You Are Going to Trouble Your Trouble

Sermon outline

Like the Syrophoenician woman who had no right of access but kept on asking until Jesus answered her, a believer whose faith is being forged in fire must persist, overcome the mind, and grow into a son or daughter who makes wise, long-term decisions instead of reacting.

1. Grow in faith, peace and the wisdom of God

   Jesus starts our faith and finishes it, but in between it is you and Him who grow it, so that you can overcome bigger storms. As faith grows, anxiety and frustration go down and peace goes up. The wisdom she means is the Sophia of God, which James describes as peaceable, unlike the wisdom of the world.

   “Let the anxiousness levels on your life decrease. Let your frustration decrease. Begin to grow in faith.”

   • Hebrews 12:1-2
   • Philippians 3:13-14
   • James 3:17
   • Isaiah 11:2

2. Faith forged in fire: you are going to trouble your trouble

   Moving from being a child to being a son or daughter means your faith is tested like gold, and it is more precious than gold. The Hebrew young men came out of the fire without even the smell of smoke because the fourth man was in the fire with them. She declares authority and influence growing on the believer, who is a king and a priest with the Spirit that raised Christ living inside, and says the things that troubled them are about to be behind them.

   Illustration: Going round the same mountain on another lap: the problems that kept bringing you back are going to be behind you.

   “They won't trouble you anymore. Actually, you're going to trouble your trouble.”

   • 1 Peter 1:7
   • Daniel 3:25-27
   • Luke 2:52
   • Isaiah 50:4
   • Mark 16:18
   • Revelation 1:6
   • 1 Peter 2:9
   • Romans 8:11
   • Job 22:28

3. Overcome your mind

   Following on from the previous week's teaching on the mind and faith, she says you have to speak to your mind rather than let it overcome you. What you fear most comes upon you, so you have to deal with your fears, and once you stop fearing a thing it stops bothering you.

   Illustration: Mountain biking a trail with her sons, she faced a climb of about half a kilometre. The first time she barely made it. The next time she remembered Caleb asking for his mountain, said "Lord, give me this hill," and found herself at the top ready for the next section. She adds the example of traffic: tell it you are not afraid of it, find something to do, and it stops being a bother.

   “I had to speak to my mind and say, "No, you're not gonna overcome me. I'm going to overcome you."”

   • Joshua 14:10-12
   • Job 3:25

4. The Syrophoenician woman had no right of access, but she came

   She was a Greek with no covenant entitlement, the way you cannot simply walk into a CEO's office, but she knew Jesus was the only one with authority over the demon in her daughter, so she came and fell at His feet. Matthew records that Jesus at first said nothing and the disciples wanted her sent away, while Mark, the younger John Mark who gathered his material from others, tells it plainly. After seeing Jesus as healer in the woman with the issue of blood and Jairus' daughter, she asks the church to see Him now as deliverer.

   Illustration: You cannot walk straight into your CEO's office, even with an open door policy, without going through certain people first. In Christ you have the right to enter the presence of God.

   “When power arrives, when authority arrives, when the power of influence and deliverance arrives, you can't hide it.”

   • Mark 7:24-26
   • Matthew 15:21-28
   • John 14:14

5. "For this saying": keep on asking

   She did not ask once and fall silent. Even when Jesus spoke of the children's bread and the little dogs, she was not insulted and kept on asking, and Jesus answered her for that saying. Number one, stay in faith; number two, stay in vital communion with the Father and the Holy Spirit, stay in the Word and keep declaring it over your situation. If nothing is happening, go back and ask again, even after fifty times.

   Illustration: Many wait three, four or five years for a son, a daughter or a husband to be saved, or for healing, and become so comfortable with the problem that it is all they see.

   “If you keep on asking, if you keep on knocking, if you keep on keeping on, deliverance will come.”

   • Mark 7:27-30
   • James 5:16
   • Matthew 11:28
   • Psalm 2:8
   • Hebrews 11:6
   • Matthew 7:7

6. Profitable faith makes long-term decisions

   Profit means more than you put in, and the word God sends prospers in the thing to which He sends it. The wisdom of God calculates the consequences of a decision, the benefits and the losses, instead of chasing an instant result. Family relationships are long term, so build bridges rather than breaking them down.

   Illustration: Angry with your wife, you do not say "let's just get a divorce", because that is an instant result with lasting damage to your family and resources. And if you offend Peter, Paul, James and John are attached to him, and you may need them in your business later.

   “The decision you are making calculates the consequences.”

   • Isaiah 55:11
   • 1 Corinthians 1:30

7. Sons respond, children react

   If you want to stay a child, your quality of life will be minimal and substandard. When you decide to grow up as a son or daughter, you stop reacting and start responding, because you see the damage a short fuse does. Faith forged in fire is God working on your anger, your issues and your insecurities.

   “The faith forged in fire is working on your anger, working on your issues, working on your insecurities.”

   • John 10:10
   • James 1:20

In this message