March 15, 2026 Service - "Give Us Your Eyes" Week 4

You see the problem the problem arises is that when we become worried, when we become, enthralled in our hardships and in our trials, We desperately look for peace, and we look for peace in all the wrong places. We try to numb the pain turning to substances or food or to pornography or to sex or to other unhealthy habits that we think will promise relief, but really do nothing. Some people try to escape it by detaching from our pain or from our hardship or from our painful emotions. Some people try to deny it. It's not real. It isn't there. It isn't happening. Living life normal like nothing is wrong, but none of these things bring a lasting peace. [00:58:37] (54 seconds)  #DontNumbThePain

I would submit that we don't always do this so well. I know for me when there's trouble or turmoil or difficult seasons, I I I go to my workbench, if you will. Right? And, I get my hammer and nails and I'm like, let's try to figure this out. Right? Let's let's see if I come up with a better plan. Let's see if I can build something a little bit different to maneuver through this difficult season. If I can generate something to pull myself out of this, when really what Paul calls us to is he calls us to a posture of surrender. [00:55:15] (40 seconds)  #ChooseSurrender

I think that our lives at times as we follow Jesus, maybe not so dramatically as the battle of Helm's Deep, but I think we can all relate to the moments where everything is like shaking. And there seems to be an enemy who is just pouncing and marching towards us. And it seems as though the storm and the thunder and the lightning and all the chaos of our lives, the walls may crumble at any moment. What if what if in those moments, we too remember that someone once on the third day at dawn brought light into the darkness? [00:46:41] (54 seconds)  #LightInTheDark

See, kingdom people don't deny our hardships. Rather, we refuse to believe that the night will last forever because in Christ, morning is coming. And it is that hope that leads us to this next idea is that kingdom of God people can possess a peace amid hardships. Kingdom of God people, you should expect difficult things. Kingdom of God people. You don't have to crumble at your earthly circumstances. Your eternal hope, it is secure. It is strong. It is steady. The kingdom of God people can also possess a peace amid turmoil. [00:52:39] (51 seconds)  #PeaceAmidHardship

You see, Paul's not living in denial of his difficulties. He is seeing those difficulties through a different lens, through the lens of the kingdom of God. You see, his his his hope is anchored beyond the present moment. Listen to what he says in verses 10 and verses 11 of chapter three, if your bible's still open, look there. Chapter verses 10 and verses 11. Paul says, want to know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised him from the dead. I wanna suffer with him sharing in his death so that one way or another, I will experience the resurrection from the dead. Paul is looking through the present difficulty to the resurrection. He is looking to what Jesus has already done. He is looking to this new life. He's looking to this eternal hope. He is seeing beyond the prison walls to the eternal promise of resurrection and new life that right now is not what defines us, that right now is not the final answer. [00:49:30] (68 seconds)  #ResurrectionPerspective

We go through these moments and through these seasons, and we ask the question, why? Why did this happen? Why now? Why me, Lord? But what we have to come to recognize and accept to some level is that hardships come. Period. Difficult seasons, it's part of the human experience. It's part of what means it means being alive. We will all endure struggles and suffering of all sorts and shapes and sizes come our way, and it is often in the middle of those moments where we do not have clarity as to why. [00:31:19] (50 seconds)  #HardshipsHappen

When we maneuver through hard things, the question becomes, what are we looking at? Who are we fixing our eyes and our hearts onto? Because Paul is saying where you fix your mind determines how you endure the hardship. Where you fix your mind determines how you endure the hardship. So what are we looking at, church? As you go through your difficult seasons, your disappointments, your frustrations, your anxiety, your depression, What are you fixing your thoughts on? [01:02:11] (41 seconds)  #FixYourEyes

You see, because the reality that Paul presents is quite different. We see that kingdom people should not be surprised by hardships. We shouldn't be knocked over or blown over by hardships, but instead, we should have the lens of the kingdom of God, corrective lenses of the kingdom of God to see our hardships as moments that God sustains us, that he holds us, that he breathes his life into us, that we interpret all of our hardships and trials through the lens of the of the kingdom of God, we should expect difficult times, which leads to a second idea this morning. [00:42:39] (45 seconds)  #KingdomLens