Overcoming

4 Ways to Overcome Temptation

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I heard a great sermon in church last Sunday. The topic was almost as hot as the near record setting temperatures outside. It was on temptation. The message was a real eye opener for me and deeply convicting. But it wasn’t anything the preacher said. It happened that I was an audience of one listening to what the congregation was saying to me as I stood behind the pulpit. Through feedback from six interactive questions I gained some incredible insight into the insidious power of temptation and most effective ways to combat it. When Paul said that “no temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man” he wasn’t just talking through his hat. (1 Corinthians 10:13) Nine out of ten people in the room told me that they are presently battling temptations in their lives. And eight out of ten admitted that it is a reoccurring temptation that they have not been able to resist. Seeing those polling results brought home the stark realization that at any given time, most godly people are locked in a spiritual battle against an enemy of their souls.

It really should not be a surprise when we consider that from the very beginning of time a colossal war been waged between the forces of good and evil, righteousness and sin, God and the devil. From Genesis chapter three onward the devil has been scheming up ways to tempt us to eat forbidden fruit and rob us of an intimate relationship with our creator.

But his insidious strategies are not limited only to the lure and captivity of sin. He also is a relentless “accuser of the brethren” who works with might and main to keep those who confess their sin imprisoned in guilt and shame. (Revelation 12:10)

Over half of our congregation this past Sunday said they were still battling guilt and shame for a sin they had confessed and been forgiven. That is a disquieting yet not surprising fact as well. All of us at one time or other has those same struggles and we are not alone. (For more on this see “Dealing with the Stain of Sin”)

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Hope that does not disappoint

Growth & Development, Overcoming, Relationship with God /

It is a mystery how God uses suffering in our lives to make us more hopeful. You would think the opposite would happen. But Paul tells us that “suffering produces perseverance, perseverance, character and character, hope.” (Romans 5:3-4 NIV) It’s obvious that suffering can produce perseverance, after all no pain, no gain. And if a person reacts properly to suffering it can also develop character. But what about hope? Ultimately how does suffering produce hope?

Two years ago this week, in the midst of stepping down from my role as a senior pastor and anticipating a new phase of life and livelihood I discovered a lump in my neck. That lump was like a squall appearing on the horizon that turned into a hurricane. It pummeled me for four months with visits to four physicians, two biopsies, a surgery to remove it, the discovery of thyroid cancer, another surgery to remove my thyroid, radioactive iodine treatment and a scar revision surgery.

Coinciding with all this income from a small business we run, which we were relying upon as part of my professional transition, totally disappeared as tornadic winds blew it away for five long months.

It was the perfect storm of trials in the area of career, health and finances. To be honest, I was so deluged by the winds and waves of life it felt like my little boat of faith was sinking and taking any life preserver of hope down with it.

I can vividly recall the sense of devastation as my plans and hope for the next chapter in my life were being swallowed up and the grip of the fear of death was threatening to drown everything I held dear.

The two year anniversary of the advent of the lump has given me pause. Several days ago, as I was contemplating the quality of my life and the depth of my hope before and after the storm, I could not help but give praise to God.

The Bible tells us that Abraham, in the midst of enduring a twenty five year trial, “even when there was no reason to hope, [he] kept hoping, believing that he would become the father of many nations.” (Romans 4:18) Another way of putting it is that “in hope against hope he believed.” This passage of scripture makes an important distinction between two kinds of hope – there is the hope that depends upon man and the hope that depends upon God. It is the difference between natural hope and super natural hope, temporal hope and eternal hope, human hope and God hope.

When the flame of human hope is extinguished as it was for Abraham (and category 4 and 5 storms have a way of doing that) there is an even greater more enduring hope from God that is available to sustain us. It is the kind of hope that is only produced and revealed through suffering.

This hope from God triumphs over despair because it is in God and His faithfulness, and not in ourselves or what we might dream of accomplishing.

That is a difficult and hard lesson to learn but 20/20 hindsight gives us God’s perspective on His hope-filled purposes for trials and suffering. My puny human hope and dreams sank during the perfect storm two years ago, but God supplanted it with His hope and my life is inexplicably better today because of it.

A condition I battled for years, pre thyroid cancer, was depression. It was something, only those closest to me were privy to. Most of the time it was like a dark, discouraging cloud hanging over my head, but there were a few times when it was debilitating.

One of the remarkable hope-filled things for which I praise God on this two year anniversary is that since having my thyroid removed, I have been free from depression. That marks a huge breakthrough in my life and makes all I went through more than worth it.

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The Secret of Contentment

Life Balance, Overcoming /

Have you ever been more in love with the idea of something more than its reality? You probably have. It’s just a different spin on the old familiar “the grass is always greener” theme. You buy that dream item only to suffer from buyer’s remorse and find yourself now dreaming of how wonderful it would be if you didn’t have it.

It is well illustrated by the boat owner’s confession. “The happiest day of my life was when I bought a boat and an even happier day was when I sold it.” I’ve known people like that and I’ve been there myself. One glorious dream I had was to have a backyard swimming pool. After my kids grew up and left home that dream morphed into a nightmare when I finally realized that no one but the birds were using it and it was costing me tons of my time, energy and money to keep it running.

Why is that such a familiar story? An ideal becomes an ordeal and we find ourselves looking for a new deal. The Apostle Paul knew all about the battle for contentment. The chronicle of the unsettling circumstances of his life with its imprisonments, beatings, shipwrecks and survival from all manner of dangers is material for a doctoral thesis on contentment. (2 Corinthians 11:23-28) What better person to give us critical insight into dealing with discontent?

Writing more on contentment than any other New Testament writer, Paul reveals three things that can help us be triumphant when our ideal becomes an ordeal.

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4 Things to Remember in Times of Crisis

Overcoming /

No one is immune to crisis. It is triggered by accidents, health issues, relationship conflicts, financial shortfalls, poor judgment and sin . . . and on and on. It sneaks up on us no matter where we are: at home, at work, at leisure and yes, even at church.

Early on in my pastoral ministry, when I was still somewhat naive about the perils that lurk under the pews, in God’s providence, I was the recipient of some crucial crisis management advice. It came in the form of a teaching on that topic given at a pastor’s conference. It was presented by a man named Charles Simpson whom I greatly admired both for his skill as a Bible teacher and also for his wisdom as a seasoned pastor. The conference was hosted at his church for the national network of churches to which our church belonged and of which he was the prime leader.

The approach he took in preparing us for crises was somewhat unusual in that his focus was on things we must believe rather than things we must do. I did not fully grasp it at the time, but my experience has confirmed it in the ensuing years, in times of crisis the issue of right belief is as important as right action. In fact, right belief is often the prerequisite for discovering and taking right action.

Right belief in a Christian context is faith in God. The priority of seeking first to maintain an attitude of faith in the midst of crisis is a basic Bible presupposition. Consider these words of the Apostle John. “This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith.” (1 John 5:4) The key to victory in crisis is faith.

Reverend Simpson, using illustrations from the Israelites wandering forty years in the wilderness, distilled his principles for crisis management down to four carefully crafted statements. I was so impacted by his message that I wrote the four principles in the back of my Bible. Little did I know that I would need to refer to them frequently and that they would prove to be my sustaining grace in times of crisis over the next three decades of ministry in two pastorates.

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When God is Silent

Overcoming, Relationship with God /

“The rain and snow come down from the heavens and stay on the ground to water the earth. They cause the grain to grow, producing seed for the farmer and bread for the hungry.” Isaiah 55:10 (NLT)

It is difficult to understand why God is sometimes silent. Our routine of daily prayer and bible reading, our weekly attendance at church, our desire to live our lives for His glory all continue unabated and yet God is silent. Why? It seems so contrary to His nature and His love for us as revealed in His Son. Yes the heavens daily declare His glory and the earth shows forth His handiwork, we hear sermons and we read devotionals, all the while listening intently for His still small voice, but in the reverberation of it all, only silence. Why?

One of the most beautiful metaphors in all of scripture, describing how God speaks, is found in the writings of Isaiah the prophet. There God’s thoughts and words, proceeding from His mouth in heaven are likened to rain and snow that fall upon the earth. (Isaiah 55:9-11) The earth, representing the soil of our hearts, immediately receives the rain and absorbs its nourishment. We rejoice in hearing God’s words and anticipate with thankfulness the fruit that it will bear in our lives.

But what then when the seasons change? A growing darkness encroaches upon our days, chilly winds blow in from the north and our cold hearts begin to long for the warm spring and summer rains. But alas it is snow that starts to fall and as it blankets the soil of our hearts, it muffles the still small voice. As a season of dormancy sets in, the snow with its life giving moisture is frozen in time and space. God is silent. It is as if God’s very thoughts and words are sealed in a myriad of intricately beautiful, quiescent crystals.

This picture of God’s voice coming to us in the form of snow affords us a glimpse into the mystery of His silence.

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