Messiah

Trusting God When Things Aren’t Going Your Way

My day was off to an exciting start and I was ready for another long drive in my current RV journey.

And then it happened.

A careless turn, in a parking lot of all places, caused major damage to the underside of the RV, leaving it inoperable. That and I’m still a couple of days from home.

I recorded the podcast while waiting for a mobile repairman.

All the questions: how much will this cost, how long will it take to fix, will I be stuck in this town for days?  Oy!

It’s so true though: it’s easy to be a full-of-faith Christian in the good times, but what do we do when things don’t seem to be going our way?

It all  comes down to knowing what it means to trust God.

To trust is to believe in the reliability, truth, ability or strength of something. So, when it comes to trusting God, that means believing in His reliability, His Word, His ability and His strength. The Bible says that God cannot lie. That He always keeps His promises. That He loves you and has good in store for you. Trusting in Him means believing what He says about Himself, about the world and about you is true.

Trusting God is more than a feeling; it’s a choice. A choice to have faith in what He says even when your feelings or circumstances would have you believe something different. Your feelings and circumstances are very real, and God cares about them both. But those things can change at any moment, even in an instant.

God, on the other hand, does not change. He is the same yesterday, today and forever, and therefore is worthy of your trust.

Trusting God is not about ignoring your feelings or reality. It is not pretending that everything is OK when it isn’t. Trusting God is living a life of belief in and obedience to God even when it’s difficult.

In Episode 143 of the The Brian Sussman Show Podcast, I detail the events of this morning, and expound on some key points to live a life of faith, even during times of challenge. Like I said, I created the podcast (and wrote this blogpost) while sitting in the broken RV.

As my wife told me over the phone: “Brian, you’re safe, you’re not in a hurry, it’s only money. I can fly down to be there with you if you would life. God’s got this.”

Phew. I love my wife.

Meantime, here I sit, patiently wait for the mobile repairman….

PS: after some phone calls, a great mechanic arrived, temporarily shored up the front hydraulic leveling jacks that were laying on the pavement beneath the RV, and said, “You’ll probably make it home okay.”

“Probably?” I asked.

“You should be good,” he restated. “Just avoid bumpy roads and speed bumps. The hydraulic jacks for the leveling system will need to be secured properly by an  RV repair outfit that can can it up on a rack.”

I thanked him profusely, paid him cash, and cautiously drove nearly 500 miles to our place in Northern Nevada. I winced (and prayed) with every bump. The freak 30-minute snow storm I ran into only stretched my faith.

By the way, all this and I didn’t mention the flat tire I had the day before!

 

Back to Basics: Finding Real Peace

For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us;
And the government will rest on His shoulders;
And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.
There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace,
Isaiah 9:6,7

More than any other book in the Old Testament, the book written by the Jewish prophet Isaiah focuses on the salvation that would come through the Messiah. The above passage reveals that Messiah will one day rule in justice and righteousness. The Messiah’s kingdom on earth (Isaiah chapters 65-66) is the goal toward which all of the book of Isaiah points. It is during the eventual reign of the Messiah, at His second coming, that God’s righteousness will be fully revealed to the world.

We all long for peace, yet the world in which we live has little of that to offer. Wars, rumors of wars, crime, hate, family division, anger, vices, addictions, let downs–it’s all contrary to a message of peace.

Isaiah chapter 53 vividly describes the Messiah suffering for sin. It is through His wounds that healing is achieved. It is through His suffering that our iniquities are taken away. This apparent contradiction is solved in the Person of Jesus Christ. In His first advent, Jesus was the suffering servant of Isaiah chapter 53.  In His second advent, Jesus will be the conquering and ruling King, the Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6).

How can you  experience the peace that only Jesus can provide, right now?

With a simple prayer of faith, something like this: Lord, I believe Jesus is the way, truth, and life. I believe Jesus died for my sins and was raised from the dead. I surrender to your Lordship. Fill me with your Spirit and make me whole.

Back to Basics: Saving Your Life

If you want to save your life, your first have to lose it.

“If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me.  For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.  For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul?” (Matthew 16:24-26).

These are the words of Jesus. He was either a liar, lunatic, or He was, and remains, the very Son of God. What He said must not be misinterpreted or taken lightly. 

Let’s begin with what Jesus didn’t mean. Many people interpret “cross” as some burden they must carry in their lives: a strained relationship, a thankless job, a physical illness. With self-pitying pride, people often say, “That’s my cross to carry.” Such an interpretation is not what Jesus meant when He said, “Take up your cross and follow Me.”

When Jesus carried His cross up Golgotha to be crucified, no one was thinking of the cross as symbolic of a burden to carry. To a person in the first-century, the cross meant one thing and one thing only: a guilty verdict punishable by death in the most painful and humiliating means human beings could think of.

Therefore, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me” means being willing to die in order to follow Jesus. This is called “dying to self.” It’s a call to absolute surrender. After each time Jesus commanded cross bearing, He said,  For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.  For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul?”

Although the call to denial is admittedly tough, some can never do it. But for all who do, the reward is priceless.

Back to Basics: What is Heaven Really Like?

If you ask 100 people, including pastors and theologians, what heaven is like you’ll get 100 different answers.

Actually, for every theologian in your query you’re bound to get 10 different explanations, so let’s take theologians out of the example. That still keeps us at about 100 different descriptions of heaven.

Last night I believe God gave me this wonderful vision of heaven:

Imagine you have lived your entire life land-locked. You’ve never seen a body of water bigger than a pond, or maybe a small lake. You’ve never seen a fish, let alone a whale, a dolphin, or an octopus. In fact, you never even seen photographs or video of these creatures, or the ocean in which they live. However, you’ve read a few stories about such environs, and you’ve heard 100 people give 100 different descriptions of what abides in that mysterious thing called “the ocean.”

Then one day you finally see the ocean with your own eyes. Your heart nearly stops at its immense splendor. You witness the great tail of a whale splashing the surface of the water and pod of dolphins dancing between the rolling waves. You’re taken to a bay with crystal clear water and wade into a tide pool. There, right next to your submerged feet, your jaw drops as you look at sea anemones, brilliant fish, and even octopus.

Some say, “Heaven will be a state of mind.”  While they are incorrect, I can understand their statement in that we humans can’t wrap our brains around, “what God has prepared for those who love Him,” (Psalm 31:19 and 1 Corinthians 2:9).

Back to Basics: My Story

My story of coming to faith in Jesus began when I was a boy. My dad made sure my brother and I grew up with our Jewish identity, but we were largely quite secular.

During the fall of my tenth year I happened upon a terrible accident that occurred on a Saturday afternoon just up the street from the apartment complex we lived in. There was a small MG sports cars parked, with a dented front end. Outside the car a teenage girl was completely distraught. In front of the car was a twisted bicycle. Next to the bike was the body of a young boy.

I didn’t know who the boy was until his parents arrived on the scene. It was my friend Kenny. We had just played a Pop Warner football game that morning.

Kenny didn’t make it. Later that week I was a pallbearer at his funeral.

I came home from that funeral petrified of death. That night I prayed: God, if you’re there I need to know who you are. I don’t want to die like Kenny. I don’t want to go to hell; I want to go to heaven. 

There seemed to be no response from God for many years.

My life began to unravel from within as I was so paranoid about dying. I don’t need to go into all the details, but I was a mess. Finally, in college, I met woman my age who recognized the need in my life. She encouraged me to read the New Testament with her. I was reluctant, because as a Jew the New Testament is off-limits. But, honestly, thanks to her attractiveness, I obliged.

I read about Jesus and his disciples. They were all Jewish. Jesus spoke of heaven and eternal life. He said, “Cast your cares upon me.”  Jesus was more than just a good man. He was the only Son of God, who died for our sins and was raised from the dead. He promised his followers eternal life.

It was everything I had hoped for.

So, I prayed. I privately prayed to God to take my fear away, and come into my life and empower me with His Spirit. Immediately that fear of death and hell that had gripped me for years finally vanished. That initial prayer turned into a lifestyle of surrender to Jesus.

My heart has been in a state of renewal ever since.

This is my story.

And by the way, I married the attractive young woman.

Are you ready to let God rewrite your story?