Sunday, June 2, 2019

Where do you turn when you don’t know where to turn?


“Within the covers of the Bible are the answers
for all the problems men face.” Ronald Reagan

Timing is everything. Recently, I stopped by to see a friend. Something was wrong…I wasn’t sure what. He was both frustrated and discouraged.
  Unfortunately, my friend doesn’t have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Hopefully, I offered some hopeful problem-solving suggestions. Also, because I seek to live and die on confidentiality, he knows that it’s safe to vent to me. What weighed heavy on me though was that I couldn’t direct him to the One where I knew that he’d find true peace and hope.
  This year I’m reading the Bible through again. Recently, I was reading in 1 Samuel 30. Israel and David’s arch enemies, the Philistines are headed north to wage a major attack against Israel. The Amalekites, who seemed to make their living by raiding Philistine and Israelite towns and cities in the south, couldn’t have received better news. Since all the men of fighting age had gone off to war, few or none were left behind to defend the Israeli towns. While David and his soldiers are away, the Amalekites plundered their camp. These raiders took all the cattle and possessions, kidnapped all the women and children, and burnt the city to the ground.
  When David and his men return, they’re horrified to see that their camp has been destroyed and worse, their families have been taken captive. No one has been killed, but every single person has been taken. It’s not a great comfort that their families are still alive. Each man imagines what’s happening (or would soon happen) to his wife and children. At best, they’ll become slaves, to be worked hard and cruelly treated. At worst, well, no one even wanted to consider this. David’s two wives also are taken.
  David’s 600 fighting men are greatly distressed by what’s happened to their families. They weep until they have no sobs left. Then, they began to think about how this happened. It had been David’s plan to go to the land of the Philistines; it was his idea that they live in this remote city of Ziklag, and it was David who led them away fight with the Philistines, leaving their families vulnerable to this attack. They’re angry – anger usually looks for a target. Some are so enraged that there’s talk of stoning David.
  No one can hurt you as much or as deeply as someone who is close to you. I know that’s the case with me. Part of the price of being a pastor is that those you love, pray for and with, have ministered to countless times will sometimes turn on you – and seemingly overnight you can become their worst enemy. Without question it’s one of the greatest heartbreaks of ministry. I don’t know how other pastors handle it. I know that it weighs heavy on me, fills my soul, steals my sleep and greatly discourages me.
  Yet, you don’t have to be a pastor or leader to face a similar situation. All of us have had a friend turn on us. The workplace we poured our lives into no longer needs us. Our spouse who pledged “til death do us part” parts. They’ve found someone else or are leaving to go “find themselves.” More often, it’s a child that speaks words to a Dad or Mom that should never be uttered. We find ourselves despised by the very one that we’d give our lives for. All of us have been there. Betrayal is part of the human condition.
  The important questions are: Who do you turn to? Where do you go when you’re discouraged or hurting? 1 Samuel 30:6 is the answer: “But David strengthened himself in the Lord his God.” There’s no better place to go! I can’t say that I always go there first. I can say that I always end up there. I take it to the Lord and seek to leave it there, and then I open up His love letter to me. The bottom line is that everyone turns somewhere. So, where do you go? Where do you turn?
  Can I encourage you to turn to the place where you’ll always receive help? God’s Word. There’s not a situation that we face that has not been faced by someone in the pages of Scripture. God’s Word is sufficient. Many of us don’t know that because we’re not in God’s Word. Read the first two chapters of the book of Job and you’ll no doubt feel that whatever you’re facing is small potatoes.
  While we believe that the Bible is the truth and holds the answer to the basic questions of life, too few of us spend any extended time in reading God’s Word or in basic Bible study. Though we claim to need it, we seem to avoid it. Why? Where’s the disconnect? Why don’t we read the Bible if we believe it’s God’s Word and contains the answers to life’s questions?
  There’s a sobering reality lurking beneath the surface, one we probably wouldn’t say out loud and certainly not in church…we don’t really believe that God’s Word has the answers or that reading the Bible will work for us.
  Can I point out the obvious? What do you have to lose? What you’re doing isn’t working. You’re miserable, discouraged, frustrated and even depressed. If something has worked for people who used it as their source of strength and encouragement even though they were being tortured or facing a violent death, don’t you think that it might work for you? But it will never help if you don’t read it.
  Too many of us are like the person who goes to a doctor. Their physician diagnoses their malady and writes a prescription. They then go to the pharmacist, pick it up, go home but never take the medicine. And then they wonder why they don’t get any better!?!
  When David faced the anger of his own men, he turned to the Lord. It worked for him and it will work for you. Can I encourage you to make spending time with the Lord like an appointment for a meal with a dear friend…because there is no dearer friend. Yet, the Lord Jesus is more than a dear friend, He’s the Savior of your soul. You’ll never surprise Him or frustrate Him. He knows everything about you, loves you, has a plan for your life, knows exactly what’s going on and already knows how He’s going to solve it. So, start reading His love letter to you…start today!


Can we help you spiritually? Can we help you know Jesus better? Please check out more resources on our church's web page, Gracechurchwi.org. Or, call us at 262.763.3021. If you'd like to know more about how Jesus can change your life, I'd love to mail you a copy of how Jesus changed my life in "My Story." E-mail me at Carson@gracechurchwi.org to request a free copy. Please include your mailing address. 

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