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THE POWER OF BELIEVING

“Believing Through Adversity”

By Pastor Delbert Young

Life Gate Ministries

204 North Main Street, LaFayette, GA 30728

706-638-7620

www.lifegatechurch.com

There is POWER IN BELIEVING  unlike any other power in the world. It has the potential to change the natural into the supernatural. It can save a soul. It can heal a body. It can change the course of nature. It can do anything.

Mark 9:23 Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.

I want to talk to you today about believing during adversity. I don’t want to talk so much about keeping your belief as you go through adversity. I want to mostly talk about believing that good things will happen because of the adversity. How we handle the tough times of life will make us or break us. The problems you face will make you better or bitter.

Too many people today become negative and sour when they face adversity. Their belief is dampened. They question God. They wonder where God is and if God is. Instead of allowing the adversity to make them better, it makes them bitter and they settle for mediocrity in life.

What I want to show us is that we learn and then live at a higher level of life by BELIEVING THROUGH ADVERSITY. Adversities teach us. Adversities mold our character. Without adversities we will never become the best we can be.

Isaiah 30:20  Though the Lord gave you adversity for food and affliction for drink, he will still be with you to teach you. You will see your teacher with your own eyes

In other words, the adversity we go through comes with a teaching of which we will see the results with our own eyes. God has not forsaken us. God has allowed the adversity because he knows we need it to become what we desire to become. We learn great things and become great people when we can continue BELIEVING THROUGH ADVERSITY.

IT’S IN THE TOUGH TIMES OF LIFE THAT WE DEVELOP CHARACTER. Most people do not understand that Father God does allow us to face adversity. It’s not because he is angry with us or because we have done something wrong. It’s because adversity will make us stronger and better people. That’s when we must stretch from our comfort zones prepared to go to the next level of life.

You need to view tough times as opportunities to grow and advance to the next level.

Psalms 4:1  Hear me when I call, O God of my righteousness: thou hast enlarged me when I was in distress; have mercy upon me, and hear my prayer.

Adversity does many things to us. One thing it does is cause us to pray.

Notice that David said that God enlarged him in his times of distress. David wasn’t enlarged in his good times. He was enlarged in the tough times. David believed that adversity enlarged him. David believed that he was enlarged when his brothers criticized and ridiculed him, not when he was anointed by Samuel to be king. David believed that he was enlarged when Goliath was cussing him, not when he cut off Goliath’s head. David believed that he was enlarged when he was fleeing from Saul and living in a cave, not when he was comfortable and living in the palace. IN AFFECT, DAVID SAID, “IT WAS IN THOSE TOUGH TIMES, THAT I REALLY LEARNED TO TRUST YOU. IT WAS IN THOSE TOUGH TIMES THAT SOMETHING HAPPENED WAY DOWN INSIDE OF ME THAT NOBODY OR NO CIRCUMSTANCE CAN TAKE FROM ME.” David believed that adversity made him better.

That is exactly what God is doing in every one of us. We can’t see anything good happening when we go through tough times. However, we must learn to believe that something good is happening. If we will then we will come out of our adversities enlarged.

THINK ABOUT IT. What was the catalyst that thrust David into becoming the king? I know it was God and God’s anointing, but was that the only thing? Was that in and of itself enough? Could David simply tell people that God had anointed him and wanted him to be the king? No. It was how David handled adversity that promoted David. The recognition of David by people began when he defeated his adversary Goliath. The enemy sent that adversary to destroy David, but God allowed it to take David to the next level. Think about that. God allowed little David to face off with a giant. God didn’t do that because he was angry with David. He did it because he knew that David was well able to handle that adversity. Because of that, David gained instant recognition. Instead of that adversity destroying David, it promoted David. David learned to BELIEVE THROUGH ADVERSITY.

Romans 8:28  And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

God loves you and he will take your tough times and make them stepping-stones for good times. God will take every adversity and make it a good thing. David allowed every adversity to become stepping-stones for him. With every resistance and adversity David rose higher and higher. David believed that adversities were opportunities.

That’s exactly what God wants us to do. We need to BELIEVE THROUGH ADVERSITY. If we will, we will continue going to the next levels of life.

David became a soldier after Goliath. He warred with the Philistines. The Philistines tried to kill David. Again, David used that adversity as a stepping-stone. Once more, the thing that tried to destroy David became the thing that promoted David. Later, Saul, who was king before David, began to hate David and tried to destroy him. The way David handled that situation promoted David and the thing that tried to destroy David, became a stepping-stone for David.

It’s the same way with us. Every adversity we face will bring us closer to the abundant life that God has planned for us. The enemy sends it to destroy us. God only allows it because he knows you are well able to handle it. It is indeed a giant and an enemy, but if you will BELIEVE THROUGH ADVERSITY it will only be a stepping-stone.

 You may be going through something today. If you will stand strong and BELIEVE THROUGH ADVERSITY, God will use that adversity as a stepping-stone to take you to the next level. YOUR ADVERSITY CAN BE YOUR GREATEST ASSET. IT’S THE STRUGGLE THAT GIVES US STRENGTH. No one will ever develop muscles without resistance. It’s that way in the spiritual. Adversity develops spiritual muscles.

We need to get an attitude about believing especially when going through adversity. Remember what David did when he faced Goliath. Goliath said,

1 Samuel 17:44  "Come here," he said, "and I'll give your flesh to the birds of the air and the beasts of the field!"

But David had an attitude.

1 Samuel 17:45  David said to the Philistine, "You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the LORD Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.

1 Samuel 17:46  This day the LORD will hand you over to me, and I'll strike you down and cut off your head. Today I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel.

No matter what you are facing today, or what you will face tomorrow, you need to look it in the eyes and tell it that you will defeat it. Don’t have a weak and wimpy attitude. Don’t doubt and do the “God I don’t understand this” thing. When you face your Goliath, BELIEVE THROUGH it. It has come to take you out. Goliath said he would take David out, but David gave it right back to him. BELIEVE THROUGH ADVERSITY that God will give you divine guidance just as he did for David. Believe that your Goliath is there to take you higher.

Life Gate began in adversity. I came to this area in 1985. I had a message of the kingdom, the goodness and greatness of God, and the kingship of Jesus Christ. I thought everyone would be happy with that message, but they were not. Adversity came, but from that adversity came what has become Life Gate. We were told that it wouldn’t last. You were told that I wouldn’t stay. You were told that I would blow away just like I blew in. They were exactly right. We have been blowing for 19 years. We are blowing the message of the kingdom of God all over this region. We are not done blowing yet. God used that adversity, and every adversity we have faced since, to enlarge us. Because of adversity, we are touching lives all over this region. What the enemy meant to destroy us, God used to take us to the next level. It’s because we continued BELIEVING THROUGH ADVERSITY.

I’m not saying that God sends adversity no more than I would say that God sent Goliath to David. However, God will use adversity to take us to the next level. Adversity should get us going, not destroy us.

Two men were walking through the woods going fly fishing when they spotted a grizzly bear. The first man immediately opened his bag, took off his waders, and pulled out a pair of tennis shoes. “You’re crazy! You’ll never be able to outrun that bear,” the second man said. “I don’t have to,” the first man replied. “I only have to outrun you.”

BELIEVING THROUGH ADVERSITY is saying, “God, I don’t care how what comes against me, I don’t care how long it takes, it’s not going to get me defeated or get me down. I know you are taking me upward to the best life I can possibly have.” That’s the attitude that David had. When you have that kind of attitude, nothing will defeat you. Use the adversity to take you upward.

There is a story about an old mule that I want to tell. I don’t know if it is true or not, but it’s a good story. The old mule fell into a well. The farmer who owned the mule loved his old mule, but there was no way to get him out of the well. So, to put the mule out of his misery, the farmer decided to bury the mule in the well. He got some neighbors over and they began shoveling dirt into the well on top of the mule. But as the dirt came down on top of the mule, the mule shook and then pushed up on the dirt. As more dirt was shoveled on the mule, it would shake the dirt off and push up. Finally the old mule stepped out of the well. The dirt that was intended to bury the mule actually saved the mule.

We all have dirt shoveled on us during life. It’s how we handle the dirt of adversity that determines the outcome. Will be fall into the pit of pitty, or will we shake off the dirt and then step up? Don’t stay down in the dirt. BELIEVE THROUGH ADVERSITY and use it to get up and go higher.

Proverbs 24:16  for though a righteous man falls seven times, he rises again, but the wicked are brought down by calamity.

Don’t let calamities keep you down. BELIEVE THROUGH ADVERSITY. Calamities are a stepping stone.

Someplace along the way we all fall into the well. Maybe there was a bad relationship, an illness, finances went south, failed business, a tragedy, etc. I want to tell you that you can come out of it and experience a great life if you will BELIEVE THROUGH ADVERSITY.

The Bible tells us about Joseph. Joseph faced adversity after adversity. His brothers threw him into a well.

Genesis 37:23  And it came to pass, when Joseph was come unto his brethren, that they stript Joseph out of his coat, his coat of many colours that was on him;

Genesis 37:24  And they took him, and cast him into a pit: and the pit was empty, there was no water in it.

You know the story. Joseph was sold as a slave in Egypt to a man named Potiphar. Joseph didn’t allow that adversity to stop him. He BELIEVED THROUGH ADVERSITY and used the adversity as a stepping-stone. Joseph was doing well, but there was another adversity. Potiphar’s wife falsely accused him and Joseph was condemned to prison. Still, Joseph would not allow that to stop him. He continued BELIEVING THROUGH ADVERSITY. Soon Joseph was put in charge of the prison. Eventually, God turned it all around and he was taken from prison and placed in command over all of Egypt.

No matter what pit or prison you are going through, if you will continue BELIEVING THROUGH ADVERSITY, you will come out on top.

1. He failed in business at age twenty-two.

2. He was defeated for state legislature at twenty-three.”

3. He failed in business again at twenty-four.

4. He was elected to the legislature at twenty-five.

5. His fiancée died when he was twenty-five.

6. He had a nervous breakdown at twenty-seven.

7. He was defeated for Speaker of the House at twenty-nine.

8. He was defeated for elector at thirty-one.

9. His young son died when he was forty-one.

10. He was defeated for the U.S. Senate at forty-six.

11. He was defeated for vice president at forty-seven.

12. He was defeated for the Senate again at forty-nine.

They guy would not stop trying. He continued BELIEVING THROUGH ADVERSITY. Don’t you imagine that people were telling him to stop beating himself? Most people would have given up with so little success. Had he, we would not know about number thirteen.

13. Abraham Lincoln was elected president of the United States at age fifty-one.

Abraham Lincoln led our country through one of the most adverse times in our history. He was a great president who believed through Adversity.

“The will of God prevails… In the present civil war it is quite possible that God's purpose is something different from the purpose of either party - and yet the human instrumentalities, working just as they do, are of the best adaptation to effect His purpose.” Abraham Lincoln

Lincoln knew that the adversity of the civil war was somehow working God’s will and purpose. What possible good could come from brother fighting against brother? Lincoln knew that somehow that war was a stepping-stone for the nation. Somehow the nation would be a better nation and IT WAS and IT IS.

No matter what war you are facing, I promise you that if you will allow it to be a stepping-stone for you and BELIEVE that THROUGH ADVERSITY your life will be better than ever before.

I want to encourage you today. Tap into the Power of Believing. All things are possible. See adversity as stepping-stones. Learn from them. Enlarge from them as did David. Look your adversity in the eye and tell it you will defeat it. Shake it off and push up. God has a great plan to bless you and give you the abundance that is yours. Amen.