Defeating Giants (Part 4)

Have you ever attempted something - anything - and failed?  That’s what I thought.  If it brings you any comfort.....and it probably doesn’t.....you’re not alone.  All you have to do is look around you to see that we’ve all failed at some time or another.

Everyone wants to be a success. I’ve never met anyone who purposely set out to be a failure.  Yet, failure is one of those ugly realities of life—a common experience to all of us to some degree. So the ability to handle failure in its various forms and degrees is a vital part of the spiritual life and another sign of maturity. A careful study of the Bible reveals that many of the great figures of Scripture experienced failure at one time or another.  The thing we have to focus on, however, is that those failures didn’t keep them from effective service for God. Individuals like Abraham, Moses, Elijah, David, Peter....they all failed at some point, and often in significant ways.  But they learned something along the way.  They not only recovered from their failure, but they used it as a tool of growth - they learned from their failure, confessed it to God, and were often able to be used in even mightier ways.

When we began this series we spend the first couple of weeks examining David’s victory over Goliath.  But David’s life wasn’t always as victorious as we learned last week.  The Reader’s Digest version of David’s failure reads something like this:

David was supposed to be out with his troops, leading them in battle, but he was kicking back at home instead.  One day he was out, taking a walk on the palace roof.  He looked over the edge and saw a woman bathing and he let lust get the best of him.  He sent for her, slept with her, and she became pregnant.  In order to avoid detection he called her husband home from battle so he would sleep with her and think the child was his.  But her husband didn’t follow through with the plan, so David had him killed in battle.

Ultimately, David’s failure and his sin was found out and he was called on the carpet by the prophet Nathan, which ultimately led to David’s confession and repentance.  Psalm 51 is David’s prayer of repentance.  From his prayer we can grasp some steps to overcoming and defeating the giant of failure in our lives.

First, I must acknowledge my failure.  Not every failure results in sin, but we all fail and sometimes that failure results in sin.  James 3:2 (NCV): We all make many mistakes.

If at first we don’t succeed, we redefine success because we hate admitting failure.  A lot of people make the mistake of blaming someone or something else.  David admitted his failure.  He referred to, “my guilt, my sin, my  shameful deeds.”  He said, “I have done what is evil.....”  David didn’t blame Bathsheba or anyone else.  He acknowledged his sin.  He acknowledged his failure.  And this is where it has to begin.

Second, I must receive God’s forgiveness.  There is no failure too big for God to forgive.  After all, forgiveness is God’s speciality.  I realize that your failure may not have involved sin at all, but if it did, you have to receive God’s forgiveness if you ever hope to move forward.  Ephesians 1:7 (GWT):  Through the blood of his Son, we are set free from our sins. God forgives our failures because of his overflowing kindness.

God’s forgiveness is available and it is extended to each one of us, but unless we receive it, we remain in our sin and our failure.  David cried out to God for His forgiveness.  Acknowledge the failure and then receive God’s forgiveness.  And can I also say.........once you’ve received God’s forgiveness it’s time to stop beating yourself up.  There may be some other people you need to talk to, some restoration that needs to take place......but stop with the pity party and move forward to the next step:

I must apply the lessons of failure toward success.  Here’s how your mama used to say it, “Son, you need to learn from your mistakes.”  And she’s right.  If we don’t learn from our mistakes and our failures, we are doomed to repeat them.

Failures and mistakes can be teachers that provide us with invaluable lessons!!! Proverbs 26:11 (NIV):  As a dog returns to its vomit, so a fool repeats his folly.

If you fail to learn from your mistakes and failures, you’re doomed to repeat them.  But if you learn from them, you will move forward with new strength and hope.  Here’s our 4th step:

I must accept failure as a fact of life, not a way of life.  There’s a huge difference here.  Failure is going to happen, but it doesn’t have to be the norm.  Failure doesn’t have to be fatal and it doesn’t have to be final.  The apostle Peter knew all about failure. In the upper room Jesus warned Peter about how he would deny Him  before the rooster crowed 3 times.

It was just hours later that events happened just as Jesus said they would.  Jesus was arrested and Peter denied Him 3 times.  Peter blew it and he knew it. So he went and spent the rest of his life as hermit in complete seclusion. WRONG!  2 months later Peter preached one of the greatest sermons in Christianity and 3,000 people got saved!

Don’t ever let someone call you a failure or a loser. You are not your resume!  Failure is an event, not a person.  It’s something you do, not something you become.  Your attitude during failure determines your altitude after failure.  When you mess up you can grow up.  Here’s the final step:

I must arise from failure and start again.  Remember the story of Jonah?  God told him to go to a place called Nineveh and preach.  Jonah decided to go the other direction.  Epic fail.  He ended up in the belly of a huge fish for 3 days.  What do you do in the belly for a huge fish for 3 days? You stink and you think.

Jonah 3:1 & 2 (GWT):  Then the LORD spoke his word to Jonah a second time. He said, "Leave at once for the important city, Nineveh. Announce to the people the message I have given you."

The result was that 120,000 Ninevites turned away from sin and turned to God.  But what if Jonah had chosen to ignore God and go the other way again?  We don’t know because Jonah learned from his failure and got up and went the right way.

You may not have been in the belly of a big fish....but maybe you’ve been in the belly of...bad decisions or an affair, or divorce, or poor parenting.  Maybe you’ve experience failure at your job or in your marriage or even with sin.  Whatever your failure may have looked like, if you let it bring you down and keep you down, you’ve failed bigger than you could ever imagine.

I love basketball.  Years ago, a shot clock was inserted into the game.  In college ball they have 45 seconds to shoot and in professional basketball they have 24.

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been watching a pro game and watched a player shoot and miss, but then his team rebounds the ball and the announcer says, “They get a new 24.”  He’s talking about a shot clock, but I want you to know that when you fail, God offers you a new 24.

Lamentations 3:21-23b (NCV):  But I have hope when I think of this: The Lord's love never ends; his mercies never stop. They are new every morning;

Have you failed?  God offers you a new 24.  Have you sinned?  God offers you a new 24?  Have you let someone down?  God offers you a new 24.

What are you going to do with it?

Defeating Giants (Part 3)

My last 2 posts talked about facing giants in our lives.  The next few posts will take a look at some specific giants we have to face head on.

They say, “Go big or go home.”  Well, let’s start big and talk about the giant of lust.  When it comes to lust we are definitely talking about a giant, and the problem is that so many of us fail because we’re naïve to it’s power. 1 Thessalonians 4 says:

God wants you to be holy, so you should keep clear of all sexual sin. Then each of you will control your body and live in holiness and honor–
not in lustful passion as the pagans do, in their ignorance of God and his ways.  (1 Thessalonians 4:3-5, NLT)

The dictionary defines lust as:
Intense sexual desire or appetite.  Uncontrolled or illicit sexual desire or appetite; lecherousness.

Let’s refine that a bit:
An insatiable craving to gratify your fleshly desires by seeking to satisfy a legitimate desire in an illegitimate way.

The fact is, we can lust after money or possessions, power - all kinds of things, but for the sake of this post, we’re going to discuss lust within the context of sexual lust.  The problem we face - particularly in our American culture - is that sex is thrown around casually and constantly.  Television shows make it the norm for people to hop from bed to bed.  Magazines, billboards, the internet - all of these push sex and sexuality at us constantly, and almost always it’s in a way that is completely contrary to God’s plan for our lives.

And this isn’t a “male” problem, it’s a humanity problem - including women.  As we look at the process of lust, there’s no greater example of how lust works than the example of King David in 2 Samuel 11.  I find it a bit ironic that the same individual who slew the giant succumbed to lust.  But even that illustrates to all of us just how insidious and powerful lust is.

Lust moves through a process that looks something like this:

Idleness.  King David had time on his hands because he hadn’t gone to war like kings are supposed to.

Interest.  With that free time he took a stroll and saw Bathsheba bathing and became interested.

Intoxication.  He moved beyond interest to an intoxication of desire.  He began dreaming and fantasizing about her.

Indulgence.  The dream & fantasy was no longer enough.  He had to have her.

Cover-up.  He found out she was pregnant and set the wheels in motion to cover-up his sin.

Sexual lust almost always follows that pattern, and when it does, 3 things happen:

It destroys my convictions.  Think about it:  a little lust led David to commit acts of adultery and murder.  It will eventually cause you to lose your ability to judge right from wrong.

It destroys my character.  Lust destroys you reputation and integrity. You lose both your credibility and the confidence of others because you have no sense of morality and no sense of self-control.

It destroys my connections.  As a result of his sin, David lost his intimacy with God, he lost intimacy with his family, and he lost intimacy with his kingdom.

But there’s a remedy......there are some steps you can take to overcome and defeat sexual lust.

1. I must be accountable.  In the Old Testament story of Joseph, he was being pursued by Potipher’s wife, but Joseph said he couldn’t indulge because he’d have to answer to Potipher and to God.  He had accountability.  So let me ask you:  Who or what holds you accountable?  And I know I’m going to run the risk of being accused as a heretic, but in this case, God isn’t enough.  Before you throw tomatoes, let me explain.

If God were enough to keep us accountable, Adam and Eve would have never sinned.  If God were enough, there would be no sin, no lust, no evil.  But the thing is, we have this strong tendency to focus more on God’s grace than on His judgement for sin.  Because we know God is a God of grace, we tend to look beyond Him and think, “Well, He’ll forgive me.”  That’s why I say God isn’t enough.  God was enough for Joseph, but I’m not sure He’s enough for us.  That’s why we need more.

We need to learn how to bounce our eyes away from the things that tempt us.  We need to learn how to turn and walk away from temptation.  We need to learn the power of repentance and seek God’s forgiveness for lustful thoughts.

2.   I must count the cost.  Joseph not only answered that he had God and Potipher to answer to in authority over him, he also recognized all that he would lose if he engaged in the proposition.  What would you lose?

Like David, clearly you would lose your convictions, your character and your connections.  But what else?  Maybe your family?  Maybe your job?  Maybe the trust of others?  Maybe your self-worth?  It is worth the guilt and emotional turmoil?  Is it worth the shame and damage to your reputation?  Is it worth the risk of disease?  Is it worth getting divorced or estranged from your mate? Is it worth it?

3.     I must stick to my convictions.  I wish I could tell you that simply making a decision not to indulge lust will make it all okay and go away.  It doesn’t.  Potipher’s wife was relentless.  Day after day she was after him to sleep with her.  She used every means to tempt, trick, and turn Joseph.  And day after day, Joseph stuck to his convictions.

Keep your guard up.  Joseph determined to believe the commands of God over the whispers of the wife.  Remember that while lust makes great promises – it can only deliver a lie.

A wealthy couple purchased a new Rolls Royce and wanted to hire a chauffeur. The wife advertised and they were able to narrow the applicants down to 4 candidates.

The wife called the prospective drivers to her balcony and pointed out a brick wall alongside the driveway. She asked the men, "How close do you think you could come to that wall without scratching my car?"

The 1st man felt he could drive within a foot of the wall without damaging the car.  The 2nd felt sure he could come within 6 inches. The 3rd believed he could get within 3 inches.

The 4th candidate said, "I don’t know how close I could come to the wall without damaging your car.  Instead, I would try to stay as far away from that wall as I could."  He’s the one who got the job.

Why?  Because he had a different focus. He understood that true skill in driving is not based so much on the ability to steer the car to a narrow miss as on the ability to keep a wide margin of safety.

Lust is no joking matter.  It’s a real problem in our culture, in our communities, in our churches, and in our homes.  But you can defeat this giant in your life - not by trusting in yourself, but by trusting in God and seeking His help.