"The Purpose of your Trouble"

Ex 3:20-22
20 So I will stretch out My hand and strike Egypt with all My wonders which I will do in its midst; and after that he will let you go. 21 And I will give this people favor in the sight of the Egyptians; and it shall be, when you go, that you shall not go empty-handed. 22 But every woman shall ask of her neighbor, namely, of her who dwells near her house, articles of silver, articles of gold, and clothing; and you shall put them on your sons and on your daughters. So you shall plunder the Egyptians."
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Ex 12:34-36
35 Now the children of Israel had done according to the word of Moses, and they had asked from the Egyptians articles of silver, articles of gold, and clothing. 36 And the LORD had given the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they granted them what they requested. Thus they plundered the Egyptians.
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Many of you are experiencing trouble in some form or fashion, it may be the betrayal of someone close to you, a loss of a job, death of a loved one, marriage, financial... One thing I have learned about trouble is that it is not prejudice, it will hit everybody at some time or another. It is not whether it will come but will you be ready when it comes?

Why is it that the harder we try to get out of the trouble, the more it locks us in? You try to get out of the relationship, job, leave the Church but to no avail. I believe the reason you are still in it is that God has an exit strategy.

What is the exit strategy? It is the reality that God has allowed the trouble to come to reposition you, to increase your capacity to receive more, to be multiplied, to get to you what He can only get through you. Trouble is not your enemy it is your friend. Why?

God has designed for the trouble to put in you what you need for the next level. The trouble will remain until it has fulfilled God's purpose. If you are in trouble it is an indicator that your next level is near.

* Trouble is a multiplier. God transitioned Israel from a family to a nation, and when they came out they were a powerful force to be reckoned with. The more Pharaoh afflicted them the more they multiplied.

* When you exit you will leave with some stuff you didn't have when you went in.

* Why did God command Israel to plunder (steal) from the Egyptians? If you take something from somebody and you never pay it back, isn't that stealing? Yesterday I saw the reason why God commanded them to take all of Egypt's economy in their pockets out of Egypt. Israel had worked for free for 400 years. It was time for them to get paid.

It is your time to be paid! Everything that the enemy has done to you, God has allowed, He has recorded everything that has ever happened to you, with the intention that the enemy will pay you back with interest.

* They plundered the Egyptians, God gave them favor with their enemies, God is about to cause people who don't even like you to bless you, advance you, promote you, and strongly assist you. If you will remain Christlike in your attitude and response to your enemy God will eventually cause them to come back to bless you.

* Pharaoh decreased the straw with the expectation that they were to make more bricks. Then they multiplied in number, why? Because the more the enemy afflicts you, the deeper the intimacy of your relationships. The more trouble that came, the more children that were birthed.

* Praise is the re leaser out of trouble. In Acts 12 there was a prison that was designed to hold captives. It had chained and locked up thousand of people but when somebody began to praise God, it had to release them. Most people praise after they come out, but when you hold your praise, it prolongs your trouble, when you release your praise it demands that the trouble release you with great blessing!

*God will cause an enemy to pay for your vision (Nehemiah).

James tells us that when trouble comes and we endure it with the right attitude, you will be complete lacking nothing.

Let me close with this thought. Trouble brings pressure. And pressure is designed to pull out of you what God put in you (potential). If you put pressure on a hose, it increases the power that comes out. The pressure on you has a purpose, and it is to release greater power out of you. Peter tells us that when the trouble comes, God's hand is on you in greater power.

1 Peter 4:12-15

Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you; 13 but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ's sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy. 14 If you are reproached for the name of Christ, blessed are you, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. On their part He is blasphemed, but on your part He is glorified.
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James 1:2-5

My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, 3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience (the devil is on God's payroll). 4 But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.
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Whever trouble hits, that is the place you are about to be multiplied, God's strength is perfected in your place of weakness.

Can you remain in the trouble till it multiplies you, or are you running from God's multiplier? Can you endure the pain of the cross, so that you can be raised up in great power? Can you be dead in Christ placed in a tomb with a seal on it, until it can't hold you no more? Will you see trouble in a different light so you can understand it's purpose.


Blessings,
Craig