THE REVERSAL OF OUR DESIRES GONE AMUCK IS ONLY ACCOMPLISHED BY:
Seeking forgiveness at the Cross from King Jesus by submitting our heart, mind & soul for the cleansing of all our past FEARS, FAULTS, & FAILURES thereby invoking God’s sustaining power into our reality (our real time presence) by re-aligning our desires with His gifts to all Christ Followers known as the Fruits of the Spirit: Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, & Self Control.
In coaching language, perhaps we can begin by “God be merciful to me a sinner” (Luke 18:13-14), by He exchanging our fears, faults & failures into an abiding faith of His ultimate provisions, elevating us to assist all those we meet by inviting them into His Presence, empowered by Holy Spirit, demonstrating the Fruits of the Spirit, and the satisfaction of witnessing their becoming the best possible version of themselves.
Yesterday after church I began writing a conclusion to a coaching exercise wherein persons are given nine minutes to list the top ten fears, faults, and failures that are holding them back from becoming the best possible version of themselves. They are allowed three minutes for each. The two paragraphs above were designed to focus on the undergirding needed to accomplish such best possible versions.
Clinical diagnostic writings for a universal audience usually couch their encouragements and admonitions by such sterile unoffensive paragraphs as the following, perfectly acceptable and understandable to persons unfamiliar with living their life by faith.
For example, consider the following definition of The Higher Force. “The higher force that drives all of life expresses itself in relentless Forward Motion. The only way to connect to this force is to be in forward motion yourself. But to do that, you must face the pain and be able to move past it. The reversal of desire lets you do this. Once the tool connects you to the force of Forward Motion, the world is less intimidating, your energy is greater, and the future seems more hopeful.” Derived from the book “The Tools” by Phil Stutz and Barry Michels
Appropriately, the mantra for the above definition is “Bring it on, I love my fear, my fear sets me free.” And believe me, this system is performing well, and I am very glad it is, because there are literally billons today paralyzed by their fears, faults and failures, living impoverished lives.
However for me, as I was basking yet on Pastor Carl’s sermon several hours prior, that I’ve retitled “Being a Worshipful People,” with his 4 bullets being 1.) Called (bringing God joy); 2.) Confusion (having no other gods before me); 3.) Clarification (comprehending who God is & who we are); 4.) Consequences (how worshipping God transforms us – So, how will I worship next week?); I was eventually drawn to Robert’s writing’s, having just completed a writing assignment for a friend of mine about the life and times of Robert Rogers. So this 3000 word document is my off the cuff summary today of his 26000 word book Rise Above: How God Can Heal Your Hurts and Overcome The Worst, a likely primer for Christian leadership including pastors, SS teachers, coaches, mentors, counselors, etc.
Robert lost his wife and four children August 30, 2003 in a flash flood on Kansas Turnpike at mile marker 116 when a seven foot wall swept their van off the road drowning them all except him. I have also produced two summaries of his first book “Into the Deep: one man’s story of how tragedy took his family but could not take his faith.”
Actually, the lights really went on when I realized Robert’s mantra for Rise Above was simply so on target for this coaching exercise, that regardless whatever our fear, fault, or failure may be, we as Christ Followers, are called to worship Him by: “Face It, Embrace It, Replace it;” all under the auspices of God’s divine healing according to scripture, and the removing of “me” in the equation and depending more on “Him.”
In a straightforward and practical way, Robert Rogers strove to answer how to Rise Above on our road to freedom and recovery. What follows below is virtually all in Robert’s words taken verbatim from the book.
1st Step to Rise Above: Face It. Yes, admit it happened. Even T.S. Elliot said, “The only way to alter the past is to accept it.” So accept it. Don’t pretend it never happened. Rather than tell God how big your problem is, tell your problem how big God is. Joy and misery are both options. Just as no one can make you happy, neither can anyone make you miserable. It’s up to you. Choose life. Choose joy.
To choose life means to surrender the past. For new growth to come forth, a death must often occur first, just as the birth of spring follows the death of winter. “I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat is planted in the soil and dies, it remains alone. But its death will produce many new kernels – a plentiful harvest of new lives.” (John 12: 24) Through your agonizing death experiences, God can bring forth abundant life.
Just as Noah chose to build the ark, we also need to fortify the ark of our faith, requiring we first accept Him as our Lord, fostering our faith daily through a deepening relationship with God and His Word. Yes, it may cause us some additional pain to FACE IT! However, realize the pain of regrets weighs tons. If you don’t face it now, you will likely regret it exponentially and immensely more forever. God wants to release from the pain and power of your past. So, “let all who are discouraged take heart.” (Psalm 34:2) Choose life. Take heart. Choose to FACE IT!
When we refuse to face and deal with issues, then negative consequences – from our actions or inactions – can hurt even those around us, in ways we might never fathom. Conversely, when we choose to face a situation and tackle it with God’s grace, then we can give Him liberty to work through our mess and bring forth divine mercy and healing amidst it all.
2nd Step to Rise Above: Embrace It. Yes, dive in head first. Jesus surrendered to the cross to which His Father had appointed Him. He embraced it. So should we. In the profound words of St. Augustine, “Do you wish to rise? Begin by descending.” In order to Rise Above, you must first descend below and utterly Embrace It.
“Even when I walk through the dark valley of death, I will not be afraid, for you are close beside me.” (Psalm 23:4) I no longer live in fear since the forgiveness of Christ at the foot of the cross swept thru my mind, body, and spirit freeing me from all past encumbrances, addictions, unforgiveness, hostilities, profanity, perversions, etc.
Until we get to Heaven, pain is a part of life in a broken world. So Embrace It enthusiastically, and “don’t be surprised by the fiery trials you are going through, as if something strange were happening to you. Instead, be very glad – because these trials will make you partners with Christ in His suffering.” (I Peter 4:12-13) He will not permit you to be stretched beyond your breaking point. “But God keeps His promise, and He will not allow you to be tested beyond your power to remain firm; at the time you are put to the test, he will give you the strength to endure it, and so provide you a way out.” (I Cor 10:13 GNT) God will indeed make a way when there seems to be no way.
Character and faith are forged in the fiery furnace called suffering. Just as muscles don’t strengthen from laziness and lethargy, so our faith is fortified by exercising it diligently as we embrace the daily struggles of everyday life. Although these confusing paths are often thorny and rocky, trust God that His ways are indeed right. “If you are walking in darkness, without a ray of light, trust in the Lord and rely on your God.” (Isaiah 50:10) He has you right where He wants you, for your greater good, and for His greater glory and honor. You may never fully understand or make sense of it, this side of Heaven. “Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything in perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God knows me completely.” (I Cor 13:12) We don’t see the full picture now. If we could, we probably wouldn’t like it or couldn’t handle it. Trust God to reveal just enough to illuminate your next step.
“You must accept whatever situation the Lord has put you in, and continue on…” (I Cor 7:17) Don’t stay stuck in your scars or paralyzed by your pain. If you do, you’ll remain ineffective for God. If God brought you to it, He’ll bring you through it. Don’t stay parked in the valley. Keep walking, keep trusting, keep thanking, keep moving. It’s hard to steer a parked car. Keep your vehicle, your life, moving forward. Then at least God has a chance to guide you in the right direction. If you remain immobilized, God can’t very well direct your paths.
Robert Rogers tells how his father often reminded and motivated him as a boy with the words “getting started is half done.” Even now the same principle still guides him. He rarely ever feels like climbing on his stationary bike; however if he just begins to pump those blasted pedals, he finds that he can then commit to thirty minutes. The first step is always the hardest. The same is true with embracing it.
Try to imagine the impact to human history if this one man – Joseph – had grown bitter in prison and wasted his time, wallowing in his pity. “Until the time came to fulfill his word, the Lord tested Joseph’s character.” (Psalm 105:19) Joseph embraced that difficult time of testing with a good attitude and allowed God to develop him. He could have taken the easy road and complained indefinitely. The high road requires being “thankful in all circumstances” (I Thess. 5:18), regardless of how unfair. Jesus, too, was wrongfully accused and betrayed by those closest to him. Yet, He never complained. Instead, He embraced suffering, torture, and even death on a cross. And as with Joseph and Jesus, realize the attitude you assume inwardly, you also display outwardly, exerting a profound and lasting impact on countless others, often in unimaginable ways. They are watching to see how you respond. Remember, only God knows how long your difficult season of embracing may last. Joseph spent upwards of twelve years in prison. “There is a time for everything, a season for every activity under heaven.” (Ecl. 3:1) Bask in that agonizing season. Don’t try to cut it short. “For God has made everything beautiful for it’s own time.” (Ecl. 3:11)
In preparation for the 3rd Step, Replace It, as with the Israelites going into their wilderness to worship, so must we worship while Facing and Embracing. “Draw close to God, and God will draw close to you.” (James 4:8) Robert’s words verbatim “ Offer your tears up to Him as the woman did at Jesus’ feet. Just as she held nothing back, but poured every ounce of expensive perfume upon Jesus, don’t hold onto your loss or loved ones. Offer them up to God as your gift back to Him. Our loved ones came from God. They belong to God. Don’t try to cling to the past. Don’t try to continually love your lost ones back as they were. Love them now as they are, where they are.
When she fully emptied and exhausted her perfume, this dear woman didn’t stop there. She offered her tears to Jesus. Do the same. Don’t hold back. Jesus was so taken by her gift He called it a “beautiful thing” and declared that, “wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told in memory of her.” (Mark 14:6,9 NIV) God used her tribulation and sinful past for repentance and transformation. Your tears, too, can be a “beautiful thing” when you embrace them and offer each one to God as your priceless gift. Like this woman’s supreme sacrifice of costly ointment, the fragrance of your precious tears offered in worship to God can change the atmosphere all around you. Similar to your deeds, your testimony may be told for countless generations to come, impacting many people, helping them Rise Above.” “They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony.” (Rev 12:11 NIV)
Never waste a wilderness journey. When you are brought to nothing, then God can do something with your life beyond anything you can possibly imagine, if you invite Him. Much like the woman with the shattered alabaster box, sometimes we have to allow God to crush us in order to exude the sweet fragrance within us. You may never know what God has planted within you, until you’re first broken, then prepared for worshipping Him, enabling your service to Him is not only Replaced, but also Released into the lives of others, preparing us for the satisfaction of witnessing others becoming the best possible version of themselves in His Kingdom.
3rd Step to Rise Above: Replace It. Yes, God has a marvelously divine exchange program. Right now, ask God to replace your pain with praise, your despair with joy, your ashes with beauty. He can and He will. Pray boldly to God. Blend the passion of your pain with the power of His Word. As miserable as your past was, pray that God will return at least as much goodness to you. “Give us gladness in proportion to our former misery! Replace the evil years with good.” (Psalm. 90:15)
Let God replace who you were, with now, who you are in Him. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away ; all things have become new.” (II Cor 5:17 NKJV)
Mary Englebreit says “If you don’t like something, change it. If you can’t change it, then change the way you think about it.” Adjust your thinking and let God renew your mind. Ask and allow Him to alter your thought patterns, “for we have the mind of Christ.” (I Cor 2:16) Intentionally “take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” (II Cor 10:5 NIV)
Realize some people are so traumatized by their past that they never replace yesterday’s sadness with today’s promise of joy. Understand your past can either be a hitching post you never leave, or better, a guidepost to help direct the remainder of your life.
Even if you’re trudging through the valley, still bask in the glory of His Presence. It will transform your attitude and your very countenance. “Those who look to Him for help will be radiant with joy; no shadow of shame will darken their faces.” (Psalm 34:5) Gaze upon God for your source of help. In doing so, you will become more like Him.
If you need a blessing, healing, or joy, then take the first step and sow it. Life is all about seedtime and harvest. You have to plant good seeds in order to reap a fruitful harvest. What I discovered from giving my life away is that the more you surrender and relinquish, the freer you become. Travel light on this planet. Heaven is our home, not earth. “Whatever you keep dies with you. Whatever you share lives on.”
Truth is, many people are not ready to live again because they are not ready to die. Don’t permit death to paralyze you. Fear of death doesn’t have to hold you back. Jesus’ resurrection broke “the power of the devil, who had the power of death. Only in this way could He set free all who have lived their lives as slaves in the fear of dying.” (Heb 2: 14-15) Don’t live in fear. Live in faith. Dwell in Christ. I was taught FEAR stands for False Evidence Appearing Real. Fear is faith in reverse.
Out of your story, God can bring great glory. From your mess, God can bring forth a mighty message. You can choose to let God turn your mess into a miracle, your misery into ministry, and your test into a testimony. The choices are yours. You can choose death or life, curses or blessings, trials or triumph, tragedy or charity, mishaps or miracles, tribulation or transformation, whining or worshipping, adversity or advantage, disability or opportunity, pain or growth, mourning or gladness, complaining or rejoicing, griping and grumbling, or gratitude.
“I will turn their mourning into joy. I will comfort them and exchange their sorrow for rejoicing.” (Jer. 31:13)
You can choose resentfulness that turns rancid or mourning that turns into dancing. You can flip what happens to me, to what happens within me. You can choose to be pitiful or to be prayerful; to be sour or reflect the Savior. You can run to the TV or to the Almighty, run to the world or to the Word, run to the iphone or Thy Throne, run to Facebook or to the Good Book. You can choose to lose or win, to cower in pity or conquer through praise, to be resentful or be grateful, to wallow in self-pity or worship in His Presence, to be overwhelmed or to overcome, to remain stagnant in pain or to rejoice in praise, to descend below or Rise Above.
“And who can win this battle against the world? Only those who believe that Jesus is the Son of God.” (I John 5:5)
You choose.
“You have allowed me to suffer much hardship, but you will restore me to life again and lift me up from the depths of the earth. You will restore me to even greater honor and comfort me once again.” (Psalm 71:20-21)