It seems that some folks have more than their share of tough times. Yesterday I wrote about someone I know that’s living every person’s dream with a tremendous spiritual walk, beautiful wife, great kids, terrific career, secure financial situation, young, smart, and good looking, talented, perfect health, and on and on.
Hmmm . . . I find this person to be an exception. Most of us face tough times and oftentimes it looks as though there’s no way out of our misery. Many of us are trying to live with our demons, past or present; (some problems are of our own making and others seem to have just descended upon us as some random act of injustice), but make no mistake they both wear on us day in and out.
Wearing on us is of course the downside of tragic times, but make no mistake there is an upside to them.
Huh?
One of my heroes is David Wilkerson and one of his most famous sermons dealt with anguish and its virtues. I edited it to present key points:
“All true passion is born out of anguish. All true passion for Christ comes out of a baptism of anguish”…
He defined anguish in this manner:
“Acute deeply felt inner pain because of conditions about you, in you, or around you. Anguish. Deep pain. Deep sorrow. The agony of God’s heart”.
Then he began to extol some of the virtues of anguish:
. . . The ruin that drove you to your knees, that took you down into a baptism of anguish where you began to pray and seek God . . . You see, a true prayer life begins at the place of anguish . . . You see, if you set your heart to pray, God’s going to come and start sharing His heart with you.”
Hmmm . . . So far he’s identified three upsides to anguish. Did you hear him preach them? Anguish spawns: 1. Passion for Christ 2. Drives us to our knees in prayer 3. Draws God to us and He shares His heart with us.
Then he reveals the desired result and I believe perhaps God’s primary purpose of allowing pain in our lives in the first place:
“I know now. Oh my God do I know it. Until I am in agony. Until I have been anguished over it . . . There is going to be no renewal, no revival, no awakening, until we are willing to let Him once again break us . . . Lord, there are some that need to get to this alter and confess: ‘I am not what I was, I am not where I am supposed to be. God I don’t have Your heart or Your burden. I wanted it easy. I just wanted to be happy’.
But Lord, true joy comes out of anguish. There’s nothing of the flesh that will give you joy. I don’t care how much money, I don’t care what kind of new house, there is absolutely nothing physical that can give you joy. It’s only what is accomplished by the Holy Spirit when you obey and take on His heart.”
Did you miss this important point? True “Joy” comes out of anguish.
Jesus told us to keep our eye on Him in times of anguish and to do as He did when He experienced it on the cross and look to Him and keep our eyes fixed on Him and patiently wait for the day that He will usher in when every tear will be erased forever.
“We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne”. Heb. 12:2
So if we are going through tough times today, (bad results on a medical test, lost your job, lost your home, marital strife, addictions, prison, discouragement, disobedient kids, grief over a death, sadness, loneliness) and your life is characterized and indeed summarized by Buck Owens in his song that was often sung on that grand old TV show Hee Haw:
“Gloom, despair, and agony on me
Deep, dark depression, excessive misery
If it weren’t for bad luck, I’d have no luck at all
Gloom, despair, and agony on me”
Then take heart. Accept your baptism, go down on your knees in prayer, and emerge in revival after God floods and renews your heart with His Spirit.
Next weekend, June 9th, we are going to have a fabulous speaker on this subject, (Jen Harris), at Honey Lake Church. She knows anguish all too well, she began being sexually molested at just five years old, she was kidnapped, brutally raped and left for dead at 18; she experienced the deaths of loved ones, lived through infidelity in her marriages, and on and on and yet she knows the peace, joy, and love of God. She’s a beautiful person inside and out, and also a very talented singer/songwriter. She will perform some songs and give an inspirational testimony and you won’t want to miss it. If you know someone that is hurting, please bring them along too.
Yesterday I was in Atlanta speaking on behalf of an organization that is devoted to assisting the homeless. Over 7000 people in Atlanta find themselves on the street with no home to live in. I sat next to one of them at our table. She told me that she never thought she would be homeless. She lost her husband, and then her good job, and then her home. She is experiencing anguish, but also the love of those around her who are trying to help. Lend a helping hand to someone who is suffering today, it can begin with sharing the love of Jesus Christ.
So there you have it that wraps up another week, Have a great weekend and go to church this Sunday!
Hebrews 2:10
God, for whom and through whom everything was made, chose to bring many children into glory. And it was only right that He should make Jesus, through his suffering, a perfect leader, fit to bring them into their salvation.