The world is full of desperate people. People who are desperate will do almost anything. What are we desperate for?
Have you ever felt desperate? Are you desperate today?
I. Desperation is a Condition of Life – it is “normal” to be desperate
Everyone gets desperate – the Bible is full of desperate people. "Listen to my cry, for I am in desperate need; rescue me from those who pursue me, for they are too strong for me" (Ps.42:6).
"I'm in a desperate situation!" David replied to God. "But let us fall into the hands of Yahweh, for his mercy is great. Do not let me fall into human hands" (2 Samuel 24:14).
As hard as your life may seem, someone else probably has it worse.
Sometimes we feel like God has brought us to a place of desperation. "You have shown your people desperate times; you have given us wine that makes us stagger" (Ps.60:3).
Sometimes it seems like nothing is working right. "In the day shall you make your plant to grow, and in the morning shall you make your seed to flourish: but the harvest shall be a heap in the day of grief and of desperate sorrow" (Isaiah 17:11).
Sometimes we are desperate because of choices made by other people. "Fearing for their lives, the desperate sailors shouted to their gods for help and threw the cargo overboard to lighten the ship. But all this time Jonah was sound asleep down in the hold"
(Jonah 1:5). "Do not hold against us the sins of the fathers; may your mercy come quickly to meet us, for we are in desperate need" (Psalm 79:8).
Sometimes it seems like our desperation will not go away. "Why is my sorrow become perpetual, and my wound desperate so as to refuse to be healed? it is become to me as the falsehood of deceitful waters that cannot be trusted" (Jeremiah 15:18). "I have been sick and close to death since my youth. I stand helpless and desperate before your terrors" (Psalm 88:15).
The problem is not that we are desperate, but what we do with our desperation.
II. How should we respond to desperation?
Psalm 60 – David is surrounded by enemies in every direction. Resistance is heavy.
Oh restore us again! Cry out to Yahweh for restoration.
Heal its breaches, for it is shaking. Only Yahweh can heal our land. Wave the banner of Yahweh’s truth: Desperation should bring us to Yahweh’s Word.
Your beloved may be delivered – Even in the most desperate times, we need to remember that Yahweh loves us. We need to listen for His voice...hear Him call our names.
Yahweh has spoken in His Holiness - A prophetic message – Yahweh has a plan when are desperate.
"Yahweh your Elohim (God) is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing" (Zeph.3:17).
"Gilead Is Mine! Elohim (God) knows what (and who) belongs to Him. But now thus said Yahweh that created you, O Jacob, and he that formed you, O Israel, Fear not: for I have redeemed you, I have called you by your name; you are mine" (Isaiah 43:1).
Who will bring me to the strong city? We can find security and safety can only in Yahweh.
Through Yahweh we will do valiantly!!! There is hope for the desperate.
Every problem is an opportunity to prove Yahweh's power. Every day we encounter countless golden opportunities, brilliantly disguised as insurmountable problems.
(C. Swindoll, One Step Forward, Two)
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