Attack or Feeling

Have you ever been so overwhemed by fear it feels like an elephant is on your chest, you can't breathe, your sweating when it is not hot, and you are not having a heart attack?  I have. Why do we say "I am having an anxiety attack" or "I am having a panic attack?  We don't say we are having a happiness attack or we were attacked by anger.  It would appear that fear is the only emotion that attacks people.  We choose to be happy, angery, frustrated and joyful.  We feel sadness, hope, and excitement.  However, the way we view fear is that it is something that happens to us.  

It has been said that "Emotions are like waves.  We don't get to choose which ones come, but we can choose which ones we surf."  If we want to continue with the surfing analogy, then fear is the shark that lurks beneath the surface of the water waiting to attack us.  That really does not make sense.  Fear, whatever its form, be it panic, anxiety or terror is still an emotion.  Like all the other emotions, if fear is not something that happens to us but something that happens in us then what does that tells us?  Craig Groeschel said it this way, "Show me the very places I fear the most because that shows me where I trust God the least."  

The fields of faith are seeded with our fears.  The way to grow faith is to learn to trust God in the midst of the fear.  The greater the fear the greater the harvest of faith.   God does not tell us to stand guard because fear is going to attack us.   God tells us over and over again to "Fear not.  Do not be afraid."  He doesn't say thiss because life is not scary, hard, or difficult and there is nothing to be afraid of.  He says "Do not be afraid because I am with you."  

If you are struggling with overwhelming emotions, of any kind, know that you are not alone.  God wants you to know He is with you.  There are also people that want to help as well.  Call or text 988, tell your doctor, or reach out to a professional so you can not get swept away by the waves.  

Swimming Lessons

My son has a great description of his swimming ability.  He calls it "controlled drowning".  If honest reflection is made, that really is an accurate definition of the word swimming; at least from a human perspective.  Regardless of the swimmer's ability, they can only go for so long until they drown.  That can vary depending on the environment.  I don't know, but I would be curious, how well would many of the olympic swimmers do if thrown in the Pacific Ocean.  

When I was little my parents signed me up for swimming lessons.  These did not take place in a pool that started shallow and gradually and steadily got deeper.  These lessons took place in the Gulf of Mexico.  There were uneven depths.  One moment you were up to your knees and the next moment you were up to your nose.  There were the waves and the undertow that would quickly erase any progress I thought I was making in my ability as a swimmer.  We won't even mention all of the terrible sea monsters lurking below the surface.  To this day I will gladly walk on the beach, but I am not going out in that water.  

Do you want to know what would have drastically improved my experience?  A lifeline; a life jacket attached to a rope that a lifegurad had in their hand and could pull me in at anytime.  I could have walked around and not worried about my next step taking me over my head.  When a wave would knock me off my feet and be bouncing me around under the water I could have used the rope to pull myself  back to safety and if that did not work the lifeguard could have gently pulled me back to shore. 

The aposlte, Peter, did not get to practice walking on water in a pool or even a calm sea.  He did not have a life jacket or even arm floaties.  Jesus called him out in the middle of a crazy storm.  C.S. Lewis in his writing "A Slip of the Tounge" talks of how, in our jouney with Christ, we want the lifeline instead of the swimming lessons.  We don't want to dive in with Christ because we are afraid we will get swept away.  We want to stick our toe in the water a little.  We want to stay close to the shore where it is safe.  "Jesus, can we just take a walk along the beach so I can see your footprints in the sand?"  

What area is Jesus calling you deeper?  What arm floaties are you still wearing?  Maybe it is in your generosity or your willingness to let others know you are following Jesus.  Maybe you haven't began your journey with Jesus at all.  You have been walking along the edge of the water.  Some waves have splashed up on your feet, but you have never joined Jesus in the water.  I encouarage you to rip off the arm floaties and run streight out to the deep water.  That is where Jesus is at, and that is where He wants you to meet him.  

Choices Are A Responsibility

There is this big push in parenting and education about giving children choices.  Johnny does not want to get dressed in the morning because what little boy does not enjoy being naked? "Johnny, do you want to wear the blue shirt or the red shirt?"  "Susie, you can do your schoolwork now or during recess.  You get to choose."  I know, it is always Johnny and Susie.  Those poor kids.

I am not saying that giving choices is a bad thing.  I have just been reflecting on the book of Genesis and what we now refer to as "the fall".  God gave Adam and Eve a pretty easy choice and they messed it up.  "You can eat of this tree that is really bad for you or you can eat of all these other trees."   In fact, they had the choice to eat from the tree of life.  That was not off limts.  God said you can live forever or you can know stuff.  We all know what happened.  They chose the fruit from the one tree.  They chose to know stuff.  

We think, how did Adam and Eve mess that up.  That seems like a no brainer.  However, we are just like Adam and Eve.  We are like Johnny and Susie.  We want to do what we want to do.  We throw fits and tranturms to get our way.  God let's us choose.  He gives us choices.  He does not force us into relationtionship.  He does not make us do the right thing.  We can do whatever we want.   

The ironic thing is we make the choices and then we get mad at God for the consequences of those choices.  Susie gets mad because she does not get to play at recess.  She blames the teacher.   Adam and Eve tried to blame each other, the serpant, and God. We do the same thing with God.  We say stuff like, "God, why did you let that happen?  Why did you not stop it?"   

We all like choices.  However, choices come with responsibility. Every choice has a consequence.  If we choose to do something we choose to not to do something else with that time.  If I choose to put healthy food in my body I get to experience higher levels of energy.  If I eat junk food, I get to deal with the enjoyment followed by the negative responses of my body.  We don't get to make the choice and then blame others for the results.   

Your choices are your responsibility.  

If I Just Had Enough Faith

Why does God not answer my prayer?  Why do things keep happening to me?  The pastor says it is my fault.  I must not have enough faith.  My parents say it is karma for all the bad I have done in my life.  Is God some supernatural and spiritual villion out there somewhere; like some heavenly Joker?  I understand why bad things happen to me.  I am a bad person.  But my daughter, why her?  She is so pure and innocent.  What did she do to derseve this?

So often we are told, or we think, it is because there is a deficit in our faith.  We think our faith is like the strongman game at the carnival.  We swing our sledgehammer of faith and if we can get our faith to a high enough level God will have to notice and do what we want.  What if it is not a problem with the amount of faith rather a problem with what we put our faith in?  

God told us in Exodus 20 to not have any other gods before him and not to create any image of a god.  We like to think of statues and other religious idols.  We have been told that our jobs, relationships, or coffee can be the modern day equivalent.  This could be true, but I don't think these are the things that lead us down the thought patterns above.  

I do not pretend to know the mind of God and understand why He does what He does and why He doesn't do what I think He should.  I do know that we are all created in the image of God, yet we create an image of God in our minds.  We imagine, not only what God is and what God looks like, but also how God operates or should operate.  This image is developed over time and is effected by our instruction, relation to God, and our personal experience and biases.  I admit that the bias of the image I created factors into what I am writing.  

Here are a couple of examples to show what I mean.  If the image you have created is like a Santa Claus in heaven, you will become frustrated, angry, and dissillustioned with God when He does not give you what you want.  If you have an image of a grey headed judge behind the bench you will feel like every bad thing that happens to you is a punishment and every good thing is a reward for your behavior.  You will find yourself judging God and others when things are not going the way you think they should and life seems unfair.  

What I do know is God cares about having a personal relationship with each of us.  God already knows you and wants you to know Him; the real Him.  Could it be possible that it is not a lack of faith?  Could it be that we have put our large amount of faith in an image of god that does not exist?  Is God using the circumstances of this fallen world to tear down the image of god we have created so we can see the real God in order to be transformed into His image.  Could it also be true, that God is doing something in someone else's life and is going to use what you are going through to tear down their image of God and bring about transformation in their life?  

Life is hard.  We live in a broken world.  However, a restoration and renewal of all things is coming.  The Kingdom of God is near and yes, "everything sad [is] going to come untrue".

What Is Our Job?

Job descriptions, orientation, and training are all important for new employees.  We all want to know what is expected of us.  Then there is that phrase at the bottom of most job descriptions that we all love, "Other duties as assigned".  

As a pastor in the United States, I believe there is a tremendous void in discipleship.  Many Christians are walking around with out a job description, training, and orientation.  I am not going to dive into that here.  However, as followers of Jesus, we want to know what is expected of.  What is our job?  

This morning, I woke up to some pictures on my phone from a partner in ministry in Malawi.  You can see one of them above.  Harvey has helped plant over 70 churches in the area and just started ministering to orphans and widows (James 1:27).  When I was looking through the pictures and saw the lady in the yellow dress distributing plates of food it caused me to think of the disciples in the Gospels.  Jesus asks the disciples for what they have.  He takes the few loaves of bread and some fish, multiplies it, and gives it back to the disciples to distribute to the thousands of people that are there.  What was going through their minds?  "How is this happening?  This is impossible?  This is crazy!"  I never considered these mass feedings in the Bible from the disciples' perspective. 

As I thought about it I realized that is a good job description for a disciple.  Our job is to take what Jesus multiplies and distripute it to others.  We bring what God already provided.  He multiplies it.  We distribute it to those around us.  That could be physical provision, the message of the Gospel, our our talents and gifts. 

So often, we think our job is to produce.  We feel pressure to multiply.  The Apostle Paul telss us in 2 Corinthians 9: 10-11 "He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness. You will be enriched in every way to be generous in every way, which through us will produce thanksgiving to God."  

Our job as followers of Jesus is to distribute.  Jesus is asking us the same thing.  "What do you have?  Bring it to me.  Now go, and give it away."  

It's About a Kingdom

Christmas is about way more than a baby born in a Manger.  It is about the Kingdom of God coming near.  You can see more frim this message I just did on Luke 2.

Faith Not Fear (Repost)

 

In honor of hitting 50,000 views, I am sharing the most viewed post; Faith Not Fear.  Thank you for reading, sharing, and subscribing.  

Faith Not Fear