I believe that the Lord has laid in my heart a specific word for the church this morning. For years, whenever someone went through hardship, I would comfort them by saying, “Don’t worry — God would not allow this if He didn’t know you could handle it.” It sounded good. It sounded compassionate. But church, that is not the truth of Scripture. That is the world’s message. That is the message of Hollywood, of humanistic thinking — “Look within yourself, find the strength inside you, you can do it.” But the Bible teaches the opposite.
Everywhere we look around we see stories and movies that try to tell that you are a hero and that you can look with yourself and find strength. It is that foundation that makes you think that in the time of crisis, you just look within you.
The truth that we understand from scripture is that if you look within you during time of crisis, you will still see emptiness.
2 Corinthians 1:8-9 says this so clearly. Paul writes, “We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt we had received the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead.” Church, God allows situations that we cannot handle on our own. Why? So that we will stop trusting in ourselves and trust fully in Him. This is where true faith is born.
It is not about what is inside of us apart from Christ. Apart from Him, Jesus says in John 15:5, “you can do nothing.” Our strength does not come from looking inward; it comes from abiding in Christ. It comes from surrender. The world says “look within,” but Scripture says, “look unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith” (Hebrews 12:2).
Paul speaks again in 2 Corinthians 4:7, saying, “But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.” We are weak vessels, fragile, ordinary, but we carry within us the treasure of the gospel, the power of the Spirit. Why? So that no one would mistake where the strength comes from. It is not ours. It is His.
Paul continues in 2 Corinthians 4:17-18, saying, “For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen.” Church, this is the perspective we must have. What feels unbearable now — the trial, the suffering, the waiting — is light and momentary when compared to eternity. It is achieving something far greater in us. Romans 8:18 echoes this: “I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.”
But we struggle when we look at our situation through natural eyes. That is why Paul exhorts us to walk by faith, not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7). When we walk by faith, we realize who we are in Christ. Ephesians 2:6 tells us we are already seated with Him in heavenly places. Our perspective must rise to where we are seated spiritually, not sink down to where we are standing physically.
In Ezekiel 37 — we read about the valley of dry bones. Sometimes God leads us into places that look hopeless. Lifeless. Places where we say, “There’s no future here.” But God leads us there for a reason: to remind us that His Word has power to bring life where there is none. He told Ezekiel, “Prophesy to these bones.” Church, we must learn to speak the Word of God over our circumstances. Over our families. Over our hearts. Over the lost people in our lives. Speak life, not death. Speak faith, not doubt. Speak hope, not fear.
Romans 10:17 says, “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.” Speak the Word. Declare it. Prophesy over your situations. Sometimes you will see bones come together, but no breath yet. Do not stop. Keep speaking. Keep waiting on the Lord. The breath will come. His Spirit will move.
And in all of this, let us not forget that God is a jealous God (Exodus 34:14). He does not share His glory. Let no man say, “I got through this by my strength.” Let no woman boast, “It was my wisdom that brought me through.” No, it is the Lord.
So church, let us rise up again today in faith. Not in our own strength, but in His. Let us speak His promises over our lives. Over dry bones. Over impossible situations. He is the God who raises the dead. He is the God who speaks light into darkness. He is the God who brings beauty from ashes.
Today, as we close in prayer and worship, let’s surrender afresh. Let’s fix our eyes on the unseen, on the eternal, on the faithful One who has promised, and who will surely do it (1 Thessalonians 5:24).
Amen.