I decided to do something a little different today and forward
you a sermon I received through e-mail a while ago. The reason I want
to do that is because sometimes I think we get so caught up in our own
little world and the things that are happening to us that we forget there
are others who also might be struggling. Certainly, there are others
that need encouragement and prayer besides just us, amen? Today we're
going to get a glimpse of one family's perspective toward their trials....
The details of the pastor who wrote it are included below. I trust you'll
all receive as much of a blessing from it as I did!
LET GO AND LET GOD
By Dr. Ron Ostten
[Dr. Ostten is the president of Temple Baptist University in Westlake,
Louisiana. He is also the pastor of the Bethel Bible Baptist Church]
"Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father
of mercies, and the God of all comfort; Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that
we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort
wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God." Second Corinthians 1:3-4
By way introduction to this article let me give you dear readers
a
background on the recent problems that the Ostten family has experienced
and is experiencing. What God has done for us and is doing for us may
help someone through some bad times.
On August 29, 1999 Sandra Kay Ostten McKenney, our oldest daughter
was killed when the vehicle she was driving stalled on a railroad crossing
and was hit by a train. The vehicle was pushed 1,100 feet down the track,
exploded and burned up. We believe she was dead on impact and did not
suffer in the fire. On September 1, 1999 at 10:00 in the morning we held
her funeral and that morning a 1:00 A. M. my father, Walter Lee Ostten,
Jr., died. We buried him September 3, 1999 beside his oldest granddaughter
Sandra. Needless to say the Ostten and McKenney family have been in the
fires and through the fires. We do not need your sympathy, but do covet
your prayers.
In this time of troubles, tragedy, and trials we have individually
and as a family experienced the comfort of God. The blessings of knowing
where your loved ones are cannot be emphasized too much. We know that
dad and Sandra are in heaven and they are not suffering any pain or troubles.
Thank God for His great salvation.
We, the family, are all involved in the work of the Lord. Sandra's
husband, Bro. Danny Mckenney, is the pastor of an independent Baptist
church, her two oldest brothers, Ronald Lee Ostten, Jr. and Steven H.
Ostten are pastors of independent Baptist churches, her sister Hope Ostten
Curtis is the wife of Bro. Vance Ray Curtis, Sr., associate pastor of
Bethel Bible Baptist church, of which I am the pastor. Her youngest brother,
Jean-Paul Ostten, is finishing up his Bible College work and is serving
the Lord in our church. Her mother, Mrs. Jean Marie Granger Ostten, my
wife, is a great preacher's wife and is a great servant of the Lord.
We all have access to the grace of God and the comfort of God because
we are the children of God. Born again by the blood of Jesus Christ.
When this happened we all went into shock at the offset but we soon
realized that we had resources that the lost did not have and that the
back-slidden child of God did not have. We then began to draw on those
resources. We have the Saviour, the Scriptures, and the family of God
to help us through these great trials. We quickly turned to all these
sources of help and are receiving great comfort. DON'T GRIEVE FOR US,
PRAY FOR US TO BE USED BECAUSE OF THIS GREAT TRIAL!
Many people have sent us literature and notes to encourage us; this
has been a great encouragement. Don't count it lightly concerning the
notes you send to a grieving family or person. The notes, cards, phone
calls, and e-mail have been a great comfort in many ways. But the great
God of Heaven has been our greatest source of comfort. I am going to
share with you the things that God has given us.
When a trial, tragedy, troubles, and testings come in life, here
is what one must do to go on to a higher plane of service and spiritual
warfare.
I. TURN TO THE LORD, OUR GREAT GOD.
We hear some folks say, "When you get to the end of your rope then tie
a knot in it and hang on." But this is not what one should do for one
will never move on if they hang on to the rope. One must turn loose and
let God have his way in their life. When we turn to the Lord and allow
Him to minister to us, to show us His grace and to comfort us in the time
of trials, then we can see that He is working all things out for our good
and for His glory.
Mat 11:28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I
will give you rest.
When one does not turn loose and allow God to have His way the pain and
suffering will not begin to be healed and will not be eased. We still
have tears and sometimes we miss Sandra and my dad, but we are seeing
how God is working in our family, church and friends through all this
trial. To God be the glory He doeth all things well!
II. TRUST IN THE SAVIOUR AND HIS PRECIOUS WORD.
One of my preacher friends, Bro. Bill Haag, said, "When something happens
in my life, some trial or something I do not understand, then I ask myself
this question, 'What does the Bible say about that'?" The Bible has the
answer to all our troubles, trials, tribulations, and testings. It has
the all the answers we need. Human physiologists, human reasoning and
human philosophy does not have the answers, but the word of God has the
answers.
God is the sovereign God of this Universe and of our life therefore He
is working everything out according to His will for our life. Nothing
happens without His direction, control and authority. THERE ARE NO ACCIDENTS
WITH GOD!
Heb 13:21 Make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working
in you that which is wellpleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ;
to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
When we turn to the Lord and trust in Him and His word then we can rest
assured that He has our best interest at heart and that He is working
out His will in our life.
We do not know what all these testings are going to produce in our life
but we know that if we pass the test and trust in our dear Lord then He
will show us what He is doing in our life. We may not know all of what
He is doing in this life but we will in the life to come.
III. THANK HIM FOR WHAT IS HAPPENING AND WHAT HE IS DOING.
The hardest thing in the world is to thank God for the trials when you
are going through the trials, but that is what we must do. We do not
know what the future holds but our great and gracious God knows what will
come to pass and He knows the way through the wilderness. We need to
remember that "Joy cometh in the morning."
You may think that you cannot give God thanks for that trial but you can
let go and let God have His way in your heart and then He will give you
the grace to thank Him for the trial. He wants you to be grateful for
all that He is doing in your life. It is the goodness of God that leads
us to repentance.
1 Th 5:16 Rejoice evermore.
1 Th 5:17 Pray without ceasing.
1 Th 5:18 In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in
Christ Jesus concerning you.
It was and is the will of God that we experience this great trial and
burden, therefore we must give Him thanks for what has happened and is
happening. When we do not get to the place in our life where we can and
will give Him thanks for the trial then we will become bitter or we will
never get past the suffering. We must, to grow in grace and not have
to take the test again, give Him thanks and do it from a heart trusting
in Him.
Some people say that God puts His children through tests and trials to
see what they will do. That is an unscriptural and ignorant statement,
for God is all knowing and sees the future as well as the present. He
knows what one will do before they do it. He does not allow trials in
our life to see what we would do, but so we can see what we will do during
that test. HOW HAVE YOU DONE IN THE TEST?
IV. TESTIFY ABOUT THE GRACE OF GOD IN THE TRIAL.
One of the problems people have during trials is that some want to hold
their feelings in and do not want to talk about the problem or do not
want to testify about the trial. When we begin to talk about what has
happened and is happening we begin to see the grace of God in the trial
then we can allow God to have his way in our life and heart. My wife
and I begin to talk to each other about what happened, about what was
happening and what the future might hold. We spent some time talking
to each other about Sandra, about daddy, about our other children, our
daughter-in-laws and son-in-laws are our children, about our grandchildren,
about my mother and about what this trial would do if we allowed God to
have His way.
We spent time in prayer talking to God and thanking Him for all the things
that He has done in our life. We are so grateful that we know Sandra
and dad are in Heaven and we are so grateful that we know we can go to
meet them one of these days. GOD HAS BEEN GOOD TO THE OSTTEN FAMILY!
Psa 77:11 I will remember the works of the LORD: surely I will remember
thy wonders of old.
Psa 77:12 I will meditate also of all thy work, and talk of thy doings.
It is God that is working in our life and it is God who has the reins
to
our well being. We must turn to Him, trust Him, thank Him, and testify
of what He is doing in our life.
In conclusion let me encourage each of you dear readers to turn to God
in your trials and you will know that God's grace is sufficient for any
trial or trouble that you are going through or are going to go through.
Remember these great truths found in our text.
2 Cor 1:3 Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the
Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort;
2 Cor 1:4 Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able
to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we
ourselves are comforted of God.
1. God is the source of all comfort.
2. God will comfort us in all our tribulation.
3. God is making us able to comfort others.
4. We can comfort others with the same comfort God has comforted us.
Ladies, my thoughts after reading this sermon were such: The more we
live for ourselves, the greater our troubles will seem, but the more we
live for God, the smaller they become in the light of His glory and grace!
May this become the way we all react to each and every one of our trials,
amen?
God Bless,
Pam
Isaiah 60:1&2
