When Everything's Against You- God Is For You | Jentezen Franklin

Hello, welcome to Kingdom Connection. I'm so glad you've joined us, especially if you're walking through a season where it feels like everything is against you. I've been there. I'm sure you have too. You're not alone. We have all walked through dark days and we needed desperately to hear from God. I believe just like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, Daniel, David, all of these Bible characters went through something that seemed to be against them, that seemed to be opposing them. But God was right there turning what was against them into something that He would use, our God, to work for their good. That's what today's message is all about. Let's go right into the service at Free Chapel in Gainesville, Georgia for today's message and it's entitled, When Everything's Against You, God Is For You. Together, we're inspiring people to live for Jesus. If you're looking for more in life, to live with purpose and peace, to make a difference for your family and those in need around the world, Jesus is the answer. And our mission is to simply point you to Him. You're watching Kingdom Connection with Judson Franklin. I want to use one verse of scripture, Mark chapter 11, verse 2. And Jesus said unto them, go your way into the village over against you. It's an interesting little line and I know I'm doing a play on words, but that's exactly what the King James version of the Bible says. The oldest translation would be the King James. Go into English, go your way into the village over against you and as soon as you're entered into it, you'll find a colt tied wherein never a man set, loosen and bring him. I want you to notice that verse. It was the instruction of Jesus to his disciples. They were moving up from the southern part of Israel, leaving Galilee, leaving Capernaum, going straight up to Jerusalem. It was time for the Feast of Passover. They were headed to Jerusalem. And this village was so small, we're not told anything about it. We're not given its specific geographical location or name in the text. We're only told that Jesus sent his disciples into the next village that, I like the wording of it, that was against them. So the only name that we have of this little village was against. Sometimes Jesus will send you into places and into circumstances and into situations that will be against you. And the devil didn't send you into it. The devil may love to kill, steal and destroy through some of the things that we end up in, but God allowed in his sovereignty for his disciples to go into a place called against. The word against means opposed. The word against means resistance. The word against means that something is, you're in a fight. This is against me. Sometimes God will send you into a season called against. It just feels like everything's working

against you. Everything that used to work is not working. And it's not one problem, but it's multiple problems sometimes. And you're just in a season of against, a place called against. He said, I want you disciples because I always love to put my people in, I order them. I give the directions, go into against. Daniel, go into the lions den. And those lions will not be a petting zoo. They will be against you. But when you're surrounded with what's against you, you need to know that I am for you. And when you get in it, I'll be with you. And Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, I'm sending you into a fiery furnace that is heated up seven times hotter. And I want you to understand that I am allowing you to go into a place that is against you. They'll throw you into the fire. And we preach it, you know, we preach we say that they were dancing with the fourth man in the fire because you know the story when they got in there, the fire didn't burn them, neither was there the smell of smoke, but the scripture said that no one, I couldn't find anywhere where Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego ever saw the fourth man in the fire when they were in the fire. The Bible said the king looked in at some of God's servants going through a fiery furnace and when the ungodly king looked in, he said, I'm looking through my binoculars, I'm preaching it like I want to, and he's looking and he says, I see, I know I put three in the fire that were bound and I see one, two, three, four loosed. But they never saw him, we're never told Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego saw the fourth man because sometimes you can be going through the fiery furnace in the place of against and you don't feel God and you don't see God,

but the fourth man is in the fire. Three plus fire equals four. And the fourth man, you can't get to him sometimes until you go through the fire. And whatever you went in bound by, it's gonna be loose, all the fire's gonna burn up is what's been binding you. Because there's blessings, there's blessings in that place that's called against. It's tough, it's hard. One time Jesus told his disciples to get into the boat and go out into the ocean and he knew, or go out into the Sea of Galilee, and he knew that as they were crossing that massive lake that they would encounter a storm. It's where you feel everything's against you. You know that Jesus told you to do it, but everything is opposing you and trying to stop you. Jesus wanted his disciples to learn a valuable lesson that when God allows you to go through things, and this is what I'm preaching on, when everything is against you, God is for you. And I'm gonna prove that to you through the scripture in just a moment. But many times we need to understand this valuable lesson that what we perceive is against us is actually full and containing blessings that we can't even imagine. We would never choose to go through it. We'd never choose to voluntarily go

to that place of against. But if God tells you to go and God leads you there, it's because he's got something that's tied up for you that nobody else can get and you can't get to it until you go through against. It contains benefits, it contains miracles. I guess what I'm saying is if you feel like you're going through that place of against, it just feels like everything is against me. It's hard, I'm going through this. You need to get your spiritual treasure detector out. You ever seen those people on the beach with one of those things? You need to understand if God is allowing you to go through against, that there are hidden treasures of darkness there that God has tied up waiting for you. He'll never let you go through a season of against and not have something tied up that if you'll get your spiritual metal detector out, treasure detector out, you're gonna find, if nothing else, you're gonna find the praise in there that you didn't have before you went into it because you knew he was a savior, but you didn't know he was a healer, he was a deliverer, he was a family saver, he was a child rescuer. You didn't know that until you go through that. It's against you, it's opposing you, but there's hidden treasure in it. He said, I want you to go to that place

and I've tied up a blessing. I've tied up a coat upon which a man has never rode before. In other words, I've got some brand new things that are coming out of what you're going through that feels like it's against you, but this is what the Bible says. There's a guy in the Bible named Jacob and he said in the book of Genesis, I believe it's the 40th chapter, he said, everything is against me. He said, everything is against me, but then there's another guy by the name of David and David said in the scripture, but God is for me. There it is. He said, I'm going through it, I'm going through hell, but he said, and God is bottling up all my tears because all I'm doing is weeping. Weeping I'm weeping he's bottling up my tears and and and he's putting them in a book and writing about them but when I cry unto thee and Then shall mine enemies turn back for this. I know that's what you got to know You got to get that in your spirit when everything is against you. This is what I know God is for me Even if I messed up even if I didn't listen to him God never deserts you He never gives up on you. If you will earnestly cry out to him that here comes the best part So when everything's against me number two, God is for me number three And here's how God is for you Romans 8 and verse 28 For we know that all things work together for the good not just for anything and not for your good He's not talking about your good. He's not saying Oh God's gonna give me everything. I want that's not what he's saying All things work together for the good to them that love God Anybody love God in this place?

See, I don't love him when he blesses me I don't love him anymore when I'm when I'm a high on blessing then when I'm low going through the valley My love actually is more. I cling to him. I say my help comes from the Lord and And Those who are called the rest of the verse says according to his purpose in other words If God is letting you go through and everything is is coming against you. Everything's against me But you got to know in that moment, but God is for me and when he has tried me I will come forth this pure gold because all these things in it there is there there is a tied-up blessing and It's a it's a donkey that's never a man's never rode before meaning there's there's a new experience coming new blessings coming and Remember that donkey was the one that Jesus would ride into Jerusalem and the people would shout and wave palm branches as he was entering into the holy week where he would die and be Resurrected it all was dependent upon him fulfilling a prophecy in the book of Zechariah that riding on a on a coat or a fold a fold he will come and Upon which a man is never wrote. He was fulfilling a prophecy that was prophesied Thousands of years hundreds of years certainly maybe 1,500 years before he was even born Jesus was that prophecy was being fulfilled in other words I want you to understand sometimes God lets you and can you hear the people screaming Hosanna? praise praise blessed as he who comes in the name of the Lord Hosanna and they were crying and throwing their coats down for that Donkey to walk over that was carrying Jesus Sometimes God will let you go through a season when everything is against you. He sent them to against to untie the the the coat that would literally take Jesus to his Eternal purpose and place of destiny the cross and Calvary and the resurrection in the tomb and The Ascension to the right hand of the Father it was all tied in other words And the people when he was writing started praising God will get praise out of what he allows

You to go through that comes against you when you don't quit and you would say there's a blessing in this People are watching and God is watching Tell somebody I found blessing in against If I were to take this microphone and go around this room I could interview people all over this building and they'd say I thought it was the end of my life I thought that I lost everything. I went bankrupt. I went through I went through a divorce I'm telling you. I thought that was it. I went through this. I went through that I went I had I had cancer or I'm going through it and you know And we don't we don't deny the fact that life is most of life is against you You live it in a place called against welcome to life. The alternative is die if you don't like it We're gonna we're gonna suffer in this life we're gonna go through stuff in this life, but everything is better with Jesus Because he's for me and if he's for me He works and uses those things to mold me more out of what I've been against. He makes me more like him I get that stubbornness out. I get that pride out. I get that self-will. I let go of that addiction I let go of that lie. Let go of that bondage and more and more. I'm looking like Jesus. It's not about me looking better It's about me looking like Jesus You You see, good things are tied up in bad places. It was a place called against, but there was something good tied up. And some of you don't ever want to go into a bad place, but you can't get to the tied up blessings, the big ones, without going through against. I thought about COVID when I was thinking about this message. I thought about COVID. I used to come in this room right here on Fridays, and they had a cameraman back there on the camera, and we couldn't have church, we were not, and there's 3,000 seats in the fixed seats, and then we have stacked chairs,

and then we have overflow. And I would come in this room week after week, month after month after month after month, and I'd walk up to this pulpit, and the little red light would come on the camera, and I'm preaching to 3,000 empty seats every Sunday. That's why when I get a little excited, I wish he would calm down, and I brought my friend, and it's embarrassing, he screams, he screams. But you ought to come in here, I know what the rapture's gonna be like if you're left behind. I came to church, and there was nobody here but me. And I was the preacher, I said, Lord, if I ever get back a crowd, if I ever get back in God's house with God's people, if I ever get a choir back, if I ever get people back, I promise you, I'll never let that praise be silenced. If we get under nuclear attack, the doors will be open. We'll go out praising our King. Everything may be against us, but God is for us, and he works all things together for our good. Everybody take a praise break. All right, all right, sit down. If God would allow you to take out of the book of your life the ugly chapters, the dark chapters, the depressing days, I can't take it no more nights, I give up, I just wanna die, I can't go on. If God were to do that, you would not be where you are. And who you are without what you've been through.

There's a blessing tied up in what's against you. He had it tied up for them. And by the way, he must have been through there because he knew it was there. He's been where you are, and he knows where you are, and he knows how to get out of there. Thank God for what came against you. There's a treasure in it. That's how Jesus could call Judas. The Bible said, when Judas the snake, all right, I'm preaching to you now. You know all those people you can't stand? You better check your spirit. You know what Jesus did to his betrayer? Judas, you know Judas, sold him out for 30 pieces of silver. And you know what Jesus did when he came in the garden? The Bible said he kissed him and called him friend. You know what you're supposed to do when people hurt you? Pray for those who despitefully use you. Love your enemies. I hate that verse. I'm just being on, I don't wanna love them, I wanna hit them. But Jesus has a betrayer who will cost him suffering and beating, but I want you to see it like Jesus sees it. Now it looks like this guy's against me, but actually all things are working together for his purpose. I have to have a betrayer to fulfill prophecy

because it's foretold that I'll be betrayed for 30 pieces of silver hundreds of years ago. So I've gotta fulfill that prophecy. And I washed his feet just a few hours ago just to show him, just to give him one more chance. I washed his feet. I knew he was gonna betray me. and he kissed him, and Jesus called him friend. You have to kiss some things and call it friend. Nobody would choose cancer, but if you have it, kiss it and call it friend and say somehow, someway, God is working through this, I don't understand it, I'm believing that I'm gonna be healed, but you know what, the ultimate place of faith is when you get there where you say live or die, I want Jesus glorified in my life, I know I'm not gonna live forever, and look, we all want big miracles, but sometimes the miracle is just to trust God through it all and say, you know what, you're gonna get the glory, God, you're gonna get even the things I don't understand.