Thankfulness Is Victory

November 2, 2019 Cathleen Zahradnik

Sometimes life feels like slogging through molasses. You pray and pray and pray and pray, but it feels like God isn't listening. I know that you have been praying hard about that difficult situation, the one that you are so hoping that God will do a miracle in. You may be asking yourself, “What else can I do? How else can I pray?” ‬‬You may be asking God, “What do I have to do for You to move in this situation?” Believe me I have been there. I have pleaded and pursued God in some of my most desperate times only to find the situation worse or, at least, exactly the same.

That loved one you are asking God to change isn’t changing at all. You know you are praying according to His will because you are praying for their salvation, but they seem to be moving further away from God.“What is happening, God? Why is this happening? Where are You?!!! Don’t You care about my pain? Why does there seem to be no... progress...at...all?!!!!”

Where is God in those times? What are we supposed to do?

Shift your focus: Times like these are hard. I know it. I really do!. But one thing I have learned is to shift my focus away from the person who is my problem, away from the unchanging circumstance and onto the never-changing God.

In a time when a loved one was severely struggling I remember kneeling by my bed pleading with God and asking Him to move in their life, to help them get past this. I prayed for an end to their struggle. All of that sounds good on the surface, doesn’t it? What could be wrong with pleading with God for a loved one? As I was in the midst of my fervent prayers I felt God telling me to stop. The Holy Spirit shone His light of conviction into my heart and showed me that my prayers weren't really for my loved one. They were for me! If their problem was solved, then my life would be easier. I wouldn’t have to walk through the pain their struggle caused me.

Once I recognized the selfishness of my prayers I didn’t trust my motivation to pray for them anymore. I had to stop praying for my loved one and start looking to God for what I needed in order to make it through the time of trial. I had to keep my eyes on Jesus and stay as close to Him as I could in order to make it from day to day.

Remember the promise. Here is the promise from Jesus that we don’t like to think about. He said in John 16:31 that we WILL have trouble in this world. We WILL. There is no getting around it. The preachers who make you feel like everything will be wonderful if you just surrender to Jesus are skirting what they know is true. It is more popular to avoid the reality of problems. I am not saying that they are intentionally lying, but they are doing what we all naturally want to do. They are avoiding the reality of trouble. But Jesus promised it. He PROMISED it. “Well, that isn’t what I wanted to hear,” you say. I understand, but with the promise of trouble is also the promise that He has overcome the world.

What does that mean? It means that His victory on the cross over sin and death is the ultimate victory over every circumstance in our lives that is the result of sin and death. The unkind co-worker, the wayward child, the terminal illness, your loved one’s dementia. All of those things are the result of sin and death in this world, but Jesus has overcome them. Hallelujah! The difficulty for you and me is that we don’t always see that victory in the way we want it, and when we want it. We have to take heart in the fact that the victory HAS been won. We may not see it this side of heaven, but WE WILL SEE IT.

The issue with my loved one lasted much longer than I ever imagined, more than a year and a half. As I shifted my focus away from them and onto receiving what I needed from God I found my perspective changing. The dark time hung on and I began to wonder if my loved one would ever return to a normal outlook. I wondered if this was what I would be living with for the rest of my life. It wasn’t a pleasant thought, but I had been receiving the grace I needed to learn to function as normally as I could, even with my loved one’s altered perspective. I had been able to laugh again and enjoy life, in spite of the continued difficulty. I found that I had many things to be thankful for, and even though my life was not as I would wish, I told God that if this was what life was going to be like, then I would learn to be satisfied in Him. He was overcoming the world in me. That was victory.

Thank God for His victory in that situation, even though you aren’t seeing it. Remember, the victory is already won! It is! Whether we see it or not does not change the fact that Jesus is victorious. In the situation that I have been telling you about there came a day when everything turned around, the cloud lifted and that struggle was over. I saw that victory. But there are other circumstances in my life where I am still waiting to see the breakthrough. You are, too. How can you and I handle it when we don’t see the victory?

At the beginning of this year I felt God telling me to start thanking Him for the victories that I am not seeing. To thank Him for being at work whether I see it or not. I have been doing that. I’d like to be able to say that I’ve seen a change in those circumstances, but I haven’t. The change has been inside of me. As I have thanked Him for the changes that I can’t see, I have grown in hope. I have become more aware of my need to trust. I look toward the future and truly believe that I will see the victory. In the end, He wins and because He wins, I win. And, by the way, you win, too!

Dear One, what you are going through is hard. There is no doubt about it. But as you shift your focus off the struggle and begin to thank God for the day when you will see the victory fulfilled, whether in this life or in the life to come, you will begin to experience victory within. As your perspective changes you will find yourself able to persevere with hope.

He is victorious. That is the truth. Whether we see it or not, does not change the truth of His victory. We live in victory when we focus on His ultimate victory, not the apparent defeat we see. Be thankful, Dear One.. That is victory.

Key thought: Thank God for the victories you can’t yet see.

A Scripture to consider: “Be cheerful no matter what; pray all the time; thank God no matter what happens. This is the way God wants you who belong to Christ Jesus to live.” ‭‭1 Thessalonians‬ ‭5:16-18‬ ‭MSG

A YES challenge: Take some time to intentionally thank God for the work He is doing in your current situation, even if you can’t see it. Set a reminder in your phone each day this week to take time to be thankful. At the end of the week, evaluate how thankfulness has affected your perspective.

Prayer: Lord, I choose to thank You for the victory that I am not yet seeing. You promised that in this world we would have trouble, but you also promised that You have overcome the world. Overcome the world in me. Change my focus and my perspective so that I can give thanks to You no matter what. You are my hope and You are my joy. Amen.

Who Is Praying With You?

October 26, 2019 Cathleen Zahradnik

There is something I really need to work on. It’s asking other people to pray with and for me. As a pastor I am always, always humbled when people say they are praying for me and my family. I know they are; I know we need it; I know that is an expression of God’s goodness. How amazing He is to touch people’s hearts to pray for ME!

But when it comes to asking others to pray for me, I just don’t think of it. In a prayer circle I will always share something, even if it is the same old thing. Why? I know that I need the prayer and others really do want to pray for me. So, why don’t I think of asking others for prayer when I am going through it? Maybe you are asking yourself the same question.

Here in America we lift up the individual and especially the individual who doesn’t need anyone. For many of us, our first response is to try to do it alone. How’s that working for you? In contrast, the Scriptures give many, many examples of people praying together. In fact, even though we see Jesus praying alone most often, if you keep your eyes open as you read I think that you will notice that most other references to prayer are TOGETHER.

It Really Isn’t All Up To You!

October 19, 2019 Cathleen Zahradnik

It may seem silly, but I was once overwhelmed and afraid to be a chaperone for a school field trip. I had volunteered to go with one of my kids and in many ways was looking forward to it. But I had never really been a chaperone before. At least not for middle schoolers! I worked part time at the school, so I knew how middle-schoolers could be. I don’t like not knowing what to expect and I definitely didn't know what to expect with these kids. I didn't know which students would be assigned to me and I was nervous about how to handle them.

What should have been a small concern became a major issue in my mind. I couldn’t stop thinking about it and trying to figure it out, trying to imagine what might happen and how I would handle it. Finally, I was fed up with worrying. This could not go on! So, I prayed about it. Maybe I should have done that sooner? In my time of prayer God reminded me of a verse. I decided to write It on an index card and put in my pocket for the day of the trip. Isaiah 41:10 says this, “Don’t be afraid, for I am with you. Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with my victorious right hand.” ‭‭(‭NLT‬‬) Having the verse in my pocket was a reminder that it wasn’t all up to me and God was ready to help me, no matter which middle-schoolers were with me or what shenanigans they got up to. There was a lot of comfort in that!

What overwhelms you? What causes you to try to figure things out? You have a lot of problems to solve, don’t you? We all do. You may have solved the same kinds of problems for years or maybe you feel like you face a new challenge every day. You may feel like you have got it down pat or maybe your feel like you never know what to do. Do you include God in your problem-solving? Have you been trying to manage all by yourself? That can be a daunting task. You may not even realize the burden you have been carrying in trying to solve all your own problems. Why not try a different approach?

Are You Plugged In To Power?

October 12, 2019 Cathleen Zahradnik

t is a real thing. In an article at ezcomputersolutions.com describing funny IT customer service calls:

“One of our clients decided to take on the task of hooking up their own computer system. After connecting all the cables and pressing the power button, the computer failed to respond. The client called us to troubleshoot the system.

While they had meticulously hooked up every cable to the system and even plugged everything into the battery backup, they overlooked one minor detail. The plug for the battery backup system wasn’t plugged into the wall. It was actually plugged into itself, so no power was being fed to any of the components. With all of those plugs to manage, it’s easy to see how this happened.”

All the troubleshooting questions revealed nothing because there was no power coming into the situation. How many times do you and I try to fix a situation in our lives by trying this and trying that until finally we ask ourselves, “Am I plugged into God’s power? Did I pray and ask Him what to do?” I have experienced this many times and, without fail, when I stop and ask God for help, the situation becomes clearer and I find the strength that I need to navigate it. Is going to God your first response to a challenge? I am still working on it being mine.

Prayer Fuels Your Journey

October 5, 2019 Cathleen Zahradnik

Do you feel like you pray and pray and nothing seems to change? Has God put a dream in your heart and you feel like you are making either no movement at all or crawling forward one tiny step at t time? Don’t despair and don't give up. Believe me, I have been there, too! But through it all I’ve learned that part of the process of becoming who God wants me to be is learning to pray. In those times when I feel like I am making no progress, I’ve realized that I have been learning to go to God for what I need in order to make progress. When I feel like I am crawling forward, I become most aware that I don’t have it within myself to do the thing God has placed in my heart. Even so, my tendency is to try to make it happen. Maybe it’s yours, too. Our inability to do so is proved by the lack of movement. Those times are perfectly designed to keep us looking to God for wisdom and guidance. When the dream seems out of reach it keeps us dependent on Him.

If you are in one of those times right now, let me encourage you that more is happening than you realize.

Someone Is Always Watching

September 28, 2019 Cathleen Zahradnik

“If you had left, we would have left, too.” Her words shocked me. I never imagined that our decision to stay or leave the church after the change in leadership would have had such an impact. More details about that later, but that experience made me intensely aware of this truth: Someone is always watching. Someone is always watching me, and someone is always watching you. You may not feel like your decisions impact anyone, but let me tell you emphatically that you are wrong!

It doesn’t matter who you are or what your history, there are people that only you will reach for the Gospel. Your mistakes and sins may be the very things that God uses to help someone else draw near to Him. As you respond with grace and integrity, you will show others that God forgives and changes lives. People need to see examples of lives that are being transformed by the power of the Gospel. Lives like yours.

You don’t believe me, do you? Well, it is true. So, let me elaborate and encourage you.

Fix Your Eyes On The Future That Matters

September 21, 2019 Cathleen Zahradnik

The phone rings and you think, “Oh no! What is it now?” It’s been that kind of season in your life. It seems like every time you turn around another crisis is looming. Your business is in trouble. A loved one is in the hospital. Your child is overwhelmed at school and constantly on the verge of tears. Another bill comes in the mail. You want to fix it all, for you, for your family, but you can’t. You cry out to God and ask Him to solve the riddles in your life and it seems like He is doing nothing. Where is He?! Why is everything so hard? When will this all be over?

You aren’t alone. That is the first thing to know. We all experience seasons where we feel like we are on the verge of drowning in trouble. But the truth is that somehow we stay afloat. How do we get through it? How do we keep it together when we feel like life is falling apart?

Reach out to God in the midst of your trial. He is at work even if you feel like He isn’t there. The truth is that when we are in a crisis we tend to focus our energy on trying to solve the problem. Sometimes the only solution we can come up with is to keep getting up in the morning and to do the best we can to go about our normal business. There is nothing wrong with that and often survival is success, but it isn’t the victory that God has for us. What if we survived with peace and joy in the midst of it? Wouldn’t that be victory? The only way to access that peace and joy is to call on God in the middle of the storm. I know He may feel far away. It is often confusing and frightening because it seems like we can’t feel God’s presence when we need Him most, but He is there. Reach out. Call on Him. Trust that He is there because Scripture promises that He is a very present help in trouble. (Psalm 46:1) When your breakthrough comes, and it will, it is the proof that He has been at work all along, even when you saw no evidence of His presence. Your peace and joy in the middle of the situation may even be the breakthrough that you need.

Remember it won’t last forever. Think long. When we are in the middle of a trial it seems like it will last forever.

Avoid The Comparison Trap

September 14, 2019 Cathleen Zahradnik

You do it. You know you do, so don’t deny it. I do it, too. None of us is immune. Someone in your life seems to be excelling in an area that you are struggling in. Your good friend seems to have all her ducks in a row when it comes to parenting. All her kids seem to be thriving and happy, without the kinds of struggles that your kids face. Or maybe, your neighbor just got a promotion at work. You watch as they purchase a new car and beautiful additions to their home, while you struggle to put groceries on the table. You have lunch with a friend whose stylish and put-together outfit makes your everyday, pull-on-what-feels-good garb seem like a brown paper bag. Or a member of your small group is in the middle of a nightmare family struggle and somehow they seem to respond in the most Christ-like manner that you’ve ever seen. You begin to question your own spirituality. “Am I even really saved? Why do I continue to struggle with anger and depression instead of responding like them?” In any situation, and at any time, you and I can find ourselves falling into the Comparison Trap.

When someone else's success causes you to contemplate, consider and complain, then you have slipped over the edge and fallen in. “I wish I was like... I should be like...I wish I had....People would like me better if...I would be happier and more successful if...” You get the picture. Any “ouches” there? I know there are for me. OUCH!

So, how do we keep from falling into the comparison trap? How do we appropriately measure our success and progress?

When The Change You Want Isn’t Happening

September 7, 2019 Cathleen Zahradnik

Change. It is a well known fact that none of us really likes change. Some of us may like changing scenery and changing environments, but none of us really likes the changes that matter most, the inner changes, the changes of our character. I remember being terrified to pray this prayer from Psalm 139:23-24 “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life.” I knew that I meant it and God would answer it, but I was so afraid of what He might show me and what He might require of me. I don’t remember any startling and horrifying revelations after that terrifying moment of prayer, but I do know that God has been faithful to answer it and, degree by degree, has been faithfully making changes in me.

For those of us who belong to Christ we recognize that change is part of the Christian package. God’s goal is to continually change us into the image of Christ (Romans 8:29). We know this, but we get bogged down and discouraged when change doesn’t seem to be happening in our lives. We still struggle with the same old thoughts and behaviors. We say to ourselves, “Why am I not past this already? I should be further along than this. I thought I had already conquered this. Why is it coming up again?!”My encouragement to you as you face those inner changes is to keep yourself open and let Him do the work.

Keep doing what you have been doing. Obey the Word. As you are day by day in God’s Word, be confident that His Word is living and active (Hebrews 4:12) and is making a difference. Like your daily intake of food, sometimes you taste it, sometimes you don’t but it is always having an effect in your body, the word of God is always having an effect in your inner life. Don’t give up your daily spiritual nourishment. Approach it with faith and trust Him to make those changes, degree by degree.

Remember that He loves you more than you love Him. Don’t give up! You might be tempted to give up when life feels especially hard, when you feel like no change is happening inside or outside in your life. Don’t give up! God is faithful. He can be counted on to do what He has promised. You love Him, right? You have to trust His word that says He loves you. (Romans 5:8) He really does! If you can believe that He really loves you then you can find the strength to keep going because you know that He will come through because of His love for you. Don’t quit!

Remember that, even though your effort is required, the real work is God’s. He is the one that is working the desire to change in you and He is the one who will bring it to completion. (Philippians 1:6) God is the one who makes the change in you by the power of His Holy Spirit. (Philippians 2:12-14, Romans 12:1-2) He is the one who transforms you as you submit yourself to the truth of His Word and the power of His Spirit. He is the one at work in you. You keep making the choices that line up with His Word and He will empower you by His Spirit. That is a promise that He will keep! (Ephesians 1:12-14)

My friend, whatever internal struggle you are facing, whatever it is that you feel needs to change and isn’t, remember that God is the one who put the “want to” in you and He will give you the power to do it. You can count on it! Compare who you are now with who you were in the past. Recognize what God has already done. Don’t get stuck on the change you haven’t seen yet. Don’t quit!

Key thought: God is the one who works change inside us.

A Scripture to consider: “Dear friends, you always followed my instructions when I was with you. And now that I am away, it is even more important. Work hard to show the results of your salvation, obeying God with deep reverence and fear. For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him.” ‭‭Philippians‬ ‭2:12-13‬ ‭NLT‬‬

A YES Challenge: What changes do you believe God wants to make in your life? How have you been trying to make those changes happen? Have you been trusting in God or your own effort? On a sheet of paper or index card write out the one change you would most like to see happen in your life. Take that paper and present it before God. Offer it to Him and express your trust in Him to make that change. Put that paper in an envelope and seal it as an indication that you are putting it in God’s hands.

Prayer: Father, I get so discouraged by all the changes that I see need to happen in me. I have been trying so hard, but I realize that I have not been fully trusting You to make the change in me. I choose now to offer those changes to You and trust you to complete Your good work in me. Amen.

Life At 80: Live, Learn, Give

August 31, 2019 Cathleen Zahradnik

Do you ever wonder what you will be like when you reach the age of eighty? Do you imagine yourself sitting on a porch rocking chair and reminiscing about the good old days? Let me give you a different picture. This weekend, my dad turns eighty and one thing he refuses to do is to sit and remember. When I reach the age of eighty, I want to keep living, learning and giving like my dad.

If you will indulge me for a few minutes, I”d like to honor Dad and let him know what I am learning from his example. Here’s what your life at 80 could look like.

Life is meant to be lived. Dad, I have never known you to live in a state of reminiscence. It’s not that you don't think back on things, but you don't live there. You have always been one to be thinking ahead. I imagine that made you good at your IBM job. Doesn’t that seem like a long time ago? Your life has been so full since you retired because thinking ahead keeps you living. Now, you and Mom are traveling so much, I can’t keep track of your trips. You finish one excursion and start planning the next. You have been so many places and tried so many things. And you aren’t letting more birthdays slow that down. You continue to go new places and do new things. You continue to live your life forward, not looking back. You live now and don’t consider your best living behind you. At least, you don't appear to. Living forward is what keeps you from getting old. Thanks, Dad.

Learning lasts a lifetime.