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I am sure that if you were to ask people at our former church what I could have done differently, one of the top responses would be that I should have kept my mouth shut. Now, they might frame this statement with a bit more Christianese like, “Ellen should have accepted the leadership that God placed over her and done her best to serve and honor the Lord by using her gifts to support and bless the ministry of the people in authority.”
Yep, basically that’s saying that I was wrong because I spoke up and pointed out concerns rather than sucking it up and doing my best to make leadership look good no matter how many people were being hurt in the process.
I did have one woman who served as my mentor for several months who asked me, “Do you wish that you had not said anything?” The…
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“Then he began to curse and swear, ‘I do not know the man!’ And immediately a rooster crowed. And Peter remembered the word which Jesus had said, ‘Before a rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.’ And he went out and wept bitterly.” Matthew 26:74-75 (NASB)
“But Peter got up and ran to the tomb; stooping and looking in, he saw the linen wrappings only; and he went away to his home, marveling at what had happened.” Luke 24:12 (NASB)
Jesus’ love does not fail no matter how much we fail Him. Interestingly though, we often fail Him though we genuinely love Him. Still, what we learn from it all is what Peter discovered: our relationship with Him does not depend on our ability but on His faithfulness.
Peter was not the only one to ever fail the Jesus. James and John had declared their ability to earn the…
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Failure doesn’t feel good—ever. We expected a raise—and we got laid off. We prayed for healing—and we went in for radical surgery. We studied hard—and failed!
Failure is a sometimes a necessary step toward success. Problem—failure takes courage out. That’s why Peter’s fishing incident can en-courage us who feel like failures.
Peter had spent a night fishing—with nothing to show for it. That’s the time not to ask, “How was fishing?” Peter and the others were “washing their nets” (Luke 5:2). From him we learn three truths about reversing defeats.
BE HONEST ABOUT FAILURE.
When Jesus finished teaching, “he said to Simon, ‘Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.’ And Simon answered, ‘Master, we toiled all night and took nothing’” (v.5a). He could have said, “It wasn’t that bad—could have been better.”
Because we’re fragile, we hedge. Peter laid it out straight: “We…
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And you are helping us by praying for us. Then many people will give thanks because God has graciously answered so many prayers for our safety. 2 Corinthians 1:11 (NLT)
My daughter showed her independence at a very young age. When it came time to put her coat on she would refuse help by stating in a very emphatic way “Do Byself” which translated as “I’ll do it by myself!” She had far more confidence in herself than we had. We learned early on to give her a couple minutes to get ready because it took her longer without our help.
As parents the idea of independence can be bittersweet for some of us. On the one hand, we all obviously want our children to grow up to think for themselves and be independent. But on the other hand, in reality, during those times of solitude we have to admit it’s hard to see them get to the point when ‘we are no longer needed’. For example when we see our ‘little girls’ or ‘little boys’ drive away in the car for the first time alone.
Independence is a good thing in many areas and our society applauds it. But there are some times when independence isn’t profitable. In the mid-60’s Simon and Garfunkel made a song popular that celebrated independence. “I am a Rock” proclaimed the gospel of not needing anyone for anything. An Island is completely self-sufficient. A Rock can’t be hurt by feelings of inadequacy and can weather even the most violent storms.
While the words made for a good song, independence in the spiritual realm isn’t profitable or even wise. The Apostle Paul and his troop of missionaries/ministers was going through a terrible ordeal. They were under constant attack to the point where they feared for their lives. In spite of the danger, they survived and Paul gave credit for their survival to the power of prayer and not just the prayers of his men, but the prayers of others that knew of him and lifted him up to the Father.
Somehow in the Christian life we’ve bought into the idea that to ask for help is a sign of weakness. Or maybe it’s the fact that we’ve been burned by ‘well-meaning friends’ who take our private requests and make them public or use them as a soapbox to try to fix us. (If you aren’t sure what I mean, read the story of Job and his ‘helpful friends’.)
Once our trust in others has been damaged by others it’s admittedly hard to ask for help. Especially in the matter of prayer when our requests are sensitive. There is perhaps no one in the Bible with a more fiery personality than the Apostle Paul. He was a man’s man. He was a leader. He was about as independent as they came. However, when it came to spiritual matters, I doubt very much that Paul had a ‘Do Byself’ attitude.
Paul knew the importance of surrounding himself with trusted people who would lift him to the throne of grace for strength, wisdom and protection. Each of his prayer partners had a part in his ministry as he states in today’s verse. It’s as if Paul is saying, “many people will be thankful because you prayed for us.”
Have a struggle coming up that you don’t know how to handle? Not sure what the future holds or which direction you need to turn? Surround yourself with people you can trust to pray for you objectively and without judgment.
PRAYER: Dear God. I don’t always ask for help very well. I have far too much confidence in my own abilities. I hesitate to ask others to pray because I don’t want to look weak. Provide me with people I can trust to strengthen me through prayer. Give me the courage to ask for help when I need it. In Jesus name I pray, Amen.
As pressure and stress bear down on me, I find joy in your commands. Psalm 119:143 (NLT)
My family and I love to camp. One of our favorite spots to spend a few days is in extreme northern Minnesota. Just miles from the Canadian border, we are without electricity except for our camper batteries, have no cell phone signal and are 50 miles from the nearest hospital. We enjoy taking the boat out, playing games, taking naps and just getting away from all the stress of the ‘real world’ in our hidden paradise.
The only connection we have with the world outside is a weather radio that we listen to each morning so that we know what to expect weather-wise in regards to going out on the lake or taking hikes through the forest.
Last summer, on the day before we were going to leave, we listened to an ominous forecast on our weather radio. Severe weather was bearing down on us from the west. There were reports of damaging winds, funnel clouds and torrential rains. Maps we had with us verified that we were in the path of the oncoming storm.
Knowing the storm was at least an hour away, we made sure to put away anything that might become destroyed and packed away everything we could in preparation for the oncoming storm as well as our journey home in the morning. Then
we climbed up on a rock and watched the sunset and approaching clouds.
We were nervous. The unknown frightened us. We made contingency plans for the possibility of having to evacuate the camper due to severe weather. Fortunately, the worst of the storm went south of us and we got nothing but plenty of loud thunder, bright lightning and heavy rain.
The oncoming storm reminds me of stress. Stress is, I believe, really as symptom of other emotions. We become stressed when we worry about financial struggles. We become stressed when we are discouraged about the doctor’s report. We become stressed when we fear the consequences of poor choices or relational breakdowns.
We see the storm clouds on the horizon. We know the possibilities of disaster even though, in reality we are uncertain of the exact outcome. We take every precaution we can and then do the only thing left: wait.
When the uncertainty of life bears down on us and we are unsure of the outcome or whatever it is we face, we have a place where we can go for cover. That place of refuge is God’s Word and his many promises to us.
Sometimes, when people are stressed they look for temporary fixes. That’s why airports often have bars close to the gates. Alcohol doesn’t take away the fear, but it deadens it for a while. For some new relationships, shopping, taking a trip or watching porn is an escape. There can be all sorts of things you can do to try to deaden the impact of stress on your life. But they are all temporary fixes.
Dealing with stress
- The next time you are stressed, take some time to reflect on exactly what the basis for your stress is. Is if fear? Is it guilt? Is it worry? Is it procrastination? What is the cause of stress in your life.
- Secondly, go to God’s word or, if you are unfamiliar with God’s word or don’t know where to start, find someone who can help you in this area.
- The third step to dealing with the storm of stress is to give over whatever is stressing you to the promises of God.
- Lastly, seek Godly wisdom on how to deal with the storm. Sometimes it’s just a matter of waiting to see what happens, like we did in our camper that night. Other times there may be things you need to do like confess a sin, re-focus your lifestyle, ask forgiveness, etc.
True joy comes when we rest in the promises of an all-loving, all-powerful God whose desire is for each of us to live in peace. Jesus said “I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid.” John 14:27(NLT)
PRAYER: Jesus, I thank you for the many promises you have given us through your word, the Holy Bible. I thank you for the fact that you know exactly what I’m going through and for the promise that you not only know the outcome, you will walk me through it. I give this stress over to you based on the promise of peace you have given me. Amen.
Mike Fisk & Built with Grace 