Jump Start # 1245

Psalms 27:7 “Hear, O Lord, when I cry with my voice, and be gracious to me and answer me.”

  I was with a dear friend recently. She was hurting. Her hurts were visible in her eyes if you knew her. Her pain was in her tears, as she literally cried. She is a sweet, sweet Christian who is nearing the end of her journey here. I’ve known her for decades. We are friends. At this recent visit, she cried. She was scared. She just doesn’t know if God has forgiven her. We talked. We looked at a few passages. I offered a prayer. I left, but I couldn’t leave the conversation. It stayed with me. She is not alone in how she feels. I’ve met many Christians who have felt this way. This is especially true of the older generation. It may be that they have more time to think about things. It may be the reality of death is before them. It may be that they are more serious in their walk with the Lord.

Our passage today, not written from a senior citizen, but one who felt God was distant. That can happen at any time or age. Here are some thoughts that came to me about this:

1. We can feel this way because of the damage and consequences of our sins. We can think that we’ve done too much for even God to forgive. We know the lessons about Saul of Tarsus who persecuted Christians and became the apostle Paul. We know those things. But still, when it is my life, my sins, my forgiveness, those take on a different meaning. Has God truly forgiven me?

2. Sermons can make a person feel this way. This is something I heard from my friend. Preachers pounding hard about hypocrisy, waywardness, indifference, and a lack of spiritual intensity hits honest and good hearts. Some feel guilty when maybe they shouldn’t. The hard part about preaching is the spiritual diversity in the audience before you each week. In that audience are the faithful of God who are trying. Also in that audience are the curious, the indifferent, the apathetic, the hypocrite, the visitor and the prodigal. The faithful look within. They apply everything to themselves. They want to be right with the Lord. So as the preacher is hammering away about prodigals, there is the faithful, thinking that the preacher is talking about them. They remember periods in their past when they were not as strong as they could have been. They remember wrongs in their life. They wonder. They question. They begin believing that they have not done enough, if there is such a thing? They feel bad about the low moments in their life. Those things weigh them down. They can lose confidence and assurance in the Lord. While the preacher is trying to touch the prodigal’s heart and the stir up the heart of the indifferent, too often, the heart of the faithful is bothered because of their lack of trust in the Lord.

3. Much of this is a faith issue. In theory this is understood. In reality, it’s hard to grasp. What a failure and a disappointment to God some of us, if not all of us have been in the past. It’s hard to climb out of the deep pit that we’ve been in. The freshness of forgiveness often doesn’t cover the stench of sin. On top of this, most have a hard time forgiving themselves. It’s easier to forgive someone else. We demand more, expect more and have little patience for failure in our own life. But it’s there.

Can we feel forgiven? Can we have the assurance of Heaven? Can we overcome our past? The answer has to be yes. Without that answer, we are doomed. I believe many of the doubts and fears we have come from Satan. He eats at our confidence in Christ. He hangs around reminding us of sins and failures. He wants us to believe that we are too bad for God. He wants us to be overwhelmed with worry and anxious moments. Those things keep us up at night. They block good health. We become weary and discouraged because of worry and fear.

This is why Peter said “Casting all your anxiety upon Him, because He cares for you.” Jesus repeatedly said, “Do not be anxious.” Don’t go there. How? How, is through faith. How is grasping that God loves you. He knows you. You have hidden nothing from Him. He knows all and still loves you. Faith builds confidence. Faith drives Satan away. Faith is the answer, the hope and the means to trusting God. The Lord promises to forgive us, if our hearts are true and right. It is upon those promises that we build our hope and move forward.

My conversation with my friend revealed to me that there may well be many who feel the same way. They want to go to Heaven. They believe in God. They have followed Him. But there lingers doubts, fears and anxious moments. We must be busy building faith. We must strengthen up our hearts. Could it be that we spend too much time talking about others, and what we need to focus upon is our relationships with the Lord. Maybe we’ve taken it for granted that the faithful are always strong. Maybe it’s the fundamentals that we need to revisit.

Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine…Jesus is mine. My Jesus. Some day we will be out of there. We will no longer have these dark fears plaguing us. Satan will be put where he belongs. Until then, know, believe, trust that God loves you and wants you to spend forever with Him. Walk with Him. Ask Him to forgive you. Do what He says. Do your best. If you stumbled yesterday, pick yourself up and make today the day it ought to be.

My Jesus.

Roger