Have you ever made a sweeping declaration in your life?
You know, a broad and life changing statement like “I’m going to work out every day from now on!”
or “I will never ever swear again!”
or “I’ll never drive a mini van!”
The character Marshall from the sitcom “How I Met Your Mother” is notorious for this. In the moment he makes it, it is almost a guarantee he will be breaking it, causing hilarity to ensue.
Having just been raised up as a Squad Leader, the country of India was by far, the hardest I’ve served in.
Little hilarity was involved…
I was missing home (specifically my best friend’s wedding), frustrated because of a lack of feeling heard in my prayers of physical healing, feeling useless in ministry and seemingly at war with the country I was in due to the lack of air conditioning, power outages, squatty potties, non existence of shade and general levels of heat (and humidity) surpassing 110 Farenheit for 30 days straight with no escape or respite possible.
Things got dark.
I lost focus.
I emotionally retreated.
Then things got worse…
It got so bad that my Alumni Squad Leader, Steven, asked me to take the last week of the month to rest and take everything that I was allowing strangle me to The Lord.
He saw that I was burnt out and basically unable to bless others as I was far beyond empty.
While The Lord redeemed my time there this year, I missed out on a lot that He was doing because I took my eyes off of Him.
The fact is, when we operate out of a place of darkness, we have taken our eyes from God to either our circumstances or our inner selves. This act distorts our ability to hope and see what is possible even through the darkest valleys of our walks with Christ.
After a while of being more “myself”, I went to The Lord to seek how I could avoid ever getting to that dark place again.
And then I did it… I made a sweeping declaration over my life:
“I promised to never have another “dark time” in my life.”
Without being able to control what happens in my life how can I promise this? What does it even look like?
First, I don’t react to things in my flesh. I can cease being a slave to my circumstances and instead react with grace and a clear spirit.
Second I trust God above all else.
First, I don’t react to things in my flesh. I can cease being a slave to my circumstances and instead react with grace and a clear spirit.
Second I trust God above all else.
Sounds simple, but it can seem confounding to even the most determined follower of Christ.
Disclaimer: I’m not good at this.
At all.
Not yet…
In my “dark times” I have realized that I become all but useless to the will of God.
Almost daily, I had people trying to remind me what God was doing in spite of the challenges I was facing. The fact is it is those times when we are downtrodden that our behavior must look most like Christ’s because that is when it counts.
I’ve spent my life walking around saying that God is good, but things have been so good for me. How does that point others to the reality of Christ?
It either makes Him seem like a genie of good fortune or a dillusion I use to absolve my of selfish behavior for the sake of feeling better about myself.
No. It is when we are faced with the harshities of this broken world that we MUST keep our eyes firmly on the cross.
If not, we lose focus. We lose hope. We lose witness.
It demolishes our witness to Christ and betrays our attempts at true Discipleship because it shows our circumstances hold more weight that our dependence on Christ Himself.
So now I am going to put into practice what The Psalmist writes in Chapter 62:
“Let all that I am wait quietly before God, for my hope is in him. He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress where I will not be shaken. My victory and honor come from God alone. He is my refuge, a rock where no enemy can reach me. O my people, trust in him at all times. Pour out your heart to him, for God is our refuge. Selah” (Psalms 62:5-8 NLT)
I am going to hope in God.
I am trusting God even having no idea how I am going to make it. But I will clinch my fist and keep swinging against my doubt and my own ego and my anxious faith.
Even so weak, even barely whole, The Lord can be omnipotent in our lives right now to glorify His goodness and mercies even when we can’t see them in the moment.
The way we handle our hurt can point people to hope as they so desperately seek it out.
This month, I’ve been fortunate to work with a man named Raul Costea. Raul found out yesterday that one of his closest friends and colleagues here in Romania suddenly passed away because of a heart attack.
This morning, He is preaching about the heart of God to His congregation at Hope Church on Dragonesti, Romania.
Is he hurting? Absolutely.
Is he bent? Likely as far as he can bend. But he is not broken.
He is constantly asking others around Him if they are Happy. When you ask him in return, his response is always the same:
“I am always happy because of I have so many reasons to be. I am always sad for those who do not known Jesus. I am always laughing because I have salvation in Christ. I am always crying because of my burden for His work. Amen”
This boggled my mind when I first heard it.
This month, I’ve been fortunate to work with a man named Raul Costea. Raul found out yesterday that one of his closest friends and colleagues here in Romania suddenly passed away because of a heart attack.
This morning, He is preaching about the heart of God to His congregation at Hope Church on Dragonesti, Romania.
Is he hurting? Absolutely.
Is he bent? Likely as far as he can bend. But he is not broken.
He is constantly asking others around Him if they are Happy. When you ask him in return, his response is always the same:
“I am always happy because of I have so many reasons to be. I am always sad for those who do not known Jesus. I am always laughing because I have salvation in Christ. I am always crying because of my burden for His work. Amen”
This boggled my mind when I first heard it.
Now, it makes perfect sense.
He is not ruled or handicapped by situational issues. His hope STAYS in the purpose he has in Christ and his strength to lead and serve others is not dependent on himself.
He is not a man who goes through dark periods either, because Christ is present and at the center of EVERY situation.
I am not strong like Raul. Not yet.
But my prayer is that I will be. He is a man who seeks to look more like Christ everyday.
Following his example and the commission of Christ there is no way I can not reach the same point because God is Faithful. His light will not be shut out by any darkness.
Amen.
He is not ruled or handicapped by situational issues. His hope STAYS in the purpose he has in Christ and his strength to lead and serve others is not dependent on himself.
He is not a man who goes through dark periods either, because Christ is present and at the center of EVERY situation.
I am not strong like Raul. Not yet.
But my prayer is that I will be. He is a man who seeks to look more like Christ everyday.
Following his example and the commission of Christ there is no way I can not reach the same point because God is Faithful. His light will not be shut out by any darkness.
Amen.
What kind if period are you in? Dark? Light?
How is God moving now in spite of your current circumstance?
