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Helpless But Not Hopeless When Trouble Approaches
Text: Genesis 32:9-12
9 And Jacob said, "O God of my father Abraham, O God of my father Isaac, O Lord who said to me, 'Return to your relatives and I will make things go well for you.'
10 "I am unworthy of all the lovingkindnesses and of all the faithfulness that you have worked for your servant; for with only my staff I crossed over this Jordan, but now I have become two companies.
11 "Deliver me, I pray you, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau, for I am afraid of him, that he will come and attack me, and the mothers with the children.
12 "For indeed you said, 'I will surely make things go well for you, and I will make your descendants like the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered because of the abundance.' "
Sermon:
How do you feel when trouble approaches? Afraid? Uncertain? Helpless?
I remember one night about 35 years ago when we were helpless. Our family was tent camping. My wife and I made sure our kids were bedded down for the night before turning in ourselves. I look up at the night sky and noticed it was starting to cloud over. And way out to the northwest of us I saw a very faint, sudden flash of light. A few moments later I saw another faint, flash. I didn't like what I saw. I told my wife I wanted to stay up for a while to keep an eye on the weather. She agreed. The lightning flashes continued and kept growing brighter and closer. I turned on our radio and learned that a powerful thunderstorm was sweeping down across our state like a broom. There was no escaping it. I woke up the other campers in the park around midnight and alerted them to the approaching storm. Then my wife and I got our kids up, packed them in our van, and drove down to the bottom of the high hill we were camping on. I parked in such a place at the base of the steep hill that the high winds of the storm would pass over us. Then we waited for the storm to hit. We were helpless. But we were not hopeless. We had the Lord to turn to for his help. The storm hit. It was vicious. The rain poured down like it was a waterfall. Hail began hitting the van. The lightning flashed like flashbulbs all around us constantly. The high winds rocked our van like it was an oversized cradle. The storm pounded us for quite a while. But the Lord brought us through it safely, even our tents. We had been helpless, but not hopeless. We had the Lord to turn to for help.
Perhaps you have had times when you were helpless when trouble was approaching. If such a troubled time comes again, remember: You may be helpless but you are not hopeless. You have the Lord to turn to for help. Moses wrote for us, "O Lord, you indeed have been our dwelling place in all generations. Before the mountains were born, Or you brought forth the earth and world, From everlasting to everlasting you are God." The Lord is the eternal God who is our dwelling place. He is our refuge and deliverance. In him we have salvation. Therefore, we always have hope.
Jacob at one time faced an approaching trouble, and he turned to the Lord for help. The trouble Jacob faced was his brother Esau. Jacob had received the report that Esau was approaching him with 400 men. The last time Jacob had seen Esau was 20 years earlier, when Jacob had to flee for his life because Esau had been angry with him and had been planning to kill him for taking his blessing. It appeared Esau was coming with 400 men to take revenge and to kill him, his wives, and his children.
Jacob was helpless to stop Esau, but Jacob was not hopeless. He turned to the Lord with his trouble and his fear. He said, "I am afraid of him, that he will come and attack me, and the mothers with the children."
Jacob was a child of God, who had his fears in a time of trouble. Likewise, through faith in Jesus you are a child of God. Do you also have fears of an approaching trouble? What might be troubling you? What might be causing you to feel uneasy, nervous, worried, and fearful? The ill health of someone you love? Your own ill health? The threat of losing your job and being unable to support yourself and your family? Fears about our country and its wellbeing in the future? Fears of terrorist attacks? What might it be?
All of us. including the children, regardless of what our position in life may be, have our troubles and fears of one kind or another. But the Lord does not want us believers in Jesus to be afraid. He wants us to put our trust in him and be reassured. For he tells us, "Do not fear, for I am with you; do not look fearfully about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you; what is more, I will help you; moreover, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand."
So while we may be helpless, we are not hopeless. We have our Lord to help us. With faith we can say in the face of our troubles and fears, "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. . . Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; Your rod and your staff, they comfort me."
The Lord tells us that we may turn to him in prayer with our troubles and fears as Jacob did. The Lord tells us, "Call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will honor me." The Lord Jesus also urges us to pray when he says, "Keep asking, and it will be given to you; keep seeking, and you will find; keep knocking, and it will be opened to you."
Let us analyze how Jacob prayed in the above sermon text. Then we will learn how to approach the Lord in prayer as well. Jacob prayed, "O God of my father Abraham, O God of my father Isaac, O Lord. . . " Jacob began his prayer by addressing it to the only true God, the Lord who had revealed himself and who had been fulfilling his promises to Jacob's fathers. By addressing his prayer to the Lord, Jacob was confessing his faith that the Lord was his God.
Jacob went on to pray, "I am unworthy of all the lovingkindnesses and of all the faithfulness that you have worked for your servant; for with only my staff I crossed over this Jordan, but now I have become two companies." Jacob confessed his unworthiness to the Lord. He did not deserve all the blessings the Lord had poured out on him during the preceding 20 years. He had left his home 20 years earlier a poor man; he returned a wealthy, prosperous man. The Lord had remained with him and had returned him safely again. Jacob admitted he did not deserve the Lord's care and blessings, because Jacob knew that he was sinner, who deserved nothing from the Lord but wrath and punishment. So why should the Lord have watched over him and blessed him so richly for 20 years?
Then in his prayer Jacob pointed to what the Lord himself had told him. "O Lord, you said to me, 'Return to your relatives and I will make things go well for you. . . and I will make your descendants like the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered because of the abundance.' "
Jacob was faced with the situation of having Esau come against him with 400 men, because Jacob was returning home as the Lord had commanded him to do and with the Lord's promise to make things go well for him. The Lord had also said he would multiply his descendants into a great nation of people. The Lord had said these things were his will for Jacob. So in his prayer Jacob reminded the Lord of what he had said and promised.
Based on what the Lord had told him to do and had promised him, Jacob prayed to the Lord, "Deliver me, I pray you, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau, for I am afraid of him, that he will come and attack me, and the mothers with the children." it was the Lords will that he return home. It was the Lords will that his family be blessed and multiply. Those things could not happen if Esau attacked and killed them all. Therefore, Jacob asked the Lord to act. He asked the Lord to see to it that the Lord's will for him and his family would be carried out and fulfilled.
When we are faced with approaching troubles, like Jacob, we may be helpless but we are not hopeless. We can pray as Jacob prayed. Our prayers should also be addressed to the Lord--Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. For the Lord is the only true God. All other gods are false gods and Idols that can do nothing. The lord has said, "I am the Lord, that is my name; and I will not give my glory to another, or my praise to graven images. . . There is no other God besides me."
When we pray to the Lord in our times of trouble, let us also confess that we are unworthy of his goodness and faithfulness. For who are we that he should pay attention to us? We are only sinners. So tet us also confess our sins against him. And when we confess our sins, let us take comfort in the fact that God forgives our sins for the sake of his Son Jesus Christ, our Savior. As the Word of God says, "If someone does sin, we have One who pleads our case with the Father – Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. And he himself is the appeasing sacrifice for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world."
When we pray to God in our times of trouble, let us also remind him of what he has said is his will for us. Then we may ask him to act in our behalf, so that his will for us will be done. Let me give you a couple of examples of how to pray in this manner.
If you are informed that the company you work for is down-sizing and your job is being eliminated, you may be helpless but you are not hopeless. The Lord has told you to cast all your worries on him, because he cares for you. So remind him that he has promised you that as his believing child in Jesus Christ, he will cause all things to work for your good. Then present your approaching unemployment to him that is troubling you, and ask him to cause that loss of your job to work for our good by leading you to an even better job than the one you had.
If you hear a weather report that says you are under a severe storm warning and that severe storms with damaging winds, large hail, and possible tornadoes are approaching you, you may be helpless, like we were that night many years ago, but you are not hopeless. Remind the Lord in prayer that he has told you in Psalm 91, "No evil will befall you, No calamity will come near your tent." And then tell him in your prayer, "O Lord, there are severe storms approaching with damaging winds, large hail, and possible tornadoes. My Lord, you control the winds and the weather, in your mercy please place your hand of divine protection over our home and keep our whole family safe. May it be your will that no evil befall us today, O Lord."
If you have not been feeling well and after a series of tests your doctor informs you that your condition is very serious and that you need to have surgery as soon as possible, you may be helpless but you are not hopeless. The Lord has promised you as a believer in Jesus that, "He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High, Will lodge in the shadow of the Almighty." What is more, he has said, "The angel of the Lord (meaning the Son of God) encamps around those who fear him, and delivers them." So in your prayers remind the Lord Jesus that you have taken shelter in him and that you ask him to encamp around you to bring you safely through the surgery if that is his will for you, or that he deliver you from your ill health and all your troubles by taking you home to heaven to be with him forever.
You see, whatever your situation in life may be, you can remind the Lord in your prayers what he has said his will is for you in that situation. Then, when you ask him to act in your behalf, you are merely asking him to do what he said his will for you is. Since that is the case, you can be assured he will hear and answer the prayers you bring to him. For God's Word tells you, "This is the cheerful confidence that we have face to face with him in prayer, that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we had asked from him."
During our life we have troubles and fears. We can do what we can, but we cannot control the course of events or the outcome, because there are forces at work beyond our control. But we can turn to the Lord in prayer with our troubles and be confident he will do whatever we ask according to his will. Though we are often helpless, we are never hopeless. For we can always turn to the Lord.
Amen.
9 And Jacob said, "O God of my father Abraham, O God of my father Isaac, O Lord who said to me, 'Return to your relatives and I will make things go well for you.'
10 "I am unworthy of all the lovingkindnesses and of all the faithfulness that you have worked for your servant; for with only my staff I crossed over this Jordan, but now I have become two companies.
11 "Deliver me, I pray you, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau, for I am afraid of him, that he will come and attack me, and the mothers with the children.
12 "For indeed you said, 'I will surely make things go well for you, and I will make your descendants like the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered because of the abundance.' "
Sermon:
How do you feel when trouble approaches? Afraid? Uncertain? Helpless?
I remember one night about 35 years ago when we were helpless. Our family was tent camping. My wife and I made sure our kids were bedded down for the night before turning in ourselves. I look up at the night sky and noticed it was starting to cloud over. And way out to the northwest of us I saw a very faint, sudden flash of light. A few moments later I saw another faint, flash. I didn't like what I saw. I told my wife I wanted to stay up for a while to keep an eye on the weather. She agreed. The lightning flashes continued and kept growing brighter and closer. I turned on our radio and learned that a powerful thunderstorm was sweeping down across our state like a broom. There was no escaping it. I woke up the other campers in the park around midnight and alerted them to the approaching storm. Then my wife and I got our kids up, packed them in our van, and drove down to the bottom of the high hill we were camping on. I parked in such a place at the base of the steep hill that the high winds of the storm would pass over us. Then we waited for the storm to hit. We were helpless. But we were not hopeless. We had the Lord to turn to for his help. The storm hit. It was vicious. The rain poured down like it was a waterfall. Hail began hitting the van. The lightning flashed like flashbulbs all around us constantly. The high winds rocked our van like it was an oversized cradle. The storm pounded us for quite a while. But the Lord brought us through it safely, even our tents. We had been helpless, but not hopeless. We had the Lord to turn to for help.
Perhaps you have had times when you were helpless when trouble was approaching. If such a troubled time comes again, remember: You may be helpless but you are not hopeless. You have the Lord to turn to for help. Moses wrote for us, "O Lord, you indeed have been our dwelling place in all generations. Before the mountains were born, Or you brought forth the earth and world, From everlasting to everlasting you are God." The Lord is the eternal God who is our dwelling place. He is our refuge and deliverance. In him we have salvation. Therefore, we always have hope.
Jacob at one time faced an approaching trouble, and he turned to the Lord for help. The trouble Jacob faced was his brother Esau. Jacob had received the report that Esau was approaching him with 400 men. The last time Jacob had seen Esau was 20 years earlier, when Jacob had to flee for his life because Esau had been angry with him and had been planning to kill him for taking his blessing. It appeared Esau was coming with 400 men to take revenge and to kill him, his wives, and his children.
Jacob was helpless to stop Esau, but Jacob was not hopeless. He turned to the Lord with his trouble and his fear. He said, "I am afraid of him, that he will come and attack me, and the mothers with the children."
Jacob was a child of God, who had his fears in a time of trouble. Likewise, through faith in Jesus you are a child of God. Do you also have fears of an approaching trouble? What might be troubling you? What might be causing you to feel uneasy, nervous, worried, and fearful? The ill health of someone you love? Your own ill health? The threat of losing your job and being unable to support yourself and your family? Fears about our country and its wellbeing in the future? Fears of terrorist attacks? What might it be?
All of us. including the children, regardless of what our position in life may be, have our troubles and fears of one kind or another. But the Lord does not want us believers in Jesus to be afraid. He wants us to put our trust in him and be reassured. For he tells us, "Do not fear, for I am with you; do not look fearfully about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you; what is more, I will help you; moreover, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand."
So while we may be helpless, we are not hopeless. We have our Lord to help us. With faith we can say in the face of our troubles and fears, "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. . . Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; Your rod and your staff, they comfort me."
The Lord tells us that we may turn to him in prayer with our troubles and fears as Jacob did. The Lord tells us, "Call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will honor me." The Lord Jesus also urges us to pray when he says, "Keep asking, and it will be given to you; keep seeking, and you will find; keep knocking, and it will be opened to you."
Let us analyze how Jacob prayed in the above sermon text. Then we will learn how to approach the Lord in prayer as well. Jacob prayed, "O God of my father Abraham, O God of my father Isaac, O Lord. . . " Jacob began his prayer by addressing it to the only true God, the Lord who had revealed himself and who had been fulfilling his promises to Jacob's fathers. By addressing his prayer to the Lord, Jacob was confessing his faith that the Lord was his God.
Jacob went on to pray, "I am unworthy of all the lovingkindnesses and of all the faithfulness that you have worked for your servant; for with only my staff I crossed over this Jordan, but now I have become two companies." Jacob confessed his unworthiness to the Lord. He did not deserve all the blessings the Lord had poured out on him during the preceding 20 years. He had left his home 20 years earlier a poor man; he returned a wealthy, prosperous man. The Lord had remained with him and had returned him safely again. Jacob admitted he did not deserve the Lord's care and blessings, because Jacob knew that he was sinner, who deserved nothing from the Lord but wrath and punishment. So why should the Lord have watched over him and blessed him so richly for 20 years?
Then in his prayer Jacob pointed to what the Lord himself had told him. "O Lord, you said to me, 'Return to your relatives and I will make things go well for you. . . and I will make your descendants like the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered because of the abundance.' "
Jacob was faced with the situation of having Esau come against him with 400 men, because Jacob was returning home as the Lord had commanded him to do and with the Lord's promise to make things go well for him. The Lord had also said he would multiply his descendants into a great nation of people. The Lord had said these things were his will for Jacob. So in his prayer Jacob reminded the Lord of what he had said and promised.
Based on what the Lord had told him to do and had promised him, Jacob prayed to the Lord, "Deliver me, I pray you, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau, for I am afraid of him, that he will come and attack me, and the mothers with the children." it was the Lords will that he return home. It was the Lords will that his family be blessed and multiply. Those things could not happen if Esau attacked and killed them all. Therefore, Jacob asked the Lord to act. He asked the Lord to see to it that the Lord's will for him and his family would be carried out and fulfilled.
When we are faced with approaching troubles, like Jacob, we may be helpless but we are not hopeless. We can pray as Jacob prayed. Our prayers should also be addressed to the Lord--Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. For the Lord is the only true God. All other gods are false gods and Idols that can do nothing. The lord has said, "I am the Lord, that is my name; and I will not give my glory to another, or my praise to graven images. . . There is no other God besides me."
When we pray to the Lord in our times of trouble, let us also confess that we are unworthy of his goodness and faithfulness. For who are we that he should pay attention to us? We are only sinners. So tet us also confess our sins against him. And when we confess our sins, let us take comfort in the fact that God forgives our sins for the sake of his Son Jesus Christ, our Savior. As the Word of God says, "If someone does sin, we have One who pleads our case with the Father – Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. And he himself is the appeasing sacrifice for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world."
When we pray to God in our times of trouble, let us also remind him of what he has said is his will for us. Then we may ask him to act in our behalf, so that his will for us will be done. Let me give you a couple of examples of how to pray in this manner.
If you are informed that the company you work for is down-sizing and your job is being eliminated, you may be helpless but you are not hopeless. The Lord has told you to cast all your worries on him, because he cares for you. So remind him that he has promised you that as his believing child in Jesus Christ, he will cause all things to work for your good. Then present your approaching unemployment to him that is troubling you, and ask him to cause that loss of your job to work for our good by leading you to an even better job than the one you had.
If you hear a weather report that says you are under a severe storm warning and that severe storms with damaging winds, large hail, and possible tornadoes are approaching you, you may be helpless, like we were that night many years ago, but you are not hopeless. Remind the Lord in prayer that he has told you in Psalm 91, "No evil will befall you, No calamity will come near your tent." And then tell him in your prayer, "O Lord, there are severe storms approaching with damaging winds, large hail, and possible tornadoes. My Lord, you control the winds and the weather, in your mercy please place your hand of divine protection over our home and keep our whole family safe. May it be your will that no evil befall us today, O Lord."
If you have not been feeling well and after a series of tests your doctor informs you that your condition is very serious and that you need to have surgery as soon as possible, you may be helpless but you are not hopeless. The Lord has promised you as a believer in Jesus that, "He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High, Will lodge in the shadow of the Almighty." What is more, he has said, "The angel of the Lord (meaning the Son of God) encamps around those who fear him, and delivers them." So in your prayers remind the Lord Jesus that you have taken shelter in him and that you ask him to encamp around you to bring you safely through the surgery if that is his will for you, or that he deliver you from your ill health and all your troubles by taking you home to heaven to be with him forever.
You see, whatever your situation in life may be, you can remind the Lord in your prayers what he has said his will is for you in that situation. Then, when you ask him to act in your behalf, you are merely asking him to do what he said his will for you is. Since that is the case, you can be assured he will hear and answer the prayers you bring to him. For God's Word tells you, "This is the cheerful confidence that we have face to face with him in prayer, that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we had asked from him."
During our life we have troubles and fears. We can do what we can, but we cannot control the course of events or the outcome, because there are forces at work beyond our control. But we can turn to the Lord in prayer with our troubles and be confident he will do whatever we ask according to his will. Though we are often helpless, we are never hopeless. For we can always turn to the Lord.
Amen.
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