"Reframe Your Past"

from the book “In A Pit With A Lion On A Snowy Day,” by Mark Batterson

Psalm 51:1-13

Sunday, January 13, 2008

Introduction: If we were all to sit down and talk about the adversity we have seen in our lives, we all would have much to share; some more than others. Adversity is a part of everybody’s lives. In fact, one thing I’ve learned as a pastor, as people have shared their personal lives with me, is that there is much adversity that we go through, that no one else sees, or knows about. In the secrets of our lives, are hidden the experiences that we’ve gone through that have hurt us, troubled us, or beaten us down. People don’t share these experiences with others, because they don’t want others to know. But they are a part of who you are. These adversities cannot be buried or forgotten. And so if we are going to be able to grab our lives by the mane, we need to learn how to overcome adversity and failure by reframing them as learning experiences.

I. Unlearning Your Fears- (Matthew 5:33-34; Romans 12:2;

Philippians 2:5; 1 Peter 5:8; Daniel 3:16-18)

a. Facing your fear- Ex. About 3 years ago my family and I went to

Orlando, Florida, to go to Disney World. We had a great time at all 4 amusement parks. But there was this one event that happened at Magic Kingdom. Tyler and I decided to go on the “Tower of Terror” ride. Tyler had ridden the “Tower of Terror” ride at California Adventure, in Anaheim, so he was excited to do it in Orlando as well. The ride started off fine with the elevator going up, but when we got to the top, it did something different; instead of going straight down, it slid across the top, and then dropped down. This little difference made Tyler afraid. So much so, that for a long time, he wouldn’t go on the “Tower of Terror” ride at California Adventure here in Anaheim. Even though he liked the ride here, his fear kept him from going on it. Until about a couple of months ago, I talked Tyler into trying it again. Every minute that went by as we waited in line made Tyler all the more nervous. I tried to keep him talking so he wouldn’t think about the ride. Finally, it came time to ride; and he loved it!

Have you had an experience like this before? An experience where something made you afraid, and it kept you from fully living for God? My advice to you is to not let “mental lions” keep you from experiencing everything God has to offer. The greatest breakthroughs in your life will happen when you face your fear, and push through it. The defining moments will double as the scariest decisions. Did you catch that? Many of the aspects that define your life, will also be the hardest, and scariest decisions you have to make. But you’ve got to face those fears so that you can begin the process of unlearning those fears.

When a computer gets a virus, you have to remove that virus, or it will destroy the hard drive of the computer, and make the computer inoperable. In a similar way, our fears are like infected files in our minds. These irrational fears and misconceptions keep us from operating the way we were designed to. And if those fears and misconceptions aren’t uninstalled, they will undermine all that we do. To uninstall, we have to unlearn much of what we have learned.

Think about Jesus. When He came to this earth, much of what He did was to help people unlearn what they had learned. He would often say, “You have heard that it was said…. But I tell you…” For example, in Matthew 5:33-34, Jesus says, “Again, you have heard that it was said to the people long ago, 'Do not break your oath, but keep the oaths you have made to the Lord.' ³⁴But I tell you, Do not swear at all...” Having faith is really a rewiring of the human brain. As the apostle Paul says in Romans 12:2, “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.” Again the apostle Paul says in Philippians 2:5, “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus.”

Unlearning requires more than just rewiring our brains; it requires NEW knowledge so that we can face our fears. According to the psychiatric books, there are approximately 2,000 classified fears. These fears run anywhere from agoraphobia (fear of open spaces or crowds), to necrophobia (fear of death or dead things), to xenophobia (fear of strangers or foreigners)…..What is interesting is that psychiatrists suggest that we are only born with 2 fears: the fear of falling, and the fear of loud noises. This would mean that all other fears are learned, and therefore all other fears can also be unlearned!

b. Taking a stand- As we talked about Benaiah last week, we learned

that Benaiah battled a lion and was victorious. But we need to understand that lion chasers, like Benaiah, have the same fears as everyone else. But lion chasers have learned to face those fears. They have learned how to unlearn their fears that keep them captive, by chasing them, instead of running away from them.

To chase your fears you have to understand something, that Satan is at the heart of trying to make us fearful. 1 Peter 5:8 tells us: “Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” There is that lion again. Satan has 2 primary tactics when it comes to trying to neutralize us spiritually: discouragement and fear. He wants us to focus on past mistakes that we’ve made. That is why he is called “the accuser of our brethren.” The end result that he is after is a loss of courage. Because when we lose courage, we cease to be productive.

There comes a time when we have to face our fear and take a stand for what is right. EX. A good example of this is Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. These 3 men were friends of Daniel. There was a law passed by King Nebuchadnezzar that everyone had to bow down and worship the 90-foot idol of himself. But they refused to do this. I’m sure there was fear in this decision, because it would mean death for them. But they took a stand. The Bible says it like this, in Daniel 3:16-18,

“Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to the king, "O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. ¹⁷ If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and he will rescue us from your hand, O king. ¹⁸ But even if he does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.”

They were thrown into the furnace, but God saved them, and they lived!

COURAGE IS DOING WHAT IS RIGHT, REGARDLESS OF THE OUTCOME. Because when you put yourself into defenseless positions, it sets the stage for God to show up. If you reflect on your life, you will probably find that some of the greatest experiences are often the scariest, and the scariest experiences are often the greatest.

It’s hard to describe, but there is something about fear that makes us feel alive. The adrenaline is pumping. And time seems to stand still. And the scariest experiences make the best stories; don’t they? The goal of our lives should not be to eliminate fear, but to ask God to give us the courage to chase our lions.

Think about this for a moment, the alternative to fear is boredom. The great philospher Soren Kierkegaard went so far as to say: “Boredom is the root of all evil.” I don’t know if I totally agree with that statement, but I do know that boredom is what leads us to refuse to be, and do, all that God made us to be and do. If you are bored at all in your life, it means that you are not following in the footsteps of Christ, because boredom is not what created you for.

II. The Why and How of Reframing- (1 Samuel 17:34-37; Psalm 51:1-13)

a. Prayer- When we talk about facing our fears, we have to learn

how to reframe our thinking. To do this, it all starts with our prayer life. If we were to assess our prayer life, the truth would be that much of our praying is on reducing our problems. Most of us pray that God would keep us out of pits with lions on snowy days. But if these problems are just opportunities in disguise, our prayers are totally misguided.

There is a connection between Benaiah and King David that is important. Benaiah got the job to be David’s bodyguard. And both of them were part of an exclusive lion-chasing club. Long before becoming king, David was a simple shepherd boy. While his brothers were on the frontlines fighting the Philistines, David was stuck on the sidelines tending sheep. David probably felt like he was put out to pasture, but God was preparing his abilities for later on in his life.

One of the ways we know David best, was for his defeating the Philistine giant, Goliath. But David had an impressive resume before this victory. Before David could go and fight Goliath, he had to sell it to King Saul: (1 Sam. 17:34-37)

“But David said to Saul, "Your servant has been keeping his father's sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, ³⁵ I went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it and killed it. ³⁶ Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God. ³⁷ The LORD who delivered me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.”

I bet that David’s prayer life, during this time, moved from praying for his sheep to be safe, to his praying for God to help him have the courage and wisdom to protect his sheep when the opportunities arose. I’m sure that when David got to this point of wanting to fight Goliath, he realized that God had prepared him for this task, by giving him the courage to stand up to the lions and bears he faced.

Likewise, we need to thank God for the lions, and bears, and giants in our lives, that help to prepare us to face the other aspects of life. Again, sometimes the biggest problems present the greatest opportunities for God to reveal His glory and work His purposes. No one likes being in the pits, or put out to pasture, but maybe God is developing your character and giving you skills that will serve you later in life.

b. Worship- But you need to be careful with how you utilize the skills

and opportunities God gives you. What if David had lived in today’s world. How would what he did be seen today? Let’s take a moment to look at a video clip of what that might look like….. SHOW CLIP OF DAVID: BEHIND THE SCENES.

Really, what it comes down to, is worship. Worship is zooming out and refocusing on the big picture. David lost sight of the big picture. He lost sight of what God had done for him, and through him. He lost sight of why he was made king. It wasn’t for his glory, but for God’s. David had turned his worship away from God, and to himself. David needed to refocus on the fact that God still loved him, and still had much for him to do.

Worship is really about forgetting what’s wrong with us, and remembering what is right about God. It is about getting past the fear of success, past the fear of significance, and realizing that it is only in God that we are significant and can have true success. It is about putting ourselves in a place again where we can do what God calls us to do.

Through the prophet Nathan, David sees the error of his ways, and turns back to God. Hear these words again from Psalm 51….. “Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgression; ² Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. ³ For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. ⁴ Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight… Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. ¹¹ Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. ¹² Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me. ¹³ Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will turn back to you.”

Now that is worship. You can sense David is truly bowing down to God, and acknowledging the greatness of God. David is understanding his place in God’s design. David is asking for a pure heart so that he can serve God. David is chasing his fear of failure and sin away, with God’s help, and by God’s power.

Conclusion: We don’t need to invite adversity into our lives. Like David, we don’t need to bring more problems into our lives. But there will be situations of adversity that come our way. This situations could actually serve God’s purposes. It was the way that Benaiah handled adversity that led him to get where God wanted him. It was ultimately the way David handled adversity that allowed God to remodel his life. So we need to ask: We have you been broken? What adverse circumstances are you facing? Do you have any overwhelming problems?

Maybe God is remodeling you. Maybe God is increasing your capacity for dealing with adversity. Maybe the problem you thought you never could overcome will actually be an opportunity for God to do great things in and through your life. Let God help you to unlearn your fears, so that you will be free to live for Him. Amen.