Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Don’t Be Afraid To Follow His Call

I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you and watch over you. -- Psalm 32:8

The woman agonized over her decision. I tried to be helpful and patient. She sought her mother’s advice. She stood back and gazed at the old wood paintings. After about 20 minutes -- literally -- she finally made her selection. As she walked toward the cashier, I heard her questioning her choice.

I felt sorry for her. I did. How horrible it must be to agonize over something so simple as choosing either a blue fish or an orange fish on an outdoor painting for a friend. She probably second guessed herself for hours. And, really, it wasn’t that important. I can’t imagine how she manages to make life-changing decisions.

Or maybe I can. A dear friend has been agonizing over one of those for almost three months. She’s finally decided but she’s having a hard time letting go. I understand. Leaving a job you like for something more satisfying is a risk. One place is comfortable because you know it and you know what to expect. The other is scary because it’s new.

We’re all about comfortable, aren’t we? Our Sunday school class has been studying John Ortberg’s book, If You Want To Walk On Water, You’ve Got To Get Out of the Boat. This is one of the topics he discusses. We get so comfortable that it’s easy just to stay right in the boat. Then we end up missing so many blessings because we never trusted God enough to follow His call.

Indecision is all about fear. Procrastination is all about fear. Busyness is all about fear. We don’t want to make a decision, a choice, to leave our comfortable place because we’re afraid that walking on water might not be all we thought it would be. But we’ll never know unless we try.

And, sometimes, fail. We don’t want to fail. Nobody does. But everybody fails at some point. Some of us manage to do it spectacularly. Others fail slowly by bits and pieces. But we all fail at something.

The key then is to learn and grow from the experience. God promises to use it if we’ll let Him. Then we can gather ourselves together and try again -- only this time with the lessons that we’ve learned. That’s the difference between those who succeed and those who don’t. Those who succeed learn from their failures. Those who don’t end up letting their failures define their entire lives.

Don’t keep waiting for a certainty that will never come. Nothing is guaranteed in this life except that God will be with you through the journey. So take His hand and take a chance. Get out of the boat and follow His calling on your life.

Monday, August 6, 2012

Forgive Yourself For Past Mistakes

Blessed is he whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered.

Blessed is the man whose sin the LORD does not count against him and in whose spirit is no deceit.

-- Psalm 32:1-2

What are you holding against yourself? What mistake from your past do you still feel guilty about? What thing keeps rewinding itself in your mind, causing you to mentally beat yourself up -- again -- for something you can’t change?

One of the most difficult things we face is letting go of the past. It haunts us. Satan knows this and uses every opportunity to take advantage of it. He wants us to stay so focused on the past that we can’t do God’s will in the present.

Pastor Rob told us recently that guilt destroys our confidence because we’re always worried about what will happen if somebody finds out. Guilt damages our relationships, causing us to be angry, impatient, overly indulgent with people we love or with ourselves.

He likened it to driving down the road with our head turned and always looking back. We can’t change the past but that past sure can make us sick today.

Pastor Rob suggested that we all take a moral inventory of our lives. Yeah. I think everyone in the congregation squirmed over that one. He told us to sit down alone and write down what is wrong with our lives. Don’t just think about it. Don’t have the television or music blaring. Just sit down with yourself and God.

Ask God to help you and point out what you consciously or unconsciously feel guilty about. Why write it down? Because it forces you to be specific, Pastor Rob explained. Generalities are way easier to deal with than the specifics.

Then Pastor Rob took it a step further. He told us to tell one other person. Share our deepest, darkest mistakes? Seriously? He told us to pick one safe person and tell them what we’re most guilty about. The weight lifted off your soul is amazing. It’s like a small child who did something wrong and is just so relieved when his parents find out and he doesn’t have to hide it anymore.

Be careful though. Not everyone is safe. Don’t tell someone when you know that person is a gossip. Don’t tell a person who is always negative or quick to pass judgment. Find someone mature enough to reflect God’s forgiveness back to you. Maybe a pastor. Maybe an elder in the church. Maybe a dear friend.

Then let it go. Give it to God and accept His forgiveness. God forgives instantly, freely and completely. Think about that, then forgive yourself. The past is the past. Today belongs to you and God. Don’t let Satan take it away from you.

Thursday, August 18, 2011

Confession Lightens Heart

Nothing in all creation can hide from him. Everything is naked and exposed before his eyes. This is the God to whom we must explain all that we have done. -- Hebrews 4:13

The woman defended herself despite the evidence that she’d taken thousands of dollars meant for a family with a sick child. “God knows,” she told anyone who would listen.

Yes, He does. We can’t hide anything from God. That includes whatever it is we’re trying to hide from the world. God knows our hearts and He knows everything we do, right and wrong. We can’t hide our sins from Him anymore than Adam and Eve could hide their nakedness.

This woman’s fate is up to the courts. But she’ll have to live with the consequences long after the matter is settled. If she is indeed guilty, it won’t leave her until she confesses and does what she can to make it right.

When I refused to confess my sin, I was weak and miserable, and I groaned all day long. -- Psalm 32:3

David knew a little bit about guilt. This is the man who slept with another man’s wife, then, when she became pregnant, David had her husband killed. He felt the weight of that sin. It’s evident in his words.

This woman will feel the weight of her sin as well. We all do because we’re all sinners. Trying to keep it hidden, pretending that it isn’t true, only makes us suffer more.

Finally, I confessed all my sins to you and stopped trying to hide them. I said to myself, “I will confess my rebellion to the LORD.” And you forgave me! All my guilt is gone. -- Psalm 32:5

What a blessed relief to lay it all before God! Oh, we still must suffer the consequences of our sins but our guilt is gone. God takes it away and shoves it behind His back. We are free from that awful, heavy burden.

Only God knows this woman’s heart. He knows her motivations, her intentions, her guilt or innocence. But if she is guilty, she’ll either confess and find His healing or the burden of her sin will destroy her inside and out.