Heavy, Deep & Real ministries

It’s 3 a.m. and I’ve been awake for about two and a half hours. One of those nights where your brain just won’t shut up. I read somewhere that if you are awake for more than an hour you need to get up and do something to reset you sleep clock. Well, my sleep clock is completely broken so here we are.

Of the plethora of thoughts going through my mind this fine early morning is all the people that are discouraged right now. I was thinking of:

• A young man in Uganda I occasionally help who takes care of 17 orphan kids. He has what I believe to be a serious ulcer and needs $900 to get an endoscopy which will most likely show he needs surgery which will cost another couple grand. There’s no money in the budget to pay for that.
• A Christian church in northern Pakistan who’s water pump broke so they have no running water and need $600 to fix it. There’s no money in the budget to pay for that either.
• A friend whose father has pancreatic cancer and has been undergoing chemo. They said the chemo was working but now say it didn’t and the guy needs radiation.
• A guy I mentor who was adopted as a baby out of South Korea and has Cerebral Palsey. He desperately wants to be able to volunteer places but because of some felony convictions is not allowed to which isolates him.
• Another guy I mentor (or tried to) who is a drug addict that went back to jail for a stint for a parole sanction. He got out and wanted to go to rehab but due to his felony convictions is not allowed to. He’s now homeless, jobless, moneyless, and doesn’t have a lot of prospects.
• A man who reads my blog who has major depressive disorder and feels as if his life has no purpose and just lives in misery.
• The place I preach on Tuesday nights – a transitional housing facility for ex-cons – where half the guys are Christians really trying to turn their lives around and half could care less what I say and are only there because it’s mandatory.
• Colorado Rockies fans.

Honestly, there is a lot to be discouraged about. The world is on fire, the divide politically and culturally in our country is widening each day, product continue to shrink and cost too much, and it’s difficult seeing it getting much better in the future. Heck, even scripture tells us it’s actually going to get worse!!

Yippee!

So, where do we find any hope in all this?

I can tell you where you won’t find it! You won’t find hope in:

• Politicians
• Government Agencies
• Non-Profits
• Wall Street
• Main Street
• Your Employer
• Your Employees
• Your Bank Account
• Your Retirement Account
• Social Security
• Your Property Value
• The Organizations You Belong To
• Sometimes Even Family

The truth is there is only hope in one place and that is in Jesus. (Yeah, I know you knew I was going to say that! But keep reading anyway!)

Scripture puts it rather bluntly in Mark 16:26 where Jesus rhetorically asks: “What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul?”

Jesus told us plaining in John 16:33, “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

In other words, this world is full of trouble and discouragement. Yet Jesus is still the Way, the Truth, and the Life in whom we can take heart and place our hope of eternal life with Him.

I like the catchy phrase that for the believer this place is the only hell we will know but for the unbeliever this place is the only heaven they will ever know. How quickly we forget as Christians (unless you listen to John McCarthur) that the Good News isn’t about social justice, equality, or even happiness. The Good News of Jesus Christ is that those who confess Him with their mouth as Savior are no longer on the A-Train to hell – a destination to which we are all bound without Jesus’s saving work!

This past Sunday at church we sang my favorite hymn – It is Well with My Soul. You should look up the story behind the guy who wrote it – long story short, he experienced extreme tragedy and loss yet wrote it was still well with his soul. Powerful. It’s one of those sentiments we always have to keep in mind. No matter how discouraged we get it should always be well with our souls.

Perhaps like you, right now I have a lot of discouragement in my life. I can’t help all the people I want to help. My health is blah. My mind is worse. I’m WAY behind on all the stuff I wanted to get done this summer before I head back to teach at a local university. I’m busier than I’ve ever been since getting into ministry some 20 years ago. And even when I come up for air life just pushes me back under water.

Yet – Jesus.

I’ve officiated three weddings in the past few weeks and have another this Saturday and yet another in August. Those are a lot of fun for me. I get to speak at a conference in a couple weeks for which I am VERY excited. I’ll be attending another conference in August which I am looking forward to. My schedule is actually opening up due to some scheduling changes. I’m looking forward to the upcoming school year – my classes are always a blast! And I continue to preach, counsel, mentor, and serve regularly which fills me.

I know I’ve actually got it really good but that doesn’t mean that one cannot be discouraged at the same time. It’s a balancing act. I believe the key to success in times when you are discouraged is to balance out your discouragement with serving God. Only by serving God will get those Holy Spirit moments when you are so filled with the Holy Ghost that you feel whole again. I know we all need that – we are all built for that – and without it we suffer.

It’s now 3:32 a.m. and I feel better. Still don’t think I can sleep but at least I got some words on paper and perhaps I can think of more positive things as Philippians 4 tells me to. Hope you all are sleeping and when you wake have a great 4^th of July.