Desperation, Resignation - Part 8

Why would God deliberately allow a man to be handicapped, a man who wanted to serve him with all his heart? Why would God handicap a man to the point that he is driven to despair? Because greatness is not wisdom, child of God, it is not abilities or giftedness that God is wanting to use in your life. Brokenness is God's first step to greatness. It's beautiful.

When I hurt and lie crushed before God, when I hurt and lie crushed beyond belief, and I think I am so destroyed that I shall never rise again, God suddenly lifts me up to heights and opportunities that I never knew or dreamt God would ever trust me with, heights that no one ever, ever thought I would reach. My father-in-law, who is a loved preacher in our country and a man of great wisdom and one of the greatest men of God I've ever known in my life, and I've known many of the world's greatest men of God, I guarantee you God's privileged me. You read their books, God mercifully privileged me to converse with them and pray with them and befriend many of them.

I don't know why God gave me that privilege, but my father-in-law is one of the greatest men of God in the world today, don't doubt it. He said to me, when I was once cast down and lying in the dust, wounded, oh my, let me tell you people something. You think there's glory in being a preacher, there's no glory.

You want glory, young man, don't ever come to be a preacher, go get some other profession. There's no glory in preaching, there's no glory, you're in the dust most of your life if God's going to use you, trust me about that. If God is going to use you to the degree God is going to use you, you're going to be in the dust, you have to be.

That's God's way, and you learn to be comfortable there many times, believe me, you're safe. There's two safe places for someone God will use, one is in heaven, the other one is in the dust, outside of those two places there's no safety for anybody God will use greatly, let me tell you. So you want to be used by God, don't come for glory, come to the dust, brother.

God knows why, and why he will do it to you, to safeguard you and protect you. My father-in-law looked at me when I was cast down once, one of the times when I was down, staggered beyond belief, stung, bewildered, I think like drunk you could say, that such things were coming on me, I was just so staggered, I was just losing balance. My father-in-law looked at me in his great wisdom that God has given him, and he said, Keith, my boy, I've noticed something about you, and I want to share it with you right now, every time I've seen you go down like this boy, every time I've seen you thrown down, every time, it always was just before God was going to do something through you that would stagger this world, my boy.

So I'm not too worried, my boy, that you're here right now, I'm not too worried at all. He walked away. The thorn in the flesh sent by Satan to destroy me, allowed by God in his infinite wisdom to make me, to make me look to him for grace.

So we see that it has to do with war between God and Satan, Satan has the right there to destroy me there, and I could really make shipwreck, even though God meant this to make me. Satan sends something into my life, hoping to hurt me and destroy me, but if we keep our eyes on Jesus, then God stuns the devil, with most things he allows the devil to do by using that very thing to bring out greatness that would never, ever, ever be seen in our lives, where we begin to glorify him. Did you notice that in 2 Corinthians 12, 7, the thorn in the flesh, there was first a desperation in Paul's life.

It was followed by a revelation. Always, you will find when you get desperate about God's dealing with you, God will give you a revelation. Always, he doesn't leave you in the dark, beloved.

God is love, but you've got to be willing to hear his voice, even if it isn't what you want to hear about, the things you're praying about. There was a desperation, followed by a revelation, followed by resignation. Desperation, a revelation, a resignation.

That's what God wants of every one of you, concerning the things you've been crying out and hoping one day he might deal with. When, God? But I'll carry on until you deal with it, hoping I'm not going to deal with it, child. Maybe it's the revelation God gave you tonight.

In your desperation, suddenly God's given you a revelation here tonight, the revelation he gave to Paul. I'm not going to take it out of your life, child, for one reason. My strength is made perfect in your weakness, but that weakness, it won't destroy you, this thing in your life.

It will make greatness in your life. That's what I want resignation for, because I'm not going to take it out of your life, though you've been so desperate like this to get rid of it. My grace is sufficient for thee.

It's all you need, cannot be destroyed, for my strength is made perfect in weakness. There's greatness coming, child. Strength, my strength is there.

It's going to become evidence in your life, in your weakness. So God gives a man in desperation a revelation, waiting for resignation, a resignation to God's will. Oh, most gladly, therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, in my weaknesses.

I'll tell you something, child of God, until you say that, not quoting it, but from your soul, in utter sincerity to God, you really are going to make a mess of things. Do you want that for the rest of your life, or will you come to resignation? No more getting aside, laying everything down, crying, get this out of my life, God, so that I can do something to be no God. If this is what the revelation is, if this is the answer of God to my heart, I have a resignation to perform to God's will.

No more desperate, most gladly. Oh, it's not easy to say, but I rather glory in my infirmities, my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore, I take pleasure.

Do you know what that means? Can you think of saying that? I'm going to be happy about these things that have driven me to despair, these people and these weaknesses. I take pleasure in infirmities from now on, in reproaches, in the sin of the world, in