Life Lessons with Dr. Steve Schell

91 - When Believers Suffer

So much of our testimony about what we believe is given in moments when we don’t realize we’re doing it, to people we don’t even know are listening. When we think about proclaiming Christ to others we usually picture someone talking about Him, but actually some of the most effective preaching is done wordlessly. It’s what people see when they watch us go through life. And you might assume that in order for someone to want our Savior, we would have to lead lives that are prosperous and trouble-free because if things went badly for us surely no one would be attracted to our faith. But amazingly, that’s not the case. In fact, you could almost say it’s the opposite, that it’s the way we suffer hardship that makes the most powerful impression of all. 

The reason is probably quite simple. When things are going well it’s easy to believe in God; it’s easy to be happy; it’s easy …at least it’s easier… to be nice to others. After all, you’re prosperous, you’re successful, you’re a “winner,” you can afford to be nice. But when we suffer, when we hurt, when we’re afraid, when we’re criticized the hidden things of the heart are exposed. We don’t have the energy anymore to hide our weakness. The depth of our faith gets tested. In this way suffering exposes the deepest, truest attitudes in all humans. And we all know that. So when someone suffers patiently, faces death fearlessly, treats their tormenters kindly, everyone notices. It’s unusual, it’s remarkable, it’s the most powerful witness of all. 

90 - Accidental Assignments

Paul wasn’t supposed to be on Malta. God had clearly expressed His will. He had prophetically warned those in charge of the ship to stay in the safety of the harbor in Crete (Ac 27:9-11). And then, nearly two weeks later while they were helplessly drifting about in a storm, Paul scolded them for not listening to him (Ac 27:21). No, they weren’t supposed to be on Malta, they were supposed to be on Crete. Basically, they were on Malta because they had disobeyed God. They weren’t led to Malta; they were shipwrecked on its rocky northeastern coast after being carried 476 miles by a typhoon. Yet on the day they boarded a ship for Rome, how many of those who had been saved or healed or delivered from demonic oppression didn’t thank God for that shipwreck? As they said goodbye to Publius and his father, and how many others, who can imagine that Paul, Luke or Aristarchus regretted for one moment the months they spent on that island? What began as an accident, the result of deliberate disobedience, ended up being one of the more important stops among Paul’s missionary journeys. A mistake somehow became an assignment; an accident became a blessing. What might have been wasted was redeemed… to such an extent that it would be hard to say it wasn’t part of God’s original plan all along. Yet we know it wasn’t, so it appears we are watching one more example of God’s ability to cause “…all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose” (Ro 8:28).

This is a truth we need to let sink deep into our heart because so many of us have gotten ourselves into difficult situations because of foolish choices, or even deliberate disobedience to God. And we’ve assumed that because we started out wrong, the blessing of God would be withheld until we got back into the center of His will. We may have become despairing, believing that we ruined our lives, that once off-course we would never get back. That’s why we’re going to Malta, one more time. We need to remember that God can turn accidents into assignments.

89 -Thankful People

When God uses you to minister to someone it’s natural for them to become grateful to you. It’s hard for people to distinguish in their minds what part of that wonderful blessing you did, and what part was God. They realize their help came from God, but it was God through you. And they’re so grateful that you were faithful to do what you did, or say what you said, or pray what you prayed, that they want to find a way to bless you in return. They’re not trying to pay you back; they just need to express what’s welling up in their hearts. 

Being thankful is a good thing. Jesus wondered at the nine who were healed but didn’t come back to thank Him (Lk 17:15-19). But such thankfulness can also present a danger. The person receiving thanks can be tested by it. Even if the person giving thanks isn’t able to properly distinguish between the human and the divine, between what you did and what God did, the person receiving the thanks must. To accept more than is your due is to take for yourself a glory that belongs only to God. It places you in a position between God and His thankful people, and if that is not corrected it will bring His judgment. He will stop ministering through you. Power and humility go hand in hand. The more we are careful to turn all the glory and thanks back to God, the more we understand that it’s His power and not ours, the more He is able to use us. As we have read through the Book of Acts, we’ve watched Paul perform amazing miracles, and we can’t help but notice that as the years went by that power didn’t leave him. Here on Malta God’s Spirit was still working mightily through him, and one of the reasons is because he always pointed thankful people back to God. We must do the same.

88 - Spiritual Leadership

People follow certain kinds of people. Some they follow because of fear. The leader will punish them if they don’t do what they’re told, and this is not necessarily a wrong way to lead because certain people can only be led with a firm hand. They will only obey a particular law because they might get caught and punished if they don’t. But there is also another kind of leader who people follow willingly. This person is given authority out of respect, which means in some way they have earned it. People have watched this person over a period of time and have seen how they handle situations. They may possess a skill others want to learn. They may have a history of making good decisions so that people seek their wisdom. They may exhibit a high level of character so that people want to become like them. This kind of leader doesn’t need to threaten those who follow them. They may not even be aware they’re leading. But the fact remains: People are following, and neither titles nor rank can bestow this kind of authority on anyone. It has nothing to do with that person’s position in life; it’s given to them because of who they are. This type of leader might be the youngest or oldest, the best-looking or plain, male or female, wealthy or poor, employer or employee, captor or prisoner. Those who know this person see something inside them that’s more important than what’s outside. 

Spiritual leadership is based on this type of respect and trust, but it includes a quality we haven’t mentioned yet: a deep relationship with God. There is something about that person’s life that convinces others that God is with them. Put simply: God seems to favor that person. When they pray, things happen. When they say God told them something, time proves they were right. And they actually live the kind of self-disciplined and pure life God wants people to live. That doesn’t mean they are perfect, but it does mean they have integrity. And one more thing: They genuinely love those they lead. They put their needs ahead of their own.

87 - Receiving a Miracle

So many books have been written, and sermons preached, about faith that the subject can become overwhelming. Those who long to walk in greater faith can be left with the feeling that real faith, the kind that produces real miracles, is just too hard for normal people like us. We don’t doubt that miracles can happen, or that they do happen for some people, we just assume we aren’t that kind of people. Apparently, real miracles require more faith than we’re able to produce.

But into all this confusion and frustration about faith, steps Luke. His description of what took place during this storm is so vivid, so detailed, we can almost watch the events unfold in our mind’s eye. And the most wonderful part is that he allows us to observe Paul walking through this crisis by faith. And what we observe seems pretty simple and straightforward. It leaves us wondering if receiving a miracle can really be that easy.

86 - Belonging To God

There’s a huge difference between humility and insecurity. They may look the same on the surface, but they serve two different masters. One is driven by the fear that it is unworthy of being loved and tries desperately to earn approval. The other is able to wrap a towel around its waist and kneel down to wash feet because it is so confident that it is loved and approved. And I don’t think we have it within ourselves to change from one to the other, as if someone who’s insecure could become confident by convincing themselves that they are important. Such confidence is a gift that must be given to us by someone else. It’s not a prize we can achieve on our own. We become confident when someone we trust, someone who knows us better than we know ourselves, someone with a greater perspective than we have, sees our true place in life and tells us who we really are. 

To some degree parents play this role in a person’s life, which means a child that was raised in a family in turmoil or by a dysfunctional parent can grow up with an empty place inside. The message that they are loved and valued was never imparted, and that person might be left to go through life trying to find someone who will give them that gift; or they try to fill that need for themselves; or they just pretend they don’t care.

But even if someone had good parents, the longer we live the more we discover our own weaknesses and the negative impulses in our flesh that lurk just beneath the surface. So, even if we didn’t start out insecure, a history of mistakes can erode any sense of security we once had. Then how can a person find peace… inside? Where do we turn to find that someone who will give us the gift of love and acceptance? Let’s let a man who found the answer tell us.

85 - Authority in Prayer

This chapter is a case study in bad human leadership. Luke describes Paul’s voyage to Rome in great detail, and by the time 276 people wade ashore on the island of Malta we’re left amazed that anyone survived the foolish decisions made by those who were supposed to protect them. Time after time the human leaders used their authority to benefit themselves and ignored their responsibility to care for those they led. The Roman governor (Festus) put Paul, the centurion and others in danger by sending them to Rome late in the year because he didn’t want to wait until spring to get rid of Paul. The captain of the ship didn’t want to move around the harbor if a storm arose, so he was willing to risk the lives of all on board to make a run for another harbor. The centurion in charge of Paul was a kind man, and the only person who made any good decisions, but on a crucial decision, he ignored God’s warning and followed the majority opinion. The sailors were willing to abandon ship and let hundreds of people drown to save their own lives. And the soldiers wanted to kill all their prisoners so they wouldn’t risk being punished if any escaped. Only Paul and God cared for the people on board. In the midst of a deadly typhoon Paul earnestly prayed that their lives would be spared, and God rescued every one. 

This chapter is also a case-study of what we can expect from God. We should notice as we read it what God did, and what He did not do. Bad leadership was able to put people in harm’s way. The cargo, which would have included as much as 30 tons of wheat, was lost. The ship itself, which may have been as much as 180 feet long, was lost. God provided a warning, but He did not prevent the physical and economic destruction caused by bad leaders. But notice: even in that desperate situation believers could intercede and ask God to give them the people. In God’s eyes they were the true treasure on that ship, not the wheat or the ship itself. Even if the ship must go down, God wants to save the people. They should be our focus as well.

84 - Real Repentance

It’s easy to confuse the terms “works of the Law” with “works worthy of repentance.” We can take the truth that we are saved by faith and not by works to mean that our works don’t matter; in fact some people consider any attempt to produce good works to be dangerous because it might lead to self-righteousness. The result of this kind of thinking has been believers who are nearly devoid of good works. Some sincere, but confused, believers are careful not to do anything that might resemble a good work, and even scold others when they step out to do something for God. The result is a very low level of discipleship and a very poor reputation in the community.

Today, as we listen to Paul explain his faith to King Agrippa, we hear him say something that might surprise us, especially coming from the apostle who taught fervently against works. Listen again to what he told Agrippa: “So, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly sight, but first [went] to [the Jews] in Damascus and Jerusalem and all the countryside of Judea, and [then] to the nations, [and] I announced to [them that they must] repent and turn [and call] upon God, practicing works worthy of repentance” (my translation). Paul assured the king that he had not disobeyed the commands Jesus gave him; in fact it was his obedience to those commands that got him in trouble. He said he first went to the Jews and preached the Gospel to them whether they lived in Damascus (Ac 9:19-25), Jerusalem (Ac 9:26-30; 22:17-21; Gal 1:18), or even out in the rural countryside of Judea. Then he went to the Gentiles (nations). And everywhere he went his message was the same: He told people to repent and turn to God “doing works worthy of repentance.”

83 - Spiritual Conversations - b

It’s one thing to believe that God still speaks to us today, but it’s quite another to know how to listen to His voice. Many believers, many long-time believers, have never been around anyone who actually lived this way. They have no models to show them how or prove to them it works. Yes, they read about such things in the Bible, but outside of that the Christians they know seem to function just like non-Christians when it comes to making decisions, the only difference being that a Christian will use a different system of values to guide his or her choice. Whether someone is a Christian or a non-Christian, most people tend to make decisions by using their deductive reasoning. They evaluate the possibilities, and then choose the best, or maybe the safest, course of action. The Christian hopes the choice they make will please God, but God Himself has remained a passive observer in the process. There was no divine voice or spiritual revelation involved, just well-intended human reasoning. And that type of decision-making is not wrong; it’s just not enough. It’s always our desire to please Him that pleases Him. And frankly, there are a lot of day-to-day decisions which need to be made this way. We have been given a rational mind and are meant to use it. But as believers we’ve also been given the Spirit of God to dwell in us, and His presence is not just a biblical truth to affirm. He is a Person who has joined Himself to us. We don’t have a distant God we pray to. We have a living God who is near us every moment, and who wants to guide us through life. 

In a previous message we introduced the subject of “spiritual conversations.” We observed Jesus’ words to Paul about “kicking against the goads” (Ac 26:14), and said that such a statement revealed that God had begun a “conversation” with Paul long before Paul realized it. His spirit knew things his mind didn’t understand, and we noted that this type of spiritual deafness was not unique to Paul. We too can get stuck in the reasonings of our rational mind and not hear what the Spirit is saying to us. Our lesson today is meant to help us step out into our own “spiritual conversations” with God. In other words, to help someone who wants to hear God’s voice and see what the Spirit is doing, get started. 
Spiritual conversations (revisited)
God has given us a mind and He wants us to use it, but He warns us not to “lean” on it (Pr 3:5). We’re also supposed to listen to Him with our spiritual “ears” and observe what He’s doing with our spiritual “eyes” (Mt 13:13). It’s normal and right to seek God’s will by testing a decision, using biblical criteria to determine which choice would be acceptable to Him. And this kind of biblical examination of our decisions is always appropriate. If a choice violates a biblical principle, it’s not from God. But this mental process of elimination is not the only way God wants to guide us. We must also spiritually listen for His voice, and that can be challenging because it requires faith. It means I have to acknowledge someone I can’t see with my eyes and obey a voice I didn’t hear with my ears. I have to allow a part of me to awaken which other people may mock.

82 - Spiritual Conversations - a

We know a lot more about God than our minds are able or willing to understand. We’ve all had experiences that we know took place, but we can’t explain. There have been moments in our lives when we recognized that someone was present with us, even if we didn’t know His name. There have been times when an unseen hand came out of nowhere to protect us, or a voice interrupted our thoughts with information we needed to hear. Since we are spiritual beings living in a spiritual world, it shouldn’t surprise us when such things take place, but it usually does, because we live in a culture that has been trying to deny that anything spiritual exists, for the past 300 years. We’re repeatedly told that the universe arose out of nothing, that life is a meaningless accident, and that when we die our conscious minds cease to exist and our bodies decompose and return to the earth. And those voices are getting louder and more demanding. So people tend to hide their spiritual experiences, feeling confused or even embarrassed that they had them. They assume they must have imagined it, or what happened was merely a very unusual coincidence. Yet spiritual encounters can’t be explained away that easily, because deep down inside there’s a part of us that still remembers what happened.

Paul shared his testimony with Agrippa in an effort to help this man listen to his own heart. The king was an expert in religious tradition, but at the same time tragically enslaved to the passions of his flesh. The man desperately needed Jesus, but his rational mind was in the way, so Paul shared his own personal story to try to help him listen to his spirit. On this occasion Paul described everything Jesus said to him during that encounter on the road to Damascus. He disclosed things that aren’t recorded anywhere else, and he did so for a reason. He was trying to awaken Agrippa’s spirit to remember things he had already heard. If we listen carefully he’ll awaken ours as well.