Billy Graham once said, without dark clouds in
our life, we could never know the joy of sunshine.
As true as that is, it doesn't make those dark
times easier to go through. Today, I want to
suggest that when we're depressed, when we're
in those painful periods of our lives, God actually
can and wants to do something very significant
in us. Stay with me. I think this truth is really
going to help you. Thanks for listening to this
edition of Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram.
We are an international teaching and discipleship
ministry that encourages and equips Christians
to live like Christians. Well, today we're continuing
our series, I Choose Joy, based in Philippians
chapter one. In this program, Chip reminds us
of two encouraging truths as we journey through
the ups and downs of life. God is in control
and he's using every experience and circumstance
to mold us to be more like Jesus. If you're ready
to learn more about that, grab your Bible and
listen to the remainder of Chip's insightful
talk, Understanding the Power of Purpose. In
God's economy, mark it down, the shortest distance
between two points is a zigzag line. And you
can look at Joseph. You can look at Moses. You
can look at the children of Israel. You can look
at your life. You can study church history. You
can look at the lives of people that you really
admire, that God has greatly used and have great
character. And I will tell you this, the game
plan was a zigzag line. So what I want to help
you do is learn we can actually choose joy when
we know that these current circumstances God
actually is using them. There is a purpose behind
them. It's not linear. It's not always the way
we think. You got it? A number of years ago,
I'd give you probably a million illustrations,
but one of the most graphic for me, because it
was so devastating. You know, if you've heard
all my crazy stories, and I'm a basketball -holic,
and I love to work out, and I remember a number
of years ago, and I was playing a lot of pickup
ball with college guys. I was still in good shape.
It was a misty, rainy day. I thought, boy, I
don't want to play outside. We'll slip. Someone
will get hurt. So we went over to Bethany College,
played some pickup ball with some college guys.
I was just having a great day. I was dribbling
down. Out of my eye, I saw a guy filling the
lane. I was going to throw my John Stockton off
the bounce pass. And he was one of my heroes,
by the way. And so, and as I got, I got right
to here to do it. And then my eye caught, another
guy saw me and he was going to get it. So I leaned
more and I really put the mustard on it. So all
my weights on this and I torqued it. And it was
like a gun went off, bam. And I was like, oh
my gosh, what happened? Anything inside of Anita
can blow up, blew up. I mean, ACL, MCL, meniscus.
I find myself going to physical therapy after
surgery and And a lady begins to talk to me,
who's my physical therapist. I learned very early
on, her dad is like the super fired up atheist,
hates Christians. She finds out on my paper,
I'm a pastor. So you're one of them. And I mean,
she is ticked off. And here we go. Here we go.
Oh my gosh. So Lord, would you give me an opportunity?
Here's what I can tell you. I don't know, maybe
after the sixth, seventh or eighth appointment.
And, you know, I've done it about, you know,
a month or so. And so finally, she puts her hands
on her hips. And, you know, if you've ever rehabbed,
you know, sometimes they push and it's like you're
just ready to cry. It hurts so bad. I thought
she enjoyed it. I really do. You Christians,
you know, my dad taught to hate you guys. And
so she goes, OK, so so what's with you? I said,
so what do you mean what's with me? I watch how
you act. You know, you kind of know everybody
in here and your attitude. And you're not at
all like those Christians that my dad told me
about. And I said, do you really want to know?
She goes, yeah. I said, no, no. Do you really
want to know? She says, yeah. I said, your dad
missed out. He doesn't know. And I began to explain
to her who Jesus was. And to make a long story
short. I saw her trust Christ. She'd been through
a horrendous hardship and abandoned by a husband
and had a little five -year -old girl. I remember
when I had the chance to baptize her later. I
remember then she'd come to church and sit way
up front. She said, I want my little girl to…
It was like, wow, this music and when we worship
and what God's doing in me. Her life just 180.
I remember thinking, because I went back to playing
basketball and I had this brace. you know, it's
kind of bummed out, like, you know, okay, I lost
my first step. Of course, didn't have much of
one at that age anyway, and couldn't jump at
all. And God said, so Chip, let me get this right.
Do you think just blowing out your knee, a little
difficulty, a little challenge is worth that
young woman's eternal future and what happens
to her daughter? And I remember thinking, wow,
you know, Lord, that is so awesome. That is so
awesome. Would I give a knee for someone in what
I saw? Absolutely. What are you going through?
What are you going through right now that God
wants to use so that other people, so the gospel
can go forth? How you respond to the difficulty,
the pain, the injustice, what's happening at
work, or what your ex is saying, or what's happening
with one of your kids, or a health issue that
everyone's going, wow, how do you even get through
this? God wants to use your present circumstances,
exhibit A, for the furtherance of the gospel.
But that's not all. Exhibit B. Here's another
good thing that happened. The church grows stronger.
Notice what he says. And that most of the brethren
trusting in the Lord, notice the phrase, because
of my imprisonment, have far more courage to
speak the word of God without fear. See, when
we step up, when he's in the midst of this and
he's being bold, the rest of us go, wow, you
know something? The Praetorian Guard, the church
was being persecuted. And now they say, you know,
if Paul can do it in prison, I can do it. I have
two or three friends that have very high -level
jobs in the high -tech world, and they're bold.
I mean, they're out there. And they're not asking,
can I do this or can I say this? They're loving,
they're kind, they're great at what they do,
but they are bold. They're not afraid to say,
yes, I'm a Christian. I'm not anti -intellectual.
I'm not narrow. I'm not a hater. And by how they're
living and how they're treating people, I'll
tell you what, it just makes me go, you know,
I can do this. I can do this. Sometimes adversity
and difficult circumstances cause the gospel
to go forth. And sometimes difficulty, circumstance.
You know what it does? It builds the body. It
causes the church to grow. One of my deepest
zigzags was God made it really clear, Chip, you
have to be back in local church. I had the privilege
of leading Walk Through the Bible and what they're
doing here and all around the world, great organization,
but I wasn't teaching God's Word anymore. I was
just creating some videos and then traveling
all around the world. kind of sharing it with
a few people who would teach it to others, but
I mean, it wasn't teaching God's word. And the
administrative responsibilities got bigger and
bigger, and that's not my strength. And so God
said, I want you to leave that and go back to
local church. I said, okay. So, you know, I have
this good transition plan, and no, I want you
to resign. God didn't understand. I don't have
a job yet. I know. So do you trust me or not?
Okay. And so I thought, you know, That stage
of my life, I bet there's a church somewhere.
And some people said, hey, yeah, why don't you
think about this or that? And we came up with
a profile. Here's what I want to tell you. For
two years, I was not pastoring a church. Living
on the Edge was developing and growing and get
its feet as an independent organization. And
I was in limbo. I mean, I woke up every day like,
I mean, I went to a little makeshift office with
a cardboard table with two other guys. two other
employees, wondering every month, are we going
to even pay the bills to get Living on the Edge
moving and where it needs to be? And I wake up
on Sunday morning and, you know, I'd visit this
church and visit this church. And then I found
a friend that I went to this church. And I mean,
if you do what I do for a living, and I love
visiting good churches, but I mean, when I'm
sitting in this row over here and think, Lord,
what are you doing? Are you kidding? You said
to do this. It's been two years praying, processing.
And here's what I learned is God wanted to do
some things in me. It was crystal clear that
we were to come here. He was preparing this church
so this church would be ready and I would be
ready and Teresa would be ready so we'd all come
together. And let me tell you something that
happened. This is really, really cool. I never
thought about this until this week and this passage.
I thought about, okay, that two years was like
wasted. Really, Chip? Yeah. So what happened
the two years? Well, we prayed and the internet
was exploding. And there's so many good communicators.
Maybe we're only on the radio in order to develop
a platform for discipleship. And we took this
huge step of faith. And I'm sure we couldn't
have done it if I was teaching full time. We
took this huge step of faith and we said, you
know something? We're really not just a teaching
ministry. That's never been a heart. It's a discipleship
ministry. And so we went off three major morning
time slots in top 10 cities in America to shift
the paradigm to say, the issue isn't how many
people listen. It's how many people are growing
and becoming reproducing disciples. And then
we took that and we started building small group
material. And we decided we would launch small
groups off the radio and then later digitally.
And as I'm sitting here, I thought I wasted those
two years. Nothing could happen. We now have
27, I think, different small group resources
used all around the world. We have over 3 million
people that are either in or have been in small
groups just in America alone. And all of that
grew out of... two years of limbo with a frustrated
chip going, you know, what's the deal? What's
the deal? And yet those difficult times, it was
a zigzag line. The gospel's going forth. Yes.
Second, the church was being strengthened. More
people are growing deeper than if I was at a
church, if I could have been at 10 churches,
15 churches, a hundred churches. Here's the deal.
God knows where you're at. He knows what you're
going through. You're listening to Living on
the Edge with Chip Ingram, and he'll be right
back to continue our series. But quickly, if
you're eager to do a deeper study of Philippians
chapter one, check out Chip's newest book, I
Choose Joy. And right now we have a special deal
exclusively for you, our faithful listeners.
So stick around after the teaching to learn more.
With that, here's Chip to finish this insightful
message. Third, he takes our circumstances not
only for the gospel to go forward, not only for
the church to grow strong, but Paul gets very
personal. He says, Exhibit C is the man grows
deep. When these zigzags happen and if it's cancer
or losing your job or your mate walks out on
you or one of your kids is going through a struggle,
if you're clinically depressed, I don't know
what it is with you. But we all have stuff, right?
You were injustice. You were passed over for
a promotion. Where you thought you would be in
your life is not where you are right now. And
you wake up almost every single day going, you
know what? It's half full. I'm still single.
It's half full. I still don't make any money.
It's half full. I still don't own a house. It's
half full. You know, I've had this physical problem,
this ailment. I've prayed. I've been to doctors.
Guess what? I still got it. I want you to know
that part of God's agenda is not just the gospel
going out and not just the church getting stronger.
Part of what he does is he transforms you and
transforms me. And sometimes pain challenges
difficulty. I mean, I got a testimony of a couple
of years of my back that have drawn me to Christ
in ways that, and I already thought it was pretty
close. Notice what Paul says. He says, some to
be sure are preaching Christ even from envy and
strife, but some from goodwill. Then he goes
on to talk about, you know, the latter do it
out of love, but the former are, they're, you
know, they're messing with me. He's in prison.
The rumors are, here's what it is. Guess what?
If Paul had more faith, he wouldn't be in prison.
He can't be God's man. And people out of strife
and envy and ego are, we're the new leaders in
the church. We're God's spokesmen. It's not Paul.
I mean, their doctrine was right, but it was
political. It was a power play. It was an agenda.
And Paul's in prison going, really, guys? I mean,
are you kidding me? Well, I mean, God blesses
people, right? And if he's blessing you, you're
in his will. And Paul's in prison. You know what?
We don't think he has enough faith. He's not
the real leader we are. And Paul said when all
that was happening, his reputation's being attacked.
You know, he feels like some of the people that
he probably discipled are betraying him now.
I mean, this is a really, this is a really, where
do you go with all that, Paul? Notice what he
says. He says, some good motives, right? Some
bad motives. Are you ready? What's the purpose?
What's his lens? What's my purpose? What did
God tell me to do? Why am I here? I'm here to
take the gospel to all the world. I'm here to
disciple people to be mature so they're like
Jesus. That's my mission. So I'm being attacked.
I happen to be in prison. Yes, these rumors about
me are this or that. He said, what literally
it's, what does it matter to me? If Christ is
preached, he goes, whether their motives are
good or their motives are bad, my purpose and
my mission is to preach the gospel and disciple
people who disciple others. Guess what? That's
happening. He grows deep. Sometimes Apostle Paul
or some of us that grew up in churches where
all these 12 guys were in stained glass, or some
of us grew up where the pastors or the clergy
or the priests, they're way up here, and we're
all these just regular people. I got news for
you. There's no superstars. Paul, you, me, everybody,
he's got an ego. He had to wrestle. He had to
struggle. He had to feel like this isn't fair,
but he had to come to the point where He would
say, God, what do you want to do in me? And I
think some ego issues, my reputation. You know
what? You have my reputation. What people think
of me, God, it's what you think of me. In pain,
in difficulty, that's where God gets our attention.
I want you to know that when you're going through
pressure and it's difficult and it's hard and
you're angry and you want to give up, ask this
question, God, what do you want to do in me?
God, how do you want to use this to help other
people? How do you want to grow your church?
But what do you want to do in me? Don't miss
out. Don't waste the pain. Because if you meet
very, very, very godly people who have amazing
walks with God, what you'll find is they've been
through a lot of pain. A very, very close friend.
He has a physical issue going on right now that
prevents him from driving. He runs a business.
There he's got, I mean, and I mean, it is just,
they've tried everything and there's no cure.
And I am around this man and I will ask him,
so how's it really going? And how are you doing?
And, you know, are they, you know, they've tried
a couple of things and they give a little temporary
relief. And I mean, his attitude makes me want
to just be like Jesus. His perspective, his attitude.
You know, the Lord is teaching me a lot. And,
you know, because of this, my wife is getting
up at five in the morning and she's driving me
to all the job sites. And, you know, it's great
time together. And he goes, you know, I've seen
some things about myself I don't think I would
have seen. And, you know, he's just saying, you
know, God's purpose is to make me like Jesus.
You know, do I like this? No. But he doesn't
complain. How about you? What's your purpose?
And what if you started looking at what the half
-full issues in your life were through the lens
not just of focus, but of purpose? I want you
to ask yourself three important questions, three
purpose statements for every single believer.
This is true of all of us. Purpose statement
number one, I am an ambassador or messenger of
the gospel. The gospel, the good news won't go
anywhere in your relational network, where you
live, where you work, if it doesn't come through
you. Not just your life, but your words. The
purpose is to reach the lost. The people out
there aren't bad. They're lost. They're lost.
They don't know. I grew up in America. I had
no idea what the gospel was. Someone shared it
with me. Here's the question. How could God use
a difficult circumstance in your life to advance
the gospel. Are you taking advantage yet? Advance
the gospel. Purpose statement number two, I'm
called to encourage God's people to help them
grow to full maturity. Every single one of us,
while we talk about getting involved in ministry
and getting in groups and God using you where
you're at, here's your purpose. It's to build
the found. I mean, no one grows on their own.
Someone came up next to my life multiple times
in different stages of my life and in your life
if you've grown, and they helped you. Here's
the deal. Who are you helping? Who are you discipling?
Who are you mentoring? Who are you coaching?
Who do you care about? Their spiritual growth,
well -being, quality of life, walk with God matters,
and you're building them up. Question. How could
your adversity, how could your circumstances,
how could your current difficulty build up a
brother or sister in Christ? I want you to really
think about that. Third purpose statement. I
am a servant of the living God. A servant. Jesus
called himself a servant. Here's your purpose.
Become like our master. I don't know what you're
going through, but I can tell you the will of
God for sure. You got this? Here's the will of
God for sure. Whatever you're going through,
no matter how good or how bad, God's agenda is
to make you like Jesus. So here's the question.
What might God want to do in me through my present
circumstance? Some of you might learn to pray
like never before. Some of you might learn to
love God's word like never before. David in Psalm
119 said, if I had not been afflicted, I'd have
gone astray. But when I was afflicted, now I
keep your word. Some of us need the difficulty
we're in to woo us, to make us dependent, and
to bring us back into vital relationship with
Jesus. Because it's not hearing God's word that
changes things. It's hearing with a heart that
says, Lord, you see it all. You love me. I'm
going to take a step towards you by faith. I'm
going to take a step of faith. I'm going to believe
you to the point of acting. I'm going to believe
your promises are true. I'm going to believe
you're using the zigzags and the circumstances
for my good and for your glory. And so the question
I would ask you is whose purpose and agenda are
you most eager to fulfill? When you look at your
time and your schedule, your money, whose agenda,
whose purpose, yours or God's? That's heavy.
But God's working in our life. He is doing a
great thing. You're listening to Living on the
Edge with Chip Ingram. And the message you just
heard, understanding the power of purpose, is
from our series, I Choose Joy. Chip will join
us in studio to share some insights from today's
talk in just a minute. How do people know you're
a Christian? What is it that sets you apart and
causes others to say, I want to be like them?
Through Chip's study in Philippians chapter 1,
he reveals the supernatural work of joy in a
Christian's life that intrigues those around
us. Discover how joy can affirm your purpose,
energize your expectations, and renew hope in
your life. If you've missed any part of this
series or want to share one of these messages
with a friend, check out the Chip Ingram app.
Chip's back with me in studio, and Chip, you
know most people when they think about joy. They
associate it with happiness. I'm finally getting
married, or we finally bought the house, or I
got the dream job. But you've got a little different
definition of joy. Could you break it down for
us? Absolutely, Dave. We often associate joy
with happiness, and that's normal. But happiness
is built on the word happenings, and it's temporary.
And it's more of our emotional response. And
by the way, I want to be happy. I like being
happy. So don't get me wrong. Happiness is a
good thing. But joy is an overarching, deep,
soulful abiding. That's the byproduct of our
relationship with God, regardless of the circumstance.
I recently have written a book, I Choose Joy.
And this book was birthed out of one of the most
difficult times in my life when I didn't feel
like being joyful, when I'd been through two
back surgeries, a number of very, very difficult
things, and yet I was called to teach a passage
of the Bible where the Apostle Paul, having way
more difficult situation than mine, kept saying,
rejoice, rejoice, rejoice. And out of that was
birthed a book. that in the world that we're
living in, I think will really help people because
people are hurting. And you know what? If they're
waiting to be happy, they may wait a long time,
but this book will help them know they can actually
have joy regardless of their circumstance. That's
right, Chip. We're really excited about this
new book, which is why we're doing something
special for our listeners this week. Absolutely,
Dave, because we believe so strongly in the life
-changing power of choosing joy. We want you,
the Living on Edge family, to get this new book
before anyone else does at a discounted price.
Dave, could you take a minute and tell our listeners
a bit more of what we're doing for them and why
this is so important? Be glad to. Well, like
Chip said, we want you to truly experience the
joy the Apostle Paul talked about in Philippians
chapter 1. And to help you do that, we're giving
you, our faithful Living on the Edge listeners,
early access to this new book at a special price.
So visit livingontheedge .org or call 888 -333
-6003 to take advantage of this exclusive offer.
You'll be glad you did. Well, here again is Chip.
As we wrap up today's program, I'm reminded of
a quote by C .S. Lewis. He says, pain insists
on being attended to. In other words, pain gets
our attention. It says God whispers during the
good times, but pain is his megaphone. And I
think what happens sometimes is we're human and
the Lord understands and we get our agenda and
our purposes and our dreams and our desires a
bit ahead of his. And we learned today that there's
three statements that are true of every single
believer, that God brings difficulty or allows
difficulty in our life. But there's three purposes
that we need to take and make these the lens
of the troubled relationship or the health issue
or the wayward child or the struggle in your
marriage. So let me remind you of what we learned.
Number one is we have a purpose to reach the
lost. So I'm an ambassador for Christ. So here's
the first question. How could God use my current
difficulty and circumstance to get the gospel
out to people? They're watching you. They really
are. They're watching me and how we respond.
The second is that God's will, his purpose for
all of us, isn't that we reach simply the lost,
but that we build up the found, that we disciple
other people. And so here's the question. How
could God use my present circumstance or difficulty
to encourage another believer? You know, most
of the people that have helped me the most are
people that have been through what I've been
through. You understand the people that have
been through a divorce can really help someone
going through a divorce. A person who's been
clinically depressed has wisdom to help others
who are clinically depressed. And it goes on
and on. Could it be that God wants you to take
what you're going through and reach out and help
someone else? And then the third thing we learned
is that God's purpose is to make us more and
more like Jesus, to make us more like his son.
So let me ask you this. What might God do in
and through your current difficulty or circumstance
or relationship to actually cause you to be more
loving? more kind, more joy -filled, more trusting
to have a deeper faith? Is it that he could use
all these difficulties to sort of, you know,
chisel away some of the carnality in your heart
and my heart to make us more and more like his
son? I think if you'll ask yourself those questions
in the midst of your pain and your difficulty,
what you're going to find, like the Apostle Paul,
that you can choose joy and that he will bring
good out of the most difficult seasons and times
in your life. Thanks for that encouragement,
Chip. Before we go, I want to thank those of
you who support this program with your generous
financial support. Your gifts help us reach countless
lives across the globe with the Word of God.
If you haven't given to us before but would like
to be a part of that work, there's never been
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To send a donation, visit livingontheedge .org
or call us at 888 -333 -6003. That's 888 -333
-6003 or go to livingontheedge .org. App listeners,
tap Donate. Thanks for listening to this edition
of Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram. I'm Dave
Drewy, and I hope you'll join us again next time.