All These Things Are Against Me

Went to a preachers’ fellowship meeting last Tuesday, hosted by Astatula Baptist Church and Pastor Travis Lane. Heard some good preaching and enjoyed some good fellowship. Two of the speakers I had heard much about but had never heard preach: Glenn Riggs, pastor of Starlight Baptist Church in Orlando, FL, and Mickey Carter, pastor/founder of Landmark Baptist Church and College in Haines City, FL.

It was a blessing to hear an old saint (Bro. Carter) who has fought long and hard still standing strong on the word of God and excited about the Lord’s return.

Bro. Riggs preached from Genesis 42:36, where Jacob makes a statement many of us feel we can identify with from time to time: “All these things are against me.” He made some great points from the passage, so I wanted to pass along my notes.

INTRODUCTION: It sure looked this way in Jacob’s life at this point, but things are not always what they seem. Because “as [a man] thinketh in his heart, so is he (Proverbs 23:7),” our attitude is so important.

1. There are and will be times in our lives, especially in the ministry, when it seems as if “all things are against us.” But it’s never quite as bad as we think it’s going to be.

2. In such times, we must never forget the lessons of the past. Many examples of God’s blessing and intervention in Jacob’s life. “In times like these it always help to remember that there have always been times like these” (Paul Harvey).

3. Our disadvantages often turn out to be our greatest opportunities. Nothing Jacob said in this verse was true. “Joseph is not.” He was. Bro. Riggs put it this way: “In fact, you ain’t gonna believe how is Joseph is.” Next, “Simeon is not.” But he was. And “ye will take Benjamin away.” That’s not at all what happened. In reality, God was about to turn everything around and do something great in Jacob’s life.

In Genesis 42:36, Jacob said, “All these things are against me.”

But in Romans 8:28, the Bible says, “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” Then in verse 31, “If God be for us, who can be against us?”

Praise the Lord!