TEXT:
Amos 5:18-20
18  Woe unto you that desire the day of the LORD! to what end is it for you? the day of the LORD is darkness, and not light.
19  As if a man did flee from a lion, and a bear met him; or went into the house, and leaned his hand on the wall, and a serpent bit him.
20  Shall not the day of the LORD be darkness, and not light? even very dark, and no brightness in it?

INTRODUCTION:

  A. HAVE YOU EVER HAD THINGS GO FROM BAD TO WORSE?
    1.  Have you said, Well, at least it can't get any worse, and then it did?
    2.  Rehabilitating Seals

The average cost of rehabilitating a seal after the Exxon Valdez oil spill was $80,000. At a special ceremony, two of the most expensively saved animals were released back into the wild amid cheers and applause from onlookers. A minute later the crowd was shocked as both seals were eaten by a killer whale.

In 1992, Frank Perkins of Los Angeles made an attempt on the world record for flag-pole sitting. Unfortunately he had to come down eight hours short of the record.  He stayed up there for 399 days. When he came down (after over a year) he found that the guy who had agreed to pay him so much money per day had declared bankruptcy, that his girlfriend had left him for another guy, and that his phone and electricity had been cut off.

Two animal rights protesters were outside a meat packing plant in Bonn, Germany protesting the cruelty of slaughtering pigs.  There protests were ignored and their attempts to stop the slaughter of these animals was unheeded.  However, things went from bad to worse when the pigs became agitated, broke down the fence close to where the two protestors were standing, and trampled them to death.

An Iraqi terrorist, named Khay Rahnajet, didn't put enough postage on a letter bomb when he sent it. He was upset with himself when it came back stamped, "return to sender."  In fact,  he was so upset that he forgot what he was doing and he opened the letter bomb. It exploded and almost killed him.

A man escaped from a jail in Florida and was on the run from the law. He ran through the everglades and stayed in the forest. He could hear the hounds chasing him in the distance. He came to a large fence with razor wire at the top. He climbed over the fence, cutting and scrapping himself in the process. Shortly after climbing into the fenced area lights and sirens went off and he was arrested by prison guards.  He had broken out of jail and broken into a maximum security prison.

I. IT GOES FROM BAD TO WORSE FOR THE LOST

  A. AS DESCRIBED BY AMOS
    1.  Amos says, for the lost, the day of the Lord will be like running from a lion and running into a bear.
    2. Amos 5:19 (NIV)

19 It will be as though a man fled from a lion only to meet a bear, as though he entered his house and rested his hand on the wall only to have a snake bite him.

II. IT GOES FROM BAD TO GOOD FOR THE SAVED

  A. WE STILL HAVE OUR BAD DAYS
    1.  For a Christian, a bad day is only preparation for better days.
    2.  A bad day cannot last for us.
    3.  God says, "weeping may endure for the night, but joy comes in the morning" (Ps. 30:5).
    4.  Our God will eventually make "all things work together for good" (Rom. 8:28).
    5.  God promises, "In the world you shall have tribulation, but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world" (Jn.. 16:33).

  B. PRAY TO TURN IT AROUND
    1.  James 4:2 says, “You have not because you ask not.”
    2.  Don’t get so caught up in the stress of the moment that you forget to pray.
    3.  Have you ever thought after a storm, "Oh, if I had only…"
    4.  How do you turn around a bad day?
    5.  Pray.

  C. DO THE RIGHT THING TO TURN IT AROUND
    1.  Some of you would never have gotten into the mess you are in if you had done the right thing.
    2.  My Nephew before the Judge.

He was bored with how he looked, so he decided before the hearing that he would grow a goatee and wear dreadlocks. A couple of years later, he was still making payments on his fine.

When I was a teenager, my mother took my motorcycle for a spin around the yard.  My mother has a picture of me flying 10 feet in the air on that bike. I say that to let you know it was not a toy scooter.  As she was headed for the front porch (about 10 feet from where she got on the bike) and gaining speed I didn’t know if I was more worried about my mother or my motorcycle.  After she wrecked the bike into the porch, we asked her why she didn’t just let go of it and get off.  She said she didn’t think of it at the time.

  D. PRAISE GOD TO TURN IT AROUND
    1.  It takes faith to praise God when the day has been bad.
    2.  It takes faith to sing, "Look what the Lord has done," when it doesn't look like the Lord has done anything.
    3.  But once we’ve prayed there’s nothing else to do but praise?
    4.  If you believe He hears, and you know He cares, then praise Him!
    5.  The Psalmist said, "From the rising of the sun, unto the going down of the same, the Lord's name is to be praised" (Ps. 113:3).

CONCLUSION
So how's it going today? Have you been having a bad week? ...a bad year? ...a bad life? It's time to turn it around. It's time to come out of darkness and into His marvelous light. Don't leave this place defeated. Don't leave this place depressed and discouraged. There's a way to turn around a bad day. There's a way to find victory and to become an overcomer.

When my mother and the motorcycle finally came to a stop she blamed only herself for her bruised knee and her wounded pride. She was the one who held on.  Some of you are hanging on to things much worse than a runaway motorcycle.  You are hanging on to sinful habits that are speeding you to destruction. Satan is taking you for a ride. You are hanging on to pride and sin while he drags you through a lifetime of depression, discouragement, and defeat. Do the right thing! Let it go.

Let go of the handlegrips of your life and let Jesus have His rightful control over your life.  Allow Jesus to truly become the Lord and Master of your life. Let go of sin and take hold of the altar.  Give up, and let Jesus take over!  Let Him take your life from Bad to Good!