Calm Under Pressure

They say that the ability to remain calm under pressure is a sign of a good leader. It usually means the person is someone of experience who is able to put the situation at hand in proper perspective. Unfortunately too many of us allow the present moment to become the only moment, blocking out everything else we know as a fact. This is the reason a person can go from professing faith in Jesus one moment to panic and despair in the next. We allow the moment at hand to eclipse what we know and have experienced with Jesus.

Calm under pressure is not only a quality of a good leader but it is also the measure of a mature follower of Jesus Christ. Maturity means we have gained a good grasp of the big picture so that daily moments are kept in their proper perspective. Maturity means that we trust that what God has done in the past he will also do today and tomorrow. Maturity means that we understand the true source of all good things and we have come to trust his promises. Maturity means that we never allow our response to the pressures of life to rob Jesus of his glory.

Apostle Paul was all too familiar with the pressures of life. You probably know of all the things he went through, the many times we was put in jail, the stoning, the shipwrecks  and the fact he never gave up, he never packed, he never ran away. But were you aware that in his last months in captivity much of the church in Asia Minor turned away from him? Other teachers came in and started to distort the truth of the gospel. This is what Paul was writing to Timothy when he told him to be aware that people would turn away from sound doctrine. He told Timothy that during these days he must keep his head:

They will turn from the truth and eagerly listen to senseless stories. But you must stay calm and be willing to suffer. You must work hard to tell the good news and to do your job well. (2 Timothy 4:4-5)

Interesting: stay calm and be willing to suffer. He isn't saying he must be willing to suffer disease or any such thing but willing to suffer for teaching the truth. Timothy must be willing to stand in the face of popular opposition and not turn back for the sake of popularity. It is easy to fill a church; just preach what people want to hear. But when you bring the truth of Jesus Christ there will be suffering as popularity turns its ugly head on you. Stay calm. Don't complain about the cost of preaching the truth. Just consider those who went before you, like Paul, Peter, Stephen or even Jesus who was crucified for what he taught.

Work hard and do your job well. Have you ever consider presenting Jesus to people as your job? Jesus considers it that way. Just look at the parables he told. How many were about the master and the servant and the expectations on the servant? We are that servant and we have a job to do. Jesus told us to be found faithfully doing it on his return, no matter the cost.

Stay Calm. Be willing to suffer. Work hard. Do your job. Do we measure up?

A Seed Of Doubt

How do you feel when you know you can do something but someone doubts your ability? It's pretty devastating isn't it? You've got yourself all psyched up to do this great thing and someone comes along who pops your bubble with "Are you crazy? You can't do that". Suddenly you feel like you can't. You have to have a lot of confidence and determination to do great things in the face of doubters.

Doubt is a destructive thing no matter what we are talking about but especially when it comes to your relationship with God. Here we have been promised all these things by Jesus and we should be able to act upon them, but many of us don't because of that nagging voice of doubt. "What if ..." is what we hear over and over again. What if that promise isn't for you? What if he is holding something against you? What if you've got it all wrong? What if he doesn't really love you? Maybe this is the reason apostle Paul prayed this for the Ephesians:

I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.  (Ephesians 3:16-17)

Yes, we need to be strengthen in our inner being so that we have the faith to permit Jesus to live in us. There are plenty of voices on the outside and inside yelling at us that we are stupid to believe. It is only going to get worse. As the world looks for justification to hate the Church it will attack the truth with lies and will try to paint a picture of you to make you feel stupid for believing.

The pressure will only get worse as we have prominent celebrities telling parents to believe what they want but not to pass their superstition on to their children. I know parents don't want to hear it but there is a concerted effort in the school system to separate children from faith in Jesus. It comes as no surprise as the Bible tells us over and over again what the last days look like:

But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive,disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God—  having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them. (2 Timothy 3:1-5)

You think it is bad now? Watch what is already here and growing. There will be hatred in the world against the Church and even within the Church there will be destructive forces trying to destroy you, the Bride of Christ:

The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons. (2 Timothy 4:1)

We need to check ourselves and encourage others to check themselves. We need to take inventory and see where we stand in faith with Jesus. We need to shore things up now because the days are growing short and the great tide of opposition is beginning to hit us. It will not get better and is promised to only get worse. If you don't have faith to stand up under the little bit you have been facing now because of the name of Jesus, how do you hope  to stand against the great storm that is approaching?

I'll tell you how: you will stand in the power that is strengthening you in your inner being. That power is given by the Father to insure that you will stand because in faith Jesus lives in you. You are far more powerful, strong, determined, and persevering than you can possibly imagine because of Jesus in you. Block out those voices, get your eyes fixed on the goal, don't stop praising Jesus and, no matter what it costs. never give up on the hope that is ours. Our Father will see us through the days that lay before us and we will meet together in the home he has prepared. Until the that day comes, stay strong in the Lord and stand your ground.