A mechanic accidentally swallowed some brake fluid and really liked the taste. Before he knew it, he had finished off the whole bottle.
One of his co-workers caught him sneaking a swig the next day. “Man, that stuff will kill you,” said his friend, “you've got to give it up.”
“Don't worry,” the mechanic responded, “I can stop anytime I want.” (Van Morris, Mt. Washington, Kentucky; www.PreachingToday.com)
Don’t you wish giving up a bad habit was that easy? But it isn’t! A lot of people say, “I can stop anytime I want,” but they never do! Our battle against sin is a struggle. Our fight for spiritual maturity is agony sometimes. So how do you deal with the agony? How do you handle the struggle so as to move past the sin and become all that God created you to be? Well, if you have your Bibles, I invite you to turn with me to Hebrews 12, Hebrews 12, where the Bible talks about our struggle against sin and how to grow to full spiritual maturity.
Hebrews 12:4 In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. (ESV)
In other words, don’t stop now! Keep on resisting to the point of blood, i.e., until the day you die.
AGONIZE UNTIL YOU EXPERIENCE THE LIMIT OF DISCIPLINE.
Soldier on in your fight against sin. Stay in the battle until the day God takes you home to glory.
I like the way Billy Sunday put it years ago: He said, “Listen, I'm against sin. I'll kick it as long as I've got a foot. I'll fight it as long as I've got a fist. I'll butt it as long as I've got a head. And I'll bite it as long as I've got a tooth. And when I'm old, fistless, footless and toothless, I'll gum it till I go home to glory and it goes home to perdition." (Billy Sunday, evangelist of 1900s, www.PreachingToday.com)
Never give up in your fight against sin! Keep on resisting it until you come to the end of your life’s race. Don’t think that you can just coast to the end and do well. In fact, towards the end, you must fight your hardest.
In his book Good to Great, Jim Collins writes:
The coaching staff of a high school cross-country running team got together for dinner after winning its second state championship in two years. The program had been transformed in the previous five years from good (top 20 in the state) to great (consistent contenders for the state championship on both the boys' and girls' teams).
“I don't get it,” said one of the coaches. “Why are we so successful? We don't work any harder than other teams. And what we do is just so simple. Why does it work?”
He was referring to their simple strategy: We run best at the end. We run best at the end of workouts. We run best at the end of races. And we run best at the end of the season, when it counts the most. Everything is geared to this simple idea, and the coaching staff knows how to create this effect better than any other team in the state.
For example, they place a coach at the 2-mile mark (of a 3.1-mile race) to collect data as the runners go past. Then the coaches calculate NOT how fast the runners go, but how many competitors they pass at the end of the race, from mile two to the finish.
The kids learn how to pace themselves and race with confidence: “We run best at the end,” they think at the end of a hard race. “So, if I'm hurting bad, then my competitors must hurt a whole lot worse!” (Jim Collins, Good To Great, Harper Business, 2001, p. 206; www.PreachingToday.com)
Run your best at the end! That’s the way to move past the sin in your life and become all that God created you to be. In your struggle against sin, keep on resisting until the day you die.
That’s what Gordon McDonald discovered he had to do when he fell into sin. He is a pastor in New England with a world-wide influence; but several years ago, he was caught in an affair. Instead of remaining vigilant against sin, he dropped his guard and found himself in bed with a woman who was not his wife. It was the one sin to which he never expected to succumb.
That’s when a lifelong mentor came to live with Gordon and his wife for a week. Gordon McDonald said, “In our worst moments of shame and humiliation, he… helped us do a searing examination of our lives.” Gordon said, “We will always remember his words: ‘You are both momentarily in a great darkness. You have a choice to make. You can—as do so many—deny this terrible pain, or blame it on others, or run away from it. Or, you can embrace this pain together and let it do its purifying work as you hear the things God means to whisper into your hearts during the process. If you choose the latter, I expect you will have an adventurous future modeling what true repentance and grace is all about.’” (Gordon McDonald, Leadership journal's weekly newsletter, 5-13-08; www.PreachingToday.com)
My dear friends, that’s the only way to deal with the agony of sin. Don’t deny the pain, blame it on others, or run away from it. Instead, embrace the pain and let it do its purifying work.
Then don’t ever let your guard down. Keep on resisting sin until the day you die. Agonize until you experience the limit of discipline. Now, in order to do that, you have to…
APPRECIATE THE EVIDENCE OF LOVE IN DISCIPLINE.
Be thankful for the agony. Value the pain, because it’s a sign that God loves you.
Hebrews 12:5-7a And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons? “My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him. For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.” It is for discipline that you have to endure.
That is to say “You endure suffering for the purpose of discipline.” In the original Greek language in which this was written, “discipline” literally means “child-training.” It includes everything parents do to equip their children for life. It includes instruction and correction, teaching and corporal punishment, as well. It’s what the old-timers called “applying the board of education to the seat of learning.”
You see, pain is God’s way of training His children. Suffering is God’s method to get them ready to handle their heavenly inheritance.
Hebrews 12:7b-8 It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. (ESV)
Now, in Bible days, a Roman father had legitimate and illegitimate children. He had children by his wife and children by other women.
Demosthenes, a classical writer from the time, wrote: “We keep prostitutes for pleasure; we keep mistresses for the day-to-day needs of the body; we keep wives for the begetting of children and for faithful guardianship of our homes.
Well, the only children a Roman father cared about were those he had through his wife. Those are the ones he disciplined and trained to take over the family fortune someday. The rest of his children he ignored. He didn’t care how they turned out, so he left them without discipline. He didn’t bother to train them, at all.
In the same way, God trains His legitimate children, i.e., those who have come to faith in Christ, His Son. He disciplines them, because He cares for them. Pain is not a sign of God’s displeasure; it’s a sign of God’s delight. Discipline is not a sign that God hates you; it’s a sign that He loves you very much! You see, He is getting you ready to handle the family fortune someday! He is getting you ready to handle your heavenly inheritance.
Our brothers and sisters in Asia seem to understand this better than we do here in the west. Ajith Fernando is a Christian leader from Sri Lanka who ministers to the urban poor. She writes:
“The church in each culture has its own special challenges—theological blind spots that hinder Christians from growing to full maturity in Christ… I think one of the most serious theological blind spots in the western church is a defective understanding of suffering. There seems to be a lot of reflection on how to avoid suffering and on what to do when we hurt. We have a lot of teaching about escape from suffering and therapy for suffering, but there is inadequate teaching about the theology of suffering…
“The ‘good life,’ comfort, convenience, and a painless life have become necessities that people view as basic rights,” she says. “If they do not have these, they think something has gone wrong… One of the results of this attitude is a severe restriction of spiritual growth, for God intends us to grow through trials. (Ajith Fernando, The Call to Joy and Pain, Crossway Books, 2007, pp. 51-52; www.PreachingToday.com)
I like the way Leighton Ford put it: God loves us the way we are, but he loves us too much to leave us that way. (Leadership, Vol. 4, no. 1; www.PreachingToday.com)
God wants you to grow! God cares about you and wants you to get better. That’s why He disciplines you.
Roberta Hestenes talks about the time, years ago, when a serial killer known as the Hillside Strangler was attacking and killing young women in their southern California neighborhood (La Cañada, Los Angeles County). Her daughter was a teenager at the time and was supposed to be baby-sitting one night. The child’s parents had picked her up, but they didn’t bring her back home at the expected time.
Roberta and her husband, John, began to worry. Roberta says, “As the hours stretched on, John and I became upset, and I became frantic. After hours of searching, the police said, ‘We're doing everything we can do. You just need to go somewhere.’ The hidden message was, ‘Quit bothering us and let us do our job.’
So Roberta and her husband went home to wait. Just minutes later, their daughter showed up. The couple for whom she was baby-sitting came home hours later than they told her they would. What a relief! Her parents were so glad to see her.
But guess what they did next? Just what many parents do when they are concerned about their children. Once the relief set in, they had a very different conversation: “Where were you? Why didn't you call us? Why didn't you let us know? We were worried sick. How could you be so thoughtless?”
Roberta Hestenes concludes, “Love sometimes comes out as complaint.” (Roberta Hestenes, “It Takes a Family,” Preaching Today Audio Tape #207; www.PreachingToday.com)
In the same way, “the Lord disciplines the one He loves.” So, in the midst of your pain, don’t ever doubt His love for you. Instead, appreciate the evidence of love in discipline, and…
APPROPRIATE THE EXERCISE FOR LIFE IN DISCIPLINE, as well.
Embrace the pain. Use the agony to get better.
Hebrews 12:9-10 Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live? For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness. (ESV)
Our earthly fathers didn’t always do it right. Their discipline sometimes made us bitter. However, Our Heavenly Father always does it right. His discipline always makes us better. He disciplines us for our good to make us holy like Himself.
Hebrews 12:11 For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. (ESV)
That word “trained”, in the original Greek, is gumnazo. We get our word “gymnasium” from it. So God’s discipline is like a gymnasium! It’s the place where you practice your faith. It’s the place where you agonize and sweat. It’s the place where you painfully exercise lazy spiritual muscles, so you can get out there and play the game of life. God’s discipline is exercise for life, so utilize it. Use the pain to get better, not bitter.
Admiral William H. McRaven, a 36-year Navy SEAL veteran, gave the commencement address to the Class of 2014 at the University of Texas in Austin. He titled his talk “10 Lessons to Change the World.” This is one of his lessons, which I’ve shared before, but it bears sharing again. Admiral McRaven said:
“Every day during training you were challenged with multiple physical events – long runs, long swims, obstacle courses, hours of calisthenics – something designed to test your mettle. Every event had standards – times you had to meet. If you failed to meet those standards your name was posted on a list and at the end of the day those on the list were invited to – a ‘circus.’
“A circus was two hours of additional calisthenics – designed to wear you down, to break your spirit, to force you to quit. No one wanted a circus. A circus meant that for that day you didn't measure up. A circus meant more fatigue – and more fatigue meant that the following day would be more difficult – and more circuses were likely.
“But at some time during SEAL training, everyone – everyone – made the circus list. But an interesting thing happened to those who were constantly on the list. Over time those students – who did two hours of extra calisthenics – got stronger and stronger. The pain of the circuses built inner strength, built physical resiliency.
Then Admiral McRaven concluded his talk with these words: “Life is filled with circuses. You will fail. You will likely fail often. It will be painful. It will be discouraging. At times it will test you to your very core. But if you want to change the world, don't be afraid of the circuses. (Admiral William H. McRaven, “10 Lessons to Help Change the World,” Real Clear Politics, 5-22-14; www.PreachingToday.com)
That’s good advice for all of us: Don’t be afraid of the circuses. Don’t be afraid of the pain. Don’t be afraid of the discipline needed to grow stronger and change the world.
I believe that’s exactly what made Abraham Lincoln a world-changer in his day.
The level of suffering he endured throughout his life is simply astonishing. He was a victim of relentless and tragic sorrow. His mother died when he was 9. His first love died when he was a young man. Later, three of his four children died in childhood. His wife may have had some mental illness, and he probably suffered from what we now call clinical depression.
Lincoln’s political path was no easier. He was hugely unpopular in his own times. The media portrayed him as a hapless hick from the backwoods. Eastern society rejected him and his wife because they were from Illinois – then considered the rough western frontier. And when he ran for president, leaders in Southern states made clear that if Lincoln were elected, the country would divide. With 82 percent voter turnout in 1860, he won with less than 40 percent of the popular vote.
Rather than shrink from a nightmare in the making, Lincoln accepted leadership of a country that was deeply divided below the surface. He knew his election would bring that division to the surface, as well. Sure enough, after his election Southern states began seceding from the union before he even took office. Then, roughly a month after he took office, all-out civil war erupted. His popularity grew during his presidency until, four years after he took office and just six days after the Confederate surrender, he was shot and killed in a final tragedy that helped to bring the nation back together in their grief.
What made Lincoln such an effective leader during this great crisis? I truly believe it was his intimate acquaintance with sorrow and hardship. The pain prepared him for the kind of self-sacrifice his presidency would require. (Amy Simpson, “There's Power in Showing Your Scars,” Amy Simpson blog, 4-29-13; www.PreachingToday.com)
Let your pain do the same for you. Let it prepare you to do and be all that God has called you to do and be. Don’t resist God’s discipline. Instead, respect it. It is evidence of His love and exercise for life.
Hebrews 12:12-13 Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but rather be healed. (ESV)
Can’t you hear the Coach yelling at His track team: Put up your hands; Strengthen your knees; and Stay in your lane! Right now, they’re a sorry lot: Their hands are slack; their knees are weak; and they can’t even stay in their lane when they run a race. But soon, they’ll be winners. Under the discipline of their Coach, they’ll excel!
If that’s what you want in life, then listen to your Heavenly Coach. Respect His discipline; don’t reject it.
Agonize until you experience the limit of discipline. Appreciate the evidence of love in discipline. And appropriate the exercise for life in discipline. That’s the only way to grow to full spiritual maturity in this life.
I close with this scene from Shrek. In it, an ogre named Shrek and a talking donkey attempt to rescue a princess from a dragon-guarded castle. On the way, they come to a rickety wooden bridge that spans a moat of fiery lava. Take a look (show video: Shrek Crossing the Bridge)
There is no way to reach the castle except to cross the bridge. The fearless ogre doesn't mind the challenge, but Donkey is blind with fear and confesses his fright to his newfound friend.
"You can't tell me you're afraid of heights," Shrek insists, continuing to approach the bridge.
"No," Donkey responds, "I'm just a little uncomfortable about being on a rickety bridge over a boiling lake of lava."
With confidence and compassion, Shrek looks at his little friend and says, "Come on, Donkey. I'm right here beside you for emotional support. We'll just tackle this thing together, one little baby step at a time."
Together they proceed across the bridge with Donkey nervously going first. As they reach the midway point, a rotten plank in the bridge comes loose and falls to the flames below. Donkey loses his concentration and looks down.
"I can't do this!" he insists. "Just let me off right now."
Even though Shrek insists they can do it, the donkey continues to fuss and fume. Shrek, in feigned anger, intentionally swings the suspension bridge back and forth. Outraged by his friend's behavior, Donkey shuffles backwards to escape Shrek's dangerous flailing. Before he knows it, Donkey has walked backwards across the bridge to the castle entrance, and his friend Shrek has safely delivered him to the other side. (Shrek, starting at 29:37, Dreamworks, 2001, written by Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio, directed by Andrew Adamson and Vicky Jenson; www.PreachingToday.com)
When you say, “I can’t do this,” God often shakes the bridge you’re on. And before you know it, you’ve done it! Please, let God do it for you. Accept the pain and advance for His glory!
