Not wanting anything to rob me of the amazing ministry we had just experienced, I resigned myself to wait patiently and keep my mouth shut.  I took my place in one of the lines, reminding myself that after a day and a half of restless travel, another half hour of waiting around was not going to kill me.

As the line painstakingly moved forward inch by inch, I saw something unusual.  A pilot pushed his way past all of us and walked right up to one of the Customs workers, a pleasant-looking woman.  Unapologetic to the dozens of people he had just cut in front of, he simply and gruffly stated, “I’m in a hurry.”

I was surprised for two reasons.  First, I had always thought pilots had their own Customs area to pass through, separate from travellers.  Second, given the cranky atmosphere in the room, it was amazing to me that no one had punched him in the face for cutting in line.

The Customs officer was charmingly polite.  “I’m sure you must have a connecting flight somewhere, so I’ll let you cut,” she said with a sincere smile.  “But, just for next time, there’s an area down the hall that’s just for pilots, and you can actually get through there much quicker than here.  Have a great day and a safe flight!”  She gave him another bright smile as she handed his passport back to him.

The woman could not have been more pleasant, considering that the man had just broken protocol and annoyed a roomful of passengers who had been patiently waiting their turn.  And perhaps the pilot was having a really bad day, and somehow misinterpreted her polite kindness towards him.

Still, that does not excuse his actions.  Glaring at her, he took back his ID and walked away, and as he did, he called her a filthy name.

I obviously can’t repeat it here, but rest assured, it was one of the big ones.  So big that a collective gasp rose from everyone who had heard it.

Unfortunately for this pilot, his day was about to get even worse, because another Customs agent had certainly heard it, and he was not nearly as sweet as his co-worker.

“EXCUSE ME, SIR,” the officer’s voice thundered.  “WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY?”

The pilot, who had been walking away from the desk, picked up speed.

“I SAID, EXCUSE ME, SIR,” the officer shouted, standing up and following, his face alive with anger.  “I ASKED YOU WHAT YOU JUST SAID.”

“I didn’t say anything,” the pilot threw over his shoulder, as he practically began to jog towards the door and sweet freedom.

“YOU’RE GOING TO WANT TO STOP WALKING AWAY FROM ME RIGHT NOW,” the officer barked, his voice heavy with authority.  “I JUST TOLD YOU TO STOP MOVING.”

The pilot spun around, indignant and furious, defensive arguments pouring from his lips.  “I already told you, I didn’t say anything, I’m on my way out, so why don’t you just – ”

And his voice stopped short, and the anger drained out of his face.  He stood speechless.

The confronting officer was standing there, rigid, with a severe scowl stamped across his face.  Several other officers had joined him upon hearing the commotion.  And the real kicker was that all of them had placed their hands on their guns.  It was a subtle yet completely intimidating gesture that immediately deflated the irritable man.

The pilot had apparently forgotten that this was post-9/11 air travel, and airports are no place to mess around.

As the pilot stood there, mouth hanging open, the officer began to verbally tear him apart.  “I heard exactly what you said.  After cutting in front of all of these people, that agent was nothing but polite to you.  And whether you agree with her or not, she is a representative of the government of Canada, and worthy of your respect.  No woman should ever hear that kind of language, but especially not one wearing the seal of this government.”

This went on for quite some time, and the pilot simply stood there, red-faced, as he received his much-deserved public dressing-down.  I tell you, it was a sight to see.

I turned to the lady in line behind me.  “I gotta be honest, I feel like cheering right now.”

“Me too,” she said with a smile.

“But I don’t wanna get shot.”

“Me neither.”

It is a truly humbling experience when attitude is confronted by authority.  Whether it be an angry Customs officer, a furious parent, a fed-up teacher, a frustrated employer, or any other irritated authority figure in our lives, most of us have probably been smacked down for our bad/snarky/negative attitude at some point in our existence.  Especially during our teen years.

Sometimes, we need that.  Because really, our attitude affects everything.  It decides whether we’ll have a good day or a bad one.  It determines how we are going to see the world.  It chooses what we will say, how we will say it, and how our words will be projected.  Our attitude elects how we treat others, what we will do with our time, how we manage our work, how we handle our responsibilities, and overall, it establishes our general mood and demeanour.  When we have a bad attitude, it affects more than just our sour expression.

Our attitude is often affected by our circumstances, and that is fair.  Going through great difficulty, or great triumph, is naturally going to make its mark on our mood.  But there is a caution found in the story of Israel’s great struggle in the wilderness, where we learn that our attitude, and just as importantly, our expression of that attitude, is something that God is paying very close attention to.

When Israel was in bondage in Egypt, Scripture tells us that “The LORD said, “I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering,” (Ex 3:7). The God of Abraham had heard the prayers of His children, and was moved with compassion to respond.  At the burning bush, He laid out His gameplan for Moses: “I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless a mighty hand compels him. So I will stretch out my hand and strike the Egyptians with all the wonders that I will perform among them. After that, he will let you go.” (Ex 3:19-20)

And true to His Word, this is exactly what happened.  Exodus chapters 7-12 tells the stories of Moses’ infamous request, (“Let my people go!”), Pharaoh’s refusal due to his hard and stubborn heart, and God’s anger and great power unleashed upon a nation that had violently oppressed His people.  He grandly showed Himself to be the Deliverer of Israel, and made Himself known to them and to the whole world as their God.

It would not take long for the memories of these incredible things to fade from the minds of God’s people.

Upon getting out of the country and quickly reaching the Red Sea, Israel immediately began to regret leaving Egypt (Ex 14:11-12).  Once again God showed His awesome power, dividing the waters and bringing His people through safely.  After they had passed that danger, they began to cry out for water to drink (Ex 15:23-24).  God, once again, provided.  Then it was a lack of food that they were upset about (Ex 16:2-3).  God miraculously showered them with manna and quail.  Then they were whining for more drinking water (Ex 17:2).  God faithfully delivered.

At Mount Sinai, where they visibly witnessed God’s fire and might, they nonetheless complained that Moses was taking too long to come down from the mountain (Ex 21:1).  As they finally neared the Promised Land, they wailed because the future sounded too difficult (Num 14:1-3).  They griped about Moses’ leadership (Num 16:3), they would go on and on about water to drink, and at one point, they eventually got Moses so upset at their constant bellyaching that he got frustrated and careless, falling into sin and missing out on the Promised Land (Num 20:2-5).  In an extreme example of their belly-aching, they even complained about how much they hated the heaven-sent manna that God had miraculously delivered to them! (Num 21:5)

In spite of all that they had been given, Israel always wanted more.  They rarely showed any gratitude, and instead constantly complained about their situation, forgetting that the LORD had been incredibly good to them, had provided for them, and had delivered them from danger over and over again.  They consistently felt like God owed them something because He had brought them out of Egypt, and that unappreciative attitude would manifest itself for forty years in the desert.  And things would get worse.

Anyone who has been around church for any length of time has likely heard a sermon on Proverbs 18:21: “The tongue has the power of life and death.” Although a vivid metaphor, it has proven much more than just a nice word picture, as experience and common sense tell us that this is a true concept.  Our words can be wonderful gifts or deadly weapons.  We can be greatly blessed by someone’s words, or greatly hurt.  Words literally have the ability to create hope, faith, encouragement, and joy for the hearer, or they can create doubt, fear, anger, or bitterness.  The things that we say have tremendous impact on every part of life, and because of that, we are commanded by Scripture to “tame the tongue” (Jam 3) and to guard our lips (Pr 13:3).

Jesus told us that one day, we will stand before our Judge and we will have to give an explanation for “every careless word” that we have spoken in our lives (Mt 12:36).  “For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned” (v. 37), He said.  Clearly, there is a huge personal responsibility placed upon the things that we say.

There is a reason for this that is bigger than just the impact that our words may have on others.  Jesus also said that, when it comes to man, it is “out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks” (Lk 6:45). So, our words are more telling that we realize.  They are the indicators that expose what is going on in our hearts.  Even those things that we say that we may not feel like we really mean – when we are “only venting” or “just having a bad day” – even those words reveal something about what is going on inside us.  The reason that words get such a strong emphasis in Scripture is not just because our words have power to do good or evil – it is because the expression of our mouths says something about who we are, deep down.  Our words broadcast where our heart is at, and our heart is what God is most concerned about (1Sam 16:7).

As Israel wandered the desert, searching for their Promised Land, they would run the gamut of human emotion over the years.  They were at times joyous, but more often despairing; occasionally confidant, but much of the time, fearful; sometimes at peace, but more typically in doubt – they were all over the map!

Finally, as they came to the end of their ordeal and neared the land that they had been waiting for, they would once again screw up, big time.  So much so that the years of criticizing God and His plans would finally come to a head.  Many times He had been angry with them in the wilderness for their attitudes and their grumbling, but every time He would find mercy for their stubbornness and unbelief.  This time, God’s great patience would finally run out, and Israel would bear the consequences of their words and their hearts.

As God’s people neared Canaan, Moses sent spies into the land in order to scout it out in preparation for Israel’s invasion campaign, as well as to get a sense of the blessing that they were walking into (Num 13:17-20).

So twelve spies entered the land, and took their time exploring everything that they needed to.  When they came back, it was with two very different reports.

Two of the spies, Joshua and Caleb, were full of faith and completely trusted God.  “We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it” they said. (Num 13:30).  They were excited and ready to grab a hold of what God had promised His people.

The other ten men on the spy team, however, were full of fear and doubt, saying “ ‘We can’t attack those people; they are stronger than we are.’ And they spread among the Israelites a bad report about the land they had explored. They said, ‘The land we explored devours those living in it. All the people we saw there are of great size.  We saw the Nephilim there (the descendants of Anak come from the Nephilim). We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them.’ “(v.31-33).

Unfortunately, the masses were persuaded by the doubters, and as they had many times before, began to lament their situation and express their disappointment with God.  “If only we had died in Egypt! Or in this desert!” they cried.  “Why is the LORD bringing us to this land only to let us fall by the sword?” (Num 14:2-3)

Before we look at God’s response, it is important to remember the context.  This was not an isolated incident.  From the moment that Israel had been freed from Egypt, they had constantly and consistently complained and spoken against the Lord.  Each time, the LORD had forgiven them.  This was simply the final straw.  God had put up with enough.

‘As surely as I live, declares the LORD, I will do to you the very things I heard you say: In this desert your bodies will fall—every one of you twenty years old or more who was counted in the census and who has grumbled against me. Not one of you will enter the land I swore with uplifted hand to make your home…” (Num 14:28-30)

So we see that the fact that the older generation of Israel perished in the wilderness was not God’s idea.  It was not an elaborate plan of judgement dreamed up by Him where He showed them who was boss.  Nor was it a petty or vindictive act by a God without restraint.

After years of being rejected by His people, God had simply reached the end of His rope.  He does not invent a plan of discipline, or think up the cruellest way to punish Israel.  He simply said, “If that’s really what you believe will happen, then fine – that’s what will happen.”

In essence, He says, “If that’s how little you trust me, if that’s really what you think that I had in store for you, if that’s as high as your faith allows you to believe in me, even after every miraculous thing that I have done for you – if you truly believe that I brought you out here to die, if you truly have such little confidence in your God, after everything that we’ve been through, then so be it.

“I will do to you what YOU have said here.”

Israel’s words weren’t just insulting and belittling to God.  They were a reflection of their consistently faithless attitudes.  They reflected their hearts of stubbornness that refused to trust God, even after the plagues, the Red Sea, manna, quail, and many other miraculous signs of His power.  The people could not stop complaining, and they brought judgment on their own heads.

So, we see from this story that God takes the declarations of our mouths very seriously, and we need to watch very carefully what we say.  Even more importantly, every one of us needs to constantly be checking their heart, as the heart is the source of our words, and we need to seek to renew it by God’s Word and His Spirit, so that it will be more pure in all things, not just the things that we speak out.

Some people take this principle to the point of superstition.  “You’re not sick!” a well-meaning woman snapped at me once when I mentioned that, well, I was.  “Don’t confess that over yourself!  You are healed, in Jesus’ Name!”

The words of our mouths are powerful, but they are not magic spells that automatically fulfill anything that we might say.  We don’t want to be legalistic about this principle.  As with so many things, it’s a matter of the attitude that goes with the words.  Words reveal the heart.  God was angry with Israel because their words consistently revealed their stubborn, unbelieving outlook.  To say, “I’m sick” is not going to get God angry when you are actually sick.  How can one acknowledge His healing power without first acknowledging that you need it?

But, if we will one day give an account for every word, and if our words do come from our hearts, and if they reflect our attitudes and show the secrets of what we are feeling,, and if we are constantly told by Scripture that we need to watch our words, and if they can potentially cause God to react as He did with Israel in the wilderness, then let’s be sure that we get it.  We can’t afford to be careless with what we say, and we must set a guard on our lips so that we are not condemned because of our confessions.  Our lips were made for worship, for blessing, and for encouragement – to reside in a place where we are speaking out words of faith and hope, making clear our trust in God, praising Him for who He is, and bringing life-giving words to all that we meet.

Given the alternative, that’s not a bad place to be.

The party was a sight to see.  Many families attended every year, and there were tons of other kids to play with.  There were more chips and candy than you could ever eat, a huge swimming pool, hot dogs and hamburger meat sizzling on the grill, cotton candy and popcorn machines, a massive TV with tons of video games, an ice cream sundae bar, and magicians and jugglers wandering around the backyard, entertaining all the kids.  And the grand finale, as the sun set, was a massive fireworks show out on the street that the whole neighbourhood would come by and watch.  It was, without a doubt, the perfect event for a child.

Or at least, it should have been.  Actually, my brother and I always hated going.  It’s not that it wasn’t an amazing party, but the truth of that matter was that we just didn’t like most of the kids who were there.

These kids were arrogant and superior, whiny and irritating.  They were unbelievably rude to their parents, and had a snotty air about them that they made them unbearable to talk to.  One year, I saw a child’s mother bring him a hotdog and drink, all done up for him, and place it in his lap while he played video games.  He glanced down at what had been presented to him, and shot her a viscous look.

“Why did you bring me a hot dog?” he snarled.  “I wanted a hamburger.  I won’t eat this.”  And he knocked the plate to the floor.

“Sorry, sweetie,” the mom replied, crawling on her knees to clean up his mess, and then scurrying off to the food table to fix her mistake.

I was shocked.  If I had ever done to my mother what this kid had done to his, my dad would have promptly and angrily set me in my place with a fierce verbal rebuke.  If I was lucky! And I would have fully deserved what I got!

Most of these kids were born into wealthy homes, and had grown up having their every need met.  The parents had provided them with a lifestyle of material things and no consequences, and their children had developed an attitude that such things were owed to them.  They were proud of their parents’ money, made no mistake about showing that pride, and generally let it be known that they got whatever they wanted, they fully deserved what they got, and that anyone with less than that was worth less than them.

The result was clear: these kids were selfish and spoiled rotten.

The general feeling amongst my brother and me at the time is that some of those kids needed a good smack more than anything else.  (I am by no means advocating violence against children.  I only mean to say that, at the time – and possibly even right now, as I reminisce – I just really wanted to punch some of those brats.)

The attitude of entitlement is the curse of a spoiled culture.  While certainly taken to extremes, such as in this group of wealthy families, the truth is that any of us can fall victim to the same mentality if we are not careful.  We may not be rich, but compared to much of the world, we still have lots.  And when we have plenty, it seems to be inevitable that we eventually take it for granted.  We forget that there are many people in the world who are starving, who don’t have clean water, who can’t afford medicine, who live in war-and-disease ravaged countries.  There are millions who have no education, no government assistance, no money, and no hope.  Rather than appreciating everything that we have for the blessing that it is, we can fall into the trap of assuming that our blessings are normal and therefore deserved.  Then, when things stop going our way, we get upset at the disruption in comfort.

It’s a lousy attitude, and it absolutely has got to go.  Jesus said so.  More on that later.

Even the issue of God’s Word and His amazing promises can be taken in a spirit of entitlement rather than of thankfulness.  “Your Word says it, so You must do it!” is a mentality that has infiltrated many veins of Christianity.  There is great value in praying the Word, and in understanding and asking for His promises there to be fulfilled.  The problem comes not in the act of praying into the promises of God, but rather in our attitude as we do so.  When I tell God that He “must” do things for me, even if He has promised to, then I have become God, and He has become my servant.  The great promises of His Word are an incredible privilege and gift, and although we can boldly come before God’s throne (Heb 4:16), it must always be with humility that we walk with Him (Mic 6:8), for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” (Jam 4:6)

Ultimately, the problem is selfishness.  We tend to focus on ourselves and our needs first and foremost.  When my needs are not met in the way that I think they should be, I can begin to grumble.  When God or people do not act in the way that I want them to, and when the blessing doesn’t come in the way that I desire, and when I forget all the amazing things that God has done for me, and when I feel like I am owed something for my troubles, then I have fallen into the self-centred attitude of entitlement.

Notice how many times the word “I” was used in there!

The patriarch Jacob was a selfish guy.  Pretty terribly selfish, actually.  So selfish that he took advantage of his own twin brother and actively deceived his own father just to get what he wanted for himself.

Jacob was the youngest of the twins (Gen 25:26), and as a result, his brother Esau was set to inherit the blessings of the firstborn son.  This meant that when their father died, Esau would get a double-portion of the inheritance, and would inherit the title of head of the family.  Jacob would become subservient to his twin as Esau took over the responsibilities of his father.

Jacob, whose name means “Deceiver”, was not satisfied with this.  He decided to take things into his own hands in order to better his lot in life.   One day, while his brother was out hunting in the fields, Jacob cooked up some stew (v.29).  Upon returning home, his older brother demanded something to eat, because he was starving (ibid).  Jacob offered him some of his dinner in exchange for his birthright – that is, the rights of the firstborn son (v.31).  Esau, living only in the moment of his hunger, gave in and sold his birthright for some bread and stew (v.32-34).

It was a horrible trade, and Scripture would rebuke Esau for his terrible decision (v.34; Heb 12:16).  But that doesn’t change the fact that Jacob selfishly manipulated his brother and stole away something that Esau was fully entitled to.  Jacob had pushed down his own brother in order to get ahead in life.

And it would not stop there.  Later, Jacob schemed to take even more from his brother.  When their father Isaac had grown old and gone blind, and he knew his time was coming to an end, he called for Esau so that he could bless him before he died (Gen 27:2-4).  Far from being merely words of encouragement or prayer, blessing is the means by which Heaven’s power, provision, and resources are released into a person’s life.  When Isaac called to bless his children, he was planning to prophetically speak God’s purposes into their lives, and it was understood that the words of blessing that were spoken would undoubtedly come to pass.

With his mother’s help, Jacob’s scam led him to dress up as his older brother, covering himself in Esau’s scent, and fully taking advantage of his father’s blindness so that he would receive the blessing instead of Esau (Gen 27:15-23).  When Isaac questioned why his firstborn son sounded an awful lot like his youngest, Jacob lied to his face and so deceived his own father (v.21-24).   Isaac blessed the man that he thought was Esau, declaring that he would be successful and prosperous, that nations would bow before him, and that his brother would serve him (v.27-29).

Is that cold or what?!  First Jacob manipulates the birthright out of his own brother’s hands, and then he flat-out steals his blessing!   My brother and I squabbled growing up, but come on!

Jacob would pay for his selfishness.  Enraged at his brother’s deception, Esau plotted to murder him, and Jacob was forced to run for his life (v.41-43).  He went to stay with his uncle Laban in Paddan Aram (29:13-14).  While working for his uncle, he fell in love with Laban’s daughter Rachel, and agreed to work for Laban for seven years in exchange for her hand in marriage (v.16-20).

However, Laban would prove to be an adept liar himself.  On Jacob’s wedding night, Laban pulled the old “switcheroo” and gave Jacob his other daughter, Leah, instead (v.23-25).  An enraged Jacob confronted Laban, who promised to give him Rachel as well, in exchange for another seven years of labour (v.27).  Jacob begrudgingly agreed, having been thoroughly tricked by his uncle, but this was not the end of Laban’s meddling.  The uncle would try to cheat Jacob out of his earnings (30:31-36), and changed his wages on multiple occasions (31:7).  In a biblical twist of irony, Jacob the deceiver found himself up against another very selfish man who tried to use his nephew to get what he wanted, with no regard as to how it would affect Jacob.  It is a fundamental biblical truth that, for better or for worse, we do indeed reap what we sow (Gal 6:7).

Jacob’s troubles were not yet over.  Having had enough of his uncle’s meddling, Jacob attempted to return home (32:3-4).  Sending messengers ahead of him to alert his brother that he was coming, a report came back that Esau was coming out to meet him with a large force of men (v.6).  Still a fair distance from home, Jacob sent his family away that night, fearing what the next day would bring.

During the night, a man appeared before Jacob, and an intense physical struggle broke out between them which continued until daybreak (v.24).  When the visitor saw that Jacob was not backing down, he touched Jacob’s hip, wrenching it out of its socket and leaving him with a limp (v.25).  Somewhere throughout the struggle, Jacob must have gotten some sense that this was no ordinary man, for when the man asked to be released so that he could leave, Jacob refused, saying, “I will not let you go unless you bless me,” (v.26).  It is revealed that Jacob had actually been wrestling with God (v.30), and that he had finally understood that God was the source of all blessing.

Jacob was a selfish man who had taken whatever he wanted from those who were closest to him.  Without caring about how it would hurt those he loved, he decided on what would be best for him and him alone.  It took years of suffering, not to mention a face-to-face wrestling match with Almighty God, in order to get Jacob to realize that all his self-promotion and selfish manoeuvring had been for naught.  With a limp in his step to remind him forever, he had finally learned that blessing came from God, and not from himself.  He had been humbled, and for the rest of the biblical account his behaviour is shown as such.

In a happier ending, the next day Jacob gives great gifts to his brother, who embraces him and forgives him in a tearful reunion (33:1-4).   Ever mindful of his new understanding of God’s blessing and his own inadequacy, Jacob would walk intimately with the LORD for the rest of his life, become father of the Twelve Patriarchs of Israel, and die an old and wealthy man, having walked in God’s blessings and given much blessing to others.

It took years of exile and mistreatment at the hands of his uncle for Jacob to learn the lesson that he needed to.  But after the struggles, through he which he was greatly humbled, he was able to emerge as a stronger man with a much greater trust in God.  His wealth and influence greatly increased, and his sons would form the Twelve tribes of Israel, leaving a lasting legacy that came from God’s hand, and not his own.  It took a long time for the message to get through, but he finally stopped pursuing selfish gains and submitted himself to God’s ways.  The trial had torn down his self-centred ways and left him a humble yet greater man.

If you’ve ever seen a two-year-old, you realize the selfishness is not something that is learned; it is something that we are born with.  It’s an amazing picture of humanity to spend time with a toddler.  In doing do, you begin to marvel at the notion that humans in their earliest stages need to be taught how to share, we need to be taught to consider others, and we need to be taught that our own needs and wants are not the only things that are important.

I once assisted in a toddler class for our church’s Sunday school.  I helped oversee a room of two and three year olds, and still laugh when I think of those days.  Once the parents had dropped them off, much of the innocence and adorable sweetness seemed to disappear, and the classroom quickly delved into a violent and screaming 90-minute episode right out of Lord of the Flies, where the most common phrases out of my mouth were, “Say you’re sorry!” and “No more punching.”

These kids were not bad kids, and some were better than others, but a room full of toddlers without parents is a fascinating social experiment.  They would just take whatever toy they wanted, regardless of whether it happened to be the hands of another child at the moment.  They screamed when things didn’t go their way.  They cried and tattled on each other.  They had no qualms about hitting another kid in the face.  They full-out lied to get what they wanted.  Words like “Mine!” and “Gimme!” filled the atmosphere.  It was a chaotic example of selfishness in its most base form.  These kids were all about themselves.

The good news is that we don’t stay that way.  Though we’re born that way, we know that through our parents, and our siblings, and our schooling, we learn how to share and how to communicate and how to compromise and how to live in community, where everyone’s needs become a part of the equation, and not just our own.

But – let’s be honest – we don’t always do that.  Although most of us are a far cry from the self-absorbed toddlers that we were, most of us also still struggle with some form of self that consistently rises up.  We want our needs met, we want our accomplishments acknowledged, we want a proper amount of attention given to us, and we want to do things our way.

Jesus, as He did with so many things, turns this idea of self upside down.  He encouraged His disciples to avoid self-promoting titles and acknowledgement, saying instead that “The greatest among you will be your servant. For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted,” (Mt 23:11-12). Either way, we are going to be humbled.  The choice is completely ours.  We can choose the path of humility, and let God exalt us in His way, or we can choose our own path, and let Him humble us.  In His way.  The first option sounds infinitely more pleasant.

Jacob lived this principle out, as his selfish attempts at position and prestige led to exile, while his humility before God and his brother led to great reward.  And therein lies a lesson for all of us.  Our struggles in life can be accepted as an amazing opportunity to let ourselves be humbled.  Often, circumstances occur in which we have absolutely no control whatsoever.  We can’t shorten the rough time or alter it; we can merely endure it and wait it out.  Some people use this opportunity to let themselves get bitter.  We can use this opportunity to let ourselves get better.

When Jesus was asked about what the greatest single commandment was, His answer was really two-fold: “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’  This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’ ” (Mt 22:37-39). Loving God is the number-one top priority; loving others is a very close second.  Scripture later states that “the entire law of God can be summed up in this commandment: Love your neighbour.” (Rom 13:9; Gal 5:14)

My life is supposed to be all about God, and all about others.

According to Jesus, the only person that it’s not about is me!

When it comes to living our lives, pleasing God needs to be the most important focus of every day, of every decision, of every thought, of every motivation, of every action.  He needs to be the centre, absolutely and completely.  Immediately after that, our attention needs to be on other people: serving them, putting them first, considering them better than ourselves, swallowing our own desires in favour of them, and doing everything that we can to be a blessing to them.

For us, life is to be spent looking up and looking out, and not focusing on looking at ourselves.  If we live a life of actively serving God and actively serving others, we will find that selfishness has a much harder time rearing its ugly head.

Entitlement and its consequences can be avoided.  When we are God-centred and others-centred, it is difficult for too much self to creep in.  By keeping our focus outwards instead of inwards, we do exactly what Jesus did, who lived a life that honoured the Father and served to bless other people.  “This is how we know we are in him: Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did.” (1Jn 2:5-6). In walking the path of loving God and loving our neighbour, we become Christ-like, and Christ was most certainly not spoiled.

It was a simple process, really.  Throughout the Crusade, when the Christians came upon a non-Christian city, they would take all of the survivors who hadn’t been killed in battle and give them a simple choice: Convert to Christianity…or die right there, on the spot.  Many devout Jews and Muslims chose death.  For those who did choose to convert, it’s probably safe to say that it likely didn’t feel like a warm-fuzzy altar-call moment.  It wasn’t so much about the conviction of sin or the power of the Gospel or the love of the Saviour or the softening of the heart by the Holy Spirit…it was probably a little more about the “I’ll say whatever you want and do whatever you want if it will get you to take that knife away from my throat.”  Goooooood times for the Church.

THAT part was pretty crazy.  Right?  Who does that?!  Can you even believe that they called themselves Christians?

Thankfully, we have moved past the days of “convert or else.”  No longer does the Church maintain that “us verses them” mentality, where the noble Christians stand against a wicked pagan world, tirelessly defending the Gospel against the advances of demonic men.  We no longer attempt to force people into our camp, requiring them to obey our Scriptures, even if they don’t mean it.  We don’t make threats or push agendas upon an unbelieving world.  We have come a long way, baby!

And everyone in agreement said, “Amen.”

Except, HOLD on, wait a minute, there’s something about that last part that doesn’t sound quite right…

Because while we have certainly abandoned the violent and deadly tactics of the Crusaders, there is still something that sounds alarmingly familiar when we look at how the followers of Jesus sometimes connect with the world around us today…

A knife to the throat of a pagan has been replaced by threats of economic boycotts against national retailers who say “Happy Holidays” instead of “Merry Christmas.”  The days of violently marching on Jerusalem are over, but there is still an angry Christian crowd that gathers every time someone tries to take the Ten Commandments down from a courthouse. We don’t try to force change by the edge of a blade, but we do try to force the world to obey our morals by trying to get laws passed that will MAKE the world follow Scriptural ideas!  We don’t kill someone who refuses to repent anymore, but Christians will withdraw all political support from a candidate who doesn’t support school prayer.  The Crusader mentality persists.  The methods today are clearly very different, thankfully, but the underlying motive is the same:

Do it our way, world, or else there will be consequences.

Isn’t this just crazy backwards?  Isn’t our focus on the wrong thing?  Why are we getting mad at an unsaved world…for acting like an unsaved world?  That’s not to say that we need to embrace or accept what is happening in silence, but I can’t get frustrated with non-Christians when they act in ways that are inconsistent with God’s Word…because they don’t believe in God’s Word yet!  Why would they want to follow it?  I sure didn’t before I got saved.  I’ll bet all the money in my pockets that you didn’t, either.

Trying to force the world to jump through our hoops and do things our way when they aren’t yet in relationship with Jesus is like trying to teach a 3-year old to drive a car.  The kid isn’t in a place yet where he can understand it, and it’s all irrelevant anyway because he’s not able to physically do it.  You can’t get mad at the kid; he’s just not there yet.   Too many times what we’re really doing is raging at the lost for being lost, and that is something that Jesus never did.

While living in purity and staying separate from the world’s corruption, Jesus managed to find a way to both fully engage the culture while challenging it at the same time.  He had no problem calling people on their sin, and had no problem pushing people to be better, but we see in the heart of Christ an underlying motivation behind all of it:

“When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.” (Mt 9:36)

And therein lies the proper attitude towards the culture around us!  It was that same compassion that cried out from the cross, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” (Lk 23:34) We can hate what they do and dispute what they value, but we must always remember that there is a truth that they have not yet embraced, and this is why they live that way.  I did too, once, and so did you.  It would be pretty hypocritical of me to condemn them for something that I also did, pre-Jesus.

The “us versus them” mentality is as ancient and out of place in today’s world as swords and armour.  All of those things belong back in the Middle Ages.  Jesus came to save the world, not to condemn it (Jn 3:17).  All judgements about the world’s actions, and any consequences to be unleashed on the world belong in His hands alone, NOT the Church’s (Rev 20:13).  We can stand for righteousness and certainly make our opinions known, but to think of the lost as our enemies who can be bullied into our belief system is an incredible departure from the heart of Jesus, as well as a usurping of His God-given authority.

We are clearly called to live differently from the ungodly values that surround us (2Co 6:16-17), but there is nothing in the life of Jesus that teaches us that the crowds were an enemy to be fought.  My job is not to force people to obey God’s righteous standard, or ELSE; my job is represent the life and character of Jesus everywhere, and to always tell my story of what the Good News did for me.  If I do this well, anointed by the Spirit, then it won’t be a matter of having to force people to be obedient to something that they don’t believe in.  If I do this well, they are going to want the Jesus that I have and want to live His way.

We are interested in genuine life conversion, not just insincere, forced righteous actions at the point of a knife, or a boycott, or a political rally.  We need to focus on the root and not the symptoms.  All of us were guilty of the same things at one point or another; we found our way to Jesus, and everything else changed from there.

Remember that?  Please…let’s remember that.

At age 75, he was told by the LORD that he would be made into “a great nation” (Gen 12:2), and that his offspring would possess a special land that God has set apart just for them (v.7), even though he had zero offspring at the time.

We don’t know how much time passed before God spoke again, but a few chapters of narrative later, God promises that Abraham (back when he was still called “Abram”) would have a son of his own (15:4), and that his descendants would be more numerous than the uncountable stars in the sky (v.5).  While the childless man stared up at the infinite lights spotting the heavens, God tells him, “So shall your offspring be,” (ibid).

What happens next is that, plainly, Abraham screws up.  His wife, tired of waiting for this promise to be fulfilled through her, gives her maidservant Hagar to Abraham to sleep with, so that Hagar might conceive and give her child to Sarah to raise as her own son (Gen 16:1-2).  Abraham feels that this is a good idea.

Hagar conceives, and the birth of the son-who-is-not-really-a-real-son causes so much tension in the household that Hagar eventually flees with her son, Ishmael (v.6-7), although they would later return.  When Ishmael was born, Abraham was 86.  Eleven years had passed since the original promise had been given.

After Ishmael was born, thirteen years would pass before God shows up to Abraham once again.  He brings a point of clarification, telling Abraham that Sarah will actually give birth herself, and this son will be the one that was promised (Gen 17:19).  Apparently Abraham needed to be corrected that when God said a son was coming, He didn’t mean with the maid.

The man of God has been waiting 24 years at this point for God’s word to come to fruition in his life.  And what he is now waiting for is not just unlikely; it is downright impossible.  Abraham is ancient, nearly a century old at this point.  When told this news by God, Abraham “laughed and said to himself, “Will a son be born to a man a hundred years old? Will Sarah bear a child at the age of ninety?” (17:17).  The sun has long-since set on their child-bearing capabilities.  Decades have passed since menopause, and this couple is facing the end of their lives.  Babies are not produced by couples like this.

But God couldn’t care less about what biology would have to say on this matter.  Sarah conceives, and gives birth to a son (Gen 21:2).  No maid required.  And in her great joy, she gave him the name Isaac, which means “he laughs”, saying “God has brought me laughter, and everyone who hears about this will laugh with me,” (v.6).  Years of waiting, praying, crying, and hoping had paid off.  God had done what He said He would do.

However long you have been waiting for God’s word to be fulfilled in your life, and however impossible that promise might seem, you are not a 100-year-old man waiting for his 90-year-old wife to get pregnant.  Abraham waited 25 years for his promise to be fulfilled.  In the meantime, he tried to fulfill it himself, through natural means with Hagar, and he also had moments of doubt along the way through his trial.  Scripture certainly does not encourage these actions, but it is encouraging to know that Abraham had rough days, made a terrible choice, and yet still God managed to bring him around into his purpose.

And through Abraham, we learn one of the greatest lessons of all of the heroes of Scripture.

The Word tells us, “Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” (Rom 4:18).

How powerful is that?

When there was no hope, what did Abraham do?

He hoped.

When there was absolutely no earthly possibility for a baby, when science and common sense were stacked against him, when there was absolutely no reason to expect that the promise if God would possibly be fulfilled, Abraham hoped nonetheless.  He found a way to hope for what was coming.

This was not a statement of denial on his behalf.  He wasn’t saying, “I’m young at heart and my body is going to be just fine for baby-making!”  Scripture says that “he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead—since he was about a hundred years old—and that Sarah’s womb was also dead,” (v.19). He fully acknowledged the gravity and reality of his situation.

He just chose to acknowledge a higher power more.

Abraham knew that the Creator of the universe was not to be limited by what his earthly eyes could see.  Words like “too old” and “dead womb” are meaningless to the One for whom nothing is impossible.

Abraham held onto hope in his God, “being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised.” (v.21).  This is, as mentioned, not to say that he didn’t have moments of doubt.  Even Jesus had those (Mt 26:36-42).  But he clung to the promise, through 25 years of ups and downs, and did not fall away from the trust that God would do what He said He would.

Because of this, not only did he get his son that he had waited and prayed for, but he also got the title of “the father of all who believe” (4:11). He is our great example of faith and hope, and one of our greatest stories of promise fulfilled.

It is his hope that got him through the day.  Even when all hope was exhausted, Abraham chose to find hope nonetheless.  Hope kept his spirits up, his heart light, and his thoughts focused on God.  That hope – that confident expectation of fulfillment – was what got him through his trial.  It will get us through ours, as well.

So often for us, hope becomes a lack-of-faith word, rather than an encouraging one.  “I sure hope so,” we say, when things are looking bad.  “I hope things work out,” when it doesn’t look like they will.  “I hope that couple makes it,” when it looks obvious that they won’t.  Hope really becomes a word of doubt rather than of faith.

But Scripture calls our hope in God “an anchor for the soul, firm and secure.” (Heb 6:19).  God’s hope comforts us, keeps us stable, and gets us through the day.  For all who believe, there is a knowledge that God is in control, that He does not make mistakes, and that He loves us.  Hope brings us to life.

Faith and hope need to partner together to get us through our tough times.  Faith is our trust that God’s word is true; hope is our expectation that it will come to pass.  We can have faith without hope, where we believe that something can happen but don’t really anticipate that it will.  Faith is the solid road that we are travelling down in this life, but hope is the gas that fuels the car and keeps us moving forward.

Faith says, “I believe that God can.”  Hope says, “I am confident that He will.”

Even Job, in the midst of the most terrible pain one can imagine, did not lose his expectation that God would work things out.  Not knowing exactly what was going on, Job raised his voice and made this declaration about His God:

“Though he slay me, yet will I hope in him,” (Job 13:15).

And there it is.  God wasn’t slaying him, but Job’s heart is made so clear in this moment.  So solid and unshakable is his determination that, even in the middle of his brokenness, he tells God that even if He were to kill him, Job would not be shaken from that hope.  That confident expectation that the LORD is good, and would do good always.

Hope does not dwell in the moment, or even the next few moments, but looks down the road to fulfilment.  Hope plants the seed, nurtures the shoot, and waits for the harvest.  Hope doesn’t cry when things do not immediately come to pass, but instead hope waits patiently, knowing that seed that is sown must be reaped at the right moment.  Hope looks down the road to the day that prayers get answered, and looks up to Heaven, and says, “It is well with my soul.  I know that my God will hear me.”

Scripture calls our Lord “the God of hope,” (Rom 15:13).  And as we put our hope in Him, we will find the strength to get through the day.  Hope is the great encourager.  We must grab it, fight for it, and cling to it, refusing to let it go.  It is what we need more than anything else.

The town is small and unassuming, with 14,000 residents, mostly of Pashtun descent.  It is a marketplace centre for the region and appears very similar to the other small towns that dot the Afghan countryside.

Yet during the war in Afghanistan, it was the centre of some of the fiercest fighting of the entire conflict.

This town, for all its humble appearances, lays on some of the most fertile farmland in the country, and because of that, has been a centre of opium growth and distribution for decades.  The oppressive Taliban regime was well-established in the town, and used the income that came in from the drug trade to fund their armed activities.

As the Coalition forces began securing the country and pushing the Taliban out of the towns, Sangin would become a fiercely contested area, due to the insurgents desperately wanting to protect their poppy fields.  A UN convoy was attacked by enemy soldiers as it passed through the town, and Coalition troops who came to escort the trucks through also came under fire.  Because of this, the decision was made to station troops permanently in the town, and to use it to establish a military base for the region.

In June of 2006, a company of British soldiers took up their permanent position in Sangin, after Taliban raids had recently killed 59 civilians in the town.  For a few days, all was quiet, as the troops fortified their positions and established their new base.

This quiet would soon cease.

The enemy began launching violent raids against the town daily, often attacking five or six times in one day.  They slowly encircled the town, eventually taking control of all roads leading in and out of Sangin, and surrounded the area outside the town with land mines, IED’s, snipers, and ambush positions.  British helicopters had difficulty flying into the town due to rocket fire from the hidden Taliban fighters, and so relief and resupply was sporadic and unreliable.  For all intents and purposes, the town of Sangin was completely cut off from help and under siege, with the British troops vastly outnumbered and outgunned.

The standoff would last for nine months. Every day, Taliban raiders would throw themselves at the town, pouring machine-gun fire and rocket attacks against the British fortifications.  Every time, the British pushed them back.  Mortar rounds launched from the fields well outside the walls fell into the centre of the town throughout the day and night, and the sounds of guns, bombs, and the cries of the wounded was constant.  Fighting was almost completely continuous for the duration of the conflict, and several NATO efforts at relieving the town would fail.

Finally, after months of bloodshed, the Coalition forces made Sangin their top priority, and launched a massive assault against the Taliban positions in the area.  Helicopter gunships, heavy artillery, warplane strikes, laser-guided missiles, and hundreds of troops came ferociously against the enemy, and finally broke their chokehold on the town.  The exhausted British soldiers who had singlehandedly endured months of constant, viscous assaults were relieved.  With Sangin freed from its siege, the town was able to become a Coalition stronghold, and has been used as a launching point for action against the enemy ever since.

When you are under siege, morale becomes as much a threat as the enemy you are fighting.  Often, when we are feeling like we are overwhelmed by our circumstances, part of the struggle is with our attitude, as we feel like we are losing.  The nature of the daily battle is that we fight and fight and don’t seem to get anywhere.  Nothing seems to change, and our condition seems to be consistently difficult.  Just as the British soldiers must have felt, we get exhausted from dealing with the same thing all the time, and wonder why we can’t seem to win a victory over our ordeal.

But when we’re hard-pressed on every side by our circumstances, the definition of “victory” changes.  The besieged soldiers weren’t expected to be out destroying enemy strongholds; they were simply expected to hold their ground.  Every time the outnumbered, beleaguered soldiers pushed the enemy back, they were accomplishing an incredible feat.  They didn’t need to be out doing amazing exploits to become heroes.  Standing strong in the middle of the chaos was more than enough.

One time in Scripture, and only one, we see Jesus come as close to full out despair as we ever see Him.  His circumstances became overwhelming, His flesh was struggling with obeying God, and for all intents and purposes, He hit the wall.  Emotionally and spiritually drained, He was at the lowest point of His life.

That night, the night before His death, we find Him in the garden of Gethsemane.  Judas has left to bring His enemies to Him, and the sequence of events has been launched that will ultimately end in His betrayal, abandonment, arrest, abuse, and horrifying death.  The weight of this terrible reality is crushing Him.

He says to His followers, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me,” (Mt 26:38).  He walks off into the darkness, alone, and falls with His face to the ground.  With loud cries and tears, He calls upon His Father (Heb 5:7).  He prays, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me,” (Mt 26:39).   He asks if there is any other way, any way that this trial can pass Him by, any way that He can avoid the terrible fate that awaits Him.  But even in His heartbreaking state, He refuses anything but obedience to what His Father wants: “Yet not as I will, but as you will,” (ibid).

One can only imagine the intensity of what He was feeling that night.  Scripture says that “being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground,” (Lk 22:44). The strain was so intense that His body was showing the effects of it.  He was literally carrying the weight of the whole world on His shoulders.

What makes this evening even more remarkable is that it had actually begun days earlier.  The Word tells us that “As the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem,” (Lk 9:51).

When Jesus knew that the horror of the cross was drawing close, He didn’t hesitate or pull away from the trial.  He actually turned into it, and walked with purpose straight into the hardship.

A couple of other interpretations of this verse from Luke help to paint an amazing picture:

“When it came close to the time for his Ascension, he gathered up his courage and steeled himself for the journey to Jerusalem.” (MSG)

“Now when the time was almost come for Jesus to be received up [to heaven], He steadfastly and determinedly set His face to go to Jerusalem.”  (AMP)

The image created is one of a man who knows what is in store for Him, who knows that it will be unbelievably and unbearably difficult, but who knows that He must go through this pain nonetheless.  He doesn’t falter, but draws upon every ounce of strength and courage within Him, and turns His eyes towards His death, and determinedly walks right into it.

And how did He get through it all, exactly?

Scripture gives us the answer, as it so often does.  It tells us to keep our eyes locked on Jesus, “who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God,” (Heb 12:2).

And there it is!  That’s how He got through it.  He saw the joy set before Him.  He saw the souls that would find freedom because of the cross.  He saw eternity in Heaven with those who would trust in Him.  He saw an end to sin and death forever, a crushing of the Enemy under His feet, and a people whose chains would be broken because of His sacrifice.  He saw hope coming to His children who He loved.  And He saw a reunion with His Father in Heaven, where He would take His rightful seat at the right hand of God and rule over a Creation that was being redeemed for all time because of His sacrifice.

He knew that the brief season of pain would be terrible, but it would be over.  And afterwards, the good things that the trial would release would be more than worth the cost.  Of His death, He would tell His disciples that it was like a woman going through the agony of childbirth, “but when her baby is born she forgets the anguish because of her joy that a child is born into the world,” (Jn 16:21).

Scripture understands that the seasons of hardship are painful, but that they bring great reward for those who can hold on through them.  The Apostle Paul wrote, “we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us…” (Rom 5:3-4). The nature of suffering is that we are given two options: we can press through it, or we can choose not to, and instead fall into self-pity and despair.  The Son of God chose not to wallow in His ordeal; He chose to meet it head-on, and face what was ordained for Him.  In so doing, He made it through victorious, and set the example for the rest of us.

As He walked the road from Gethsemane to Jerusalem, facing certain doom, Jesus performed no miracles, did no teaching, and encouraged no one during these hours.  That was not the point.  All of His energy went into simply pressing through the immediate trial.  By looking past the immediate hardship, and seeing the blessing that was on its way, He found the strength to keep on pressing through the hurt, knowing that God was working out something greater than what was merely happening on the surface, and knowing that, if He held on, He would see amazing things on the other side of the cross.

A story, likely apocryphal, tells of an Eastern monarch who wanted to challenge his advisors.  He charged them to invent a statement that would be true in any situation, at any time, forever.  After much thought and discussion, they returned to their king with four simple words, which are always true and always valid:

“This too shall pass.”

Time marches on, faithfully and without favouritism.  Pain will fade, circumstances will change, hardships will pass, and lessons will be learned.  When you’re under siege, every day that the walls still stand is a victory.  The fact that we are under attack or being pressed is not the issue; to make it through the struggle intact is triumph enough.  Our victory comes in pressing through the ordeal, and surviving.   By holding fast and making it through, we walk in the footsteps of the Saviour (1Jn 2:6).  And if that is true, then we can also expect that, as Jesus overcame the cross with great reward, that we too will see reward as persevere through the trial.  For we are promised that, “at the proper time we will reap a harvest, if we do not give up.” (Gal 6:9)

In the interim period between when I interviewed at the church and before I had heard back from them, I was visiting another church with a friend.  After the service, we stayed and chatted with some of the young adults from the church.  One young man asked me about myself, and I was telling him about finishing up Bible College, having an interview, and waiting to hear if I was going to be offered the job.  I shared with him that the interview had gone well, and that I had been seriously praying and fasting, pressing into God, and that I really felt that this church was the right place for me.  I wouldn’t know for sure until I got the phone call, but I was excited that I had landed on God’s will for the next phase of my life.

“How do you know?” he asked me.

“What do you mean?”

“How do you KNOW it’s the right place?  Did you hear an audible voice from heaven, or what?”

“No,” I sort of chuckled.  “Nothing that clear.  I have just been praying, meditating, fasting, and being quiet before the Lord, and I really feel in my heart that this is the right place.  I feel His peace on me when I think about it.  That’s why I feel that I am going to be going there.”

The guy rolled his eyes.  “So you haven’t actually HEARD from God that you’re supposed to go?  You’re basing this all on “feelings” and that peace?  You’re not positive?”

I found myself getting a little defensive.  “Well, I can’t say that I’ve EVER actually “heard” a voice from God.  And I’m not basing this on “feelings”; I’m basing it on what I feel in my heart after much prayer and fasting.  I can’t say that I’m positive, but I am confidant.  And actually, since you brought it up, I’ve found that the peace of God can be a pretty dependable roadmap to finding the will of God for my life.”

The conversation went on for quite some time.  This young man was earnest and obviously was committed to following Jesus, but we were just not on the same page on this issue.  I wasn’t trying to tell him what to do with his own walk with God, but I was simply trying to explain that, in my experience, God’s will for us isn’t always crystal clear in every situation.

“That’s ridiculous,” he said to me.  “You should never do anything until you’ve HEARD from God.  You should never step out into anything until you are POSITIVE that you are in His will.  Otherwise, what if you are wrong?  What if you’ve made a mistake?  I never do anything without being 100% sure that I am doing what God wants, and I have no idea how you can even think about taking this job until you are positive.  How can you step out if you’re not completely sure?”

I’d had enough.  We were never going to agree.  I smiled, shook his hand, and prepared to walk away.  But before I did, I just shared one more simple thought:

“I guess that’s what ‘faith’ is.”

Later that week, a phone call from the church confirmed what I had felt God laying on my heart, and even though I had not seen a burning bush telling me what to do, I left nonetheless and started an amazing season of fruitful ministry in a loving, Spirit-filled, Bible-believing church.

Scripture tells us that “faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see,” (Heb 11:1). The very nature of faith itself is that we trust in something that we cannot fully see.  If we could see God clearly, then it would cease to be faith.  We may fully believe that God is real, and w may have lots of evidence of Him working in and through our lives, but because we have never seen Him, touched Him, or experienced Him face to face, we have to take it on faith that He is there.

Many cannot bring themselves to trust in such a God.  Over the years, I have had many people say to me things such as, “I would believe in God, if I had some evidence.  If something came along that was more convincing then what my five senses tell me, then I might believe.”  But that is the whole point; trusting God transcends what our eyes and ears and brains can prove.  We see His evidence in creation, in His Word, and in our personal experiences with Him in our transformed lives, but still, for all of us, it comes down to a matter of faith: choosing to believe in an invisible God because we trust that He is there.

We can provide much evidence, but we can’t prove that He exists.  And the thing is, we are not supposed to.  When Jesus walked the earth, the Pharisees demanded a miraculous sign from Heaven that would prove once and for all that He was the Son of God; such requests received a stern rebuke from the Christ (Mt 12:38-39).  They wanted clear evidence that their eyes could see, but Jesus would not indulge them.  The nature of faith is that we believe that He is, and we trust that He is, and we live our lives because He is, even though we can’t see Him.

The true way in which we walk with God is made clear by Scripture; we are told that “We live by faith, not by sight,” (2Co 5:7).  What our eyes tell us is secondary to what the faith in our hearts tells us.  What appears before us in any given situation is subservient to what the Word of God tells us.  If everything that we do is simply in reaction to what we can physically see in our circumstances, then by definition, we are no longer walking by faith; we are walking by sight.  The very character of faith is that we trust God, even if what we see disagrees with what His Word says.  We believe, even if we have no natural reason to believe.  We hope, even if our circumstances appear to be hopeless.  In all situations, true faith says, “I believe in a God that is bigger than just what I can see.”

Faith is the most important thing that we have.  It allows us to hold onto God in all circumstances, and to trust Him in all impossibilities.  It is the foundation of our relationship with Him, it is the basis of our salvation, and it is the reason that we can stand with confidence upon His Word: because we believe.

Faith is like a muscle that needs to be exercised; it grows the most through struggle.  Because of this, we will often find ourselves in circumstances where we can’t always see the blessing of God.  That’s the process of the testing: will you still believe, even though you can’t see it?  If your eyes tell you “no”, can you still summon enough hope to say, “Yes!”?

If we can see the answer to prayer, then we are not walking in faith, and so God will take us places where we cannot naturally see anything.  If we want to walk with Jesus, we will find ourselves in places where there is no earthly reason to believe that something is going to come to pass.  By being there, we are challenged to “fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” (2Co 4:18). This is what true faith is (Heb 11:1).

We know that our lack of faith can actually limit God’s work in our lives.  James talks about a man coming to God in prayer, saying “he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does,” (Ja 1:6-8). We know that when Jesus walked the earth, he occasionally met crowds who opposed Him.  In His hometown, He found much doubt at His powers, because people could not believe that the little boy they once knew was now a prophet, and so Scripture tells us “he did not do many miracles there because of their lack of faith.” (Mt 13:58).

This thought has often discouraged the Church over the years.  We can easily feel as though our lack of faith is the root cause of every problem in our lives.  But here’s the good news: we don’t need much faith in order to please God!  Jesus said that even a mustard seed’s worth of faith was more than enough to move mountains (Mt 17:20).  If that is all that is required to release God’s great power, then whatever little faith we can muster with our strength in the rough times must surely be acceptable to Him!

The book of Hebrews tells us that “without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him,” (Heb 11:6). Or, put a more positive way, faith pleases God, and leads to reward!  By holding onto what we believe, even when it seems impossible, we are walking in the footsteps of Noah, Abraham, Moses, and many other heroes of the faith that are listed in Hebrews 11.  These spiritual giants faced incredible obstacles in their lives, but they never let go of their trust in God.  Because of this, they are counted among the great in Scripture, and their legacy is left to inspire us.  We live by faith, not by sight.  My eyes may tell me what reality looks like, but God’s reality supersedes what my eyes can see.

Knowing this, I press on, and hold onto my confident expectation that God will prove Himself once again.

Scripture is full of them, and since we believe that the Bible is true, we know that the statements that we find in the pages of God’s Word are real pledges that He has given to His people, and so we can trust that they work, and that they will come to pass as He has said.

But here’s a humdinger of a guarantee that likely won’t get a lot of amens on a Sunday: “In this world, you will have trouble,” (Jn 16:33).

Jesus said this at the Last Supper, right before a world of trouble was about to break out against everyone sitting at the table.  Within the next day, Jesus would dead, Peter will have denied Him, and all of them would be in hiding from the angry crowds, having abandoned their Master to His death.

We are promised difficulty in this life.  And yet, we are also promised so much more.

First, we are told that seasons of trial are just that: seasons.  They are not everlasting, but temporary.  Peter encouraged the Church, acknowledging that “for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials,” (1Pe 1:6). Scripture tells us that “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven,” (Ecc 3:1). This includes the season of struggle.  And like any season, there is a process of sowing, and then waiting, and then harvest.  There is a timing to the trial where God waits until the harvest from the hardship is ready for us, and then He allows us to reap and move on from it.

The good news is that the trial will end.

Second, trials are preparation for something.  So often in Scripture we see great trials occur right before new blessing is released.   Jesus needed to go through forty days with Satan before He could do a single act of ministry.  Moses spent forty years in hiding before he was ready to lead God’s people from captivity.  The Hebrew’s time spent wandering in the desert was a prelude to them finally getting their Promised Land.  And the nation of Israel found themselves crushed under an oppressive, Jew-hating Roman regime, in the years before the Saviour would finally be released to the world.

God uses these seasons of hardship to spiritually and practically prepare us for something that is coming.  He tears down the bad character in our life and raises up more godly characteristics, using the struggle to shape us into who He needs us to be.  And although we may not “deserve” the hardship that we are facing, in any situation we can always be more Christ-like.  So the Word tells us to “Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons…No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.” (Heb 12:7;v.11) Our trials are training times, where God prunes us to make us into the most fruitful versions of ourselves that we can be (Jn 15:2).  Once this has happened, then we are ready to be promoted in the Kingdom.  But the training must come first.

Paul said that “we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us…” (Rom 5:3-5). God knows that some of the best character-forming times occur, not when things are great, but when things are hard.  And because most of us would never willingly volunteer for personal hardship, He sends circumstances against us that we must overcome.  By placing us in situations that we need to struggle through, the Lord is able to use these things to form us into the image of His Son.

As well, it was during the trial that many of the heroes of Scripture also learned practical things that they were going to need in order to walk in their approaching destiny.  Joseph became adept at management and administration while overseeing Potiphar’s house in captivity, and then while assisting the warden while in prison; good skills for a prime minister to have!  David learned how to be a leader and command troops while on the run, which would be a key to his kingly reign later on.  Jesus’ time in the wilderness was not the last time that He would face off against the demonic powers; His desert temptation gave Him tools to overcome the enemy.  During our ordeals, there is a divine preparation happening in the natural as well as in the spiritual for each of us.

Thirdly, trials are a test.  God uses them to prove our hearts, expose our flaws, and show us who we really are.  There are four very important questions that He asks us as we struggle:

1. Will you still believe Him?

Peter wrote to the Church concerning trials, saying that “These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed,” (1Pe 1:7). Faith that is not tested and proven is not faith at all.  And the only way that faith can be tested is be put in situations where we are forced to walk by faith, and not by sight (2Co 5:7).  If we can see the answer to prayer, then we are not walking in faith, and so God will take us places where we cannot naturally see anything.  If we want to walk with Jesus, we will find ourselves in places where there is no earthly reason to believe that something is going to come to pass.  By being there, we are challenged to “fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” (2Co 4:18). This is what true faith is (Heb 11:1).

2. Will you still worship Him?

This was the nature of Job’s trial; Satan was sure that if Job was pushed hard enough, He would turn away from God and curse His Name (Job 1).  It is perfectly easy to worship God when things are going great.  There is no challenge in thankfully praising Him when everyone is healthy, at peace, joyful, and comfortable.  But when the tough times come, the challenge arises: Is your worship conditional on your circumstances?  Or like David as he fled for his life, are you truly able to say, “I will extol the LORD at all times; his praise will always be on my lips.” (Ps 34:1)

3. Will you still obey Him?

Abraham was challenged by God to very possibly the worst of all trials: to sacrifice his beloved son (Gen 22).  This came to test him, to see if he truly feared the LORD and would obey Him no matter what (v.16).  Of Israel’s forty years of wilderness, Scripture says, “Remember how the LORD your God led you all the way in the desert these forty years, to humble you and to test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands,” (Dt 8:2). By walking through the trial, we are tested in whether we will keep God’s Word, even if we don’t feel like it because of our situation.

4. Will you let God work on your character?

This is one of the most important questions for us to decide on.  We need to make the choice of whether or not we are willing to submit to the process that God has mapped out for us.  God tells us that He “will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver” (Mal 3:3). A refiner would heat the silver until it was liquid, and as it got hotter, the impurities would rise to the surface of the liquid silver, where they could be scooped out, leaving the silver purer through the process.  This metaphor is apt, as it describes the process that God uses with us to make us more like Jesus.

We are rarely at our best in our hardships.  The stress of the situation, the sleepless nights, the irritable people, the endless waiting, the incredible anxiety – these things don’t typically bring out our best qualities.  When God places the fire of affliction underneath us, it faithfully causes our flaws to rise up to the surface.  In the fire, we see our true, full character for what it is, and things like our lack of faith, our impatience, our temper, our self-righteousness, our self-reliance, and many others, will rise to the surface and be clearly visible.  When they are, we have the opportunity to acknowledge them, repent of them, and let our Father deal with them and remove them from our lives, if we are willing to let Him do His work.

Fourth, and finally, God has absolutely no doubt that you will make your way through your ordeal.  He has promised us that He will not permit you to be tempted “beyond what you can bear,”(1Co 10:13). In that sense, as difficult as your situation may be, it is almost flattering in a way: God has allowed something that He KNOWS you can handle!  He does not doubt for one minute that you will pass this test!  He is fully confident that you have what it takes, and He is not worried at all about your ability to prevail, even if you are.

Not only is He confident in you, but of course, we place all of our confidence in Him (Ps 25:5).  He has promised us that “no weapon forged against you will prevail,” (Isa 54:17). And in light of resurrection, what else in life can possibly overcome us?  If sin and death have been defeated forever, then what else can possibly stand against us?  What else can possibly prevail?  What trial can ever bring us down?  If death itself has been destroyed, then any other struggle that we face is going to be child’s play to the One who conquered the eternal grave.

Jesus is the “the author and perfecter of our faith,” (Heb 12:2); He is One writing our story and He is the One making it perfect.  And if we believe that “in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose, (Rom 8:28), then we really have no need for any worry.  This trial will end, He will use it to prepare us for what is next, and we will grow immensely because of it.  He promises.

Jesus was right in what He said; in this world, we do face trouble.  In our lifetimes, we may well face sickness, loneliness, poverty, hatred, accusations, division, deception, frustration, sin, and many other manner of struggles.

But now’s the part where I admit I misled you slightly at the beginning of this teaching.  I told you that the Word promises us that, “In this world you will have trouble.” (Jn 16:33).  Scripture does say this, and it is certainly true, but it is not the whole story.  Because I only told you half the verse.

The verse in its entirety reads much more hopefully, as Jesus tells us: “In this world you will have trouble.  But take heart! I have overcome the world.” (Jn 16:33)

You would think that this would change when we became Christians.  After all, Jesus said that the most important thing that we could ever possibly do is love God and love other people (Mt 22:37-40).  If God is number one in our lives, and other people are number two, then you would think that issues with other people would be pretty much non-existent.  To offend someone else violates this commandment of love, and to hold onto anger against someone when they hurt us also throws out the love principle, because we don’t remain mad at the people we truly love.

But we know that this ideal that Jesus laid down is not always as easy to live out as it is to quote angrily at others when they annoy us.  People hurt us, and we hurt them, and people get mad at us, and we get mad at them, and people hold onto bitterness because of us, and us because of them.  Like that smart guy was saying, every single one of us has hurt someone, and every single one of us has been hurt by someone else.

I hated dogs growing up.  We were a cat family, and I always enjoyed a cat’s independence and lack of neediness.  With a cat, you just need to clean out the litterbox, throw down some food, and the cat will be perfectly content on its own, showing up for a little affection from time to time, but not overly requiring human interaction.  With dogs, they always need your attention; you have to walk them, put them outside, pick up their poop, play with them, and just overall give them a lot of your time and energy….no thank you.  Cats are just easier, and dogs are too much work.  I would never, ever own a dog.

This was an unalterable truth in my life until I met the most beautiful woman in the world, who would eventually become my wife.  She was smart, funny, charming, sweet, caring, and completely in love with Jesus.  (She still IS all of those things…and MORE….nice save, Chris!)

Her one glaring flaw was that she owned a dog.  A female miniature Schnauzer named “Jax”.  I thought it was a stupid name.  And the dog yapped a lot, those really high-pitched barks that pierce your ears.  She bit my pant legs whenever I walked by.  If I didn’t play with her, she would sit and growl at me until I did.  She always jumped into my lap and wanted to cuddle whenever I sat down, and yes, as my relationship with Sarah grew, I found myself begrudgingly walking the dog, taking her outside, picking up her poop, and falling into that most unenviable role of dog-caretaker.

The things we do for love.

But, wouldn’t you know it (as all dog owners who are reading this nod and smirk smugly), that little mutt wormed her way into my heart.  For all of her barking and pooping, this was a creature that completely adored me without reason.  When I came to visit Sarah, Jax would charge to the front door as I opened it, jump all over me, her little nub of a tail wagging up a storm, yipping and whimpering, as if I had been off to war. When I would pet her, she gazed worshipfully into my eyes, and when I played with her in the backyard, she bounded around in pure, unadulterated joy.  She really made me feel like I was the most incredible person in the whole world, and it is awfully hard not to warm up to someone who loves you so unconditionally.  As that bumper sticker says, “Lord, help me to be the person that my dog thinks I am.”

Before dog-owners get too arrogant about another convert, I would just like to say that my now-wife and I also own three cats.  So there.

Jax is a lot of fun.  She loves food, but hates vegetables.  If you toss her a carrot, she starts to eat it, but the minute that unpleasant taste hits her tongue, she spits it out.  And she is not the smartest creature around.  If I put the garbage out and am gone for 5 minutes, when I come back inside I get an over-the-top, yappy, emotional greeting as if I have been gone for 5 years.  If I pretend to throw a ball, she charges furiously to the spot where the ball should be, frantic and confused when she can’t find it.  She has no sense of time or her place in this world, she has no comprehension of anything beyond the immediate moment, and I do believe that she would literally die for me without a moment’s hesitation, without even thinking about it at all.

And yet, in spite of the fact that she may not be the brightest, she still has enough sense to spit something out of her mouth when it tastes bad.

And in that sense, she is vastly superior to many of us.  Because when the bitterness of offence comes, we so easily take the opposite approach: we hold onto it, although it tastes bad, refusing to spit it out, and we let it fester and grow.

People problems are some the hardest problems that we can face in this life.  Any trial can be terrible, but humans have the ability to cause hurt, and the pain that we inflict can go deep.  Waiting on God is hard, but it doesn’t cut to the heart.  Struggling financially is incredibly difficult, but it doesn’t leave hurts that can last for decades.  Sickness is awful, but it doesn’t leave us seething with rage.  When God corrects us, it may sting, but He never speaks to purposely cause pain in us.

But man’s actions and words can be devastating if we turn them against a fellow human being, and our intelligence allows us to really stick the knife in, especially if we are angry with another.  We are the only creatures in all of God’s creation who hold grudges, and we are also the only ones who feel vengeful.  We can be both offensive and defensive when it comes to dealing with others, and we all likely bear some scars from the wounds given by others.

When someone hurts us, offends us, or makes us angry, there are generally two approaches that we naturally take.  One is to lash back, and one is to withdraw and shut down.  The first is not good because it typically only escalates the issue.  As Proverbs says, “a harsh word stirs up anger,” (Pr 15:1).  Someone wounds us, we wound them back, they respond because now they are hurt and angry, and on and on it goes.  As someone once said, “Fighting fire with fire only leads to a whole lot of fire.”

The second approach is not good either, because by withdrawing and ignoring the problem, it never gets solved.  At times, someone can hurt us, and a truly mature person can see past the hurt, forgive the offender, and move on with their life.  This is a good way to handle things, and should be our first choice.

However, many times the hurt doesn’t go away that easy.  Sometimes we pretend like something doesn’t bother us, when it truly does.  If we are unable to just let something go and move on without thinking of it anymore, then we do need to deal with it.  Inner hurts often don’t just go away if we ignore them.  They remain, and the pain caused by them can show up in other places in our lives.  We need to get healthy, and part of that process is dealing with the issue instead of ignoring it.

The Matthew 18 principle teaches us a simple plan for conflict management.  The first step is to talk the other person, “just between the two of you.” (v.15). Often, we like to tell a whole bunch of other people what our offender did first, before we deal with anything one on one.  Or, just as likely, we tell a whole bunch of other what our offender did, and never once talk to the only person that we should.  Jesus made it clear that are not to speak to anyone else until we have tried to work it out, just between the two of us, first and foremost.

If that doesn’t work, we are permitted by Scripture to tell “one or two others,” and bring them into the conflict ( v.16).  Note the specific low numbers that Jesus permits us to share the situation with.  Perhaps the Lord knows that when we gossip about another’s flaws, we are not always the most objective and truthful, and our words can cause a lot of damage.  He wants us to keep things quiet, and involve as few people as possible.

This is not, however, so that we can have someone to vent to, or someone to take our side and get us even madder.  There is one purpose for sharing it with another person, and that is to see if they can help work things out.  So if we going to tell another person how someone has offended us, we also need to invite them to come and be a part of the solution to the problem.

If this still doesn’t work, then we are to “tell it to the church” (v.17), which would likely mean telling a pastor or other leader who has spiritual authority over the two people involved in the conflict.  And if a person refuses to deal with it even through the church leadership, then we are to let it go. (ibid).

As we are trying to work things out, there are a few other things we can be doing as well.

Firstly, we need to swallow our pride, bite our tongues, and not lash back at the person who is hurting us.  This is much easier said than done.  But the Bible tells us clearly, “Do not repay anyone evil for evil…Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord.” (Ro17-18).  God tells us that He will deal with those who have wronged us.  We do not need to punish them with our angry words, or our gossip about them, or our cold-shoulders and silent treatment.  The God of justice will step in wherever there truly is injustice; we do not need to presume that job for Him.

Next, we need to bless the person that we feel has wronged us.  Scripture tells us to “Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse.” (Rom 12:14).  Cursing is more natural when we are mad at someone, but blessing is the command.  More than just praying for good things, blessing also includes loving action towards the other person.  We bless them with our kindness.  Not only will these prayers and actions invite God to move in their lives, but these things also help our hearts as well.  It is hard to stay angry with someone when you are petitioning God on their behalf and doing something nice for them.

We also need to keep a good perspective on the situation by remember our own faults and sins.  When we are having problems with another person, it is very easy to focus on them and their problems.  But Scripture says that, “As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another,” (Pr 27:17).   Often, we like the idea of us sharpening another person.  It is easy to see someone else’s flaws, and it can be fun to imagine telling someone off, showing them exactly where they are wrong and how they have wronged us.

But it really requires absolutely no special wisdom or spiritual discernment to see someone’s negative qualities, despite the fact that it falsely makes most of us feel superior when we notice them.  Most of our flaws are pretty obvious to those around us, and we are not fooling anyone.  Sharpening someone else and seeing where they need to improve is easy.  The problem is that this verse from Proverbs says that God will use us to sharpen each other, just as iron sharpens iron.  You need it just as much as they do.  So, if you are in a conflict with another person and you are seeing their faults magnified, that is fine, but it is important to realize that your faults are also being magnified at the same time, as well.  Wisdom requires us to look in the mirror every time we see a negative trait in another, and ask, “Lord, what are you showing me about myself through this ‘sharpening’ situation?”

This is a good thing, because if we embrace this idea, it will keep self-righteousness out of our arguments.  Because typically, if I’m annoyed with someone because they have hurt me, I feel that I am right and they are wrong.  I am sensitive, and they are not.  My character is good, and theirs is bad.  I pass the love test, and they have failed it.  I am righteous, while they have a lot to learn.

But Scripture tells us that we are to take a different approach: “In humility, consider others better than yourselves.” (Phi 2:3).  Which means that, if I am in conflict with another human being, I need to stop assuming that I am more righteous than they are, and actually assume that the opposite is true.  They are a child of God, just like I am, and Jesus does not love me more than He loves them.  And as much as I would love to only focus on them and their flaws, God is just as interested in working on my own character and my own issues, and will use this process to make me a better and more Christ-like person, if I will let Him.

Finally, we must find a way to forgive the other person.  The Word says that we are to “Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.” (Col 3:13).  And this is the key point: we have been forgiven for every offence we have committed against the Lord, and so we must forgive others for every offence committed against us.

Jesus sternly warned about the dangers of calling upon God for personal forgiveness while refusing to forgive others in the Parable of Unmerciful Servant (Mt 18:21-35). In a nutshell, the story is as follows: A servant owes his master more money than he can ever pay back.  He begs for patience.  The master is moved, and forgives the whole debt.  The servant then goes out and finds a fellow servant who owes him a few dollars.  He demands payment, and when he does not receive it, throws his fellow servant in prison.  When the master hears of this, he is enraged at the servant’s lack of mercy in the face of the master’s forgiveness, and turns the servant over to be tortured until he pays back his monstrous debt in full.

Jesus makes the meaning crystal-clear in an epilogical statement: “This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart” (v.35).

So, as if forgiveness were not just a reward within itself, wherein we let our brothers off the hook and forgive as we have been forgiven, there is also a very real self-interest involved.  Jesus said, “Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.” (Mt 5:7). Elsewhere, Scripture warns that “judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful.” (James 2:13).

To put it plainly: Even if you struggle with doing it for the Lord, it’s in your own best interest to show mercy to others.

So, if we want His mercy, we must also extend mercy.  If we want lots of mercy, we need to give others lots of mercy.  If we choose to hold a grudge and demand something from those who wrong us, then we can expect God to deal with us in the same way.  But He loves us, and longs to be merciful towards us (Isa 30:18).  And to that end, He wants us to love each other.

And if we do what the Word tells us on these matters, that will cause us to walk in greater love.  1Corinithans chapter 13 contains the famous “love” passage that gets read at virtually every wedding in the Western world.  Although much it can certainly be applied to the love between a husband and wife, within context, it is not about romantic love, but the love that we are to have for our fellow man.  The love that Jesus commanded was only to be secondary to our love for Him.

Therefore, this passage can give us some good steps in how we are treat one other.  Therefore, in accordance with what 1Corinthians 13 tells us about love, we must be patient with each other.  We must always show kindness.  We must never be rude.  We must not be self-seeking.  We must not easily become angry with others.  We must keep no record of wrongs.  We must always protect one another.  We must always trust each other.  And we must always have hope for our fellow man, never, ever giving up on them (1Co 13.4-7).

Because we know that Jesus has never once given up on us.

It was the autumn of 1863, and his Presidency was presiding over the bloodiest conflict that the nation had ever been involved in.  So far, the Civil War had claimed hundreds of thousands of casualties as the Northern states battled the South.  In the past year, the rebel army had plunged deep into Northern territory, threatening to capture Washington, and winning victory after victory on the battlefield.  Even when the North did win, it came at astronomical prices, such as the Battle of Gettysburg, where 60,000 casualties fell in three days of fighting.  The violence had even spilled over into civilian life, with the devastating New York draft riots raging earlier in the summer, killing hundreds in the streets of New York City.

Facing re-election the next year, he was not particularly popular amongst many Americans.  The war was not going well for the North, and Lincoln was receiving much of the blame for that.  There were murmurs already that he would lose the election and be removed from office.

In more personal matters, Lincoln’s young son Willie had died in the previous year of illness.  This was the second child that Lincoln had lost to sickness, and it understandably shook him deeply.  His wife was still deeply mourning the loss, and would never fully recover.

All in all, the autumn of 1863 was a terrible time for the President.  There was not much to praise God for, and there was certainly much to be upset about.  If anyone could have found reasons to be bitter, frustrated, and depressed, it was Abraham Lincoln.

But on October 3, 1863, Lincoln would release a Proclamation:

“The year that is drawing towards its close, has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come, others have been added, which are of so extraordinary a nature, that they cannot fail to penetrate and soften even the heart which is habitually insensible to the ever watchful providence of Almighty God…No human counsel hath devised nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy. It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently and gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and voice by the whole American people. I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens.”

The Thanksgiving holiday had been celebrated sporadically before this, but this was the beginning of the annual tradition in America.

Even in the midst of great national and personal hardship, Abraham Lincoln found things to thank God for, and called upon the whole nation to acknowledge Him in the midst of their collective struggle. Although his heart was broken, he summoned the will to praise and honour the Most High God.

In the trial season, praise becomes one of our greatest weapons against despair.  It might not shorten the trial or change the circumstances, but worship is important nonetheless, because it changes our heart.  The very nature of the act of exalting Jesus is that we turn our eyes to Him.  And when our eyes are on Jesus, then they are not on ourselves or on our ordeal.

We serve a glorious Lord and Saviour, and the incredible truth is that our King Jesus is worthy to be worshipped!  He is worthy all the time.  His worthiness does not change when we are having a bad day or month or year.  Whether we are healthy or sick, rich or poor, happy or depressed, celebrating or mourning, satisfied or frustrated, at peace or at war – the One who died for us deserves our worship.  He is no less worthy of praise based on whatever our situation might be.

As the apostle Paul and Silas brought the Gospel to the city of Philippi, they encountered a demon-possessed slave girl who harassed them constantly as they attempted to minister (Ac 16:16-17).  By the spirit that possessed her, this girl was able to predict the future, and made her owners large amounts of money from fortune telling (ibid).  After putting up with the nuisance for some time, Paul finally turned and drove the demon from the girl, in the Name of Jesus (v.18).

Furious at the loss of their fortune-telling income, the owners of slave girl lied about Paul and Silas, stirred up a crowd against them, and had them arrested by the authorities, who flogged them severely and threw them into a prison cell, fastening their feet in the stocks (v.19-24).

This would have been a good time to complain.  The men were doing God’s work, walking in God’s will, and doing so without causing any trouble, and for their efforts, they find themselves whipped and in chains.  Does execution await them?  Will they be beaten again?  Will more injustice be visited upon them?  There is no way for them to know.  Sitting in a dark prison cell, unable to move, with fresh bloody wounds on their back – it would have been a good time for some grumbling.

But remarkably, they do no such thing.

Scripture says that at about midnight, “Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them.” (v.25).

It seems completely backwards, but Paul and Silas choose this moment to start a worship service.  Rather than gripe, they pray.  Rather than whining, they worship.  Rather than stare at their shackles, they look to Heaven. Rather than get bogged down in despair over their circumstances, they shake their hearts loose from despair by praising their Lord.

The result is incredible: “Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everybody’s chains came loose.” (v.26). The jailer is fear-stricken at the escape of his prisoners, and prepares to take his life, but Paul stops him and leads him to Jesus (v.27-31).  The jailer takes the men of God to his home, feeds them and cares for their wounds, rejoicing in the Saviour that he has now met (v.33-34).  The authorities attempt to free them the next day, but Paul demands a public apology for their treatment, and he gets it (v.37-39).  Paul and Silas leave, and continue on in their ministry.

Scripture tells us that God inhabits the praises of His people (Ps 22:3).  Wherever His people worship Him, He dwells in that place.  This is literally and powerfully illustrated in the story of Paul and Silas: as they began to worship, God showed up in a very real way!  But even if the LORD does not literally show up in such a dramatic fashion as we lift our voices to Him, the Presence of God still comes upon anyone who would exalt His Name.

This is where worship becomes so important when we are struggling.  When we worship, God is there with us.  When we praise Him, He comes to us to receive that praise.  When we thank Him, He arrives to accept that thanks.  God draws near to us as we draw near to Him (Jam 4:8).

And when He does, He has an amazing way of blessing us with His peace.  As the old hymn says, “Turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full in His wonderful face/ And the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace.” By fixing our eyes on Jesus, we cease fixing them on ourselves and our situations.  There is a lightness of heart that comes with the peace of God, and while it won’t necessarily end the trial, it will make it so much easier to endure.

We cannot always control our circumstances.  But we can absolutely control our reaction to our circumstances.  And in our heartache, it is perfectly natural to want to complain, grumble, and lose hope from whatever it is that we are going through.

The key there is, it is perfectly natural to do so.  But we serve a super-natural God, and we have a super-natural calling.  We must move past just the natural, and reach higher than that.

King David understood this principle.  His life was not an easy one, and many of his Psalms were written from places of fear, frustration, and brokenness.

But even though he may not have always felt like praising the LORD, David knew that God is always worthy of praise, and so when his heart or his head weren’t really into worshipping that day, he took an unusual approach: he ordered his soul to smarten up.

“Why are you downcast, O my soul?  Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.” (Ps 42:5-6)

When David was having a bad day, and when the trials were overwhelming, and when worship was not easily or naturally flowing from his heart, he simply informed his soul that it was going to worship God whether it “felt like it” or not.  And from that place of honour, some of the most beautiful declarations of worship that have ever been penned came, as David lifted his voice to His God and praised Him for who He is.

When we take the time to worship and properly set Jesus in His place as Lord of our lives, it reminds of us Who is in charge, and of Who holds our days in His hands (Ps 139:16).  As if just the privilege of worshipping our worthy Saviour wasn’t enough, we also get the privilege of His blessings that come upon us when we do so.  The trials will happen whether we worship Him or not, but it surely is better to walk through a trial feeling the nearness of God, rather than doing it without Him.  As we draw near to Him in worship, He will draw near to us, and that is going to make all the difference in the world.

Charles Ponzi certainly holds that honour.  A con-man and swindler, he invented the famous “pyramid scheme”, where a fake investment opportunity is created, and early investors are paid their “dividends” from the moneys provided by new backers, even though there is no real growth happening in the company.  Ponzi was so famous for his scams that these “pyramids” are now simply known as “Ponzi schemes.”  After spending years in prison, he unrepentantly continued his cons upon his release.  He died, broke, disease-ridden, and alone.

Joseph McCarthy was a United States Senator from Wisconsin who was responsible for prompting and presiding over the “Red Scare” of the 1940’s and ‘50’s.  McCarthy claimed, without any real evidence, that Communists had infiltrated the highest levels of the United States Government.  In reality, McCarthy was using the statement as a platform to attack his political enemies.  Given the general fear that Americans had over the Communist threat at the time, they rallied around the Senator, calling for investigations and the prosecution of those who were “un-American.”

What followed was years of accusations, trials, and ruined lives; even though evidence was often scant or non-existent, the stigma attached even to the accusation of “Communist” was often enough to derail a career.  The house of cards fell as the nation realized that McCarthy was a vindictive witch-hunter and nothing more.  Ruined politically, censured by the government, and left friendless by his actions, he turned to heavy drinking, and died from the results of his alcoholism a few years later, refusing to acknowledge any wrongdoing, even to the end.  The term “McCarthyism” remains as his only legacy, referring to baseless accusations against political enemies, and relying on fear-mongering and public panic to aid one’s political purposes.

Were you to ask any American student about who the greatest traitor in American history was, chances are they would answer, “Benedict Arnold.”  Like the previous two examples, this is a man whose very name became synonymous with his crimes.

When the United States colonies rebelled against the British in the Revolutionary War, Benedict Arnold was an officer in the American army.  By all accounts, he acted with bravery and distinction, and rose through the ranks of the leadership within the organization.

He was, however, discontent.  His politicking for his own career had not gone as well as he would have liked.  Although he had been promoted, it had not happened fast enough for his liking.  He made many enemies, and became known as a difficult man to work with.  He began to feel that he was not being shown the proper appreciation for his services.  He attempted to resign several times in protest, and when his resignation was refused due to a lack of capable leaders within the army, he began to rebel and act out against his commanding officers.  Feeling that his skills had not been properly acknowledged, and that he was not being compensated in the way that he felt he deserved, he plotted to defect over to the British.

After a series of secret messages and coded communications, Arnold planned to surrender to the British the military garrison of West Point, which he personally commanded, in exchange for money.  He was hoping to become wealthy, and become a high-ranking British officer.  He went about weakening West Point’s defences so that it could fall more convincingly when the British attacked, and prepared to surrender his troops and arms to the enemy.

Unfortunately for Arnold, the plot was exposed, and he fled for his life from his old army, which was determined to hang him.  Evading the Americans who were hunting him, he made it safely to the British side.  He was given an officer’s commission in the British army, and a small amount of money, but he was not welcomed warmly by his new friends.  Hated by the Americans for his treachery, the British also did not trust him because of his deceitful actions, and so largely ignored him and his ideas for the remainder of the war.

Upon the defeat of British forces, Arnold moved to Canada, where he was hated by his fellow townspeople.  He took his family to England, where he was maligned in the press and insulted on the floor of the House.  Unrepentant, he died a broken man, heavily indebted, and universally despised for his selfish and traitorous actions.  To call someone a “Benedict Arnold” is a grave insult in America, connecting the target of the insult to a man who was considered to be unconscionable and without morals.

Ponzi, McCarthy, and Arnold met tragic ends of their lives, and would potentially be sad stories, except for the fact that their downfalls were all a result of their own actions.  They acted appallingly, and refused to acknowledge as much, and so the ordeals that came about because of that were intense.

Their cautionary lives stand as a warning to all of us that our actions do have very real consequences.

Scriptures speaks very plainly about these things: “Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.” (Gal 6:7-8)

So just like our parents taught us, our actions cause results.  Good actions have good consequences, and bad actions have bad consequences.  This is basic theology, but it bears repeating.

Sometimes a trial comes from Satan, as it did with Job (Job 1).  God allows it for a purpose, but it comes from Satan, as he plots against us and creates a plan to take us down.

Sometimes, a trial comes from God.  When Jesus went into His great temptation in the wilderness, the Word tells us that it was the Holy Spirit who led Him into that season of testing (Mt 4:1).  He had done nothing wrong deserving the hardship; it was, however, a test from God to prepare Him for His ministry.

And sometimes, the trial does not come from Satan or from God at all, but from ourselves.  We can blame the enemy for attacking us, or blame God for testing us, when in reality, we are just reaping from what we ourselves have sown.

Israel had this problem.  Over and over again, really.  Their forty year desert-wandering was not God’s initial plan for them; it came as a result of their continual disobedience and stubbornness (Num 14:26-35).  Upon reaching Canaan, a cycle occurred throughout Judges where they would walk with God, then fall into sin, causing consequences to come upon the people (Jg 3:7-8; v.12-14; 4:1-2; 6:1; 10:6-7).

And one of the greatest struggles that Israel would go through would also come as a result of their own actions.

God had promised Abraham a land that would belong to his descendants (Gen 12:7).  Even though He knew that Israel would be enslaved by the Egyptians, the LORD promised Abraham that He would bring His people back into the land that was promised them (Gen 15:16).

When Israel was in captivity in Egypt, the LORD spoke to Moses at the burning bush, telling him, “I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey,” (Ex 3:8).  And the plan was that Moses would go and lead them out, and take them into the very place that God had promised to Abraham (Ex 6:8).

While in transit, the Law came to Moses, in which the LORD promised many good things to Israel when they followed Him (Dt 28:1-14).  However, there were also consequences if they refused to follow Him, one of which centred around the Promised Land.  If Israel continued in their sin against the LORD, eventually His patience would run out, and He told His people that “You will be uprooted from the land you are entering to possess. Then the LORD will scatter you among all nations, from one end of the earth to the other”. (Dt 28:63-64)

Sadly, this is exactly what happened.

After decades of worshipping false gods, ignoring the commands of the LORD, and following the practices of the pagan nations surrounding them, God’s patience had finally run out.  Two great and terrifying empires, Assyria and Babylon, would invade the Promised Land and carry all of God’s people into exile (2Ki 17:7-10; 2Ki 24:20; 25:9-11).  Their actions had caused them to lose the amazing blessing that God had given them, and instead they found themselves in chains in a foreign land, far from home.  It was entirely preventable, and entirely their own fault.

Scripture tells us that, “He who sows wickedness reaps trouble,” (Pr 22:8). It is a common theme throughout Scripture’s best cautionary tales.  A lustful Samson died horribly in chains, betrayed by his lover (Jg 16:15-30).  King Saul’s disregard for the LORD’s command caused him to derail his destiny, losing the throne, falling away from God, and dying painfully on the battlefield (1Sam 15:23; 1Sam 31).  Jonah ran from God’s will and wound up in the belly of a great fish (Jn 1:1-17).  David slept with another man’s wife and murdered her husband; as a result, the baby conceived through the affair would die and bloodshed would come to David’s own family (2Sam 12:7-18).

These are but a few examples.  Their hardships did not come from Satan’s plotting or from God’s heart.  They came straight from their own disobedience and sinful actions.  Most us can probably relate, having gone through an ordeal or two that were our own responsibility.

But there is still good news for us, even in self-inflicted struggle!   Even in Israel’s exile, God’s love and His grace are still who He is.  Even as the people are being shipped out of their homeland, God gives them a promise:  “I will be found by you,” declares the LORD, “and will bring you back from captivity. I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you,” declares the LORD, “and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile.” (Jer 29:14)

We must never forget that, whatever we may have done, the Gospel story that is being lived by us and by all of Creation is an ever-folding plan of redemption.

Even if our current circumstances are the result of our own poor choices or sinful actions, there is nothing in all of creation that God cannot take and restore by His great grace!  There is no sin that He will not forgive, and there is no situation or condition that is beyond His merciful deliverance.

So when we face our trials, it is worth asking the question: “Did I bring this on myself?”  The answer may well be “no”, but it is something to explore.  Scripture tells us that “The sins of some men are obvious,” (1Ti 5:24); sometimes it is very easy to see our trials as a result of our own deeds.  Sometimes, however, it may not be quite so obvious, and so it is good and godly to pray the prayer of the Psalmist:  “Search me, O God, and know my heart,” (Ps 139:23). The trial may absolutely not be our fault, but it is still a good prayer to pray.  We may find that God is wanting to show us some things that we did not realize were there.

Even though Israel’s exile was completely their fault, hear the heart of God as He speaks to them while they are in chains: “Do not be dismayed, O Israel,’ declares the LORD. ‘I will surely save you out of a distant place, your descendants from the land of their exile. Jacob will again have peace and security, and no one will make him afraid.” (Jer 30:10). Even in their sinful rebellion, and as they walked through the consequences thereof, God still loved His people, planned to rescue them, and prepared to bring them back into a place of blessing.  He does not desire us to remain in our hardship forever, even if we did cause it; His heart is to bring us back into His place of peace.

In these types of trials, acknowledgement of wrongdoing and repentance of sin are key (Jer 15:19; Eze 14:6; Hos 14; 2Co 7:10).  If our hardships are occurring because of our rebellious ways, and if we refuse to repent or acknowledge our sins, then we can’t expect the Lord to save us from the consequences of our actions, which is something that He is more than willing to do if we will learn our lesson properly.  Scripture tells us to “Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons.” (Heb 12:7).  The reason that He lets us reap the consequences is because He is desiring us to change through the trial.  Like a good and loving Father, He is wanting us to avoid those sinful behaviours the next time.

The Bible tells us that “No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.” (Heb 12:11).  If we will allow ourselves to be taught, and allow God to show us our sins, and if we repent and learn to avoid the behaviours that bring these consequences back upon us, then we will truly be moving into maturity, and growing up in righteousness, like good children do.