Pete Wilson's Blog, page 12

In the Midst of the Storm

I think most people who are experiencing any kind of fear automatically think that’s a bad thing. That it’s a sign of weakness or maybe even a lack of faith. I don’t believe that. In fact, I believe…

Anything God leads you to do will initially involve some level of fear .

A lot of us grew up with this idea that if you were obedient to Jesus, everything was going to be great. If you were obedient to Jesus, you’re not going to have to go through storms because Jesus would never do that to you.  But look at this story.

Matthew 14:22-24

22 Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. 23 After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. Later that night, he was there alone, 24 and the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it.

Who sends the disciples into the storm?

Who allows them to float right into the midst of a really scary situation?

Jesus does, right?

The reality is that sometimes Jesus will sometimes willingly allow you to walk into a storm, because it’s in the midst of the storm that He gets our full attention.

The disciples would have to learn—as do we—that obedience is no guarantee of being spared adversity.

But now that the storm had their full attention, Jesus decided it was time the disciples got to know him a little better and that often happens when we’re forced to lean into him.

Is it possible that maybe you’re exactly where God wants you to be right now? Is it possible that God might want to use this situation or this circumstance to teach you something new about Him?

Live Your Life to be Loving, Not Loved

Is your schedule out of control? Are you so busy, you’re just making it one day to the next? Take a step back, be honest with yourself, and reevaluate why you’re doing what you’re doing. Are you filling your schedule, and saying yes to everything and everyone, to be loving? Or are you doing it to be loved?

Sometimes we may think we are loving others by always saying yes, and never saying no. But in reality, we just want to be loved. Be careful. If you live your life from the deep desire of wanting to be loved by everyone around you, you are headed for an unhealthy way of living. Be intentional about how you spend your time.

Uncertain Circumstances

We think that the more spiritually mature we are, the more certainty we have about everything. Somehow, we have the idea that spiritual giants walk around in a serene bubble of certainty, in constant, peaceful contemplation of the victory at the end of the story. They don’t have to worry about waiting because their faith takes away all the pain, anxiety, and uncertainty.

But I think it’s often just the opposite: God’s most deeply committed servants are frequently the ones who live in the most uncertain circumstances. Do you really think that the apostle Paul wasn’t anxious to be rescued from the raging storm that was threatening each moment to sink the ship he was on? Do you think that Jesus Christ Himself wasn’t daunted by the prospect of the suffering of the cross and the uncertainties of undergoing death? (How many people do you know who have been in such an emotionally extreme place that they actually sweated blood? Jesus did!)

In fact, the way it really works is this: the more spiritually mature you are, the less certainty you require. And the less certainty you require, the more you are able to wait—even under extreme circumstances.

As a pastor I’ve spent many a long night in the hospital waiting room with families. The waiting room can be a scary place. You’ll never feel more utterly out of control than sitting there waiting to hear how a loved one is doing after an accident or following a surgery. There’s nothing you can do. Nothing— except just sit and wait.

I know it’s scary for some of you right now. Fear has gripped you because you feel like all you can do is wait…and wait… and then wait some more. But you can also know this: the closer you walk with God, the more content you are to simply keep your hand in His and allow Him to take you step-by-step along the path.

Be Driven by Convictions, Not Confidence

Most of the decisions we make in life are based on confidence. Do I feel confident that I could do this? Can I pull this off? This confidence most often comes from the support and approval of those around us.

But be careful. If all of your confidence is based off the people around you, you’re only going to do things that those people believe that you can do.

What about the dream God has laid on your heart? At some point, you have to make decisions based on a deep conviction, and not just the confidence you’ve built from the approval of others.

 

Be Faithful in the Waiting

So life isn’t turning out exactly the way you thought, and you have laid it before God in prayer, over and over again. You’ve taken the steps you know to take and prepared yourself to the best of your ability—and it still isn’t happening.

Is it time to move on? Is failure inevitable? And if it is, how much longer should you keep prolonging the obvious?

My bias is that, most of the time, we give up too soon. I prefer to help people see all the possibilities God may be placing before them. I am always hesitant to place time limits on God. The important thing is to continue trusting the end result to God, even when the outcomes you want are not immediately apparent.

Remember that faithful waiting—attending—involves much more than passively sticking your hands up in the air until God rains blessings down into your palms. Faithful waiting involves actively seeking contentment, even amid less-than-optimal circumstances.

Can you listen for God’s guidance, even when things aren’t going your way? Can you proactively trust Him, even when you aren’t seeing the evidence of the victory you long for?

I encourage you to keep doing the next right thing, taking the steps you know to take, without getting frustrated because you aren’t yet where you want to be. Act on the belief that God has a plan and that He is bringing it to completion in your life. Commit to being ready for that completion to occur, even if you can’t see it coming.

Jesus Is There For The Brokenhearted

The Lord is close to the brokenhearted. Psalm 34:18

Do you ever feel alone? We can be surrounded by people and at times still feel alone. As we come off the Christmas season and look to this new year ahead, know that you’re not alone. Jesus knows all about loneliness, brokenness, disappointment, rejection and pain. In the greatest crisis of His life, every one of His friends deserted Him.

But there is good news. Jesus is good news for broken people. And broken things can be made beautiful again.

Choosing to Live with Unclenched Fists

The simple fact is that in order to learn to embrace uncertainty and move forward despite your fears, you’ve got to turn loose of your uncertainty. As long as you’re holding on tight to your misgivings about God, you can’t grab on to His faithfulness.

I’ve got a friend who is a rock climber. He tells me that as long as you’re just hanging on where you are, it’s impossible to go any higher. I’ve never done any rock climbing, but I can imagine that when you’re fifty, seventy-five, or a hundred feet up on a steep rock face, having both hands and both feet dug into a good, tight hold would feel pretty good. When gravity is working against you, it’s nice to know you can hang on to something.

But guess what? Hanging on where you are guarantees that you won’t go anywhere—up or down. To make progress in either direction, you’ve got to release your present security and reach out.

I believe that many of us, in our battles with our fears and troubles, have given up on progress and settled for just not falling. I understand that impulse. I really do. But I believe we have a God who longs to reach out and take us by the hand and draw us up toward higher ground. And as long as our fists are clenched around the things we presently trust, we can’t grip God’s outstretched hand. We won’t go any higher.

Listen to me: no matter what you are holding on to right now—whether it is your 401(k), your job title, your protective mistrust of the people around you, your anger at a friend’s betrayal, your dependence upon another person, or whatever it is you think makes you feel safe—you will be more secure once you’ve let go of that and grabbed God’s hand. The faithfulness of God is stronger than whatever fears or challenges are holding you back.

The Right Time

Most of us have a deep desire to experience God’s power, but we aren’t very interested in his calendar – you want things to happen when you want them to happen. We are often times left wanting, longing, and waiting, but Christmas is a reminder that God not only makes promises but he fulfills them.

My prayer for you this Christmas is that you’ll be able to look back on your life and see the places where God was most powerfully present even when you felt like he was absent, because –

God is…

God was…

God will be…

With you.

 

Unexpected Generosity

Every month at Cross Point, we do something called the Dollar Club, where we challenge everybody in our church at all of our campuses to give just $1. We pull all those dollars together and go out into the community to do a random of act of kindness and generosity for an individual, family, or organization. This month we decided to take things one step further and spread some Christmas cheer to a whole bunch of people in the community.

Check out the video below to see what can happen when we all come together to make a difference.

 

All You Need Is Time

One thing that all relationships need is time. When you’re living your life as if you have unlimited time, you put off things that need to be said and done inside of your relationships. I think it’s important that we take a step back and realize the importance of the time we spend investing in our spouse, our kids, and our friendships.

In our culture today, we’re raising our kids to be experience rich and relationally poor. We work ourselves to the bone to make sure that they can go to these extravagant camps and programs, when what they really need is you to be at the dinner table every night.