Advice to Graduates

A. The First Principle – Grow In The Desert – Galatians 1:17

Galatians 1:17 nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me; but I went to Arabia, and returned again to Damascus..

-After Paul was delivered from his blindness on the way toward Damascus, the Lord determined to send him to the regions of Arabia. This marks only one destination, the desert.

-The desert often becomes the spiritual boot camp for a man’s soul. It is in the desert that a work in the Spirit will occur, if we allow it to. Desert seasons often are slow and unproductive. It could be that the desert season is weeks, months, or even years.

The immensity of the desert overwhelms both the power and the weakness of men. Ivan Illich

-In the desert, we realize that everything does not revolve around us. In fact, we are finally forced to admit that the responsibility of changing the world does not belong to us. Paul would not avoid his desert, he would face it head on and emerge a better man.

-Deserts are:

• Dry
• Dusty
• Brittle
• Barren
• Dangerous

-But the Arabian desert became the place where Paul would find preparation, consecration, and healing. For three long years, Paul was hidden away in this desert. But you must learn to grow in your desert. I have lived long enough to learn this one thing: Exceptional work is preceded by extended waiting.

-A desert can strip away our pride and self-centeredness. It can help us to develop thick skin and a tender heart. You must learn to grow in the desert places of life.

-The Bible is full of men who experienced a desert:

• It was in the desert of dejection of Elijah that God spoke best to him.
• It was in the wearying desert of lonely faith that God came again to Abraham.
• It was in the desert of failure that Peter found God.
• It was in the desert of the dangerous that Jacob had his wrestling match with God.
• It was in the desert of loneliness that Moses would get the Law from God.
• It was in the desert of barrenness that Hannah prevailed.
• It was in the desert of fear mixed with weak faith that Esther approached Ahaserus.
• It was in desert of spiritual warfare that Daniel received his great vision from God.
• It was in the desert of rejection that Jeremiah found a renewed burden for the people.
• It was in the desert zones of a pit and a prison that Joseph felt God continuing to forecast his dreams.
• It was in the desert of lonely prayer at Gethsemane that the Lord labored, just a stone’s cast away from the disciples but it may as well have been a million miles that separated them.

-Never despise the desert places that inspires closeness with God. There are times in the lonely hours of service that God calls me aside. It may arise from an insistent whisper, but that beckoning is persistent until it reaches me. Come aside for a while. Come aside to prayer. Come aside to think. Come aside for communion. Come aside for instruction. Come aside to the desert.

B. The Second Principle – Start – Acts 9:20

Acts 9:20 Immediately he preached the Christ in the synagogues, that He is the Son of God.

-The second thing that we learn from Paul’s life is that he started. Notice in Acts 9:20, it says “straightway” or immediately he began to preach.

-There are plenty of people who have great ideas, but few who take their dream and turn it into reality. The willingness to begin makes the difference.

Johann von Goethe – Whatever you do, or dream you can do, begin it. Boldness has genius power and magic in it.

-There is always time for analysis and a time for planning. There is a time to be patient and wait, but there also comes a time to just give it a shot. The Lord spoke about this in Matthew 11:12 when he said the that the kingdom suffereth violence and the violent take it by force.

Ecclesiastes 9:10 Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might. . . .

-An article in a physician’s office summed up the battle to follow though and start:

We hear it almost every day: sigh, sigh, sigh.

I just can’t get myself motivated to. . . . .[lose weight, test my blood sugar, etc.]. And we hear an equal number of sighs from diabetes educators who can’t get their patients to do the right things for their diabetes and health.

We have news for you. Motivation is not going to strike you like lightning. And motivation is not something that someone else–nurse, doctor, family member–can bestow or force on you. The whole idea of motivation is a trap. Forget motivation. Just do it. Exercise, lose weight, test your blood sugar, or whatever. Do it without motivation and then guess what. After you start doing it the thing, that’s when motivation comes and makes it easy for you to keep on doing it.

Motivation is like love and happiness. It’s a by-product. When your actively engaged in doing something, it sneaks up on you and zaps you when you least expect it.

As Harvard psychologist Jerome Bruner says, “Your more likely to act yourself into feeling than feel yourself into action.” So act! Whatever it is you should do, do it.

-An African parable captures the idea very well: Every morning in Africa, a gazelle wakes up. It knows that it must run faster than the fastest lion or it will be killed. Every morning the lion wakes up. It knows that it must outrun the slowest gazelle or it will starve to death. It doesn’t matter whether you are a lion or a gazelle: when the sun comes up you had better be running.

-You must start. You cannot wait for tomorrow, or next week, or next year. You have got to start now, tonight!!!! I cannot do it for you, you must do it for yourself. Forget the catcalls of the critics, forget the limitations that you perceive you have, forget the mistakes of the past and get rolling. Start, start, start, start, start, start. . . . . . . . .

C. The Third Principle – Release Resentments – Colossians 3:13

Colossians 3:13 bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do.

-Unresolved tensions in life will make their way to the surface and will affect our abilities to lead and to influence. Resentment is defined by Webster’s Dictionary as “a sense of injury or anger arising from a sense of wrong.” It can stifle us and create harm in and through us.

-Lesson: RELEASE RESENTMENTS. They will spill over into your actions and will destroy any good that you may wish to accomplish. Furthermore, life is not fair. It never has been and never will be.

-Holding on to resentment causes stress, anxiety, uncontrollable feelings of anger. If these are unresolved, serious emotional and physical consequences will develop. Resentment doesn’t punish anyone but ourselves. We can’t hold resentments and find healing at the same time.

-Let it go. Let it go. Let it go. You say that Paul did not have to endure such things as this. But little do we realize that there were several men who were intent on destroying him. Two of them he names for us: Alexander the coppersmith and Hymenaeus. They did their best to destroy the effects of Paul.

-But Paul was unwilling to allow his resentment to sabotage his own desires because he closed out 2 Timothy 4 and told Timothy not to lay it to their charge (4:16).

-Paul felt the pain, the betrayal, the rejection, the abandonment, the mistreatment. He knew the custom of fair weather friends and yet he still put everything on the line for them. But he could release it. He forgave. He turned the wrongdoing of others over to God. He even went as far as to request their acquittal! May it not be held to their charge!!!!

-The best place to take your resentments to is to God. If you have read the book of Psalms, you will discover this is a valid form of prayer. Admit your hurts and wounds to God, then seek healing and maybe a clean up crew. Confess your anger and let it go.

-This principle is simple but it will never be easy. One of the most difficult things to do is to forgive when you feel wronged and in the right. Consciously let go of the need to get even. Set your adversary free and abandon a desire to retaliate. You must forgive, not because you feel like forgiving, but because you need it for your own sense of well-being.

-Deliberately choose to absolve and move on–even if the offender doesn’t deserve it.

-It’s not what happens to me; it’s what happens in me. . . . . . .

D. The Fourth Principle – Keep Your Eyes on the Prize – 1 Corinthians 9:24

1 Corinthians 9:24 Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it.

Philippians 3:14 I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

The story is told of a young man by the name of Monty, who was the son of an itinerant horse trainer, who would go from stable to stable, race track to race track, farm to farm and ranch to ranch, training horses. As a result the boy’s high school career was continually interrupted. When he was a senior, he was asked to write a paper about when he wanted to be and do when he grew up.
That night he wrote a seven-page paper describing his goal of someday owning a horse ranch. He wrote about his dream in great detail and he even drew a diagram of a 200-acre ranch, showing the location of all the buildings, the stables and the track. Then he drew a detailed floor plan for a 4,000 square foot house that would sit on the 200-acre dream ranch.
He put a great deal of his heart into the project and the next day he handed it in to his teacher. Two days later he received his paper back. On the front page was a large red F with a note that read, “See me after class.”
The boy with the dream went to see the teacher after class and asked, “Why did I receive an F?”
The teacher said, “This is an unrealistic dream for a young boy like you. You have no money. You come from an intinerant family. You have no resources. Owning a horse ranch requires a lot of money. You have to buy the land. You have to pay for the original breeding stock and later you will have to pay large stud fees. There is no way that you could ever do that.” Then she handed the paper back to him. “If you will rewrite this paper with a more realistic goal, I will reconsider your grade.”
Monty went home and thought about it long and hard. He asked his father what he should do. His father told him, “Look, son, you have to make up your own mind on this. However, I think it is a very important decision for you.”
After sitting and thinking for a week, the boy turned in the same paper, making no changes at all. He stated, “You can keep the F and I’ll keep my dream.”
The boy with a dream became a man and his dream became reality. A few years ago, Monty told the story in the living room of his 4,000 square foot house in the middle of the 200 acre horse ranch. The paper that he wrote had been framed and hung over the mantle of the fireplace. He related that two summers ago that same schoolteacher brought 30 kids to camp out on the ranch. When the teacher was leaving, he told Monty, “In years past, I have been somewhat of a dream stealer. During those years, I took kids dreams. Fortunately, you did not give up on yours.” Don’t let anyone steal your dreams, no matter what. (As told by Pastor Anthony Mangun)