4-29-18
We all get knocked down. Last week we talked about why we fall, why bad stuff happens to Christians, and what about when it feels like it’s just us. If you missed it, you can check it out here. Maybe this is the week you’re feeling like you’ve hit bottom. Maybe next week it will be me. So what do we do while we’re there?Continue reading “Getting Knocked Down Part 2 – Landing”
4-15-18
Time for a new series! Let’s start talking about what happens when we find ourselves flat on our faces. Life isn’t always pretty, but we can get through it as Christians. For today, we’ll think about getting knocked down.
Blame Game
First off, when something bad happens to me, is it my fault?
It can be, but not always. If we do something wrong there can be consequences. Let’s say I’m on my way to school or work and I’m running late. So I go faster than the speed limit. If I’m caught, I may get a fine. Or have to go to court. In that case, I did something wrong, and I may be punished for it.
For he is God’s minister to you for good. But if you do evil, be afraid; for he does not bear the sword in vain; for he is God’s minister, an avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil. – Romans 13:4
But that doesn’t mean that anytime something bad happens to me, it’s my fault. What if I’m walking my dogs and they see a squirrel? Maybe they forget what angelic creatures they usually are (just kidding) and barrel headlong at the critter. And I fall and sprain my ankle.
That’s a bad thing. But did it happen to punish me? No. Dogs misbehave. Squirrels walk around outside. And I’m naturally clumsy.
For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. – Jeremiah 29:11
God isn’t just sitting on a cloud waiting for us to mess up so He can throw lightning bolts at us.
Why Bad Stuff Happens
God believes in choices, and He gives them to everybody. It doesn’t mean there aren’t right and wrong choices, but He lets us pick. He put Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden to begin with. They had a chance to live in a peaceful world without sin. Or they could let evil have a place.
Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned – Romans 5:12
They chose wrong. There hasn’t been a person who didn’t sin besides Jesus. Since people gave up the option of having a pure world and chose one in which they had more knowledge and responsibility, we have a less than perfect world.
It Feels Like It’s Just Me
I promise it’s not. Bad things happen to everybody. I have days where I shut my finger in the car door too. The purple is almost gone from my fingernail two months later.
Everybody has temptations and sins.
If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. – 1 John 1:8
Bad things happen to everybody.
My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. – James 1:2-3
James didn’t say “if you fall”. He said “when”. And if these trials were because of something we did, then we should be sorry about it rather than joyful.
We all get knocked down. Sometimes it’s our fault. Sometimes it’s someone else’s fault. Sometimes it’s not directly anyone’s fault.
So what do we do about it? Check out Part 2 here!
May the Lord bless and keep you,
Heather
4-8-18
The last few weeks we’ve talked about finding our own self-worth. We can’t get it from other people or from ourselves. For it to be right, it needs to come from God. It’s because of Him and what Jesus did for us that we matter. When we know that, what do we do with it?
When you’ve got something good, do you want to keep it to yourself? Just like a good movie or recipe, we can share how God feels about us. The problems that we have aren’t unique to us. So if I have a hard time feeling like I matter, then other people probably do too.
How do we do that? First, simply encouraging someone shows that you care enough about them to take the time to think about them. That they matter to you.
As iron sharpens iron,
So a man sharpens the countenance of his friend. – Proverbs 27:17
Being around our Christian family helps to build us up. We can also remind each other of what God has done for us. That’s what Paul did for the Christians in the city of Corinth.
And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God. – 1 Corinthians 6:11
Paul reminded them of some of the bad things they did before they became Christians. But what matters now isn’t what we’ve done before. We’ve been cleaned up, set apart, and had our records wiped. Now we need to make sure that the sacrifice and work Jesus did to get us there isn’t wasted.
Let’s think about another reason we get insecure: our age. It can be hard for people who are young in the church to feel qualified to participate when more experienced members are watching us. Paul has another good piece of advice that he shared with Timothy, who was a young preacher.
Let no one despise your youth, but be an example to the believers in word, in conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith, in purity. – 1 Timothy 4:12
Even something as important and public as preaching can be done by young people. Even if we don’t have as much experience as our elders, we can still set a good example in how we live. Besides, we’ll never become experienced if we don’t do things.
We’ve talked about how we can know that each of us is valuable, and it’s important to remember that. But we shouldn’t ever think too much of ourselves. The same sacrifice that makes us clean does the same thing for anyone who wants it.
Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others. – Philippians 2:3-4
Our church family is one of the most precious gifts we have. Let’s make sure that that’s how we treat each other.
Because of God’s grace we all have value. Don’t forget that you are important, and let’s build each other up.
May the Lord bless and keep you,
Heather
Heather Tabata 