm reminded that we
need to expect trouble. If you don't expect trouble, it'll
catch you by surprise. How about it? If you've never
had a baby, which I haven't personally, but I've been
(02:04):
by my wife's side when she did. And if you
never had a baby and never knew that it was
going to be trouble. I mean, pushing and grunting and
difficult and painful if no one ever warned you about
that in the middle of labor pains, you'd be saying,
what's happening here? What's happening? Because you didn't expect pain.
(02:30):
And so then when it comes, you're surprised by it. Hey,
if no one ever told you that marriage isn't always
agreeing 100%, if no one ever told you that, hey,
do you realize that you will? There will be disagreements
in your marriage that sometimes you're not going to agree,
(02:51):
and sometimes you may even get so upset at each
other that it turns into a fight and you don't
talk to each other for a day or two. If
no one ever told you that marriage will have its disagreements.
Then your first fight. You would say, what's happening to us?
Maybe we made the wrong decision. I never knew that
(03:11):
we were supposed. There was going to be any fights
at all. I thought we would just walk in and
finish each other's sentences. All. He would always agree with me. Well,
if no one ever told you, there'd be disagreements. Then
when a disagreement happens, you're shocked by it. If no
(03:33):
one ever told you that raising children sometimes would get difficult,
and the first time your child disobeys or has an attitude,
you would be shocked by it. Why? Because if you
don't expect something when it happens to you, you're shocked
that it's happening. Jesus tells us in the Word of
(03:54):
God that if you decide to be a follower of
Jesus Christ, then you need to You expect trouble? It's
an expectation. Trouble will be there. When you follow Jesus Christ,
expect that you're following Jesus Christ will generate some trouble
(04:14):
in your life. So you need to have a stance
of expectation. When I was in high school, I wrestled
for one year, and one of the very first things
that they taught us in wrestling was that we were
to expect that the opponent was going to try to
(04:34):
take you down. And so there's a stance to get
ready for the opponent. It's an offensive stance. Have you
ever seen a wrestling match where someone just kind of
walks on the wrestling mat like this and just says, okay,
I'm ready, come get me. No, no, no, no, that's
not how you do it. You know that the opponent
is going to try to take you down. So if
(04:55):
I still remember it was something like this. You crouched
down a little bit. Make sure your right leg is
behind you to sustain you in case he comes at you.
You get in a position where you you're not easily
taken down. You raise your hands so that you are
ready for your opponent, and so you get ready because
you expect that he is going to come and try
(05:17):
to take you down. You are ready for his attack.
You are in a position of expectation. I run into
many believers that are facing life, not like this, but
are facing life like this. And when they get knocked down,
when they get derailed, when they're on the ground yelling, uncle,
(05:40):
they wonder what happened to me. I'm not sure what
happened to my life. Why is this trouble in my life? Hey,
did you not know that Jesus told his disciples, expect trouble.
Trouble will come your way. Be ready for trouble. Make
sure that you are standing firm and strong because trouble
(06:02):
will be there, so just get ready for it. In fact,
in John chapter 16, verse 33, Jesus said this I
have told you these things, so that in me you
may have peace. In this world you will have what? Okay.
(06:22):
Say it out loud. In this world you will have trouble.
But take heart. Well, I love this. I have overcome
the world. What Jesus was saying is that you're going
to have trouble in this world, so you might as
well just expect that it's part of life. In Second
Timothy chapter three, verse 12, the apostle Paul tells Timothy, yes,
(06:47):
all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will
suffer persecution. So I want you to look for a
moment to first Thessalonians, because we're in the book of
first Thessalonians, and I'm going to read a few verses
out of first Thessalonians chapter 217 through 20. But, brothers,
(07:11):
when we were torn away from you for a short
time in person, not in thought, out of our intense longings,
we made every effort to see you. For we wanted
to come to you. Certainly I, Paul, did again and again.
But Satan stopped us. For what is our hope, our joy,
(07:35):
our crown in which we glory in the presence of
our Lord Jesus when he comes. Is it not you?
Indeed you are our glory and our crown. Word of
the Lord. So today, as we study the Bible, I
want to help you to understand that Jesus taught us.
And the Apostle Paul teaches us that trouble is something
(07:58):
that we need to expect and be and be ready for.
So I want to give you four expectations to have
when you face trouble. When you're living with trouble, you
need to remember what to expect. If you're taking notes,
write this down. Number one, expect moments of intense spiritual
(08:20):
opposition aimed at keeping you away from people who will
help you grow. The Apostle Paul is telling these Thessalonians
he started a church in the city of Thessalonica, and
as soon as he left, because he had to leave,
because they ran him out of town, he was worried
(08:41):
about how they would do. He was concerned about their
spiritual progress. He knew that they were having trouble, and
he was worried that they would come under such persecution
and trouble that maybe some of them would fall away
from their faith because of this trouble. So he writes
them and says, hey, when I was torn away from you,
(09:04):
you were never out of my thoughts. We had an
intense longing and made every effort to come to see you,
for we wanted to come to you. Certainly I Paul, did,
again and again. But what happened, even though he wanted
to come to see them? What's it say there? But
(09:25):
Satan stopped us. Now, here's what I want you to understand.
This is really, really important for you to understand. Expect trouble.
But when you're in the middle of the trouble, one
of the tactics of the enemy to make that trouble
really derail you is he employs what I call the
(09:49):
separation technique or the roadblock technique. Paul said, I tried
to come and see you several times, again and again.
But every time I tried to come and see you,
I was blocked from getting there. Now he doesn't tell
us how he was blocked. He doesn't tell us. It
(10:10):
may have been circumstances. It may have been people that
were trying to get his life. It may have been
that he wasn't able to travel or sickness or disease
or whatever it may be. We don't know how he
was blocked, but we do know this, that it was
Satan who blocked him. Now, what was Satan trying to do?
Satan was trying to keep people that were discouraged from
(10:34):
someone that could really encourage them. You see, one of
the tactics of the enemy when you're going through a
trial or tribulation, is to try to separate you from
people that could bring encouragement, faith and hope to your life.
If he can keep you road blocked, then on your own,
(10:58):
you start to get discouraged. You start to buy into
the lies. You start to lose hope. You start to
go in a spiral downward. If he can keep you
roadblocked from help, that can come your way. Then suddenly,
on your own, in your isolation, you begin to lose
hope and oftentimes can be vulnerable to the attack of
(11:19):
the enemy because the enemy has roadblocked you. Now, as
I started thinking about this, I started realizing that there
are various kinds of roadblocks that keep people. Sometimes it's
the roadblocks that we put up ourselves. You may have
(11:42):
you may be here this morning with a roadblock. Maybe
you maybe you're experiencing a major trial. Today, it could
be a trial in your marriage. It could be a
financial trial. It could be a health trial. It could
be a a struggling with some kind of temptation in
your life that's really beating you down. And you walk
(12:04):
into church and in this gathering today, and even though
there's help around you, maybe there's roadblocks that you put up.
Here's some of the common roadblocks that people put up.
Emotional roadblocks. Roadblocks like no one really cares how I'm doing.
So I'm really not going to open up my heart
and share with anybody because I don't think anybody cares.
(12:27):
And if I were gone or never came back, I
don't think anybody would miss me. You know what? That
roadblock does it. It puts a roadblock to allow people
into your life. So no one gets into your life
because you hold them at a distance. Or sometimes it's
the roadblock of, I don't really belong here. People around
(12:47):
here are different than me. They don't seem to have
the struggles that I have. They don't seem to be
going through the same kind of difficulty that I have.
They will never understand what I'm going To do so. Therefore,
it keeps you isolated in that roadblock of no one
really understands what I'm going through because no one can
(13:07):
really relate to me.
S1 (13:12):
You're listening to Moody Presents with pastor Mark Jobe. Hey,
did you know that this daily program can be accessed
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(13:33):
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He puts it all in plain English. It's not beyond
(13:54):
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The book How to Overcome Worry by Doctor Winifred Neely.
Our thank you gift to you as you give online
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(14:20):
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a copy of How to Overcome Worry. All right. Let's
jump now into the second half of Mark's message titled
living with trouble.
S2 (14:35):
Do you know you can be in a crowd of people,
of a thousand people and feel like there's no one,
even though help is is very close? There's no access
to that help because there's a roadblock. We sent a
team down to Haiti. I had a nephew that went
down there as well. And he said that outside when?
(14:59):
When the earthquake happened in Haiti, he said that there
were people that were literally starving, lack of food, lack
of clean water, and lack of medical supplies. And when
he flew into the airport, he saw stacks of food
and medical supplies and water that was there outside of
the airport. People were dying. It was right there, accessible.
(15:20):
So he drove in there one day and just got
some people and took some of the supplies to get
it out there. It's not that it wasn't available. It's
that there were roadblocks to keep it from getting to
the people. You could be in a place like this
with 1400 believers on Sunday morning, with tons of people
that have encouragement, gifts, and ability to pray that love Jesus,
(15:45):
that have been through a lot, that encourage your soul.
And you could be here with all of that around
you and not allow it to seep into your life
and soul because you have roadblocks that keep keep the
good that's there from touching your heart and your soul.
How many of you know what I'm talking about? Roadblocks.
(16:08):
And I believe that that's what the enemy uses. In fact,
in Hebrews chapter ten, verse 24 through 26, it says,
let us consider how we may spur one another on
toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up
meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing,
but encourage one another all the more as you see
the day approaching. So remember the first thing I want
(16:31):
you to expect. Expect that trouble will be there, but
expect that in the middle of the trouble that Satan
will try to isolate you from people that can encourage
you in the middle of your toughest trouble. That's really
when you need to be in the house of God.
And that's really when you need to be in a
in a Bible study group. But oftentimes it's in the
(16:53):
middle of those situations that we isolate ourselves and we
let ourselves become Discouraged. And Paul says in this passage,
Satan stopped us for what is our hope, our joy,
our crown in which we glory in the presence of
(17:13):
our Lord when he comes, is it not you? Indeed
you are our glory and joy. I have to tell
you that I can relate to what Paul has to say.
One of the greatest joys of my heart is to
see people that have started out here, that have come
to Christ, that have gotten baptized. To see them growing
in God and going forward and and not losing their
(17:36):
faith and becoming strong and helping other people come to
God and passing it down to their children. One of
the saddest things of my soul is to see someone
that starts out in God, and they start out well,
but because of troubles in their life and isolation in
their life, they get derailed and they fall away from God.
(18:00):
One of the saddest things of my life is as
a shepherd, to see them when they have fallen away
from God, because I know who they could be. And
I know what God could do in their lives, and
I know the plans and purposes that God has for them.
But when they get derailed, when they fall away, it's
a sadness to see where their life can end up
instead of the purposes and plans of God for their life.
(18:23):
The second thing I want you to expect when we
talk about troubles is expect seasons of troubles will be
a part of your spiritual destiny, so prepare for it.
Verse one of chapter three of First Thessalonians. Paul says,
(18:44):
so when we could stand it no longer. Paul said,
I could. I couldn't stand not knowing how you were doing.
I just couldn't stand not knowing it. Have you ever
had someone that you really loved that was somewhere that
you couldn't get in touch with And you just just
want to know how they're doing. Want to know that
(19:04):
they're okay. And it just burdens you not to know
that when my, uh, son and Josiah and Ozzy went
to Africa two years ago, there was no way of
really contacting them easily. And so I know my wife
and I were praying for them, but we really wanted
to know that they're okay. And it burdens you not
(19:27):
to know how someone is doing. And Paul is saying, uh,
we were burdened. We wanted to know how you are doing.
So since they could not find out, Paul says, we
thought it best to be left by ourselves in Athens.
He was in a different city, and so he sent
his young protege, his apprentice Timothy, to go back to
(19:48):
these believers to find out how they were doing. Who?
So he says, we sent Timothy, who is our brother
and God's fellow worker, and spreading the gospel of Christ
to strengthen and encourage you in your faith. Notice what
verse three says so that no one would be unsettled
by these trials. You know quite well that we were
(20:13):
destined for them. Destined for what? Destined for these trials.
In fact, Paul says, when we were with you, we
kept telling you that we would be persecuted. And it
turned out that way, as you know. What is Paul saying?
Paul is saying that he warned these believers that when
they came to Christ, he warned them, you will experience
(20:39):
trials in your life, so be ready for them. In fact,
he tells us in in this passage, he uses the
word so that no one would be. The NIV says,
unsettled by these trials. That word unsettled means shaken or
disturbed or cajoled out of your faith. It's almost like
(21:01):
you're on a rail and you get shaken so much
that you fall off that rail. This past week on
the news, we heard of a train that derailed at
almost 100 train cars fell off the rails with flammable liquid.
Did you see that on the news? And they were
having trouble putting the fires out. It's the same concept here,
(21:24):
Paul says. Some of you are going through trials. Those
trials are shaking you so much that we were afraid
that you would be derailed by those trials, that you
would be so shocked by the trials, so burdened by it,
that you would walk away from God or lose your faith,
or stop focusing on God. And all you could focus
(21:47):
is on your trial, and that you would be derailed
from your walk with God. He uses that word, the
idea of being shaken so much. And he says, hey,
we forewarned you. So. So I want to do what
Paul did. If you're new in Christ today, if you're
a new follower of Christ, or you're just starting out
(22:09):
with your walk in God, or maybe you've been walking
with God for quite some time, can I warn you,
you're going to experience some troubles in your life. Some
of those troubles are going to be so severe that
if you're not careful, it will literally take your faith away.
Some of the trials that you're going to experience will
be so tough, so powerful, so shaking of your faith
(22:33):
that if you're not careful a year from now, going
through a severe, severe trial of your life could cause
you no longer to worship God. You can become so
consumed in your trial, so overwhelmed by it, so discouraged
by it, so burdened and beaten down by it that
it could literally shake your faith in God and keep
(22:56):
you from following him anymore. More because you never expected
that you were going to be hit by a trial
so big. And that's why Paul says. We warned you
about trials. We wanted to make sure this would not
catch you by surprise. In fact, he says this. Listen,
(23:20):
you know quite well that you were destined for them.
Hold on. Destined? Well, when I think of destiny, I
think of a lot of good things. But I don't
want to. I don't think of trials destined for glory.
Destined for victory. Destined to win. Destined for success. Destined
(23:41):
to be happy. Destined for trials. Here's what I want
you to know. Listen. Life can get really bad. But
it does not change the character of God. God is
still good. God is still sovereign. God is still on
the throne. God is still full of love. That's what
Scripture says.
S1 (24:02):
This is Moody Presents, and you've been listening. To Moody
Bible Institute president doctor Mark Jobe. As Moody's president, Mark
has been helping shape the future direction of the institute
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our undergraduate or maybe our graduate school, have them check
(24:25):
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(24:46):
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(25:07):
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you and your family. Well, I'm John Geiger, inviting you
(25:30):
to join us next week when we'll discover how to
stand firm when trouble comes knocking on your door. It's
another great message in our series defiance, and it continues
next week for our teacher, Mark Jobe. I'm John Yeager
saying thank you for listening to Moody Presents, a production
of Moody Radio and the ministry of Moody Bible Institute.
Today on Moody Presents with Mark Jobe. We're learning how
to anticipate and live with trouble.
S2 (00:06):
You could be in a place like this with tons
of people that have encouragement, gifts, and ability to pray
that love Jesus, that have been through a lot and
not allow it to seep into your life because you
have roadblocks that keep the good that's there from touching
your heart and your soul. How many of you know
what I'm talking about?
S1 (00:27):
Welcome to Moody Presents with Mark Jobe, senior pastor of
New Life Community Church and president of Moody Bible Institute
in Chicago. I'm John Yeager, and if there's anything that
I can say with certainty, it's that as long as
you are living, you will experience trouble in this life.
It's just part of being human in a fallen world,
(00:48):
isn't it? And, pastor Mark, that's what we're going to
be talking about today. Isn't that right?
S3 (00:52):
Yeah. And Paul warns us really in this passage, hey,
if you're a follower of Jesus, expect trouble in your life,
even if you're not a follower of Jesus, expect trouble, right?
But be prepared for it. You know, if you're a
believer right now and thinking that if I come to Jesus,
he's just going to take all the troubles out of
my life, open up doors, smooth things out. That's not
(01:15):
the gospel. The gospel says that following Jesus comes with
its own challenges. And so as believers, we shouldn't be
surprised when it comes into our life.
S1 (01:25):
Thanks, pastor Mark. Well, those problems don't magically go away,
but that doesn't mean we're left without help. As you're
about to discover, what do you say we dive into
today's teaching segment? Again, our message is called living with trouble.
And it starts now.
S2 (01:41):
As I look at this passage, I'm reminded that we
need to expect trouble. If you don't expect trouble, it'll
catch you by surprise. How about it? If you've never
had a baby, which I haven't personally, but I've been
(02:04):
by my wife's side when she did. And if you
never had a baby and never knew that it was
going to be trouble. I mean, pushing and grunting and
difficult and painful if no one ever warned you about
that in the middle of labor pains, you'd be saying,
what's happening here? What's happening? Because you didn't expect pain.
(02:30):
And so then when it comes, you're surprised by it. Hey,
if no one ever told you that marriage isn't always
agreeing 100%, if no one ever told you that, hey,
do you realize that you will? There will be disagreements
in your marriage that sometimes you're not going to agree,
(02:51):
and sometimes you may even get so upset at each
other that it turns into a fight and you don't
talk to each other for a day or two. If
no one ever told you that marriage will have its disagreements.
Then your first fight. You would say, what's happening to us?
Maybe we made the wrong decision. I never knew that
(03:11):
we were supposed. There was going to be any fights
at all. I thought we would just walk in and
finish each other's sentences. All. He would always agree with me. Well,
if no one ever told you, there'd be disagreements. Then
when a disagreement happens, you're shocked by it. If no
(03:33):
one ever told you that raising children sometimes would get difficult,
and the first time your child disobeys or has an attitude,
you would be shocked by it. Why? Because if you
don't expect something when it happens to you, you're shocked
that it's happening. Jesus tells us in the Word of
(03:54):
God that if you decide to be a follower of
Jesus Christ, then you need to You expect trouble? It's
an expectation. Trouble will be there. When you follow Jesus Christ,
expect that you're following Jesus Christ will generate some trouble
(04:14):
in your life. So you need to have a stance
of expectation. When I was in high school, I wrestled
for one year, and one of the very first things
that they taught us in wrestling was that we were
to expect that the opponent was going to try to
(04:34):
take you down. And so there's a stance to get
ready for the opponent. It's an offensive stance. Have you
ever seen a wrestling match where someone just kind of
walks on the wrestling mat like this and just says, okay,
I'm ready, come get me. No, no, no, no, that's
not how you do it. You know that the opponent
is going to try to take you down. So if
(04:55):
I still remember it was something like this. You crouched
down a little bit. Make sure your right leg is
behind you to sustain you in case he comes at you.
You get in a position where you you're not easily
taken down. You raise your hands so that you are
ready for your opponent, and so you get ready because
you expect that he is going to come and try
(05:17):
to take you down. You are ready for his attack.
You are in a position of expectation. I run into
many believers that are facing life, not like this, but
are facing life like this. And when they get knocked down,
when they get derailed, when they're on the ground yelling, uncle,
(05:40):
they wonder what happened to me. I'm not sure what
happened to my life. Why is this trouble in my life? Hey,
did you not know that Jesus told his disciples, expect trouble.
Trouble will come your way. Be ready for trouble. Make
sure that you are standing firm and strong because trouble
(06:02):
will be there, so just get ready for it. In fact,
in John chapter 16, verse 33, Jesus said this I
have told you these things, so that in me you
may have peace. In this world you will have what? Okay.
(06:22):
Say it out loud. In this world you will have trouble.
But take heart. Well, I love this. I have overcome
the world. What Jesus was saying is that you're going
to have trouble in this world, so you might as
well just expect that it's part of life. In Second
Timothy chapter three, verse 12, the apostle Paul tells Timothy, yes,
(06:47):
all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will
suffer persecution. So I want you to look for a
moment to first Thessalonians, because we're in the book of
first Thessalonians, and I'm going to read a few verses
out of first Thessalonians chapter 217 through 20. But, brothers,
(07:11):
when we were torn away from you for a short
time in person, not in thought, out of our intense longings,
we made every effort to see you. For we wanted
to come to you. Certainly I, Paul, did again and again.
But Satan stopped us. For what is our hope, our joy,
(07:35):
our crown in which we glory in the presence of
our Lord Jesus when he comes. Is it not you?
Indeed you are our glory and our crown. Word of
the Lord. So today, as we study the Bible, I
want to help you to understand that Jesus taught us.
And the Apostle Paul teaches us that trouble is something
(07:58):
that we need to expect and be and be ready for.
So I want to give you four expectations to have
when you face trouble. When you're living with trouble, you
need to remember what to expect. If you're taking notes,
write this down. Number one, expect moments of intense spiritual
(08:20):
opposition aimed at keeping you away from people who will
help you grow. The Apostle Paul is telling these Thessalonians
he started a church in the city of Thessalonica, and
as soon as he left, because he had to leave,
because they ran him out of town, he was worried
(08:41):
about how they would do. He was concerned about their
spiritual progress. He knew that they were having trouble, and
he was worried that they would come under such persecution
and trouble that maybe some of them would fall away
from their faith because of this trouble. So he writes
them and says, hey, when I was torn away from you,
(09:04):
you were never out of my thoughts. We had an
intense longing and made every effort to come to see you,
for we wanted to come to you. Certainly I Paul, did,
again and again. But what happened, even though he wanted
to come to see them? What's it say there? But
(09:25):
Satan stopped us. Now, here's what I want you to understand.
This is really, really important for you to understand. Expect trouble.
But when you're in the middle of the trouble, one
of the tactics of the enemy to make that trouble
really derail you is he employs what I call the
(09:49):
separation technique or the roadblock technique. Paul said, I tried
to come and see you several times, again and again.
But every time I tried to come and see you,
I was blocked from getting there. Now he doesn't tell
us how he was blocked. He doesn't tell us. It
(10:10):
may have been circumstances. It may have been people that
were trying to get his life. It may have been
that he wasn't able to travel or sickness or disease
or whatever it may be. We don't know how he
was blocked, but we do know this, that it was
Satan who blocked him. Now, what was Satan trying to do?
Satan was trying to keep people that were discouraged from
(10:34):
someone that could really encourage them. You see, one of
the tactics of the enemy when you're going through a
trial or tribulation, is to try to separate you from
people that could bring encouragement, faith and hope to your life.
If he can keep you road blocked, then on your own,
(10:58):
you start to get discouraged. You start to buy into
the lies. You start to lose hope. You start to
go in a spiral downward. If he can keep you
roadblocked from help, that can come your way. Then suddenly,
on your own, in your isolation, you begin to lose
hope and oftentimes can be vulnerable to the attack of
(11:19):
the enemy because the enemy has roadblocked you. Now, as
I started thinking about this, I started realizing that there
are various kinds of roadblocks that keep people. Sometimes it's
the roadblocks that we put up ourselves. You may have
(11:42):
you may be here this morning with a roadblock. Maybe
you maybe you're experiencing a major trial. Today, it could
be a trial in your marriage. It could be a
financial trial. It could be a health trial. It could
be a a struggling with some kind of temptation in
your life that's really beating you down. And you walk
(12:04):
into church and in this gathering today, and even though
there's help around you, maybe there's roadblocks that you put up.
Here's some of the common roadblocks that people put up.
Emotional roadblocks. Roadblocks like no one really cares how I'm doing.
So I'm really not going to open up my heart
and share with anybody because I don't think anybody cares.
(12:27):
And if I were gone or never came back, I
don't think anybody would miss me. You know what? That
roadblock does it. It puts a roadblock to allow people
into your life. So no one gets into your life
because you hold them at a distance. Or sometimes it's
the roadblock of, I don't really belong here. People around
(12:47):
here are different than me. They don't seem to have
the struggles that I have. They don't seem to be
going through the same kind of difficulty that I have.
They will never understand what I'm going To do so. Therefore,
it keeps you isolated in that roadblock of no one
really understands what I'm going through because no one can
(13:07):
really relate to me.
S1 (13:12):
You're listening to Moody Presents with pastor Mark Jobe. Hey,
did you know that this daily program can be accessed
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(13:33):
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a copy of How to Overcome Worry by Doctor Winfred Neely.
This is a small book that makes a big impact,
and for a gift of any size, we'll send it
right out to you. I love the way Doctor Neely writes.
He puts it all in plain English. It's not beyond
(13:54):
your reach. And more than that, it's not something you
can't do. It's not something you can't act on. Again,
The book How to Overcome Worry by Doctor Winifred Neely.
Our thank you gift to you as you give online
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(14:20):
can give online at Moody presents.org, and we'll get you
a copy of How to Overcome Worry. All right. Let's
jump now into the second half of Mark's message titled
living with trouble.
S2 (14:35):
Do you know you can be in a crowd of people,
of a thousand people and feel like there's no one,
even though help is is very close? There's no access
to that help because there's a roadblock. We sent a
team down to Haiti. I had a nephew that went
down there as well. And he said that outside when?
(14:59):
When the earthquake happened in Haiti, he said that there
were people that were literally starving, lack of food, lack
of clean water, and lack of medical supplies. And when
he flew into the airport, he saw stacks of food
and medical supplies and water that was there outside of
the airport. People were dying. It was right there, accessible.
(15:20):
So he drove in there one day and just got
some people and took some of the supplies to get
it out there. It's not that it wasn't available. It's
that there were roadblocks to keep it from getting to
the people. You could be in a place like this
with 1400 believers on Sunday morning, with tons of people
that have encouragement, gifts, and ability to pray that love Jesus,
(15:45):
that have been through a lot, that encourage your soul.
And you could be here with all of that around
you and not allow it to seep into your life
and soul because you have roadblocks that keep keep the
good that's there from touching your heart and your soul.
How many of you know what I'm talking about? Roadblocks.
(16:08):
And I believe that that's what the enemy uses. In fact,
in Hebrews chapter ten, verse 24 through 26, it says,
let us consider how we may spur one another on
toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up
meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing,
but encourage one another all the more as you see
the day approaching. So remember the first thing I want
(16:31):
you to expect. Expect that trouble will be there, but
expect that in the middle of the trouble that Satan
will try to isolate you from people that can encourage
you in the middle of your toughest trouble. That's really
when you need to be in the house of God.
And that's really when you need to be in a
in a Bible study group. But oftentimes it's in the
(16:53):
middle of those situations that we isolate ourselves and we
let ourselves become Discouraged. And Paul says in this passage,
Satan stopped us for what is our hope, our joy,
our crown in which we glory in the presence of
(17:13):
our Lord when he comes, is it not you? Indeed
you are our glory and joy. I have to tell
you that I can relate to what Paul has to say.
One of the greatest joys of my heart is to
see people that have started out here, that have come
to Christ, that have gotten baptized. To see them growing
in God and going forward and and not losing their
(17:36):
faith and becoming strong and helping other people come to
God and passing it down to their children. One of
the saddest things of my soul is to see someone
that starts out in God, and they start out well,
but because of troubles in their life and isolation in
their life, they get derailed and they fall away from God.
(18:00):
One of the saddest things of my life is as
a shepherd, to see them when they have fallen away
from God, because I know who they could be. And
I know what God could do in their lives, and
I know the plans and purposes that God has for them.
But when they get derailed, when they fall away, it's
a sadness to see where their life can end up
instead of the purposes and plans of God for their life.
(18:23):
The second thing I want you to expect when we
talk about troubles is expect seasons of troubles will be
a part of your spiritual destiny, so prepare for it.
Verse one of chapter three of First Thessalonians. Paul says,
(18:44):
so when we could stand it no longer. Paul said,
I could. I couldn't stand not knowing how you were doing.
I just couldn't stand not knowing it. Have you ever
had someone that you really loved that was somewhere that
you couldn't get in touch with And you just just
want to know how they're doing. Want to know that
(19:04):
they're okay. And it just burdens you not to know
that when my, uh, son and Josiah and Ozzy went
to Africa two years ago, there was no way of
really contacting them easily. And so I know my wife
and I were praying for them, but we really wanted
to know that they're okay. And it burdens you not
(19:27):
to know how someone is doing. And Paul is saying, uh,
we were burdened. We wanted to know how you are doing.
So since they could not find out, Paul says, we
thought it best to be left by ourselves in Athens.
He was in a different city, and so he sent
his young protege, his apprentice Timothy, to go back to
(19:48):
these believers to find out how they were doing. Who?
So he says, we sent Timothy, who is our brother
and God's fellow worker, and spreading the gospel of Christ
to strengthen and encourage you in your faith. Notice what
verse three says so that no one would be unsettled
by these trials. You know quite well that we were
(20:13):
destined for them. Destined for what? Destined for these trials.
In fact, Paul says, when we were with you, we
kept telling you that we would be persecuted. And it
turned out that way, as you know. What is Paul saying?
Paul is saying that he warned these believers that when
they came to Christ, he warned them, you will experience
(20:39):
trials in your life, so be ready for them. In fact,
he tells us in in this passage, he uses the
word so that no one would be. The NIV says,
unsettled by these trials. That word unsettled means shaken or
disturbed or cajoled out of your faith. It's almost like
(21:01):
you're on a rail and you get shaken so much
that you fall off that rail. This past week on
the news, we heard of a train that derailed at
almost 100 train cars fell off the rails with flammable liquid.
Did you see that on the news? And they were
having trouble putting the fires out. It's the same concept here,
(21:24):
Paul says. Some of you are going through trials. Those
trials are shaking you so much that we were afraid
that you would be derailed by those trials, that you
would be so shocked by the trials, so burdened by it,
that you would walk away from God or lose your faith,
or stop focusing on God. And all you could focus
(21:47):
is on your trial, and that you would be derailed
from your walk with God. He uses that word, the
idea of being shaken so much. And he says, hey,
we forewarned you. So. So I want to do what
Paul did. If you're new in Christ today, if you're
a new follower of Christ, or you're just starting out
(22:09):
with your walk in God, or maybe you've been walking
with God for quite some time, can I warn you,
you're going to experience some troubles in your life. Some
of those troubles are going to be so severe that
if you're not careful, it will literally take your faith away.
Some of the trials that you're going to experience will
be so tough, so powerful, so shaking of your faith
(22:33):
that if you're not careful a year from now, going
through a severe, severe trial of your life could cause
you no longer to worship God. You can become so
consumed in your trial, so overwhelmed by it, so discouraged
by it, so burdened and beaten down by it that
it could literally shake your faith in God and keep
(22:56):
you from following him anymore. More because you never expected
that you were going to be hit by a trial
so big. And that's why Paul says. We warned you
about trials. We wanted to make sure this would not
catch you by surprise. In fact, he says this. Listen,
(23:20):
you know quite well that you were destined for them.
Hold on. Destined? Well, when I think of destiny, I
think of a lot of good things. But I don't
want to. I don't think of trials destined for glory.
Destined for victory. Destined to win. Destined for success. Destined
(23:41):
to be happy. Destined for trials. Here's what I want
you to know. Listen. Life can get really bad. But
it does not change the character of God. God is
still good. God is still sovereign. God is still on
the throne. God is still full of love. That's what
Scripture says.
S1 (24:02):
This is Moody Presents, and you've been listening. To Moody
Bible Institute president doctor Mark Jobe. As Moody's president, Mark
has been helping shape the future direction of the institute
so that thousands of students across the world can grow
in their knowledge of Scripture while advancing their careers. So
if you know somebody who's interested in learning more about
our undergraduate or maybe our graduate school, have them check
(24:25):
out our web page. You'll find all the information you
need about our online and on campus programs there. Just
go to Moody Presents. Org. At our website, you'll also
find a variety of tools and resources, all aimed at
helping you go against the grain. Like our current Moody
Presents Advanced Team Gift. It's a book by Winifred Neely
(24:46):
called How to Overcome Worry. Our thank you gift as
you go to Moody presents.org with your gift or phone
it in at 800 472 two. Thank you for you
for supporting the ministry of Moody Presents. We appreciate your
gifts so much. Well, you can also send your donation
in the mail if you'd rather you can address your
(25:07):
envelope in care of Moody Presents, 820 North LaSalle Boulevard, Chicago,
Illinois 60,006 ten. That's Moody Presents. 820 North LaSalle Boulevard, Chicago,
Illinois 60,006 ten. And when you connect with us, be
sure to let us know how we can pray for
you and your family. Well, I'm John Geiger, inviting you
(25:30):
to join us next week when we'll discover how to
stand firm when trouble comes knocking on your door. It's
another great message in our series defiance, and it continues
next week for our teacher, Mark Jobe. I'm John Yeager
saying thank you for listening to Moody Presents, a production
of Moody Radio and the ministry of Moody Bible Institute.
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