Disciplines of Desolation – C

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today on Real Life Radio.

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There’s no need for you any longer as of tonight to be desolate of soul. The Lord is waiting for you to come back home. And for those of you who are saying, Pastor Jack, I checked all the bases and I’m fine. Then listen, just ride it out, my friend. You’re going through a time of growth. There’s a desert time for the soul. It’s okay. You’ll make it through. And when you come on the other side, oh man, the waters are sweet and the grass is green.

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This is Real Life Radio. Welcome to Real Life Radio with Pastor Jack Hibbs. I’m David Jay, thanking you for joining us today as we listen, learn, and are challenged by God’s Word, the Bible. What do you do when heaven feels silent? When you’ve prayed, believed, even begged, and still nothing changes? When the person you love isn’t healed? When the worst actually happens? When it feels like evil is winning? Where is God in all of that? This May, Pastor Jack Hibbs’ featured resource is Why Doesn’t God Answer My Prayers by Erwin Lutzer. It’s an honest biblical look at the questions most of us are afraid to say out loud. Not shallow answers, but real hope, real truth, the kind that meets you right in the middle of disappointment and points you back to God’s greater purpose, even when you can’t see it. If you’ve ever wrestled with doubt, confusion, or silence from God, this book is for you. Why Doesn’t God Answer My Prayers? It’s available for a gift of any amount at jackhibbs.com slash real radio. That’s jackhibbs.com slash real radio. Get your own copy of the Book of the Month, Why Doesn’t God Answer My Prayers? by Dr. Erwin Lutzer at jackhibbs.com slash real radio. On today’s edition of Real Life Radio, Pastor Jack continues his series called Disciplines of Life and a message titled Disciplines of Desolation. Spiritual desolation is one of the worst situations we can find ourselves in. It attacks our very core and the root of our hope and faith. You see, the harsh truth is no one is exempt. Doesn’t matter how beautiful or wealthy you might be. You may even be powerful or popular, but it’s only a matter of time when you’ll suffer an invasion of desolation. So today, Pastor Jack teaches us that spiritual desolation will not only involve grief and fear, it’s lonely as well. But when we turn back to the days of intimacy with God and return to prayer and the study of God’s Word, life will become pure, simple, even beautiful again. Now with his message called Disciplines of Desolation, here’s pastor and Bible teacher, Jack Hibbs.

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I know that if you pursue Him… You know me, I’m bent on early morning stuff. But if it’s tonight, if you get home and you just throw yourself on your bed or on the floor and you say, oh God, I’m terrified of my lack of wanting you, though I know I should. My heart is dead. And yet I cry out to you, God, in my distress. There’s the desolation of my soul. And Lord, I’m asking you now, bring me back. You know what he’ll do? I give you 24 hours. In 24 hours, listen, anybody here tonight that’s messed up in a cult or listening, you’re messed up with some foreign God. Listen, I challenge you, call upon my God. Call upon the God of my Bible and in 24 hours, you’re gonna know it. He will speak to you. He’ll show you something and you’ll know it’s him. He’s gonna say, that’s from me. And Christian, you may have wandered and you’re backslidden and sold and you’re desolate. Listen, 24 hours. I have so much confidence in him in my own life when I’ve strayed or wandered away. Or in my case, I get so busy about Christian stuff. Ministry stuff. Let me tell you something. Ministry will kill your relationship with God. I’m serious. I’m serious. People pulling constantly, phone calls constantly, invitations this, that. Hey, can you say something about this? Can you endorse this? Can you do the other thing? And can you do, can you what? And it’s like, you know what? And if you’re sitting out there and I say, well, Pastor, that sounds amazing. Let me tell you something. When I was on the other side, they went, you know, that would be amazing. Boy, it’s not amazing. Because you know what? You need to love God more than all that kind of stuff. Because that’s urgent stuff for really good causes. But it’s urgent stuff. You know what the important stuff is? Either getting home tonight or getting up early tomorrow morning and having a love affair with your God. Nobody looking, nobody around. Just you and your God. Let me tell you something. You do that, your world will change. And if you’re here tonight and you’re an atheist, I challenge you. Call out to him. God, I’m an atheist, but I’m going to take that lunatic up on the challenge. If you’re real, talk to me. I’ll give you 24 hours. Watch what he does. Watch what he does. He will fill that void of loneliness in the life of the believer or the unbeliever. Number three, the discipline of desolation will involve isolation. You say, wait a minute, you just talked about loneliness. No, isolation’s different. Loneliness, you can be in this room, as I said earlier, and be lonely. You can be in a room full of people and be lonely. Isolation’s the next step down into destruction. Isolation, listen everybody, Isolation is different from loneliness because isolation is the result of being lonely over a prolonged period of time. It’s a slump that you sink down into and it’s overwhelming and you begin to think when you’re isolated, there’s no way out. That’s why God says in Hebrews chapter 10 verse 25, not to forsake the assembling together. Believers, Christians, we’re to get together. Did you know that? We are to be doing what we’re doing right now. Why? Because there is a danger of isolation. I had a famous internationally known pastor tell me he had fallen immorally at the peak of his career. And he said, listen, the final step that led to my destruction was not identifying the isolation. I was whisked away into private jets. I was taken around, speaking everywhere, speak, driven back to the airport, get on a plane, fly to some other country, some other city, get out, speak, get back in the jet, fly to some other place, and you become isolated. In America today, it’s easy to be isolated. There’s millions of people who won’t leave their home or won’t leave their bedroom as it were. They’re isolated. They go to the store, but they don’t know anybody. And their world is inverted and certainly introverted. They talk to themselves. They think about themselves. They worry for themselves. They’re dying. Isolation. Isolation. It’s different. Loneliness leads us to isolation. It’s a dangerous thing. And I want to encourage you tonight. Listen, Satan wants you isolated. This world wants you isolated. And this will flip you out. Sometimes you want yourself isolated. Stress, demands, pressure, issues. You begin to think, I can’t take this anymore. Have you ever been short with people? Moms contend with this with kids. It’s hard. Mommy, mommy, mommy, listen. Mommy, mommy, mommy. That’s why kids today go, Mommy, mommy. Hey, Betty. What is it? They call the mom’s name. Constant pulling can lead to a sense of where, I can’t take this anymore. And you begin to have a meltdown. The stress implodes upon you so strongly And your mind says, I need to withdraw. Jesus withdrew when ministry was in prolonged intensity. He withdrew. And every time he did, he withdrew alone and prayed to the Father, it says. We will withdraw and we’ll rent a movie or do something that’s spiritually unredeeming for our soul and we just slip further away. We draw the curtains, we shut down. And I’m not talking about taking a break. I’m talking about this becoming a habit of life. It will kill the believer. I’m like a pelican, he said. I’m like an owl. Isolation is dangerous. One of the most powerful pictures of isolation is what I mentioned earlier, I think, about Adam and Eve. They were together, but they were covering themselves up. Isolation deceives you in thinking, I’ll just cover myself up. Something’s gone on in your life and you’re thinking, I can’t face those people. I hear this a lot. Pastor, today’s my first day back at church. I’ve been gone for years. And you know, just that comment, you know that there’s a lot of baggage in that comment. Isolation. Psalm 77 says, Verse seven through nine says, will the Lord cast off forever? Will he be favorable no more? Has his mercy ceased forever? Has his promise failed forevermore? Has God forgotten to be gracious? Has he in anger shut up his tender mercies? Listen to that. God is altogether lovely, but isolation will cause you to think crazy thoughts. This is how we fight it. We fight off isolation this way, by grabbing the word of God and crying out like this. Lord God, your Bible says, Romans 8.35, who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation or distress or persecution, famine, nakedness, peril, or sword? The answer is no. Psalm 139, 7 says, Where can I go from your spirit? David cried out, Where can I flee from your presence? If I ascend into heaven, you are there. If I make my bed in hell, behold, you are there. He says, Behold, you are there. Verse 9, And if I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, he goes on to say through that entire psalm, You are there. He’s there. In your isolation, he’s there. Cry out to him. He’s amazing. Point four. The discipline of desolation is this. It will involve grief. Life, Christian ministry, living for Jesus. Every human being will experience grief, but sometimes maybe believers have it even more sometimes. I don’t know. Psalm 51.3. You know this psalm. Psalm 51. David wrote this psalm after he got caught committing adultery. For I acknowledge my transgressions. My sin is always before me. Against you and you only have I sinned and done this evil in your sight. He prays and cries out to God. Grief. Your soul can be desolated by grief. It can be brought on by sin. It can be brought on by difficulty, death. swallowed up with grief many times people grieve and they get angry at god i understand that it’s not right but i understand it we’ve all been there what’s happening we’ve got to discipline our lives that listen every one of us who are christians will have to battle grief in life just know this that’s why i thank god for the bible let me tell you something you go to a church that doesn’t teach the bible And then grief comes to your life, and you’re going to be an absolute lost mess. But when grief comes to your life, you’ve got an anchor for your soul, man. And this word, God is so good. You think, oh, the Bible’s cool. It’s cool. No, it’s not cool. It’s beyond cool. And you won’t know how awesome it is until you have some grief in your life.

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You’re listening to Real Life with Pastor Jack Hibbs. To learn more about this ministry or to catch up on some previous episodes, go to jackhibbs.com. That’s jackhibbs.com. And now, let’s get back to today’s message. Once again, here’s Pastor Jack.

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How do we fight off this grief? Look at this. Lord, your Bible says, 2 Corinthians 1, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comforts. who comforts us in our tribulations, that we may be able to comfort those who are in trouble with the comfort with which you’ve comfort us. Think of that. Amazing. Final point right here, number five. The desolation of soul that will visit us in life will also involve fear. Desolation will bring fear. Fear is a very terrible, debilitating thing. When we’re fearful, it means that we’re not trusting God to keep his word. That’s what fear, that’s what it is. We’re not trusting God to keep his word in our lives. And so when that happens, we fear. See, what does fear look like? Many times, worry. Anxious, worry. Always worrying, wringing of the hands. Worried. Worried. dark clouds coming. There’s people who worry when they don’t have anything to worry about. Things are going so good, something’s got to happen. Wow. Deuteronomy 31.6 says, Be strong and of good courage and do not fear. Don’t be afraid. Who says that? God says that. Genesis 15.1, after these things, the word of the Lord came to Abraham in a vision saying, do not be afraid, Abraham. I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward. You ought to take that verse and staple it onto your head. Right there, Genesis 15.1. You’re my shield. God, they’re picking on me. Lisa, was it yesterday or the day before, whatever, she goes, you see what this lady said about you in the newspaper? I said, what is it? I don’t read the newspaper. I let all you people tell me what it says. I don’t even get the newspaper. Well, she’s saying this, and this woman, she said this, and she says about you and the school board and you ought to be, and you, and then the woman shares her view. And I said, praise the Lord. And she goes, what? I go, listen how it ends. She’s all upset with me. She’s all upset with the school board. And listen, at the end, she says, and you know what? And then she spills her beans. And I told Lisa, praise the Lord. She said, what are you talking about? And I go, man, that’s a badge of honor. What I just read. What you just read me. That’s a good thing. Listen, when people say to you, oh, I see. Company’s laying everybody off. You’ll probably get laid off next. You’re the Christian. What are you going to do about it? I’m going to pray. God will give me another job. The Bible says that he’ll never allow the righteous to be begging bread. So he’ll give me a job. And when you have that peace, they’re going to go… They’re gonna, they get all upset. The boss announces, because the economy, no bonuses or raises this year, everybody starts cussing and swearing and biting the doorknobs of the building and stuff, and you’re like this, hey, thanks boss, grateful to have a job. And they’ll go, well, aren’t you all happy? What’s with you? God’s on the throne. What’s your alternative? Desolation of soul. It’s not worth it. Now I end with this. How do we fight fear? Grab the word of God and cry out to him and say, Lord, your Bible says, Matthew chapter 10, verse 29, Jesus said, and not to, listen, are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin? And not one of them falls to the ground apart from your father’s will. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear, therefore, for you are more valuable than many sparrows. Who said that? Jesus said that. About who? You. And by the way, if a sparrow could read, that’s pretty comforting. In fact, I’m going to end. We’re out of time. I’m going to end with that. This is a true story. Happened today at my house. This morning, I’m looking out the window. And I told you before, we have a gazillion birds in our backyard. So they’re out there eating. And I’m watching. And they’re all kind of flitty and jumping around. And then, like, something flies by or whatever. And they always go to the trees. And then one comes back, three come back, 10 come back, 30 come back. Except there’s this one sparrow, he’s sitting there. And then like the dog runs by, no, go back in the tree. Except this one sparrow, he’s just sitting there. He’s pecking, long eating. He’s not moving for nothing. This is true story. And he catches my attention and I’m like this. A hawk flies by or whatever it was. It was big. Scared him. They’ll go to the tree. And he’s just in there. And every time he’d never move. He didn’t budge. Birds of a feather flock together. He doesn’t move. So I walk out there. And they all fly. And then he flies over to where the water is at. And he goes over there kind of near it to get some water. And he’s got his beak down on the concrete. But he’s not pecking on the water yet. He’s not getting a drink. He’s moving. He’s getting kind of closer to it. And then he finally gets over to the water. He’s drinking. He’s drinking water. And all of his friends come back. And then I move from under the umbrella. And they all go back and they all fly away again. And he doesn’t move. Then he turns and he goes over, flies again. It’s like 30 feet. Flies over back to where the food’s at. And he kind of crashes. And then gets back. He’s pecking away and eating. And I said, Lord, this is fantastically strange, amazing. Nothing scares him. He’s a little awkward. He’s a little awkward. He kind of fumbles around. But he’s eating and drinking and he’s fine. And he can fly. You know what? He was there again tonight right before I came. They come in the morning, they come at night, and they eat. This bird has got to be deaf and blind. No, I’m serious. He has to be. Because when everyone else is afraid, he’s not afraid. When they all flinch and fly up because a hawk flew by, he’s not eating. He’s not aware. He’s eating and he’s drinking and he’s flying and he’s fine. He’s completely different than all the others. And tonight I thought, Lord, this message, I want to thank you, God, for this. Because that little guy, he might be deaf, he might be blind, but he chirps with all the rest of them. It’s in his DNA. He’s fine. He’s fine. One thing’s for sure. He’s not very nervous about stuff. And when your soul is desolate and you’re fearful that you’re far from God, you’re afraid of everything. And Jesus says, hey, Jack, I’ll give you a verse for tonight. That little sparrow out there, my dad, my father’s really keen on that little bird. And whatever happens to that little bird, it’s not going to happen without my father knowing about it. And you need to think about that. There’s no need for you any longer as of tonight to be desolate of soul. The Lord is waiting for you to come back home. And for those of you who are saying, Pastor Jack, I checked all the bases and I’m fine. Then listen, just ride it out, my friend. You’re going through a time of growth. There’s a desert time for the soul. It’s okay. You’ll make it through. And when you come on the other side, oh man, the waters are sweet and the grass is green and it’s beautiful. And you will not be like an owl. in the wilderness or the pelican in the wilderness or the owl in the desert. And you won’t be one lone little sparrow lost on top of the house. You’ll be down there all around people in this world. They’re freaking out, scared and flinching about everything. But God has blinded you. Thank God to the evils that will befall the world. He has set your heart on the pilgrimage. And as a Christian, you’re heading home. And you don’t forget that. Father, we pray tonight, Lord, in Jesus’ name. That we would pursue you, seek after you, follow you. Somewhere, maybe in my own backyard in one of those trees, there’s a little fat chubby little sparrow just happy as a lark tonight. Probably dreaming about eating more seed in the morning. Is he blind? I don’t know. Is he deaf? I don’t know. But if he’s not, he’s just the most Christian sparrow And what a witness. And tonight, Father, may we tonight decide here and now to give it up to you. We ask it in Jesus’ name and all God’s people said, Amen.

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pastor and Bible teacher Jack Hibbs here on Real Life Radio and his message called Disciplines of Desolation. Thanks for being with us today. We really do appreciate you being here. You know, this message is part of Pastor Jack’s series called The Disciplines of Life. It’s a series that highlights the disciplines of a Christ follower and the high cost of sharing our faith with others. And we’ll continue on the next edition of Real Life Radio. You ever felt like something’s missing in your life? Maybe you’ve been searching for answers for peace or a sense of purpose. You know, the truth is those longings are there because you were created to know God. At JackHibbs.com, there’s a tab called Know God. It’s designed to help you discover what it truly means to have a relationship with God. This isn’t about religion. It’s about understanding who God is and why he loves you and how you can find hope and forgiveness through Jesus Christ. The page breaks it down in a simple, clear way, answering common questions and guiding you through the steps of faith. It’s a great place to explore and reflect whether you’re just curious or you’re ready to make that next step. So don’t miss out on the most important relationship you’ll ever have. Visit that tab called KnowGod at JackHibbs.com and start your journey today. That’s JackHibbs.com because knowing God changes everything in your life for the better. Take that next step. Explore and reflect at the KnowGod section at JackHibbs.com.

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Hey, thank you again so much for listening. And if you’d like to hear or see more of what we do here, you can always go to jackhibbs.com for all the latest on what’s going on with this ministry. And please, if you’re ever in the Southern California area, come see us at Calvary Chapel Chino Hills. We’d love to see you there in person. It has been so good to be with you today, and I pray you find yourself in the grace and mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ.

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See you on the next episode. This program is made possible by the generous contributions of you, our listeners. Visit us at jackhibbs.com. That’s jackhibbs.com. Until next time, Pastor Jack Hibbs and all of us here at Real Life Radio wish for you solid and steady growth in Christ and in His Word. We’ll see you next time here on Real Life Radio.