Thursday, March 20, 2008

Watcha Gonna Do?


John 16:33 (New International Version)
New International Version (NIV)
Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society
33"I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world."

Let's face it. Some of us have lead sheltered lives, others have not, but here is a biblical guarantee that if we are Christians we are going to experience trouble at some point in our lives. Last night our pastor gave a sermon on 'Five Reasons Why We Don't Give Up.' I'm going to call it 'Five Reasons We Are Able to Overcome Adversity.' Look up 2 Cor. Chapter 4. It's on 'Treasure in Jars of Clay.'

Five Reasons Are Able to Overcome
1. Because of the privilege we have of serving Christ.
2. Our sufferings reveal God's power in us.
3. We look forward to Heaven, keeping our eyes on one day being with Jesus, who we love.
4. We are renewed daily, inwardly by the realization that our eternal reward will outweigh our momentary (earthly) troubles.
5. We focus on the eternal, what is unseen.

I think we are able to overcome adversity when we CHOOSE to:

Count it a privilege to serve Christ
Don't dwell in the pit of our sufferings and think "woe is me"
Take the time to daily renew our spirits with prayer and Bible reading
Focus on the finish line in Heaven and not on the daily adversity that comes our way


These are all things we must choose to do, and all of them need to be things we do on an ongoing basis to serve in peak condition as Christians. All of these CHOICES are related to the attitude and focus of our hearts. Are we focused on Christ's mission or our own comfort? What is your life perspective?

I myself need periodic reality checks and to refocus on the mission at hand. I find myself easily distracted by adversity. I get caught up in the "Whys, Hows and What ifs" instead of concentrating on eternity. My faith is immature and I haven't been making a concentrated effort to focus on the endgame and instead have only focused on the trivial pursuits that inevitably come my way. I climb into my own personal sinkhole and dwell on the unfairness of it all. I question God's sovreignty and his benevolence and like a sulking child, I find myself in rebellion.

There are just so many good analogies here....the car that needs regular maintenace or it will breakdown, the marathon runner that needs to regularly train in order to run a good race...

It is easier to fall prey to pitfalls and to make unhealthy spiritual choices when are not training ourselves to overcome adversity. If you aren't daily training your body to complete the race, you will struggle to make it to the finish line. If you don't get regular oil changes, your engine will break down and you'll have a costly repair to make.

Our commitment to Christ is a choice, just like it's a choice to train to run the race or to do maintenance on our cars. If we don't do the work, we're going to arrive at the finish line in bad shape. We'll still get there, because Christ promises to be with us. It's just not going to be pretty, if we don't put in the effort to serve Him while we can.

So the question becomes, after you choose to become a Christian will you be an oceanliner, capable of bringing many to Christ along your journey, or will you be the row boat, tossed by the waves, that struggles to hold more than a handful of people, all the time struggling to bail itself out of trouble?

Watcha
gonna do when adversity comes your way?

No comments:

Post a Comment