by Aarron Pina | Feb 13, 2012 | Uncategorized
“Cast all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you. (1 Pet. 5.7)”
Yeah, right.
Ever think that? Ever been in one of those moments where the hammer is about to drop on your life, your job, your deal, your carefully orchestrated plans and all you can think of is how “this is just not going my way”, or better, a four letter word or ten cross your mind or lips? When I’m in the middle of an anxious moment – everything’s falling apart, the deal is unraveling because the CFO’s got a buddy who’ll do it cheaper, the finance company’s moved from phone calls to foreclosure/repossession – I’ve had friends email me or text me or even tell me “cast your anxiety on Him…”
Being in the moment, the hardest thing to think of is anything other than the moment. Last week, in discussion with a group of men the question was raised “How can a man take his own kids into his home, whack them in the neck with a hatchet, fire off an email, and then burn down the house, killing himself and everyone in it?” I thought about the story of Josh Powell and immediately could only think of another, nearly unrelated story that happened 5 years ago – when my younger brother pointed a .380 at his own chest and pulled the trigger on a Monday morning in January.
The answer to the question came swiftly “That guy would have to believe that this was his best or only exit from the situation he was in.” In conversation with my brother even a week or two after he tried to take his own life it was clear that he was weighed down by the anxiety that comes from believing a lot of lies (over a long period of time) about what’s possible, what’s probable, and what the most “viable” outcome of his situation (pre-gunshot) would be. Josh Powell had to believe that his best option was murdering his own kids and taking himself out in the process. But, both my brother and Powell were at the far end of a very dark tunnel that neither of them had to go to.
Today, consider this – if you are “in Christ”, you have a very large target on your back, just like me. You have an enemy who comes to steal, kill, and destroy. He will lie to you every chance he gets and he has no friends, only “servants”. He will plant seeds of deception in your life and do everything he can to keep your focus on what’s now, what’s not possible, and a very limited menu of viable outcomes. However, you also have an ally: the living Christ, whose Spirit lives in you to confirm truth and comfort you in your fears.
It’s trite to say “this too, shall pass”. Though it be banal, its cliche cannot take away its truth. Time will pass, this situation may leave marks and scars. But, it cannot last forever. Jesus never wanted us to ignore our troubles or trials, rather to grieve our losses, seek His comfort, and “let endurance have its perfect result so that [we] may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.” As my friend Greg Ford says – “I wrote it on the inside windshield of my truck – trials are necessary.”
My prayer for you this morning is that if you’re in a “limited menu” moment, you will heed any or all of what scripture says regarding anxiety. Don’t minimize the moment or the fear, rather press in to God with your concerns and pray He helps you unravel the lies before they begin to grow like kudzu, strangling your hope.
“If you hold to my teachings, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free. (John 8.32).”
I bid you peace, but peace in freedom.
in Christ,
AP
by Aarron Pina | Feb 6, 2012 | Uncategorized
Encouragement After That?
Anyone who knows me knows when I’m talking sports, I’m way above my pay grade. So, it seems a bit ironic to me that God would have me posting on encouragement and with a sports analogy the morning after my team lost the Super Bowl. (Even moreso when this was hoped to be their vindication for the last loss to the Giants…) But, hey, everyone’s got their team and every team has wins and losses, right?
Maybe.
While it’s hard to watch Gronkowski and Hernandez drop the Hail Mary passes in the final moments of the game, I often have a harder time watching the nation of Israel drop the ball when God sets up perfect pass after perfect pass. God, the one, true, living God, who is Creator of the universe, looks down at Abraham and for no other reason than His mercy, says “I will make a nation of you. You will be my chosen people.” No other “team” hitherto had been given this distinction. “God’s team.” you could call them. God favored them more than the Broncos and they didn’t even Tebow to Him very often.
Quiet Time Armchair Quarterbacking:
Frankly, I ache every time I read Judges, when Israel forsakes the God who delivered them from Egypt, the Red Sea, the Dessert, the Jordan River, the New York Middle East Giants, the Canaanites, etc. Instead, I’m doing what I tried to do last night after the 2 minute warning – watch something else. I’m reading 1 Samuel. Should have left the Bowl on. Here they are, a nation who’s learned the “turn back to God” lesson 7 times over the course of 400 years and their spiritual condition as a nation is so low that when things get tough on the battle field, the elders – the coaching staff of the nation, who should have known better – call the worst play in history:
“There’s no time for fasting and prayer – let’s force God’s hand to act on our behalf! God can fit in a box and do our bidding when we tell him to. GO GET THE ARK!!!” (See 1 Sam. 4.3)
“NOOOOooooooOOOO!!!” I’m up on my feet, screaming at Tom Brady – uh, I mean, my bible… “Don’t do it!!!” Israel follows a pattern that gave this play its’ name: the essence of the “Hail Mary pass” is “throw first, pray while the ball is in the air”, isn’t it? Isn’t this the illustration of what the nation of Israel does at that very moment?! Let’s get on the hook with them… How often do you and I throw first, pray later? If you can’t say “amen”, you’d better say “ouch”.
Cut to the Chase:
In Christ, there is no other team that God is rooting for. There is no other team that has His favor. There is no team other than those who are “in Christ” who have Christ “in them”. At any given moment today, you have the greatest power ever unleashed on the planet at your disposal, but you cannot wield it to your means or ends. The power of the Holy Spirit (the same Holy Spirit that empowered Israel from without) within you is not to be used for your team, but for God’s team. So…
So, What/What Now?
Pray first, listen, and consider your next move. Jesus did it… often. He told the disciples is was better for Him to leave and the Holy Spirit to come and power to come upon them (Acts 1.8). “Is this decision [to stay with the girl, to close this deal, to make this next phone call, to hit “send”] for my glory or God’s glory?” Be encouraged, I’ll say it again: “there is no other team God is rooting for other than His Kingdom.” Take solace in the fact that if plans fail God’s not surprised. (If you lose, grieve the loss and don’t let well meaning people tell you to “get back on the horse” too early. Again, God is not surprised. An omniscient God has nothing to learn.)
The Good News of the gospel is not that everything is going to go your way, my way, the Pats’ way, or even Tim Tebow’s way (quad erat deomonstratum). It’s that it’s all going God’s way. Get in the flow of His plan, listen for His next audible, and don’t snap that pass until He says “throw”. Oh, and pray the Pats are vindicated next year. Oh, brother.
Be encouraged.
in Christ,
AP
Today, consider this – if you are “in Christ”, you have a very large target on your back, just like me. You have an enemy who comes to steal, kill, and destroy. He will lie to you every chance he gets and he has no friends, only “servants”. He will plant seeds of deception in your life and do everything he can to keep your focus on what’s now, what’s not possible, and a very limited menu of viable outcomes. However, you also have an ally: the living Christ, whose Spirit lives in you to confirm truth and comfort you in your fears. 
