I Introduction
  A. Last week we established that the Lord is with us in our crises, even when it appears He has forsaken us.
      We’re right in the palm of His hand.
  B. Next logical question: “If the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us?” (Judges 6:13)
      (The question Gideon asked God when the Midianites were oppressing the Israelites)
      v.12 “The Lord is with you, mighty warrior.”
  C. Any answers?
        1. To teach us a lesson? (Isa 30:20: “adversity, affliction” are called “teachers”)
        2. To strengthen our faith?  (James 1:3  “the testimony of our faith develops perseverance”)
        3. To show us we’re not in control; God is?
            (Ezek:  These tragic events are happening “that you may know that I am the Lord.”)
  D. Questions:
        1. If God told us “why” (why has this happened to me?), would we be satisfied with the answer? (I doubt it)
        2. Is there any answer anywhere that would satisfy? (Probably not)
        3. Is it wrong, then, to ask the question why? NO
            a. It’s part of the working-through process (David’s psalm 22) EG Read Christmas letter
            b. Job also asked it as he struggled for answers
            c. Almost everybody asks it when a crisis comes
            d. Usually the question is phrased “Why ME?”
        4. Can you think of a more appropriate way to phrase the question? (Why NOT me?) John Nagel’s insights
            a. I am a member of the human race.
            b. Other human beings suffer
            c. Why should I be exempted?
II Who is responsible for sufferings? (List some avenues through which crises come)
  A. Adam (our federal head)
        1. When he sinned he acted on our behalf.
        2. He did what we would have done in his place.
        3. He passed the sin nature (the sin gene) on to the whole human race.
        4. New England Primer: “A is for Adam; in Adam’s fall we sinned all”
        5. The result is turmoil in the soul, in the body, in families, in churches, in nations, and in nature.
        6. Most of our suffering comes just because we are members of a fallen race.
   B. Ourselves:
        1. We cause ourselves a lot of trouble. (dumb decisions, choices, behavior)
        2. Sometimes, but not always, the trouble we cause ourselves is the result of sin.
            Jn 5:14 Jesus, to the invalid healed at the pool of Bethesda, “Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you.”
        3. Caution: We must be careful not to make the assumption that someone is having difficulties because he/she committed
            a grievous sin.
            a. What Job’s friends told him – devastating!
            b. And also wrong – Job was suffering because he was righteous, not sinful.
            c. Only God can connect personal suffering to personal sin.(unless sin is very obvious)
  C. Other people:
        1. Other people hurt us, intentionally or unintentionally through words or deeds:
            (skid on ice, falling brick from scaffolding, faulty repairs on car)
        2. One example – Num 14:18 The sins of the fathers are visited upon the children “to the third and fourth generations”
                AIDS (ie: Is the Kennedy family under a curse?)
  D. Satan:
        1. Satan can move directly or indirectly in a life.
            a. In Judas’ case he moved directly – He “entered Judas”  Lu 22:3
            b. In Job’s case he moved indirectly – through windstorm, Sabeans and Chaldeans, disease, wife’s remarks, friends’
                barbs
                1) Job 1:12  The Lord said to Satan, “Everything he has is in your hands.”
                2) Satan behind all Job’s sufferings
        2. Satan is behind all evil acts (there would be no sin or consequences of sin (death, sickness, tragedies)
            in the world if Satan had not tempted Eve.)
        3. Caution:
            a. Let’s not give Satan too much attention (he loves it). Book “The Bondage Breaker”
            b. Let’s not attribute to Satan sins we ourselves are responsible for  (“The devil made me do it”).
            c. Let’s remember also that God can overrule the purposes of Satan and does so in a believer’s life.
                (“bubble of protection” outside, H.S.inside)
  E. God:
        1. Not only is God sovereign, a Master of Creativity, the God of Scripture, but is called The First Cause
                (review chart on overhead).
            a. God is in control of everything that happens.
            b. Nothing can occur without being in either God’s directive or God’s permissive will.
            c. Nothing takes God by surprise – no Plan B
            d. God is not the author of evil but the author of how evil is used.
                1) “God decreed to permit evil” – careful statement by theologians
                2) Eph 1:11  “God works all things after the counsel of His will.”
            e. When God moves through secondary causes, such as nature, people, circumstances, angels, demons, or Satan,
                it is always for 2 purposes:
                1) His own glory
                2) The believer’s good
        2. God’s plan for His people sometimes involve punishment (For example from the Bible?)
            a. He consumed Nadab and Abihu for worshipping in an unauthorized way.  Lev10:2
            b. He split the earth and swallowed Korah for rising up against Moses. Num16:32
            c. He struck down Uzzah for touching the Holy Ark of God.  2Sam 6:7
            d. He took from King David the baby that came from his adulterous relationship with Bathsheba.
                2 Sam 12:15 “The Lord struck the child”
            e. He struck Ananias and Sapphria dead for lying to the Holy Spirit.  Act 5:5,10
        3. Most of these punishments served as lessons to the people watching.
III (A Matching Exercise)
  A. Let’s list some of the problems people are forced to cope with in their lives; big or small crises
        (Elizabeth Eliot: “Suffering is anything about which you say, ‘Oh no!’”
        1. Illnesses, aging, death of loved ones, deformities, handicaps
        2. Accidents, injuries, addictions, job loss
        3. Financial pressures, interpersonal problems
        4. Painful memories, (rape, incest, abuse)
        5. Wars, natural disasters
  B. Let’s match these crises to their sources
        1. Adam – disease, aging, natural disasters, wars
        2. Ourselves – interpersonal problems, addictions
        3. Other people – job loss, accidents, painful memories (abuse)
        4. Satan – demonic oppression (Job’s problems)
        5. God – death, deformities, handicaps.
  C. The most important questions to ask in a crisis are:
        1.  Not why is this happening to me
        2. Or who is doing this to me
        3. But how am I going to react to solve it (a choice!)
            a. Crises offer us the opportunity to “walk the talk”
            b. To validate that our Christianity “works”
        4.  EG  Active passivity – If problem requires action (ie; getting a job)
            a. Too active – trying to do everything for God
                (get that new job, even manipulation; using ‘father’s or fraternity connections’)
            b. Too passive – a friend of Lee’s in Boston who trusted so much in God’s sovereignty he expected God to do
                everything so he didn’t send out any resumes. “If God wants me to have a job, He’ll provide.”
            c. Active passivity – doing everything that is humanly required and then letting God do the rest (sending out as many
                resumes as humanly possible, then letting God move in the interview process, closing some doors, but opening the
                right door.) EG: getting Yet Will I Trust Him manuscript accepted after 15 rejections. “To whom it may concern”
  C. Conclusion: We can expect to have problems because we live on a fallen planet.
                           However, God can exempt us if He wants to.
IV Give some Biblical examples of people who were either removed from or protected in the tragic things that
     happened to others, seeing the fulfillment of the promise in Ps 91:7
                “A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you.”
  A. Noah escaped flood.  Gen 6:7,8  “But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord.”
  B. Lot escaped the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. Gen 19:29  “(God) brought Lot out of the catastrophe.”
  C. The Israelites escaped the plagues of Egypt – Ex 8:22  “I will deal differently with the land of Goshen.”
  D. What is the determining factor in every case? Sovereignty of God.
  E. In the New Testament – sovereignty evident in whom Jesus chose to heal:
        1. All the sick in His presence – Mt 9:35  “Jesus went through all the towns and villages…healing every disease and
                                                                        sickness.”
        2. All the sick who physically reached out to Jesus –
            Mt 14:34  “People brought all their sick to Him…and all who touched Him were healed.”
        3. Two blind men in whole crowd – Mt 20:29-34  “Jesus had compassion on them and touched their eyes.”
        4. One man in whole crowd – Mark 10:46-52  “Immediately he received his sight”
        5. Nobody healed sometimes – Lu 5:15,16  “Crowds of people came to be healed of their diseases.
                                                                            But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.”
V Question: How then, should we pray?
  A. With immediate relinquishment to the will of God?  EG  Read Boice letter
  B. With initial resistance to the will of God? EG Christ, “Take this cup from me.”
  C. Answer: however the Lord leads us after we have immersed ourselves in His Word
        1. Question: Does prayer change things?
            a. Popular saying:  “Prayer Changes Things”
            b. It certainly can change the immediate circumstances
                1) The unsaved become saved.
                2) The disease is healed.
                3) The boss becomes more reasonable to work with
            c. But in the long run, “Prayer accomplishes Things”
                1) Prayer is one of God’s decreed means of accomplishing His ultimate plan for each life, nation, our world.
                2) So prayer become an absolutely necessary link in the chain leading to the resolution of all things.
          2. Chart
          3. Conclusion
               a. Each person can be led differently
               b. “Effectual prayer” is the flow of God’s will through a yielded life
   D. Perhaps the most effective prayer is a combination of resistance and relinquishment:
        1. Address the Healer - “Jehovah Rapha, You are able”  Jam 4:2 “You do not have because you do not ask”
        2. Address the Sovereign:  “Sovereign Lord, You may have a better plan”
        3. Submit to God’s plan:  “Take this cup from me, nevertheless, not my will, but Thine be done.”  Lu 22:42
   E. Ultimately every person must get to “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven”  Mt 6:10 (effectual prayer)
VI    In every crisis there is a bottom line: “that (we) may know that He is the Lord”
  A. Overview of Ezekiel
        1. Background
            a. God is judging Israel for sin
            b. There are “innocent victims” in this judgment (although in Adam’s sin, nobody is “innocent”)
                “I am going to cut off the righteous and the wicked”  21:4
            c. Tendency to ask, “Why are you doing this, Lord?”
        2. God’s answer is every case (door slammed in faces): “that you may know that I am the Lord”
            a. Phrase spoken 71 times
            b. Name:  “Sovereign Lord” used 217 times
            c. Sovereign Lord can do any thing, any time, any way, any purpose
            d. Victory comes when we submit
  B. Some examples of crises caused by God’s judgment (identify with any of these?)
        1. Tragic death?  6:7  “Your people will fall slain among you, and you will know that I am the Lord.”  21:4
        2. National insecurity?  7:27  “The hands of the people of the land will tremble…I will deal with them.
                                                      Then they will know that I am the Lord.”
        3. Destruction and desolation?  12:20  “The inhabited towns will be laid waste and the land will be desolate.
                                                                    Then you will know that I am the Lord.”
        4. Life’s reversals?  17:24  “All the trees of the field will know that I the Lord bring down the tall tree and make the low
                                                    tree grow tall. I dry up the green tree and make the dry tree flourish. I the Lord have
                                                    spoken it and I will do it.”
        5. Triumph of the opposition  30:25  “I will strengthen the arm of the King of Babylon….
                                                                 then they (Jews) will know that I am the Lord.”
  C. God’s special care for His “flock”  34:25-31  READ  “I will make a covenant of peace with them
        v.25  I will bless them…I will send down showers in season; there will be showers of blessing.
        v.26  The people will be secure in the land
        v.27  They will live in safety
        v.28  They will no longer be victims of famine
        v.29
        1. In the midst of crises, there can be blessing
        2. The “remnant” (true believers) are the recipients
VIII  Conclusion
  A. Why must we have crises?
        1. To show us we’re not the ones in control
        2. To show us who is in control
        3. To get us to acknowledge the Sovereign Lord as Lord of our own lives
        4. To teach us total dependence on Him
  B. Someday every knee will bow; it’s easier to bow NOW.
  C. (Drama: Yahweh - Little Man  - time permitting)