Guidelines For Graduates
II Timothy 1:7; Philippians 3:13-14; Hebrews 12:1-3
Introduction
Illustration: Going down the highway a bumper sticker was observed that said, "I’m a Pearl Harbor survivor." The unique thing about this bumper sticker was that is was on the back of a Toyota truck. That driver had obviously lived through and moved beyond some difficult times.
Today our graduates will need the kind of resolve that that truck driver had. As a matter of fact we all need that kind of resolve. Making it through twelve years of school involves facing some challenges with resolve. And, as we can all testify, making it through life will include continuous encounters with challenges that we must meet.
Just think, graduates, of the encounters you have already experienced with success.
„h You graduated from the womb and successfully adjusted to birth
„h You graduated from babyhood and successfully began that first day of kindergarten
„h You graduated from preadolescence and successfully navigated those teen years
„h No you have graduated from high school and now must travel the road of adulthood.
How can your continued success be assured? Let¡¦s look at some guidelines from God¡¦s Word that will provide guidance for you and for every one of us gathered here today.
I. Face Your Fears (II Timothy 1:7)
One of the greatest hazards to success is fear.
„h Max Lucado says, ¡§Fear doesn’t want you to make the journey to the mountain. If he can rattle you enough, fear will persuade you to take your eyes off the peaks and settle for a dull existence in the flatlands.¡¨
„h Another speaker said, ¡§Once you’ve faced the very thing you fear the most, it is no longer quite so fearful.¡¨
Illustration: A mother whose husband worked late into the night had a fear of a burglar sneaking into the house and hiding under the bed. So, as she took each of her children to bed and then went to her own room, she looked under each bed and hollered, ¡§Get out of there!¡¨ Then she was able to retire peacefully for the night.
For us Christians facing fear is simply trusting in the provision of God. In II Timothy 1:7 we read, ¡§For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.¡¨ God has given us the necessary resources to face and stare down any fear that might come before us. God has replaced the spirit of fear with the power of his presence. When we trusted Jesus as Savior the Holy Spirit of God took up residence in our life and provides the continuous comfort that we need to eliminate our fears.
Illustration: A young girl had to pass through a bad neighborhood. As she went down a dark street she noticed a shadowy figure stalking her. She was gripped with fear, but to her relief the stalker did not attack. Later, she read of another young lady who was attacked that same night in that same place. The police asked anyone who might have seen anything that night to come forward as a witness. After giving her story she asked the accused attacker why he hadn¡¦t attacked her. His answer was ¡§Why, Miss, there were two men guarding you!¡¨
While we don¡¦t want to act foolishly, we can be assured that the power of God¡¦s presence surrounds our lives. There may be fears that pop up in our travels through this world, but we can face them with God¡¦s power.
Sometimes our fears arise from those who have become our enemies. These too can be conquered. God¡¦s love shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit enables us to look beyond the apprehensions we face as we interact with others.
„h Washington Irving said, ¡§Love is never lost. If not reciprocated, it will flow back and soften and purify the heart.¡¨
„h Another author wrote: ¡§Do not be too quick to assume that your enemy is a savage just because he is your enemy. Perhaps he is your enemy because he thinks you are a savage. Or perhaps he is afraid of you because he feels you are afraid of him. And perhaps if he believed you were capable of loving him he would no longer be your enemy.¡¨
Often fear is the result of a state of mind such as the woman fearful of burglars had. Satan thrives on messing with our minds. In his book, The Battle for the Mind, Tim Lahaye deals with that very conflict. From the beginning Satan tackled man¡¦s mind. This was the battleground in the Garden of Eden. The solution is to pattern our minds after the mind of God as discovered in the Bible.
Illustration: During the war, a chaplain asked a severely wounded youth if he was a Christian. The soldier gasped, "Yes." The chaplain said, "Then you have nothing to fear," and left to die the future Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes.
With God in control we can face our fears. He gives us the power, love and soundness of mind to reject fear and move ahead.
II. Forget Your Failures (Philippians 3:13-14)
If our fears don¡¦t keep us from navigating life then an inappropriate response to failures may. There will be failures. None of us are perfect and the only ones who never do anything wrong are the ones who never do anything. As suggested in the title of Erwin Lutzer¡¦s book Failure, the Back Door to Success we must rebound from failures. Lutzer is pastor of Moody Memorial Church in Chicago where he has had to face the struggles of an inner city church. Frequently, he has had to evaluate his failures and restructure the ministry of the church for success.
Paul puts is like this: ¡§¡Kforgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.¡¨ Paul makes two implications in this statement.
„h He refuses to allow failures to become destructive in his life
„h He refuses to allow failures to beset his journey to his goal.
Paul¡¦s attitude can be summarized nicely in what Robert Schuller said, ¡§Failure doesn’t mean God has abandoned you ... it does mean God has a better idea!¡¨
Our failures are usually due to making wrong choices. The solution for them is to let God direct us into the right choices. The writer of the Proverbs enjoins us in this area as well. He says, ¡§Lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.¡¨ His advice will keep us from failure. But when we do have failure we must let it be a motivator.
Illustration: A mom was responding to her college daughter¡¦s letter home. The letter included her grade report. At the end the mom wrote:
PS Regarding your D in biology let me only say that sometimes a scare is worth more than good advice.
I love you,
Mom
Perhaps God wants us to consider our failures as a source of advice that will refocus us on our goal. To reach the goal of which Paul spoke we must follow the final guideline¡K
III. Follow Your Faith (Hebrews 12:1-3)
Illustration: On day six of the ill-fated mission of Apollo 13, the astronauts needed to make a critical course correction. If they failed, they might never return to Earth.
To conserve power, they shut down the onboard computer that steered the craft. Yet the astronauts needed to conduct a thirty-nine-second burn of the main engines. How to steer? Astronaut Jim Lovell determined that if they could keep a fixed point in space in view through their tiny window, they could steer the craft manually. That focal point turned out to be their destination--Earth.
As shown in 1995’s hit movie, Apollo 13, for thirty-nine agonizing seconds, Lovell focused on keeping the earth in view. By not losing sight of that reference point, the three astronauts avoided disaster.
Scripture reminds us that to finish your life mission successfully, "Fix your eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith" (Heb. 12:2).
When Paul came to the end of his life, he could say that he had fought the good fight ¡V he had finished his mission ¡V because he had followed the advice of Hebrews 12:1-3. That same advice will lead your way to a successful Christian life. Note the direction given.
„h Our faith will lead us to become an example. Godly examples are desparately needed in our world today.
„h Our faith will lead us to carry on with our part in the race of life. Each of us receives the baton and passes it on to the next runner.
„h Our faith will lead us to focus and order our lives after the Lord Jesus. That focus will keep us going when the going gets rough. It will enable us to plow a straight furrow.
„h Our faith will lead us to a place of reward with God. The greatest praise to which we could aspire is ¡§Well done!¡¨
„h Our faith will lead us to courage in the battles of life.
Conclusion
D.L. Moody said, ¡§The world has yet to see what God can do with one man fully yielded to Him. I want to be that man.¡¨ How about you? Will you be that man or woman? You can if you will face your fears, forget your failures and follow your faith.
