Resting in a Restless World

Matthew 11:28-30

“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

 

            Now, if you have any kind of church background or know someone who does you have probably heard this passage before.  It’s a popular verse of encouragement for the times when people look to the Bible for a little boost to the soul.  Recently however, I was some-what forced to consider the implications of this text due to some life circumstances

            Allow me to be transparent.  Especially as the holiday season comes around it’s a pretty universal fact that life tends to get hectic.  The mental or literal to-do lists we construct get longer as we stack Christmas preparations on top of our normal obligations.  There’s just something about this time of year that seems to unleash a little bit of extra chaos into society.  You see it in the way people drive, in the way they shop, just to highlight two of many possible examples.  Now, a few weeks ago I had fallen prey to the restless grip of this season, putting in extra work, taking away from time I usually set-aside to rest, in order to get more things done.  And when I did finally take time to rest it usually involved being as close to a vegetative state as I could be watching television or, when my mind allowed me to, taking a nap.  The mistake that I had made was thinking that that counted as real “rest”.  Sure, the vast majority of the world today would consider some time in front of the silver screen and a little power nap to be quite restful.  But that brings me to my point: it’s not the kind of rest that Jesus is talking about in Matthew 11.  Our typical kind of R&R, at best, can push-back the wear-and-tear of daily life physically or mentally, but all the while the soul is still growing weary.

            For a few weeks I had justified why I had not faithfully set time aside to rest.  I mean, the concept of “keeping the Sabbath” is probably one of the most neglected concepts in Christian culture today.  Why? Because we live in a restless world.  Saying New York City is “the city that never sleeps” is seen as a positive attribute of the culture.  The common jocular response to the notion of rest is that we will rest when we’re dead, but right now we have things to do.  So we are typically surprised when all of a sudden it seems like the engine of our lives breaks down, and, for no apparent reason we can think of, we feel weary, depressed, and overwhelmed -  like we’re running on fumes.  That’s where I found myself one night and I don’t think it’s too bold to say that many or all of you can relate to that. Some call it a “break-down”, I’d like to call it the consequence of a lack of proper rest.

            And here’s the thing, a lot of times we get in those situations, and we jump to prescribe ourselves with solutions.  We think, “Well maybe I just have too much on my plate, so I just need to back out of a bunch of things I was committed to.”  Although, that may be part of the problem, it doesn’t cure the problem entirely.  Or we think “Maybe I just need a little time off. A good vacation will get me back on track.”  Again, that may be helpful in the right context but a vacation in and of itself is not going to solve the problem.  As I’ve talked with people over the years I’ve seen a lot of folks come back from vacations no better off or refreshed than when they left.  At best the vacation allowed them to escape from their weariness for a few days, but the burdensome realities of life were patiently waiting on their doorstep when they came back.

“Okay, then what is the problem?” you may ask.  It’s that we don’t know what it really means to rest.  We often times think that resting is just NOT doing the things that take a toll on us.  But, as Jesus alludes to in this passage, rest is more than an abstinence of activity; in fact, it’s actually a call to active intimacy with Christ.  More than anything we have to consider what the source of this rest for our souls is that Jesus promises. It’s Himself.  So, this proves that the weariness of our souls is not actually determined by the external influences of work, family obligations, volunteering etc.  Those things may make it more difficult to carve out time to rest and distract us from the one thing that can actually refresh us.  However, our sense of holistic rest is in direct correlation with our communion with Christ. 

As I reflected on this I realized that my own life proves the integrity of this theory.  I have undergone seasons in life where I have worked 70+ hour weeks between my day job and ministries, volunteered on top of that and felt absolutely refreshed all the way through.  Even when my physical body would tire, the sense of being spiritually full in Christ eclipsed the exhaustion of my flesh.  And I have had weeks where I had little or nothing to do yet felt drained and weary because “relaxation” cannot replace the ultimate source of rest for every man’s soul…Jesus.

So, I would encourage you, whether you are a believer or not, to consider not just if you’re adequately resting, but if the way you’re resting is adequate.  Christ expresses His empathetic understanding of our burdensome existence in this world and He supplies the means to sustain us joyfully in Him.  Only He can give our entire being the rest that it needs to avoid “breaking down”.  It’s not more sleep, fewer responsibilities, more time off, or a healthier lifestyle that will carry us through, unless those things come alongside intentional and intimate communion with Christ through prayer, time in His Word, and just being still in His presence.  Although it seems that everything culturally attacks this idea, it seems pretty clear that the world desperately needs to reform the way that we rest. Our joy and sanity may very well depend on it.

GRACE UPON GRACE

"And from his fullness we have all received grace upon grace." 

These words in John 1:16 are a great summary of what it means to be a Christian. We have received and we will continue to receive grace. In other words, our lives in Christ can be described as grace-filled and empowered lives.

Some of you are aware that I collect quotes from different people. One of the sections of quotes that I have is entitled "the grace of God." Below are some quotes on the grace of God that I hope will encourage you in your walk with Christ.

"If you wake up every day with a truly grateful heart, you know that grace has visited you." Paul Tripp

"You only need the cross to know that God will go to every length necessary to extend his   grace to you." 

Paul Tripp

"There is enough grace for today." 

Chris Larson

"All the darkness in Satan's kingdom can't extinguish the light of one candle of God's grace." Scotty Smith

"As the years go by, you realize if God's grace isn't sufficient, you don't have a chance." Steve Brown

"God's reckless grace is our greatest hope." 

Tim Keller

"If there is no such thing as the grace of God, there would be no such person as a Christian." 

Martyn Lloyd Jones

"Grace is love that cares and stoops and rescues." 

John Stott

"Nothing in the world is of so good use as the least grain of grace." 

Richard Sibbes

"What gives me hope every day is God's grace." 

Tullian Tchidvijian

Grace to you,

Barry

A Consideration of Motivation

A common topic that has come up in various ways lately is motivation.  First, allow me to clearly define what I mean by “motivation”.  According to dictionary.com, a motivation is “a reason or reasons one has to behave or act in a particular way.”  If that is the case then the reality of motivation’s influence is inescapable since we have a reason behind everything that we do or don’t do.  Typically, we aren’t just affected by one motivation but a flurry of them that may pull us in different directions simultaneously.

For example; depending on what day it is, you most likely got up and went to work or school this morning.  Why?  Need for income? Fear of losing your job? Desire to succeed? Love for what you do?  It could be any of these, all of these, or more.  However, there’s another set of motivations that work to pull us in the opposite trajectory, right?  Physical tiredness, the comfort of the bed, dislike of work or to avoid the sudden cold weather that has gripped the North East, just to list a few.  Every morning a war of motivations wages in us and to top it off, it’s almost entirely sub-conscious.  As one of my youth groupers put it perfectly, “I usually don’t stop and think about why I do things, I just do them.”  Well put,if I do say so.

Now, let’s apply that to a spiritual context by asking the question, “Why would one strive to live a ‘Christian’ life?”  Let me start with the most common motivation, which I experienced in the beginning of my life as a Christian and which to be relevant in the lives of many whom I’ve spoken with.  The dominant motivation, it would seem, is that most people place their faith in Jesus is because of fear: fear of punishment, fear of the consequences of their actions, fear of God Himself, or fear of man due to some variation of social pressure  is the driving notion behind individual striving to be “Christian”.  It may be that our understanding leads us to believe that the essence of the Christian life is to appease a holy God by doing good deeds in order to repay Him for all the bad things we’ve done.  Or perhaps we might strive to live the Christian life because our parents or peers are, and we feel that we must fulfill some spiritual expectation in order to belong or prevent rejection.  Those motivations are very real and powerful.  However, as someone who spent the first 8 years of my Christian life primarily motivated by fear, it is not sustainable, nor is it the way the Christian life was designed to work.

The truth is that eventually we become desensitized to fear or the burden of that kind of pressure will drive us away.  That’s why we typically start to more confidently rebel against our parents as teenagers because we no longer respect or fear the consequences of our actions as we had known them.  Or eventually if we remain under a yoke of fear, over time we become relationally distant because we naturally work to avoid what terrifies us.

I want to conclude with the way God calls us to be motivated and what we miss out on in the Christian life when we live in fear.  Paul makes it abundantly clear what the primary motivation of a follower of Christ can and should be in 2 Corinthians 5:14-15:

“For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this; that one has died for all, therefore all have died; and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.”

Paul is clearly stating that the love of Christ, manifested in His life, death and resurrection is the greatest motivation that a Christian can have.  Notice that it is the love of Christ referred to in the past tense, implying that it is already possessed.  It’s not that we live the Christian life in order to earn or maintain God’s love, but because we already are loved.  “You Are Loved by Christ” is the banner Paul is running towards.  That’s his inspiring meme that he would post on his Facebook page with a picture of the empty cross.  He is proclaiming that not only is that what personally drives His life for Christ, but that it is the intended and most powerful motivator for every Christian.

That leads me to my final point.  The main thing that a life driven by fear misses and what separates Christian obedience from any other religion…Joy.  When our motivation is the love we already have been given by Christ, we are free to live not out of obligation but out of a mutual love.  Following the commandments stops being just required rule-following and becomes a list of ways to express our love to God.  It is not a laborious task that sucks the life out of us; it is a life-giving privilege.  And that was God’s design, that we would experience joy in Him as we live for Him.

“As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you.  Abide in my love.  If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love.  These things I have spoken to you that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.”

~Jesus Christ (John 15:9-11)

WORD OF GOD SPEAK

by Steve Matson

II Timothy 3:16-17 [16] All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, [17] that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

For 4 weeks, I am teaching through a series at Journey entitled Word of God Speak. We are a church that is saturated with bible content.  The desire that I have for this series is that we would also be a church that gladly submits to the word of God.

One of my main resources in preparing this series has been Taking God at His Word, by Kevin DeYoung. Below I have quoted Kevin.  I encourage you to buy and read this book because I believe that this is a resource that will continue and deepen the effort of my preaching series.

"No words can express what is needful in our dying hour. But there are words to sustain us at that moment, and in every moment from this hour until that. They are words of truth, the words of life, the never-failing, never-falling, Christ-exalting, spirit-inspired, God-breathed words of Holy Scripture. Sticking with the Scriptures may seem like a light thing now, but we will feel the weight of it someday. There will come a time when it will be shown whether our lives were founded upon trivialities or realities. So let us not weaken in our commitment to our unbreakable Bible. Let us not wander from divinely exhaled truth. Let us not waver in our delight and desire. God has spoken, and through that revelation he still speaks. Ultimately we can believe the Bible because we believe in the power and wisdom and goodness and truthfulness of the God whose authority and veracity cannot be separated from the Bible. We trust the Bible because it is God's Bible. And God being God, we have every reason to take him at his word." (Taking God at His Word, page 124)

Theology in Suffering

Whether it’s in our personal experience, in conversations with those we cross paths with or in what we witness after five-minutes of any news broadcast, suffering is a constant blip on our radar.  I can’t think of one day that I have been able to go from dusk to dawn without “suffering” coming up in some form or fashion.  Of course, it typically is not as obvious as a discussion about the concept of suffering.  I know for me, it’s usually someone(or myself) venting about relational problems, the stress of work, the struggles of parenting or the anxieties of personal finances that serve as a constant reminder that suffering is an inescapable part of life.

Now, if we actually stop and think about it, regardless of our personal beliefs, questions start to form.  They are typically not just intellectual, but emotionally loaded inquiries that rise up in us.  Why did this happen? Did I do something wrong? Why does this kind of thing always happen to me? What could I have done to stop this from happening?  And the list goes on and on, right?

As a Christian, not only do I have to wrestle with my own personal questions, but also the questions posed by those around me, who don’t necessarily believe what I do.  If God is truly good and in control of everything, why would he let this happen?  How can you believe that everything truly happens for a reason? And so on.  When I am faced with these kinds of questions, I find that I’m trapped.  The person asking these questions either dismisses whatever I say, and I am unable to convince him or her because he or she dismisses the truth of scripture, or I wrongly presume to understand the reason for their suffering and therefore fail in my attempt to be comforting. In fact it will most likely come across as offensive to the afflicted person.  So, for those of you who are reading this hoping for some insight in terms of how to answer those questions or counsel others in the midst of suffering, I would say, weep with those who weep, listen, pray and just be there for the person for a while.  Don’t try to fix the problem immediately while emotions are running high.  That’s just a little nugget of wisdom I’ve learned from a few instances of trial by fire and getting singed several times when the task of counseling people through hardships has been dropped on my lap from time to time.

However, we don’t want to leave it at that permanently and avoid addressing the issue at all.  So, allow me to approach it from the perspective of the truth I see in the book of Ezekiel.  When it comes to a place one would typically go to gain some perspective on suffering in the Bible, Philippians or James 1 would be a more popular place to look, but during my devotions in Ezekiel, the Lord has definitely been speaking to me on the topic of suffering.

Background: The book of Ezekiel finds Israel once again forsaking God and drifting into corruption.  So, God calls the prophet Ezekiel to deliver His message of judgment upon the nation as a just discipline for their sins.  Remember, this is “pre-Jesus” so the people’s obedience to the Mosaic Law was the main factor concerning how God related to them.  At surface level it may seem like God is giving the people of Israel a tongue-lashing, full of terrifying expressions of his justice served upon their injustice.  However, as I read chapter 6 and the following chapters, a phrase began to pop off the page as it showed up repeatedly: “Then you [or they] will know that I am the Lord.”

 Each time the Lord uses that phrase it’s at the end of a long list of afflictions that will fall upon Israel.  It’s important that we do not read into that phrase too much from our own cultural context however.  This isn’t a Muhammad Ali kind of thing where God tells the press how He will “knock out” the nation of Israel, so that the world will know He’s the greatest.  No, this is actually a far more relational thing than it may appear at first.  God’s desire for Israel is that they would see Him and know that He is the Lord of all things and that He is exactly who He has told them He is.  God’s desire is not to teach Israel a lesson of morality by giving them a severe “spanking”, but of theology.  Allow me to show how that ideal manifested itself in my own life.  

After I graduated from college, the following September of 2012 began one of the most intense seasons of trial and suffering that I have experienced.  The Lord had called me to begin my vocational ministry on staff for a church plant in the Jersey Shore area.  I had to leave everything I had known behind and start a life I did not know nor understand.  I was engaged to a girl I was convinced was ”the one”, only to discover a few months before the wedding day that the callings God had given to us as individuals were not as complimentary as we had originally thought.  So, we mutually broke off the engagement.  In the aftermath, the heavy grip of depression, which I had never experienced before, seized my heart.  On top of that I came into ministry like a baby deer: stumbling, relatively clueless, figuring out how to be an independent adult on the fly while trying to lead in ministry.  

Now, I’m sure that there are many of you out there who could easily “top” my experience in terms of how much you have suffered, but hear me out.  The whole time all these different things were piling on top of each other, I was crying out to God with a flood of the same kind of questions previously mentioned.  I searched the scriptures for some kind of explanation, and although there were a lot of potential answers, they weren’t as specific as I wanted them to be at that particular time.  I had the unrealistic expectation that when I opened the Word, something would jump out saying, “this is specifically why you are going through the specific thing you are going through”.  I tell you now, that I had no actual clue until hind-sight took its course.  What perspective did I find as time passed, you might ask?  To put it simply, Jesus is Lord, and suffering exists because sin exists.  After having almost every aspect of my life spiral out of my feeble sense of personal sovereignty, I finally understood and felt for the first time, the comfort of knowing that God is Sovereign overall and the humbling truth that the reason that life is hard is because of man’s sinful condition to which I contribute. So, I can only trust in the Sovereignty of God, and look hopefully towards the promise of Christ’s second coming, when there will be no more sin and, as a result, no more suffering.

Now, I can’t say that every instance of suffering is the same in terms of how it is meant to affect or mature us.  But what I can guarantee is that one of the reasons why God “allows” suffering to go on is because He knows that every single one of us still has an incomplete picture of who He is, and if everything was perfect in our lives, we would not even acknowledge Him. Our hearts would naturally reject Him, thinking we do not need Him.  

However, in the midst of the frightening realization that we are not in control of our little worlds, we are more easily led to witness the truth that He is in control of EVERYTHING.  Apart from that bitter taste of life’s depravity, we would not know the sweetness of how the presence of a Heavenly Father seated upon the Throne as King of Kings impacts our everyday life.

Again, to simply say this to someone in the midst of their suffering is not wise nor is it inherently Biblical.  Even Christ empathized with Lazarus’ family to the point that he wept as they were weeping (John 11:35).  So, our first response when we come across someone’s suffering should be to validate their feelings and seek to comfort them by being there with a Christ-like love.  But, when the time for explanation comes in order to pull that person out of the mud of their sorrow, pointing someone to reflect on the character and work of God, specifically Jesus Christ, is never a bad thing, for there is nothing that speaks to our wounds like the wounds of Christ.

Catching Up on Couple Time

by Pastor John Lohman

Have you ever noticed that there are essentially four different ways that we can structure our time as families?  Consider the following:  a.) alone time, b.) couple-time without the children, c.) one-on-one parent-child time (each parent spends time with each child), and, d.) family group time.

Over the years, while counseling individuals, couples and families, I have observed that oftentimes couple-time without the children gets short changed.  Most of us get adequate alone time (unless you are the mother of an infant or preschooler).  Then too, many families allow time for mom and dad to spend individual time with each of the children.  Also, many families spend an adequate if not disproportionate amount of time doing family group activities.  The risk here is that the family that stays together doesn’t stay together.

If you find that couple-time gets the short end of the stick in your family, allow me to make a suggestion:  spend a romantic evening together with your spouse.  In other words, spend some couple-time together, without the kids.  

Now, be aware that you need not lock yourselves into a candlelit dinner at the Top of the Plaza!  Whatever you do, be economical.  Keep it simple.  Most of all be creative.  The twin goals are that you and your spouse spend couple-time together and that you and your spouse enjoy yourselves.  Only the two of you knows what will fit the bill.

Finally, don’t get hung up over who will initiate “couple-time” activities.  We cheat ourselves out of all kinds of joy when we wait and wait for our spouse to come up with a plan.  So, give yourself and your spouse a gift – take the initiative and then experience the joy that God will bring your way.

    DON'T FEAR ISIS!     

Barry Lawrence

We live in troubling times. Especially with the threat of terrorists who behead anyone who resists them. A posted video by ISIS of another beheading sends chills up our spines. How are we supposed to respond? Jesus response would be something like this. "Don't fear ISIS and what they can do to you. Your fear should be placed somewhere else."

Listen to the words of Jesus. "And do not fear those who kill the body, but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not, therefore, you are of more value than many sparrows" (Matthew 10:28-31).

• Don't fear what men can do to you, even take your life.
• Fear God who is the final Judge and who can sentence you to eternal punishment in hell.
• If you fear God and have accepted Christ as your Lord and Savior, you no longer need to fear anything else.
• You no longer need to fear because you have God the Father who cares about you more than he cares about the sparrows.
• You won't fall to the ground (like the sparrow who dies) without your Father knowing and ordaining it.
• Therefore, live fear free knowing that you are secure in your Father forever.

So don't fear ISIS or any other threat in your life. Fear God submitting your life to Jesus and live fear free under the watching loving care of your Father.

Wonderfully Helpless

As an athlete, musician, and as an American, the “Nike-esque” cultural philosophies and motivational phrases are etched on the walls of my mind.  Such things as:

• “All our dreams can come true if we have the courage to pursue them”~ Walt Disney
• “When you want to succeed as bad as you want to breathe, then you’ll be successful”~ Eric Thomas
• “Believing in yourself is the first secret to success” ~ Anonymous

Such quotes attempt to give a fresh nuance to the age old progression of, “we have to try”; “if at first you don’t succeed, try, try again”; and “if that doesn’t work, try harder, don't give up”.  These little motivational nudges are attempts to inspire a “winner’s” attitude and unlock some undiscovered potential we never knew we had that is hidden deep within ourselves.

However over the years and especially recently, as I’ve studied God’s Word during devotions and in preparation for different teaching opportunities, I’ve detected a common concept that absolutely goes against everything the motivational speakers tell us.  WE CAN’T DO IT!  Let me just show you three quick examples:

• James 3:8= “But no human being can tame the tongue...
• Romans 3:20= “For by works of the law no human being will be justified in His sight...”
• Romans 9:16= “So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God who has mercy.”

Now, some of you out there, particularly those who are not Christian may be tempted to either pity me for low self-esteem or provide a counter argument, defending the ideal that there is a direct correlation between accomplishing our goals and the amount of effort we put into them.

I don’t know about you, but I know I cannot see that truth in my human experience at all.  As a high-school student I played volleyball with consuming passion and devotion.  Never won any trophies or titles; in fact two years in a row our team got to the championship and lost to the same team, a team that both years we had beaten earlier in the season.  

From the time I was in fourth grade, my life, in gradually growing degrees, was dedicated to music.  I played with passion.  When I turned sixteen, I began writing my own songs and dreamed of being a successful singer/songwriter/musician.  I practiced, and wrote constantly.  I networked to the best of my ability and pursued excellence in my craft.  But for those of you who know me, despite having written many songs and having continued to pursue excellence in the art of music, I do not believe anyone would describe me as a successful singer/songwriter, except for maybe my mother.  

Lastly, for two years in college I was consumed by an addiction to pornography.  I hated it.  I didn’t want to be held captive by something I knew was absolutely wrong.  So, I made commitments with all the sincerity I could muster, had accountability partners, followed the suggested multi-step processes etc. Still I found that my desire and effort, even to do what was right, was not enough to actually make it a reality.

So, in all of these areas of life, I came to a point where I felt utterly helpless.  I couldn’t understand why the goals I had set all of my being towards still escaped me, even though I did everything I knew I could to attain it.  That seemingly hopeless state actually revealed a greater hope:  A hope in God.  Not in the “God helps those who help themselves” kind of way, which is, by the way, a false teaching, but in the “God has mercy” way of Romans 9:16.  He does not give mercy and grace to the hardest workers, or those who want it the most, he gives it to those who are broken and humbly come to Him.

When I finally got that, it was the most freeing thing I have ever experienced.  My life was no longer about proving myself and constantly striving to catch the wind until I finally broke down.  I discovered that life is a gift, and everything in it is a gift of mercy to be embraced.  My failures led me thankfully to the cross in worship because I was not defined by them anymore.  My successes provoked worship because I knew that I did not deserve them, nor could I have attained them apart from the grace of God.  For a man can reach for the stars, but he will never hold them in his hands unless God were to pluck them from the galaxy and set them at his feet.

I understand that for those of you who have not been exposed to or are not at a place personally where you want to accept this reality that this message may not be what you wanted to hear.  But I promise you that it is by the merciful design of God that we experience true freedom when we accept that we are truly helpless and turn to Him.  And in experiencing the freedom, grace and love of God, that becomes our source of motivation, drive and passion that spurs us on to work diligently for His glory.  But, that’s a blog for another time.

Battling Burn-Out

   Isaiah 40:28-31

“Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable.  He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength.  Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted;

BUT they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.”

            Ever since God called me to ministry as a teenager, I have been regularly confronted with the issue of “burn-out”.  For those of you who are unfamiliar with the lingo, it refers to the idea of serving to the extent where you crash and cannot continue anymore.  This idea is not just relevant to those in vocational ministry; over the years I’ve realized it seems somewhat like a “boogie-man” concept among Christians in general.  I know early on, as I served in the church, there was always this thought in the back of my mind that I needed to watch out and make sure I didn’t take on too much or else I’d get burnt-out.

            As I continued serving, I heard story after story over the years, of people who had served in the Church until they hit the end of their ropes. Many ended up losing faith all-together as a result.  As I went through college and into ministry afterwards, the archives of tragic tales began to combine with the experience of witnessing people fall into that same fate around me.  In response, I became somewhat paranoid because I knew that my calling and my inherent tendency to go all-in to whatever I invested myself in, made me a “high-risk” person.

            So, over the last few years ”burn out” has become something I wanted to understand, not just in terms of trying to figure out the personal reasons why people declare themselves “burnt-out” but what the Bible has to say about the subject.

            First thing I found was that there are no Biblical accounts of “burn-out”.  Now of course such a phrase as “burn-out” probably wouldn't make it into Biblical vocabulary, but from Genesis to Revelation, there are no accounts of people who are called by God to do something and at some point abandoning that calling.  Now, I don’t think that means that it did not necessarily happen, but what I see is an overwhelming evidence of the faithfulness of God in sustaining his servants.  There may not be stories that allude to some kind of form of early church burn out, but I do see an abundance of charges and promises that fight against the current that pulls people towards that end.  The passage above is one of them.

            There are two parts in particular that stand out to me in this passage.  First, there is a complete disclosure that the tasks we face are more than we can handle.  The task is life in general.  The passage is totally honest about the difficulty, stating that even youths and young men, full of energy, potential, and passion will fall short.  The task will prove too much for the most capable of us.  But this only reveals the miraculous nature spoken of in the second part I’d like to highlight:  The Promise.  Depending on the Bible translation you are reading, verse 31 states that those who trust, hope or wait on the Lord will renew their strength.  In the most basic terms, those who place their faith in and rely on God find not just a one-time refill, but a continual recharging of their spiritual batteries.  Trust in God proves to be the way to tap into an infinite and divine power source.

            In the last few months this verse has been one I've clung to and recited many times in a plea to God for the strength to get through the tasks before me.  However, as I've had conversations with many compassionate people around me who look at my life and the things that I have on my plate, they often caution me to be mindful of the risk of burn-out.  They express it in different ways, but I know the thought behind it is a sincere concern and coupled with the hope that I would not take on such a burden that I would be crushed beneath it.  As I have pondered on those conversations, the counsel I've received and what scripture says, my hearts perspective is this:

            Man was made to work and work hard and with excellence (Colossians 3:23).  God has shown time and time again that he equips those whom he calls, and the grace and means he provides are sufficient (ex: Moses, Gideon, Paul).  What I do see is that burn-out in every instance I've heard or witnessed is a direct connection to a disconnection from the promise of Isaiah 40.  I know in the conversations I've had with those who have reached that point that trust or hope in the Lord was never something they displayed.  But what I have seen and experienced is that those who take God at His Word (even though they find themselves in over their heads on occasion), and relentlessly trust the Lord, receive God’s provision of the resources and grace needed to press on according to the call they have received.

            For me, the only end to a life of service I see in scripture, which all Christians are called to, is the end of life itself.  I know I am still young and there are far greater burdens that I will most likely have to bear in this life, but what I do know is that scripture is full of promises and God has shown his faithfulness to fulfill them. This faithfulness combats the doubts and fears that typically lead to burn-out.  For example: Matthew 5:3-10, 6:25-34, and 11:28-30, just to list a couple from the Gospel of Matthew alone.  The sovereign faithfulness and goodness of God far exceeds the difficulties and challenges of that which he has called us to do.  It is more than we can do on our own, true, but that’s the glorious point.  When we obey the calling of God in our lives we have the privilege of being constantly sustained, empowered, and equipped in miraculous fashion as the surpassing power of God is put on display in the midst of his work in and through us to accomplish that which is otherwise impossible.  Such is the upward call of God for those who are living in Christ and are being conformed to his likeness.  There is no greater purpose, cause, joy or reward.

            I say this not to make light of those that are serving self-sacrificially and find themselves weak and weary.  My intent is not to disregard the struggle with a wagging finger saying, “shame on you if you’ve ever considered yourself on the brink of burn- out or completely burnt-out”.  No, my prayer is that if you find your souls in that position, you would know that you are not alone in this struggle. Be encouraged that together we, the Church, live in light of the presence and promises of God because the world and the Church is in desperate need of those who will not grow weary from doing good (Galatians 6:9).

Love vs. Cynicism

The other night I just couldn't sleep, so I spent some time in reflection and prayer in order to properly process some things that folks had come to me about and that I had experienced personally.  I scribed the thoughts and prayers of my heart in my journal (which I find is a very helpful practice).  My writing and praying started to reveal a common theme that seemed to be the core problem. The human tendency to assume the worst about those around us.  As my pen kept going, the things that were burdening my soul just spilled out onto the page almost unconsciously.  Allow me to paraphrase my thoughts in one sentence:  Sin corrupts love by making us naturally cynical of those around us.

            In the world today and even in the Church, there is a tendency for us to assume the worst when it comes to how we perceive those around us.  Although our court legislature has established a policy where a man is innocent until proven guilty, in our daily lives it is more often the opposite.  We expect that people have poor intentions and   we project that expectation at times on the people around us.  For example, when someone says something that offends  us, we tend to assume that they intended to offend us.  Or we believe that individuals have self-seeking agendas behind their actions.  There is a trend to make incriminating conclusions about the character of others with no real evidence other our subjective interpretation or feelings.

            Now I don’t know about you, but I know I wrongly justify that at times because there have been many instances in my experience where such assumptions have been true.  It is not difficult to see as we look at the world around us that there are many examples of people with evil agendas lurking behind their actions.  As a result of that fact, it is easy for us to then take a generalized stance of presuming that people around us have wicked intentions no matter what the relational context (co-workers, church members, friends, family, spouses etc).  That’s where our human logic leads us in response to the sinfulness of our world. But we need to look at what Scripture has to say.

            On that late night I was lead to read and meditate on first Corinthians, chapter thirteen, verses four through seven.

            “Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude.  It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth.  Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.”

            Now, I know for a lot of us, these verses are familiar.  I know we can unfortunately tend to react to their familiarity with apathy and skim over this significant message.  However, one of the listed characteristics popped off the page: Love “believes all things”.  If we took that at face value, many of us would probably misunderstand the text.  I know I did not fully understanding the meaning of it myself.  That's why we can’t just be readers of the word, we need to study it.  We need to treat the Scriptures like a gold-mine, with a willingness to dig in order to extract the precious Truth it contains.

            I started going through some of my commentaries, investigating how Biblical scholars interpreted the meaning of that phrase “believes all things”.  They all came to the same conclusion, although they used different, highly educated wording.  So, I’m going to try and break it down in simpler terms for those of you who are like me and find your head spinning after five syllables.

            There were two facets to the interpretation of this short but significant phrase.  First, it does not mean we should completely abandon any attempt to be discerning when it comes to relationships. However, any conclusion we come to should not be an ignorant assumption based on feelings or subjective interpretation, but should be made by asking questions and gathering objective evidence to support such a conclusion.

            Second, it means that we need to be willing to give those around us the benefit of the doubt.  To be willing to believe the best about someone instead of assuming the worst.  Needless to say, this is easier said than done. John Calvin put it very well when he said that this goes against the “common spirit”.  It is difficult because we as human beings, in this philosophical and cultural era, are naturally cynical.  However, if we truly want to love our neighbors (everyone around us) and experience the fullness of joy what Christ calls us to, the application of this ideal is critical. 

            Help us O God, for you are love itself and we live in a world where love is shrouded in confusion.

Seven benefits of Suffering

Barry Lawrence

All of us have and will experience suffering. Can anything good come out of our personal suffering and loss? Below are seven benefits from the blog by Mark Altrogge (The Blazing Center). I found these to be extremely helpful.

Affliction drives us to God in prayer

Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. James 5:13

Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress. PS 107:6

When the sun’s shining and everything’s going our way, we don’t feel our need for God. But desperate times lead to desperate prayer. When we’re helpless to change our situation, we cry out to our Savior, who delivers us from our distress.

Affliction humbles us

So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. 2 CO 12:7

Afflictions remind us of how fragile we are. It keeps us lowly. Reminds us that everything we have is a gift. Pride leads to a fall, but God gives grace to the humble. Affliction positions us to receive grace.

Affliction makes us rely on Christ’s power

But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 2 CO 12:9

When we realize how powerless we are, then Jesus can display his might in our lives. When we’ve exhausted all our own resources Jesus rides in at just the right moment, like the hero in a movie who comes to rescue someone as the train is bearing down on them.

Affliction brings us the comfort of God himself

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction…, 2 Co 1:3

As well-meaning as others are, there are times when no human words can comfort. But God himself comforts us when we cry out to him in our pain. The God of ALL COMFORT, the one who knows exactly what our broken hearts need, comforts us in ALL our affliction. The One who fashioned our hearts, who knows our every drop of sadness, knows the exact medicine we need to comfort us.

Affliction gives us compassion for others

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. 2 Co 1:3

When someone else has been through the same thing, their words can really comfort us. Though your pain is horrific now, someday God will use you to bring his comfort to someone else who suffers the fury of depression or the agony of a child who rebels like yours.

Affliction produces endurance and patience

Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, RO 5:3

The only way to get patience and endurance is by being placed in situations that require it. But it will be worth it in the end, because it is by patiently enduring in faith that we’ll enter heaven.

Affliction reminds us that this world is not our home

For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come. HEB 13:14

As many blessings as this world has, it’s not our home. Affliction weans us from this world, reminds us how transitory it is, and makes us long for heaven, for that day when we’ll see Jesus face to face and he will personally wipe away every tear from our eyes.

Bless the Lord oh my soul and forget none of his benefits. Especially those benefits he brings us through hard times.

The Call of Sacrificial Worship

“And Gad came that day to David and said to him, “Go up, raise an altar to the Lord on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.” So David went up at Gad's word, as the Lord commanded. And when Araunah looked down, he saw the king and his servants coming on toward him. And Araunah went out and paid homage to the king with his face to the ground. And Araunah said, “Why has my lord the king come to his servant?” David said, “To buy the threshing floor from you, in order to build an altar to the Lord, that the plague may be averted from the people.” Then Araunah said to David, “Let my lord the king take and offer up what seems good to him. Here are the oxen for the burnt offering and the threshing sledges and the yokes of the oxen for the wood. All this, O king, Araunah gives to the king.” And Araunah said to the king, “May the Lord your God accept you.” But the king said to Araunah, “No, but I will buy it from you for a price. I will not offer burnt offerings to the Lord my God that cost me nothing.” So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver. And David built there an altar to the Lord and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. So the Lord responded to the plea for the land, and the plague was averted from Israel.”

~ 2 Samuel 24:18-24

Let me provide some background before we dive in:  David was the king of Israel, when for the first time all the separate tribes of Israel were united as one kingdom.  However, the Lord grew angry with Israel because in their hearts, they were beginning to rely on the size and strength of their army rather than depending on Him. As a result, God justly inflicted Israel with a “pestilence” that claimed 70,000 lives and in doing so, removed Israel’s false idol from them.  In response, David’s heart was convicted about his misplaced faith, and he cried out to the Lord in repentance, pleading for mercy on behalf of his people. So, David was instructed to go to this guy, Araunah to buy the land and necessary animals. This dude, who is totally caught by surprise, offers David the land and the animals as a free gift out of respect for the king.

Now, let’s halt right there for a second.  I don’t know about you, but I love free stuff.  The vast majority of my wardrobe is comprised of free clothes that I have acquired from different jobs, camps, fundraisers and hand-me-down sessions.  My policy typically is, if it’s free and legal, I’ll take it!  But, David has a different focus than just taking advantage of a bargain.  David recognizes that this is bigger than just a deal between two men; it’s something between him and God.  He replied...”I will not offer burnt offerings to the Lord my God that cost me nothing” (v. 24).  The king could have just taken this free stuff, but he refuses because David knows it is a part of his worship.  

In that moment, David makes an important connection between the cost of his worship and the quality of his worship, implying that if he took Araunah’s generous offer, he would fail to fulfill his call to repent through worshipping the Lord.

Now, I know we are over building altars and burning things as worship for the most part here in the 21st century, but David’s example raises a challenging question,to me at least: How often do I go about thinking that I am truly worshipping God but am unwilling to sacrifice my time, money or comfort to do so?

I have realized that nowadays, we can fall into this cultural norm:  Convenience trumps sacrifice - in our relationship with Jesus, or any relationship, for that matter.  Whether it’s with God, a spouse or any person we may come in contact with, it’s the social trend to make personal comfort and convenience the priority.  Now, let me clarify that when I say “worship” I do not simply mean when we gather for ninety minutes every week. I’m talking about the Biblical definition, which includes every aspect of our lives (1 Corinthians 10:31).

I know as a Christian and as someone called to vocational ministry that it is easy to treat our service to God and worship of Him like we culturally treat any other job.  Where we tend to do the minimum, cutting corners along the way instead of striving to go above and beyond.  One thing that breaks my heart is the excuses that have become acceptable as a result of what is in essence an idolatry of comfort within the American Church.  We often allow the busyness of our lives to “disqualify” us from serving or stepping up to lead in the Church.  Now, I’m not saying there are absolutely no reasons why someone wouldn’t be able to justify taking it easy, but the truth of the matter is that in a lot of places, worship is being cheapened because of a “stingy” attitude toward God.  Whether it’s with tithing, how we invest our time serving or making personal preference a priority in our spiritual lives; it is shocking how easily we can water down living for Jesus without even realizing it.

  We need to intentionally pursue the same kind of heart attitude that David had.  Yes, it’s difficult and will push us outside of our comfort zone. But, from what I’ve experienced and witnessed both in Scripture and in the lives of others, there is a greater freedom that we can discover when we give up the idols that hinder our worship of the One who is actually worthy of it. 

In the case of this story, the plague inflicted on Israel was lifted from them and David’s act of sacrificial worship was the last glorious memory of his reign.  It makes me wonder what kind of burdens or afflictions we have in our lives, whether physical, emotional or spiritual, that might be lifted if we responded to God with lives of sacrificial worship.  What would happen if we refused to offer God that which cost us nothing?

10 Daily Prayers from the Psalms

Barry Lawrence

The book of Psalms was the prayer book for the Old Testament saint. The Psalms are filled with examples of the Psalmist seeking God. Below are ten prayers that I attempt to pray on a regular basis in my life.  I would encourage you to pray these individually and with your family.

1.      

       Be exalted, O God, above the heavens, let your glory be over all the earth. Psalm 57:5 

This is a big picture prayer. This is the goal of all that God does. One day the glory will fill the earth when Jesus returns and shines as bright as the sun, and peoples from every tribe, tongue, and nation will rejoice. But today, in every square inch of this earth, may his glory spread starting with my life.

2.      Let the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer. Psalm 19:12-13

This is a prayer expressing the desire that all my words and motives would be pleasing to the Lord who is worthy of all praise. Give me words saturated with your gospel and dripping with your grace to others. Give me a heart that points to you as my Treasure and obeys you wholeheartedly.

3.      Search me, O God, and know my heart. Try me and know my thoughts. And see if there is any grievous way in me, and lead me in the everlasting way. Psalm 139:23-24 

This acknowledges the reality that although my new heart desires to please the Lord, I am still in my sinful flesh and need the light of God on my life to rout out indwelling sin. Praying this prayer is dangerous as God uncovers sin in my life, but wonderfully liberating as we run back to the cross.

4.       Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Psalm 51:10 

I constantly need his cleansing in my life and a reorientation of my heart to seek God. This prayer naturally follows God searching my heart and pointing out sin in my life.

5.      Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us, and establish the work of our hands upon us; yes, establish the work of our hands. Psalm 90:17 

Unless God is empowering and blessing me today, nothing will last and have eternal impact. I am not looking just to do big things for God, but I want him to help me be faithful in the little things as well so that I will have a lasting impact for his glory.

6.      Teach me your ways, O Lord, that I might walk in your truth; unite my heart to fear your name. Psalm 86:11 

The Christian life is obedience God has called me to follow. But the heart is the key. There are constant battles in my heart between the flesh and the Spirit. Knowing that I am prone to wander, this prayer is a cry to have a united focused heart, to fear the Lord and obey him, bringing glory to his name.

7.      My soul melts away with sorrow; strengthen me according to your Word. Psalm 119:38 

This prayer may not apply all the time in my life. But there are others in difficult situations for whom can pray this prayer, discouraged and weary, who can only be strengthened by the promises of God in Christ.

8.      But may all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you; may those who love your name say continually, "Great is the Lord!" Psalm 40:16 

This prayer keeps me in awe of the great salvation so that I exult in Christ alone. This is my heart for my family and for Journey. This is my desire for the millions still unreached that by his grace they would love Christ and be glad in him.

9.      Arise, O God, judge the earth; for you shall inherit all the nations. Psalm 82:8 

This prayer is both a comfort and reminder. When I pray this prayer I am reminded that justice will be served in this fallen oppressive world when Jesus returns, that he will reign forever and ever and I will reign with him. Come Lord Jesus!

10.  Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name give glory, for the sake of your steadfast love and faithfulness. Psalm 115:1 

This is the ultimate and foundational prayer of any Christian. All glory to God alone. The basis of this prayer is that he loves me forever and will be faithful to all the promises that are in Christ.