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?

Live Large For Jesus!

You have to admit that our perspective is pretty messed up. The things we tend to put value on have no eternal value at all. The things we try to avoid are the things that are essential for our growth. We read and study the Bible and only hold on to the things that make us feel good. We like celebrating the victory without participating in the fight. We tell God to take our life and use us but when he does we fight him all the way. It's not meant to be this hard.

Something that should tell us that we don't quite get it is found in the book of Acts. It is the part where the apostles were arrested, questioned, beaten and then released. They did not come out of the prison shouting about their rights or demanding justice. They came out celebrating that they were considered worthy to suffer for the name of Jesus. It doesn't mean we should go out looking to be beaten but it should tell us that our view of what is valuable is all wrong. It should tell us that our attitude is not exactly where God would want it to be.

When apostle Paul wrote to the Ephesians he was writing from jail. This was likely his last letter written; this and 2 Timothy. He did not want them to be discouraged by his situation so in a paragraph he reminded them of who he had been and who he now was through Christ. Nothing had changed because of his circumstances. Just because he was in jail did not make him less of an apostle or unable to fulfil God's purpose for him. He summed it up with this:

I ask you, therefore, not to be discouraged because of my sufferings for you, which are your glory. (Ephesians 3:13)

Paul was not in jail because he killed someone or because he was a thief. Paul was in jail because he lifted up Jesus Christ. He was suffering for the Name of Jesus and it was the glory of the Church. We seem to miss that in our living. Suffering for the Name should be celebrated not avoided.

I want to draw a distinct line here when it comes to suffering. Suffering for the Name is persecution, it is not putting up with poverty or cancer. We have been given authority over many things and disease is one of those things. Suffering for the Name is when we are carrying out the mission and trouble comes against us because of it. It is when you are sharing Jesus with someone and they spit in your face. It is when you get arrested for preaching on the street corner. It is when great men and women of learning call you an idiot and lost in the dark ages of superstition. It is when friends and family back away from you because you are too extreme in your faith.

How much do we really love Jesus? He said that if we love him we would obey him. Obedience is more than trying to live a good life. Obedience is to go because he told us to go and to do what he told us to do. "Make disciples", he said, not "build a life for yourself", "gain a reputation", "be well thought of". Live for me and the lost, is what Jesus said. Love as I have loved, Jesus said. Do greater things than I have done, Jesus said. Do not fear when the world hates you, it hated me first, Jesus said.

This life here is not about us. We occupying a dying vessel that is only meant for a temporary time. As clay vessels we only have a certain life span as we break easy, but we have been told to make the most of the opportunities we have. Live in complete freedom from this world with it's do's and don'ts and live with complete confidence in Jesus. Do not avoid suffering for the Name but instead learn to appreciate and celebrate it. Live in boldness and lift up the name of Jesus for the whole world to see. This is the glory of the Church, to live a life of unbridled love for Jesus and for the lost for whom he died. This is our life, so live it to it's fullest potential in Jesus Christ, our Lord, Saviour and King. Live large for Jesus!