EVERYONE HAS A PAST
DAY 143: Everybody has a past they might like to forget. But not everyone is willing to share their past. And quiet frankly, I for one, am glad. Do I really need to hear everybody's dirty laundry; and does everybody need to hear mine?
Maybe not EVERYBODY, but there are times when sharing our struggles is the right thing to do. The challenge is knowing with WHOM and WHEN to share the details of my life.
As a parent, this question plagued me for years. When is the right time to tell your kids you have not lived a perfect life? Certainly not before the age of 10 since they assume until then that you really are a saint. What about during the teen years? For me, that was a big fat NOOOOOO!!! The last thing I wanted to do was give them any ideas they hadn't already thought of themselves; but some profitable sharing has happened in their college years.
Parenting aside, the question is still relevant: who can I entrust with my past failures? When is it a good idea to share them? Should I be concerned with the result of being honest about my struggles? Most of us, me included, have wondered if our past would disqualify us from a fruitful ministry if people knew. Isn't it better to hide our secrets than risk that our past would shame Christ and drive people away?
For anyone who has asked these questions, today's reading was like a breath of fresh air. Paul, the great and faithful apostle, put down his guard at just the right time and told the truth about who He used to be.
After arriving in Jerusalem and reporting on the great work God was doing among the Gentiles, Paul is accused of dishonoring the laws of God and rejecting the honored Jewish traditions. A few dissenters stirred up the entire city until Paul is dragged out of the Temple and beaten. Rescued and arrested by the Roman authorities, Paul asked permission to address the attackers and fellow Jews.
Day 143 of 365
2 Kings 22:3-20
2 Kings 23:1-30
Acts 21:37-40
Acts 22:1-16
Psalm 1:1-6
Proverbs 18:11-12
Maybe not EVERYBODY, but there are times when sharing our struggles is the right thing to do. The challenge is knowing with WHOM and WHEN to share the details of my life.
Parenting aside, the question is still relevant: who can I entrust with my past failures? When is it a good idea to share them? Should I be concerned with the result of being honest about my struggles? Most of us, me included, have wondered if our past would disqualify us from a fruitful ministry if people knew. Isn't it better to hide our secrets than risk that our past would shame Christ and drive people away?
For anyone who has asked these questions, today's reading was like a breath of fresh air. Paul, the great and faithful apostle, put down his guard at just the right time and told the truth about who He used to be.
After arriving in Jerusalem and reporting on the great work God was doing among the Gentiles, Paul is accused of dishonoring the laws of God and rejecting the honored Jewish traditions. A few dissenters stirred up the entire city until Paul is dragged out of the Temple and beaten. Rescued and arrested by the Roman authorities, Paul asked permission to address the attackers and fellow Jews.
Acts 22: 1 “Brothers and esteemed fathers,” Paul said, “listen to me as I offer my defense.”
2 When they heard him speaking in their own language,t the silence was even greater.3 Then Paul said, “I am a Jew, born in Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, and I was brought up and educated here in Jerusalem under Gamaliel. As his student, I was carefully trained in our Jewish laws and customs. I became very zealous to honor God in everything I did, just like all of you today.4 And I persecuted the followers of the Way, hounding some to death, arresting both men and women and throwing them in prison.
5 The high priest and the whole council of elders can testify that this is so. For I received letters from them to our Jewish brothers in Damascus, authorizing me to bring the Christians from there to Jerusalem, in chains, to be punished.6 “As I was on the road, approaching Damascus about noon, a very bright light from heaven suddenly shone down around me.
7 I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?’
Paul spoke to an audience that included orthodox Jews, Jewish Christians and any Romans who happened to be involved in the fray of his arrest. So there he was, confessing that as a former Pharisee committed to the Law of God, he hounded and persecuted Christians. Then he told how God met him in his blindness and revealed himself as Messiah. He told how he submitted to the reality that Jesus is Savior. Then he went on.
18 I saw a vision of Jesus saying to me, ‘Hurry! Leave Jerusalem, for the people here won’t accept your testimony about me.’19 “‘But Lord,’ I argued, ‘they certainly know that in every synagogue I imprisoned and beat those who believed in you.
20 And I was in complete agreement when your witness Stephen was killed. I stood by and kept the coats they took off when they stoned him.’
21 “But the Lord said to me, ‘Go, for I will send you far away to the Gentiles!’”
Paul was afraid that his past disqualified him to serve Christ. His story was too awful. His past was too sordid. But God's answer to that was simple: GO!
14 “Then he told (Paul), ‘The God of our ancestors has chosen you to know his will and to see the Righteous One and hear him speak.15 For you are to be his witness, telling everyone what you have seen and heard.
Part of being God's witness is sharing how Christ's righteousness overcomes our sin and rebellion. If we withhold that story we could give others the impression that it is OUR righteousness that makes us acceptable. You and I know that is ridiculous, but for someone who is focused on a God of "law"and "rules" or focused on their failure in the flesh, they must see how God saves, accepts, and transforms enemies into friends based on HIS GRACE ALONE, not our works.
So when do I share the story of my past? Whenever someone believes God could not accept them because of....X Y or Z. Paul was a murderous zealot. David was an adulterating murderer. Solomon was a idolizing king. Peter was a cowardly disciple. Mary Magdalene was possibly an adulterous harlot. Martha was a prideful socialite. I was a .... You were .....
If we cannot tell our story to draw fellow enemies into the camp of God, then our past is truly wasted and profits nothing. To share that "I once was lost but now am found, was blind but now I see," is to allow God to redeem the past in the present for His future glory!
Because of that Grace, even our past can be redeemed!
2 When they heard him speaking in their own language,t the silence was even greater.3 Then Paul said, “I am a Jew, born in Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, and I was brought up and educated here in Jerusalem under Gamaliel. As his student, I was carefully trained in our Jewish laws and customs. I became very zealous to honor God in everything I did, just like all of you today.4 And I persecuted the followers of the Way, hounding some to death, arresting both men and women and throwing them in prison.
5 The high priest and the whole council of elders can testify that this is so. For I received letters from them to our Jewish brothers in Damascus, authorizing me to bring the Christians from there to Jerusalem, in chains, to be punished.6 “As I was on the road, approaching Damascus about noon, a very bright light from heaven suddenly shone down around me.
7 I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?’
Paul spoke to an audience that included orthodox Jews, Jewish Christians and any Romans who happened to be involved in the fray of his arrest. So there he was, confessing that as a former Pharisee committed to the Law of God, he hounded and persecuted Christians. Then he told how God met him in his blindness and revealed himself as Messiah. He told how he submitted to the reality that Jesus is Savior. Then he went on.
18 I saw a vision of Jesus saying to me, ‘Hurry! Leave Jerusalem, for the people here won’t accept your testimony about me.’19 “‘But Lord,’ I argued, ‘they certainly know that in every synagogue I imprisoned and beat those who believed in you.
20 And I was in complete agreement when your witness Stephen was killed. I stood by and kept the coats they took off when they stoned him.’
21 “But the Lord said to me, ‘Go, for I will send you far away to the Gentiles!’”
Paul was afraid that his past disqualified him to serve Christ. His story was too awful. His past was too sordid. But God's answer to that was simple: GO!
14 “Then he told (Paul), ‘The God of our ancestors has chosen you to know his will and to see the Righteous One and hear him speak.15 For you are to be his witness, telling everyone what you have seen and heard.
Part of being God's witness is sharing how Christ's righteousness overcomes our sin and rebellion. If we withhold that story we could give others the impression that it is OUR righteousness that makes us acceptable. You and I know that is ridiculous, but for someone who is focused on a God of "law"and "rules" or focused on their failure in the flesh, they must see how God saves, accepts, and transforms enemies into friends based on HIS GRACE ALONE, not our works.
So when do I share the story of my past? Whenever someone believes God could not accept them because of....X Y or Z. Paul was a murderous zealot. David was an adulterating murderer. Solomon was a idolizing king. Peter was a cowardly disciple. Mary Magdalene was possibly an adulterous harlot. Martha was a prideful socialite. I was a .... You were .....
If we cannot tell our story to draw fellow enemies into the camp of God, then our past is truly wasted and profits nothing. To share that "I once was lost but now am found, was blind but now I see," is to allow God to redeem the past in the present for His future glory!
Because of that Grace, even our past can be redeemed!
Day 143 of 365
2 Kings 22:3-20
2 Kings 23:1-30
Acts 21:37-40
Acts 22:1-16
Psalm 1:1-6
Proverbs 18:11-12
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