Full Gospel Lighthouse Church, Inc.

624 Torringford West St., PO Box 1201, Torrington, CT 06790-1201

Phone: 1-(860)-489-4137
Pastor: Rev. Daniel Bossidy

Challenged By Life
There are challenges we all must face in life that will either bring us to
the next level of maturity or cement us in mediocrity. Romans 12:1 & 2 gives
us a starting point for today’s message. The word “challenge” means, “the quality of requiring
full use of one’s abilities, energy, or resources.” We all have a challenge before us. What we do
with these challenges will determine our growth.
Our Lord Jesus gave us example after example of how to handle different situations.
What should be our mind-set facing a test? It’s all a test for us. Summon all of your spiritual,
mental, and physical abilities to face the situations you are confronted with. God’s Word has
provided the resources to be more than a conqueror! We just need to dig them out and find
them. As a young boy, our Lord Jesus was faced with situations even then. Luke 2:40-52 says
He waxed strong in spirit, or increased in vigor. He stayed behind in the temple to hear the
doctors of the law and to ask questions of them. For three days His parents sought for Him.
Verse 48 Mary thought He had done something against them. So here is the 1st recorded
challenge He faced. What would the Lord Jesus do? In His answer He questioned her as to why
they looked everywhere for Him. They should have known there was only one place He would
be found: in the temple. He said, “How is it that ye sought me? Wist ye not that I must be
about my Father’s business?” There is no exact translation for the word “business.” The
literal translation is simply, “I must be about my Father.” In other words, He gave Himself
wholly to His Father’s will, character, business, service, and kingdom. The Lord Jesus was all
about doing the will of God. Nothing else mattered. The Scripture went so far as saying He
was misunderstood by His parents, but He went down with them and was subject to them.
Even though Nazareth was north of Jerusalem, He went down with them. To the Bible, the
place where the House of God was at was the highest place in their lives. To them Jerusalem
was the pinnacle of life and their normal activities were on a lower scale of existence. But,
“Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man.”
Many people think their families hinder their growth in God, but Jesus once again
proved this a false concept. We are exactly where the Lord has placed us for our potential
growth. We can become paralyzed and end our growth as people or we can look at the
challenges we face and respond with the knowledge that the Lord knows what is best for us at
this time, and that, “…all things work together for good to them that love God, to them
who are the called according to His purpose.” So it’s not the “things” or circumstances that
hinder us: it is what we know about where we are. My place is an opportunity for growth in
wisdom and grace. If I have a mature attitude where I am and be an overcomer there, I can be a
mature adult and an overcomer in every place the Lord places me! My initial reaction might be
to run from the situation, but sometimes we need to understand where we are and what is the
most important thing in this place we’re at. Is it an opportunity for growth, expression of God’s
will, or learning how to be gracious and leave the results with Him? Jesus corrected His mother
in a couple of areas with His answer. 1st, His motive was being around the things of His Father.
2nd, His Father was not Joseph. He made clear to her that His Father was the Almighty. This
simple statement did not take away from the importance of Joseph in His life, but a reminder to
His mother Mary that what she conceived in her womb was from the Holy Ghost.
The next challenge we read of is in chapter 3 of Luke. This challenge was whether He
would submit Himself to the will of the Father in being baptized of John. Here He was, the
Creator of humanity, in the flesh, submitting to the will of the Father. It was never about
accomplishing His own will anyways. Jesus was all about the will of the Father, for only then
could He lead humanity back into right standing with God. We were “out of the will.” Jesus
Christ put us back into the will of God. In Matthew 3:14 John said to Him, “I have need to be
baptized of thee, and comest thou to me?” Jesus submitted to the will of the Father, even
though the vessel was well aware of his own needs and lacks. The most perfect being ever to
walk the face of the earth was submitting to a human tool that God was using. Isn’t it difficult
for people to surrender their will under someone who is “inferior” to them? But the Lord
approached this scenario with grace by saying, “Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh
us to fulfill all righteousness.” God in the flesh took a situation where one was admittedly
completely inadequate and made Him a partner in the kingdom of God! He brought John into a
relationship with Christ that no one else had. There was a special bond between them that
lasted a lifetime. There was a connection together, an experience shared that fulfilled all
righteousness. We miss this when the Lord asks us to do something. People need relational ties
to each other and God. John told people after this, “Behold the Lamb of God!” (John 1:29-
36) John said, “This is He!” John knew Him because of the experience they had. “This is the
Son of God!” Do you know Him in 1st-hand experiences? If not, why not? What is hindering
you from entering in to His promises and knowing Him, the author and finisher of our faith?
We have been given challenges of life and our Lord Jesus Christ is our greatest example
in dealing with these things that come our way. Take the time to learn of Him and follow Him.
It will transform your life. Become renewed in the spirit of your mind and prove what is that
good, and acceptable and perfect will of God. The song writer wrote, “If I never had a problem,
I wouldn’t know that God could solve them; I wouldn’t know what faith in God could do.”
Your challenges will not defeat you and they shouldn’t discourage you to the point of giving
up. Remember: Jesus Christ overcame the world and if He is in you, you have the greatest
overcoming power in the entire world. There is nothing that can defeat the person who puts
their entire faith and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ!
In closing, the Bible says, “Being confident in this very thing, that He which hath
begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ” (Philippians 1:6).
The Apostle Paul had confidence in the people he wrote to, that church that he loved so dearly.
So many challenges faced Paul in birthing that church, but Paul expressed his confidence in the
One who called him to that place, and to the people he so willing gave his life for. You can be
sure that if the Lord has begun a good work in you that He will perform it and continue to
perform it until the day of Jesus Christ! You can go forward in confidence in Him who loves
you. No matter what comes your way, no matter what situation arises, no matter how many
times you fail or others let you down, the Lord will always be there to pick you up and send
you forth again into His perfect will! Just don’t get weary in well-doing, for you shall reap if
you faint not.
May God richly bless you today. Let faith arise in your heart and walk with the Lord.
He will reveal Himself to you and lead you on to victory in His name. Amen.
Rev. Daniel Bossidy,
Pastor of the Full Gospel Lighthouse Church
Torrington, CT
860-489-4137