You Matter

Have you ever heard someome say that God does not care about me or what I am going through? Maybe it is you who have said this. Maybe you have been so hurt or so damaged that it is hard to see anything good in your world. The loss of a loved one or the pain from addictions. Death, addiction, financial ruin, broken relationships all can bring us to this point of feeling like we are out here all alone with no hope of rescue. The devil and his schemes are centered around runining the image of God in our eyes, he desires to kill us and to destroy the hope we have in Christ. The devil wants our perspective to be one sided and to center us on the fact that God allowed pain to come into our lives. It is so important that we take a step outside of our pain and view life from the perspective of God’s faithfulness to His Children. It is said that if the only tool you have is a hammer you tend to see every problem as a nail. Persepctive is everything and it is important for us to understand that we matter so much to our God and He cares for us in ways we will never understand. Today we will look into 3 aspects of How the Lord Cares for us.

The Lord cares for our pain, The Lord cares for our perspective, The Lord cares for us in His plan

The Lord cares for our pain

There are those that will tell you that God does not care about individuals and that He is distant and just a big man in the clouds. This is the furthest truth for our God. Read with me John 11:32-35

John 11:32–35 ESV

Now when Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet, saying to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled. And he said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Lord, come and see.” Jesus wept.

There is a sense that Jesus wept becasue of Lazarus dying and this may have a stance as Jesus did love Lazarus very much. I want to challenge this perspective though becasue the scriptures indicate that Jesus was overwhelmed with grief for Mary and the Jews that were with her. Jesus was in pain becasue of the pain He saw Mary and the others going through. This is the case with our Lord. He does care about our hurts and pains, he weeps for us and for our pain. The reason we are performing this sermon virtually this week is becasue of the sickness that has gone through my home this week and with that comes doctor visits and visits to the ER. I am the type of parent that doctors have a difficult time with. Not because I argue with their expertise or experience but becasue I am a cryer. My children often times look at me puzzled by my crying. They are the ones getting the shot and I am the one needing the cleanex. Im not weak in the knees I can handle needles but seeing the pain that often causes my children brings me to my knees and I cant stand to see my children hurt. Many of you are probably in the same boat and I know there are those tough types out there that nothing outwardly gets you, but I know it gets you on the inside you are crying and in pain when you see the pain that your children go through at the doctor. The pain we go through is of concern to our Father.

Psalm 147:3 ESV

He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.

Revelation 21:4 ESV

He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”

Genesis 6:5–6 ESV

The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And the Lord regretted that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart.

The pain caused by the evil in this world causes great pain to our Father and when you are affected by sin in this workd it greives our Father. The pain Mary and the others were feeling mattered to Jesus and you matter to Jesus. You may not feel like anyone cares about you or your pain but God cares, Jesus cares, and we here at Highlands Baptist care. We care for the family we have here in this building we care for the family we have worshiping with us at home and we care for our neighbors and friends. You matter and your pain matters. Thankfuly your story does not stop with your pain. The Lord also cares about your persepective.

The Lord cares about our persepctive

Perspective changes everything and it is the centeral theme of this story.

John 11:32–33 ESV

Mary’s statement to Jesus was that Lord if you were here this would not have happened. This troubled the Lord. Yes there was sadness from the pain that Mary was feeling and from the pain that others were feeling at the death of Lazarus but the truth of the matter is that Jesus was greatly distressed at the perspective. For Mary in this time Lazarus was gone and she just wanted him back. Mary was hurt by the immediate separation of death. Jesus was moved for their sadness but he was trouble for their mindset. When we have a mindset or a perspective that God does not care and that our troubles are to no advantage then we will struggle to find purpose in life and stuggle to find joy in struggles. Jesus was worried at the perspective that death was the end of the road. Jesus was troubled at the lack of understanding that Faith would be the reason that Lazarus would inherit his eternal salvation. William Arthur Ward was quoted as saying-

“The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the realist adjusts the sails.”—William Arthur Ward

The same is true in faith and life if we go on with the perception that we do not matter to our Father then we will never see the value and the blessings in our struggles. It grieves the Lord when we continue with the perspective of either selfishness that everything is all for us or the perspective that no one cares. Jesus was troubled at the heart that what was overlooked was that The Father would be glorified and that life is not over in the grave. Do you think that if Jesus were there that He would have stopped Lazarus from dying? I dont believe he would, why? Becasue though it causes pain and the Lord is saddened by that He is more concerned about our eternal perspective and how the trials and struggles will bring us to the understanding of How he Loves Us and cares about our perspective on things. Im reminded of how I view my childrens sickness and running a fever. I do all I can to help get rid of the fever but in all honesty the fever is what will help my children to get better and I must adjust my persepctive. Jesus wanted the perspective to be switched from the death caused by living on this earth to the plan for eternity through God’s plan for redemption. This leads us to the last poin in our scripture today.

The Lord Cares about us in His Plans

John 11:36–44 ESV

So the Jews said, “See how he loved him!” But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man also have kept this man from dying?” Then Jesus, deeply moved again, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it. Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, “Lord, by this time there will be an odor, for he has been dead four days.” Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?” So they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I said this on account of the people standing around, that they may believe that you sent me.” When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out.” The man who had died came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips, and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”

The perspective of the crown and of Mary was that God should have stopped this and not allowed Lazarus to die. But remember the persepctive is eternal and is on the glory of the Father. Jesus was not surprised by the death of Lazarus. Becasue of his presence in the trinity Jesus was fully God. Jesus was a part of the plan to glorify the Father and the death of Lazarus as hard as it was to see his children go through was a way for the Lord to strengthen His children and to bring glory to the Father.

John 11:41–42 ESV

So they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I said this on account of the people standing around, that they may believe that you sent me.”

jIn this scripture we see that Jesus already knew the outcome and was making an example to the people so that they would better understand who He was and the ultimate plan of salvation through Christ. As a parent my children do not always like what I puth them through and I do not always like what they must go through to grow. I remember one particular instance teaching Hunter to do the monkey bars. Hunter was scared and needed me to hold him across. I did this a few times and tried to coach him to do it on his own. He would not for the life of him do the monkey bars by himself. So as any good parent would do what did I do? Thats right I got him out to the middle of the monkey bars and I walked away from him and the jungle gym. As he sat there scared I was worried for him as a parent should be but I also knew that he had to go through this to gain the strength to do the monkey bars on his own. As much as he could not see the plan there was a plan the whole time. He dropped of the monkey bars and landed on his feet and was a little shaken up but in that moment when he realized that he would land on his feet and that I would not do anything that would cause him harm he was encouraged and strengthened to do the monkey bars on his own. He now has gone to the other side of things and causes me to nearly have a heart attack watching him climb and jump off things. In the same manner the Lord desires that we grown in our faith and the way this happens are the struggles in our lives. The struggles are not necessarily punishment for our sins while that is certainly a part of the walk of faith as well many of our struggles and pains are God’s strenthening us and leading us to His heart and ultimate plan for glory.

James 1:2–4 ESV

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

In closing this morning I want you to know that you matter and your story matters. Everything about you matters, your pain, your perspective, and the plans God has for you.

Jeremiah 29:11 ESV

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.

You matter and we would love to be a part of the strenthening of your faith and be there to support you through your struggles. If you are dealing with lifes hurts, hang-ups, or habits then we have a celebrate recovery program that I would encourage everyone to be a part of or to support. As a church we are a family that does not necisarilly need to know all your business but would love to be a part of your support structure, there is power in prayer, and numbers and the family of God here at Highlands is one of the most caring that I have ever been a part of. If you dont know the father I encourage you to put your suffering and pain into perspective and give understanding to it. The Father is drawing you to himself and wants to give you eternal life and while you will not escape the struggle while on earth there is a day of rest coming for all those who believe and I encourage anyone who is not a part of the family of God to give your hutrs and troubles to Him and have faith that He has a plan for your life.

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