#Fail, Because.....

In my Beautycounter business, I am at the beginning of a new month and am focusing on goal-setting.  In this line of home-based work, every month is like "turning over a new leaf" - - you have to basically "start over" with your business earnings every month.  It's lots of fun, actually.

Well, when setting goals you must, absolutely must, embrace the possibility of failure and at the same time, absolutely refuse to accept your own excuses.

You know, we live in an American culture that is thoroughly saturated with excuse-making.

The utter "far reaches of the universe" example of this is a news story from September 1st, just 4 days ago. Young dude stabs his wife multiple times, ultimately murdering her.  He calls 911, seemingly in a daze to say...wait for it...."the cold medicine made me kill her in my sleep".

Truly.  I am astounded.

Well, we encounter the first excuse - - excuses being at best an apology/explanation and more often the failure to accept responsibility for one's actions, in Genesis 3:12-13 (ESV)

12The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.”13Then the LORD God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”

The first manifestation of the Fall of Man was that Adam and Eve ran and hid from God, because they did not want their sin exposed.  That's what sin does.  It separates us from a holy God.  Our sin offends a totally holy God, and simultaneously, our sin causes us to rebel against His utter holiness.

This is why we see the first excuses made by Adam and Eve in Genesis 3.  What did they do?  They blamed each other.  Adam blamed Eve; and, Eve blamed Satan, who had manifested in the form of a beautiful animal called the Serpent.  Would be laughable, if it were not so terribly tragic.

The writer of Proverbs addresses excuse-making with a verse that we find in both Proverbs 22:13 and Proverbs 26:13.  The two verses are very similar.  Together, they are an example of ridiculous excuse-making.

The sluggard says, "There is a lion outside! I will be killed in the middle of the streets!" 

22:13

The sluggard says, "There is a lion in the road! A lion in the streets!" 

26:13

There's a lion!!!

Right?  This lazy person (sluggard) is shirking responsibility and using an improbable fear to justify his laziness.

In these two examples from Scripture we see two main reasons that we, in our carnal fallen natures, tend to make excuses:  to avoid responsibility for mistakes or to avoid fulfilling our God-given responsibilities.   The first is reactive; the second is proactive.  Both are sin.

For some people, making excuses is a coping strategy and/or a way of life.  Living this way does not produce successful people, either in the world's eyes or in God's.  If you think about your own life and honestly discover that this is a pitfall for you, ask God for the courage to reverse this trend in your life, through the power of the Holy Spirit.

It is one thing to apologize and attempt to explain one's mistake.  Doing this with genuine acceptance of responsibility and willingness to make things right - - this is the mark of a humble and godly person.  To do this is righteous and necessary when we have messed up and harmed others.

It is one thing to prioritize and make reasonable goals, as long as our "reasonable" does not hold us back from fulfilling the plans God has in mind for us, due to fear.

What is your "because"?

Great point I'm pondering.

You too?

The Worry Pill

When I was young I was anxious for little.  Basically, I "had it made".  My family was wonderful. My health was fabulous.  The "world was my oyster", as the saying goes.  I could not figure out why my mother complained about "her nerves".

Then, at age 16, the first hammer fell.  And, over the years, more challenges have arisen.  I have had my share of lying awake at night, unable to sleep.  Or, waking up in the night and not being able to return to sleep.  Some of the instigators of that condition have been caffeine.   But, more often, the causal factor has been worry, the state of abiding in fear.

Some of us visit fear from time to time.  Others of us camp out there, making it a permanent abode.
Regardless of your entanglements with fear and worry, Paul gives us an antidote in Philippians 4:6-7 (NET).

6Do not be anxious about anything. Instead, in every situation, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, tell your requests to God. 7And the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

My friend, Donna, has a little dog named Parker.  He is cute as a button.  I had the chance to visit her in Vancouver, BC, shortly after she had welcomed him into her family.  So, I got to observe her training him, specifically, training him not to chew inappropriate objects.  This is what she would do. When he'd start to chew something inappropriate, she would stop him by saying, "Not this....THIS!" And, she'd give him a chew toy.  She facilitated an "Instead...".

Paul's "Instead" in verse 6 is pivotal.  In order to replace a worrisome habit (pun intended...I do love me some puns!), in this case the habit of worrying, you absolutely MUST replace it with something else.  Otherwise, you will remain stuck in Worry Town.

With what does Paul say to replace worry and anxiety?  Prayer:  prayers of thanksgiving and also prayers of petition (supplication, "gimme" prayers).  

I've blogged about this before, but let's do a brief recap.  There are prayers of petition/supplication (gimme), which is how most people pray most of the time.  There are prayers of intercession (gimme for someone else's need).  There are prayers of thanksgiving and confession and adoration.  Those are the basic types of prayer.  Finally, there are prayers of spiritual command or warfare; they are in a category all their own.

So, back to our verses:  Here, Paul advocates replacing thoughts of fear and worry with prayers of petition and thanksgiving, although I often run through the other categories too when worry is chasing me.

A pivot is called for.  We do a pivot when we repent.  In fact, the word "repent" means to pivot, or to turn and move in the opposite direction.  Pivoting is "pivotal" for defeating worry.  It is the "worry pill".

What happens when we pivot to prayer, instead of dwelling in Worry Town?  Well, God sends us His peace.  Notice that He does not send us "understanding".  Our prayers may not yield any greater understanding of the situation that is "worrying" us.  Trying to understand things which He never intended us to understand is a rabbit trail that diminishes our faith.  Accepting His peace, which is greater than any human understanding, builds our faith.

That supernatural peace also keeps us from moving from Worry Town to Crazy Town.  Worry can drive you slap-dab crazy, if you don't confront it and pivot.

Some pills are only required once a day, others twice or three times a day.  This Worry Pill is one that, in certain situations, needs to be taken almost continually.  Notice that Paul says, "in every situation". This means that all of life's challenging circumstances need to be covered in prayer, usually repeatedly.

Final thoughts:
1.  No Shame!  There is no shame in praying to replace worry and then falling asleep doing that. There've been times I've felt guilty because I fell asleep praying.  Ridiculous!  God grants the sleep of peace as an answer to our prayers.  So, don't let Satan steal your peace over that false condemnation.
2.  No Shame!  There's also no shame in praying over something repeatedly.  EVERY TIME you are pounced on by worry, pray.  Every.Single.Time.  Pray boldly and unashamedly!
3.  Take counteractive measures as directed.  There are times when, during times of prayer, the Holy Spirit directs us to take appropriate actions to counteract a worrisome situation.  Test those according to the Scriptures, and verify that it's the Holy Spirit speaking to your heart.  And, then, be obedient to His voice.

Worry Pills:  Take as often as needed.  ;)

Father, thank you for strengthening our faith by teaching us to trust.  May we pivot to Your throne room with our prayers any and every time worry attacks us.  In Jesus' name, amen.

Evangelists, Activists and Paper Tigers

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s birthday weekend is on the horizon, and mentioning him here today fits with a verse I want to hone in on this morning (Galatians 4:16).  Growing up in the South, I remember not so much of when Dr. King was evangelizing and actively campaigning for social change.  (I was in the single digits of years...) But, I do remember the controversy surrounding making his birthday a national holiday. And, back then in the South, especially, there was a lo-o-o-ot of controversy.

The main reason for this was that Dr. King advocated for social change, and in so doing, made many enemies (including the one who assassinated him).  As he lay dying, he could have mouthed Galatians 4:16 - - -

16 Have I then become your enemy by telling you the truth?

Now, not all versions of "social change" are good.  You can argue with me about whether Dr. King's version of the truth was the whole truth or not. That would be a distraction, and not at all the point of my illustration.  The point is that the truth changes people and often makes the truth-teller a target.

This is what was happening in Galatia, concerning Paul.  Paul had started the Galatian church, but found himself (and the truth) being marginalized and fiercely criticized after he moved on to deliver the gospel elsewhere.

I admire Paul and others like them, whose hearts burn with the message they've been given to share. No shrinking violets are they!  Even if I disagree with the content of the message, I admire those who are willing to take a stand and "put it out there".  Paul says a couple of verses later ... (Galatians 4:18 KJV)

It is good to be zealously affected always in a good thing!

Or, as The Message puts it:

It is a good thing to be ardent in doing good.

As far as the gospel is concerned, it is not a good thing to keep quiet about it.  We were commanded by the Master to be bold in sharing it, with everyone (Matthew 28:19-20).  What we often fail to anticipate, though, is the opposition we will face when we do.  Jesus saw that coming, and told us so in John 15:18-19...

“If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. 19 If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.

No surprise, right?  The message of the gospel is antithetical to the ruling philosophies of this world.

The false teachers of Galatians wanted to shut the baby Christians out of the freedom that is God's grace, so that they would always be dependent upon the Judaizers for approval and direction (4:17).
The Galatians were unprepared for the battle, apparently, because look at their response to the law-bringers, the rule-peddlers, the enemies of the truth.  Paul says in 4:8-11 (The Message) ...

Earlier, before you knew God personally, you were enslaved to so-called gods that had nothing of the divine about them. But now that you know the real God—or rather since God knows you—how can you possibly subject yourselves again to those paper tigers? For that is exactly what you do when you are intimidated into scrupulously observing all the traditions, taboos, and superstitions associated with special days and seasons and years. I am afraid that all my hard work among you has gone up in a puff of smoke!

Not an effective battle strategy, I'm afraid, this bowing down to paper tigers, this returning to enslavement.  Yet, it is one that the redeemed of the Lord, Christ-followers, sometimes devolve to, losing ground in the process.  Our spiritual progress is sometimes "two steps forward, and one step back".  We willingly enslave ourselves to forces which have no power over us.  I know I've been guilty.  Old habits die hard.  Often the truth dies on the altar of the comfortable.

In response to the Galatians' veering far off the path, Paul was fearless in proclaiming to them (again) the liberating truth of the gospel.  The character trait of truth-bearers: fearlessness in the face of opposition, courage in delivering an unpopular message.

The same God who told us to "Love one another" (John 13:34) also told us repeatedly to "Fear not" (Luke 12:32, e.g.)  So, I'm not talking about those who just love to be disagreeable.  I'm talking about being fearless in telling the truth, but doing so with love in our hearts.  Soon, we'll be examining the fruits of the Spirit, in the next chapter, in fact.  They are indispensable for all Christ-followers, all of whom are, like it or not, truth-bearers.

Lo! the hosts of evil ’round us,
Scorn Thy Christ, assail His ways.
From the fears that long have bound us,
Free our hearts to faith and praise.
Grant us wisdom, grant us courage,
For the living of these days,
For the living of these days.1
     God of Grace and God of Glory, Henry E. Fosdick, 1930.

Lord, give us wisdom, courage and opportunity to share the gospel.  Empower us with your Sprit and deliver us from our backsliding into the more familiar, unrighteous ways of living.  In Jesus' name, amen.

Source:

http://cyberhymnal.org/htm/g/o/godgrace.htm