I recently spent the better part of 3 months on hold with a certain phone company which-will-not-be-named. In the last week of my struggle, I finally appealed for help. I did this after preaching a sermon I should have listened to myself: Perseverance is a Contact Sport.
Contact is the key to survival during any trial or crisis: contact with God and contact with other Christians. We tend to isolate when we experience frustration or feel challenged. We may feel like it's silly, and we should be able to handle it on our own. That isn't what the Word tells us to do! Using the letters of the word "contact" as a mnemonic device, try to remember this next time you're stressed, in crisis or just in need of help.
C - Connect in community. God never intended for us to live alone, or to tough it out without help. God intends for us to have a relationship with him, and allow him to carry our burdens for us, to bring us through the trials, and stand with us through all things. God also intends for us to live in community with other Christians. Even Jesus surrounded himself with 12 disciples!
O- Offer it up. Give it to God, leave it there, and let it go. Give your problem to God and get rid of it! God has vastly more power to deal with it than you do. Seems like this would be a no-brainer, yet we seem to use this only as a last resort. Go figure!
N - The powerful name of Jesus changes it all. Speak his name and demons flee, the sick are healed, the blind see, the lame walk, the deaf hear, the unsaved are converted. The scriptures tell us "that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." (Philippians 2:10-11, NLT)
T - Think good thoughts. We are surrounded by a climate of negativity and scarcity. We are richly blessed and called the children of God the Father who created the universe, yet we think we are poor and abandoned! What's up with that? The power of positivity is nothing to sneer at. Remember: the JOY of the Lord is your strength. Don't let stinking thinking suffocate your life. Choose to think differently.
A - Adore God, even in the rain. The best way to get out of your funk is to stop and think of all the wondrous things God has done and can do for you. Focusing on God will bring you into a state of awe and wonder which zaps negativity fast!
C - Communion: as the food of bread and wine nourish the body, so the remembrance of our Christ who gave his body and blood for us strengthens the soul. Communion brings us into an awareness of the mystery of Christ. The mystery fills us in ways that the mundane never can. We can find joy in His communion, even in times of darkness.
T - Thank God for the trial! Although this might seem counter intuitive, it causes us to refocus our thinking on God's control over all things, even our trials. Philippians 4:4 (NLT) "Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again—rejoice!" There is an old cliché, but it is true: If God brings you to it, he'll bring you through it.
Stay in contact with God, especially in the hard times!
