You know I love that video but my favorite moment of all is when she stops, out of breath, the path is too hard, the journey is too tough, it’s time to just throw in the towel and quit. But just in that moment she lifts her head and you can see the determination in her eyes as she pushes forward, refusing to quit, no matter how tough it gets she’s not going to give up. There’s something to that, something that we should talk about today as we wrap up this series.
But before we jump into this and begin to do that good morning, welcome to DCC, and thanks for being here. We want to give a special thanks and welcome to you today if you are brand new and of course to all of online friends out there right now too and make sure that you know that all of your story is safe here regardless of how it reads, you belong with us regardless of what you believe, and you are hanging out with people today that are just like you. Hope you have already felt and experienced that in your time with us today and have already decided that you want to come back and do this again with us in the future, hopefully even next week.
ILLUST> So one of my favorite books ever is “Leading at the Edge”. It is a book on leadership based on the story of an explorer back at the beginning of the 1900’s named Ernest Shackleton. After leading three British expeditions by sea to the Antarctic, Shackleton began to make preparations for what would become known as the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition, a crossing of Antarctica from sea to sea via the South Pole. There were two major obstacles in the way of the expedition cold and ice. Despite that, Shackleton began to plan for it to recruit a crew. The advertisement that he placed in the London Papers read as follows. “Men wanted for hazardous journey. Small wages, bitter cold, long months of complete darkness, constant danger, safe return doubtful. Honor and recognition in the case of success.” After gathering his crew he set sail on August 8, 1914. Shackleton thought that the trip could be completed in 4 months…120 days. After 45 days at sea the ice in the sea closed around the ship like a vise. Let me show you a photo. Temperatures reached down to minus 120 degrees. Get this now…282 days later…the ice crushed the ship. Here’s another photo. So now, your ship has been crushed, you and your crew are stranded on the frozen sea and the nearest food depot is 346 miles away. You have lifeboats and sleds but they weigh almost 1000 pounds…now what? Feels pretty hopeless. Safe return doubtful, no doubt about that, it looks like there is no way that any of them will ever overcome where life has them at this moment.
Now here’s the thing about that moment and that story. We may not be stranded on the frozen sea. We may be in a warm building this morning, but most if not all of us have things in our lives and stories that we feel pretty hopeless about, things that we hope to, want to, and need to overcome. That’s why we have spent the past 4 weeks talking about how we can begin to do that. So, today as we wrap this up I want to talk about one last thing that is a non-negotiable if we really want to overcome, specifically five very important words…I will never give up. A lot of us have been working hard to overcome, trying hard to overcome, even praying a lot that God will help us overcome the challenges that we are facing in our lives without much change or improvement. Some of us have been doing that for a long long time. After a while it begins to like God is either not there or really doesn’t care. We find ourselves tempted to throw in the towel, give up, and conclude that overcoming is not an option. We find ourselves losing hope and losing heart. So, what do we do with that? Great question. Let’s jump into this together today and see…
If you brought a Bible we are going to be in 2 Corinthians chapter 12. If you don’t have a Bible they are back on the back tables that you can grab right now if you would like if you close or on you can always grab one on your way out. As always you can hit our app or the You Version app too. Or you can ignore all of that and read along with me on the screens. So here we go 2 Corinthians 12 starting with verse 6…
6 Even if I should choose to boast, I would not be a fool, because I would be speaking the truth. But I refrain, so no one will think more of me than is warranted by what I do or say, 7 or because of these surpassingly great revelations. Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. 8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me.
Alright let’s pause and talk about the guy who is writing this and get a handle on what is happening here. Twenty years earlier this guy Paul was handpicked by God to take the message of his son Jesus all over that side of the world. He ended up writing over half of the New Testament including this book that we are reading from today, his second letter to the church in Corinth. Paul had heard that they were struggling in Corinth, that things were not going well, that they were losing hope, that they were about to give up on God all together. So in this letter his message is don’t give up, don’t give up, don’t give up, there’s hope. He uses his own story and experience to illustrate that. So something hard hits his life and he asks God to take it away. He like all of us looks up and now has something in his life that he hopes to, wants to, and needs to overcome. There is a gap between his reality and what he wants his life to be. Question, what do we do in these moments? Let’s dial this in…
WHAT DO WE DO IN THE GAP BETWEEN WHAT WE NEED AND WHAT GOD DOES? As we read Paul’s story we don’t really know what it is that Paul needs help overcoming here. There is speculation that maybe it is malaria, epilepsy, or an eye condition. We don’t know, and it doesn’t really matter. Whatever it is, it is so bad that Paul is begging God to intervene, to fix it, heal it, or take it away. Every single one of us can relate to having something like that in our lives. We all have things in our lives that we are asking God to fix, heal, intervene in, or take away. What is that for you this morning? What are you begging God to help you with…your marriage, health, kids, job, finances, your sexuality, your addictions, your grief, your loss, your depression, your hurt, your pain, your thing, whatever that is for you. What is that for you as you sit here today? Where is the gap between reality and ideal and what are you doing with that?
So what do we do with these problems in our lives these things that we are trying too overcome? I thought of 4 things we tend to do. Sometimes there is isn’t much of a difference inside and outside the church. We turn to people, to pills, to programs, and eventually some of us get to prayer. I was going to add pastor or priest in that but we are people so we will just go with that. So people, pills, programs and prayer. All 4 can be helpful. I believe that.
What does Paul do? He gets super spiritual here and goes straight to prayer. He may have popped a pill right before that, he may have talked to some friends, we don’t know. We do know this. He asks God to take this thing away three times. The best translation of that is for three different seasons over a twenty-year period. The implication, for the first two seasons of prayer God said no. A lot of us can relate to that to. We too keep asking and nothing changes. Reality for all of us is this. Hopelessness grows in the gap between what we need or think we need and what God does.
I think Paul has to be feeling that here. Is that your story? If so, it’s hard isn’t it? Yes, it is. So we turn to everything that we can, lots of p words and nothing changes. It is hard not to feel hopeless, it is hard not to conclude that overcoming this, whatever this may be is just not an option for me. Life in the gap between what we need and what God chooses to do often feels pretty hopeless for me and for you. But wait, the story is not over. Paul gets an answer to his prayer. Let’s keep reading.
9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.
Anybody else disappointed if you are Paul in this moment besides me? Thanks God but that was not exactly the answer that I was looking for. I can’t speak for you, but it’s not for me. God I asked you to take it away, change it or fix this. Paul has spent a lot of time on this, three seasons of his life where he went after this with God hard, God please fix this, take this away, change my circumstances. We have all had these kind of seasons haven’t we? I don’t know if I can do this anymore God, I can’t take it, do something, times and seasons where we have prayed exactly what Paul is praying here. Paul doesn’t get what he asks for here, God doesn’t take it away. Check this out. God gives him a promise instead. So how does that feel? Are we okay with that? Really? Some of us are probably thinking at least he is getting an answer and that is more than I am getting. Despite that, my guess is that it doesn’t sit well with a lot us. Here’s why…
WE VALUE PERFORMANCE OVER PROMISES. Here’s the thing about promises, promises are great, but promises are not all that helpful or what we are looking for when we are in experiencing real pain, hurt or need in our lives and stories. When you are need or hurting and need help overcoming something in your life my promise to help you is really is not all that helpful. Yeah, thanks for nothing. It’s all about the performance, about me coming through on the promise. It’s the same way with God too. What do we really want most and expect most when we pray? Answer, correct this problem. We need to see this. We think close the gap between my life as it is and as I want it to be, God thinks fill it. I don’t need a promise God, what I really need is for you to do something in my life and story. God makes a lot of promises, promises that often seem empty as the challenges continue and our lives and stories don’t seem to change.
ILLUST> You ever struggle with this? Me too. God, I’m not asking for much. I’m simply asking to get back to the some sort of normal in my life. I’m not asking to win the lottery or for a fortune how about a job…any job? My family is struggling I need a job. I am not asking for a sports car or a luxury car I am just asking for basic transportation. I am not asking for the best marriage ever I’m just asking you to bring my spouse back… I’m just asking you to save my marriage. I’m not asking for perfect health or to be a picture of health but I have cancer…I’m dying God I am just asking you to let me live. I’m struggling God because I am looking around and you seem to be doing it for other people around me. You are saying yes. My friends in church, their prayers are being answered, their lives are getting better. And my neighbors, they don’t even really believe in you God, and they get the raise, the promotion, their disease goes away, their kids get into all the best schools. God I am just asking you please…begging…pleading…just help me. I need help. Take this away. I appreciate the promise to see me through it but I really much prefer you to get me out of this.
You ever been there? Me too. Please take the problem, challenge, issue, obstacle, mountain, pain away. Remove it from my life. Performance trumps promise every single time. Let’s finish this…
10 That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
The Greek word here for delight is best defined as taking a high degree of pleasure and mental satisfaction in. Paul doesn’t just tolerate his weaknesses, hardships, and difficulties, these things in his life and story he would love to overcome. He claims to take pleasure in them. Is he crazy? If not, how does he do that? Answer, he recognizes that when he is weak he is actually strong. Don’t miss this. Everything begins to change in our lives when we learn to do what Paul is doing here. So much of overcoming really does boil down to this…
WE MUST LEAN INTO THE PROMISE AND REFUSE TO QUIT. ILLUST> So there they are over a hundred years ago, Shackleton and his crew stranded on the ice, the temperature 100 below zero, 346 miles from the nearest shelter. It’s just hard to even imagine. Just imagine the moment in your life where you were freezing the most, your coldest moment. Now imagine this…you are going to live that way for the next 634 days…out of touch with the rest of the world, your family has no idea whether you are dead or alive, and you will be hungry to the point of starvation. Sounds totally and completely hopeless. Sounds like a tragedy. 634 days later Shakleton and all 28 men were rescued. It’s not a tragedy, it’s actually one of the greatest stories of overcoming that I have ever read. You really should read it. 634 days later Shackleton and all 28 men were rescued. You know, I don’t know where Shackleton was with God. I don’t know if he prayed once during those 634 days. What I do know is this. He refused to throw in the towel, he didn’t quit, he never gave up. He just kept moving forward one step, one day at a time. A big part of overcoming is just that, perseverance, tenacity, staying in the fight, refusing to quit. That’s a part of it but the beauty of today is this, just like with Paul there is so much more available to us than just that.
ILLUST> One of the best men that I have ever met in my entire life was my friend and mentor Craig McConnell. Craig passed away last August after a 7 year battle with Leukemia. In the last year of his life he wrote something that I want to read to you. “I’ve never been comfortable claiming to have suffered. Especially here at a Cancer Center where I walk the halls and share the elevator with folks bearing things my heart stumbles over. Nonetheless I have felt the desperation, tension, and the angst of wanting a script for my life that God hasn’t apparently written. Yet deeper still is the naked confession that God is good. God is good. In the night hours particularly I am surrounded by doors, behind each is fear, hopelessness, despair or profound aloneness. I battle to simply stay in Christ and he in me. It is the simplest and most difficult of feats. I hate cancer and death’s schoolyard taunts, bullying and fraudulent intimidation; however I love God more than I hate cancer. I have to say it again. I love God more than I hate cancer. Lori and I are on a path that certainly involves going deeper into God than I would have ever chosen. There really isn’t any other path.” It would be easy to look at Craig’s life and say that cancer won. What I just read is evidence that no it really didn’t win at all. See Craig not only refused to quit, he leaned hard into God and the promises of God and refused to quit. Even on his death bed he raised his hand in victory and said I am his. His story and legacy can be captured in one simple word…overcome. His circumstances didn’t change, but he overcame.
What I am continuing to learn as I try to walk life with God is this. My greatest gains have come at the end of my own strength. It’s like that moment in the gym where you max out on the bench press and the weight is stuck on your chest. I’ve been there. I know it is hard to believe look at me. When that happens there are two options. I can roll the weight down my body and off of me to the floor. There is another option. I can call someone else over to lift the weight off of me. Think about that. Isn’t that exactly what we want and expect God to do, take this away, get this off of me. God says…how about this…how about I spot you, how about I help you lift it? Why, because when you do that you get stronger…and next time gets easier for you. My power is made perfected in your weakness.
ILLUST> In the 1870s Horatio Spafford was a successful Chicago lawyer who was heavily invested in real estate. In 1871 his son died a few months later the great fire wiped out his holdings. In 1873 he planned a trip to Europe with his wife and his four daughters. At the last minute his business caused him to have to stay behind but he sent his wife and four daughters on promising to catch up in a few days. During that trip the ship that his wife and daughters was on was struck by another ship and sank in 12 minutes. Several days later Mrs. Spafford cabled her husband. The message read…saved alone. When Horatio traveled across the ocean to meet his grieving wife he sailed near the place where his four daughters had died. There in the midst of his sorrow he wrote the words to the song “When peace like a river”. When peace like a river attendeth my way, when sorrows like sea billows roll, whatever my lot, thou hast taught me to say it is well, it is well with my soul.
Had did Horatio Spafford do that? He leaned into the promise, God’s power is made perfect in my weakness and he refused to quit. One day at a time. The most amazing thing about God is this, He never asks to do something that he himself was not willing to do. I want us to end this series by spending the last few minutes of it with an opportunity to turn down the noise and think about that. So the band is coming back out and we are going to do one last song. Before we do that we are going to pass a tray with a little piece of cracker and a cup of juice that represents the body and blood of Jesus. Jesus said do this to remember me. So as we do this today yes remember all of your sins are forgiven. It’s an awesome thing. But remember this too the path to the cross for Jesus looked exactly like our lives today…asking God to take this away…and God saying No. God didn’t change the path, instead he gave Jesus the grace, strength and power that he needed to get through it. If God can see Jesus through that, what is there in our lives and stories that he cannot see us through?
If you are a believer in Jesus take the communion any time that you are ready as the soft music plays. If you are not, or aren’t sure, pass the tray to the person next to you. There’s no shame in that. You are going to hear some people around you cracking those little cups. It is a tangible reminder that what Jesus said on the cross is true, it is finished. Our sin, yesterday’s todays and tomorrows will not be held against us. We don’t have to overcome that, but life goes on and the challenges continue. It’s hard really hard when God says No. We need to keep coming back to this. God says “even when the circumstances of your life don’t change, just like I did with my son, I will you everything that you need to get through this, you will overcome”. That’s a promise, that’s all you need, lean into that and refuse to quit. Let me pray for us.
