How People Change 8

Convicting. How often do I blame trials, circumstances, other people, God-- basically anyone but myself-- for the ugliness that comes out of me (which obviously reveals the ugliness inside of me)? That ugliness must come face to face with the only One who can cleanse it and wipe it away and make it something beautiful. And you know what, He usually does that through trials. 

In chapel today, the speaker said that we as American believers know American history but not church history, and because of that, we are freaking out that society is rising up against us now. All we've known is 273 years of religious freedom, but THAT'S NOT NORMAL according to Jesus. It's an anomaly. What's normal is persecution according to Paul in 2 Timothy 3 and Jesus in so many other places throughout the gospels. So, if we buy into the lie that we have the right to religious freedom and that people should like us and let us live according to our beliefs and not rise up against us, we better double check what Jesus said the cost of following Him is. Heat is normal. Fire is normal. Persecution is normal. It's normal for the world not to like us. It didn't like Jesus first. 

Chapter 8: Heat 2—You in the Real World

“Our experiences become more difficult when we carry unbiblical, and therefore unrealistic expectations into them. We are shocked when we find ourselves in stressful situations. We questions God’s goodness and wonder what has gone wrong with our faith. We think that God has changed the rules on us” (107).

The Real World: The Details

Rom 8:20-22

·      Subjected to frustration

·      Bondage to decay

·      Groaning as in pains of childbirth

o   Pain in the process but there’s a redemptive purpose that makes it worth it

o   Brokenness, pain, frustration, decay are normal for everyone who lives on earth. They should be expected, not treated as though we don’t deserve them or that we’ve been forgotten by God.

Lessons from the Wilderness

Num 11:4-23

“The startling thing in this passage is that the ‘trial’ is relatively minor. It centers on a monotonous menu—manna. But the Bible doesn’t focus on the trial. It examines how the people responded to it” (111).

·      We long for life the way it was before

·      We look for someone to blame

·      We question God’s goodness, faithfulness, love, and wisdom

“Look carefully at these responses. Who is glaringly absent? We are! We so easily remove ourselves form the picture and blame our circumstances, God, and/or other people, forgetting that our hardship has been made harder by our response to it” (112).

“…the anger we reveal in the middle of trial says more about us than it does about the trial. The Bible keeps the focus on us! It confronts the self-righteousness and spiritual blindness that make us think that our greatest problems are outside us, not inside” (113).

“God sought to do three things for the Israelites: to teach, humble, and discipline them. Why?” (114).

1.     God was preparing them for the spiritual obstacles they would face in the sufferings and blessings of the Promised Land

2.     They needed to see the propensity of their own hearts to drift away from trusting God and obeying His commands

3.     They needed to see regular demonstrations of God’s power, so that they would not fear the things they could not defeat on their own.

“These trials did not call God’s character into question; rather, they stand as signs of his covenant-keeping love. God knows exactly what he is doing! His eyes are on each of His children and his ears are attentive to each cry. But God will turn up the Heat to give his children what they need to face the challenges ahead” (114).

We’re Still in the Wilderness

“The Heat will remain because it’s a fallen world and we still need to change. But in it all, his grace is always present and always sufficient” (116).