The End of My Rope

When you are at the end of your rope, when you’ve done all you know to do, when you realize it’s all out of your control, what do you do? When you just want to give up and run away or at least hunker down at home by yourself, what do you do? When you see no way out and yet no way to continue, what do you do?

Maybe you cry, maybe you pray, maybe you call a friend, read a novel, clean house or take a nap. I know I’ve done all of these things and sometimes they work for a little while but they never really solve the problem.  They never get to the heart issues of why I feel the way I do, so what do I do?

·         First, by the grace of God, I see He is graciously allowing me to wear myself out, bringing me to the end of me that I might turn to Him. 

·         And by the grace of God I remember Isaiah 30:15 “This is what the Sovereign LORD, the Holy One of Israel, says: “In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength, but you would have none of it.”

·         And by the grace of God I begin to repent – repenting of wanting to be god, to control the situation or the people, for thinking more highly of myself than I should, for not believing and trusting God, for striving and not resting, for fearing man and not fearing God, for letting the good desires of my heart become demands, for……the list can go on and on.

But by the grace of God this is when I begin to see how He has lead me through the situation to bringing me to this point in time to build my faith and grow my trust in Him. He wasn’t distant and far off waiting for me to call on Him but was with me in the storm, orchestrating each and every event for His good purpose of glorifying Himself and conforming me to the image of His son.

So when I am at the end of my rope I praise God that He has been and is and will continue to work in me to will and to do of His good pleasure so I can rest in Him in quietness and trust.  

The Transforming Power of the Gospel

By Elyse M. Fitzpatrick | Jan 1, 2008

Let’s face it, no one reads a blog like this unless he (or she!) is deeply interested in and committed to growing in their own personal piety and helping others do the same. Because we love the Lord, we all want to grow into men and women who reflect His life more perfectly. For us, the question isn’t: “Should we seek to grow in holiness?” but rather, “How do we grow in holiness?” Further, most of us would answer the “How?”  question in this way, “We grow in holiness through the gospel.” And while that’s the right answer, the possibility exists that it’s not specific enough to be of real help. And so, we talk about the gospel, we want to point others to the gospel, but perhaps we’re not seeing how the specifics of the gospel connect to our daily struggles with unbelief and idolatry…our sin. So let’s take a moment to consider exactly how the individual truths of the gospel change us.

When we talk about the gospel, we’re not talking only about what Jesus did on Calvary – although, of course, it would be impossible to over-exaggerate the importance of his substitutionary death. In 1 Corinthians 15 Paul writes that the gospel message is not only the cross, it is the incarnation, the sinless life, substitutionary death, bodily resurrection, ascension, reign and return of Jesus Christ.

It is this entire gospel message that Paul says is “of first importance.” The gospel is more than just the cross. When we fail to appreciate all the other facets of the good news about His work, we’ll be tempted to use Jesus’ suffering on the cross to motivate obedience. In other words, we’ll be tempted to feel sorry for the victim Jesus and try to guilt ourselves (and others) into submission, rather than seeing the victor, Jesus, who acted purposefully throughout His existence and acts powerfully upon us to transform us.

Briefly, here’s how the whole gospel message might impact me when I’m struggling with my own unbelief, idolatry and sin: Let’s say that I’ve got company coming over for dinner and I realize that I’m running low on table salt. I calculate the time I need to get to the store, get the salt and get home so that I can be a gracious, organized hostess (idols everywhere here). I jump in my car, race up to the store, grab the salt and run to the Quick Check Out line only to find myself stuck behind another woman who obviously didn’t read the “10 Items or Less” sign. Instantly I’m angry and then, because I know that my anger is sinful, I feel guilty and then, because I remember all the times I’ve failed like this, I despair. Now, what are my options?

·         Option #1: If I’m a Happy Moralist, I’ll assure myself that my anger is “righteous” because the person in front of me is not obeying the rules like I am. I’ll remain angry but feel better about it.

·         Option #2: If I’m a Sad Moralist, I’ll recognize that my anger isn’t righteous because I’m not loving my neighbor and I’m angry because of my idolatry. I’ll feel both guilty and angry but now I’ll despair because it seems as though I’ll never change.

·         Option #3: If I’ve been thinking about the cross without considering the rest of the gospel, I’ll despair even more because I’ll know that Jesus suffered for this sin and I’ll be sad, guilty and despairing thinking about how much pain He endured on my account. In this case the gospel doesn’t elevate my soul, it crushes me.

·         Option #4: If I’m seeking to live in the light of the whole gospel, my heart will be transformed in these ways: 

o    Because of the incarnation, Jesus Christ knows exactly what it is to live in a sin-cursed world with people who break the rules…like me. I am a rule-breaker but He’s loved me and he’s experienced every trial I face. He’s with me. He sympathizes with my weakness (Hebrews 4:15).This understanding of His love in the face of my sin drains my anger at my rule-breaking neighbor. I can love her because I’ve been loved and I am just like her.

o    Because of His sinless life, I now have a perfect record of loving my neighbor. He perfectly loved rule-breakers. This record of perfect love for my rule-breaking neighbor is mine now; knowing this relieves my guilt. Even though I continue to fail to love, His record is mine.

o    Because of His substitutionary death, I am completely forgiven for my sin…even the sins that I seem to fall into at the slightest provocation. God has no wrath left for me because He poured it all out on His Son. He’s not disappointed or irritated. He welcomes me as a beloved daughter.

o    Because of His resurrection (and the justification it brings), I know that the power of sin in my life has been broken. Yes, I’ve failed again, but I can have the courage to continue to fight sin because I’m no longer a slave to it. This replaces despair with faith to wage war against my selfishness and pride.

o    Because of His ascension and reign, I know that this situation isn’t a mere chance happening. He’s orchestrated it so that I will remember Him and be blessed by the gospel again. He’s ruling over my life and interceding for me right now. I’m not a slave to chaos or chance. He’s my Sovereign King and I can rest in His loving plan today and rejoice in Him.

o    And, because of His promised return, I know that all the doubt, injustice and struggle will one day come to an end. This line in this grocery store and my plans for dinner isn’t all there is. There’s the great good news of the gospel. I can go home now and share with my family and guests how Jesus met me at the grocery store and we can rejoice together in His work on our behalf.

It is the whole message of the gospel that has the power to transform impatient, guilty, selfish, despairing idolaters into free and joyful worshippers of the Living God. The whole message of the gospel includes His incarnation, sinless life, substitutionary death, bodily resurrection, ascension, reign and return.  Seeing Jesus and His glorious work is the only power strong enough to transforms us from “one degree of glory to another” (2 Corinthians 3:18) or as John Owen wrote, “Here in this life, beholding the glory of the Lord [true believers] are changed into his likeness. Hereafter they will be like Him for they will see Him as He is” (1 John 3:2).

[Note: John Owen quote from The Glory of Christ (London: Grace Publications Trust, 1987), 8.]

What's a Gospel Friend to do?

Several days ago a friend of mine showed we a Bible study she is doing. By the time I finished reading the synopsis and listening to her tell me the things she is learning everything within me was shouting “NO, don’t do it. It will only feed your propensity toward works-righteousness.”  But before I could say anything someone interrupted us and we didn’t get to discuss it. Every time I think about her doing this study I get anxious for her so I’ve started praying God will open her eyes to the truth about this study but what if the way He wants to open her eyes is through me? I really don’t want to be the one to talk to her about this. I don’t want to hurt her feelings. I’m so excited that she wants to do a Bible study and is spending the time reading and preparing for it so how do I tell her my concerns?  How do I not tell her my concerns?

There is a part of me that says “Just do it because James 5:19-20 says “My brothers and sisters, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and is brought back by another, you should know that whoever brings back a sinner from wandering will save the sinner's soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins” And another part of me says “Don’t do it because James tells us we shouldn’t judge each other.”  And still another part thinks I should just leave it in God’s hand, after all He is sovereign and if He doesn’t want her doing it He will stop her.

So what’s a Gospel friend to do? Pray, pray and pray some more. Pray that God will search my heart and show me any pride or arrogance or self-righteousness that is in me regarding this situation. Pray that God would open her eyes and heart so that she can discern the truth.  And be ready, so when God presents me with an opportunity to share with her my concerns I can do so in a way that builds her up and encourages her to rest in all God has done for her through Christ.

 Why does this bother me so much? Because for too many years I spent too much time doing too many studies that fueled my tendency towards self-righteousness. My attitude, without realizing it, was just tell me what to do and I will do it so that I can be right with God and others and I was miserable and angry and lonely. God graciously allowed me to wear myself out; He brought me to the end of myself and is now teaching me that I am righteous before Him and He loves me and delights in me because of Christ, and is teaching me to “walk steadfastly according to the sanctifying power of the gospel." This is what I want for my friend – to walk steadfastly according to the sanctifying power of the gospel.  

A Severe Case of People Pleasing

An old man, a boy & a donkey were going to town. 

The boy rode on the donkey & the old man walked.

As they went  along they passed some people who remarked

"What a shame the old man  is walking and the boy is riding."

The man and boy thought maybe  the critics were right, so they changed positions 

Later they  passed some people who remarked "What a shame.... He makes that  little boy walk." So they then decided they'd both walk!

Soon they passed some more people who  remarked "They're really stupid to walk when they have a decent  donkey to ride."

So, they both rode the donkey.

Now they  passed some people

Who shamed them by saying "How awful to put  such a load on a poor donkey."

The boy and man figured they  were probably right,

So they decide to carry  the donkey. 

As  they crossed the bridge, they lost their grip on the animal and he fell into the river and drowned.

The moral of the story, If  you try to please everyone, You might as well...kiss your ass  goodbye! 

Free to be Ourselves

I love this quote by Mile Mason 

“Christians no longer need to pretend to be better than anyone else.  We don’t have to put on any show of being good, for we know we are not.  We are not good—we are forgiven; and so we are free to be honest before God and before others.  We are free to be ourselves.  We have given up trying to be good little boys and girls, and whenever we catch ourselves striving to please either God or others by dint of moral effort, we are the sort of people who react to this danger signal by falling on our faces before the Lord.  For one of the secret privileges of being His child is knowing that it is all right to fail.  It is all right to get tired…as His followers we know that if we are ever truly to reflect His goodness or His power, it will not be by human effort by only by grace."

It reminds me once again to get off the treadmill of performance, trying to please God with good works. It reminds me to rest in His everlasting love and to live a life of confession, repentance and faith. Why is it that old habits/beliefs are so easy to fall back into?  Because I am a sinner and the roots of sin run deep and wide within my heart. Oh Father, continue to plow the soil of heart removing all works -righteousness until I reflect your goodness and power not by my efforts but by GRACE!