“A WALK IN THE PARK”

Good morning. I pray you all had a restful and spirit filled weekend. I was blessed with
the ability to be in God’s house this week and I am so thankful for that, and for the
spiritual feeding I received. I also would like to encourage any of you that actually read
this to voice any opinions, commits or questions you may come up with.

Today’s topic, “A Walk In The Park”, is inspired from all the “real life” that is going on
all around us right now. There is some “myth” that says, “if you are a Christian, it will
always be smooth sailing. You will never have any money problems. You will always have
good health. You will never have a bad day. You will always be up and you will never
have a ripple in your pond.” This train of though is BOLOGNA. Let me show you a few
things God’s word has to say about this.

Psalms 34:19 says, “ Many are the afflictions of the righteous, But the Lord delivers him
out of them all.” Job 2:10 says, “ But he said to her, "You speak as one of the foolish
women speaks. Shall we indeed accept good from God, and shall we not accept
adversity?" In all this Job did not sin with his lips.” Proverbs 24:16 says, “ For a
righteous man may fall seven times And rise again, But the wicked shall fall by
calamity.” Hebrews 12:6 says, “ For whom the Lord loves He chastens, And scourges
every son whom He receives." John 16:33 says, “These things I have spoken to you,
that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good
cheer, I have overcome the world." 1 John 5:3-4 says, “3 For this is the love of God,
that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome. 4 For
whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome
the world--our faith.” Revelations 2:10 says, “Do not fear any of those things which you
are about to suffer. Indeed, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that
you may be tested, and you will have tribulation ten days. Be faithful until death, and I
will give you the crown of life.”

Friends, the reality is, in this life, there will be times that you don’t have enough money
to go around. There will be times when people mistreat you and reject you. There will
be times of illness and death. There will be times of loneliness. There will be times
when it seems like nothing will go right and everyone is against you. There will be times
when you are down and cannot see the forest for the trees.

But wait; All this bad, is just for a season. Ecclesiastes 3:1 says, “To everything
there is a season, A time for every purpose under heaven:” Matthew 7:10 reminds us
that it is God’s desire to give us good. God is on the side of those that are His.
There will be times of rain, but there will be times of sunshine as well. There will be
times of pain, but there will be times of happiness. There will be times of poverty, but
there will be times of prosperity. “A Walk In The Park”??? Depends on who you are
walking with.

Remember: You cannot experience the thrill of victory, if you’re never in the fight to
begin with.

Until next time, please pray for each other and me, as I continue to pray for each of
you. Love in CHRIST,

Brian Hanvey
Associate Pastor
Bethel Baptist Church