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STRAIGHT
FROM THE PULPIT Pastor Randy Barnett, Oklahoma |
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LIVING IN THE TULIPS A young woman sat in my office wringing
her hands in anguish over all the bad things she was experiencing in her
life. To her, anything that could go wrong had gone wrong, and this had
undermined her faith in the Word of God. My task as her pastor was to restore
her confidence in God with the Truth. Let us remind ourselves that it is the
knowledge of the Truth that sets us free. (John 10:10) On that day I saw how
powerfully true this promise is. “Sally” fell into an error in her
beliefs that brought on this temporary despair. Actually, her error was one
that I often see in believers and it always has similar results. The error is
that people believe if they love and serve Jesus they will not encounter
adversity. I call this the “living in
the tulips” doctrine; it is a life of always enjoying the floral-scented
existence of a life without challenges. Of course, the truth is that no such
place exists. If such a utopia was to be had here on earth, the Bible would
tell us about it. However, the Word does not promise a life without
challenges and adversities. On the
contrary, God tells us clearly in Scripture there will be adversities,
persecutions, and all kinds of challenges in this life. I wish I could find
that biblical promise that assures us of a carefree life, but in all of my
years of studying the Word of God no such promise has ever emerged. What I
have found is that Isaiah tells us that we will go through the fire! Jesus
declares there will be adversities we will encounter! James admonishes us to
count it all joy when we are faced with trials! So the bottom line is that to
believe the “living in the tulips”
doctrine is folly. Sally told me that one of her favorite
verses of Scripture is II Corinthians 2:14. She loved to quote this powerful
promise as a daily confession, but she failed to actually read and understand
what it says. She focused on the part of the verse that speaks of triumph,
not realizing that any triumph first requires a battle. Apart from a battle,
there is no triumph. Victory happens because something or someone is
defeated. In the “tulip bed” there is no battle; therefore, there is no possibility
of triumph. Let us not stop at this point with just
accepting that trials, adversities, and persecutions await us here on earth.
To do so is to negate the powerful promises of God that relates to His
covenant people who encounter tough times. Yes, He tells us these rough times
will happen, but each time we see another promise of victory. Over and over
again God reinforces the truth that it is in the fire that we see victory,
not by avoiding it. That is why His promise is to be with you in the time of
trouble; to be there with you when you are in the fire; and to see that you
indeed get to the other side when the waters of life are about to overwhelm
you. Jesus teaches us to ask that we not be
led into temptation, and we read where God goes before us to make the way for
us. So it is good to ask God to remove obstacles and quench the fires ahead;
but when you find yourself in the midst of the battle that is no time to
squeal and cry. That is the time to rise up in faith in the might of Almighty
God and stand in the authority of the name of Jesus to defeat whatever
challenge you are facing. You will discover that God’s Word is true, that
indeed He will always lead you in triumph in Christ! You were divinely
designed to be a warrior, not a tulip garden specialist, so in the heat of
the battle, stand strong and win! Amen. Randy Barnett
Ministries |
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