Tom

living out life
2008-05-17 06:18:14 (UTC)

Crashing Down and Climbing Up

INTRODUCTION

I was on a spiritual high when I was stationed in
Valdosta, Georgia with the U.S Air Force. I was in a Bible
believing, Bible teaching church and my relationship with
Christ was at a peak. In 1998, I got out of the Air Force
and moved my family back to Florida. My spiritual life
flourished for a while and I actually got the opportunity
to help start a new church, filling in as interim pastor
for almost a year. But in the year 2002, I came crashing
down from the top in a hard way. Almost overnight my
relationship with God seemed to become a thing of the
past. As a result, my spiritual life fell to an all time
low. I am ashamed to admit it, but there were times that I
didn’t want to go to church at all. If it wasn’t for my
wife and children I probably would have left the church
completely. I fell under a dark cloud of spiritual
depression that I just couldn’t seem to get out from
under. I started doubting God and his direction in my
life. I even questioned if God had anything to do with the
direction of my life. In a nutshell, I was miserable.

It has been three years now and although it has taken a
long time, the wounds have started to heal. I feel as if I
am making my way back up the mountain, be it ever so
slowly. I firmly believe that God allowed me to crash to
the bottom so that I can take what I have learned and not
only apply it to my own life, but share it with others as
well. He has shown me that there are multitudes of people
who know Jesus, yet have fallen away because of something
that happened to make them grow angry, bitter or even
depressed. In most cases, they know their relationship
with God is suffering, but the pain runs so deep that they
can’t even make themselves care.

How about you? Do you fall into this category? Do you feel
as if God has deserted you and left you to fend for
yourself in a cruel world? Does your heart ache so much
that you wonder if the pain will ever stop? Then please
listen to this message and allow God to heal your broken
spirit.

I. WHAT CAUSES US TO CRASH TO THE BOTTOM? (this is
not an exhaustive list)

A. Getting hurt by the actions of others.
1. Betrayal – Nothing cuts deeper than being betrayed
by a friend. Unfortunately, it happens all too often
between Christians and non-Christians alike.
2. Lies – Sometimes it comes from a friend, sometimes
it comes from an unknown source. Wherever it begins, when
someone tells a lie about us it hurts. What makes it worse
is when those we know and love hear it and believe it. In
my own life, this is what sent me on a downward spiral.
3. Hypocrisy – Who hasn’t heard the old expression
about too many hypocrites being in the church? For some
people, watching church members willingly commit sin and
then file in on Sunday to worship God is too much to
handle. Even long time Christians sometimes find it
difficult to cope with the hypocrisy that permeates the
church of today.
4. Church Politics
i. Preaching – It’s easy to pick apart a pastor and
the way he preaches or leads the church. To some, it
becomes a favorite pastime. To others, it is a reason to
leave the church and never come back.
ii. Music – This is probably one of the most
controversial subjects in the church today, and a medium
that Satan uses to hurt and injure Christians on a weekly
basis.

B. Getting hurt by the actions of God. Is it
sacrilegious to say that we have been hurt by the actions
of God? It certainly sounds like something we shouldn’t
allow to come from our lips, but it still happens
nonetheless. A lot of times people blame God when bad
things happen to them. A prime example would be the
hurricanes or other natural disasters. But I’m not only
talking about natural disasters. Christians sometimes have
an extremely hard time when God doesn’t answer their plea
for help during times of distress. It’s definitely a true
statement that we can get our feelings hurt when God
doesn’t do what we think he should have done. The
following is a list of seemingly unanswered prayers that
can turn a person’s life inside out (this is not an
exhaustive list).
1. The death of a loved one.
2. The diagnosis of a life threatening disease.
3. Unbearable physical suffering.
4. Wayward children.

C. Getting hurt by the actions of ourselves.
1. Sin – sometimes our pain is self inflicted.
i. Open sin.
ii. Secret sin.

D. Other actions that hurt us.
1. Divorce.
2. Mental, physical or sexual abuse.
3. Church split.
4. Financial distress.


II. WHAT ARE THE RESULTS OF THE FALL? (This is not an
exhaustive list)

A. The desire to read the Bible and pray is hard to
find or doesn’t exist.
B. Going to church becomes a chore, slows down
dramatically or ceases completely.
C. There is no yearning to be around other Christians.
D. Compassion towards others begins to fade away.
E. Old sins start to creep back in.

III. WHAT DOES IT TAKE TO GET BACK TO THE TOP?

I wish I could lay out a simple plan that would make
getting back to the top as easy as turning on a light
switch. The truth of the matter is that even though
getting to the bottom can be very sudden; finally getting
back to the top of the mountain can take weeks, months, or
even sometimes years. What we have to do is learn to look
at our current situation through the eyes of God. We have
to keep our eyes and hearts focused on him and his Word
and trust him to help us out. At the same time we should
rest assured in the fact that he understands what we are
going through.

A. Recognize that falls are inevitable – 1 Peter 1:6
1. “Though now for a season” – God tells us here that
there are some tough times coming. But he reassures us
that they are only for a season. He doesn’t expect us to
stay there for the rest of our lives. But how long is a
season? I think that depends on the person and how they
handle their circumstances. In order to move on we have to
be willing to deal with some of our own feelings:
i. Bitterness
ii. Hate
iii. Forgiveness
• We must forgive others
• We must believe that God will forgive us
2. “If need be” – God will allow us to go through
hard times if he sees a need for it.
3. “Ye are in heaviness” – It is OK to be in
heaviness or to feel down about something. Some Christians
think that they have to be jolly and happy all the time.
That’s just not true. This entire verse teaches us that we
just might end up in heaviness. The best part about it is
that it will only be for a “season”.

B. Don’t be surprised when the fall comes– 1 Peter
4:12
God says that we shouldn’t think it as some strange thing
when adversity finds us. A lot of people don’t like to
hear it, but there is a reason for the suffering that
takes place in our lives.

ILLUSTRATION
The U.S. Navy has a Special Forces team called the SEALS.
It takes a lot to become part of this elite group. One of
the many physical challenges that SEALS in training must
complete is called “surf torture”. It all stems from the
fact that a frogman must be intimately familiar with the
water. During training the student is wet and sandy for
most of the six months. Even the classroom sessions
include a trip or two to the surf zone to facilitate an
alert posture during the class. Periodically, the
instructors include a little cold water conditioning in
the training schedule. Basically the entire class must
wade into the surf zone to their waist line and then sit
down with arms linked. The whole time they are there the
waves crash into them, hence the term “surf torture”. The
water coming in from the Pacific never gets above 68
degrees during summer months and 58 degrees during winter.
Soon the biting cold sucks out all of the body's warmth
and the entire class shivers in unison as the waves crash
over their heads. The plan calls for submersion to the
brink of hypothermia, then the trainees get pulled out for
some calisthenics to warm up - then back in the surf for
more conditioning. The training session lasts for about an
hour. It's been proven to be a very successful way to
teach prospective SEALS how to mentally fend off the
effects of hypothermia.

I’m quite sure the trainees don’t enjoy the surf torture
and all of the physical agony that comes along with it.
However, recognizing the onset of hypothermia and knowing
how the body reacts under such extreme conditions may one
day be the difference between life and death. That is
exactly what God is doing with us. By putting us through
his own version of “surf torture”, he is preparing us for
something that may come along in the future. We might not
like what we are going through, but there will come a day
when we will have to take what we have learned and apply
it to our lives or the life of someone else.

C. Allow God to take the lead – 1 Peter 5:10
Too often we try to figure out a way to get out of our
current situation; by doing so we fail to allow God to
work it out. If you are under spiritual depression today,
if you hurt so deeply that you wonder if you have any
feelings left, then please stop trying to do it your way
and allow God to work in your life.

The first part of this verse reminds us again that we
don’t have to stay on this road forever. It says, “After
that ye have suffered a while”. But God doesn’t just leave
us hanging from the gallows with no hope of rescue. He
continues on by telling us what he will do for us.

1. GOD PREPARES US. He will “make you perfect”. This
literally means that he will “make you what you ought to
be”. Isn’t it comforting to know that even when God is
shaping us into what he wants us to be that he is still
holding us in his loving hands?
2. GOD HELPS US STAND OUR GROUND. He will “establish”
you. Roman soldiers used to have spikes on the back of
their boots so they could literally dig in their heels and
stand their ground during battle. If we allow him to, God
will help us dig in for battle and stand our ground when
difficulties arise.
3. GOD STRENGTHENS US. He will “strengthen” you. The
Greek word, sthenoo, is only found in this verse and it
means “to strengthen”. There just isn’t any other way to
say it.
4. GOD PUTS US ON A FIRM FOUNDATION. He will “settle”
you. This means he will “put you on a firm foundation”.
There is no stronger foundation than Jesus Christ and when
we stand on him we know that we are standing on solid
ground.

CONCLUSION

Are you tired of feeling like a dark cloud is over your
head?
Do you long to feel the way you used to feel about your
relationship with God?
Are you willing to forgive and allow God to work in your
life?
Are you willing to accept forgiveness from God?
Are you willing to stop trying to figure things out and
let God take control?
If so, you are ready to allow God to:

PREPARE YOU
HELP YOU STAND YOUR GROUND
STRENGTHEN YOU
PUT YOU ON A FIRM FOUNDATION


The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and
contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise. Psalm 51:17




Ad: