“I feel like this is the end.” The end of what? The end of my rope? The end of my sobriety? The end of my purity? My wits perhaps?
No doubt are there going to be times in our journey that we are going to feel extremely close to the end of all we have in us. No doubt will we want to breakdown, and give in and then wallow in our pain and regret.
But let’s keep that “End” and all that it offers in the peripheral. The Solution:
If we keep Jesus as the focal point in our struggles and our victories, constantly gazing at His beauty, an being in His presence and word, and keeping your sin in the peripheral. For years the church, at least in the United States, kept sin as the focal point, it kept using the guilt and shame as the catalyst for change, but I’m here to tell you, the only catalyst for change is keeping Jesus as your viewpoint and keeping sin in the peripheral.
If you’re in leadership and you’re feeling like you’re at the end of your rope, first thing is first get with Jesus, get some alone time, get in your secret place with Him and hash it out. Pour all your worries onto Him, He will keep on solid ground.
“Give your burdens to the LORD, and He will take care of you. He will not permit the godly to slip and fall.” – Psalm 55:22
“Give all your worries and cares to God, for He cares about you” – 1 Peter 5:7
Second: Get with someone you’re accountable to. This should be an almost immediate response to the way you’re feeling. It should be the jerk reaction to the nerve endings of feeling close to the end of your rope. Fair warning, as you may already know this might be the last thing you want to do. But you’ll need to force yourself, ignore your feelings, ignore your emotions, get out of your house, get out of your comfort, meet with someone your accountable to and let them know what’s going on. Be willing to open your can of worms with them.
When I was growing up I was a skater, and with that came doing awesome, crazy, and most of the time just dumb stunts and tricks and with those comes broken bones. I’ve broken my right arm 3 times, and one of the times after the doctors had set it, it wasn’t healing right. They brought me, put me under, and re-broke my bone to reset it so that it healed properly.
The reason I brought that up is, getting with accountability is basically the same thing, except the healing of the heart is a far bigger deal than a simple broken arm. Get with your accountability, and be willing to let them get down in the muck and the mud with you. Don’t let pride seep in because you believe that since you’re in leadership you’re above going to someone like people go to you. Get real, get honest, be willing to be willing, and be willing to re-break whatever you have to, to get the healing you desperately need.
With Jesus there is a solid end, and a solid ground for you to stand on. That feeling of being close to the end is not your final destination, it is not your permanent residence, if you’re feeling close to the end, you’re probably closer to breakthrough! I pray this was encouraging, that this opened your eyes, and moved your heart to keep Jesus as your focal point and your sin in the peripheral.
In Him,
Mat.