what we tend to do in uncontrolled circumstances…

have you noticed that usually when you face an uncontrollable circumstance you tend to do one of two things?  these are the extremes and most of us do one or the other.

some of you when you face things that are out of your control you just redouble your efforts.  you try harder. 

you say, “i’m going to make this thing work!”  and the more your life tends to spin out of control the more controlling and compulsive you become.  when you feel like you’re threatened by, “i can’t control the situation” you start and react by trying to control everybody and everything in your life.  you become compulsive about it.  you want to control this and you want to control that.  you’re a hyper controller.  and you’re certainly not at peace because you’re trying to run the whole world out of the fear of what’s uncontrollable in your life

then others of you, you do the exact opposite.  you throw in the towel.  you give up. 

you throw your hands up and say, “forget it!  i’m a victim.  i’m going to roll over and play dead.  i’m a victim of despair.”  and you play mary martyr.  you swallow and wallow.  you swallow your anger and you wallow in self-pity. 

both of those choices, trying to control everything and everybody around you and giving in and saying, “i’m just a victim!” those are stupid foolish choices.  what you need to do is the alternative. 

what you need to do is pray the prayer of surrender.  YOUr kingdom come, YOUr will be done in my life.  YOUr will be done on earth as it is in heaven. 

why do we pray that, YOUr will be done on earth as it is in heaven?  because in heaven GOD’s will is done perfectly.  is GOD’s will done perfectly on earth?  absolutely not.  in fact most of the things that happen on earth are not GOD’s will.  GOD’s will is not always done.  that’s why we have sin.  that’s why people get hurt.  but when you pray, YOUr will be done, you’re saying, i accept your plan.

just a thought from the front porch…

waiting is sooo difficult…

there are many things in life that test our patience:  expressways, supermarket lines, doctor’s offices, irritating people.  we hate to wait.  we do not like to wait. 

have you noticed that the more expensive the restaurant the longer you wait? there are actually five different waits when you go to a restaurant.  you wait to get a seat, then you wait to get the menu, then you wait to order, then you wait to get the food back, then you wait for the bill.  and they have the audacity to call that guy the waiter!

we have been looking for a while here at the book of james in the nt and he has something to say on “patience.”  you and i need patience in every area of our life.

one question we could ask james is when should i be patient?  and that is a good question.  now james doesn’t say we have to be patient all the time but there are special times when you need that extra dose of patience and one of them is when circumstances are uncontrollable

have you figured out that a lot of life is beyond your control?  you cannot keep your thumb on everything.  james uses a farmer as an example of when circumstances are uncontrollable. 

james 5.7 (msg),  friends, wait patiently for the MASTER’s arrival. you see farmers do this all the time, waiting for their valuable crops to mature, patiently letting the rain do its slow but sure work. be patient like that…

don’t go into farming unless you’ve got patience.  part of the job description of being a farmer is you do a lot of waiting:  waiting to till, waiting to plant, waiting to harvest... there are a lot of factors in waiting.  yet more than the factors of waiting on things to do are the factors that the farmer has no control over – weather, rain, heat, the economy, labor practices.  as a farmer you deal with a lot of uncontrollable factors – circumstances – in life. 

have you noticed that even when we realize a situation is beyond our control, we still try to control it?  how do we do that?  by worrying.  we think that worry will control a situation.  to worry about something you can change is dumb, to worry about something you can’t change is useless.  either way you shouldn’t worry.  we need to have patience in uncontrollable circumstances.

just a thought from the front porch…

character and comfort…

another purpose of problems is they sanctify my character.  they make me like JESUS.  they help me mature.  they help me grow. 

james 1.3-4 (niv), the testing of your faith produces perseverance…so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. 

that is GOD’s long-range goal.  HIS ultimate purpose is maturity.  GOD wants you to grow up.  HE wants you to mature and in this CHRISTian life, character is the bottom line. 

there are so many CHRISTians who have absolutely no idea of GOD’s agenda in their life.  they don’t know what’s happening and as a result they are overwhelmed by their problems.  GOD’s number one purpose in your life is to make you like JESUS CHRIST.  GOD is much more interested in building my character than in making me comfortable.  if GOD is going to make me like JESUS, HE’s going to take me through the things that JESUS went through.

there were times that JESUS was lonely, fatigued, tempted to be depressed and discouraged.  the bible says there are two ways that GOD makes us like JESUS.

-through the word of GOD.  john 17.17 (niv), sanctify them by the truth.  YOUr word is truth.  james 1:22-25, “HIS word makes us like JESUS.”  it builds our character, matures us but even if you read the bible two hours a day, how many hours of your life are you not reading GOD’s word?  GOD demands even more the second way.

-through the circumstances of life.  here’s where james hits it right on the head. 

so many CHRISTians say, “everything was going great when i first became a believer.  then all of these problems came.  maybe GOD doesn’t love me.  maybe i’m not a CHRISTian.  maybe i’m not really saved.  maybe i’ve missed the boat.’  no, you are exactly where GOD wants you to be.  you’re in HIS character course.  HE’s making you like JESUS.

just a thought from the front porch...

three mistakes that get us into trouble…

when the guys in acts 27 in the nt decided to sail the ship into the mediterranean sea and paul said, “don't do it or we'll go into a storm”, they made three common mistakes.  they are the exact three mistakes we tend to make that get us into trouble.

1.  we listen to bad advise.  verse 11 (niv), they followed the advise of the pilot. 

GOD had already said not to do it.  paul had warned them.  but because the “expert” said it was ok, they did it.  there are a lot of experts in the world.  they are on every talk show.  they’ll tell you all kinds of stuff.  if GOD tells you to do one thing and all the experts in the world tell you to do differently, don’t listen to the experts.  listen to what GOD says. 

2.      we follow the crowd.  verse 12 (niv), the majority decided that we should sail.  

there were 276 on the boat.  the vote was 273 to 3 to sail.  the majority is often wrong.  one of the phrases you hear “but everybody’s doing it”.  so what?  everybody can be wrong. 

don’t base your morality on some popular opinion poll.  peer pressure keeps a lot of people from doing what GOD wants them to do.  peer pressure causes a lot of people to get into problems. 

3.  we rely on circumstances.  verse 13 (niv), when a gentle south wind began to blow, they thought they had obtained what they wanted.

they thought it was a nice day for sailing.  paul said, “don't do it, we're heading into a storm”.  but they went anyway and they shipwrecked.

satan can arrange circumstances.  you should not go through every open door you see.  you should not take advantage of every opportunity you have.  you should not accept every job offer given to you.  you should not date everybody that asks you out on a date.  you need to ask if this is what GOD wants. 

the most difficult type of difficulty to deal with is when you’re the innocent victim and it’s not your fault.  it’s a problem you didn’t bring on yourself but you have it anyway.  in paul’s situation, he had already told them, GOD says don’t do this or the ship will be wrecked.  they did it anyway and he’s a prisoner and he has to go along.  he experiences a shipwreck because of other people.  not all of the shipwrecks in your life are your fault.  some of them you just happen to be at the wrong place, at the wrong time.  those are difficult difficulties to deal with but you’re in the shipwreck because you happen to be there. 

just a thought from the front porch…

your lifeline...

i’ve met a lot of people who know how to feel hopeful when the circumstances are good.  i’ve not met very many people who know how to be filled with hope when the circumstances aren’t so good. how to be filled with hope when it feels like GOD’s love isn’t there any more. how to be filled with hope when you don’t know how long you can last.

GOD wants to give that kind of strength into every one of our lives.  what do you do when you don’t know what to do? 

for one you make GOD’s love your lifeline.

what’s your lifeline?  that’s what you hold on to when you don’t have anything else to hold onto.  here’s the crazy thing.  when we face tough times it is the easiest thing in the world to make self-destructive behavior our lifeline.  that’s where we tend to go first.  because they offer the quick fix.  they seem like they’re going to help us.  so you’re hopeless and what do you turn to?  drugs or drink or lust or anger or self-pity or burying yourself in entertainment.  all kinds of things that aren’t going to help that actually are going to take you down faster.  don't make those your lifeline.  make GOD’s love your lifeline. 

in fact, don’t even make the things that might seem strong your lifeline because they’re not enough.  your job is not enough.  what if you lose your job?  i know a lot of people who make their spouse – their husband or wife – their lifeline.  and that is not fair to your husband or wife.  think about this: what if they’re going down with you?  what if they’re facing a circumstance worse than your circumstance?  you should love deeply, your husband or wife.  they should give you strength and encouragement.  but to make them your whole lifeline is asking a human being to do what no human being can do.  only GOD’s love will last through any and every circumstance.  only GOD’s love is there every moment of our lives no matter what.  so don’t ask a person to do what only GOD can do.  you make GOD’s love your lifeline. 

psalm 121.1-2 (niv) says, i lift my eyes to the hills.  where does my help come from?  my help comes from the LORD.  the maker of heaven and earth.  i just like the simple picture in that verse.  

las vegas where I lived for 15 years is surrounded by mountains. and I would look at those mountains that GOD has made and i realized that the same GOD who made them, the GOD of grandeur, the GOD of greatness – that same GOD cares about me.  HE cares about my life.  HE cares about what i’m going through.  HE wants to give me strength in my circumstance.  i lift my eyes to the hills.  where does my help come from?  it comes from GOD.  the same GOD who made heaven and earth wants to be a part of your life. 

just a thought from the front porch…