![]() ![]() ![]() I said, if you turn away from them and don’t continue to show kindness to them, you probably close a door which they might be willing to walk through when they suffer. Yesterday, I recorded some Ask Pastor John questions and one of them was: “What do I do if I move into a neighbourhood and I wave at everybody and they all just frown at me? Should I even try anymore?” Image source: Image taken from ARPC John Piper Equip Conference Day 2: Ask Pastor John You won’t grow as a Christian – that is, you won’t have greater resources of joy, hope and love – if you pull away from every hard situation. Having said that, I’m going to encourage people to lean in to hard relationships rather than pull away. So I don’t think it’s wrong to want to be with people who make us feel more complete, more full, more appreciated, and enjoy their fellowship. So Jesus seemed to have these concentric circles of “ special” even though He gave His life for the others as well. What did that mean? It meant there was something really peculiarly wonderful between Jesus and John. Practically speaking, all of us, in our peculiar personalities, are able to enjoy some people more than other people.Įven Jesus said, this is the disciple whom He loved. Should I continue to try to maintain a relationship (with a brother or sister in Christ), even if that relationship makes me disappointed in myself? Because no matter how much I try, I don’t have any love and it brings out the worst in me. We have to fight for joy, and one of the key ways to fight is to wait for Him. Genuine saints walk through seasons of darkness. Don’t do anything precipitous in those moments of darkness, as though He’s not coming back. I have a volatile personality – like it’s up, it’s down, it’s all over the place – which means I’m capable of pretty high levels of joy and pretty low levels of discouragement.īut the lesson I have learned is to wait. So I don’t have any simple prescription for how long you might be low. I’ve known people who’ve waited eight years in depression, scarcely able to function, being kept above water by a faithful wife, and they came out of it by a miracle of God’s touch in their lives. ![]() I asked my people, back when I preached the sermon 40 years ago called “In The Pits With The King”, how long did the psalmist wait? Did he wait a day? Did he wait a week? Many will see and fear, and put their trust in the Lord.” (Psalm 40:1-3) He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God. He drew me up from the pit of destruction, out of the miry bog, and set my feet upon a rock, making my steps secure. “I waited patiently for the Lord he inclined to me and heard my cry. “You can’t stop pain and tears from coming, but you can keep joy from going,” says John Piper ![]()
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