10.12.19 - week 24
on the reality of evil.
because we wanted to come to you — i, paul, again and again — but satan hindered us
1 thessalonians 2.18
we don’t pay nearly enough attention to the realities of the spiritual realm. there is an enemy and it’s powerful. although we know final victory belongs to jesus, that doesn’t mean that sometimes satan doesn’t win in the short term. i have been teaching through 1 thessalonians, and have been so struck by paul’s longing to visit this church he started. the reason he can’t isn’t his own reluctance or god’s standing in the way, rather paul attributes this circumstance to satan’s influence.
that’s not a category most of us are comfortable with. the legacy of the protestant, american culture is one of personal responsibility and a god always in hyper-active mode. so it’s somehow easier to process god causing pain than him allowing satan to. the best way to read this scripture from my perspective is to allow that sometimes god doesn’t step-in and overrule. similar to the cross or the israelites in slavery in egypt:
sometimes our difficulty is god working for a broader purpose that is completely invisible while it’s happening.
but we can focus so much on obedience and dedication and prayer that we lose sight of evil. our mindset is something like, if it’s happening and it’s bad, it’s because i earned it and deserve it. sometimes we are so consumed with our 1-1 relationship with god that we are only able to process setbacks as punishment.
when you start to allow for the realities of evil, the things happening around you start to make more sense.
KG Korner
(a few wise words from lady kristen macdonald)
“we do not lose heart.” 2 corinthians 4:1
Those five words haven’t been far from my mind since I read them earlier this week. The beast of discouragement is a tricky one, for me it seems to come out of nowhere or give me another punch when I’m already down. It’s ugly. You don’t chose discouragement for a day, it instead chooses you and washes over you like waves that just keep crashing in.
Paul knew we would need these words, so much so that he says it twice in one chapter. This chapter reminds us in several ways of the things around us that make us want to lose heart, they are real and so easily weigh us down. But God has made a way for us and his reminder at the end of the chapter is so crucial - eternity is long, what we see isn’t all there is.
Let’s not buy into the lie that life on this side of heaven is going to be easy, if we think that and believe it we waste too much energy confused on where we got the formula wrong and not enough on the One that matters. Eternity is far longer than our finite minds can think of and if our hearts and minds are set more on that than these fleeting moments here our gaze can be refocused.
We will be afflicted // it’s promised - but you will not be crushed.
You will be perplexed // it’s promised - but you will not be driven to despair.
You will be persecuted // it’s promised - but not forsaken.
You will be struck down // it’s promised - but not destroyed.
(v.8-9)
Let me close with this piece of good news: He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world (1 John 4:4). I am praying for you today, that no matter what you are facing, you would not lose heart. Jesus is with you and for you and loves you so very much.
Cup of Leadership
attempts to induce sympathy can be just as against god’s standard as punching your enemy in the face.
scripture is filled with calls to let god be the one who avenges your enemies (proverbs 20.22 + 2 thess 2.6 + deut 32.35), but i wonder if we think about that purely in physical or direct terms and don’t see the indirect ways we try to retaliate. it’s so easy to social post about your challenges or new experiences in a way that ‘throws shade’ towards those that hurt you. if my feed or conversations are anything like yours, there are subtle jabs at former lovers + employers + institutions all over the place.
when someone feels bad for you, typically it’s because you have successfully convinced them to think badly of someone else.
so, enough with the passive aggressive vengeance taking, my friends.
we would all (self-included) do well to stop subtly angling for others to tacitly approve our pain or point of view. trying to make others feel bad for you is taking the weapon out of god’s massive hands and swinging the hammer with your puny strength. just this week, i preached a verse where paul celebrates seeing god’s justice come to pass (1 thess 2.16). let god do the work and don’t get in his way.
Book Review
i have loved all 6 of malcom gladwell’s books. candidly, having 10 episodes of him on podcast every year makes this one feel a little less special than some of the others. he helps the reader by forcing us to not settle for easy answers on big topics. he unfurls various dynamics in the way we communicate with strangers. when taken together, some of the most head scratching news stories of the last decade start to make a little more sense. this is a really good airplane or poolside book.
also, my fave gladwell book rankings:
1. blink
2. the tipping point
3. outliers
4. what the dog saw
5. talking with strangers
6. david and goliath
Sermon of the Week
i started a podcast.
every week there will be a new sermon + a fun interview conducted while i sit in traffic.i would consider it a personal favor if you subscribed and rated it for me.
3 Things I Really Liked This Week
1. i have been really blessed by the first two messages from pastor mark on spiritual warfare, you might be as well.
2. one of my favorite comedians all the back to the reality show ‘last comic standing’ has a new special out. gary gulman brings a very intriguing mixture of mental health awareness + comedy to it … i think you might dig it
3. ONE LAST CALL -- i wrote an article about the joseph series, would love for you to read it here.