So What Are You Afraid Of?

If you’re a note taker, the failure in your life might be the first of five; it just might be the result of serious sin. You say, “Wait a minute, what do you mean?”

You’re striking out because you’re hoping for a home run and God says, “I’m sorry, I don’t really get behind home run hitters who have a lot of pride in their life or a lot of sloth in their life, or a lot of greed in their life. You see, those are not platforms I can promote from.”

Listen carefully, Christian, you want to be rich and it’s been your mind’s eye? “I see myself…I believe it, I chant it. Well, I have visions of grandeur where I can just enjoy a luxury gold bath and lots of bubbles and servants waiting on me.” “Sorry, not going to bless that. It’s all about you isn’t it? If it’s all about you, I’m sorry I can’t bless that.”

What’s your motivation to make more money; is it really all about you? You’re not really failing in that sense, what you’re doing is discovering that there is an issue that’s far deeper and your feelings of failures are actually linked to something you’re doing to yourself. You’re inflicting yourself because you won’t deal with your pride, you won’t deal with your greed, or you won’t deal with your sloth.

When I was serving in the Calvary Chapel in Las Vegas, I decided to build posts at the top of parking spaces so that cars wouldn’t pull all the way up to the building and kids wouldn’t be able to walk through. One Saturday morning, I gathered wood, a hammer, nails and I’m ready to serve the Lord thinking that everything is going to go right and whatever you do; God is going to bless it. As I raised my hand back to pound a nail, “boom,” I flatten my thumb! I literally flatten it to the point where it burst open. I stopped for second I started to turn pale and I can’t believe what I did to me.

I just took a hammer in one hand and I just hit my other hand and I still have a scar where I split it open. I did that to me. Have you ever done something really dumb to you? You did it. Have you ever just bitten your own tongue, your cheek, because you’re so hungry? When you do that, here’s what you’ll say, you’ll say to yourself, “Slow down!” And yourself will say to yourself, “I know!” And yourself will say, “Don’t do that again!” And yourself will say to yourself, “Especially there!” And then, “Boom, I just did it again in the same place! I bit my mouth at the same place, twice, stop it!”

I used to have a motorcycle and before they overturned the helmet laws, I faithfully rode with a helmet. When those helmet laws were overturned, I thought, “Hey, maybe…?” But other friends were saying, “No, always…” So whenever I rode the big roads I kept my helmet on and on the smaller roads, I’d take my helmet off.