Trusting God Through Hard times -Pastor Hope Carpenter

Hello, everybody. Thank you so much for tuning in tonight. Whether you're coming in on Facebook Live, whether you are on YouTube, wherever you are, I just thank you. And I know that it's God's will that you're here tonight. I know that it's a divine appointment. So why don't you go ahead and share this, Share this to everybody that you know, especially if they're going through a tough time right now. You know, it's been a tough year. 2020 has been a tough year. And. And I just want you to know that God has given me a word for you. He's given word of encouragement. He's given me a word to help you get through the tough times. Trusting God in the tough times, trusting him in the storm. Peace in the middle of the storm. Not peace after the storm, but peace. When you are walking through the darkest, toughest times in your life, you can have peace that passes all under understanding. Do you believe that tonight you say pastor Hope? I don't know if I believe it because I'm going through so much right now. Well, just sit back, hold on. Let the word of God encourage you and spur you on. I know this is a word for you tonight. So like it, share it. Call your friends, text them. It's going to be a word in season for you tonight. Listen, I know we all go through tough times, right? We all go through storms, we all go through dark times, we all go through valleys. And sometimes we lose our peace, sometimes we lose our joy. And this is why we get upset, usually because of two things. Ready? Write it down. Two things. Number one, false expectations. False expectations. This is an example. You're upset because your boyfriend or your girlfriend or your friend didn't call you. And you're so upset and you're paranoid and you're like, why didn't they call me? I'm so upset. I wonder if they don't like me anymore. I wonder if they don't love me anymore. Okay, well, they may have never known that you expected them to call you today. False expectations. Or then there's number two, just your natural situation and your circumstances. The things that are going on in your life around you. Now, let's be clear about one thing. There are no perfect lives. Sorry to burst your bubble. There are no perfect lives. No one has it all together, all the time, in every aspect of their life. How many of you know Instagram is fake? Instagram is fake. It's just the highlight reels. How many pictures do you delete before you actually post the one on Instagram that you ended up posting. Right. Why? Because we want everybody to see the perfect angle. We want everybody to catch the perfect glimpse. We want to portray this kind of life that really and truly is not real. Instagram is fake. And we get so upset when our life doesn't look as successful, when it doesn't look as pretty, when it doesn't look as wealthy, when it doesn't look as healthy as we see everybody else's life look around us, right? The other day, I have to tell you this story. The other day our oldest son, Chase, was at the bank and he went up to the ATM machine and he was about to do his transaction and he saw that the person before him had left the receipt. How many of that's ever happened to you? You know, you go up and the receipt is still in there. And so he said, mom, he called me, he said, mom, I'm so, so frustrated. He said, I just went to the bank, he said, and this little 28, 29, 30 year old guy, just very unassuming, was in the ATM before me. And he left his receipt, he said, so I pulled it out, he said, and you know, curiosity got the best of me. He said, so I looked down at the receipt and it showed his balance of $356,000 thousand dollars in his bank account. And he said, mom, I was so frustrated. He said, I was so mad. He said, and he said this to me, he said, mama, I'm so sick of being broke. He said, and then I see this young guy walk away from the bank with $356,000 in his bank account. He said, and I'm so sick of being broke. And so I listened to him and it. And it wasn't. But a few hours later, he text me back and he said, you know, God has a way of speaking to you, doesn't he? He said, I was watching the news. He said, this news flash came on and, and it was about writing letters to Santa. And it was a little boy's letter that he had written to Santa. And it, and it said, Dear Santa, 2020 has been a hard year for my mom. And she says she didn't know if we were going to get any toys for Christmas. But God, if you could just find it to give me one Lego set. He said, that's all I really want. And Chase said, mama, you know, I was complaining, I was frustrated about being broke and not having all this money in my bank. He said, and then God shows me there's other people who have it. Way worse off than I do. I said, yes, son. I said, I'm so glad that you were sensitive to the Holy Spirit to let him show you. I said, in chase, you need to look around, around your life. You may think that, that, that you're frustrated and, and you've lost your peace because maybe you're struggling financially. But look where God has brought you in addiction. You're no longer a drug addict, you're no longer an alcoholic. God has brought you so far in so many areas. But see, we want to look at that one area that somebody else has reached success in. And we're still struggling. We're still on the struggle bus in that one area. And it makes us lose our peace altogether. Altogether. And listen, you will never have peace. Listen to this. You will never have peace just by saying, God, give me peace. God, I wish I had peace. God, I want peace. Sitting around hoping and wishing. It is a decision that you make by trusting God. Simply trusting God in the good days, in the bad days, in the sick days, in the well days, it is a decision that you make. And listen, the Bible says that you already have peace. John 14:27 says, Peace, I leave with you. This is the amplified Bible. I love it so much. In the amplified, it says, peace, I leave with you. My perfect peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give you. Do not let your hearts be troubled. These are your instructions. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be afraid. Let my perfect peace calm you in every situation, in every circumstance, and give you courage and strength for every challenge. So this tells me that you are going to have battles, that you are going to have crisis. But God says, I've already left peace with you. I've already given it to you. It's not as the world gives. It's a different kind of peace. It's a different kind of peace that when you walking through all hell and trouble and trial and situation and sickness in your body, you can still walk around knowing that God, who has been faithful in your life over these, this issue and this issue, will be faithful today with whatever you're going through, just like anything else. He said, I've already given you peace. I've already left it here for you. But somebody can give you something. But if you do not accept it, it's no good to you, right? I could have a gift for my husband and I could say, here, here's, here's this gift I bought you. But if he doesn't reach out and grab it, although it's right here. It could be the very thing that he wanted. It could be the very thing he needed. It could be the very thing that could shift and change things in his life. But if he doesn't want reach out and grab it and accept it, it is no good to him. See, this is the better way to pray. God help me access the peace that you've already given me. Not, oh, God, send me peace. God give me peace. It's God help me to access and learn to operate in the peace that you've already provided for me. What is peace? What is it? It's not sitting around going, hmm, that's not peace. Peace is one of the fruits of the spirit. So if you are not full of the spirit, you will not be able to access the fruit of the spirit, which today we're talking about peace. You cannot give or operate inside something that you do not possess. I cannot produce a Chinese baby. Why? Because it's not in me. It's not in my DNA. I cannot produce an African American baby. It's not in my DNA. I can only produce what's in me. Are you getting this? You will never have peace with others or your circumstances until you have pursued the Lord in all his benefits. The fruit. Until you pursue the fruit. Stop chasing things and start chasing the character of God. Listen, a nice car has never gotten me through one storm in my life. A nice house where my couch matches my curtains has never gotten me through one storm in my life. But the joy of the Lord has. And the peace that passes understanding has. And the love of God has, and the patience of God has gotten me through. I've gone through some storms in my life, and in those storms. Listen, you learn what anchors your boat when you going through all hell. It doesn't matter what you're driving. When you don't know where your kids are strung out on drugs. It doesn't matter what name's on your pocketbook. Peace. Jesus could only see speak peace to the storm. Because peace was in him. Peace was in him. He was peace. Are you at peace with yourself? Are you living in peace? Or are you constantly striving and questioning why and holding yourself to the hostage of your past? Or. Or asking why did this not go right? Or did I not do this right? Or woulda, shoulda, coulda? Are you at peace with yourself? What goes in you goes on in you and it will come out of you. Did you hear me? What goes in you goes on in you and will eventually come out of you. Listen, you gonna get Mad at me? You're gonna think I'm religious. I know you are. But you can't sit around and pour sad songs and rap music and secular movies and all of these things in your head and your spirit all day and expect to remain calm and in peace when trouble hits your life. Yes, it does matter. What you're full of is what will come out of you automatically. You cannot give what you have not received. And whatever you have received, whether that's music or friends or your influences or what you watch is what you will have to pull on when Tough Times hit first. Peter 3 and 10 in the amplified Bible says this. For the one who wants to enjoy life and see good days. Is that you? For the one who wants to enjoy life and see good days. Listen, this part was so, so intriguing to me when I read this comma, good. Whether apparent or not, for those who want to live long life and to have good days, good. Whether it's apparent or not, that's saying that you can enjoy your life even if your circumstances seem to be saying you shouldn't be. Whoo. Here's how. Keep reading. One, you must keep your tongue free from evil. Two, your lips from speaking guile. What is guile? Being cunning, deceitful, dishonest. Three, you must turn away from wickedness and do what is right. There comes a time in your life where you have to draw a line in the sand and you have to say, stop, no more. I am not living this way anymore. I'm going to turn, I'm going to repent. I'm going to go the other way, way. And number four. Must search for peace with God, with himself and with others. Listen. So important. You must search for peace with God, with yourself and with others, and pursue it eagerly, actively, not merely just desiring it. That is some rich, rich, rich, rich scripture. It's so good. If you really want peace, it doesn't just happen, though it's there and available. You must search for it eagerly and actively. Here's a little practice exercise I want you to do. You say, well, I really don't know how to obtain peace. I've just told you. But let's just. Let's do the other side. What steals your peace? Do you know what steals your peace? Everybody's is different. A lack of sleep. Maybe it's lack of sleep that steals your peace. You just can't function. You just get all bum fuzzled when you have a lack of sleep. When you. Money issues. I think money issues steal everybody's peace. Money issues what about when you're running late? When I'm running late or someone in my family is making us late, that gets me all upset. It steals my peace. What about when your wife nags about the trash? Does that steal your peace? Well, listen, you don't just get more sleep by wishing for more sleep. You become more disciplined and you go to bed early. Right? Duh. And you don't just wish for a balance checkbook. You stop frivolous spending. You rein it in. You get on a budget, you get some counseling, you start a savings. You don't just wish that you were on time. No, you get up earlier and you iron your shirt at night so that you are on time. You don't just wish your wife would stop nagging about the trash. Men, you take the trash out and all the women said amen. Most of the time, it's us that needs to change so that peace can come in our home and peace can come in our mind. Peace can come in our children. Peace can come in our marriage. We have to change so that we can obtain the precious promises of God. It's called managing your life. It's called managing your mind. First, Peter says, to have this, you have to pursue it. You have to go after it. You have to do it with all diligence. How many out there got something going on in your life that you just don't understand? I could get both of them up. I would. We all do. But Scripture tells us this. It says, but you can still have peace in the middle of chaos. You can have peace even when you're going through dark times, when you're going through a valley, when you're going through a rough season, a dry season, a broke season, a unhealthy season. You can still have peace that passes through all those seasons of understanding, even when you can't see, even when you can't figure it out. It might have come and blindsided you. You might say, hope I didn't sow for this. I didn't sow for all of this going on in my life. You have to know that his peace is available to you if you actively and eagerly pursue it. Ezekiel 13. I'm not going to read that scripture. I'm going to reference it. This is how God led the Israelites the long way around to the promised Land. And even though there was a much shorter, the scripture says there was a much shorter and a much easier way. But God, in His wisdom, on purpose, led them the long, hard route. Why? Because he said they were not ready for War. Basically, what he was saying is they weren't mature enough yet, not full of enough fruit to occupy the Promised Land. Why? Because the Lord knew in his great wisdom what was going to happen in the Promised Land. When he was leading them around the wilderness, they were getting breakfast and dinner dropped in their lap every single day. But God knew, He said they got to learn some things right here before I drop them off into the Promised Land. Because they won't get breakfast, they won't get dinner. They got to work for it. They got a war for it. And when you've walked with the Lord for a number of years, you can say without flinching, I know that my God is faithful. I know that no matter what I walk through, God's going to see me through. You look back over your life and you see it just like David did when David said, he's helped me overthrow the lion and he's helped me overthrow the bear. And I know that you uncircumcised Philistines standing before me, you are nothing in the hands of God. Younger Christians, immature Christians, this is what they say. Well, I don't know if we're gonna make it. I don't know. I gotta see. I hope he'll come through. But see, in order to see God's faithfulness, you have to have a problem. You have to have a trial, you have to have a test. You have to have a rebellious kid, you have to have problems in your marriage, you have to sometimes be fired from a job to be able to dig your heels in and say, I don't see. I don't know. But I know one thing. God has never left me. He's never forsaken me. And I trust the faithfulness of God in my life. Listen, you don't qualify for a miracle if you can fix your own problems. You just don't qualify for the miracle working of God if you got it all together on your own. Matthew 18 says this. He says, God wants us to come to him as little children. This is so special to me. He. He wants us to come to him like a little child. How many of you have children? I've had three and I've got five grands. Now, children say what they mean. They're just blunt. I'm hungry, Gigi. No, I don't want that. I want macaroni. I'm scared, Gigi. I don't like that. Gigi, can you come help me reach this? I can't reach it. Can you come help me? Gigi, please come play with me. Gigi, do you want to watch me play fortnight? The not so important situations, just the communing together. This is coming to the Lord as a little child. Lord, help me do good on my test. God, I need you to help me keep my mouth shut today. You know, I got a big, big, bad problem with my mouth. Lord, help me to be patient with my husband. Lord, could you just provide time today for me to spend time with you? God, I just want to commune with. With you. This is coming to God as a little child. And you gotta love. Colossians 3. It's one of my favorite scriptures. Colossians 3:15 says, and let the peace of Christ, the inner calm of the one who walks daily with him. There it is. That's how you have it. The inner calm, the one who walks daily with him, be the controlling factor in your heart, deciding and settling questions that arise to this peace. You were called. You were called to live like this as members in one body, and be thankful to God always. This scripture literally means that the peace of God on the inside of you is the umpire. It. It's the deciding with finality everything that brings up a question. The peace of God. Have you ever done something that you knew you didn't have peace about? How'd that work out for you? Right? And after doing that a few times, you learn, you become more mature about hearing the umpire on the inside when he says stop. No. God wants us to pursue him and all his attributes so that his fruit is evident in our life, so that we have real peace, so that we have real joy, so that we really can operate in patience, so that we really can have love, so that. So that this is evident in our lives. So that when tough times hit, and they will, you'll breeze right through them. Even when you don't see the breakthrough, even when the bank account is overdrawn and the trash is still in the kitchen, you will have assurance of this one thing, that God is with you in the fire, that God is with you in the struggle, that God is with you in the hard times, and that you can have peace that passes these natural situations and circumstances. How, if you search for it eagerly and actively as you walk with him daily. I want to pray for you. You say, Pastor, Hope that sounds so easy. Truthfully, it really is. But you have to make some hard decisions on this side of peace, of what you're going to listen to, what you're going to allow in your life, who you're going to let talk to you. We had a situation of a family member back in Greenville, South Carolina a few weeks ago where their granddaughter got hit by a truck. A three year old little girl got hit by a truck on Thanksgiving night. And they rushed her, airlifted her to the hospital. She was not breathing at all. They were sitting there doing mouth to mouth and, and pumping her little chest and she had no breath, she had no pulse. And one of the men in the house, who was an uncle, he said, she's dead. Y' all stop. She's dead. And the daddy stood up and he turned around and he said, get out. Get out. If you don't have faith to speak, get out of this room. Do you know today she got her pulse, she got her breath and she is living and she is breathing. She was in ICU for several days. She was in the hospital several weeks. But because he refused to listen to negativity and to somebody who did not have the report of the Lord, you have to make decisions on this side of peace so that you can walk out and you can obtain the precious promises of God over your life. I know you want to live a good life and you can. And I'm going to pray for you today. Dear Lord Jesus, I thank you for every person that you have listening right now to my voice. It's not a mistake, it's not an accident. Nothing happens to us through us by accident. God and I just decree and declare over every household, over every mind, over every troubled heart today that, God, we can, we can live in your peace in the middle of our storm, not after our storm, in the middle of our storm. Why? Because we know who is anchoring our boat today. God help us to know you like we've never known you. So that we can stand sure and fast like we've never stood before in these troubled times. God, I thank you that you're a good God and you've got good plans for us. You don't have one bad day planned for us. God help us to make the decisions that we need to make. Lord, help us to make decisions on the other side so that we can walk through victoriously. In Jesus name, amen. I love you. You got this. You're stronger than you think you are. You're gonna get through it. I don't know what it is, but I know that. I know that. I know why. Because I've seen him get me through things that people said I would never come through. I've seen people in my life come out of situations and circumstances that the world would have just thrown them away. But God say, but God. But God. With God, all things are possible to him that believes. I love you. Wow.

Wasn't that such an impactful word from Pastor Hope? You know, what I love about her is that she's always legit. She always brings a real word in season, and it's just so moving. I just absolutely love her. If you were inspired by her message and you want to hear more from her, you can find her on Instagram, you can find her on Facebook, and you can find her on Twitter. For more information, you can go to hopecarpenter.com we'll see you next week.