The Way to Rejoicing
Written by Rebecca Sample
I gave a homeless man five minutes of my time, a smile and a chance to earn a few dollars. In return he taught me a valuable lesson.
Honestly I had tried to avoid him at first. I saw him walking toward me as I pushed my grocery cart across the parking lot. He wore cutoff jeans, a t-shirt with holes in it and some beat-up sneakers. His curly hair hung in a ponytail down to the middle of his back.
“Can I wash your windows for some spare change, ma’am?”
I hesitated trying to remember if I had any cash on me. I finally said “okay.”
“What? Really?” A grin spread across his face revealing a few missing teeth. “Wow.” He shook his head. “You caught me off guard ma’am.”
I wondered how many people had said “no.”
When I drove off a few minutes later, my windows sparkled. He smiled and waved.
Back at my apartment, I unloaded my groceries and wondered, “Do I show God the same kind of gratitude for His good and perfect gifts that this man showed me? If I don’t give thanks in good circumstances, how will I ever manage to do so during the not-so-good times?”
Paul’s Super Power
The apostle Paul gave thanks locked in a prison cell or shipwrecked on an island just as readily as in the company of good friends. In his letter to the Philippians (4:4) he encouraged his readers to do the same. “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: rejoice!”
Paul seems almost super-human in his contentment, doesn’t he? No food? No problem! Imprisonments, beatings, shipwrecks? Praise God! But what about the rest of us ordinary humans? For those who have watched a loved one die, or for those who have known the heartbreak of a lost romance, the command “rejoice always” seems near impossible to carry out. But I have good news. Paul does not leave us stranded on our own islands of discontent. Later in his letter to the Philippians (4:13), Paul shares his secret: “I can do everything through him who gives me strength.” Paul assumes the Christian empowered by Christ can do the near-impossible.
Paul’s “How-To’s”
He also gives some “how-to’s” to help his readers on their way. “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God” (Phil 4:6).
How-To #1: Don’t Worry
We read in Luke’s Gospel where Jesus said, “Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest?” (12:25–26). In this crazy world we take great measures to protect ourselves from harm. When we buy a car, we check Consumer Reports for the safety rating. When we buy a house, we ask about the neighborhood’s crime rate. When we buy a carton of eggs, we check to make sure none have already cracked.
And yet we know that at some point bad things will happen. So what do we do? We buy insurance: car insurance, health insurance, life insurance, home owner’s insurance, insurance for floods, fire, wind. There comes a time when we’ve done everything we can do. At this point we should sit back, kick up our feet, and give it to God, but instead we worry.
Worrying comes naturally to me. If this describes you too, don’t fret. When that familiar feeling comes, you and I can remind ourselves that we have direct access through Jesus Christ to the God of all creation, and then go to Him in prayer. We can use worry like a string tied around the finger. We can present our requests to God and remember to give thanks.
How To #2: Give Thanks
When I took a typing class, my fingers moved clumsily across the keyboard. I made a lot of mistakes, and I typed slowly. Today when I type, my fingers move of their own accord, apart from any conscious direction from me. The muscles in my hand seem to perform automatically. Our minds work the same way. Once we establish a habit we can use that built-in muscle memory to our advantage. Paul instructs his readers to dwell on “whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable” (Philippians 4:8) for that very purpose. The more we think about praiseworthy gifts, the more we will give thanks and praise.
Let’s start by thanking God for the small things, the things we take for granted. When we wake up in the morning let’s thank God for our comfortable beds. As we go through our morning routines, let’s thank Him for indoor plumbing and a hot shower. We can thank God for a pantry full of food, and the electricity that keeps our refrigerators cold. When we imagine life without these conveniences, we realize how big these “small” things truly are. Look around your home. For what can you thank God?
Paul Shows Us How
In 1 Thessalonians, Paul instructs his readers to “Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus” (5:16–17). How many times have we prayed to know God’s will or searched the Scriptures for answers? Right in this verse Paul says it plainly: God wills that we give thanks continually. Establishing thankful habits will prepare us to give thanks even in the not-so-good times.
God does not promise His followers lives free of suffering. When Paul pleaded with God to remove a painful circumstance in His life, God answered “no.” But He also said, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9). God did not remove Paul’s pain, but He did enable Paul to praise Him through it.
Maybe like Paul you have experienced a depth of pain unfathomable to most. But God’s truth remains true through any crisis. He commands us to give thanks in all circumstances because in hard times a thankful heart leads us out of our pain.
Noemia Cessito works with Children’s Relief International serving the poorest of the poor in Mozambique. Speaking about the AIDS victims in her ministry, she said, “Here in Africa girls become women early. Many become mothers at age 13 or 14. Real babies suddenly take the place of their dolls. When these women have an opportunity to play, they quickly become children again. They run like they never ran as children. They laugh until their bellies ache. In that brief moment of time, they give themselves over to joy and they forget about their AIDS.”
Acts of thanksgiving will not quick-fix our pain. But like those women who embraced the opportunity to rejoice even in the most dire circumstances, we too can find relief from our grief when we lift up a prayer of sincere thanks to God. When we see God and His good gifts through our pain, healing eventually comes, and through that process we learn worship. That worship turns our suffering into joy, our mourning into mirth.
After my encounter with the homeless man, as I put away my strawberries, my yogurt, my bread, my milk, and especially my ice cream, I thanked God for His provision, and the gift this man had given me. His abundant gratitude for my meager offering made me keenly aware of the meager gratitude I offer to God for His abundance. While I filled my refrigerator, thanks filled my heart, and I realized God’s command to give thanks is a gift in itself.
MY THOUGHTS
to be thankful when everything's falling apart? it's hard. and only God can bring back the song in your heart. no matter what.
Saturday, January 29, 2011
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
in times of crisis
Molten Moments
Editor's page
Marshall Shelley | posted 1/17/2011
Nobody wakes up and starts the day thinking, I hope I find myself in a crisis today. Ever known anyone to write at the top of the personal wish list: "A real crisis"? I didn't think so. Me neither.
While no one longs to be in crisis, that's where we often find ourselves, especially as leaders. The crisis can be personal, or it can be organizational: a financial crisis, a painful conflict, a health concern, a crisis of faith, a public failure, a costly loss, a season of grief, a crucial moment of decision, or some other high intensity defining moment.
And in a church, with the number of people we deal with, someone is in crisis almost continually. In fact, as veteran pastor Alan Redpath once observed, "If you're a Christian pastor, you're always in a crisis—either in the middle of one, coming out of one, or going into one."
Crisis can become the norm for those of us in church life, not unlike it is for those who work in an emergency room or homeless shelter. But we don't often think of it that way. Too often a crisis catches us by surprise.
On the positive side, crisis moments are often the times God does his best work. Ask almost any mature believer, and they will tell you that they grew more as a person, as a Christian, during seasons of loss, pain, and crisis than they did at any other time.
While no one longs for personal crisis, the saying is true nonetheless: a crisis is too valuable to waste.
In one of my favorite PreachingToday.com sermons, Bruce Thielemann calls them "molten moments." He describes work in a foundry and that brief period in which metal has been heated enough to be shaped into something useful. And when things cool, it's too late.
Similarly, crisis is a short-term opportunity to do some long-term good.
And in the current issue of Leadership, John Ortberg writes: "Actually, the wonderful and terrible thing about crisis is that it's the one resource we do not have to fund or staff or program. It just comes. However, pain does not automatically produce spiritual growth. Ghettos and barrios and abusive homes and trauma wards may produce scarred souls; they can cripple more human spirits than they strengthen. Crisis can lead to soul strength, but not if the soul is starved of other nutrients, and not apart from certain responses."
To develop this theme, we've gathered the stories of various churches and the different kinds of crisis, and crisis response, they encountered. And we'll be featuring them on our website over the next few weeks. You'll learn from the responses of the leaders involved.
In some cases, the crises became a "stress test" of their faith, revealing areas of weakness that needed to be strengthened. In other cases, the crisis was a "proving ground" of faith, revealing the resilience and equilibrium that confidence in God can produce.
But what becomes clear in almost every case: The time to prepare for a crisis is before it happens. Jesus' example in the Garden of Gethsemane is instructive. There Jesus does his intense preparation for the upcoming crisis, praying in anguish till "his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground." But after that, when Judas arrives and throughout the crisis itself—his arrest, interrogation, trial, and crucifixion—he is steadfast and demonstrates astounding poise.
While crisis may not be your favorite leisure activity, it's certain to come. And when it does, we hope that you'll be prepared to face it in faith, knowing that God is at work.
Marshall Shelley is editor-in-chief of Leadership.
MY THOUGHTS
i call it "crunch time". it's like a tea bag. you see the true color only after it is soaked in boiling water. that is what crisis does to people. you may have glimpses of a person's character through your daily , normal encounters. wait until after a serious problem crops up. then you'll see the real score.
Copyright © 2011 by the author or Christianity Today International/Leadership Journal.
Click here for reprint information on Leadership Journal.
Editor's page
Marshall Shelley | posted 1/17/2011
Nobody wakes up and starts the day thinking, I hope I find myself in a crisis today. Ever known anyone to write at the top of the personal wish list: "A real crisis"? I didn't think so. Me neither.
While no one longs to be in crisis, that's where we often find ourselves, especially as leaders. The crisis can be personal, or it can be organizational: a financial crisis, a painful conflict, a health concern, a crisis of faith, a public failure, a costly loss, a season of grief, a crucial moment of decision, or some other high intensity defining moment.
And in a church, with the number of people we deal with, someone is in crisis almost continually. In fact, as veteran pastor Alan Redpath once observed, "If you're a Christian pastor, you're always in a crisis—either in the middle of one, coming out of one, or going into one."
Crisis can become the norm for those of us in church life, not unlike it is for those who work in an emergency room or homeless shelter. But we don't often think of it that way. Too often a crisis catches us by surprise.
On the positive side, crisis moments are often the times God does his best work. Ask almost any mature believer, and they will tell you that they grew more as a person, as a Christian, during seasons of loss, pain, and crisis than they did at any other time.
While no one longs for personal crisis, the saying is true nonetheless: a crisis is too valuable to waste.
In one of my favorite PreachingToday.com sermons, Bruce Thielemann calls them "molten moments." He describes work in a foundry and that brief period in which metal has been heated enough to be shaped into something useful. And when things cool, it's too late.
Similarly, crisis is a short-term opportunity to do some long-term good.
And in the current issue of Leadership, John Ortberg writes: "Actually, the wonderful and terrible thing about crisis is that it's the one resource we do not have to fund or staff or program. It just comes. However, pain does not automatically produce spiritual growth. Ghettos and barrios and abusive homes and trauma wards may produce scarred souls; they can cripple more human spirits than they strengthen. Crisis can lead to soul strength, but not if the soul is starved of other nutrients, and not apart from certain responses."
To develop this theme, we've gathered the stories of various churches and the different kinds of crisis, and crisis response, they encountered. And we'll be featuring them on our website over the next few weeks. You'll learn from the responses of the leaders involved.
In some cases, the crises became a "stress test" of their faith, revealing areas of weakness that needed to be strengthened. In other cases, the crisis was a "proving ground" of faith, revealing the resilience and equilibrium that confidence in God can produce.
But what becomes clear in almost every case: The time to prepare for a crisis is before it happens. Jesus' example in the Garden of Gethsemane is instructive. There Jesus does his intense preparation for the upcoming crisis, praying in anguish till "his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground." But after that, when Judas arrives and throughout the crisis itself—his arrest, interrogation, trial, and crucifixion—he is steadfast and demonstrates astounding poise.
While crisis may not be your favorite leisure activity, it's certain to come. And when it does, we hope that you'll be prepared to face it in faith, knowing that God is at work.
Marshall Shelley is editor-in-chief of Leadership.
MY THOUGHTS
i call it "crunch time". it's like a tea bag. you see the true color only after it is soaked in boiling water. that is what crisis does to people. you may have glimpses of a person's character through your daily , normal encounters. wait until after a serious problem crops up. then you'll see the real score.
Copyright © 2011 by the author or Christianity Today International/Leadership Journal.
Click here for reprint information on Leadership Journal.
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