Back On Track

Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.

-- Joshua 1:9    

It was a televised mishap that would have sidelined most athletes.

At the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, Germany, Finnish runner Lasse Viren tripped and fell during the 10,000-meter race when his feet tangled with those of American gold medalist Frank Shorter. Both men crumpled to the track. But then Viren did the unimaginable. He got off the ground, resumed the race and soon caught the runners who had passed him. And then on the final lap, he not only passed his competitors, he literally left them in the dust to cross the finish line alone. Many sportswriters consider Viren’s performance to be one of the greatest comebacks in Olympics history.

Maybe your own errors and foul-ups aren’t of such epic proportions. And they might not play out before a global audience, but they certainly feel like it. How many times have we all made

such huge mistakes that it seems like the end of the world? We think we’ve blown it. It’s over. We’re discouraged. And we’ll never get back.

Life-changing mishaps can cover lots of territory. They might affect our personal relationships, career or even spiritual life — and maybe all the above. But the good news for Christ-followers is that we worship a God who not only understands what we’re going through, but also One who cares. What’s more, he’s a God of second (and third, fourth, etc.) chances.  

The apostle Peter learned this after asking Jesus, "How many times should I forgive someone who does something wrong to me? Is seven times enough?" Jesus answered, “Not just seven times, but seventy-seven times!”

If we’re to be so forgiving when others offend us, consider God’s patience with us when we make our many mistakes and fall short of his perfect standards. Let’s take to heart Peter’s testimony about our Creator — the One who can help us arise from failures, pain and discouragement — and then get back on track:

“Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time,” proclaims the apostle. “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.”  

Don't Tempt Me

"Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing,
but the flesh is weak.”

-- Matthew 26:41

    

If you’re a current or former smoker, no one has to tell you how hard it is to quit the habit. As the great humorist Mark Twain once put it, “To cease smoking is the easiest thing I ever did; I ought to know because I have done it a thousand times.”

The same thing goes for Christ-followers when it comes to sin and temptation.

Even though we’ve accepted Jesus as our Lord and Savior — and asked him for forgiveness and received it — we still tend to fall back into those same bad habits that we thought were left behind.

What’s the problem? Doesn’t the Bible tell us that becoming a Christ-follower makes us a new creation?

Indeed it does. But let’s remember that our transformation is a work in progress that runs on God’s timetable. That often means little by little, day after day. What’s more, the pathway along our faith-journey is narrow, twisting and full of unexpected hairpin curves. And when we don’t keep our eyes on the destination, we can end up in a ditch.

But this doesn’t mean we’re failures. As a matter of fact, Jesus told his disciples to expect bumps and potholes in the road. "Things that cause people to sin are bound to come,” Christ said. “But woe to that person through whom they come.”

Let’s also consider a life-lesson taught by the apostle Paul — the Christ-follower who wrote much of the New Testament. In his 2,000-year-old lament that still rings true to modern-day readers, Paul complains that he continues to do the very things he despises. And at the same time, he fails to do the things he knows he should accomplish. So here’s the obvious question: If one of history’s greatest Christians had so many problems with sin and temptation, what hope is there for us?

Paul’s struggles were nothing less than spiritual warfare — the same ugly conflict that we all fight every day in one way or another. But he has some good news for us:

“Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.”

This means we’re free from sin’s power, and we don’t have to accept its dominance in our lives. Therefore, the answer to sin and temptation comes down to our trust and dependence on Jesus’ sacrificial death on the cross. When we slip up and give in to sin, we can freely ask for help and forgiveness from Christ, the one who has already paid the ultimate price for all our mistakes and shortcomings — past, present and future.

The University of Adversity

"Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

-- Matthew 6:34

Why does God allow tragedy, suffering and injustice? 

We reason that if he’s all-powerful, he should prevent such adversity. But let’s consider that no one ever promised us a trouble-free life. What’s more, God’s perspective extends beyond our superficial human experience and into the immeasurable wonders of his creation. For example, can we comprehend how an awkward caterpillar gorges on leaves, spins a cocoon around itself and then emerges weeks later as a beautiful butterfly? And how can a tiny acorn grow into a mighty 80-foot oak?

It’s all beyond our understanding, but the principle here is the same. Whether we're going through good times or bad, we must remind ourselves that God's ways aren't our ways. Moreover, our human minds are much too limited to grasp the entirety of his greater purpose.

But we’re not totally in the dark here. God’s word to us — the Bible — gives us

several pointers. One is that we live in an imperfect world where bad things can (and often do) happen. It was when Adam and Eve disobeyed their Creator in the Garden of Eden that Earth’s perfection was spoiled. And it’s only four chapters into Genesis that we read about mankind’s first murder: a cold-blooded encounter between siblings.

Our own poor choices are another source of adversity. For example, if someone chooses to drink too much, gets drunk and then gets behind the wheel, tragedy often follows. But that’s hardly God’s fault. We instead reap the fruits of the foolishness we’ve sown.

These are sobering facts of life, but the good news is that we worship a God who specializes in turning bad into good. Consider someone who gets laid off from their job, only to find a much better one in a different city — with better pay — and in an industry that he or she had never previously considered. If it weren’t for the “tragedy” of unemployment, he or she might have become stuck in a boring, dead-end situation with little future. God (as always) knows best!

God also uses our adversities to discipline and mature us. Are we ever the same after experiencing a major illness or family tragedy? It’s through such crises that we draw closer to him and depend on his help and presence. God can even use our anguish as a witness to others. If you’re a Christ-follower faced with a God-sized situation, where you place your faith speaks volumes to others.

While adversity is a difficult reality of the human experience, we can’t expect a pain-free existence. In fact, Jesus even told his disciples to expect troubles in life. But let’s take comfort that ours is a Big Picture God — One who sees beyond our limited scope to turn even the greatest tragedies into the greater good.

“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace,” Jesus assures us through John’s gospel. “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

Can You Relate?

 “Anyone who welcomes you welcomes me, and anyone who welcomes me
welcomes the one who sent me.”

 

-- Matthew 10:40

We've all done it once or twice, and some people tend to do it more than others.

It's name-dropping, or suggesting that we have a relationship with a celebrity, politician or other notable personality. It's a favorite sport at parties, and sometimes it's useful at job interviews because it can create familiarity and connection.

Name-dropping can also be annoying, but it's OK to brag a bit about a relationship

with the right person. In the Bible, this is actually encouraged. After all, Christianity is a faith that embraces relationship over religion. Specifically, there's a parent/child relationship between us and God. And it's a bond that's only made possible through Jesus' substitutionary death on the cross -- a punishment we all rightly deserve for our lifetimes marked by personal failures and shortcomings (also known as "sin"). But since we're connected with the right person (Jesus), he's already paid the price to save us from a certain death and eternal separation from God.

  

That's the primary relationship we enjoy as Christ-followers. But God also wants us to make relationships with others. That means introducing them to Jesus, sharing his story and relating how his death on the cross means a whole new life now -- and later in eternity.

How can we get the ball rolling? One of the best ways is to pray for people by name. They can be family members, co-workers, neighbors, political leaders, the unsaved -- and particularly our enemies. After that, don't be surprised if God opens up the circumstances where we become the answer to someone's prayer.

Jesus set our example when he sent 12 of his followers to the nearby Jewish communities to spread the Good News (the Gospel):

"Do not go among the Gentiles or enter any town of the Samaritans. Go rather to the lost sheep of Israel," he told them. "As you go, proclaim this message: 'The kingdom of heaven has come near.' Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received; freely give."

Here was a time Jesus instructed his followers to be the answer to someone's fervent prayers in the midst of difficulties and pain -- and all while using their connection with him to do the seemingly impossible. As the saying goes, it's not always what you know that counts in life. It's who you know that makes all the difference.

Seek First

I know how to live when I am poor, and I know how to live when I have plenty. I have learned the secret of being happy at any time in everything that happens, when I have enough to eat and when I go hungry, when I have more than I need and when I do not have enough.

-- Philippians 4:12

The story goes that a reporter once interviewed a billionaire and marveled at the rich man's ability to amass wealth. "Just how much money is enough?" the reporter inquired. 

"Just a little bit more," replied the billionaire.

Whether you're rich, living from paycheck to paycheck or somewhere in between, a little bit more always seems to be the remedy for life's dissatisfactions. Rather than In God We Trust, perhaps America's national motto should be Supersize It.

God has blessed us with a nation of incredible wealth. Even our poor and unemployed could be considered rich by the standards of most of the world. Yet an epidemic of discontentment tends

to blind us to this fact. The more possessions we gather and the higher we climb on the corporate ladder, the more disillusioned and unfulfilled we become. And rather than thanking God for his blessings and making the most of them, we wonder (often aloud) if this is all there is to life.

This disease of discontentment has some nasty symptoms. Those afflicted with the malady often turn to alcohol, drugs, illicit relationships and gambling to ease the self-inflicted pain. Things might get better for a while. But the hunger returns soon enough.

This problem is hardly new. And it's not confined to the United States or even Western society. In fact, the Bible addressed the issues of greed and discontentment centuries ago. And its advice is as valid today as it was back then:

First, consider how God has blessed you. It could involve your family, career, health, friends ... just count the ways. Then, stop trying to compare what you have with your neighbor's possessions. Advertising agencies prosper when they convince you that the grass is greener on the other side of the fence. But don't forget that someone else is probably wishing they could enjoy just one or two of your blessings!

Contentment isn't something that we can get by buying a new car, moving into a bigger house or landing that job with the corner office. Rather, it’s an internal source of fulfillment and comfort acquired by knowing our Savior and living out the abundant life he's purchased for us.

It's really all about Jesus. A growing relationship with him renders contentment because there's nothing bigger, better or more necessary. Comparisons fall away and material things lose their luster. What was once so important soon fades into obscurity.

Does this sound simplistic or too good to be true? A whole new life is just inches away: It's the distance between our head and our heart. And we’re all free to accept Jesus' grand offer and grow in contentment.

"Seek first God's kingdom and what God wants," he tells us through Matthew's gospel. "Then all your other needs will be met as well."

Best Laid Plans

We are ruined by our own stupidity, though we blame the Lord.

-- Proverbs 19:3

“The best laid plans of mice and men often go astray,” wrote Scottish poet Robert Burns. And no matter how well we prepare, “stuff happens.” When it does, it can lead to disappointment — or much worse. Just ask the Coca-Cola executives about their disastrous product known as New Coke.

Back in the 1970s and 80s, Coca-Cola and Pepsi were engaged in an intense conflict to win the hearts, minds and taste buds of American consumers. The press dubbed the companies’ marketing efforts The Cola Wars.

The Pepsi Challenge is probably the best-known battle of the conflict. It was a

series of TV commercials depicting head-to-head taste test comparisons between the two colas. Time after time, Pepsi was the people’s choice. And within a few years, Pepsi’s sales overtook Coke’s, which lead to one of the greatest marketing blunders of all time: the reformulation of tried-and-true Coca-Cola into New Coke.

Consumers weren’t convinced. And after plummeting sales and more than 400,000 letters of complaint, Coke’s executives admitted their mistake, reintroduced the beverage’s original formula (called Coca-Cola Classic) and eventually won back their audience. Today, Coke is the king of colas with a nearly 18% market share. Meanwhile, Pepsi’s share has dropped over the last decade from 10.3% to 8.4%.

We all make plans that result in varying degrees of success or failure. And we’ve also felt from time to time like our circumstances have gotten out of hand. Maybe you feel like that today — and for good reason. But believe it or not, God is in control of the situation. 

This is a fundamental truth that every Christ-follower should embrace. One reason that we don't feel his control is because we can't see the big picture. We don’t know the life-changing people and situations that he’ll introduce to the mix. We also don’t have his vantage point of knowing what’s around the corner and miles up the road. Moreover, it’s hard for us to see a greater purpose in our lives when we're going through the pain of unemployment, lingering illness, family problems or even death. But God is in control. And for those who trust and follow him, he offers this assurance:

"Before I made you in your mother's womb, I chose you,” says our Creator. “Before you were born, I set you apart for a special work. I appointed you as a prophet to the nations."

Have your best-laid plans led to frustration and depression? Don’t lose hope. God knows what we need — and he knows it long before we ask him for help. And when our plans align with his purpose, success is on the horizon.  

Our Backs to the Wall

Consider now, for the LORD has chosen you to build a house as the sanctuary.
Be strong and do the work.

-- 1 Chronicles 28:10

About 200 years before Jesus’ birth, construction began on the world’s largest man-made structure. The Great Wall of China, which stretches across Asia, was built to protect the Chinese dynasties against invading semi-nomadic people known to cross into the land and steal just about anything of value.

The wall’s completion was an incredible engineering feat, even by today’s

standards. After all, transporting large amounts of building materials was essentially impossible in a time before 18-wheelers, cranes and excavators. The solution was a reliance on locally-accessed resources such as stone from the mountainous regions. In some remote desert areas with few available building materials, the Great Wall was formed with soil pressed between wood, which was bound with woven mats.

Work on the wall continued into the 1600s. The result was a 4,000-mile-long monstrosity that — at its peak — was guarded by more than a million soldiers. Historians estimate that 2-3 million workers died over the centuries of construction and repair. And was it worth the immense cost and effort? For the most part…yes. Indeed, The Great Wall of China generally succeeded in repelling invaders. However, in 1644, the Manchus crossed through (but not over) the massive barrier when a Ming border general who disliked the ruling Shun Dynasty simply opened the wall’s gates. The capital city of Beijing soon fell into the enemy’s hands.

Tragedy struck when a lone individual failed to protect the heart of their great nation. Likewise, Christ-followers have a duty to protect their hearts and minds from invasive influences that can wreak havoc on their souls. That’s an important concept because what we expose our heart to is what flows out of it. Let’s consider this admonition from the apostle Paul to the believers at the church in Ephesus:

“Be very careful, then, how you live — not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil,” he wrote. “Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is. Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit …”

As Christ-followers, we have a duty to make the most what God gives us each day. Let’s recognize that we'll have no neutral opportunities. Moreover, it’s how we approach life that determines how we experience it.