(This devotion was adapted from Chapter Three of the book Defying Gravity – How to Survive the Storms of Pastoral Ministry. We think you will find it encouraging and applicable to your life as you seek to embrace the value of God's Word in providing fresh perspective and practical help in the midst of life's storms.
To order a copy of this book, go to: http://tiny.cc/x0xZu
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In the course of daily living, all of us experience deep disappointments, hurts, and setbacks. Some eventually lose altitude and crash for lack of the powerful and objective guidance and strength of God’s Word. Others learn to trust in the things that are true, reliable, and authoritative as revealed in the Bible. They tend to “soar” through the power of applied truth.
The Hope and Help of the Scriptures
Biblical leaders boldly affirm the powerful encouragement and endurance they receive from the truth of God’s Word – in both Old and New Testaments.
We are all familiar with the incredible trials and perplexities Job encountered. In the midst of his pain, Job affirmed his source of strength: “I have not departed from the commandment of His lips; I have treasured the words of His mouth more than my necessary food” (Job 23:12). Jeremiah, “the weeping prophet” who carried many burdens and endured incredible afflictions, still declared, “Your words were found, and I ate them, and Your word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart; For I am called by Your name, O LORD God of hosts” (Jeremiah 15:16). Treasure. Nourishment. Joy. Affirmation of our calling. These are only a few of the powerful benefits of the truth.
Hope and healing always flow from the power of God’s Word to the heart of a leader. Over and over in Psalm 119 the writer affirms the practical help of scriptural guidance with words like, “You are my hiding place and my shield; I hope in Your word” (Psalm 119:114) and “I rise before the dawning of the morning, and cry for help; I hope in Your word” (Psalm 119:14). Psalm 130:5 echoes the same conviction: “I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, and in His word I do hope.” Psalm 107:20 speaks of the sinful rebellion of Israel in the desert but then declares, “He sent His word and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions.”
The New Testament speaks often of the effectiveness of the Scriptures to work powerfully in our lives (1 Thessalonians 2:13) by transforming our minds (Romans 12:2), revealing our deepest issues (Hebrews 4:12), correcting wrong thoughts (Titus 1:9), causing us to grow (1 Peter 2:2), and keeping us strong (1 John 2:14). Romans 15:4 offers encouragement to leaders about the helpfulness of the Word: “For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope.”
Getting Out of the Truthless Tailspin
Yet, we have to be honest and admit that most Christian leaders who have experienced a disastrous crash have not lacked Bible knowledge. Some of the nation’s greatest preachers have produced the most disconcerting scandals. Clearly, it is not mere Bible knowledge that produces the power to stay on course and in flight. Rather, it is a consistent and authentic application of the knowledge to the mind, heart, and life. Even Christian leaders can become “hearers” rather than “doers” and deceive their own hearts as they sit among the commentaries and study guides of their Christian library.
As a pastor for over 25 years, I have experienced countless moments when the truth has infused my life with hope, wisdom, and resolve. I’ve also had my share of “dry” seasons where I am going through the motions – staring at the gauge of truth and feeling like it is not helping me in my leadership flight. What do we do to keep our interaction with God’s revelation to our hearts fresh and vibrant?
Evaluating the Soil – All four Gospels present Jesus telling the story of the sower and the soil. Without getting into all of the meanings and application, we can agree on the basic principle that quality soil is essential to spiritual fruit, springing from the seed of God’s Word. What was once fruitful, and had the potential of bearing fruit thirty-fold, becomes unfruitful because of a misguided focus of the heart. I believe that for a Christian leader, the “cares,” “deceitfulness,” and “desires” that damage the fertile soil of the soul are issues like busyness, distraction, fatigue, overwork, and hurry. Soon these manifest in neglect and superficiality as we interact with the truth. We are losing altitude but the gauge of truth has been clouded over by a driven, disheveled life.
Recalibrating Spiritual Hunger – If our soil inspection reveals these troubles, I have found there is great need for a recalibration of hunger. One of my great regrets in ministry is that I have never taken a true sabbatical (which is especially crazy when I look back at the unusual and intense assignments God has placed upon me). But I have found the value of periodic retreats that included several days of solitude, silence, fasting, prayer, and massive doses of reading.
I have found that spiritual hunger and physical hunger are opposites. Physically, when you are hungry and you eat – you become satisfied or “full” as we say it. When you are hungry and you do not eat, you become hungrier (and probably grumpy). Spiritually, it works in reverse. When you are hungry and you eat, your appetite increases. When you are hungry and you don’t eat, you become satisfied and your passion for the Word wanes. That is why we sometimes need a recalibration – where we get away and just “feast.”
Beyond a “Tool of the Trade” – Those in full-time vocational service can easily be “in the Word” without the Word being in them. The Bible simply becomes a means to the end of saying something witty and insightful at the next event or church service.
As I speak to Christian leaders across the nation I remind them that the easiest thing to do these days is to preach a clever sermon or present a compelling lesson. All we need in today’s world is the right downloads, memberships to on-line resources, and a couple video clips tailor-made by some company for our subject of the day. But I warn that, in the long run, the PROCESS is much more important than the PRODUCT. It is the process of “laboring in word and doctrine” (1 Timothy 5:17) that shapes character, out of which a life-changing message flows.
God’s Word must work in us before it can work in others. We’ve heard the adage many times: “A sermon prepared in the mind reaches minds. A sermon prepared in the heart reaches hearts. A sermon prepared in the life reaches lives.”
Welcoming Evaluation – During a conversation on this subject, mission leader Hans Finzel noted that the honest and consistent inquiry of a few close friends helps him to stay on track in his engagement with God’s Word. He notes, “We all need some friends who will question, prod, and encourage us in our consistency in staying in God’s Word. Sometimes it is hard for a wife to rebuke a husband for his waning godliness – but some loving and strong friends can get in our face. I have even found that my grown children inspire me with their love for God’s Word and are free to ask me about mine.”
Whatever it takes, may we each act today to rekindle our hunger and renew our hope as we receive the powerful help provide by God’s unchanging truth.
Copyright © 2010 Daniel Henderson. All rights reserved.
Monday, March 8, 2010
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
"Defying Gravity (Part Two)"
Many Christian leaders are “losing altitude” in ways that most of us do not see or understand. When we “suddenly” hear of a respected executive in our church whose marriage has disintegrated, or a well-known pastor caught in moral indiscretion, we should remember these “crashes” are usually the result of numerous bad decisions made during a long, downward emotional, mental, and spiritual spiral. Sometimes the leader was seeking help during his descent toward disaster. Often it was concealed to everyone.
Biblical Leaders in Downward Drift
The Old Testament does not disguise the emotional struggles of Israel’s great leaders. We read about Moses losing altitude when he became overwhelmed with the monumental task of leading God’s complaining people. He asked God to kill him and put him out of his misery (Numbers 11:15).
The first king of Israel, the strong and impressive King Saul, lost altitude when he became jealous toward the young and popular David (1 Samuel 18:9–12).
More than once, David, the anointed future king, lost altitude from weariness over running from Saul. On one occasion, he fled to a Philistine city. Afraid for his life, he pretended to be insane, slobbering on himself and scratching the walls in a ploy to survive. On another occasion, he fled again to a Philistine city where he made an alliance with these enemy armies, which led to deeper complexity and disaster (1 Samuel 27:1). Leaders losing altitude can behave strangely and irrationally.
Even the prophet Elijah, the recipient of God’s direct revelation, lost altitude after an intense confrontation with the prophets of Baal at Mt. Carmel. Alone in the wilderness, deeply fatigued and coping with the threats on his life by Queen Jezebel, he prayed that God would let him just die (1 Kings 19:4).
In the New Testament, the apostle Paul at one point gave up hope of survival in the face of the severe trials in the province of Asia (2 Corinthians 1:8). Similarly, the young leader Timothy lost altitude when he was overtaken by fear amid the spiritual challenges of leading the church at Ephesus (2 Timothy 1:7). Demas, a trusted associate of the apostle Paul, lost altitude when he began to fall in love with the things of the world. Eventually he completely self-destructed, abandoning his ministry (2 Timothy 4:10).
These are just a few of the many stories that remind us of the vulnerability great leaders can experience during the storms of ministry and the pressures of responsibility. This kind of spiritual vertigo is nothing new to human leadership. Everyone in leadership, modern and ancient, proves faulty and susceptible to the downward spiral.
Trained to Trust
When pilots are preparing for their instrument rating, instructors go to great lengths to train them to thoroughly understand and trust the instruments. Textbooks for flight students and aspiring pilots address the physical challenges of flight with great detail and candor. They call these the “human factors” of flight and note that human factors account for over 80 percent of all accidents. One textbook published by the Federal Aviation Administration warns that flying in poor conditions can “result in sensations that are misleading to the body’s sensory system. A safe pilot needs to understand these sensations and effectively counteract them.”
Textbooks on flying typically address three of the body’s sensory systems: the visual (eyes), the vestibular (ears), and the postural (nerves). The effectiveness and complexity of these systems are a testament to God’s profound creative work. Each is essential to safe flight. Yet the three systems are fallible. This unreliability leads to disaster if a pilot is not keenly aware of aviation physiology and resolute in managing each physical system with great care.
Disorientation That Can Lead to Disaster
During flight in “visual meteorological conditions” (clear visibility), the pilot’s eyes are a primary orientation source that usually provide accurate and reliable input. As one training manual states, “When these visual cues are taken away, false sensations can cause the pilot to become disoriented.”
The pilot’s inner ear and nerves can send confusing signals. When the sense of balance is off, it is called vestibular disorientation. When the nervous system becomes confused, it is known as spatial disorientation. This disorientation can cause a pilot to overcompensate for perceived plane-control problems in ways that can endanger the pilot and passengers.
The worst of these confused attempts leads to “graveyard spiral,” where the plane dives rapidly in a circular pattern. The pilot is usually completely confused about what is going on prior to the resulting crash.
Pilots actually practice controlled maneuvers during their flight training to gain a comprehensive understanding of this danger of disorientation. They must learn through these training experiences about their own susceptibility to disorientation – and that their subjective judgments about the direction, pitch, and turn of their aircraft based on bodily sensations are frequently false. All of this leads to a greater confidence in relying on the flight instruments rather than their own subjective sensations.
In What Do We Trust?
The task of leadership has several fascinating parallels to the task of flying a plane. Just as a pilot’s vision can be restricted by poor weather or unusual conditions, so a leader’s perception of a given situation can be limited and flawed. Just as the physiology of the inner ear can become confused, so a leader’s inner voice can give input that is confusing and erroneous. And just as a pilot’s nervous system can misinterpret the environment, so a leader’s emotions can create subjective scenarios that lead to bad decisions.
Trusting our flawed perceptions, our confused internal conversations, and our wide range of emotions feels natural, but is ultimately perilous.
Choosing to Trust the Instruments
One popular textbook for pilots tells of the early airmail planes with limited navigation equipment, flown during an era when weather information often was unavailable. Of the first forty aviators hired to fly the mail, thirty-one were killed while flying. The reason: Their planes were not equipped with the proper instruments and navigation equipment to allow pilots to safely fly in the clouds or in low visibility conditions.
So what instruments do we need to lift off and climb above the storms when they come? In my book, Defying Gravity – How to Survive the Storms of Pastoral Ministry, I describe a “leadership instrument panel” that presents nine vital areas of concern for the enduring leader.
1. Applied Truth
2. Spiritual Intimacy
3. Personal Integrity
4. Biblical Identity
5. Genuine Accountability
6. Eternal Significance
7. Healthy Family Life
8. Indispensable Pain
9. A Captivating Call
Your gauges may be different – but I pray you identify them and trust them as you look intently into the unchanging and life-giving Word of God. Proverbs 3:5 reminds us, “Lean on, trust in, and be confident in the Lord with all your heart and mind and do not rely on your own insight or understanding.” (AMP)
In life and leadership, storms are inevitable. Survival is optional. Victory and endurance are possible – and promised – as we trust the things we know to be true, available to us in the person, presence, and promises of Jesus Christ.
Copyright © 2010 Daniel Henderson. All rights reserved.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Adapted from Defying Gravity – How to Survive the Storms of Pastoral Ministry. © Moody Publishers, 2010. For more information, click here.
Many Christian leaders are “losing altitude” in ways that most of us do not see or understand. When we “suddenly” hear of a respected executive in our church whose marriage has disintegrated, or a well-known pastor caught in moral indiscretion, we should remember these “crashes” are usually the result of numerous bad decisions made during a long, downward emotional, mental, and spiritual spiral. Sometimes the leader was seeking help during his descent toward disaster. Often it was concealed to everyone.
Biblical Leaders in Downward Drift
The Old Testament does not disguise the emotional struggles of Israel’s great leaders. We read about Moses losing altitude when he became overwhelmed with the monumental task of leading God’s complaining people. He asked God to kill him and put him out of his misery (Numbers 11:15).
The first king of Israel, the strong and impressive King Saul, lost altitude when he became jealous toward the young and popular David (1 Samuel 18:9–12).
More than once, David, the anointed future king, lost altitude from weariness over running from Saul. On one occasion, he fled to a Philistine city. Afraid for his life, he pretended to be insane, slobbering on himself and scratching the walls in a ploy to survive. On another occasion, he fled again to a Philistine city where he made an alliance with these enemy armies, which led to deeper complexity and disaster (1 Samuel 27:1). Leaders losing altitude can behave strangely and irrationally.
Even the prophet Elijah, the recipient of God’s direct revelation, lost altitude after an intense confrontation with the prophets of Baal at Mt. Carmel. Alone in the wilderness, deeply fatigued and coping with the threats on his life by Queen Jezebel, he prayed that God would let him just die (1 Kings 19:4).
In the New Testament, the apostle Paul at one point gave up hope of survival in the face of the severe trials in the province of Asia (2 Corinthians 1:8). Similarly, the young leader Timothy lost altitude when he was overtaken by fear amid the spiritual challenges of leading the church at Ephesus (2 Timothy 1:7). Demas, a trusted associate of the apostle Paul, lost altitude when he began to fall in love with the things of the world. Eventually he completely self-destructed, abandoning his ministry (2 Timothy 4:10).
These are just a few of the many stories that remind us of the vulnerability great leaders can experience during the storms of ministry and the pressures of responsibility. This kind of spiritual vertigo is nothing new to human leadership. Everyone in leadership, modern and ancient, proves faulty and susceptible to the downward spiral.
Trained to Trust
When pilots are preparing for their instrument rating, instructors go to great lengths to train them to thoroughly understand and trust the instruments. Textbooks for flight students and aspiring pilots address the physical challenges of flight with great detail and candor. They call these the “human factors” of flight and note that human factors account for over 80 percent of all accidents. One textbook published by the Federal Aviation Administration warns that flying in poor conditions can “result in sensations that are misleading to the body’s sensory system. A safe pilot needs to understand these sensations and effectively counteract them.”
Textbooks on flying typically address three of the body’s sensory systems: the visual (eyes), the vestibular (ears), and the postural (nerves). The effectiveness and complexity of these systems are a testament to God’s profound creative work. Each is essential to safe flight. Yet the three systems are fallible. This unreliability leads to disaster if a pilot is not keenly aware of aviation physiology and resolute in managing each physical system with great care.
Disorientation That Can Lead to Disaster
During flight in “visual meteorological conditions” (clear visibility), the pilot’s eyes are a primary orientation source that usually provide accurate and reliable input. As one training manual states, “When these visual cues are taken away, false sensations can cause the pilot to become disoriented.”
The pilot’s inner ear and nerves can send confusing signals. When the sense of balance is off, it is called vestibular disorientation. When the nervous system becomes confused, it is known as spatial disorientation. This disorientation can cause a pilot to overcompensate for perceived plane-control problems in ways that can endanger the pilot and passengers.
The worst of these confused attempts leads to “graveyard spiral,” where the plane dives rapidly in a circular pattern. The pilot is usually completely confused about what is going on prior to the resulting crash.
Pilots actually practice controlled maneuvers during their flight training to gain a comprehensive understanding of this danger of disorientation. They must learn through these training experiences about their own susceptibility to disorientation – and that their subjective judgments about the direction, pitch, and turn of their aircraft based on bodily sensations are frequently false. All of this leads to a greater confidence in relying on the flight instruments rather than their own subjective sensations.
In What Do We Trust?
The task of leadership has several fascinating parallels to the task of flying a plane. Just as a pilot’s vision can be restricted by poor weather or unusual conditions, so a leader’s perception of a given situation can be limited and flawed. Just as the physiology of the inner ear can become confused, so a leader’s inner voice can give input that is confusing and erroneous. And just as a pilot’s nervous system can misinterpret the environment, so a leader’s emotions can create subjective scenarios that lead to bad decisions.
Trusting our flawed perceptions, our confused internal conversations, and our wide range of emotions feels natural, but is ultimately perilous.
Choosing to Trust the Instruments
One popular textbook for pilots tells of the early airmail planes with limited navigation equipment, flown during an era when weather information often was unavailable. Of the first forty aviators hired to fly the mail, thirty-one were killed while flying. The reason: Their planes were not equipped with the proper instruments and navigation equipment to allow pilots to safely fly in the clouds or in low visibility conditions.
So what instruments do we need to lift off and climb above the storms when they come? In my book, Defying Gravity – How to Survive the Storms of Pastoral Ministry, I describe a “leadership instrument panel” that presents nine vital areas of concern for the enduring leader.
1. Applied Truth
2. Spiritual Intimacy
3. Personal Integrity
4. Biblical Identity
5. Genuine Accountability
6. Eternal Significance
7. Healthy Family Life
8. Indispensable Pain
9. A Captivating Call
Your gauges may be different – but I pray you identify them and trust them as you look intently into the unchanging and life-giving Word of God. Proverbs 3:5 reminds us, “Lean on, trust in, and be confident in the Lord with all your heart and mind and do not rely on your own insight or understanding.” (AMP)
In life and leadership, storms are inevitable. Survival is optional. Victory and endurance are possible – and promised – as we trust the things we know to be true, available to us in the person, presence, and promises of Jesus Christ.
Copyright © 2010 Daniel Henderson. All rights reserved.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Adapted from Defying Gravity – How to Survive the Storms of Pastoral Ministry. © Moody Publishers, 2010. For more information, click here.
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Defying Gravity - Part One
As president of a national renewal organization, I visit and interact with hundreds of leaders each year, the vast majority of whom are faithful and skilled servants of God. Yet many of these leaders open up to me about their personal and private challenges. The pain is deep. The struggles are real. They are called to leadership, and want to remain faithful, but many are losing their way and hanging on for dear life. One of my great desires is helping leaders who are “losing altitude."
Leaders Taking Flight
I am a self-professing “leadership-aholic.” I love leading. I love reading about leadership and studying other leaders.
When Paul wrote his final letter to his “son in the faith” Timothy, he used three analogies to help his disciple understand the task of leadership. He spoke of a soldier, an athlete, and a farmer (2 Timothy 2:3-7). In similar fashion, in my most recent book, I liken the leadership assignment to a flight assignment; leaders and coleaders as pilots and copilots. The similarities are fascinating.
The metaphor fits for most pastors and business leaders: Most of our lives are composed of numerous leadership flights. Some business executives may stay with the same company for decades; others have numerous shorter leadership assignments in various locations and settings. An experienced educator, civic leader, government official, or business manager may piece together an array of leadership flights that have made up a career.
For pastors, the average tenure in Protestant churches has declined to just four years, according to George Barna. So most pastors will have numerous leadership flights in their ministry career. Some have fewer, longer flights. I followed one pastor in Sacramento, California whose leadership flight in one church lasted forty years.
Flight and Leadership
In brief, I see numerous parallels between flying and leading:
Training and Qualification – Just as pilots must be trained, be equipped, and earn a license and certification, so leaders must be equipped and qualified to lead effectively. Formal education can be a part of this preparation, though not always. Mentoring, proven service, and faithful character are essential for the growing leader. We find these biblical specifics in 1 Timothy 3:1–8 and Titus 1, given for those who take on the primary leadership roles in the church. These traits are good qualifiers for Christian leaders in any realm of service.
Passion and Perseverance – Most pilots learn to fly because of a passion for the skies. Experienced pilots have persevered, logging hours and increasing their certification in order to excel in the skills of flying larger and more sophisticated aircraft. Leaders also have a God-given desire for influencing other people and making a significant difference in the world. Great leaders remain faithful, develop their understanding of leadership principles, and maintain noble character and winning habits.
Risk and Reward – At times flying can be risky. Although commercial flights are statistically the safest way to travel, we all know that the consequences of a mechanical failure or pilot error can be disastrous. Quite literally, lives hang in the balance. Yet the effectiveness and exhilaration of flight makes it worth it. For commercial pilots, helping people travel efficiently, whether to conduct vital business, share holidays with family, or enjoy a much-needed vacation, has to be fulfilling.
Leadership is also risky. Decisions affect many people. And like pilots, pastors can affect the lives of those in their care. Setbacks, even failure, are possible. Yet, the thrill of leading people to the achievement of a great cause, especially one of eternal significance, is a joy beyond human expression.
Responsibility and Accountability – Of course, experienced pilots carry a serious responsibility for human lives. The bigger the plane, the greater the volume of precious human cargo. As a result, pilots are accountable to strict standards of flight protocol, personal discipline, and compliance with regulations. Pastors are accountable also. Spiritual leaders influence people and, according to James 3:1, have a greater accountability for how they lead and what they teach. There are no solo flights in leadership.
Objectivity and Trust – The best pilots learn to trust their instruments, the information from ground control, and the proven technology necessary for safe and trouble-free flight. Good leaders must also learn to trust objective indicators, including God’s authoritative, holy Word, for their leadership flight. When self-trust and emotional justifications outweigh the proven realities for effective leadership, destructive behavior and disaster happen. Leaders lose altitude. People are at risk.
Staying in Flight: Keeping Perspective
Too often, a crash occurs and the human casualties are devastating. Using the flight analogy, I’ve written my book to help pastors and other leaders maintain their leadership altitude in a world that wants to bring us down. I believe the biggest challenges to an effective and enduring leadership flight are our own flawed perceptions, subjective emotions, and misjudgments that can put us in real danger.
Paul’s final words of advice to Timothy reflected this same concern. He wrote in 2 Timothy 4:5, “But you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.” The Amplified version says it this way: “As for you, be calm and cool and steady, accept and suffer unflinchingly every hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fully perform all the duties of your ministry."
God wants us to soar through the storms of life and has provided an indispensable instrument panel of biblical truth for our success and endurance as leaders. It’s time, with God’s help and our commitment, to defy gravity.
Pray for the pastoral leaders in your life today, asking God to give them the grace to keep perspective and soar in their leadership assignments, for the glory of Christ. Much is at stake.
Copyright © 2010 Daniel Henderson. All rights reserved.
------------------------------------------------
Adapted from Defying Gravity – How to Survive the Storms of Pastoral Ministry. ©Moody Publishers, 2010. For more information, click here.
Leaders Taking Flight
I am a self-professing “leadership-aholic.” I love leading. I love reading about leadership and studying other leaders.
When Paul wrote his final letter to his “son in the faith” Timothy, he used three analogies to help his disciple understand the task of leadership. He spoke of a soldier, an athlete, and a farmer (2 Timothy 2:3-7). In similar fashion, in my most recent book, I liken the leadership assignment to a flight assignment; leaders and coleaders as pilots and copilots. The similarities are fascinating.
The metaphor fits for most pastors and business leaders: Most of our lives are composed of numerous leadership flights. Some business executives may stay with the same company for decades; others have numerous shorter leadership assignments in various locations and settings. An experienced educator, civic leader, government official, or business manager may piece together an array of leadership flights that have made up a career.
For pastors, the average tenure in Protestant churches has declined to just four years, according to George Barna. So most pastors will have numerous leadership flights in their ministry career. Some have fewer, longer flights. I followed one pastor in Sacramento, California whose leadership flight in one church lasted forty years.
Flight and Leadership
In brief, I see numerous parallels between flying and leading:
Training and Qualification – Just as pilots must be trained, be equipped, and earn a license and certification, so leaders must be equipped and qualified to lead effectively. Formal education can be a part of this preparation, though not always. Mentoring, proven service, and faithful character are essential for the growing leader. We find these biblical specifics in 1 Timothy 3:1–8 and Titus 1, given for those who take on the primary leadership roles in the church. These traits are good qualifiers for Christian leaders in any realm of service.
Passion and Perseverance – Most pilots learn to fly because of a passion for the skies. Experienced pilots have persevered, logging hours and increasing their certification in order to excel in the skills of flying larger and more sophisticated aircraft. Leaders also have a God-given desire for influencing other people and making a significant difference in the world. Great leaders remain faithful, develop their understanding of leadership principles, and maintain noble character and winning habits.
Risk and Reward – At times flying can be risky. Although commercial flights are statistically the safest way to travel, we all know that the consequences of a mechanical failure or pilot error can be disastrous. Quite literally, lives hang in the balance. Yet the effectiveness and exhilaration of flight makes it worth it. For commercial pilots, helping people travel efficiently, whether to conduct vital business, share holidays with family, or enjoy a much-needed vacation, has to be fulfilling.
Leadership is also risky. Decisions affect many people. And like pilots, pastors can affect the lives of those in their care. Setbacks, even failure, are possible. Yet, the thrill of leading people to the achievement of a great cause, especially one of eternal significance, is a joy beyond human expression.
Responsibility and Accountability – Of course, experienced pilots carry a serious responsibility for human lives. The bigger the plane, the greater the volume of precious human cargo. As a result, pilots are accountable to strict standards of flight protocol, personal discipline, and compliance with regulations. Pastors are accountable also. Spiritual leaders influence people and, according to James 3:1, have a greater accountability for how they lead and what they teach. There are no solo flights in leadership.
Objectivity and Trust – The best pilots learn to trust their instruments, the information from ground control, and the proven technology necessary for safe and trouble-free flight. Good leaders must also learn to trust objective indicators, including God’s authoritative, holy Word, for their leadership flight. When self-trust and emotional justifications outweigh the proven realities for effective leadership, destructive behavior and disaster happen. Leaders lose altitude. People are at risk.
Staying in Flight: Keeping Perspective
Too often, a crash occurs and the human casualties are devastating. Using the flight analogy, I’ve written my book to help pastors and other leaders maintain their leadership altitude in a world that wants to bring us down. I believe the biggest challenges to an effective and enduring leadership flight are our own flawed perceptions, subjective emotions, and misjudgments that can put us in real danger.
Paul’s final words of advice to Timothy reflected this same concern. He wrote in 2 Timothy 4:5, “But you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.” The Amplified version says it this way: “As for you, be calm and cool and steady, accept and suffer unflinchingly every hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fully perform all the duties of your ministry."
God wants us to soar through the storms of life and has provided an indispensable instrument panel of biblical truth for our success and endurance as leaders. It’s time, with God’s help and our commitment, to defy gravity.
Pray for the pastoral leaders in your life today, asking God to give them the grace to keep perspective and soar in their leadership assignments, for the glory of Christ. Much is at stake.
Copyright © 2010 Daniel Henderson. All rights reserved.
------------------------------------------------
Adapted from Defying Gravity – How to Survive the Storms of Pastoral Ministry. ©Moody Publishers, 2010. For more information, click here.
Monday, February 8, 2010
The Redefined Life (Part Two)
"The Redefined Life! (Part Two)"
These tumultuous times are pushing many believers toward a necessary redefinition of the meaning of life. Things we counted on in previous years (a home, a job, a vacation, a retirement) are threatened by a very uncertain economy. Others may be skating thorough these storms of financial insecurity but might be facing a battle with terminal illness or family breakup. Whatever the nature of life’s problems, they clearly provide an opportunity for a deeper understanding of the nature of the Christian life.
In part one of this devotion (which appears below as last weeks entry), we considered the meaning of Colossians 3:4, where we read of “Christ, who is our life.” In an effort to embrace this truth, we looked at two key commitments:
Remember Your Status - We are “raised with Christ” (Colossians 3:1) and must fully embrace the implications of this truth.
Refocus Your Pursuit - We must “seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God” (Colossians 3:1).
Three additional commitments, found in Colossians chapter three, are vital to a core redefinition of our life.
Recalibrate Your Thoughts - When a computer fails to function properly, the user is commonly instructed to reboot, or restart, the computer. Our cluttered and distracted minds often need a similar intervention – usually many times throughout each day.
Colossians 3:2 states, “Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.” Literally, this is the idea of a continual commitment to “fix the attention” or “give serious consideration” to something. “Things above” speaks of matters of eternal significance. These should become the dominating focus of our mind and its considerations.
Our thoughts determine our behavior and future. In light of the constant bombardment of needless information, tempting images, and carnal input from people around us, we must re-engage our disciplines of thought on a daily basis.
Our minds naturally drift to temporal and worldly concerns. They become polluted by the influence of the media and culture. We must embrace a proactive and purposeful pursuit of things that are noble, just, pure, lovely, good, virtuous, and praiseworthy (Philippians 4:8).
Reaffirm Your Death - Dead people do not respond to any external stimuli, no matter how enticing it may be. Colossians 3:3 tells us, “For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.” As Galatians 2:20 says, “I am crucified with Christ.” In writing to the Christians in Rome Paul reiterates that believers are dead to sin (6:2, 7 & 11). Previously in Colossians, Paul has told these Christians that they are not subject to religious regulations because they died to the power of rules and legalisms (2:20).
Every day, because Christ is my life, I must reaffirm that I do not have to respond to the values, demands, and expectations of a fallen world. I can live as one “dead” to these allurements and one fully alive and defined by Christ.
Relish Your Destiny – Ultimately, we must keep our hearts fixed on the hope that “Christ who is our life” will appear, and that we will appear with Him in glory (Colossians 3:4). Eternity, along with its reward and ultimate worship, is just around the corner. Any definition of life, other than Christ, is going to evaporate into irrelevance. All that we currently see with our physical eyes will be gone. The real scoreboard of life will triumph and we will receive everlasting reward for a life dedicated to the Lordship and centrality of Christ. It will be worth it all – and that will be glory for us.
Copyright © 2010 Daniel Henderson. All rights reserved.
These tumultuous times are pushing many believers toward a necessary redefinition of the meaning of life. Things we counted on in previous years (a home, a job, a vacation, a retirement) are threatened by a very uncertain economy. Others may be skating thorough these storms of financial insecurity but might be facing a battle with terminal illness or family breakup. Whatever the nature of life’s problems, they clearly provide an opportunity for a deeper understanding of the nature of the Christian life.
In part one of this devotion (which appears below as last weeks entry), we considered the meaning of Colossians 3:4, where we read of “Christ, who is our life.” In an effort to embrace this truth, we looked at two key commitments:
Remember Your Status - We are “raised with Christ” (Colossians 3:1) and must fully embrace the implications of this truth.
Refocus Your Pursuit - We must “seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God” (Colossians 3:1).
Three additional commitments, found in Colossians chapter three, are vital to a core redefinition of our life.
Recalibrate Your Thoughts - When a computer fails to function properly, the user is commonly instructed to reboot, or restart, the computer. Our cluttered and distracted minds often need a similar intervention – usually many times throughout each day.
Colossians 3:2 states, “Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.” Literally, this is the idea of a continual commitment to “fix the attention” or “give serious consideration” to something. “Things above” speaks of matters of eternal significance. These should become the dominating focus of our mind and its considerations.
Our thoughts determine our behavior and future. In light of the constant bombardment of needless information, tempting images, and carnal input from people around us, we must re-engage our disciplines of thought on a daily basis.
Our minds naturally drift to temporal and worldly concerns. They become polluted by the influence of the media and culture. We must embrace a proactive and purposeful pursuit of things that are noble, just, pure, lovely, good, virtuous, and praiseworthy (Philippians 4:8).
Reaffirm Your Death - Dead people do not respond to any external stimuli, no matter how enticing it may be. Colossians 3:3 tells us, “For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.” As Galatians 2:20 says, “I am crucified with Christ.” In writing to the Christians in Rome Paul reiterates that believers are dead to sin (6:2, 7 & 11). Previously in Colossians, Paul has told these Christians that they are not subject to religious regulations because they died to the power of rules and legalisms (2:20).
Every day, because Christ is my life, I must reaffirm that I do not have to respond to the values, demands, and expectations of a fallen world. I can live as one “dead” to these allurements and one fully alive and defined by Christ.
Relish Your Destiny – Ultimately, we must keep our hearts fixed on the hope that “Christ who is our life” will appear, and that we will appear with Him in glory (Colossians 3:4). Eternity, along with its reward and ultimate worship, is just around the corner. Any definition of life, other than Christ, is going to evaporate into irrelevance. All that we currently see with our physical eyes will be gone. The real scoreboard of life will triumph and we will receive everlasting reward for a life dedicated to the Lordship and centrality of Christ. It will be worth it all – and that will be glory for us.
Copyright © 2010 Daniel Henderson. All rights reserved.
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
The Redefined Life (Part One)
What defines your life? Good Christians know the “right” answer – but what is our real answer? In truth, the things that dominate our thinking and consistently spark our interests are what define our life. The real definition of our life can often be reduced to those things that we rely on for security, acceptance, and hope in this life.
The bad news for many people in today’s unsteady world is that their core definition is being threatened by the stripping away of possessions, position, and pleasures. Like a dead bouquet of flowers, no life remains in what used to be a colorful and carefree existence.
For the true Christ-follower, these present days force a decision upon us. Will we redefine our brief appearance on this planet in the terms of biblical truth, leading to a fresh discovery of true meaning and fulfillment? Conversely, will we prolong the pain by clinging unnecessarily to those phantom trappings that cannot be preserved and will not provide purpose?
The Truth about Life
Colossians 3:4 speaks of “Christ who is our life.” Christ is the definition of life itself. The Scriptures affirm this powerful truth. For example:
• John 10:10 – “I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.”
• John 14:6 – “Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life.’”
• John 20:31 – “But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name.”
• Galatians 2:20 – “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.”
• 1 John 5:12 – “He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.”
A High Redefinition Life
When we actually embrace this powerful truth of Christ as our very life, we can enjoy the freedom of a redefined existence. Practically, we experience a transition in focus and a transformation in heart:
• From a life obsessed with accumulation to a life embracing simplicity
• From a life controlled by busyness to a life that cherishes relationships
• From a life worried about reputation to a life pursuing integrity
• From a life consumed by ambition to a life discovering contentment
• From a life sustained by success to a life resting in significance
• From a life ruled by competition to a life rejoicing in brokenness
• From a life enamored with status to a life in pursuit of humility
• From a life marked by drivenness to a life existing in peace
• From a life concerned about winning to a life poured out in love
• From a life preoccupied with earthly recognition to a life pursuing eternal reward
• From a life fearing earthly loss to a life delighting in eternal gain
• From a life of frenzied effort to a life of fulfilling purpose
• From a life of debilitating insecurity to a life of mature identity
Yes, But How?
So how do we embrace this core definition? This necessarily involves a daily redefinition in our thoughts and affections because our flesh constantly seeks to glom on to the false realities of this temporal world. From the first four verses of Colossians chapter three, let me offer a few practical steps.
Remember Your Status!
Because I fly so much these days, I enjoy “elite” status on several airlines. This simply means that I get to board early, avoid luggage fees, and enjoy occasional first-class upgrades at no charge. I earned this status by the number of miles I have accumulated in flight. I only maintain this status by continuing to fly in excessive amounts.
Because of Christ, every believer has a supernatural status. Yet, we did not earn it nor do we need to maintain it.
Colossians 3:1 says, “If then you were raised with Christ.” This is a bedrock truth for a redefined life. Ephesians 2:5-6 describes our status: “Even when we were dead in trespasses, (God) made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.” We are literally “co-resurrected” with Christ. This is our status, because of His death and resurrection.
I remember the old Gospel song that said, “This world is not my home. I am just passing through.“ Hebrews 11:13 describes people of faith as “strangers and pilgrims on the earth.” Paul reminds us that our “citizenship is in heaven” (Philippians 3:20). After saving us by His grace, God left us here “on assignment” to share His life with others. Yet, our actual status is already Heaven – and we should live accordingly.
We do not move our living room furniture into the Holiday Inn when we check in for a one-night stay. We do not install an expensive stereo in a rental car. Neither should we pretend that this world is a permanent reality for us. Because of grace, our status is secure and settled in Heaven.
Refocus Your Pursuit!
Living in the reality of this truth requires a daily commitment to “seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God” (Colossians 3:1). Literally, this means to “keep seeking.” It is a continual choice and commitment.
Most of us go where we look. When we drive, we gaze at the road ahead – and tend to go there. When we walk, we focus on the things in front of us and usually move ahead safely. Conversely, when we get distracted and focus on something other than our desired destination, havoc occurs. We wreck. We trip. We get hurt – and often hurt others.
Therefore, we must presently and actively seek the things of eternity. Literally, this is a command to “desire”, to “set the heart” – even to ”worship”. In spite of the many enticing distractions of the lusts and attractions of this world, we can refocus our passion moment-by-moment on the greatest reality of Christ, at the throne of God – calling us to Himself in worship and reinforcing us with holy passions for the best life possible.
Today, let us remember our status and intentionally refocus our pursuit. A better definition of life will burn within our souls and we will find the strength we need to live righteously and godly in this present age.
Copyright © 2010 Daniel Henderson. All rights reserved.
-------------------------------------------------------
In next week’s post we will continue this study of what it really means to experience Christ as our life. We will show that a redefined life requires us to reboot our thoughts, reaffirm our death, and relish our destiny.
The bad news for many people in today’s unsteady world is that their core definition is being threatened by the stripping away of possessions, position, and pleasures. Like a dead bouquet of flowers, no life remains in what used to be a colorful and carefree existence.
For the true Christ-follower, these present days force a decision upon us. Will we redefine our brief appearance on this planet in the terms of biblical truth, leading to a fresh discovery of true meaning and fulfillment? Conversely, will we prolong the pain by clinging unnecessarily to those phantom trappings that cannot be preserved and will not provide purpose?
The Truth about Life
Colossians 3:4 speaks of “Christ who is our life.” Christ is the definition of life itself. The Scriptures affirm this powerful truth. For example:
• John 10:10 – “I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.”
• John 14:6 – “Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life.’”
• John 20:31 – “But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name.”
• Galatians 2:20 – “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.”
• 1 John 5:12 – “He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.”
A High Redefinition Life
When we actually embrace this powerful truth of Christ as our very life, we can enjoy the freedom of a redefined existence. Practically, we experience a transition in focus and a transformation in heart:
• From a life obsessed with accumulation to a life embracing simplicity
• From a life controlled by busyness to a life that cherishes relationships
• From a life worried about reputation to a life pursuing integrity
• From a life consumed by ambition to a life discovering contentment
• From a life sustained by success to a life resting in significance
• From a life ruled by competition to a life rejoicing in brokenness
• From a life enamored with status to a life in pursuit of humility
• From a life marked by drivenness to a life existing in peace
• From a life concerned about winning to a life poured out in love
• From a life preoccupied with earthly recognition to a life pursuing eternal reward
• From a life fearing earthly loss to a life delighting in eternal gain
• From a life of frenzied effort to a life of fulfilling purpose
• From a life of debilitating insecurity to a life of mature identity
Yes, But How?
So how do we embrace this core definition? This necessarily involves a daily redefinition in our thoughts and affections because our flesh constantly seeks to glom on to the false realities of this temporal world. From the first four verses of Colossians chapter three, let me offer a few practical steps.
Remember Your Status!
Because I fly so much these days, I enjoy “elite” status on several airlines. This simply means that I get to board early, avoid luggage fees, and enjoy occasional first-class upgrades at no charge. I earned this status by the number of miles I have accumulated in flight. I only maintain this status by continuing to fly in excessive amounts.
Because of Christ, every believer has a supernatural status. Yet, we did not earn it nor do we need to maintain it.
Colossians 3:1 says, “If then you were raised with Christ.” This is a bedrock truth for a redefined life. Ephesians 2:5-6 describes our status: “Even when we were dead in trespasses, (God) made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.” We are literally “co-resurrected” with Christ. This is our status, because of His death and resurrection.
I remember the old Gospel song that said, “This world is not my home. I am just passing through.“ Hebrews 11:13 describes people of faith as “strangers and pilgrims on the earth.” Paul reminds us that our “citizenship is in heaven” (Philippians 3:20). After saving us by His grace, God left us here “on assignment” to share His life with others. Yet, our actual status is already Heaven – and we should live accordingly.
We do not move our living room furniture into the Holiday Inn when we check in for a one-night stay. We do not install an expensive stereo in a rental car. Neither should we pretend that this world is a permanent reality for us. Because of grace, our status is secure and settled in Heaven.
Refocus Your Pursuit!
Living in the reality of this truth requires a daily commitment to “seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God” (Colossians 3:1). Literally, this means to “keep seeking.” It is a continual choice and commitment.
Most of us go where we look. When we drive, we gaze at the road ahead – and tend to go there. When we walk, we focus on the things in front of us and usually move ahead safely. Conversely, when we get distracted and focus on something other than our desired destination, havoc occurs. We wreck. We trip. We get hurt – and often hurt others.
Therefore, we must presently and actively seek the things of eternity. Literally, this is a command to “desire”, to “set the heart” – even to ”worship”. In spite of the many enticing distractions of the lusts and attractions of this world, we can refocus our passion moment-by-moment on the greatest reality of Christ, at the throne of God – calling us to Himself in worship and reinforcing us with holy passions for the best life possible.
Today, let us remember our status and intentionally refocus our pursuit. A better definition of life will burn within our souls and we will find the strength we need to live righteously and godly in this present age.
Copyright © 2010 Daniel Henderson. All rights reserved.
-------------------------------------------------------
In next week’s post we will continue this study of what it really means to experience Christ as our life. We will show that a redefined life requires us to reboot our thoughts, reaffirm our death, and relish our destiny.
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
The Perplexity of Unanswered Prayer
"The Perplexity of Unanswered Prayer"
As you read these words today, you surely have some ”unanswered” prayers. I do. Perhaps you have begged the Lord for the healing of a sick friend, the restoration of a relationship, the alleviation of a heavy personal burden, or clarity about His direction for your life.
Our Sympathetic Savior
Christ understands. Of course, He was tempted in every way, just as we are, yet without sin. As a result, He can sympathize with our weaknesses, struggles, and perplexity (Hebrews 4:14-15). He does not reject our cries for relief because He also cried out prior to the cross. He “offered prayers and pleadings, with a loud cry and tears, to the one who could deliver him out of death.” (Hebrews 5:7). He was fully God, and knew the Father’s plan for His glory through the atoning sacrifice. Christ was also fully man, and knew the incredible agony of the cross. His prayers for deliverance from the cup of suffering went unanswered, but His ultimate desire for the Father’s glory and redemption of man were fulfilled.
Our Good Father
The Bible tells us that “our Heavenly Father gives good things to His children who ask” (Matthew 7:11).Yet, His will, not our desires, determines what is ultimately good for us because He is ultimately good. Our prayers are never ignored or unheeded. Our temporal longings may not be satisfied, but His eternal designs will be accomplished. We soon learn that God’s answer to a particular plea may be “no”, yet with the sure promise of something greater.
Paul’s Example
Yet our perplexity remains as we live with the pain of the burden and the questions about the road ahead. The Apostle Paul writes transparently about this very kind of journey. In 2 Corinthians 12:7-10, he tells of his experience with his thorn in the flesh. We can only speculate of the specific nature of the thorn, but can firmly deduce its severity. It was like a “stake” that impaled him. Paul felt “buffeted” (beat with a fist) by this messenger of Satan.
As we often do, Paul repeatedly begged the Lord to take it away. Yet, God did not remove the pain. Instead, our wise and sovereign Lord responded, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness" (2 Corinthians 12:9). While Paul’s problem apparently did not change, his perspective changed dramatically. He went from being problem-conscious to power-conscious. Paul embraced the weakness he felt and, thus, experienced the great power of Christ’s sufficiency.
No Unanswered Prayers
In reality, the Christ follower's prayers never go unanswered. Our sympathetic Savior, the goodness of our Father, and the example of Paul assure us that God hears and responds. His answers may not always be in accordance with our immediate desires but fulfill God’s ultimate design for our lives. To help us respond properly and endure honorably, Christ gives us sufficient grace. Truly, He has tailor-made grace for everything we face. He lavishes grace on our unique pain and strengthens our inner being to make us thrive, even in the midst of our prolonged perplexities.
The Lessons of Grace and Glory
In the same book where Paul wrote about his thorn, he gives us powerful insight about the change in thinking that occurs in the heart of true disciples, even when our trials threaten to undermine our well-being. Paul writes, “But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us” (2 Corinthians 4:7). Paul learned that his difficult external circumstances and his plaguing physical frailties unleashed a greater power at work in and through him, bringing glory to God. This is the power of the grace of the Gospel.
Paul gets more specific as he continues to write, “we are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed — always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. For we who live are always delivered to death for Jesus' sake, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh” (2 Corinthians 4:8-11).
Then, he reflects on one more benefit of this journey of grace, marked by pain and perplexity. He writes, “For all things are for your sakes, that grace, having spread through the many, may cause thanksgiving to abound to the glory of God” (2 Corinthians 4:15). Through his trials, Paul tasted deeply of grace and was given a vision of God’s ultimate glory in his life, and through his life in fruitful ministry to others.
Perspective for Today
Today, many of us face pain and perplexity that will not go away. It may be physical, emotional, relational, or financial. God may answer our prayers in a way that removes the pain and solves the immediate problem. He may answer our prayers by unleashing new grace in and through the pain.
Either way, we can embrace the right perspective. Read these words carefully, remembering they came from the heart of a man whose “thorn” never went away. May God give us all grace to live with these truths always in mind.
“Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal (2 Corinthians 4:16-18).
Copyright © 2010 Daniel Henderson. All rights reserved.
As you read these words today, you surely have some ”unanswered” prayers. I do. Perhaps you have begged the Lord for the healing of a sick friend, the restoration of a relationship, the alleviation of a heavy personal burden, or clarity about His direction for your life.
Our Sympathetic Savior
Christ understands. Of course, He was tempted in every way, just as we are, yet without sin. As a result, He can sympathize with our weaknesses, struggles, and perplexity (Hebrews 4:14-15). He does not reject our cries for relief because He also cried out prior to the cross. He “offered prayers and pleadings, with a loud cry and tears, to the one who could deliver him out of death.” (Hebrews 5:7). He was fully God, and knew the Father’s plan for His glory through the atoning sacrifice. Christ was also fully man, and knew the incredible agony of the cross. His prayers for deliverance from the cup of suffering went unanswered, but His ultimate desire for the Father’s glory and redemption of man were fulfilled.
Our Good Father
The Bible tells us that “our Heavenly Father gives good things to His children who ask” (Matthew 7:11).Yet, His will, not our desires, determines what is ultimately good for us because He is ultimately good. Our prayers are never ignored or unheeded. Our temporal longings may not be satisfied, but His eternal designs will be accomplished. We soon learn that God’s answer to a particular plea may be “no”, yet with the sure promise of something greater.
Paul’s Example
Yet our perplexity remains as we live with the pain of the burden and the questions about the road ahead. The Apostle Paul writes transparently about this very kind of journey. In 2 Corinthians 12:7-10, he tells of his experience with his thorn in the flesh. We can only speculate of the specific nature of the thorn, but can firmly deduce its severity. It was like a “stake” that impaled him. Paul felt “buffeted” (beat with a fist) by this messenger of Satan.
As we often do, Paul repeatedly begged the Lord to take it away. Yet, God did not remove the pain. Instead, our wise and sovereign Lord responded, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness" (2 Corinthians 12:9). While Paul’s problem apparently did not change, his perspective changed dramatically. He went from being problem-conscious to power-conscious. Paul embraced the weakness he felt and, thus, experienced the great power of Christ’s sufficiency.
No Unanswered Prayers
In reality, the Christ follower's prayers never go unanswered. Our sympathetic Savior, the goodness of our Father, and the example of Paul assure us that God hears and responds. His answers may not always be in accordance with our immediate desires but fulfill God’s ultimate design for our lives. To help us respond properly and endure honorably, Christ gives us sufficient grace. Truly, He has tailor-made grace for everything we face. He lavishes grace on our unique pain and strengthens our inner being to make us thrive, even in the midst of our prolonged perplexities.
The Lessons of Grace and Glory
In the same book where Paul wrote about his thorn, he gives us powerful insight about the change in thinking that occurs in the heart of true disciples, even when our trials threaten to undermine our well-being. Paul writes, “But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us” (2 Corinthians 4:7). Paul learned that his difficult external circumstances and his plaguing physical frailties unleashed a greater power at work in and through him, bringing glory to God. This is the power of the grace of the Gospel.
Paul gets more specific as he continues to write, “we are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed — always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. For we who live are always delivered to death for Jesus' sake, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh” (2 Corinthians 4:8-11).
Then, he reflects on one more benefit of this journey of grace, marked by pain and perplexity. He writes, “For all things are for your sakes, that grace, having spread through the many, may cause thanksgiving to abound to the glory of God” (2 Corinthians 4:15). Through his trials, Paul tasted deeply of grace and was given a vision of God’s ultimate glory in his life, and through his life in fruitful ministry to others.
Perspective for Today
Today, many of us face pain and perplexity that will not go away. It may be physical, emotional, relational, or financial. God may answer our prayers in a way that removes the pain and solves the immediate problem. He may answer our prayers by unleashing new grace in and through the pain.
Either way, we can embrace the right perspective. Read these words carefully, remembering they came from the heart of a man whose “thorn” never went away. May God give us all grace to live with these truths always in mind.
“Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal (2 Corinthians 4:16-18).
Copyright © 2010 Daniel Henderson. All rights reserved.
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This book, Defying Gravity- How to Survive the Storms of Pastoral Ministry, will encourage and equip anyone in ministry to endure the storms of life.
Get your copy today by clicking here!
http://strategicrenewal.com/defying-gravity.htm
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