Are You So Sick And
Tired Of Life’s Problems That You Are Ready To Seek God by Ed Pruitt
Joel 1:2-4
Are You So Sick And Tired Of Life’s Problems That You Are Ready To Seek God With
All Of Your Heart?
July 06, 2003
Pastor Ed Pruitt
I want you to know that the bible tells us in,
Romans 10:17, that faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
So I will tell you ahead of time that I will be using quite a lot of scripture
this evening.
Sometimes the problems of life seem to be so heavy and seem to bear down on us
with so much pressure that we become desperate.
We don’t know what to do!
There always seem to be problems in life.
A job that we were hoping for just doesn’t quite make it.
There comes an unexpected illness.
Relationships that are going sour.
Life seems to always throw us curve balls, unexpected difficulties and stresses
that we have to learn to adapt to.
They are times that we have gone far beyond the breaking point.
Disaster seems to haunt us, when we are faced with circumstances that are
devastating, over and over again.
There always seem to be areas of our lives that just seem to continuously erupt
in some kind of turmoil.
These are desperate times, and they are calling for desperate measures.
What can we do when we repeatedly face disaster in an area of our lives that
just seems to come again and again and again?
It seems like we have to use all of our resources to recover from a tragedy,
only to have another horrible attack, in the same area, come upon us!
What can we do when life beats us down?
We face our enemy once again and beat it back, it then rises up to charge at us
again only this time from another angle!
Then we beat it down again, only to have it come after us from another
direction.
We give it everything that we have only to have it come back!
The cycle going on again and again, each time we go through it we find that our
resources, our strength and energy to face the attacks grow smaller and smaller.
Until finally, there is nothing left!
What do we do then?
This was the situation that the prophet Joel faced.
Our text this evening is taken from the book of Joel.
We will be reading out of the first two chapters.
Starting with chapter 1 verse 2.
2 Hear this, you leaders of the people! Everyone listen! In all your history,
has anything like this ever happened before?
3 Tell your children about it in the years to come. Pass the awful story down
from generation to generation.
4 After the cutting locusts finished eating the crops, the swarming locusts took
what was left! After them came the hopping locusts, and then the stripping
locusts, too!
Here, Joel is describing locusts.
The largest recorded plague contained 12-1/2 trillion locusts.
Joel is describing them in four stages of development.
From the early spring emerging from their eggs, through the later development of
wings and then through swarming.
In each stage the locusts attack, until by the final stage they are so
devastating that nothing green is left.
Look at the devastation this caused.
In verse 5 it tells us that there is no wine is left!
5 Wake up, you drunkards, and weep! All the grapes are ruined, and all your new
wine is gone!
In verse 7, it tells us that there are no vines or trees!
7 They have destroyed my grapevines and fig trees, stripping their bark and
leaving the branches white and bare.
In verses 8, 9, and 10 the scripture tell us that their worship is affected, for
there is no grain for offering!
When life beats us down so much that our devotion to God is affected, that’s
serious!!!
8 Weep with sorrow, as a virgin weeps when her fiancé has died.
9 There is no grain or wine to offer at the Temple of the LORD. The priests are
mourning because there are no offerings. Listen to the weeping of these
ministers of the LORD!
10 The fields are ruined and empty of crops. The grain, the wine, and the olive
oil are gone.
11 Despair, all you farmers! Wail, all you vine growers! Weep, because the wheat
and barley—yes, all the field crops—are ruined.
We find in verse 12 that there is no joy left!
12 The grapevines and the fig trees have all withered. The pomegranate trees,
palm trees, and apple trees—yes, all the fruit trees—have dried up. All joy has
dried up with them.
What do we need to do when life beats us down?
What do we need to do when times are desperate?
What measures can we take?
Well verse 13 tells us that we can mourn!
13 Dress yourselves in sackcloth, you priests! Wail, you who serve before the
altar! Come, spend the night in sackcloth, you ministers of my God! There is no
grain or wine to offer at the Temple of your God.
Some of us try to keep our head up, to look good, even when we’re devastated
inside.
Joel says when things are really desperate, it’s OK to say I’m not doing very
well right now.
Putting on sackcloth was a very obvious sign of mourning.
It was like putting a sign up, or wearing a placard front and back that tells
everybody I’m in a desperate situation.
I need help and I don’t care who knows about it.
The scripture tells us in Matthew 5:4 that,
4 God blesses those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
Are things so bad that you can’t hide them any more?
Are you desperate enough to go to God for your help?
Joel chapter 1, verse 14 tell us to fast!
14 Announce a time of fasting; call the people together for a solemn meeting.
Bring the leaders and all the people into the Temple of the LORD your God, and
cry out to him there.
And also in, Joel chapter 2, verse 12,
12 That is why the LORD says, “Turn to me now, while there is time! Give me your
hearts. Come with fasting, weeping, and mourning.
When things are desperate enough, Joel says to fast.
Fast?
What does fasting have to do with facing disaster?
Well, let’s look at what the scripture tells us in, Mark 2:18-20
18 John’s disciples and the Pharisees sometimes fasted. One day some people came
to Jesus and asked, “Why do John’s disciples and the Pharisees fast, but your
disciples don’t fast?”
19 Jesus replied, “Do wedding guests fast while celebrating with the groom? Of
course not. They can’t fast while they are with the groom.
20 But someday he will be taken away from them, and then they will fast.
When God seems far away, it’s time to fast!
When God seems angry because of your sins, it’s time to fast!
Let’s read Joel 2:12-13
12 That is why the LORD says, “Turn to me now, while there is time! Give me your
hearts. Come with fasting, weeping, and mourning.
13 Don’t tear your clothing in your grief; instead, tear your hearts.” Return to
the LORD your God, for he is gracious and merciful. He is not easily angered. He
is filled with kindness and is eager not to punish you.
Fasting as a sign of turning to God wholeheartedly.
It says, things are SO bad, that I am willing to give up something important to
me!
I am willing to give up something that cost me something!
I need to make sure that God knows that I’m serious about seeking him!
It’s often in times of severest trouble that the condition of our hearts towards
God is revealed.
Joel is saying if the crisis that you are going through is showing you that your
relationship with God is lacking, then turn back to God!
When we turn back to God, we will find that fasting will be a fruitful exercise.
Stop everything and Seek God!
Joel chapter 1, verse14 tells us to,
14 Announce a time of fasting; call the people together for a solemn meeting.
Bring the leaders and all the people into the Temple of the LORD your God, and
cry out to him there.
Declare a sacred assembly.
We need a gathering when times are especially rough.
Specifically for the purpose of going to God about the matter.
Let’s read what the scripture tells us in, 2 Chronicles 20:1-17
1 After this, the armies of the Moabites, Ammonites, and some of the Meunites
declared war on Jehoshaphat.
2 Messengers came and told Jehoshaphat, “A vast army from Edom is marching
against you from beyond the Dead Sea. They are already at Hazazon-tamar.” (This
was another name for En-gedi.)
3 Jehoshaphat was alarmed by this news and sought the LORD for guidance. He also
gave orders that everyone throughout Judah should observe a fast.
4 So people from all the towns of Judah came to Jerusalem to seek the LORD.
5 Jehoshaphat stood before the people of Judah and Jerusalem in front of the new
courtyard at the Temple of the LORD.
6 He prayed, “O LORD, God of our ancestors, you alone are the God who is in
heaven. You are ruler of all the kingdoms of the earth. You are powerful and
mighty; no one can stand against you!
7 O our God, did you not drive out those who lived in this land when your people
arrived? And did you not give this land forever to the descendants of your
friend Abraham?
8 Your people settled here and built this Temple for you.
9 They said, ‘Whenever we are faced with any calamity such as war, disease, or
famine, we can come to stand in your presence before this Temple where your name
is honored. We can cry out to you to save us, and you will hear us and rescue
us.’
10 “And now see what the armies of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir are doing. You
would not let our ancestors invade those nations when Israel left Egypt, so they
went around them and did not destroy them.
11 Now see how they reward us! For they have come to throw us out of your land,
which you gave us as an inheritance.
12 O our God, won’t you stop them? We are powerless against this mighty army
that is about to attack us. We do not know what to do, but we are looking to you
for help.”
13 As all the men of Judah stood before the LORD with their little ones, wives,
and children,
14 the Spirit of the LORD came upon one of the men standing there. His name was
Jahaziel son of Zechariah, son of Benaiah, son of Jeiel, son of Mattaniah, a
Levite who was a descendant of Asaph.
15 He said, “Listen, King Jehoshaphat! Listen, all you people of Judah and
Jerusalem! This is what the LORD says: Do not be afraid! Don’t be discouraged by
this mighty army, for the battle is not yours, but God’s.
16 Tomorrow, march out against them. You will find them coming up through the
ascent of Ziz at the end of the valley that opens into the wilderness of Jeruel.
17 But you will not even need to fight. Take your positions; then stand still
and watch the LORD’s victory. He is with you, O people of Judah and Jerusalem.
Do not be afraid or discouraged. Go out there tomorrow, for the LORD is with
you!”
The combined armies of Moab and Amnon came together against Judah.
Verse 2 says that by the time King Jehosafat heard the news, the army was far
advanced into his country.
He immediately declared a fast, and gathered all the people together to seek
God.
God through Joel is saying the same thing!
When disaster comes, and things are really desperate, stop and gather all those
affected by the calamity and seek God.
Are you repeatedly devastated by relationships that end up destroying you?
Stop everything and seek God.
Is your household continually being bombarded by bills and creditors, so much so
that the basic necessities for your family are lacking?
Stop everything, gather your family together and seek God.
Are there times in the life of the church or nation where everything seems to be
going wrong?
When attacks by the enemy seem to be as numerous as the sands on the seashore?
When over and over again the leaders are confronted with problems so big that
they defy solution.
Where every day someone brings a problem larger and more disastrous than the one
before?
Joel says to stop everything, call a sacred assembly, and seek God!
Seek God in Prayer!
Let’s read, Joel 2:13-17 again!
13 Don’t tear your clothing in your grief; instead, tear your hearts.” Return to
the LORD your God, for he is gracious and merciful. He is not easily angered. He
is filled with kindness and is eager not to punish you.
14 Who knows? Perhaps even yet he will give you a reprieve, sending you a
blessing instead of this terrible curse. Perhaps he will give you so much that
you will be able to offer grain and wine to the LORD your God as before!
15 Blow the trumpet in Jerusalem! Announce a time of fasting; call the people
together for a solemn meeting.
16 Bring everyone—the elders, the children, and even the babies. Call the
bridegroom from his quarters and the bride from her private room.
17 The priests, who minister in the LORD’s presence, will stand between the
people and the altar, weeping. Let them pray, “Spare your people, LORD! They
belong to you, so don’t let them become an object of mockery. Don’t let their
name become a proverb of unbelieving foreigners who say, ‘Where is the God of
Israel? He must be helpless!’ ”
Doesn’t this seem extreme, to stop everything, set aside a special time to seek
God and pray?
It’s never extreme to seek God and pray!
When things are desperate enough, when we’ve really come to the end of our rope,
when we have NO resources left to face this problem.
When we’re totally beaten down, totally defeated, when there’s no one left to
turn to.
Then, dropping everything and coming to God seems like it’s the most logical,
natural thing in the world to do!
Pray Until Something Happens!
We read in Joel chapter 2, verses 18-27
18 Then the LORD will pity his people and be indignant for the honor of his
land!
19 He will reply, “Look! I am sending you grain and wine and olive oil, enough
to satisfy your needs. You will no longer be an object of mockery among the
surrounding nations.
20 I will remove these armies from the north and send them far away. I will
drive them back into the parched wastelands, where they will die. Those in the
rear will go into the Dead Sea; those at the front will go into the
Mediterranean. The stench of their rotting bodies will rise over the land.”
Surely the LORD has done great things!
21 Don’t be afraid, my people! Be glad now and rejoice because the LORD has done
great things.
22 Don’t be afraid, you animals of the field! The pastures will soon be green.
The trees will again be filled with luscious fruit; fig trees and grapevines
will flourish once more.
23 Rejoice, you people of Jerusalem! Rejoice in the LORD your God! For the rains
he sends are an expression of his grace. Once more the autumn rains will come,
as well as the rains of spring.
24 The threshing floors will again be piled high with grain, and the presses
will overflow with wine and olive oil.
25 The LORD says, “I will give you back what you lost to the stripping locusts,
the cutting locusts, the swarming locusts, and the hopping locusts. It was I who
sent this great destroying army against you.
26 Once again you will have all the food you want, and you will praise the LORD
your God, who does these miracles for you. Never again will my people be
disgraced like this.
27 Then you will know that I am here among my people of Israel and that I alone
am the LORD your God. My people will never again be disgraced like this.
And then again in 2 Chronicles 20:5-19
5 Jehoshaphat stood before the people of Judah and Jerusalem in front of the new
courtyard at the Temple of the LORD.
6 He prayed, “O LORD, God of our ancestors, you alone are the God who is in
heaven. You are ruler of all the kingdoms of the earth. You are powerful and
mighty; no one can stand against you!
7 O our God, did you not drive out those who lived in this land when your people
arrived? And did you not give this land forever to the descendants of your
friend Abraham?
8 Your people settled here and built this Temple for you.
9 They said, ‘Whenever we are faced with any calamity such as war, disease, or
famine, we can come to stand in your presence before this Temple where your name
is honored. We can cry out to you to save us, and you will hear us and rescue
us.’
10 “And now see what the armies of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir are doing. You
would not let our ancestors invade those nations when Israel left Egypt, so they
went around them and did not destroy them.
11 Now see how they reward us! For they have come to throw us out of your land,
which you gave us as an inheritance.
12 O our God, won’t you stop them? We are powerless against this mighty army
that is about to attack us. We do not know what to do, but we are looking to you
for help.”
Jehoshaphat and the people pray!
13 As all the men of Judah stood before the LORD with their little ones, wives,
and children,
All the people stood before the Lord, until...
14 the Spirit of the LORD came upon one of the men standing there. His name was
Jahaziel son of Zechariah, son of Benaiah, son of Jeiel, son of Mattaniah, a
Levite who was a descendant of Asaph.
15 He said, “Listen, King Jehoshaphat! Listen, all you people of Judah and
Jerusalem! This is what the LORD says: Do not be afraid! Don’t be discouraged by
this mighty army, for the battle is not yours, but God’s.
16 Tomorrow, march out against them. You will find them coming up through the
ascent of Ziz at the end of the valley that opens into the wilderness of Jeruel.
17 But you will not even need to fight. Take your positions; then stand still
and watch the LORD’s victory. He is with you, O people of Judah and Jerusalem.
Do not be afraid or discouraged. Go out there tomorrow, for the LORD is with
you!”
The Spirit speaks in these verses!
18 Then King Jehoshaphat bowed down with his face to the ground. And all the
people of Judah and Jerusalem did the same, worshiping the LORD.
19 Then the Levites from the clans of Kohath and Korah stood to praise the LORD,
the God of Israel, with a very loud shout.
The people responded in worship!
The scripture is telling us that we need to set aside time to seek God and fast
and pray!
If God doesn’t answer, set aside another time when you will gather again to seek
him!
In the meantime, continue to fast and pray!
Continue until God answers, either by changing the circumstances, or speaks to
us in our spirits.
After September 11, routing out terrorist became the number one priority of our
government.
Have we gotten to the point in our lives that we are so tired of being attacked
in an area of our lives that we make it our number one priority, to continue to
plead with God concerning it until he answers?
When We Turn in Desperation to God,
He Turns to Us!
In closing tonight I want to finish with Joel 2:18-32.
18 Then the LORD will pity his people and be indignant for the honor of his
land!
19 He will reply, “Look! I am sending you grain and wine and olive oil, enough
to satisfy your needs. You will no longer be an object of mockery among the
surrounding nations.
20 I will remove these armies from the north and send them far away. I will
drive them back into the parched wastelands, where they will die.
Those in the rear will go into the Dead Sea; those at the front will go into the
Mediterranean. The stench of their rotting bodies will rise over the land.”
Surely the LORD has done great things!
21 Don’t be afraid, my people! Be glad now and rejoice because the LORD has done
great things.
22 Don’t be afraid, you animals of the field! The pastures will soon be green.
The trees will again be filled with luscious fruit; fig trees and grapevines
will flourish once more.
23 Rejoice, you people of Jerusalem! Rejoice in the LORD your God! For the rains
he sends are an expression of his grace. Once more the autumn rains will come,
as well as the rains of spring.
24 The threshing floors will again be piled high with grain, and the presses
will overflow with wine and olive oil.
25 The LORD says, “I will give you back what you lost to the stripping locusts,
the cutting locusts, the swarming locusts, and the hopping locusts. It was I who
sent this great destroying army against you.
26 Once again you will have all the food you want, and you will praise the LORD
your God, who does these miracles for you. Never again will my people be
disgraced like this.
27 Then you will know that I am here among my people of Israel and that I alone
am the LORD your God. My people will never again be disgraced like this.
28 “Then after I have poured out my rains again, I will pour out my Spirit upon
all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your old men will dream
dreams. Your young men will see visions.
29 In those days, I will pour out my Spirit even on servants, men and women
alike.
30 “I will cause wonders in the heavens and on the earth—blood and fire and
pillars of smoke.
31 The sun will be turned into darkness, and the moon will turn blood red before
that great and terrible day of the LORD arrives.
32 And anyone who calls on the name of the LORD will be saved. There will be
people on Mount Zion in Jerusalem who escape, just as the LORD has said. These
will be among the survivors whom the LORD has called.
We can sum it all up tonight by saying that when we get so fed up with
everything in our life that we don’t know what to do there is only one thing
that we can do!
That is to go to God in prayer, and in fasting, and pray until something
happens!
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