Small Steps toward Big Trouble

I felt soreness in my legs and feet but ignored it.  I put on my socks.  I pulled on my ankle brace.  I laced up my shoes.  I stretched and warmed up as always.  Then I began playing.  Only a couple minutes into the game I felt the SNAP.  But it wasn’t a momentary accident. Step by step I snapped my Achilles tendon.  Although the moment I remember the most is the SNAP, I didn’t ruin my Achilles tendon all at once.  I ruined it step by step.  Really, it wasn’t even about one day or one week but a long period over which patterns and habits emerged.

When most of us think about Samson, we immediately think about Delilah cutting his hair.  But Samson didn't ruin his life all at once.  Samson ruined his life one step at a time.  Throughout his life he ignored God’s spirit.  He had established habits of allowing his emotions to lead him astray and expose his Achilles’ heel, leading him to forfeit God’s best. Long before he even met Delilah, Samson was walking step by step into a trap.

With each step, Samson had ample opportunity to turn around.  Even in the episode with Delilah, Samson had three chances to realize that he was playing with fire.  The story of Samson is the story of a man taking small steps to big trouble. 

Where are you in your journey?  Are you taking small steps away from God or striding eagerly in His direction? I challenged the entire church with this thought: “What do you do if you are walking away from God?” The answer is simple - turn around….change.  It’s never too late to become who you are meant to be and to accomplish what you are meant to do. 

Mark 1:15 - ¹⁵ “The time promised by God has come at last!” he announced. “The Kingdom of God is near! Repent of your sins and believe the Good News!”

What To Do When You Fail

I’ve failed more times than I care to confess or remember.  In high school, I lost an ASB election and thought I would never live again.  It was humiliating.  I wanted to move to another school.  I didn’t know how I could pull myself together for the following year.  Yet here I am years later alive and well, with God’s plan still before me.  Failure is an event, not a person.  So I don’t mind telling you I’ve failed.  I have.  I’ve wasted chances.  I’ve completely blown it (believe me I have).  But don’t think for a minute I would ever call myself a failure.  I am what God says I am and God calls me his child. 

Samson experienced failure in a painful way.  He failed in such a way that the very people from whom he was supposed to deliver Israel ended up mocking him and making him their “pet” (pretty humiliating). Yet Samson did more than show remorse for his failure.  He didn’t blame others or circumstances. Instead, for the first time in his life, Samson repented.  Samson turned around.  And with God it is never too late to turn around.  At rock bottom, Samson took one tiny baby step in God’s direction.  And somehow…someway…

Samson accomplished more in his dying day than he did his entire life! With God’s strength, Samson was finally able to do what he was created to do (despite all of his failures).

Handling failure in our personal lives is difficult.  The pain of regret is real and tangible.  Yet the story of Samson teaches me that just because someone is down, doesn’t mean he is out.  We learn that despite our failures, God is strong enough.  I wanted to encourage everyone with this simple truth – God is still powerful enough to somehow and someway turn our failures into a good accomplishment. God never ceases to amaze.

Do you believe this?  Do you see failure as an event or a person?  Do you believe God can turn around any and all of your failures? 

Proverbs 24:16 - Though a righteous man falls seven times, he rises again.  

When Your Weakness is Exposed

By Rey Diaz

Among my family and friends I am known as an emotional robot.  I don’t cry.  And I don’t know what to say when someone starts crying.  I am known for saying the worse thing possible.  But this does not mean I am not emotional.  In fact I believe that since we are all created in the image of God, we are all emotional beings who might express emotions differently.  If you were to watch me during a football game or driving in traffic, you would see I am very emotional. 

There is nothing wrong with emotions.  The danger comes when we allow these emotions to drive us. In Samson we see a gifted and talented young man with so much potential, who allows his emotions to drive him.  When we allow ourselves to be emotion-driven, our Achilles’ heel becomes exposed.  Samson’s emotions tended to lead him directly into traps.  For many of us, our emotions do the same for us – they expose our weaknesses. 

There is only one solution to this problem.  Paul addresses it in Galatians.  He begs us to “let the Holy spirit guide your lives.”  When we allow God to lead us and guide us, we are safe.  God leads us into a place where he can perform a miracle and turn our Achilles’ heel into strength.

So which are you?  Are you emotion-driven?  Or are you spirit-led?  Maybe you go back and forth between the two.  Today, I want you to do the thing that tough Samson couldn’t do - surrender your emotions to God.  Will you do?

Galatians 5:16-17

So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves. ¹⁷ The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are the opposite of what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other, so you are not free to carry out your good intentions. 

Confession: My Achilles' Heel

What little boy didn’t want to be like Samson in the Bible?  Supernatural power, no one could stop him! Samson had so much potential. He was chosen, separated, and called from birth to achieve great things for God. Yet Samson, like all of us, had an Achilles’ heel: a deadly weakness in spite of overall strength, which could actually or potentially lead to his downfall.

In the message I mentioned that I am like a spider with six Achilles’ heels.  My seven-year-old niece later corrected me: “Uncle Rey, spiders have eight legs.” She is probably right. I am sure I have more like eight Achilles’ heels.

One of my Achilles’ heels is my anger. Many of us have said something we did not mean in anger, but how many of us have done foolish things when we were mad? I remember one time I took the AFE kids on a field trip and after waiting 20 minutes for a parking spot a man rudely cut me off and stole my spot.  In anger I rolled down my window and chucked the gum I had been chewing at his car, in front of the adoring eyes of my AFE students. What did they learn that day? I was so embarrassed about how I behaved when my Achilles’ heel got the best of me.

We all have so much strength and so much weakness.  Just like Samson, we cannot ignore our weaknesses or it will come back to haunt us.

Our action-point from this weekend was simply to identify your personal Achilles’ heels. If you have no idea what it could be ask a close friend, spouse or relative (your wife might even have a list for you!) Yet sometimes we keep our Achilles’ heels hidden and are ashamed to admit just how weak we truly are. Addressing your Achilles’ heel takes real courage and honest evaluation. Find someone to help you.  Talk to your TLC leader or a pastor. 

My prayer for this community is that we would take a different road than Samson, that instead of ignoring our Achilles’ heels we would address them….our God-given potential and future hangs in the balance.

Where Do I Turn When the Economy (or Anything Else for That Matter) Goes Bad?

By Pastor Linda

I don’t know about you but when things go bad it seems that my natural inclination is to begin to stress out and worry about what is going to happen.  At that moment in time, my imagination can run wild as I think about all the horrible scenarios that I might live when things go horribly wrong.  As a matter of fact, I can be quite creative in this state of worry, painting a dark and dismal picture for my future.

Then I read what Jesus said in Matthew 6:22-23 and I am reminded that what I visualize in my worry has a profound impact on what I begin to believe about myself and more importantly about God.  If I look at the difficulties of life through eyes of faith, God is able to help me to maneuver through the tough times.  If I use the eyes of worry and distrust, I find myself helplessly frozen in a dark place with no hope.

One of God’s greatest gifts is to release us from fear and worry. Jesus said “Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don’t get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes.”  Matthew 6:34 (The Message)

If today’s economy has you tied up in knots you may want to read what Jesus has to say in Matthew 6:19-34 and think about the following questions.  Where am I placing my priorities?  Who am I turning to when things get tough?  Am I getting weighed down with worry or am I being lifted up with faith? 

12 I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little. ¹³ For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.  Philippians 4:12-13