Jentezen Franklin - What To Do When Bad Becomes Unbearable?
If you have your Bibles, I'd like for you to open them with me to the book of Exodus 5. I want to talk to you about what to do when life goes from bad to unbearable. They were already in a bad situation. The children of Israel were slaves in Egypt and were being treated horribly. Pharaoh is a type of our enemy, the devil. Egypt a type of the world. The change, the slavery a type of sin and its grip on our life. And they were already in a mess. I mean, they were having taskmasters beat them with whips, and working them from morning to night, with an unbelievable work quota that they had to reach or they would be mercilessly beat.
And right in the middle of that, Pharaoh, again, a type of the devil and the way that he thinks, just keeps putting more on them. He says no longer will the bricks be delivered. And you're going to work yourself silly, and eat bread, and drink water. That's all you're going to get to eat. But now, you're going to gather the straw. I'm putting more on you. And you're still going to meet your quotas every day that you were meeting, but I'm giving you even harder, you have to gather the straw, and make the bricks, and then lay the bricks and build whatever I tell you. And if you don't meet the quota, you're going to pay an awful, awful price.
Pharaoh worked them severely, and then he put more on them. And that's how the enemy does. That's how sin does. It's not just that he's going to hold you and, if he would keep you in a certain place before it really gets overbearing, you probably would stay there. But the enemy has a way of keep piling on more, and pushing more, and hurting more, and breaking more. And when bad becomes unbearable, deliverance takes place. The flaw of the devil, listen, is he never leaves bad enough alone. If he would just leave you alone when you get down, but then he comes with another thing, and another thing.
And he doesn't realize that all he's doing is forcing you into the everlasting arms of God. Because at some point, if bad keeps getting unbearable, it's going to turn your heart back to God. Now y'all are going to help me preach whether you want to or not. But I was thinking about how, you know, the enemy just piles on. He just keeps pushing. Bad becomes unbearable. I thought about America. America needs revival.
But, you know, it started with the Beatles. The Beatles, when they came out, they made a statement. They said, we're more popular than Jesus Christ in America. No. You're supposed to say bad when I do this. And then they took prayer out of schools. And then they legalized abortion. And then they legalized same-sex marriage. And then we started having gangs and drugs. But what the enemy doesn't realize is, at some point America starts rising up and starts saying, enough is enough. We're going to turn back to God. We need God again in this nation. In our families. You pushed us too far, devil. Bad has just got unbearable. I can't take it anymore. That's when you turn to God.
You know, if you're just drinking one beer, that ain't so bad. Just one beer. But the one beer becomes a six-pack. And then the six-pack you used to have becomes a keg. And suddenly, you're an alcoholic, and you've gone from bad to unbearable. It starts out a recreational drug. A little pill just to take the chill off. I'm going to smoke a little weed to get my creative juices flowing. It's nothing wrong with it because now the government is saying it's alright.
But the next thing you know, you're snorting. The next thing you know, you're shooting. The next thing you know, you don't even know where you are. You're in a crack house. Your life is gone. You've given up your education. Everything's wrecked, and bad moves to unbearable. Your marriage is in trouble, and it goes from bad to unbearable. And people are... all hell is breaking loose. Saturday night the po po has to come to your house, and lock somebody up, and stop the husband from beating on the wife. And the kids are all crazy, too. And finally, you get up early Sunday morning and turn the TV on, and there's Franklin Jentezen on the TV. And something, you look at each other. All y'all are jacked up. All of you gone from bad to unbearable.
And somebody says it's so bad, we need to go to church today. Look out. When you go from bad to unbearable, that's when God will do a miracle. Come on and give Him a shout if you believe it. You have to say enough is enough. Oh, I'm going to preach now. See, y'all acting like y'all saved all your life. The truth is, you wouldn't even be in church this morning if we told your whole story. You went from bad to unbearable. And then you got saved. And then it got so bad that you said, I used to make fun of those holy rollers, but I need the Holy Ghost. I need to speak in tongues. I need everything just to keep myself straight. It's so bad, tell somebody it's so bad, I might need to get the Holy Ghost today.
Psalms 119:126. It is time for you to work, oh Lord. For they have made void your law. God, it's really bad. And I know that's time for you to work. God responds when things get really bad because we turn to Him then. The darker it gets, the worse it gets, that's the best time for God to work. The gates of hell shall not prevail against the church. Notice that's where the church works the best. Right at the gates of hell. So if the gates of hell have come to your house, guess what? That's where God does His greatest work.
Isaiah 58 and I believe its verse 19. When the enemy comes in like a flood. A flood is overwhelming. You ever had the enemy just come in out of nowhere, and it overwhelms? It's overwhelming. It's everywhere. It's out of control. You try to patch it up, and it's just a flood taking over. You're sinking in hopelessness. Sinking in depression. Sinking in, oh, my God, what is going on? What is happening? But when the enemy comes in like a flood, the spirit of the Lord will raise up a standard against him. When it moves from bad to absolutely reaching the point where it becomes unbearable, good things will start happening.
Paul said wherever sin abounds, grace doth much more abound. Paul said, after he listed a catalog of sins that people were bound by, he said, nevertheless God. The opposite of nevertheless is always the more. I want to introduce you this morning to the God that is always the more. Always more grace than sin. Always more light than darkness. Always more victory than defeat. And when bad becomes unbearable, good things happen. If the only reason, if we just separated this crowd, and the only reason that some people are here is because their life got so bad, it moved from bad to unbearable. And here you are.
Joseph had a dream. And God said, you're going to sit on the throne in Egypt. And then everything went backwards. He goes to his brothers, and his brothers rip his coat off of favor, and he takes a step backwards. They throw him in a pit, and he takes another step backwards. Seems like some of you are not going forward. You're going backwards. They sell him into slavery. He takes another step backwards. Ends up in Egypt in Potiphar's house. And Potiphar's wife makes a hit on him, and lies on him, and he's accused of rape and thrown in to prison. He takes another step backwards. He serves 13 years in a prison for a crime he didn't commit. His own brothers put him there, and he takes another step backwards. And finally, he reaches a point after going back, back, back the butler and the baker forgot him.
Takes another step backwards. He gets so tired of going backwards, he says I think I'll sit down. And when he sits down, there's a throne up under him. What I'm saying to you is this. God is going to take you where He told you He was going to take you. And it doesn't matter if you're moving forward in it or if you're reversing into it. It really doesn't matter. God is still going to get you there. And some of you are going backwards, but you need to understand just tell somebody beside you. God's backing you right into your miracle. We thought it would all be forward progress, but sometimes its God puts things in reverse. But He says your destiny is still there.
The devil is a liar this morning. I'm saying to you today that the devil just pushes further, and further, and further. It gets crazier, and crazier, and crazier. And so bad until bad becomes unbearable. And when unbearable gets so heavy, I can't take it anymore. You turn Facebook off. You turn social media off. You turn the TV off. I mean, this is unbearable. I mean, forget Twitter. This is unbearable. And you get your face in this book. And then you go walk, and you pray, and you cry, and you worship. And you start reading the Bible some more. And you take the Bible and put it in the car on your lunch break.
And instead of eating, you fast and open the book again. And suddenly, God shows up. Some of you need to understand, your little spiritual vacation is over. This is a job for God. And you're going to have to turn to Him, or you're going to lose your family. You're going to lose your marriage. You're going to lose your joy. You're going to lose everything. You have to have God. No more games.
The prodigal son, here we go. You're going to help me preach? Do you know what your part is? Turn to your neighbor and say, say bad. Alright, here's the prodigal son. He left the father's house. I can't hear you. He spent all of his father's inheritance on riotous living. He wasted his substance, the scripture said. In other words, he spent all the money on getting wasted. Wasted. Wasting your talent. Wasting your gift. Wasting your potential. Wasting the anointing and call of God being the spiritual inheritance that you were supposed to take and run with. You're wasting it. It's bad, bad, bad.
Then the Bible said he ran out of money. And when you run out of money, then you run out of friends. And they all deserted him. Somebody, he stayed in somebody's apartment, and then they kicked him out. And then he stayed with his girlfriend, and she kicked him out because he didn't have no money, and they got tired of driving him everywhere. And at some point, he ends up in a pigpen. Jews don't belong in pigpens. They don't eat pork. They don't eat hogs. They don't touch that. It's unclean to this day. And something happened when he got in the pigpen. Something clicked.
And he said that was bad, that was bad, that was bad. But when he got in the pigpen, he said a Jew in a pigpen. This is unbearable. I will arise and go back to my father's house, where at least the servants have more than enough. I'm going home. But it didn't happen until bad became unbearable. And some of you don't understand what's been going on in your family, and in your life, and in your marriage, or in some situation. But when bad becomes unbearable, folks cry out. Folks call on God. People begin to repent, and God begins to work miracles.
I love this last point. He promised I will not put more on you than you are able to bear. But with every temptation, I'll make a way of escape that you may be able to bear it. And some of you have watched circumstances in your life move from bad to unbearable. God is saying to you, turn to me. Come back to me. Don't you, I was not your first choice, but I'm your last chance. And if you're bad has become unbearable, it's time for good things something good to happen. And that's when you turn to God. Do you believe that?
I don't know what drove you to get up and come to church this morning. And I don't know what's been going on in your life, or family, or home. But I believe with all of my heart, this is a message that is right on time for multiplied thousands of people. And it's gotten so bad that it's become almost unbearable. And you are right on the verge of a miracle and a breakthrough. And this is your day. If you've had all you can take, if you're tired of just seeing it, and the enemy keeps piling more, and pushing, and pushing, and pushing, and it's getting crazier, and crazier, and crazier, it's time to turn back to God. Like the prodigal, say I am coming out of this. I will arise. Devil, you should have left me alone. I probably would have stayed there. But this last thing was the straw that broke the camel's back. This is it. I'm going back to God for this.
Every head bowed. Every eye closed. If you're under the sound of my voice and you would say Pastor Jentezen, you're preaching to me today. I need God's help. My bad has become unbearable. And you just preached that's when good things can happen because that's when we turn to God, repent, and give Him everything. I need that kind of miracle to happen in my life today. Pray for me. If that's you, boldly raise your hand high. I want to see it all over this room. Wonderful. Wonderful. Hands up all over this room.
At every campus, raise it high. God sees it. God sees it. Every one of you that have raised your hand, I want you, at every campus, to slip out of your seat. Don't negotiate out of this in your mind. Don't say well, what will people think? Who cares? When it gets unbearable, you don't care what people think. And if you're not there yet, just stay where you are because it will get worse. Isn't this a good picker-up sermon? If it's bad, it's going to get worse, and it's even going to get unbearable until you turn to God. But you could cut it off at the pass and take the shortcut this morning. And here they come. And here they come. And here they come.
Everybody clap your hands because chains are breaking. I hear chains breaking. I hear prison doors opening. I hear the enemy kicking himself in his own behind, saying I should have left them alone. I should have left them alone. They wouldn't have went to church this morning. I should have left them alone. And I want you to look at me. I want you to look at this preacher. I sense that the enemy is doing more right now to destroy families and homes than ever before. And if I have any discernment in me, the reason I'm preaching like I'm preaching is because God is ready. It is time, oh Lord, for you to move.
And this morning, I want you to say these words at every campus. Everybody say these words. Lord Jesus, I receive you and your grace. I am forgiven by the blood of the Lamb. And today, I receive the grace of God. I've fallen. I've failed. I've messed up. But I'm getting back up, and I'm running home to the Father. I receive you, Lord, as my Savior. And now here's my issue. It's gone from bad to unbearable, but I turn my heart to seek your face. Now lift your hands high and thank Him right now. That He is on the throne, that He is in control, and He is fighting for you. Let's worship Him. Let's just worship Him all over this house. At every campus, lift your hands high.
If you're streaming live, lift your hands high. If you've got things that you're tired of covering up, you're tired of pretending it's been bad, but it's now gotten so severe that it's unbearable, and I'm tired of playing games with it. I'm bringing it to Jesus. This is your service. Lay it at his feet. He can fix it. He can help you. Right now, let's just begin to sing. Let's just begin to worship. Let's just begin to enter into His presence.