New Church Westville Weekly Sermon Podcast New Church Audio

And she made a vow, saying, “LORD Almighty, if you will only look on your servant’s misery and remember me, and not forget your servant but give her a son, then I will give him to the LORD for all the days of his life, and no razor will ever be used on his head.”
(1Samuel 1:11)

Have you ever seen a person who struggles with some particular evil and thought to yourself, “I’m so glad that I’ve never had to deal with that”? It helps to put our own struggles into perspective when we can see how much harder other people have it. We could put much of this up to chance: we happened to be born into a certain family, at a certain time in history, in a particular location. But on closer inspection, none of this is random chance: all of us, like it or not, incline towards the same struggles and challenges as anyone else. It is only through the Lord’s almighty power that we can be held back from falling headlong into unimaginable evils. Today we will explore the ways that the Lord fights battles on our behalf that we will never be aware of, and how much we have to be grateful for.

Everyone needs help; none of us can get through life on our own. And yet when help is available there are many times when we don’t take advantage of it. Why is that? Why especially do we not take advantage of the help that the Lord offers? We’ll explore what gets in the way and how to have a better attitude towards the help that we are given by other people.

When someone you care about is in need, you give them help. That is a good thing, obviously! But what if they don’t want our help? Or if they need a different kind of help? Or if they reject our help? Our immediate response can be hurt; after all, we are trying to help them! But if we are going to truly help people, we need to learn to make it less about us and how we are received, and more about what the person actually needs. Giving help is about the receiver, it is not about the giver.

Elijah and Elisha were two prophets who followed in quick succession. Elijah, who came first, was poorly received and lived a troubled existence. Elisha, who succeeded him, was better received and accepted by the leaders of his day. These two prophets represent two stages in our relationship with the Lord. At first we must struggle and fight to apply His truths. But as we grow and progress it becomes easier and easier, until we live His truth with hardly a second thought.

If someone called you weak, you would take it as an insult. But what about when the Lord calls you weak? Because He most certainly does: compared to Him, we are utterly powerless. And yet far from being insulted, if we embrace our own weakness, we can let down the burdens of perfection and self-reliance, and receive from the Lord a greater power than we could ever muster on our own. We may be utterly helpless, but the greatest force in the universe is on our side.