Treasure in Your Trials • April 5 (Sermon Only, Tony Evans)

[Music]

men went to his doctor because the

doctor just received the test results

back he says I have some bad news and

then I have some really bad news what do

you want to hear first the patient says

oh what’s the bad news the doctor said

well the bad news is I got your test

result back and you only have 24 hours

to live

he said what then what’s the really bad

news that’s when the doctor said I

should have called you yesterday

sometimes news this goes from bad to

worse doesn’t it yes looks like the

situation we’re in with this challenge

that we’re facing in our nation and that

is the challenge of bad news becoming

really bad news as the virus continues

to spread and people’s fears continue to

grow but I want you to know there is a

treasure in our trial that as bad as

things feel seem and the worse it seems

to get I want to give you today some

hope I remember some years ago coming

from LaGuardia Airport in New York my

wife Lois was with me and we were coming

back to Dallas we went to the airport

stood in the checkout the check-in line

to check on our luggage curbside

check-in but the line was not moving I

went up to see what was wrong and the

baggage handlers said things aren’t

going well we don’t have any power so

we’re waiting for things to get better

and as we stood there things didn’t get

better they got worse finally as dusk

settled in hours later they told us that

LaGuardia was closing down because on

this August 14th date 2003 we found

ourselves in the blackout of that year

when a power grid failure in Canada

worked its way down to East Coast and

things got dark no power thousands of

people were stranded in New York they

were stranded with panic beginning to

set in because it all checked out of our

hotels we’re all trying to go to our

places of a boat

well my assistants said to me over the

phone there’s one hotel room left at the

Crowne Plaza LaGuardia

so we hailed down a taxi we rushed over

there it’s now dark we walked into a

candle lit hotel because there was no

power

we had to register by hand the computers

weren’t working we went up to our room

by flashlight

all we could do was hope hope that

tomorrow would be a better day well

that’s when my wife opened up the blinds

to see if she can open up the window

because we needed some some cool night

air in this hot summer heat and that’s

when we saw it it’s immediately across

the street from the Crowne Plaza

LaGuardia was a Marriott hotel

completely lit up inquiring minds want

to know

how could there be this much light in

the midst of this much darkness no

street lights people have to use candle

lights in their home no no power in the

hotel we were staying in but this

Marriott hotel was lit up we decided

let’s go across the street and find out

what’s going on as we got close to the

Marriott hotel music was playing people

were standing outside eating there were

TVs in the foyer all on CNN discussing

how dark New York had become I found the

assistant manager and I said how can you

have this much light in the midst of

this much darkness he said it’s real

simple when we built this hotel we built

it with a gas generator so we have power

on the inside that’s not dependent upon

circumstances on the outside

I know the circumstances right now for

all of us don’t look too good and bad

news becomes really bad news that’s why

I want to give you a hopeful verse it’s

Jeremiah 29:11 God says I have a plan

for you saith the Lord he says its plans

for welfare and not for calamity to give

you a future to give you a hope I have a

plan for you saith the Lord not about

calamity it’s about a better tomorrow

now the reason why that verse is

critical B is because it’s a great verse

in a bad chapter you see when you read

the chapter you understand that things

weren’t going to good in fact in verse 4

he tells them that they were in exile

because they had departed from God and

so the conditions in which they were

living were not pleasant he goes into

economic challenges family challenges

even religious challenges that the

people were facing because of their

spiritual departure from God and so this

calamity that they were facing was bad

news but in this bad chapter I still got

a hopeful verse I have a plan for you

say that the Lord a plan for your

well-being an ideal calamity to give you

a future they give you a hope but it is

not only a bright light and a bad

chapter it’s a bright light and a bad

chap that located in a pretty negative

book if you depress don’t read Jeremiah

for devotions that’s not the book you

want to read there’s a lot of crying and

tears and sadness and judgment because

of spiritual departure yes we’re in a

bad chapter here in our nation and in

our lives we’re quarantined it’s a bad

chapter and they keep adding on weeks

don’t think this is becoming a bad book

week after week no school no job stock

market in trouble this that and the

other bad chapters becoming mmm

difficult book but in a bad

chapter located in a bad book I still

have a great verse I have a plan for you

save the Lord a plan for your well-being

and not your calamity give you a future

to give you a home what is hope hope is

the treasure in your trial hope is

joyful expectation about the future hope

means where I’m going is better than

where I came from and it’s going to

improve way I am hope says my tomorrow

is going to outpace my yesterday because

hope is always future oriented when God

gets us through this crisis like he

wants us to get through this crisis then

this will become a rearview mirror from

which we will learn as we move forward

through the windshield of where he wants

us to go oh because trust me god never

wastes a trial and this treasure of hope

in the midst of this pandemic is God

calling our attention to something

deeper than merely the medical political

financial physical and circumstantial

he’s calling us to a new place of hope

and sometimes sometimes you really don’t

get the message until things are outside

of your control I like pizza I like the

sauce I like the pepperoni I like the

sausage and all the cheese I like pizza

but if you’ve ever been to a real pizza

real you’ve seen the you’ve seen them go

through some trials they take the dough

it looks like abuse to me they balled it

up and slam it down they take a rolling

pin and mash it further I mean I really

want you know I want to I want the good

stuff but you really don’t get the good

stuff on top of the pizza until the

dough has been made

ready to receive it so everybody wants

God for the good stuff but we don’t want

to be prepared to receive it

so sometimes God allows things to ball

up to roll over us until we are

flattened to the place of spiritual

dependency that we know we need him

because we can’t fix it ourselves oh yes

it’s a great verse and a bad chapter in

a bad book but it’s full of hope God’s

treasure in our difficulty his treasure

in our triumph is that this thing we are

dealing with and how it’s affecting us

personally and our families at work a

nation a world is all designed from

God’s perspective to bring us to a new

relationship with him now how do I know

that well he goes on to tell us we all

know Jeremiah 29:11 but how about verses

12 and 13 then you will call upon me and

come and pray to me and I will listen to

you you will seek me and find me when

you search for me with all your heart

now you get it bad book bad chapter

great verse but now a condition the

condition in our trial if we want the

hope of the triumph is to run after God

like we’ve never run after God before

because he’s our best option and from

everything we’re seeing the only option

he’s saying now I want you to run after

me not just information about me when

you’re sick you don’t just need a

medical book you need a doctor when

you’re in legal trouble you don’t need a

law book you need a lawyer

when you’re surrounded by criminals you

don’t need a Penal Code you need

man or policewoman in other words you

need the personification of what is

written this is God’s book but he wants

you to look for him he doesn’t just want

a religious relationship he wants an

intimate connection he wants you to

pursue me that’s why the word me shows

up over and over and over again he wants

to bring you into an experience with him

he wants this not just to be another

religious exercise like we do when we

get in trouble and we beg to be released

from the trunk of trouble because we

don’t want him we just want relief no

this is about something much deeper than

a virus the virus we all have which is

separation from him due to our sin and

our refusal to repent and to turn from

it to him no he wants a relationship he

wants an intimacy he wants closeness God

is not interested in a fan club i he’s

not interested in a dating service he

wants a marriage he wants a ring on your

finger and on his finger solidifying

that we’ve entered into a serious

relationship you know when you go for a

job they first of all start with

information because you start with a

resume you send in your resume and you

say why you think you qualify for this

job then they want to see references

what other folks say about you who’ve

gotten to know you but after the resume

and after the time where they talk to

the references many want an interview

you know why because they want to see

you face to face the resume is great the

references are important but it’s that

interview it’s when when you a ball

eyeball that that things go to another

level God’s got a great resume it’s in

this book

sixty-six books of resume the resume is

thick he’d been doing this a long time

by the way and if you want some

references then some folk who will

testify that what’s what’s on the resume

is legit they will testify that this

that this that this resume works because

they have experienced him for themselves

but you know what this passage is

calling for it’s calling for an

interview God says I want you to seek me

pray for me pray to me call on me cry

out to me I want it to be about me I

don’t just want to be an addendum and

you go to a restaurant they first of all

show you a menu the menu gives you what

your options are sometimes you can get

succulent just on the menu the menu can

look so good you can you can feel your

tastebuds getting excited then they have

somebody to testify about the menu it’s

called a waiter waitress they’ll come

and talk about what’s on the menu and

they’ll even give you personal testimony

about what they like on the menu they’ll

even make references about what they

would suggest for you but after you’ve

read the menu after you’ve heard

somebody testify you don’t leave because

you didn’t come there to read only you

didn’t come there to hear somebody

testify you came there for the

experience because you want to now eat

God wants you to experience him that’s

why God became a man in the person of

the Lord Jesus Christ so that you could

experience him that’s why he wants you

to come to faith in Christ for eternal

life and then draw near in your

closeness and intimacy with him so that

God becomes an experience and not just a

theology or an impersonal belief system

no this is the time where God has got

some great news in a bad situation

because he wants to use this pandemic to

drive you me and us individually as

families and as a society to him he

wants to draw us near to him so that we

experience him on a whole another level

he says I have a plan for you and it’s a

great plan you know when a woman is in

labor that’s a painful situation but

there is a triumph in that trial when

that baby comes forth the labor pain is

is difficult but there’s good news in

the problem and that is the more

laborious the labor pains become the

more exciting the news that will exit

from it yep we’re going through I’m

having to do my my teaching from from my

living room because I’ve been

sequestered from my dad I I’m I’m housed

as you are and we should respect the

guidelines so that we can bring this to

an end as soon as possible but there’s

something deeper happening that is God

calling us to draw near to him from

outhouse to the White House from the

church house to your house he is calling

on you he’s calling on me to experience

good news in a bad situation hope hope

his triumph in our trial so that we can

experience something at a whole nother

level well you say what can I expect if

I let this trial this pandemic this

uncertainty this dilemma to draw me near

to God not not as an exercise of escape

alone but as a relationship to be

developed and cultivated with my Creator

through his son the Lord Jesus Christ

well he tells you in verse 14 he says

and I will be found declares the Lord

and I will restore your fortune

I will restore your fortune did you hear

that you’re in a bad situation I still

have a plan but you must look for the

planard not just the plans of the

planner and when you passionately pursue

me as a person based on my word but

you’re pursuing the author not just the

book then I’m gonna let you find me when

my kids were growing up we play hide and

seek and I’ve run it hard and they’d go

seeking I would hide for a while in a

way they couldn’t locate me that is

until they got desperate when they got

desperate daddy where are you daddy

where are you I’d make myself let me see

the word findable I would make it so

they could find me and you know why I

did that because I wanted to be wanted

yep God wants to be wanted and he allows

trials and difficulties and even

pandemics he’s not trying to hurt hurt

us he loves us but he wants us to love

him and so I want you now to use this to

pray for yourself your family and

certainly those who are hurting

due to this terrible terrible virus but

I want you to use this to draw near to

him God has an impeccable ability to

turn messes into miracles

again I can’t tell enough stories about

my my late wife Lois because so much of

my life and ministry has been has been

developed because of her her

fingerprints are kind of on everything

that has happened and will ever happen

in the life of Tony Evans

but one of her great qualities was she

was a great cook an awesome cook on

Sundays when the kids were growing up

those were huge meals those meals were

staggeringly big roast green beans you

know potatoes corn bread sweet tea she’d

make a 7-up cake it would be crazy

eating every single Sunday but now she

was also the Tupperware queen cuz after

Sunday was over she wasn’t gonna do this

again on Monday this is the Sunday so

she put all the leftovers in Tupperware

on Monday she brought out the leftovers

and reconfigured them one time she got a

casserole dish and she chopped up the

leftovers from Sunday sprinkle them in

the bottom in the casserole dish

she grated some cheese and sprinkle

grated cheese over the leftovers in the

casserole dish she took some cream of

mushroom poured some cream of mushroom

over the grated cheese that was in the

casserole dish put it in the oven served

it shucks that was the best stuff I’ve

ever had in my life you know what that

was

leftovers in the hands of a master let

me tell you something about God he can

take the leftovers the things that we

could easily discard and remix them put

a little of this and a little of that

and it’s cosmic casserole dish pour a

little cream of Holy Ghost over it and

he can still serve up a great meal

coming out of a bad situation

oh there is treasure in this trial and

it’s the trend of hope hope is where

you’re going not where you are or where

you’ve been so yeah we don’t deny

reality in the name of hope this is bad

inconvenient and even deadly but neither

do we let reality make the final

decision

because God’s got a windshield of hope

when we if we as we connect with him and

closing a little boy was shopping with

his his mother she went up the cookie

aisle and he said mommy please please

for some chocolate chip cookies

she said no you’ve had enough sweets

today no chocolate chip cookie she went

down another aisle he said but mama

please please please give me some

chocolate chip cookies she said stop

worrying I’m not getting any chocolate

chip cookies he said but mama as she

went up another aisle you don’t

understand

I need some chocolate chip cookies she

said you need a spanking coz I told you

stop worrying me about this chocolate

chip cookie she finally gets in the

checkout line as she’s in the checkout

line a little boy stands up claspers

hands and said Heavenly Father in Sunday

school last week

they taught me they taught me that if I

called on you you would meet my knee I

need some chocolate chip cookies but my

mama won’t give me any chocolate chip

cookies the adults in back of the lady

said why won’t that woman get her boy

some chocolate chip cookies the mother

got so embarrassed she went back to the

aisle got a bunch of chocolate chip

cookies and

put it in the cart the little boy stood

up and said thank you Jesus for

answering my prayer for chocolate chip

cookies I know some of you are afraid

you are discouraged you’re wearing

you’re in the checkout line before you

check out a check up call on the guard

who wants to meet you when it looks like

you’ve been denied your freedom your

health your finances and your well-being

before you check out check up because

you’ll find out that God really does

have a plan it’s a good plan it involves

your future our future and the hope

you