"After the Fall" Series - You Have My Undivided Attention

Do you remember times where your children wanted your undivided attention?  How did they get it?  I know mine have kept saying my name over, and over, and over again until they knew they had my eyes and my total attention.

Or what about when you were a student and the teacher wanted to make sure she had everyone’s attention?   Well, I remember those times of being called on to answer a question, or worse yet; a pop quiz was given to the entire class.

Or what about times where God has tried to get your attention?  What were these times like?  For me, it was turmoil in my soul over the guilt of my sin; I remember feeling like I was running from Him as I wrestled with what He was calling me to do.

But even then, these scenarios are nothing in comparison to how God got Craig’s attention.

Craig DeMartino discovered in a devotional from the day of his accident the topic, “How far does God have to go to get your attention to make sure He’s number one in your life?”  He joked that a burning bush would have been preferable to a catastrophic fall but believes that God, in His divine providence, deemed this course of events necessary.  God had gotten Craig’s undivided attention, and Craig prayed, “Whatever you want me to do, reveal it to me.”

Now, think back to that time, which could actually be now, when God has tried to speak to you.  Were you prone to listen and act instantly, or were you so inattentive to God that He had to speak louder and louder each time until He got your attention?  And, how did your life change as a result of hearing His voice?

It took Craig falling from a cliff, but as he said, “he would rather have seen a burning bush, just like the one Moses saw in the desert.”

So looking at Moses' testimony in EXODUS 3: 1-14, you see how a burning bush became the voice of God to get Moses to do something he really didn't feel like doing.

Can you imagine coming across a bush that is on fire, yet it’s not being burned?  Would it peak your curiosity like it did Moses?  Or, would you pooh-pooh it as some figment of your imagination?  Personally, I’m a curious person so I’d go check it out.  It’s pretty neat stuff.

Now once the Lord saw He had gotten Moses’ attention, He spoke.  I really feel that if God speaks before Moses’ curiosity gets the best of him, Moses probably runs away with his sheep in another direction.  But, picture it:  Can you see Moses looking at this bush like a dog trying to figure out a strange noise?  And it’s in this stillness and attentiveness that God speaks.  

The same is true for us today.  God will use things to get our undivided attention.  In fact, He knows we won’t do what He asks us to do if our focus is somewhere else.   Let me ask this:  Do you think people who are caught up in satisfying themselves are going to recognize the voice of God?  No way, dude!  That’s why God has to often use crisis and fearful circumstances.  He will first try to get people’s attention in a civil way, with a still small voice.  But if that doesn’t work, He increases the volume and tactics to get their undivided attention.  And sad to say, even then, some still don’t listen.

My brother-in-law Jimmy is an example of how God will go to extreme measures to get someone’s attention.  Jimmy is lucky, and please excuse the word lucky, to be alive today.  He's been in accidents due to being under the influence and very fortunate that he never ended up in a fatal accident from his drag racing.  Putting it frankly, he was a reckloose.  Even while on the job in a steel mill, he had the end of three fingers cut off.  Yet none of the catastrophic events in his life got his undivided attention.

What did get his attention was, about 6 years ago there was a real possibility that he might lose his job in the Mill along with his pension and retirement; and his wife of 27 years at the time was tired of his sinful activity and threatened him to shape-up or ship-out.  So on December 23, 2005, Jimmy came to me, after God had gotten his undivided attention, and asked me what he needed to do to be saved.  That night after lengthy discussion, he made a profession before me that he wanted Jesus’ forgiveness, and repented of his sins.  He later made this profession in front of his brothers and sisters at the funeral of their father.

So if there is a Big Idea that we could take so far, it is this:  Let God have your undivided attention.

Why?  Because if God wants your attention, He’s going to get it one way or another.   And I don’t know about you, but I don’t feel like I want to fall from a cliff or have the ends of fingers cut off to finally say, “OK God!  I hear you.”

Now, getting back to the scripture in verses 5-14, you could almost hear Moses saying in his mind, “Yea Lord, this all sounds good!  It’s great that you hear the cries of your people and want to rescue them from the hands of the Egyptians.  I tried once before, but they kicked me out of town.  So how are you going to do it this time?  Who are you going to send?  And God says, “You!”  “But, but, but, but, but …… I can’t do it!" says Moses.  "Who am I?  I’m just a lowly shepherd that Pharaoh won’t take seriously.  Send somebody else that has some clout!”  And God said, "I will be with you."

God hears our excuses for why we can’t do what He is asking us to do.  (And thank God He doesn’t condemn us for our excuses or we’d all be in trouble.)  But even though He hears them, He won’t let us use them.   Never!  He will never let us rest until we do what He has asked us to do.  

I've heard it said, and I say this jokingly for fear I’ll get it from my wife when I get home, that women sometimes nag their husbands:)  In fact there is no woman on the face of this earth, and never will be, who is as relentless as God in getting people to do things He’s asked them to do.  He’s like the Energizer Bunny who just keeps “Going, and going, and going” until we finally say, “Yes Lord!”  He says of our excuses, “Okay, I heard you.  Now go!  Have faith that I will be with you.”  And if we continue to choose to run from His direction and calling, He might just use a fish to swallow us and vomit us out where He needed us to go in the first place.

Does God have your undivided attention?  Is He #1 in your life?  Are you listening?  Is Christ speaking to your heart that you need to confess your sin and follow Him?

You know, after what we discovered today, don’t wait to say “yes” to His voice.  In fact, don’t be afraid to pray as Craig prayed, “Whatever you want me to do, reveal it to me.”  For it’s in this prayer you know exactly where your attention lies.

"After the Fall" Series - A Lot of It's His Outlook

Craig DeMartino falls over 100 feet at a speed of 120 mph at impact, and is miraculously alive.  Now is the time for recovery.  Any Cyndy, Craig’s wife, says he has “broken all the rules as far as recovery.”  His doctors credit that amazing recovery to his outlook, saying he did better than average.  Instead of feeling sorry for himself, Craig rejoices in his second chance at life.  He’s focused on one day at a time and  has kept his sense of humor.

When you think of what Craig has been through, does his attitude surprise you?  Does it impress you?  Could you have had the same attitude?

And a person's attitude is contagious.  Think about it.  What happens to your attitude when you’re around others who have a positive attitude?  A negative attitude?

These are some questions God would have us look at today to see how a person’s attitude affects him/her as well as the others around them.

Now, when I watch Craig's testimony on DVD, I find myself wondering how Craig continued to keep his positive attitude when he had to do treatments and therapy five days a week for months upon months.  Obviously, a testimony on DVD doesn’t show us if he had bad days, nor the pain and agony he certainly dealt with on a daily basis.  But, I’m pretty sure the experience was not a bed of roses, and that reality is important for us to see.

I know of no one who stays positive all the time.  Can you imagine someone saying when he gets the results from his doctor that he has a brain tumor, “Thank you Jesus for letting me have a brain tumor,” or someone else saying, “I’m so glad I was in that accident that totaled my car!" 

What we need to understand is that a positive outlook does not have to occur 100% of the time in order for you and me to be called positive.  Having a positive outlook is not how we feel immediately when a crisis occurs, but how we perceive the overall experience.  In other words, do we view things negatively all the time, or do we take things in stride and find the positive in them?

So what helped Craig to achieve his positive outlook on his crisis?  He kept a sense of humor, and He learned to live each day for that day - He quit looking into the future and began living in the present.

Hum?  Doesn’t that sound familiar?  Sounds like some sound advice that Jesus gave His disciples, which we are if we are followers of Him.  Matthew 6: 34 states, “Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.  Each day has enough trouble of its own.”

So God's Big Idea is this:  Live fully in the present to achieve the positive outlook He desires for your future.

Don’t try to figure out the future.  Be wise in the day you’re in and make the most of it. 

Jesus gave us Matthew 6:34 for a couple reasons:  1) for us to really ponder on whether we trust the God we call god to take care of us, and 2) for us to understand that worry won’t add hours to our lives.

In fact, medicine today shows us that worry has the opposite affect – it shortens life.  And to put it bluntly, worry does not equate to a positive attitude.  Worry tends to reflect on what we can do for ourselves, and thus when we begin to realize our shortcomings, we begin to worry even more about the situation or circumstance we are facing.  Hope on the other hand tends to rely upon the promises that God has given to His children – those who have asked Jesus to come into their heart.  The focus is on God, which allows us to place our yoke upon His strong shoulders making our burden light.

So worry causes a negative outlook on things, whereas hope causes a positive one.

Read this testimony about Brenda.  She too was rock climbing when this happened to her.  And some of you are thinking, “There’s no way I’m going rock climbing.  There are too many stories of bad things happening.  God can get my attention some other way.”

Brenda was almost halfway to the top of the tremendous granite cliff.  She was standing on the ledge where she was taking a breather during this, her first rock climb.  As she rested there, the safety rope snapped against her eye and knocked out her contact lens.  "Great", she thought.  "Here I am on a rock ledge, hundreds of feet from the bottom and hundreds of feet to the top of this cliff, and now my sight is blurry."  She looked and looked, hoping that somehow it had landed on the ledge.  But it just wasn't there.

She felt the panic rising in her, so she began praying.  She prayed for calm, and she prayed that she may find her contact lens.  When she got to the top, a friend examined her eye and her clothing for the lens, but it was not to be found.  Although she was calm now that she was at the top, she was saddened because she could not clearly see across the range of mountains.  She thought of the Bible verse "The eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth."  She thought, "Lord, You can see all these mountains.  You know every stone and leaf, and You know exactly where my contact lens is.  Please help me."

Later, when they had hiked down the trail to the bottom of the cliff they met another party of climbers just starting up the face of the cliff.  One of them shouted out, "Hey, you guys!  Anybody lose a contact lens?"

Well, that would be startling enough, but you know why the climber saw it?  An ant was moving slowly across a twig on the face of the rock, carrying it!

Brenda almost let panic and worry set in when she lost her contact lens.  If she doesn’t pray, what happens to her rock climbing experience that day?  Can’t you see her on the ledge grumbling because she can’t find her lens?  Saying things like, “I can’t believe this!  Now I won’t get to see what I came here to see,“ or “Man, that was my last pair of lenses.  Now I have to go back to the doctor and get another prescription, and I don’t have the money.”

These sound like comments I would make, but thank God she doesn’t stay there.  She senses the panic setting in.  So she prays – she places the burden on God’s shoulders.  And what happens to her attitude?  It becomes positive, allowing her to enjoy the rest of the day.  Yes, she was disappointed that she could not see clearly the mountain ranges she had so wanted to see,  but she knew God was in control and could find her contact lens.

I have told my boys many times that God’s word says that we reap what we sow.  Basically, if you do good things, your life will be good.  And if you do bad things, your life will be bad.  But let me warn you that this is not a guaranteed equation to a life of prosperity, happiness, joy, and peace as some teach.  We’re guaranteed that at times in our lives, no matter how good we are that we’re going to face struggle and pain.  After all the Jesus we call Savior did everything good, yet his life experienced great catastrophe.

“We reap what we sow” also applies to our attitude and outlook.  If we have a negative one, should we expect anything good to come out of it?

So Brenda caught herself being negative and changed direction.  We too need to listen to ourselves as the Holy Spirit speaks to our hearts.  We don’t have to be negative.  It’s a choice we make; and because Brenda was able to look at this positively, God was able to miraculously answer her prayer by sending an ant to recover the lens.

When I taught at Grace Academy in Hagerstown, I had an 8^th grade homeroom.

My first group of 8^th grader’s did nothing but moan and complain about their parents, about the school, about everything.  I knew that this class was not a cooperative one coming to me, but just like God, I tried to give them a clean slate – to give them the benefit of the doubt.  They complained so much that it really started to weigh on me.  Yea, they respected me.  They liked me.  They did what I asked.  But, they always complained about something.

One day, God gave me some wisdom on how to deal with their negativity.  He said, “Have them write a one page paper of their gripes and complaints about the school.”  When I told them this, they were very excited.  It was the first positive expression that I had seen out of them the whole year:)

But, I had to stop them, because God put a BUT on the end of the statement.  I had to tell them that God also said, “You can gripe and complain about the school in your paper, but you must back it with scripture.”  And their faces went from smiles to frowns, and some of them began to say, “Mr. Cardwell, how are we going to do that?”

And that was the point.  They all still had to write the paper and they tried to make scripture take on the context of their complaints.  But it didn’t happen.

So too is true for us.  We are not going to find anything in the scripture that reinforces our negativity.  So why try?  God knows that a positive outlook far outweighs a negative one.  He knows that a positive outlook brings life and a negative one, despair.

Proverbs 17:22 states, “A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.”

Looking at the first part of that verse, “A cheerful heart is good medicine” we know this to be true because the burden we have is now on the shoulders of God.  Having a positive outlook will allow your body to function and heal, just like it did Craig’s.  But if you want to hold onto the burdens – to have a negative outlook – you get the latter part of the verse “a crushed spirit dries up the bones.”  And what that means is this:  over time, your body will be stressed and begin to wear down.

Having a positive outlook on the crisis you may be facing now or in the future will bring you peace and a will to make the most out of the circumstances you are in.  It will help you to heal spiritually and physically, when in those situations.  It will help you to stay healthier now.

A positive outlook will also benefit those who are around you.  It will encourage them to remain positive themselves.  And it just might be the seed, through your example, that God plants in their hearts to use the next time they face a crisis.

Craig could have felt sorry for himself.  But he didn’t, and the proof to his healing is in the testimony.

Feeling sorry for ourselves won’t change one thing for the good, but will most likely change things for the worse.  So the choice is yours to make:  Will your outlook on life be positive or will it be negative?  But remember Proverbs 17:22 when making your decision:  “A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.”

"After the Fall" Series - I'm Not Mad at You

The events, falling over 100 feet at 120 mph from the face of a cliff, on July 21, 2002 took a big emotional toll on Craig and Steve.  Both have relived the fall in their minds countless times.  Steve still chokes up when admitting that the accident has been “trying on a bunch of different levels.”  He has had to deal with his own feelings of guilt, as well as the pain of watching a good friend suffer.  But instead of blaming Steve, Craig credits him for saving his life.

Now, place yourself in Craig’s situation.  Do you think you’d harbor any anger or resentment at your climbing partner?  After all, you trusted him to belay you, but he let you fall.  If he had just kept the rope attached, or made sure he heard what you said, you wouldn’t be lying here in this hospital bed scared of what the future has in store for you.

But you see, that’s how Satan would have you think.  That’s how our society would have you think because Satan is ruler of this world.

How many times have you heard in the media this question, “This person really hurt you so how do you feel about him/her?  What do you want to see happen to him/her?”  And if the interviewee doesn’t respond with the anger and revenge desired, the media questions his motives and tries with other forms of questions to get him to express some form of hate and revenge.

Satan wants nothing more than for you and me to focus on all the pain, the grief, and the struggles.  He points a finger to the one who has caused all this heartache for you and your family.  He wants this person to be in the spotlight – like a close-up shot on a video camera.  He wants you to become angry.  He wants you to blame this person for all your struggles.  He wants you to believe that anger and revenge will bring contentment and peace to your soul.

But that’s totally wrong.  If you want a soul that has peace, that is completely satisfied, then don’t blame someone else for all your problems.

So what about Steve?  What must it have been like for Steve to hear from his buddy that the fall was an accident and that his buddy was not mad at him?  After all, Steve had extreme guilt for the pain he had caused his friend.

Let’s be real, unless our hearts are as cold as ice, we would feel the same way.  We would have a hard time, an extremely difficult time, forgiving ourselves.  We’d always be wondering how we could ever make this wrong – right again.

So what impact do you think Craig’s forgiving attitude has had on Steve?  On Steve’s relationship with other people?  On Steve’s relationship with God?  I really believe that if Craig doesn’t forgive Steve, the guilt would eat away at Steve until he could no longer function as a respectable, descent human being. Steve still is emotionally attached to the event – the tears and choked up voice we saw in his testimony.  There’s no question:  the guilt would wear him out physically, and he would never find peace of heart and mind.  This catastrophe would haunt him the rest of his life.

But that’s the beauty of forgiveness.  It not only released Craig from anger and hatred that would have kept him from mental, physical, and spiritual healing.  It also released Steve from the pain and torment that goes along with the guilt of hurting someone else – the guilt that comes when you and I sin toward God.

So always keep in mind that:  Forgiveness brings healing to both parties involved.

King David shares a testimony with us in Psalm 32.  It took him a while, but he realized what failing to acknowledge and confess sins in his life were doing to him.  Allow me to paraphrase verses 3 through 5.

·        Verse 3 - When I held onto my sin (which we can only guess what it was) my body began wasting away because of the burden and guilt of my unconfessed sin.

·        Verse 4 - Day and night, God kept reminding me of my sin and it began to wear me down to the point of exhaustion.

·        Verse 5 - Finally, when I acknowledged my sin before God and tried to hide it no longer, He forgave the guilt of my sin.

Many say God’s word isn’t relevant today so therefore we can’t use it as an absolute in telling us how to live. I wish they would read it. They’d find out differently. It matches so closely with our society that you would think it was written for today.

Listen to what Christ said about an unmerciful servant in the Gospel of Matthew.  He said, there was a servant whom was brought before the King to settle his account.  He owed the king millions of dollars.  The servant didn’t have this kind of money so the king declared he would take the servant’s wife, children, and possessions and sell them to repay the debt.  (I know some of you men right now might be thinking that sounds pretty good, but STOP!  You’re going to miss the point.)  The servant fell to his knees begging and pleading that the king would give him more time to pay off the debt.  The king took pity on the servant and cancelled all of his debt.  (Man wouldn’t that be nice if our Mortgage Companies forgave us our loans?)

But here’s the point Christ want us to see.  The same servant left the King’s throne and went head hunting.  He found his buddy who owed him a few dollars.  He grabbed his buddy by the throat and began choking him, demanding that he pay back the few bucks.  His buddy finally frees himself from the choke hold and falls to the floor gasping for air.  When he finally gets his composure, he begs the servant to give him more time to pay off the debt.

Well, what did the servant do at this point?  Was it:  A)  Did he remember what the king had generously done for him and likewise do the same for his buddy?  Or B)  Did he continue in his fit of rage and have his buddy thrown into prison until the debt could be paid?  If you answered B, you are correct and the prize is:  the satisfaction of knowing your Bible.

But the story doesn’t end here.   There were some tattletales, other servants, who went and told the king all they had seen.  The king was distressed by the news and called the servant back to his throne.  The king scolded the servant, reminding him of all his debt that had been canceled because of his begging and pleading.   He asked the servant, “Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your buddy just as I had on you?”  

The king didn’t wait for an answer.  He quickly had the servant thrown into prison where he would be tortured until he could pay back the millions of dollars he owed (which in reality meant never and scripturally meant the judgment of hell).

Christ concludes the story with these words, “This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart.”  (Matthew 18:35)

He also tells us these words in Matthew 6:14-15, right after he taught His disciples the Lord’s Prayer:  “For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your Heavenly Father will also forgive you.  But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.”

Those aren’t my words.  Those are Christ’s.  And I think He knows something about God that a lot of people don’t want to admit or accept – God will not accept us failing to forgive the person who hurts us, even in the most criminal way.

God says to you and me in my words, “I put up with your misfortunes and sins against me all the time.  I grant you grace and mercy constantly.  I forgive you.  But, I will not accept you failing to do the same for those who sin against you.  I want you to show the same grace and mercy to others as I have shown to you.”

Wow!  Those are tough words, but they’re the truth as given to us in the Bible.

So if Craig does what Satan would want him to do – to blame Steve and never forgive him – Craig will not find peace, his own sins won’t be forgiven, and his body probably won’t heal because of all the resentment he would be harboring for Steve.  His focus would be on Steve and not on what he would need to do to help his body heal.

But if we go back to David's testimony in Psalm 32, we see what happens when sin is no longer covered up and hidden from God.  (Yea, be real - like we can ever hide our sin from God!) 

Listen to David’s joy that resounds in his words because he has been released from this burden of guilt that surrounded him while he tried to hold onto his sin.

"Blessed is he whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered.   Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord does not count against him, and in whose spirit is no deceit."  (Psalm 32:1-2)

Forgiveness is not solely for the benefit of the other person, though it sure did help Steve to know that Craig had forgiven him.  Instead, forgiveness also benefits you and me.  Forgiveness brings about healing.  Forgiveness releases us from the guilt of our mistakes.  Forgiveness brings us peace of heart, mind, and soul, and allows us to function as God intended.  

And the best thing about forgiveness is that it gives back to us the life we want.