From His Heart

Speaker 1

Today on From His Heart with Pastor Jeff Shreve, we'll learn how to shine light in the dark times of life.

Speaker 2

Psalm 13 teaches us so much about life, about the dark times. We know David was in a dark, dark time in life because he says these words in Psalm 13: "Give me light in the darkness, lest I die."

Maybe you're going through a dark time, or maybe you just came out of a dark time. Or you know what? Maybe a dark time is coming up on the horizon. All of us can relate to dark times.

So let's learn from Psalm 13 what to do.

Speaker 1

Everyone goes through dark times. But when you do and God seems like he's a million miles away, do you question him? If so, should you?

Welcome to From His Heart with Pastor Jeff Shreve, where today we explore how to relate to God when the dark times come. And they will come, if they haven't already. You see, God's Word has much to teach us about going through struggles.

Today's inspiring message from Pastor Jeff will remind us that we are to rejoice and rest in the hope of the Lord even in the dark times. That's the title of the lesson today. It's from the series Roller Coaster Facing the Ups and Downs of Life.

Open your Bible now to the 13th chapter of Psalms. Here's Pastor Jeff Shreve with the message that will fill your heart with hope, especially if your journey is taking you through some incredibly dark times.

Speaker 2

We go through pitch black times in life. We go through dark times in life. We go through times when it seems like the bottom has dropped out and God seems like he's a million miles away. David had a time like that. We know David was in a dark, dark time in life because he says these words in Psalm 13: "Give me light in the darkness, lest I die." It was so dark for him.

So, here are three insights from Psalm 13 about dark times.

**Insight number one:** In the dark times, we can easily begin to question. We question in the dark times. Look at verses 1 and 2: "How long, O Lord, will you forget me forever? Will you hide your face? How long will you hide your face from me? How long shall I take counsel in my soul, having sorrow in my heart all the day? How long will my enemy be exalted over me?" Maybe you're in a dark place today, and God is saying, "I want to do a work in that situation in your life." "How long, O Lord?" It's as long as it needs to be for me to teach you some lessons that I can't teach you on the mountaintop. I can only teach you that in the valley. So, in the dark times, we can often begin to question, "How long, O Lord?"

**Insight number two:** In the dark times, we can often begin to despair. We go from questioning, "Does God even care about me?" And the longer that you start to run that through your mind, the easier it is to slide into this desperation. When you allow yourself to move from questions into despair and let the darkness really seep into your soul, you fall into a place of depression. You start to live in sorrow all the day, just like David said. The word "sorrow" literally means affliction, grief, anguish.

Now here's David, and he's been promised so much: "You're anointed king. You're going to be the king of Israel." Well, when is that going to happen? God doesn't tell him when, and he begins to live in sorrow. It makes sense; it's understandable that he was feeling that way. It's normal and natural for him to feel that way, but it's not right. Yes, his circumstances are bad, but God didn't want him to live in sorrow all the day.

You know one of the most famous psalms, Psalm 23, was written by David. It's the Shepherd's psalm: "The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want." In Psalm 23, he says these words in verse 4: "Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, because you are with me." Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I don't live in the valley of the shadow of death. I don't set up shop in the valley of the shadow of death. I don't put down my tent pegs in the dark valley of the shadow of death. No, I'm going through the valley of the shadow of death.

He had sorrow in his heart all the day, and he was beginning to live there in the place of sorrow. God doesn't want you to live in the place of sorrow. You don't put down your tent pegs in the valley of the shadow of death. The God who led you to it wants to lead you through it. And here's David, and he's getting close now. He's just talking about feelings here. This is how he felt. He felt like it's just not getting any better. "I have sorrow in my heart all the day."

You know, the Bible speaks of joy for the child of God far more than it speaks of happiness for the child of God. Although the Bible does speak of happiness when Jesus gave the Beatitudes: "Blessed are the ones who are this way and this way and this way." The word "makarios" means to be happy. So, the Lord is interested in our happiness, but far more interested in us having joy.

You say, "What's the difference between happiness and joy?" They're not synonyms; they're two different things. Here's the difference: Happiness has to do with happenstance. It has to do with what is happening to you. If your circumstances are good, you're happy. If your circumstances are bad, you're unhappy. Happiness is kind of like a thermometer; it registers conditions. Joy is like a thermostat; it regulates conditions. It says, "This is the way this is going to be. I'm setting the temperature this way." Happiness is just what's on the surface; it goes up and down based on circumstances. Joy can be constant, even in the midst of suffering and sadness.

So, some of you need to pull up your tent pegs because you have settled down in the dark valley of the shadow of death, and God doesn't want you to do that. No, no, no, I didn't send you there to stay there. I put you in it so you could go through it. And we're coming through on the other side. But hey, when feelings are just all over the place, you start to despair. You live in sorrow, and you start to wonder if you can go on.

You know, when you put down the tent pegs in the dark valley of the shadow of death, and all you see is darkness, and that's all you see on the horizon is darkness, then you wonder, "Can I keep doing this? I don't want to keep doing this. I mean, there is no hope for me." And that's why David prayed, "Give me light." In the Living Bible, it says, "Give me light in my darkness, lest I die." "Lord, enlighten my eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death. God, I need for you to show me that you're still at work in my life."

God is good. When we pray honest prayers, this is an honest revealing of David's heart. This is an honest prayer. God is good to hear that when we pray like that, when we just say, "Lord, I'm just flooded with all these feelings and all these emotions." God knew that he was in a dark place; the Lord wasn't caught by surprise. He led David there. Why? Because it's in the valley that he grows. And God was growing up the king of Israel, the king through whom his son was going to come.

Listen, if God wants to grow a mushroom, he can do that overnight. If he wants to grow a mighty oak tree, that takes some time. You know, you can come over to my house, and you say, "Well, I want to have dinner with you, Jeff." And I say, "Okay, let me put in a Pop Tart." It doesn't take very long to put in a Pop Tart. It's not much of a meal, right? A Pop Tart and water. But if I say I'm going to really cook for you—well, not me, but Debbie, she's going to really cook for you—she takes time to put on a gourmet meal.

God is at work building a masterpiece. He's not wanting any mushroom Christians; he wants some oak tree Christians. The scripture says in Isaiah 64 that we would be oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he may be glorified. So, God is at work. Why so long? Because God is at work, and he's at work in the crock pot.

You say, "Lord, but I can't go on. Give me light in my darkness lest I die." And God is faithful to give you some light. He has done that in my life when the times were tough and it got really, really dark. I said, "Oh God." One of my favorite prayers is Psalm 86, verse 17. It says this: "Show me a sign for good that those who hate me may see it and be ashamed." "Lord, show me a sign for good today that you would show me that you know where I am, that you know what's going on. God, I need an email. I need a phone call. I need a friend to contact me. I need something. I need some card in the mail. I need something from heaven that would let me know that you know exactly where I am, that you haven't forgotten me, that you haven't put me on the shelf and closed the door."

And God has been so faithful to bring that light in my darkness. Listen, when we're in the darkness, pray, "Oh Lord, show me a sign for good." And, "Lord, help me to be a sign for good to other people."

Speaker 1

See, it's not just about getting our needs met and seeing light in our darkness, but helping others see that light of God's goodness as well. Pastor Jeff Shreve returns from his heart in just a moment to explain exactly how our faith is put into action. Stay with us everyone; I mean everyone goes through dark times and can really get discouraged. Have you been there? Are you there now? Do you know someone who is?

This month on From His Heart, Pastor Jeff is in his eight-lesson series, "Roller Coaster: Facing the Ups and Downs of Life." You can get your copy of this resource at fromhisheart.org and click the Listen link. You'll discover how to emerge from the dark times in your life, trusting and striving for that bright future ahead.

Of course, one of the main reasons for discouragement in this life is when we don't put all of our lives, all of our thoughts, all of our efforts toward trusting the truth we find in God's Word; our faith wavers. God's Word has much to teach us about going through struggles. And that's what we'd like to help you with too by sending you Pastor Jeff's series "Nothing but the Truth" and his booklet "Sticks" and what to do when the Going Gets Tough.

For your support of any amount, we'd like to send you this series and this booklet. To get yours, call 866-40-BIBLE (866-40-BIBLE) or go online to fromhisheart.org. God bless you for joining in this effort to use broadcast media and online outreach to bring people to Christ and encourage the saints around the world.

Now let's get back to the conclusion of this hope-filled lesson about dealing with the dark times of life. Here again is Pastor Jeff.

Speaker 2

In the dark times, we begin to question. In the dark times, we begin to despair. But now here's where faith comes in. In the dark times, we can put our faith into action. David goes on for four verses about how he feels so cut off from God. And then he says in verse five, "But I have trusted in your loving kindness. My heart shall rejoice in your salvation. I will sing to the Lord because he has dealt bountifully with me."

But all this is going on while I'm in this dark place. God feels a million miles away. It feels like he's forgotten me; it feels like he's hiding his face from me. I just have sorrow in my heart all the day. That's just how he feels. But here's the way it's going to be. Campus Crusade years ago came up with their little Four Spiritual Laws track, which included a diagram that talks about three things: fact, faith, and feelings. That's how a Christian is to live. We're to walk by faith and not by sight.

But faith is not faith in faith; it's faith in fact. It's faith that's rooted in the truths of the word of God. It's rooted in an empty tomb in Jerusalem. And that is a fact: Jesus died, and Jesus rose again from the dead. He conquered death, hell, and the grave. We put our faith in that fact, and I'm going to live by faith in the truth, in the fact of the word of God.

But I have trusted, as it says in verse five, in your loving kindness. See, we can trust in God's unfailing love. The rock doesn't move, and his word is true; his love can't be undone. We sang that God's unfailing love. I'm going to trust, Lord, even though I feel like you've forgotten me. I'm not letting feelings control things here. I'm going to walk by faith and not by sight, and feelings, you take a back seat. Because I trust that you love me.

Listen, this is so true: God's love is unfailing. God's love can't be outdone. And God proved his love to you and to me. Romans 5:8 says, "But God demonstrates his own love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us."

Hey, many of us, you know what we do? We base the love of God on circumstances. We base it on our happiness, on our happenstance. When things are going good, we say, "Well, things are going good; God must love me." And then when things aren't going good, we think, "Well, God must not love me anymore. I must have done something to tick God off." Then things turn around because it's a roller coaster, and all of a sudden we're up again. "Whoa, I guess God loves me again."

God's not like that. You know, I've told you before, many of us have a daisy theology: "He loves me, he loves me not. He loves me, he loves me not." We go through life like that. Hey, his love can't be undone. His love is constant, and you need to trust in his love.

You know, sometimes you end up in a dark place because of circumstances outside of your control. A loved one dies of cancer, this thing happens, that thing happens—way outside of your control. You get hit by an 18-wheeler, a drunk driver, or something like that—way outside of your control. And you're in a dark place. But other times, you're like the prodigal son, and you leave the Father and willfully go out on your own to do your own thing, and you end up in a dark place called a pigsty.

At the pigsty, you say, "Surely God can't love me. No way can God love me. Look what I did." I mean, when I end up in a dark place and it's not any fault of my own, so to speak, I can kind of reason, "Well, it doesn't feel like God loves me, but I hadn't done anything that I can think of for God not to love me." You know, we base it on performance. But when you deliberately end up at the pigsty, you say, "Well, God doesn't love me anymore. Who would? I don't love me anymore."

God says, "I still love you. Because when you were a sinner separated from me, that's when I gave my son for you." But God demonstrates his own love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. There's nothing that you can do to get God to love you any less, and there's nothing you can do to get him to love you any more. So why don't you do what David did and, by faith, just say, "I have trusted in your loyal, faithful love for me." We can do that.

And then we can rejoice in God's miraculous salvation. My heart, he says in verse five, shall rejoice in your salvation. Salvation is a miraculous thing. And no matter what's going on in your life as a believer, you can rejoice in the fact that you belong to him, that your heart's not a hotel with checkout time at 12 noon. The Lord doesn't come in and say, "Oh, this is a dirty place now. I'm leaving." No, he comes in. And Jesus said, when the Holy Spirit comes into a life, he comes in forever. He will be with you forever. Forever, he will be in you, with you, and in you.

And so we can rejoice, no matter what's going on; our hearts can rejoice in God's salvation, in the fact that we belong to Him. It says in Colossians, "For he delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins."

We're here in the domain of darkness, and all of a sudden, when we cry out to Jesus, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me," we see our sinfulness. We turn from our sin and we turn to the Savior. He pulls us spiritually out of the domain of darkness and transfers us into the kingdom of his beloved Son. The only way he did that was through the blood of his cross. And my heart shall rejoice in his salvation. I don't care what's going on; I'm my beloved's and he is mine. His banner over me is love. My citizenship is in heaven, from which we eagerly wait for a savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.

And lastly, we can sing of God's goodness to us. In verse six, David says, "I will sing to the Lord." Why, David? "Because he has dealt bountifully with me. He has been good to me." Hey, I thought you were in a dark place. "I am in a dark place. But God has been good to me." I'm going through a dark time; I'm going through a valley. But God has been good to me. And I'm going to open my mouth and sing.

It's kind of like Paul and Silas when they were in Philippi and they were beaten for sharing the gospel. About midnight, they began singing, praying, and singing hymns of praise because God had been good to them. Has God been good to you? The scripture says of God, "Who delivered us from so great a death and does deliver; in whom we have set our trust, he will yet deliver us." God is a deliverer. He has delivered; he does deliver; he will yet deliver. And one day, the deliverance will be that he will take you all the way to glory. He'll deliver you from every evil deed. So you can sing. And there's power when you sing praises even through a heart that's hurting.

Let me close with this story. Years ago, I heard about a man and his daughter. His wife had passed away, and he was caring for his young six-year-old daughter by himself. They had the funeral, and it was such a sad day—a dark day for them. They came home, and the house just seemed so quiet and so empty. At nighttime, he put his little girl to bed. She didn't stay in her bed very long when she came into the father's room and said, "Daddy, can I stay with you tonight?" He said, "Yes."

They got in bed, the lights were off, and she said, "Daddy, it's so dark." He said, "I know." She asked, "Daddy, is your face toward me?" He said, "Yes, darling, my face is towards you." She then said, "Daddy, you can love me even through the dark, can't you?" He replied, "Yes, darling, I can love you even through the dark." She went to sleep, but that father couldn't. He slipped out of bed and got down on his knees, saying, "Father, it's so dark."

The Lord spoke to his heart and said, "I know." He asked, "God, is your face toward me?" The Lord replied, "Yes, my face is toward you." He then asked, "God, can you love me even through the darkness?" And God said, "Yes, my child, I can love you even through the darkness." That father got back in bed and slept in peace.

Listen, God knows about your darkness, and his face is toward you. He can love you even through the darkness. And he asks this question: Will you trust me?

Speaker 1

What a message of encouragement to the soul. The soul that wonders if darkness will ever subside. You know now that it will. You've been listening to the message "Dark Times" on From His Heart with Pastor Jeff Shreve and the series "Roller Coaster: Facing the Ups and Downs of Life."

Do you know someone who'd benefit from hearing today's lesson? Someone who may not be sure that God cares about their situation. Their pain is too ongoing, and God seems to be absent. You can point them to From His Heart's website and the Listen tab, where they can listen again or download a free MP3 of this broadcast along with the sermon outline notes from Pastor Jeff. It's free, of course.

Now, you heard part two of this message today, and it's from the eight-lesson series "Roller Coaster: Facing the Ups and Downs of Life." You can go to fromhisheart.org, click the listen link to listen again, or to send the link to a friend who also is hurting, just go to fromhisheart.org.

Hey, thank you for joining us today on From His Heart. I'm Larry Nobles, and we trust that you'll be able to be here next time for another uplifting message from the Ups and Downs of Life series called "Hey, What's the Deal, God?" Join us on Thursday as we learn to get off the roller coaster of doubt, that's right here on From His Heart.

Speaker 2

There is tremendous truth. There is hope that you always dream love he can heal Every scarlet love will hold.

Speaker 1

From His Heart is the listener-supported broadcast ministry of Dr. Jeff Shreve, speaking the truth in love to a lost and hurting world.

Remember, no matter what, God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life.

Find out more. Go to fromhisheart.org.