HOW TO HANDLE DIFFICULT SEASONS IN MINISTRY
Jeremiah 29:1-7
Now these are the words of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent from
Jerusalem to the remainder of the elders who were carried away captive—to the
priests, the prophets, and all the people whom Nebuchadnezzar had carried away
captive from Jerusalem to Babylon. 2 (This happened after
Jeconiah the king, the queen mother, the eunuchs, the princes of Judah and
Jerusalem, the craftsmen, and the smiths had departed from Jerusalem.) 3 The
letter was sent by the hand of Elasah the son of Shaphan, and Gemariah the son
of Hilkiah, whom Zedekiah king of Judah sent to Babylon, to Nebuchadnezzar king
of Babylon, saying, 4 Thus says the Lord
of hosts, the God of Israel, to all who were carried away captive, whom I have
caused to be carried away from Jerusalem to Babylon: 5 Build houses
and dwell in them; plant gardens and
eat their fruit. 6 Take wives and beget sons and daughters; and
take wives for your sons and give your daughters to husbands, so that they may
bear sons and daughters—that you may be increased there, and not diminished. 7 And
seek the peace of the city where I have caused you to be carried away captive,
and pray to the Lord for it; for
in its peace you will have peace.
Esp. 4a – “Thus says the Lord of Hosts . . . unto all who are
carried away captives . . .”
- In a ministry assignment they don’t enjoy
- Forced to deal with difficult people
- Experiencing trouble in their marriage
- In a difficult of unfulfilled job
- Raising difficult children
- Caring for elderly parents
- Having suffered betrayal in ministry
I. Typical Responses to Hard Places
A.
“Why Me?”
Exodus 3:9-11
9 Now
therefore, behold, the cry of the children of Israel has come to Me, and I have
also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them. 10 Come
now, therefore, and I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring My people,
the children of Israel, out of Egypt.” 11 But Moses said to
God, “Who am I that I should go to
Pharaoh, and that I should bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?”
B.
“Not Me!”
Jonah 1:1-3
Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai,
saying, 2 “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out
against it; for their wickedness has come up before Me.” 3 But
Jonah arose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. He went down to Joppa and found a
ship going to Tarshish; so he paid the fare, and went down into it, to go with
them to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord.
C.
“Poor Me”
1 Kings 19:1-4
And Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah
had done, also how he had executed all the prophets with the sword. 2 Then
Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, “So let the gods do to me, and more also, if I do not make
your life as the life of one of them by tomorrow about this time.” 3 And
when he saw that, he arose and ran
for his life, and went to Beersheba, which belongs
to Judah, and left his servant there. 4 But he himself went a
day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a broom tree.
And he prayed that he might die, and said, “It is enough! Now, Lord, take my life, for I am no better than my fathers!”
D. “Use
Me”
Isaiah 6:5-8
“Woe is me, for I am undone!
Because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people
of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.” 6 Then one of the seraphim
flew to me, having in his hand a live coal which he had taken with the
tongs from the altar. 7 And he touched my mouth with it,
and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; your iniquity is taken away, and
your sin purged.” 8 Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying:
“Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?” Then I said, “Here am I!
Send me.”
II. Four
Principles to Prosper in Your Babylon
A.
Remember that God put you there
Jeremiah 29:4
4...whom I have caused to be carried
away from Jerusalem to Babylon:
Genesis 45:5-8
5 But
now, do not therefore be grieved or angry with yourselves because you sold me here; for God sent me before you to preserve life. 6 For these
two years the famine has been in the
land, and there are still five years
in which there will be neither plowing nor harvesting. 7 And God sent me before you to preserve a
posterity for you in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance. 8 So
now it was not you who sent me here, but God; and He has
made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout
all the land of Egypt.
Psalm 37:23: “The steps of a good man
are ordered of the Lord.”
Daniel 5:11-12
11 “There
is a man in your kingdom in whom is the Spirit of the Holy God. And in
the days of your father, light and understanding and wisdom, like the wisdom of
the gods, were found in him; and King Nebuchadnezzar your father—your father
the king—made him chief of the magicians, astrologers, Chaldeans, and
soothsayers. 12 Inasmuch as an excellent spirit, knowledge,
understanding, interpreting dreams, solving riddles, and explaining enigmas
were found in this Daniel, whom the king named Belteshazzar, now let Daniel be
called, and he will give the interpretation.”
Just because you’re in a hard place, don’t think God has forsaken you.
F. W. Krummacher: “When the gold is in the fire, the Refiner is
nearest.”
If God is in charge and if I am in trouble, there is something for
me to do or learn here!
B. Find the good in your
difficulty
Jeremiah 29:5
5Build
houses and dwell in them; plant gardens and eat their fruit.
1. Stop waiting for God to bail you out.
Life’s most fertile soil is trouble! Make
your trouble a garden!
2. Occupy until He comes.
Luke 19:11-13
11 Now
as they heard these things, He spoke another parable, because He was near
Jerusalem and because they thought the kingdom of God would appear immediately.
12 Therefore He said: “A certain nobleman went into a far
country to receive for himself a kingdom and to return. 13 So
he called ten of his servants, delivered to them ten minas, and said to them,
‘Do business till I come’.”
Philippians 2:12
“Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.”
It is already inside you!
B.
C.
Increase in the midst
of your difficulty
Jeremiah 29:6
6Take wives and beget sons and
daughters; and take wives for your sons and give your daughters to husbands, so
that they may bear sons and daughters—that you may be increased there, and not
diminished.
Accept your difficulty as an
opportunity for growth.
Psalm
137:1-2
“By the
rivers of Babylon, there we sat down and wept, when we remembered Zion. We
hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst of Babylon.”
·
It is not Babylon itself that defeats us; it
is giving up that defeats us.
·
If you don’t want to diminish, dry up, or die
in your hard place, you must find a way to sing again!
“It is not what happens to you in life that counts; it is how you handle
what happens to you!”
God is not interested in changing your circumstances until you
become
interested in changing your possibilities!
Romans 8:28-29
28 And we know that all things work
together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according
to His purpose. 29 For whom He foreknew, He also
predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be
the firstborn among many brethren.
D.
Seek the best for those who are mistreating
you.
Jeremiah
29:7
7And
seek the peace of the city where I have caused you to be carried away captive, and pray to the Lord for it; for in its peace you will
have peace.
A. “PEACE”
– SHALOM - It means: fullness, prosperity, wellness.
B. Pray
for your captors.
C. Pray
for the place of your hostility.
CONCLUSION:
The One who made these promises is JEHOVAH
SABAOTH__.
This is God’s WARFARE NAME!
“Lord of Hosts”
“GENERAL of the Angelic Hosts!”
This means YOU CANNOT LOSE!
