Fighting Despair

  "The idea that this world is a playground instead of a battleground has now been accepted in practice by the vast majority of Christians."  A.W. Tozer

We are in a battle, and one of our greatest fights is against despair in this sin stained world.  Sickness, sadness, sorrow, and circumstances surround us and attack us with despair.  Yet, we are not alone in the fight.

Even the Apostle Paul struggled at times to practice what he preached.  On the one hand he said, "Rejoice always!" (Philippians 4:4),   But other times he despaired even of life (2 Corinthians 1:8).  When we read about all the pain and problems Paul battled in this world (2 Corinthians 11:23-29) we understand his fight to overcome despair was very intense.  For many of us the battle fields are different, but the war is no less intense. Is there a weapon which can help us win this battle?  I wish there were a nuclear bomb to obliterate despair, but there isn't.  Thankfully God has given us weaponry to use for the hand to hand combat with despair-scales and scopes.  Let me explain.

In 2 Corinthians 4 Paul describes himself as "perplexed but not in despair."  

8 We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; 9 persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. 

16 Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. 17 For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. 18 So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. 

Like Paul, I am perplexed and at times feel on the verge of despair.  Yet, I should not be surprised about my own perplexities.  I live in a sin stained world.  I am on a pilgrimage, not a vacation in this world.  I am in a battle and have an enemy whose greatest tool is despair.  AND God's way's are not my ways, they are higher than mine (Isaiah 55:8,9).  No wonder I am perplexed about life!  Right now I am without a full time ministry position after 21 years of fairly successful ministry by some accounts.  I've been seeking the Lord and His provision for an opportunity to serve for over a year.  And yet, nothing...which leaves me perplexed and drives me to despair.

A couple weeks ago while studying 2 Corinthians 4, I was writing down the word "despair" when the line "When Satan tempts me to despair..." came on in a song from the other room.  No coincidence in my mind.  I am tempted to despair, but thankfully God has provided two  weapons to keep me from going over the edge if I choose to use them.

First, Paul used a different set of scales than everyone else, and so must we if we are to win the battle.  His scales for weighing life were counterbalanced by eternity.  He did not compare his burdens with comfort or a pain free life.  No, he placed eternity on his scales. No burden in life could outweigh a burden-free eternity.  So he fought on.

His scales of time were different as well.  For Paul to be able to call his years of intense suffering "momentary," Paul obviously used a different calendar than most of us who only live in the moment.  What is even a lifetime of suffering in comparison to an eternity of peace and joy?  We are like children scraping our knees who can't see beyond the pain of the moment and cry like our lives are ending.  OUR lives are eternal; so what we are going through now is truly momentary, yes painful and very real, but momentary.

Second, Paul used a different set of scopes as well.  The Greek word for "fixing our eyes" is the word from which we get "scope."  Paul focused his eyes on the unseen world.  Like a doctor who uses a microscope to see the unseen world of cells and bacteria, Paul used an eternal scope to look beyond his pain to see the unseen world of God and eternity.  He did not deny reality, but saw the greater reality which most of us can't see because our scopes are focused on the here and now.  Looking at life through a scope which is out of focus leaves life blurry.  But the right scope correctly focused reveals a whole new world which enables us along with Paul to fight the enemy of despair with clear vision.

Some practical tools to keep life in focus.  1. Listen to music which focuses our minds on eternity and God's working in our lives here on earth.  2. Memorize scriptures which help us look beyond our circumstances (Phlippians 4:4-9, 2 Corinthians 4:16-18, Psalm 37:1-9, 1 Peter 1:3-7).  3. Hang around friends who help us keep an eternal focus.  4.  Participate in God focused worship services which will refocus our hearts after spending a week living in this sin stained world.  5.Read books by or about those who have fought the battles and have won.  (e.g. Max Lucado, You'll Get Through This)  Here is a video link by the group Shane and Shane and John Piper which will encourage you as well..(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qyUPz6_TciY&sns=fb).

Which scales are you using to weigh the circumstances of your life and to determine the duration of your trial?   Are you using the right set of scopes, and are they focused on eternity?  Don't get me wrong. I'm ready for the battle of  my ministry search to be over, but not until eternity becomes more weighty to me and my eyes are refocused from the seen world to the incredible unseen world.  The battle with despair can be won if we use the weapons God has provided.  Fight on!

Attachments area

Preview YouTube video "Though You Slay Me" (featuring John Piper)

"Though You Slay Me" (featuring John Piper)

God's Spring Fashions-Show Stopping!

I've never been one to be fashionable.  Unlike my fashionable friends Tim and Tom, I'm usually a bit behind the fashions or ahead of the fashions as they come back around.  My wife at times reminds me of my corduroy mistake in the 80's.  Fashion is in the eye of the beholder.  And God's eyes see differently than man's eyes.  Now if we want to be fashionable in the eyes of our admiring crowd of friends, pick up a GQ or the latest fashion mag.  But if we want to be fashionable in God's eyes, our Creator, the Design Master Himself, we pick up 1 Peter 5:5 where the true Fashion Guru prescribes our Spring fashion...

All of you, clothe yourselves with humility...

Warning!  This Spring fashion is a bit tight fitting over our button-busting pride.  You won't find these fashions on the runways, but in the slumways.  The buzz will be about the absence of glitter and glam.  And this year chic will turn the other cheek.  God wants us to be show stopping...or stop showing (off) may be the better way to put it.

Our ensemble includes two parts.  Peter describes the first piece of clothing...

Clothe yourselves with humility toward one another.  

This is a rare find even in the Christian retail stores and churches of today.  We Christians take pride in our spirituality, maturity, wisdom, superior political position, moral tradition, or of all things humility.  

So how do we become fashion savvy?  The best way to fit into the Spring fashion of humility is by serving others.  In Philippians 3, Paul reminds us of our Super Model, Christ, who you may remember wore the servants towel as his banquet attire and dressed down to look like us as He lived among us. 

Rarely are those dressed in humility toward others critical of other's attire.  When we find ourselves becoming critical and judging others, we can be assured our Pharisaical fashion is out of fashion with God.  In my years serving Christ's Bride, the Church, I've discovered many of the greatest spiritual fashion critics rarely take time to ask how they can serve.  Check your fashion sense here...what is your attitude toward those around you today?

I find the second piece of the Peter's ensemble found in verse 6 to be only slightly easier to put on.  

 Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand...

When I recognize the greatness of my Creator and Sovereign Designer, I find it easier to bow down in humility.   Yet this it is not automatic.  The Israelites of the Old Testament saw God's Mighty Hand first hand, but instead of humbling themselves, they became more demanding.  Expressing my thanksgiving toward my Sovereign Designer and his mighty hand in my life is a practical way I humble myself.  

It's always better to humble ourselves than for God to have to humble us.  And we have plenty of help in keeping us humble.  Living in a sin-stained world where we experience pain-physical and emotional is humbling.  Living with sin-stained people who hurt us, use us, and abuse us is also humbling.  But on a positive note, where are some areas where you have seen God's mighty hand in your life? Humbling, isn't it. 

So we find the two piece ensemble of humility with people and humility with God in vogue on Heaven's golden runway.

Lest you think Peter is the only fashion critic encouraging the attire of humility this Spring, the apostle Paul praises the same ensemble for our wardrobe. 

Colossians 3:12 Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.

Our greatest fashion critic, Christ himself, praised the attire of humility when he set the world a buzz with a radical fashion statement... 

Matthew 11:29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

So what are you wearing this Spring?  As you look back over the past week, what did you put on?  Were you in fashion or out according to our Designer?  Better yet, what will you wear this coming week?  Whether the weather says Winter or Spring, the same outfit works according to God-humility is beautiful!

The Winter Wilderness is Almost Over!

I'm thankful the winter wilderness is almost over both outside and inside.  This hit me today as I celebrate my 49th birthday and begin my 50th year. The celebration is only a few hours old and I have already been deeply encouraged by the well wishes from friends and family, but most of all from the Lord.

First, I woke up early this morning to read from Leviticus...not the most inspiring book of the Bible if you've ever read it before.  But this morning of all mornings I turned to Leviticus 25:8ff where I discovered that the 49th-50th  year is the best year of all!  God called it the year of Jubilee, a year of freedom, rest, and joy!  And God ordained the year of Jubilee for the Jews because He loves His children.  This inspired me to look to my 49th birthday as the beginning of my year of Jubilee, freedom, rest, and JOY.

I was inspired again as I listened to the song "Jubilee," by one of my favorite musicians/Bible teachers, Michael Card, which led me to  another song with deep meaning.  Recently I've been experiencing a winter wilderness experience of sorts.  Most of us can identify with those times of wandering and wondering what God is doing.  For most of us those times are filled with loneliness, silence of God,  and long hard walking often in the dark.  The song, "In the Wilderness", by Michael Card reminds us there is value in the wilderness.  In his introduction he summarizes,

Every significant event in the history of salvation happens  in the wilderness.  In its own way it is a more blessed place than the Promised Land.... And today, God leads us to the wilderness as well so that we might learn how much we need Him.

In the wilderness 

He calls his sons and daughters 

To the wilderness

But he gives grace sufficient

To survive any test

And that's the painful purpose 

of the Wilderness

In the wilderness we wander 

In the wilderness we weep

In the wasteland of our wanting

Where the darkness seems so deep

We search for the beginning

For an exodus to home

And find that those who follow Him

Must often walk alone

In the wilderness we're wondering 

For a way to understand

In the wilderness there's not a way

For the Way's become a man

And the man's become the Exodus

the way to holy ground

but wandering in the wilderness

Is the best way to be found.

Groaning and growing

Amidst the desert days

The windy winter wilderness

Can blow the self away

Just what I needed to hear!

Finally, I received a call of hope.  I've wanted to reconnect with a man I've respected highly for years, but thought our paths would never cross again.  But this morning I found out that he only lives a couple hours away and would be available for a get together.

With tears of joy in my eyes, I'm thankful the winter wilderness is almost over and for the way my year of Jubilee has begun!

Dangers of Grace:"Self-righteousness Against the Self-righteous"

There is nothing new under the sun.  The wisest man ever told us that in the book of Ecclesiastes centuries ago.  And it's true today.


Years ago while pursuing my college education I saw a trend among my peers: becoming self-righteous about their superiority over the self-righteous.  They had experienced a level of grace which the previous generation had not yet attained.  As a result they boasted about it, flaunted it, and in some cases abused the grace they were just then discovering.

Nothing is new under the sun.  According to the grandson of Billy Graham, Tullian Tchividjian, the arrogance of grace is a danger for this new generation as well.  In his book, Surprised by Grace,  he warns of one of the danger of grace:

"Many younger evangelicals today are reacting to their parents' conservative, bottoned-down, rule-keeping flavor of 'older brother religion' with a type of liberal, untucked, rule-breaking flavor of 'younger brother irreligion.'  It screams out, 'That's right! I know I don't have it all together, and you think you do; I know I'm not good, and you think you are.  And that makes me better than you!  See the irony?  We become self-righteous against the self-righteous." (p. 146, italics the authors)

He goes on to explain his own struggle with grace.

"Personally, I tend to resonate less with the rule keepers and more with the rule breakers-with those who have such a tough time staying on the narrow road.  We're the kind who really love the gospel and God's grace because we feel our need so strongly; we know how desperate we are .  But it's easy for us to feel a sense of superiority over all those upright-looking church people, whom we assume just don't really get the gospel."

I can identify with Tullian, how about you?  Give some extra grace today.  Hopefully someone will give more than a handful to you as well.