Isaiah 6:8
And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?" Then I said, "Here I am! Send me.” (ESV)
Isaiah 7:3-4
And the Lord said to Isaiah, "Go out to meet Ahaz…And say to him, 'Be careful, be quiet, do not fear, and do not let your heart be faint.'" (ESV)
Our country was founded on optimism. We’ve always looked to the promise of tomorrow for something better than we have today. But in these tough times, that optimism can start to wear thin.
As we know, it was the height of tax season this month, and I’m sure many of us felt the bill was a little high or the refund a little low; we checked our accounts and saw the balance wasn’t what we’d like. Many of us probably wondered why we struggle on in tough jobs just to find the money isn’t there when we need it. At such frustrating times, it is worth looking back at Scripture to see how men and women of faith approached difficulties. When we do that, we find the answer is completely unambiguous.
Consider, for instance, Isaiah, a man who lived in hard times like ours—and in many ways, far harder times. Isaiah lived during the fall of Israel and through the many struggles of Judah. In the verses referenced earlier, he advised the young king Ahaz, only just put on the throne, as armies swooped in to invade.
Imagine the turmoil and worry of those days. No one could know what tomorrow would bring. The Judeans were a small, relatively poor people in a dangerous region, with enemies in every direction—including their brothers in Israel to the north—just waiting for a sign of weakness.
It was into such a world Isaiah walked. God’s people were as confused and concerned as we are today. They were desperate and angry, much like we are now. They felt the world wasn’t what it ought to be as we do this very moment.
And only one thing made a difference for these people. When the opportunity to serve God came their way, they did not hesitate, they did not question. When Isaiah was called, he answered as all godly people do in the Bible when God calls: “Here I am!”
Such simple words; there is no ambiguity. If anything, there’s a little redundancy. But think about it like this: Isaiah isn’t announcing his physical position (which God obviously knows), he’s saying he is ready to take on anything. He’s saying, “I’m over here, God, ready to serve.”
It’s not always an easy decision to speak up. When God calls, His call brings with it both difficulty and promise. The path of God is never easy, and in times when we want easy more than anything, it can be tempting to pretend we don’t hear.
But there is always promise behind these difficulties. When Isaiah goes to advise Ahaz, God tells him to say, “Be careful, be quiet, do not fear, and do not let your heart grow faint.” He was right, of course. The armies marching against Jerusalem were turned back. The future was secured for that generation. Do you see the promise in that? If we announce, “Here I am!” God is saying, don’t worry about the future, it’s going to come together for us.
It is important to know that despite the difficulties, God only calls when the end result is opportunity. There may be risk and struggle, but the end of the road is a better life, a happier life, and a godlier life.
No one can promise that there will be great jobs for any of us tomorrow, nor that the money will flow in. But we can know our future is secure with God. In difficult times, God calls most often. He calls us to service and improvement, and He promises us the future if we rise to the occasion.
Thus, the answer is clear: when times are bad, when the checkbook won’t balance, when we can’t seem to get up for another day of work, that’s the time to open our ears to His promise, to His call. That’s the time to learn from Isaiah. Do not hesitate. “Do not fear.” Shout, “Here I am!”
Acts 9:3-6
Now as he went on his way, he approached Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven shone around him. And falling to the ground he heard a voice saying to him, "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?" And he said, "Who are you, Lord?" And he said, "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. But rise and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do." (ESV)
We’ve talked a lot in the past few weeks about returning to God after we’ve made mistakes, the need to recommit ourselves to the role of discipleship, about recovering from letting others down, and about finding our footing again after we’ve fallen into doubt. The ability to rejuvenate ourselves in the Lord after we’ve demonstrated our fallibility is crucial, and I’d like to consider the thread that binds all these ideas together: the concept of renewal and rededication.
In all our struggles and failures, I encourage you not to just return to previous levels of commitment, but to exceed them. We can see this at work in our scriptural examples. Peter did not just return to being a disciple, he became the leader of the church, a symbol of Christian sturdiness after his failure following Jesus’ arrest. His faith carried him to his own cross in the end, but he never again faltered. Thomas also went on to exceed himself in faith. According to tradition, the strength of his belief carried him farther than any other disciple, leading him all the way into India, where he was the first to preach the Gospel.
Beyond these two examples, there is Paul, who perhaps exceeds all others in his change of direction once God’s forgiveness is introduced into his life. Paul starts out as the bad guy in Acts, a fervent Pharisee. Acts tells us he was “breathing threats of murder” (9:1) on his way to Damascus against Christians. This is an angry, violent young man, dedicated to being on the wrong side of history. But after God corrects him, blinding his eyes and opening his soul to the truth, Paul does not hesitate to do more than just correct himself. He rededicates himself with incredible fervency to his new direction.
None of us are expected to have all the right answers. We will, at times, grow doubtful and lose faith, or fail and fall short of expectations. We will lie when we should be truthful, or attack and blame and persecute the wrong people in our lives. We will be Thomas and Peter and Paul, but we must remember to live up to their examples after our failures. All three men made up for their errors and turned their hearts entirely to God afterwards, exceeding in faith and deed what they had otherwise done in harm.
It is only through this process that our souls learn, that we make progress as Christians on our own roads. We must stumble and fall—blinded by our own faults—and then we must rise when we are lifted back up by God.
So, I hope you will look over your own life and see where you have fallen short. Have you broken faith with a friend or failed to trust a partner? Have you blamed others when you were at fault? Don’t let these sins nag you forever. Instead, live up to the example of the disciples, and turn to God.
Be as Paul was after being called by the Lord on the road to Damascus. Keep your ears and eyes open for what service is required of you.
Do as Isaiah bids and, “Arise, shine, for your light has come, And the glory of the Lord has risen upon you” (60:1).
Or, as Jesus himself put it, “Rise and enter the city, and you will be told what to do.”
2 Timothy 2:5
Similarly, anyone who competes as an athlete does not receive the victor’s crown except by competing according to the rules. (NIV)
1 Corinthians 9:24-27
Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. (NIV)
For me, healthy competition has always been very important in my life. Whether it is in business, sports, or other endeavors, I find that the dedication that occurs when I am deeply involved in something and truly challenging myself is quite rewarding. If I hold myself to a certain standard and create healthy goals, then I am driven and directed—I can get in “the zone,” so to speak— where I feel confident and empowered to accomplish the task at hand.
As king of Israel, David was in nearly constant warfare to defend the kingdom, constantly challenging his mind, body, and spirit, much like the athletes we see giving their all on the court and field each day. Of course we all know about his incredible battle with Goliath, and how his trust in God, not himself, brought victory. As we get up each morning, we face the battlefield. We lace up our shoes, put on our armor, grab our equipment, and greet the day, full of small battles every step of the way from frustrating coworkers to overwhelming schedules.
As we look for victory in our daily lives each day, we must still remember the responsibility we have to represent Christ with integrity. While a little competition is healthy—maybe we’re competing for a promotion or getting a little rough at an afternoon pick-up game of basketball—we should always remember our faith. In the heat of competition, first and foremost, we have a duty to refrain from cheating for advantage. Compete with purpose, not with spite. David was victorious because he trusted in God to bring him to victory, not because he trusted in himself. Remember that.
I strongly feel that fellowship that strengthens such thinking is important. God wants us to always remember that with Him all things are possible, as He is the one that will give us the strength we need to run the race and accomplish the goals we set in life. However, He expects us to remain faithful to Him in all things. You will not find victory in life unless you compete according to God’s rules.
John 20: 24–29
24 Now Thomas (also known as Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.” 26 A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” 27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.” 28 Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!” 29 Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” (NIV)
When Jesus rose on the third day and appeared to the disciples, Thomas—one who had witnessed many miracles in his time with Jesus and followed him without question—had trouble understanding the account of the Lord’s rising. Even when Thomas sees the Lord, he must confirm that Jesus Christ himself has risen from the grave by putting his hand on Jesus’ wounds.
When I ponder this story, I am struck by the idea that Thomas must have spoken without thought after hearing of the Lord’s resurrection. It’s comparable to your expected reaction upon hearing that you landed your dream job or won the lottery. “I did not! That’s not possible! Is it?” I am also struck by how, in his immediate grief, Thomas must have been taken aback by the fact that his friend and savior lived, and that he was seeing Him again.
In life, we are confronted with the good, the bad, and the in-between. We roll with the punches and we accept what we need to accept. Sometimes, in the span of a day or even an hour, we feel happiness and sadness, or tremendous joy followed by great fear. As Christians, we look to our faith for strength and to God for guidance. Sometimes, however, when the fear is too great or the sadness too prolonged, we trip up. We doubt. We doubt ourselves, others, and God. Even when we have happiness in our lives, it can be hard to understand God’s intentions moment by moment. People who have been through a lot are always waiting for their misfortune to end, and those who feel as though they have not yet experienced the blessings that they desire, often abandon hope before they can allow it to take hold of their lives and their destinies.
Like Thomas, we all need to see for ourselves what life has in store for us. It is hard to blindly move on when we have either experienced turmoil—deaths in the family, illness, or financial trouble—or when we have experienced great joy that seems to demand a payment. In truth, we need to be armed at all times with the Word of God and carry with us the knowledge that if we hold steadfast to our faith, strive to be sincere in our prayer lives and love as Jesus would have us love, the doubt that we at times allow to consume us will begin to fade away.
If you have not had the opportunity to read my latest book, Dressed for Victory: Putting on the Full Armor of God, I encourage you to do so. We have to be ready for the arrows that will undoubtedly come our way that may cause us to doubt the faithfulness of God. Remember:
10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. (Ephesians 6: 10-11 NIV)
Matthew 26:73-75
After a little while, those standing there went up to Peter and said, “Surely you are one of them; your accent gives you away.”
Then he began to call down curses, and he swore to them, “I don’t know the man!”
Immediately a rooster crowed. Then Peter remembered the word Jesus had spoken: “Before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times.” And he went outside and wept bitterly. (NIV)
Acts 4:8-10
Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them: “Rulers and elders of the people! If we are being called to account today for an act of kindness shown to a man who was lame and is being asked how he was healed, then know this, you and all the people of Israel: It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed.” (NIV)
It is easy in the Lenten Season to become obsessed with perfection. We all try to live our holiest moments around the sacrifice of the cross and the miracle of the resurrection. We iron our Sunday bests, and we are careful of our manners.
But, despite our efforts, the perfection of Jesus Christ in the moment of His greatest glory often only accentuates our flaws. In reaching for perfection, we often fall short. We falter, and we let people down. That last point is often the hardest to get over. We all, at some point, have let down the people we care about most, and sometimes, we even do it on purpose.
Some of us have lied. Some of us have been manipulated. Some of us have given weak excuses to avoid a favor. And we have done all of this knowing in our hearts that we should be better than that. It can be difficult after such moments to look the person we failed in the eye again or even to look at ourselves in the mirror. Yet, even in this moment, we can look back to the sacrifice Christ made and gather wisdom because we are not alone in being so fallibly human. In fact, Peter struggled too, and he can show us the way to recover from betrayal, whether we are the ones betrayed or who have caused the betrayal.
The story is familiar to every Christian. Peter denies Christ at perhaps the most crucial moment of his life. Jesus is in prison, He awaits execution, and His greatest disciple, the man He has picked out of all humanity to found His church, denies Him, not once, but three times. And Peter does so knowingly. He does so emphatically, with curses, and he does so after vowing to the Lord that he would never deny Him.
Looked at so blankly, this feels like a moment from which no one can recover. To knowingly let down the savior of humanity is about as bad as it gets. Based off our own feelings at such moments, we might expect Peter to disappear forever into the disgrace of history. But his story goes on. Peter recovers and redoubles his faith and his courage. When he is tested again in Acts 4, he is filled with the Holy Spirit. He does not cower and weep and deny; instead, he proclaims Jesus Christ the Lord to “all the people of Israel.”
Peter’s story illustrates the power of forgiveness and redemption at the very heart of Christianity. No mistake is ever so bad it cannot be repented, and no one has ever made such a mistake that he or she cannot improve. No fall or failure is so great that we cannot be lifted up again. Peter went from the highest to the lowest, and he rose again back to the head of the church.
We see in Acts 4 exactly how redemption works. By being forgiven, Peter’s faith has been reinvigorated, and when the crisis comes again, he is ready to stand boldly by Jesus. This is crucial to the concept of Christianity, that true redemption requires a commitment to improve, to make ourselves better and stronger in our faith and in our actions.
We can never hope to be perfect, nor to live up to the Resurrection miracle in our own lives. But we can commit to picking ourselves up every time we fall and to walk more carefully every time, always with an eye on what is asked of us, and the power to be found in that divine forgiveness.
