Desperation Is Better Than Despair

By John Stallings


In Will Smith’s movie The Pursuit of happiness, Chris Gardner is a family man struggling to make ends meet. Left with only memories of his poor departed wife, he has the responsibility of raising his five-year-old son Christopher. His wife didn’t die; she just got tired of being poor-- & departed.

Chris, now a single father continues to doggedly pursue a better-paying job using every sales skill he knows. He lands an internship at a prestigious stock brokerage firm & seems to have a promising future.

Without a financial cushion Chris & his son are soon evicted from their apartment & forced to sleep in shelters, bus stations, bathrooms or wherever they can find refuge for the night.

Despite his troubles Chris continues to honor his commitment as a loving, caring father using the affection & trust his son has placed in him as an impetus to overcome the obstacles he faces.

I recently saw Gardner interviewed on The Fox Network. He was promoting his latest book & in the course of the interview he was asked his advice to people who had lost their employment due to the financial meltdown. Among other things he said; “It’s probably normal to get a little panicky-- but just don’t freeze.”

What stellar advice that is. Don’t freeze.

Now for another quote;-“If I weren’t a Christian I think I’d go mad. But my faith in God holds me. It holds me to the belief He is in some way working out His own plans through human perversities & mistakes.”

Do you know who spoke these words? They’re President Woodrow Wilson’s words. He wrote them in 1919 after the major defeat of his life, the defeat by his own U.S Congress of his great dream for an international forum- the League of Nations

No matter where you stand on the financial crisis we’re experiencing in the country today, the collapse is real, the impact on our lives is real & the economic peril for our beloved country is profound.

With the title for this message in mind, let me give you a few quick illustrations before I offer a little road map to follow in this or any crisis we may encounter in our lives.

Have you ever been really desperate? If not, have you ever observed a truly desperate person in action?

A minister friend of mine tells the story of arriving at a hospital to make a pastoral visit & seeing a woman knocking on the door of the hospital’s little prayer chapel saying “let me in, let me in.”

The pastor walked over to help her but found the door to the chapel was locked. He stopped a passing worker; “the chapel is locked.” The worker says, “We have to keep it locked. There are some kids that trashed it & we had to get all new furniture. We can’t afford to keep doing that so we have to keep it locked.”

My friend said, “Well find someone with a key” He came back with a woman who opened the door & the minister & the woman who’d been knocking on the door went in.

My friend noticed that the woman had come to the hospital suddenly; she had no make up, her hair had not been combed, it was obvious that she just threw something on. She had a look of desperation in her face & she said, “I know he’s going to die, I just know it.”

“Who?”Asked the minister.
“My husband.”
“What’s the matter?”
“He’s had a heart attack.”
“Can I get you some water?”
“No” she says.”

My friend tells her who he is & asks if he could pray. She says, “Please.”

As he starts to pray she takes over with her own prayer. The pastor saw she was getting through so he let her continue on her own.

“Lord, it’s not time to take my husband. You know that better than I do. He’s not ready, not a good time to take him. Don’t take him now. I have these kids to raise & I have no job skills, can’t find work. I quit school to marry him. If I’d known you were going to take him I’d have stayed in school! And God, what about the kids? They don’t mind now with him around & if he’s gone they’ll be as wild as bucks. This isn’t the time to take my husband!”

This woman was talking to God just as straight-forwardly as the pastor had ever heard it done before. He stayed for as long as he felt useful, then he left the chapel.

He went back the next morning. He saw the woman in the hallway outside intensive care. She had on a dress & make up & looked real nice. Before the pastor had time to ask she said, “He’s better.” She smiles, “I’m sorry about that crazy woman yesterday.”

My friend said, “You weren’t crazy.”
She says, “I guess the Lord heard one of us.”
My friend said, “He heard you.” She was desperate. She prayed out of desperation.

The pastor said,” She reached into heaven with her prayer & had God by the lapels with both hands & was screaming in God’s face: “I don’t think you’re listening!” That’s desperation.”

Sometimes faith is born in a time of desperation. Sometimes that faith doesn’t last & sometimes it does. It develops into a more complete & mature faith. Often in our desperation we realize that the faith we thought we had doesn’t work in the light of the difficulties of life & we’re opened up to a more radical, effective faith.

When we come to a situation like this woman was faced with, when we struggle with feelings we can’t control, when there is a rage inside us that we can’t contain, when the darkness is so thick we feel as though we’re suffocating in it, when we’re rendered powerless & stripped of all pretences & defenses, when our deepest questions about God are shrouded in mystery, or we’re brought low in humiliation-as strange as it may seem, we’re in a place that God will use to strengthen our faith in Him. When you & I get to the place God is all we have, that’s desperation time, & in those times we learn that He’s more than sufficient.

I heard about a man who was about to go crazy with fear because when he turned out the lights he thought he heard monsters crawling out from under his bed. He went to a psychologist for therapy. After many months of therapy the doctor was ready to give up.

Then one afternoon the guy came walking into the doctor’s office with a new spring in his step. The doctor asked what happened & he informed him he’d been cured. “I’m cured & I’ve been sleeping like a baby. My brother came to my house to visit me & cured me.” Amazed the doctor asked, “Is your brother a psychologist?”
“No, he’s a carpenter. He sawed the legs off my bed.”

This is what some people look for—quick fixes & easy answers. But this kind of faith is fragile & can be easily shattered. God wants us to have mature faith that has substance to it.

We don’t have to have all our questions answered or understand everything about God to get a healing. The little woman in Mark with the issue of blood had some wrong ideas about Jesus but she also had a desperate faith. She had it in her mind that Jesus’ clothes had some kind of magical qualities & if she touched the clothes she’d be healed. As far as I know that wasn’t in Jesus resume’, “if you’ll touch my clothes you’ll be healed.” But that faith, small as it was, caused her to have the audacious desperation to fight the crowds & get close enough to Jesus to touch his garment & God honored her effort.

Now let’s look at despair. One dictionary defines despair;-“The loss of hope. To lose hope; to give up.

I’ve told the story of the woman who rode the same bus to work every morning. One day an old man got on the bus. He was shabbily dressed & obviously down & out. She thought about what she should do to express Christian love to this poor man. She got up & took a dollar bill out of her purse, went over to the man, pressed the dollar into the palm of his hand & whispered, “Never despair, just remember, never despair.”

The next day the woman was on the bus again & the man got on at the same stop, & came back to where to woman was sitting. He took eight dollars out of his pocket & pressed the money into her hand. The woman was non-plussed & asked, “What’s this for?” He said, “Never Despair won the eight race at Monmouth Park yesterday.”

Millions in our nation & around the world are feeling the pangs of despair about the financial problems we’re experiencing. I used to find watching T.V relaxing but these days it's getting to be too much of a downer. You find yourself flipping channels & everywhere you turn you’re hearing things that bring you down. We see people dying in wars, crying over their dire financial situation, we see homes being re-possessed, washed away, blown away or burned up. We see & hear things we know are lies & have the feeling the programmers are trying to shape our political thoughts & feelings.

People are in despair all over the planet.

A man went to the doctor for an annual physical exam. The doctor came in & said to him, “You’re in terrible shape. If you don’t change your lifestyle you’re going to die & soon.” That got the man’s attention. He sat there for a minute & said, “Well, Doc, what should I do? Tell me the absolute best way I can get this turned around.”

Knowing him fairly well, the doctor said, --“Stop smoking, stop eating fried foods every time no one is looking, & stop staying out half the night drinking when you’re on the road.”

He was silent for a minute & then he said, “What’s the next best thing I can do?”

Sound familiar? But people in despair get trapped in self-destructive cycles & the cycles bring on more despair.

Now I’d like to offer a three point action plan, the best responses I know of for times when you’re frightened, anxious & can’t see a way through your circumstances.

1. Act. Don’t freeze.

If the woman with the issue of blood had allowed her condition to freeze her in place, she’d never have gotten her healing. She didn’t wait to feel better, she went as she was. Don’t wait to feel better about things, act & then you’ll feel better. Let’s put it this way; “we don’t feel our way into a different way of acting, we act our way into a different way of feeling.” Experts tell us, - “The most drastic & usually the most effective remedy for fear is direct action.”

I’ve been to New Orleans since Katrina & though there are still boulevards of broken dreams everywhere you look, you still can’t help but be impressed with the way people have rebuilt. There may be a government trailer pulled up beside the old ram- shackled house but the people, in so many cases are doing something to better their situation. How wise that is. Some people, strange as it might sound are even finding joy in their new beginnings.

The memory of that hellish storm will never be erased but many have found solace in the fact that their lives were spared & they can still work to rebuild their broken hopes & shattered dreams. Action! That’s how God wants us to react when bad things happen & hope seems to be shot. Get up & get busy rebuilding & helping the people around us.

I may have shared this before but it’s worth repeating. Years ago a young man came to me for advice. He had been fired from his job & was really down & out. He said, “John, what am I going to do? I prayed with him & shared all the scripture I could think of that seemed relevant but I could see he was still down, just sitting there looking sad & depressed.

Finally I decided to use a little shock therapy. I said “do you really want me to tell you what to do to get yourself jump-started?” He answered in the affirmative so I said, “this is going to sound elementary but on your way home buy a newspaper. Take the paper home, lay it on the kitchen table & open it to the want-ads. Get a pencil & put on your reading glasses. Then go down the list of help-wanted ads until you see a job opening you think you might like. Circle it, & then keep reading until you find two or three more that look good to you.”

I continued, “Tomorrow, get in your car & go check out the job possibilities, & when you find the job you feel best about, if they’ll hire you, take it. Now you’ll be employed again”

That man reacted as if he’d been shot through the head. He jumped up & said, O.K Brother John, I’ll do it.” He left my office grinning from ear to ear, acting like he’d been shot from a cannon & exposed to the wisdom of the ages. A few days later he called me & told me he’d found a better paying job than the one he had lost & just wanted to thank me for the advice. I had actually just pointed out the obvious.

Do you want me to tell you how I conjured up all that “wisdom?” Well, I’d been in exactly the same shape that young man was in & I realized that when life kicks the wind out of us, it can immobilize us to the point that we temporarily overlook the obvious & that’s to get up & get moving. Take action--Don’t freeze up. Get yourself to do the basics that you know have to be done. The secret to our success or failure in life is embedded somewhere in our everyday—that’s everyday-- actions.

This same formula of action works in the realm of the spirit. Pastor James told us—Draw nigh to God & He’ll draw nigh to you. James 4:8. James also informs us that faith without works is dead.

Point two. Pray.

When trouble strikes I strongly suggest you pray & pray hard. Paul asked the churches he built to pray for him. When Jesus’ disciples went to bed- He went to pray. If we had no other persuasion to pray, the fact that Jesus needed to pray should be enough.

When Hezekiah was told to get his house in order for he was going to die, he turned his face to the wall & prayed for more time. Immediately that prayer registered in the courts of heaven & God answered & gave him fifteen more years.

When Paul & Silas were in jail they prayed & sang songs & the jail broke open & they were released. Daniel prayed & lion’s mouths were locked. The three Hebrews boys prayed & Jesus ran down the starry stairway & jumped in the fiery furnace with them & they came out of the fire without the scent of smoke clinging to their garments.

When Saul/Paul was stricken blind on the Damascus turnpike, he prayed & his eyes were opened & he received the Holy Ghost. Jonah prayed in the belly of the great fish & was delivered. Prayer lifts us out of the mundane troubles of life & sets our feet on solid ground.

Point three. Trust

If a married couple can’t trust each other their marriage is worth nothing. If we can’t trust our friends they aren’t really friends. Lack of trust writ large is what we see lived out all too often in the world & to what end-? chaos & confusion. But when genuine trust exists we can relax. We can work together to achieve great things. As Christians our trust should always be in the Lord who told us;

Fear not for I have redeemed you. I have called you by name, you are mine. When you pass through the waters I will be with you, & through the rivers, they shall not overflow you: when you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned neither shall the flame kindle upon you. [Isaiah 43:1-2]

If you are in despair, or in desperation, I pray these simple truths will help you press through whatever stands in your way & seek the living Christ & touch Him & be made whole.

When disaster hits, do three things. Act, pray & trust, & like Woodrow Wilson, let faith in God hold you up.

Blessings,

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

John

Why McCain Lost

John Stallings


Anyone whose read my blogs of late will know I would have done almost anything to spare my country from the nightmare that is Barack Hussein Obama.

I wish I could have done more. They say when people go through stressful situations there are several steps they experience in the process. I can’t remember them all but I know the first one is denial. I’m past that step & hover somewhere over the next steps, whatever they are. Is “Spastic colon” a choice?

Before I proceed, let me say that if John McCain had won the election, I would expect the opposition to give him a chance & in the interest of national unity give him the opportunity to implement his policies. I plan to do that for Obama & am sure you will too.

Having said that, I’d like to vent a little bit & tell you why I feel John McCain lost his bid for the White House. I don’t know if I have two friends left, [if I ever had any] but I’m sure if I do I will lose them with this blog. Oh well!

Sadly for my country, I realized long ago that McCain’s resemblance to Methuselah’s granddaddy wasn’t going to play well because in our society looks matter much more than what you believe or what you’ve done. Please don’t think me insensitive here because that would be like the pot calling the kettle black.

The –lipstick/pig analogy isn’t new to this generation. From the time I was young I heard my friends say only partially in jest; “Old Stallings trying to improve his looks is like a hog putting on lipstick.” Or- “Old Stallings can’t help how he looks but he could stay home.” Or- “Stallings fell out of the ugly tree & hit every limb on the way down.” I’ve learned to live with that but please don’t think it doesn’t still hurt when I wear sun- glasses and all I hear is Roy Orbison. Whatever.

Here it is; McCain is a good & decent man & he’s certainly a hero but having said that; McCain lost because he’s McCain. He’s always been best known for his cooperation with Democrats, reaching across the aisle to embrace Big Government.

Let’s go back. For the last twenty years McCain basked in the adoration of the mainstream media. He spent so much time making alliances with the left that he forgot how to fight them if he ever knew. Can anyone say—RINO- Republican In Name Only??


The media loved him & bestowed “Maverick” on him because they loved it when a man seemed to betray his party. [Does anyone remember “Campaign Finance Reform?”?] My friend McCain shot a few of his own toes off with that one. Probably thinking him a fence-straddler, then the likes of the fickle New York Times grew bored with McCain & found other fish to fry. Hint: Obama!

Let’s be honest; if the media was all that powerful-as many of us seem to believe, why have GOP candidates won five of the last eight presidential elections?

Remember the concept of complacency? That’s where our friend McCain lost it all, -- “How could anyone brush aside a man whose been in the Senate 22 years & choose a man with questionable connections over me?” But the voters did.

Political novice that I am, I shook in my boots when McCain suspended his campaign & rushed back to Washington in September to vote for the $700-billion bailout package for financial institutions. My thought after this was; why should any borrower be responsible for his debts? The only difference between McCain & Obama’s programs was the wrapping.
Do you remember in 2007 when McCain & his buddy Ted Kennedy co-sponsored a bill to “regularize the status” of roughly 12 million “undocumented workers?” Out of this fiasco two-thirds of Hispanics voted for Obama.

MARRIAGE—here, McCain’s record was mixed. He voted against the Federal Marriage Amendment each time it came before the Senate, but said he supported state marriage initiatives.

But, to my chagrin, this was one of the many social issues that McCain refused to discuss on the campaign trail even though Obama promised to repeal the Federal Defense of Marriage act [DOMA] which says states don’t have to recognize same-sex unions contracted elsewhere.

FLORIDA--Let’s look at my state of Florida. If McCain had increased his vote here by roughly 98,000—in other words, if he’d picked up 12% of the pro-marriage votes he didn’t get—he’d have won Florida’s 27 electoral votes.

Never mind that I thought McCain uncovering Obama’s campaign for gay marriage might have helped him—McCain didn’t think so.

JEREMIAH A WRIGHT—it was published in no less than NEWSWEEK that McCain had refused to discuss Obama’s racist’s pastor.

Sarah Palin believed the campaign should remind voters of Obama’s ties to Wright, whose inflammatory sermons emerged as a problem for the Democratic nominee during the primary. A McCain aide said—“If we were to go with an ad during the final weeks of this campaign showing excerpts of Wright’s sermons preached in a church where Obama & his wife contributed $26,000 in one year, we would probably win- but we won’t.”

McCain wouldn’t touch the issue so he chose sensitivity over the presidency, & in my opinion he let conservatives down. I hope you’ll forgive my seeming insensitivity here but I suppose McCain will not long from now totter off to a rest home feeling good about “not taking the low road to the White House” leaving the rest of us & our progeny to twist in the wind.

IMHO McCain let his supporters down by running a campaign without brains, heart or guts.

If you’ve read my blogs you’ll know that in choosing Sarah Palin as his running mate, I think McCain made his first & last really smart move. Other than that he was equivocal, hesitant, passionless & lacking in any real focus or genuine commitment to principles.

Maybe McCain’s best gift to the Republican Party is the political exile that lies ahead.

Maybe we’ll learn to fight again for our principles.

Maybe we’ll discover anew that we can’t compromise with an enemy that hates us & despises everything this country used to stand for.

Maybe this defeat will be John McCain’s most important contribution to his country since the Vietnam War.

Blessings,

John

A Tragic Suicide

By John Stallings

I’ve conducted a few funerals of suicide victims & nothing is quite so sad. A minister has a hard time saying the right thing at such times.

But this latest case of suicide has got to be one of the most appalling I’ve ever witnessed. The victim was the liberal media & of course their demise was hastened by the election of 2008.

If you, like me have been observing the press for the last number of years, this death wasn’t a big surprise to you. We’ve been talking about their illness with acute bias for years. What was shocking was to see these people finally put the proverbial gun to their head & pull the trigger.

What makes it even more dramatic is that this years fawning over Barack Obama has finally caught the attention of a large percentage of Americans, who are usually slow catching up on things like this.

Last July in a Rasmussen poll 49% of Americans said they believed the media would be slanted for Obama & only 14% said they thought the media would benefit John McCain. They were right.

We were proud that one of the biggest stories of the campaign came out of our town, when Barbara West of WFTV in Orlando “socked it to” Joe Biden.

Maybe some of you are old enough to remember Harry Truman who became president in the mid-1940’s. He was rather plain-spoken & one day a man hollered out at one of his speeches-“give em hell Harry.” Truman answered back, “thanks- I will.” In later years Mr. Truman opined that he never actually gave anybody hell, he just told them the truth & they thought it was hell. [I trust you’ll forgive me for the use of the word hell here because to say-“the hot place below” just wouldn’t suffice.]

Anyway, Barbara West asked Biden some pointed questions & he acted as though the earth had fallen through & he’d landed in the flames of perdition.

It was obvious from watching the interview that Mr. Biden expected to be asked the puffball questions he’d become accustomed to & when Ms. West referenced the Karl Marx quote: “from each according to his ability to each according to his needs,” then asked if Senator Obama’s comment about “spreading the wealth around” was a socialist mechanism, Mr. Biden asked, “is this a joke? Are you joking? Is this a real question?”

Told by West it was a real question, the Senator laughed & then proceeded to deny that Sen.Obama’s plan is “spreading the wealth around.” Very funny!!

But Ms. West wasn’t through with Biden & continued in her “brazen act of responsible journalism.” She slapped the poor guy around until he practically had a “snit-fit,” afterward cutting WFTV off from any further interviews during the campaign, the first of which was the cancellation of a scheduled interview with Sen. Biden’s wife Jill.

I don’t know about you but this to me reflects a very troubling attitude & pulls back the shades to let us see what kind of place the White House will likely be in a few short weeks.

It was obvious when the lovely & gracious Gov. Palin appeared on the scene, the immature & petulant media didn’t know how to act or to respond to her except to resort to spending time & ink on allegations against her husband & children, her newborn Down syndrome baby boy & accusing her of being an “unacceptably fundamentalist Christian.” What does this reaction portend for the future of Christians in the days, months & years ahead?

And, this isn’t even mentioning the ridicule heaped on Palin & McCain by the so-called humorists, especially on the late night shows. What a sad commentary on our nation that people would think this kind of thing funny, & allow it to affect their political opinions- but then that’s the post-Christian world we live in now.

Joy Behar of “The View” who’s reputed to be a comedienne herself told Larry King speaking of Obama, “He’s not funny Larry. He’s not a joke.” Maybe it all depends on your perspective Ms. Behar.

The U.S Constitution protects free speech, & the framers were wise to give the press the freedom to keep the American people informed in an unbiased & objective way & provide them the information to make sensible, informed decisions in life & in elections.

But this disgraceful abandonment of its duty to the American people by the media has been its own undoing & carries within it the seeds of its own destruction.

If the definition of “life” for the media is- to be trusted, & believed, -then they’re dead because their credibility is nil after this election.

2008 will be remembered as the year the American media died by its own hand.

Blessings,

John

Sermon To Myself About The Coming Election

By John Stallings


If you’re a regular reader of my blog you know that I’ve been taking the coming presidential election very seriously.

So much so, that I’ve allowed myself to get into “election overload” lately. God has spoken to my heart & I wanted to post one more blog before the big day & share what He’s given me, trusting it will help some of you who may feel as I do.

I won’t go in to all the reasons the coming election is so crucial; I’m sure you are as aware of that as I am.

I’ve been an “election junkie” for the last almost thirty years & have become more intensely passionate about the way things are going since the early nineties. I realize many of you share that intensity no matter what side of the partisan fence you may be on.

THIS ISN’T A “CONCESSION” MESSAGE

Despite the clandestine activities of the liberal media, prayer can pull McCain/Palin across the finish line in what could well be a “photo-finish.”

During the last few months I’ve prayed-- almost without ceasing, given money, voted, preached, written blogs as well as letters to the president & congressmen & anything else I could do short of wearing a sandwich-board sign & parading down the street.

We can’t escape the talking-heads on radio & television telling us that this is probably the most important election of our lives indeed it has the potential of being apocalyptic.

I think we would all agree that given the “financial Tsunami” our country is going through, it isn’t over-stating the case to say the stakes in this election are VERY high.


I’ve been sickened with the double standard on display in the press as they have dripped contempt all over Sarah Palin while exhibiting fawning indulgence to Joe Biden.

I’ve just about had it with the so-called news -men who skin Sarah Palin alive every chance they get, while turning a deaf ear to Joe Biden when he says things that would have embarrassed Forest Gump.

We’ve all watched the news-people set traps for Sarah & tell outright lies about she & her family while the likes of George Stephanopoulos won’t let Obama’s statement “My Muslim religion” stand,- correcting the statement for him right on the spot.

And so, as I pondered what to write, & more importantly what we all need to hear right now, I could think of nothing better than to share what God has preached to my heart.

I need to take a deep breath & be reminded that we’re all in God’s hands & that whatever happens, we'll be hidden with Christ in God & our lives will still be in the hands of a never-changing, eternally loving, gracious Father who is sovereign & who will reign supreme & work out His eternal will no matter who walks into the Oval office early next year.

I need to remind myself that light will always overcome darkness just as in Christ, life will ultimately overcome death.

I need to remind myself that far more important than seeing my candidate triumph, I must continue to be a repairer of the breach & continue to fight the fight of faith.

I need to rest in God & find my strength in Him who has promised to never leave or forsake me & accept what comes & keep going.

I need to “hand-off the heaviness” to God because He can carry it. I can’t & I don’t have to.

I need to remind myself that even though the stars fall I can find victory in He who attends the funerals of sparrows & surely, come what may, He can give to me a supple spirit & a singing heart.

So I am calm & I’m accomplishing it one day at a time by continuing to live in that peaceful center, my life in God.

I trust & pray that this will be useful to anyone who’s been suffering from “election overload” or maybe “concern overload.”

When my heart is breaking with grief & sorrow; when my mind is almost numb from trying to answer questions that are beyond my capacity to comprehend; when evil seems to triumph; when goodness & decency are being trampled in the dust; when sneering faces mock me or ugly voices ask; "Where is your God?"....I go to the cross. I remember how they mocked Him. I remember how they hurt Him.
I remember how He died.

I see the dignity of His spirit. I see the strenght of one who says: "Nothing you do to me can destroy my life or my love. Nothing you can do can defeat my fathers plan." I remember His passion. And I say to those who would mock our faith or ridicule our God: This is where I take my stand: beneath the cross of Jesus. I believe and trust in the One who gave His life & love for the whole world & for me. I place my faith in the One who rose from the dead & pushed back the stone on Easter morning!

I trust the promises of the One who said: I will be with you always.

However this election turns out there will be much work to do & we’ll all need to stay engaged in life with a hopeful spirit remembering always that we serve the man who saw the troubled waters congeal under his feet & we’re floating on the great river of God’s grace.


EVERY BLESSING,


John