Stronger

Traveling Tough

Paul was traveling through Macedonia and Greece, to encourage believers and to be encouraged by them. This warrant for traveling is ideal to Paul as he used this motivation to minister in his second missionary journey.

Paul was looking to set sail for Syria to make his way towards Jerusalem. But a plot was made against him. So his plans were diverted.

Have you ever had your plans diverted? Have you made plans before and thought this will be for the Lord but that door is closed. Several times Paul has been diverted. Several times Paul is shut down when he hopes to make it through a certain town or a certain outcome. But in a time of depression and feeling downcast we trust God. When we are disappointed in the outcome of our plans we trust that God will bless our efforts.

Have you felt frustrated or upset about your current situation. Have your plans been disrupted. Have you been hurt and felt betrayed or let down. People will let us down. Some people will walk over you as if you don’t exist or at least it can feel that way but what do we do then? What do we do when we feel as if we have failed or when things don’t go the way we feel they should, we trust and obey. Don’t take your hands off the plow don’t quit!

Depression is a serious thing and could be something someone very close to you is experiencing. It could be something someone you know is going through. Don’t expect them to tell you. You may not know until much later down the road. Have you asked your loved one’s if they’re ok? Have you taken the time to invest and encourage those that rely on you?

2 Corinthians 2:12 ESV

When I came to Troas to preach the gospel of Christ, even though a door was opened for me in the Lord,

2 Corinthians 2:13–15 CSB

I had no rest in my spirit because I did not find my brother Titus. Instead, I said good-bye to them and left for Macedonia. But thanks be to God, who always leads us in Christ’s triumphal procession and through us spreads the aroma of the knowledge of him in every place. For to God we are the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing.

Taking Trust

Paul’s efforts to minister were completely focused on his trust in the Lord. God had blessed him redeemed him and he was sticking with Christ. His hopes for those that he ministered to was great. He strived for their success in the faith. Some will strive for approval and approval alone but an honorable teacher will strive for the success of their listeners.

What good is it if you like God but are nothing like Him.

What do you gain if you give over your approval but never share your commitment.

What grieves the spirit of a teacher more than to see their students not take assignments or their class seriously?

What grieves a coach more than to see athletes not take workouts, practice, or the game seriously?

We are in a timeframe right now where priorities are all kinds of backwards. Covid isn’t to blame either. It is simply what our culture has deemed as success. And let me tell you if we don’t achieve that success someone is subjected to depression but no greater grieving comes than that of grieving for those that you feel responsible for.

A couple of years ago I was invited to speak at a school for their chapel service. I was excited as I had a deep love for several of the students. I was excited about connecting with some guys that were headed to the NBA draft that attended this school. I thought man what an opportunity.

As I planned my message out I had this overwhelming feeling of grievance. My spirit was distressed as I began thinking through the weight of their lives and the disillusionment that was displayed in the student body. This was a christian institution but so many were there for other reasons than God. I preached my heart out. I never took the stage, I stayed on the floor. I had the mic and their attention and I preached from first Peter. And I mourned that speaking engagement for months! I am not exaggerating when I say that.

Countless people came to me with compliments and words of encouragement like “great message” but I didn’t feel the victory. My message was heard it was impactful but I never saw the fruit and new I never would. For months I mourned the giants that were in that room. I knew that did all I could do and that was that. It hurt because I had a deep love for those kids. I didn’t know every student there but I knew enough to know the culture there.

Paul mourned deeply because of his passionate love for the people he ministered to. Paul set an example to every Pastor that ever lived that you should love deeply for the people that you rub shoulders with and seek to minister to.

This job isn’t a Sunday job it’s a daily encounter of loving and serving those that you come in contact with.

So what do we do then? When we feel distressed. When we feel like we have missed the mark or we aren’t happy with the results?

Cover the Windows

When I went to Atlanta last year with a bunch of awesome people I noticed that we started down some sketchy roads to find our AirBNB. The pictures online looked awesome online but after I booked it all the pictures went away.

That should have been a bad sign but I was desperate. I looked up the area and address and it seemed ok based on conversations with people who knew Atlanta well. So we pull up to our house and the police got there before we had. Needless, to say there were some scared straight faces in the car when we realized that was our place.

There was something I notice immediately after we got the go ahead to go inside. All the cars on the street had plastic bags on the windows. I guess it was the perfect place for a smash and grab at some point. Making this observation, I thought man we should go to the store to get some bags and tape our windows up, that way ours won’t get smashed too.

I laughed at the thought and just decided to keep them uncovered. I did worry though. I didn’t sleep much on that trip I slept by the door and frequented the windows. I wasn’t scared but I cared about the people in the house.

We were safe. I asked the Police officer before he left if it was safe and he said we would be fine.

As much as I wanted to keep the windows in my car there were other things that mattered.

When I say cover the windows I mean protect your house. Protect your family, protect your tribe, your people, your neighbors, your friends, protect people when you can. When you do, you may be grieved when they slip out the window. They may drift into a deep sleep and fall to their death but we pray, we hope, and we trust that will not happen because we cover the windows. We look for ways to keep an eye out for those in our reach.

Eutychus Fell

Eutychus fell out the window. He fell to his death but fortunately and by the grace of God he walked away that night.

Think about this with me for a moment. He was in the window in a packed room. Did someone watch him fall? He was young, was someone not looking after him? Was someone not there to grab hold before he full exited? What could allow this to happen?

As thankful as I am that he was ok as the others there, were. I hope we can cover the windows. Eutychus was hearing the good word but he fell asleep and fell.

I want to examine this metaphorically. Think of how small a window is and it’s not as if he walked out of the room. He fell. People were there. He didn’t jump. He fell asleep.

How many people will it take for us to let fall asleep before we start to cover the windows.

How long will we watch people fall asleep and start to slip out of the window before we say enough!?

Some may say where were his parents? Some may say what was he thinking? Some will speculate how many hours of sleep he should have had.

How ridiculous can this get!? How can we allow for such a thing to happen. Paul was preaching, he was doing exactly what he should have been doing! But did the others fall asleep too? What was the man doing beside him? Or how about the woman behind him?

Eutychus didn’t just fall because he slipped into a deep sleep. He didn’t just fall because he was sitting in a window of all places. He fell because no one said here son, take my seat. He fell because no one was watching. Sure Paul had the attention of the room but he still fell because nobody was watching. Nobody cared until he hit the ground.

Paul was hurting but he kept on preaching. He kept sharing the Word and pushing passed his own hurt and pain and relying on the strength of God.

Paul could share the Word but can he share the Word and cover the windows in the same breathe in the same moment at the same time? That’s quite the expectation.

There are people falling asleep in the faith every day. Nobody is watching. Nobody cares until they hit the ground. There are so many that will slip from our grasp but we have to cover the windows. We have to be vigilant to protect those in our reach.

We can no longer sit back and say they have good folks they’re ok. We can’t assume they’ll be alright. We trust that they will be alright because we covered the windows.