It never fails. When I am pumped and ready for a new series or "special" sermon something happens. Allergies, cold, long weekend, early wake up call, etc.
It happened Sunday – 4 A.M., wide awake, sermon running through my head. At 8:30 I'm fuzzy and by 10:45 I'm tired. Why does this happen when I've got something important to say? Or, more pointedly, why does God do this to me when I've got something important to say for Him?
Some might say it's the Devil trying to get me down with sniffles or sleeplessness. But, as we learn from Job, the Devil can't get to me without God letting him. So whether it's the Devil or not, God is at work in my dilemma.
It used to frustrate me. After all I need to be fresh and well and ready to overwhelm the masses with my amazing oratory skills, vast knowledge of Scripture and deep passion for Jesus. If my abilities are diminished, how will people be convinced?
But then I began to learn (and continue to learn in my struggles) from the Apostle Paul:
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. Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. 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. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong. (2 Corinthians 12:7-10)
You see I, like many preachers, struggle with conceit – the arrogant thought that my ability is what makes the difference. The four o'clock wakeup call is a reminder that it is His ability by His grace that makes the difference.
When we are strong and can, the temptation is for it to be all about us. But when we are weak and can't, it must be all about Jesus and only about Jesus.
Genesis 25:29-34
Esau was weary. Faint. Exhausted.
Esau sold his birthright. His double inheritance as the eldest son. His position in line as the next family patriarch. His position as future leader of the family business. And in this family, his place in the lineage of the coming Messiah.
Worn out and worn down, the bowl of soup smelled and looked worth it. It wasn't.
The schedules many of us keep today are tiresome. Work all day. Children's activities in the evenings. The rush to recreate on the weekends. And, if we are not too busy, church on Sunday. Wondering all the time why we have no time and are always drained of energy.
In this condition of perpetual exhaustion there is great danger. Our judgment is impaired. We are hungry for anything that will fill the emptiness left by our wearying schedule. "If I only could ________."
And the devil is there to help you fill in the blank with stuff, relationships, feelings and emotions that promise relief but cost you who you are. It's tough to resist when your resistance is weak.
We need a radical change in our view of the healthy spiritual lifestyle. In our rush to accomplish everything for the good of our families and ourselves we are forfeiting the best – our relationship with God and our relationships with one another. We are trading who we are for an aromatic but unfulfilling bowl of soup.
May God grant us the wisdom to relearn how to rest in Christ, relate to Him and one another and resist the devil.
(For a further resource read "Simple Life: Time, Relationships, Money, God" by Thom and Art Rainer. Find it here at Amazon.)
If you weren't there Sunday but heard about it, let me say that yes I did quote from a song made famous in country circles by Barbara Mandrell in the late 1970's. The lyrics were, "If loving you is wrong, I don't want to be right."
Those lyrics capture the human heart. For we, like Esau, convinced that we are just going to die without having our felt needs met will trade away our lives for a bowl of soup or sex or a promotion or a new car (etc.) without regard for truth or consequences.
The problem is our perceptions are skewed. Sin has affected our desires. But the truth is what we have to have is not what we have to have. In fact, it (whatever the "it" is for you from food to sex to stuff) doesn't produce any lasting satisfaction. It merely provides a momentary high while robbing us of future joy. And we, self deceived and deluded, trade off our families, friends and futures to have "it" for the moment.
It is amazing to me (and not in a good way) that this being true, there are many in the Christian community calling for churches to meet the felt needs of people if they want to reach people and grow the church. Really? The needs people feel have to do with food, sex and stuff – not God. Don't believe me? Watch an evening of network television. (Or don't.)
The church's response to man's sinfully skewed perceptions is not to meet his felt needs (the world is doing that), but rather to meet his true need – salvation through Jesus Christ. Meeting man's true need means compassionately yet directly confronting man's true condition, sin, and calling him to repentance toward God and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. In other words, the church's response to man's need is the Gospel response.
As a church we are here to experience true, lasting and joyful satisfaction and help others be so satisfied. And such satisfaction occurs only in knowing, loving and obeying God. (Psalm 63:1-5)
Satisfied?
