Gateway Franklin Church

To find out more about Gateway Franklin Church, visit us at gatewayfranklin.com or join us online each week at gatewayfranklin.online.

To find out more about Gateway Franklin Church, visit us at gatewayfranklin.com or join us online each week at gatewayfranklin.online.

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“Since our hope is in the person of Jesus and not in an outcome, becoming a person of hope can be learned, practiced and shared.” 

So much of where we find ourselves (personally and corporately) feels empty. 

Feelings = real but not reliable

Empty = situation/circumstance that exceeds our ability to change it 

Stress = a response to empty

Anxiety = a reaction to stress

Hope is a confident expectation anchored in the person and work of Christ.

Philippians 4:4-7 (NIV) 4 Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5 Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near 6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Psalm 33 (NIV) Sing joyfully to the Lord, you righteous; it is fitting for the upright to praise him. 2 Praise the Lord with the harp; make music to him on the ten-stringed lyre. 3 Sing to him a new song; play skillfully, and shout for joy. 4 For the word of the Lord is right and true; he is faithful in all he does. 5 The Lord loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of his unfailing love. 6 By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, their starry host by the breath of his mouth. 7 He gathers the waters of the sea into jars; he puts the deep into storehouses. 8 Let all the earth fear the Lord; let all the people of the world revere him. 9 For he spoke, and it came to be; he commanded, and it stood firm. 10 The Lord foils the plans of the nations; he thwarts the purposes of the peoples. 11 But the plans of the Lord stand firm forever, the purposes of his heart through all generations. 12 Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, the people he chose for his inheritance. 13 From heaven the Lord looks down and sees all mankind; 14 from his dwelling place he watches all who live on earth— 15 he who forms the hearts of all, who considers everything they do. 16 No king is saved by the size of his army; no warrior escapes by his great strength. 17 A horse is a vain hope for deliverance; despite all its great strength it cannot save. 18 But the eyes of the Lord are on those who fear him, on those whose hope is in his unfailing love, 19 to deliver them from death and keep them alive in famine. 20 We wait in hope for the Lord; he is our help and our shield. 21 In him our hearts rejoice for we trust in his holy name. 22 May your unfailing love be with us, Lord, even as we put our hope in you. BAAM!

“Life is not about one obstacle, but many. What’s required of us is not some shortsighted focus on a single facet of a problem, but simply a determination that we will get to where we need to go, somehow, someway, and nothing will stop us. Persistence is an action. Perseverance is a matter of will. One is energy. The other is endurance…they work in tandem with one another.” Ryan Holiday, The Obstacle Is The Way. 

Discipleship = “Long obedience in the same direction.” Eugene Peterson The Message.

“Becoming a disciple and becoming a person of hope are synonymous.” Charlie Weir

Hope Learning Curve

S-Cycle of Hope

1. Settle… the Core Issues.

 “Empty & Forgotten” 

At their heart, these are identity issues. 

1. Empty: When we perceive our situation as empty – it reflects our limited view of God’s identity. Nice guy and all but somehow lacking the power to effect change. This is a subversive Satanic attack on the sovereignty of God. 

Empty is an illusion.

Romans 4:17 (NIV) 17 As it is written: “I have made you a father of many nations.” He is our father in the sight of God, in whom he believed—the God who gives life to the dead and calls into being things that were not. 

There is a difference in belonging to a Faith, capital F, and living by faith, lowercase f. Capital F is name only. Lowercase f is movement/action. 

 “Empty & Forgotten” 

At their heart, these are identity issues. 

1. Forgotten: When we perceive ourselves as forgotten it reflects our limited view of our identity as a son and daughter of God. We can believe God loves us but also believe that with all He has to keep track of we don’t register high enough get His attention.

Forgotten is a delusion! 

Psalm 139 (NIV) You have searched me, Lord, and you know me. [intimate connection] 2 You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. 3 You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. 4 Before a word is on my tongue you, Lord, know it completely. 5 You hem me in behind and before, and you lay your hand upon me. 6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain. 7 Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? 8 If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. 9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, 10 even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. 11 If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,” 12 even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you. 13 For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. [intimate formation] 14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. 15 My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. 16 Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. 17 How precious to me are your thoughts, God! How vast is the sum of them! 18 Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand—when I awake, I am still with you. 19 If only you, God, would slay the wicked! Away from me, you who are bloodthirsty! 20 They speak of you with evil intent; your adversaries misuse your name. 21 Do I not hate those who hate you, Lord, and abhor those who are in rebellion against you? 22 I have nothing but hatred for them; I count them my enemies. 23 Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. 24 See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. [intimate trust]

The feeling of Empty will bury you. The Faith of Full will buoyance you. 

 With God, empty is an illusion and forgotten is a delusion.

Hope Learning Curve

S-Cycle of Hope

1. Settle… the Core Issues.

2. See in the Spirit  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=8&v=IGQmdoK_ZfY&feature=emb_logo

We miss what we aren’t looking for.  

2 Kings 6:8-17 (NIV) 8 Now the king of Aram was at war with Israel. After conferring with his officers, he said, “I will set up my camp in such and such a place.” 9 The man of God sent word to the king of Israel: “Beware of passing that place, because the Arameans are going down there.” 10 So the king of Israel checked on the place indicated by the man of God. Time and again Elisha warned the king, so that he was on his guard in such places. 11 This enraged the king of Aram. He summoned his officers and demanded of them, “Tell me! Which of us is on the side of the king of Israel?” 12 “None of us, my lord the king,” said one of his officers, “but Elisha, the prophet who is in Israel, tells the king of Israel the very words you speak in your bedroom.” 13 “Go, find out where he is,” the king ordered, “so I can send men and capture him.” The report came back: “He is in Dothan.” 14 Then he sent horses and chariots and a strong force there. They went by night and surrounded the city. 15 When the servant of the man of God got up and went out early the next morning, an army with horses and chariots had surrounded the city. “Oh no, my lord! What shall we do?” the servant asked. 16 “Don’t be afraid,” the prophet answered. “Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” 17 And Elisha prayed, “Open his eyes, Lord, so that he may see.” Then the Lord opened the servant’s eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.

2 Corinthians 4:7-12, 16-18 (NIV) 7 But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. 8 We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; 9 persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. 10 We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. 11 For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that his life may also be revealed in our mortal body. 12 So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you. 16 Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. 17 For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. 18 So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

The learning curve to Hope.

• Settle the Issues

• See in the Spirit

To find out more about Gateway Franklin Church, visit us at gatewayfranklin.com or join us online each week at gatewayfranklin.online.

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October 29th, 2023

Filling the Empty We Create

To change “that” we have to change us.

Mercy is not getting what you deserve. 

Grace is receiving what you couldn’t earn. 

Luke 15:11b-12“There was a man who had two sons. 12 The younger one said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’ So, he divided his property between them. 

Luke 15:13-16 13 “Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. 14 After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. 15 So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. 16 He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything.

When you decide to walk away from the people who love you and the God who loves you, it’s not a short walk. 

Squandered = “spending money or resources freely and recklessly; wastefully extravagant.” The Oxford Dictionary

Luke 15:17-20 17 “When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! 18 I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. 19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants.’ 20 So he got up and went to his father.

The Greek word for resurrection literally means “to stand up”.  

• Repentance is the only path to Resurrections. 

Turning around is the only thing that leads to standing up.

• Resurrections always follow Repentance! 

Turning around always leads to standing up.

• Resurrections always produce more life than we could have ever dreamed. There is always more life in turning around and standing up than doubling down and staying put.

Luke 15:20b “But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him. 

Luke 15:21-24 21 “The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ 22 “But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. 23 Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. 24 For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So, they began to celebrate.

• The robe restored his security.

• The ring restored his identity. 

• The celebration restored his significance. 

Repentance is so much deeper than an “I am sorry” response – it is a returning action. Resurrections are much deeper than, “second chances” -they are fresh starts and full starts.”

Hope for Prodigals

1. Leave an open door. 

2. Practice benevolent detachment. 

3. Embrace a Work/Watch balance. 

4. Trust God with the “ahhas”. 

To find out more about Gateway Franklin Church, visit us at gatewayfranklin.com or join us online each week at gatewayfranklin.online.

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October 15th, 2023

God has always done His best work when His people were outnumbered, outgunned and outmaneuvered. 

Your God given identity, purpose and promises are worth fighting for – don’t give up or give them away! 

2 Chronicles 20:1-4

After this, the Moabites and Ammonites with some of the Meunites came to wage war against Jehoshaphat. 2 Some people came and told Jehoshaphat, “A vast army is coming against you from Edom, from the other side of the Dead Sea. It is already in Hazezon Tamar” (that is, En Gedi). 3 Alarmed, Jehoshaphat resolved to inquire of the Lord, and he proclaimed a fast for all Judah. 4 The people of Judah came together to seek help from the Lord; indeed, they came from every town in Judah to seek him.

Fight Rules

1. Fight with Fasting and Prayer. 

“Empty is an illusion” but… it might as well be real if we don’t invite God and others to participate in our surrounded. 

2 Chronicles 20:5-13

5 Then Jehoshaphat stood up in the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem at the temple of the Lord in the front of the new courtyard 6 and said: “Lord, the God of our ancestors, are you not the God who is in heaven? You rule over all the kingdoms of the nations. Power and might are in your hand, and no one can withstand you. 7 Our God, did you not drive out the inhabitants of this land before your people Israel and give it forever to the descendants of Abraham your friend? 8 They have lived in it and have built in it a sanctuary for your Name, saying, 9 ‘If calamity comes upon us, whether the sword of judgment, or plague or famine, we will stand in your presence before this temple that bears your Name and will cry out to you in our distress, and you will hear us and save us.’10 “But now here are men from Ammon, Moab and Mount Seir, whose territory you would not allow Israel to invade when they came from Egypt; so they turned away from them and did not destroy them. 11 See how they are repaying us by coming to drive us out of the possession you gave us as an inheritance. 

Fight Rules

1. Fight with Fasting and Prayer. 

2. Fight in God’s Power. 

Increased hope (confident expectation anchored in the person of Jesus) reduces current stress. What God did, God still does! 

2 Chronicles:12-13

12 Our God, will you not judge them? For we have no power to face this vast army that is attacking us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you.”13 All the men of Judah, with their wives and children and little ones, stood there before the Lord.

Fight Rules

1. Fight with Fasting and Prayer. 

2. Fight in God’s Power. 

3. Fight Still. 

Stillness before the Lord isn’t inactivity, it is anticipation. 

2 Chronicles 20:14-17

14 Then the Spirit of the Lord came on Jahaziel son of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the son of Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah, a Levite and descendant of Asaph, as he stood in the assembly. 15 He said: “Listen, King Jehoshaphat and all who live in Judah and Jerusalem! This is what the Lord says to you: ‘Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army. For the battle is not yours, but God’s. 16 Tomorrow march down against them. They will be climbing up by the Pass of Ziz, and you will find them at the end of the gorge in the Desert of Jeruel. 17 You will not have to fight this battle. Take up your positions; stand firm and see the deliverance the Lord will give you, Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Go out to face them tomorrow, and the Lord will be with you.’”

Many times, God answers our prayers through the most unexpected and unanticipated ways…He’s God.

God’s Delivery Method of Hope

1. God’s words deliver hope. “Do not be afraid or discouraged.” 

God’s Deliver Method of Hope

1. God’s words deliver hope. “Do not be afraid or discouraged.” 

2. God shoulders the responsibility of outcomes.  For the battle is not yours, but God’s. 

God’s Deliver Method of Hope

1. God’s words deliver hope. “Do not be afraid or discouraged.” 

2. God shoulders the responsibility of outcomes.  For the battle is not yours, but God’s. 

3. God directs partnership actions. “Here is where you will find them. Here is how you get there.” 

Hope isn’t a shot in the dark.

Psalm 37:23-24 (The Message) Stalwart walks in step with GOD; his path blazed by GOD, he’s happy. If he stumbles, he’s not down for long; GOD has a grip on his hand.

A Hope Partnership Counteracts… 

1. Outnumbered: I’m in this all by myself. God’s word confirms His presence.

2. Outgunned: I’m weaker than the force against me. God’s promises secure outcomes.

3. Out of Options: I don’t know what to do next. We get a front row seat to His glory!

2 Chronicles 20:18-21
18 Jehoshaphat bowed down with his face to the ground, and all the people of Judah and Jerusalem fell down in worship before the Lord. 19 Then some Levites from the Kohathites and Korahites stood up and praised the Lord, the God of Israel, with a very loud voice. 20 Early in the morning they left for the Desert of Tekoa. As they set out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, “Listen to me, Judah and people of Jerusalem! Have faith in the Lord your God and you will be upheld; have faith in his prophets and you will be successful.” 21 After consulting the people, Jehoshaphat appointed men to sing to the Lord and to praise him for the splendor of his holiness as they went out at the head of the army, saying: “Give thanks to the Lord, for his love endures forever.”

The Appropriate Response to a Hope Promise. 

1. Worship. Worship is hope regained.

2. Praise. Praise is hope believed. 

3. Movement. Movement is hope in action.

The Power of Movement
1. Movement Activates Partnership

2 Chronicles 20:22-26
22 As they began to sing and praise, the Lord set ambushes against the men of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir who were invading Judah, and they were defeated. 23 The Ammonites and Moabites rose up against the men from Mount Seir to destroy and annihilate them. After they finished slaughtering the men from Seir, they helped to destroy one another. 24 When the men of Judah came to the place that overlooks the desert and looked toward the vast army, they saw only dead bodies lying on the ground; no one had escaped. 25 So Jehoshaphat and his men went to carry off their plunder, and they found among them a great amount of equipment and clothing and also articles of value—more than they could take away. There was so much plunder that it took three days to collect it. 26 On the fourth day they assembled in the Valley of Berakah, where they praised the Lord. This is why it is called the Valley of Berakah to this day.

The Power of Movement 

1. Movement Activates the God Partnership.

2. Hope-filled Movement Puts Our Enemies on Notice.

2 Chronicles 20:27-30 27 Then, led by Jehoshaphat, all the men of Judah and Jerusalem returned joyfully to Jerusalem, for the Lord had given them cause to rejoice over their enemies. 28 They entered Jerusalem and went to the temple of the Lord with harps and lyres and trumpets. 29 The fear of God came on all the surrounding kingdoms when they heard how the Lord had fought against the enemies of Israel. 30 And the kingdom of Jehoshaphat was at peace, for his God had given him rest on every side.

What’s your version of this prayer… 

6 “Lord, the God of our ancestors, are you not the God who is in heaven? You rule over all the kingdoms of the nations. Power and might are in your hand, and no one can withstand you. 12 Our God, will you not judge them? For we have no power to face this vast army that is attacking us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you.

To find out more about Gateway Franklin Church, visit us at gatewayfranklin.com or join us online each week at gatewayfranklin.online.

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4 Foundational Hope in Empty Places Precepts

1. Trust truth over feelings. (John 14:6)

2. Empty is an illusion. (Genesis 1:1-3). 

3. Hope is an anchor. (Hebrews 6:19)

4. Forgotten is an illusion. (Exodus 3)

Pain doesn’t have to derail hope it can define and refine hope. 

Life is lived and learned in the presence of pain not the absence of pain. So, we all need a better understanding (theology) of pain. 

Job’s life wasn’t marked so much by patience as it was by his perseverance and faith in the midst of excruciating pain. 

Job 1:1 (NIV) 1 In the land of Uz there lived a man whose name was Job. This man was blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil. 

Job 1:6-12 (NIV) 6 One day the angels came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came with them. 7 The Lord said to Satan, “Where have you come from?” Satan answered the Lord, “From roaming throughout the earth, going back and forth on it.” 8 Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears  God and shuns evil.” 9 “Does Job fear God for nothing?” Satan replied. 10 “Have you not put a hedge around him and his household and everything he has? You have blessed the work of his hands, so that his flocks and herds are spread throughout the land. 11 But now stretch out your hand and strike everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face.” 12 The Lord said to Satan, “Very well, then, everything he has is in your power, but on the man himself do not lay a finger.” Then Satan went out from the presence of the Lord.

Is your hope in God tied more to His performance for you or His purposes for you?

Job 1:20-22 (NIV) 20 At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship 21 and said: “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised.” 22 In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing.

So often in hardship we look for someone to blame as if it makes the pain of suffering easier... it doesn’t especially if the person we blame is the only one capable of refilling our empty.

Job 2:2-10 (NIV) 2 On another day the angels came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came with them to present himself before him. 2 And the Lord said to Satan, “Where have you come from?” Satan answered the Lord, “From roaming throughout the earth, going back and forth on it.” 3 Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil. And he still maintains his integrity, though you incited me against him to ruin him without any reason.” 4 “Skin for skin!” Satan replied. “A man will give all he has for his own life. 5 But now stretch out your hand and strike his flesh and bones, and he will surely curse you to your face.” 6 The Lord said to Satan, “Very well, then, he is in your hands; but you must spare his life.” 7 So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord and afflicted Job with painful sores from the soles of his feet to the crown of his head. 8 Then Job took a piece of broken pottery and scraped himself with it as he sat among the ashes. 9 His wife said to him, “Are you still maintaining your integrity? Curse God and die!” 10 He replied, “You are talking like a foolish woman. Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?” In all this, Job did not sin in what he said.

God can be trusted in all circumstances. Do you believe this? If you lived like you believed this how would that change your perspective of what you are in now or next?

Tread lightly in the blame game. Blaming God doesn’t bring you any closer to answers or to God, it can create more distance to both.

Job 40:2-5 (NIV) 2 “Will the one who contends with the Almighty correct him? Let him who accuses God answer him!” 3 Then Job answered the Lord: 4 “I am unworthy—how can I reply to you? I put my hand over my mouth. 5 I spoke once, but I have no answer— twice, but I will say no more.” Good answer. Job concludes his responses in 42:1-6 Then Job replied to the Lord: 2 “I know that you can do all things; no purpose of yours can be thwarted. 3 You asked, ‘Who is this that obscures my plans without knowledge?’ Surely, I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know. 4 “You said, ‘Listen now, and I will speak; I will question you, and you shall answer me.’ 5 My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you. 6 Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes.” 

To understand the scope of who God is we have to experience Him in both abundance and scarcity. Satan wants to derail your hope in your pain. God can take that same pain and shape you and cement your trust and relationship with Him.

“Pain insists upon being attended to. God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pain: it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world.” 

C.S. Lewis The Problem of Pain.

7 Scriptural Truths to Brings Courage and Hope into Your Pain 

1. Jesus himself experienced pain. Isaiah 53

2. Pain has an eternal purpose. John 9

• We have to trust His eternal purposes more than we trust our temporary experiences in empty places. 

3. Pain shapes hope. 

Romans 5:1-5 (NIV) Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.

4. Pain has a weight and time limit. 

2 Corinthians 4:7-12, 16-18 (NIV) 7 But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. 8 We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; 9 persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. 10 We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. 11 For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that his life may also be revealed in our mortal body. 12 So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you. (our suffering is producing life in you) 16 Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. 17 For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. 18 So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

5. Pain taps Christ’s strength. 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 (NIV) 

9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 10 That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

6. We sit in pain but Christ sits in us. 

Colossians 1:3-6, 24-29 (Amplified) 3 We give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, as we pray always for you, 4 for we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus [how you lean on Him with absolute confidence in His power, wisdom, and goodness], and of the [unselfish] love which you have for all the saints (God’s people); 5 because of the [confident] hope [of experiencing that] which is reserved and waiting for you in heaven. You previously heard of this hope in the message of truth, the gospel [regarding salvation] 6 which has come to you. Indeed, just as in the whole world the gospel is constantly bearing fruit and spreading [by God’s power], just as it has been doing among you ever since the day you first heard of it and understood the grace of God in truth [becoming thoroughly and deeply acquainted with it]. 

24 Now I rejoice in my sufferings (empty) on your behalf. And with my own body I supplement whatever is lacking [on our part] of Christ’s afflictions, on behalf of His body, which is the church. 25 In this church I was made a minister according to the stewardship which God entrusted to me for your sake, so that I might make the word of God fully known [among you]— 26 that is, the mystery which was hidden [from angels and mankind] for ages and generations, but has now been revealed to His saints (God’s people). 27 God [in His eternal plan] chose to make known to them how great for the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in and among you, the hope and guarantee of [realizing the] glory. 28 We proclaim Him, warning and instructing everyone in all wisdom [that is, with comprehensive insight into the word and purposes of God], so that we may present every person complete in Christ [mature, fully trained, and perfect in Him—the Anointed] (full). 29 For this I labor [often to the point of exhaustion], striving with His power and energy, which so greatly works within me.

7. Pain isn’t the end; its end is blessing. 

James 5:11 (Amplified) 11 You know we call those blessed [happy, spiritually prosperous, favored by God] who were steadfast and endured [difficult circumstances]. You have heard of the patient endurance of Job and you have seen the Lord’s outcome [how He richly blessed Job]. The Lord is full of compassion and is merciful.

7 Scriptural Truths to Brings Courage and Hope into Your Pain 

1. Jesus himself experienced pain. Isaiah 53

2. Pain has an eternal purpose. John 9

3. Pain shapes hope. Romans 5:1-5 

4. Pain has a weight and time limit. 2 Corinthians 4:7-12, 16-18 

5. Pain taps Christ’s strength. 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 

6. We sit in pain but Christ sits in us. Colossians 1:3-6, 24-29 

7. Pain isn’t the end; its end is blessing. James 5:11 

Your pain isn’t evidence that the place you are in is empty. Your pain is evidence that the consequences of sin are real. But praise be to God His Grace is greater than our pain!!