HOW CHRIST MAKES THE BROKEN WHOLE

HOW CHRIST MAKES THE BROKEN WHOLE

For she said within herself, If I may but touch his garment, I shall be whole.
Matthew 9:21

Hurt people hurt people. We’ve all probably encountered a hurting person who hurt us. Perhaps we’ve even been the one doing the hurting. Being hurt hurts. Even the process to becoming healed of this hurt can hurt. And, because it is an unfamiliar hurt, even this longed for healing can create anxiety in some. This can result in the hurt person blame-shifting, withdrawing, and becoming highly critical. Because they then tend to repel others, this makes helping them really difficult. But it can be done. As Jesus demonstrated time and time again. 

And there was a woman who had had a discharge of blood for twelve years, and who had suffered much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was no better but rather grew worse.
Mark 5:25-26

Some people have only ever known hurt and pain. From the youngest age they were the victim. They felt that all they ever deserved was rejection, betrayal, and mocking from those who should have most shown them acceptance, loyalty and affirmation. For these people, wholeness doesn’t exist and is not possible—until they witness it in someone else. Then they see what it can look like. This is what happen to the woman who had been haemorrhaging for twelve years. She had lost all hope. But then she began to hear the almost unbelievable stories of Jesus had done for others, and hope was rekindled. The first step toward wholeness for a broken person is a vision of what the pathway to wholeness looks like. For this broken woman it was getting close to Christ and then reaching out to Him. What she didn’t know was that Christ came near to her and invited her to be made whole.

She had heard the reports about Jesus and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his garment. For she said, “If I touch even His garments, I will be made well.” And immediately the flow of blood dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease.
Mark 5:27-29

All hurt people travel with a map. From this map they derive the directions for navigating through their life. They come to certain ‘forks’ in the road they are travelling on which would look like constructive criticism or even a helpful challenge to most people, but their map indicates that  these ‘forks in the roads’ are attacks, or rejection, or pain. Their map suggests taking (what they wrongly consider to be) the easy road which can be traversed with offence, anger, and slander. And thus, their hurt grows and becomes a life template for how they respond to people who actually try and help them. The day that Jesus came near was the day this pattern changed for this broken lady. Instead of taking the easy road, she took what she had always considered to be the hard road and went into the crowd (her greatest fear) and encountered Christ there. But Christ made this hard road easy for her. She had always thought that in a crowd she was unseen and unknown. The day she encountered Jesus was the day she realised she was wrong. He had seen all along. He had seen the original abuse that had happened to her as a little girl which had caused the terrible injuries and had led to the humiliating and painful bleeding for twelve years of her life. He had seen the doctors trying but failing with their quackery to heal her brokenness and in the process taking everything she had.

And there was a woman who had had a discharge of blood for twelve years, and who had suffered much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was no better but rather grew worse.
Mark 5:25-26

From the moment that Christ made this woman whole, much more than just her bleeding stopped. Wholeness may begin with a physical healing, but most often it doesn’t — because it starts in a person’s soul where their mind and heart are. This woman would have left from her encounter with Jesus with whole new road map of life. Those things that once caused her to be afraid, no longer did. Those things that she had always interpreted as threats, now looked like open doors. When Jesus asked the question that He already knew the answer to (as He often did), the spotlight was about to shift onto this formally broken woman — which had always invoked this woman’s greatest fears. But now Christ showed her that this moment was an open door for her to testify and to walk into her wholeness for the first time.

And Jesus, perceiving in Himself that power had gone out from Him, immediately turned about in the crowd and said, “Who touched My garments?”
Mark 5:30

WHAT WHOLENESS LOOKS LIKE

Whole people travel the same life journey but with a different map. They reach the same fork in the road but instead of their map marking these moments as attacks, rejection, pain, their map indicates growth, opportunity, and love. Their map suggests taking the low road (which always looks like the harder road). This road is traversed by humility, listening, and understanding. 

and said to them, “Whoever receives this child in my name receives Me, and whoever receives me receives Him who sent Me. For he who is least among you all is the one who is great.”
Luke 9:48

Many whole people were once hurt people. But they were blessed to have a glimpse of what wholeness looked like. When they saw it, it exposed their unforgiveness, malice, withdrawal and pride. It somehow revealed to them that each of those things were crippling them. This vision of wholeness encouraged them to use a different life-map. The next fork in the road was the hardest road-fork they had ever faced because they were so used to their fight or flight map that when they read their new map that Christ gave them, its directions included: listening, blessing, teachableness, and even generosity! As a hurt person they had previously become defensive, spiteful and self-justifying, but now their choice to be whole removed these responses from their new map.

¶ Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time He may exalt you,
First Peter 5:6

A whole person still feels pain – although they respond quite differently to a hurt person. A whole person still faces disappointment, disrespect, and disloyalty, yet they take the low road of blessing those who spitefully mistreat them. They hold their tongue – not because they really want to yell at the one standing in their way – but because they have chosen to listen first. Rather than become defensive, they become inquisitive. Although the criticism from another person stings, they treat it as a gift that might help them improve – rather than to let that sting fester into a serious hurt. At other times when someone expresses their displeasure with them they can reasonably assess whether this person’s opinion is what they use to define their identity or worth. In many cases, it will not be and in these instances they may find themselves quietly, but resolutely, disagreeing with their protagonist. And this introduces my final thought on achieving wholeness as a hurt person.

Whole people are neither dependent or independent people. Hurt people need other people. We all hurt from time to time and in those times we need the help of others. But some hurt people react by withdrawing from others and become independent. “I’ll never let anyone close to me again!” they silently vow to themselves. Of course, connecting two hurt people together often results in co-dependency. Hurt people in a co-dependent relationship feel that they both need the other person, and that the other person needs them. A whole person doesn’t allow someone else to become unreasonably dependent upon them. Even a parent knows that their infant child’s dependency upon them is reasonable for a season. A whole child will replicate their parent’s wholeness and grow to  become a reliable, dependable, interdependent adult. 

The Apostle Paul once lived as a hurt man. He then encountered Christ and became a whole man. He wrote to a people who were once hurt, the Colossians, and described to them the behaviour of hurt people.

But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. Colossians 3:8-10

He then goes on to describe how whole people live-

¶ Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.Colossians 3:12-14

And that’s one of the clearest visions a hurt person can have for what wholeness looks like. The only truly whole Person is the only Person who can truly help a hurt person to become a whole person. Sometimes, because a hurt person is so down and low, all they can do is to reach up to just touch the hem of His presence (Matt. 9:21) which why Christ still heals brokenness in the midst of those already following and adoring Him. Wholeness begins with the simple act of praying to Christ. This then leads to the beginning of their journey to wholeness—a journey that Christ does not leave you to walk alone. This Sunday as we gather to follow and adore Christ, let’s pray that more broken people will experience the wholeness that only Jesus can give.

Pastor Andrew 

LOOK AT ME! LOOK AT ME!

LOOK AT ME! LOOK AT ME!

You were made to be noticed. You were created to be someone who would be valued. This is clear from the opening chapters of our Bible where the God-Who-Notices (Hebrew – El-Roi) came down in the cool of day and walked with Adam. Adam received his Creator’s undivided attention. Perhaps our Creator was modelling to our first forefather what he would one day do for his own children. Because, as Adam and Eve would readily discover, children needattention – and importantly – critically importantly – the attention of their father and mother (who each represent two important aspects of God’s love to their children). But there was a snake in that perfect idyllic garden! That satanic snake hoodwinked our federal heads with false attention and lies! Two despicable tragedies resulted from its deception of Adam and Eve. Firstly, their brokenness fooled them into thinking that the God-Who-Sees (El-roi) did not really notice them. Secondly, their responsibility to represent God’s care to those they would parent was now made defective. This double-faced tragedy would then compound with each successive generation. Three thousand, seven hundred and fifty generations or so later, this insidious evil has compounded into a disaster of global proportions! If you feel unnoticed, unseen, unheard, or unappreciated, there is a solution. If you feel inadequate as a carer, a husband, a wife, a father, a mother, a sister, or a brother, this solution is your answer too. 

¶ So she called the name of the LORD who spoke to her, “You are a God of seeing,” for she said, “Truly here I have seen Him who looks after me.”
Genesis16:13

ATTENTION: IT’S LOVE!

Our need for attention is an aspect of the love we were created to experience. It is a healthy desire. Giving another our attention is an act of love. But, like all things now wrong with the world, our need for, and ability to give, attention has been corrupted by the Fall. The evil result is: desperate attention-seeking, depression, anger, pouting, sulkiness, tantrums, and moodiness. Ironically, the remedy to this right-attention. In Dr. Jordan Peterson book, 12 Rules For Life, he gives a psychologist’s perspective on why some people are so attention-seeking. He indicates that it probably stems from a somewhat neglected childhood. He tells of how many parents today are more interested in their children’s approval than they are in being their parents. This leads to wrong-attention where parents simply give their children everything they demand rather than giving them right-attention which he calls “incisive attention”.

Children must be shaped and informed, or they cannot thrive. This fact is reflected in their behavior: kids are utterly desperate for attention from both peers and adults because such attention, which renders them effective and sophisticated communal players, is vitally necessary. 
Children can be damaged as much or more by a lack of incisive attention as they are by abuse, mental or physical. This is the damage of omission, rather than commission, but it is no less severe and long-lasting. Children are damaged when their “mercifully” inattentive parents fail to make them sharp and observant and awake and leave them, instead, in an unconscious and undifferentiated state. Children are damaged when those charged with their care, afraid of any conflict or upset, no longer dare to correct them, and leave them without guidance.
Jordan Peterson, 12 Rules For Life, 2018:122

ATTENTION: IT’S NOT ALWAYS WHAT YOU THINK YOU WANT OR GIVE

Peterson warns parents from trying to be their children’s friend – “you are much more than a friend” he writes. The attention we all crave is not just to be noticed, but for someone to care for and guide us. The longing for this kind of attention that we all have is ultimately satisfied in an intimate relationship with God. Parents, friends, colleagues, and siblings can only ever be mere shadows of this ultimate Source. Having been a pastor now for nearly 30 years, I have learned to detect those who have looked to me to satisfy their longing for attention. These people are generally very short-fused, and are constantly finding that people let them down – especially those closest to them. In every instance, this misplaced longing has stemmed from a disconnect with one or both parents – especially their father. Sadly for them, they quickly realise that I am not their solution, but I know the One who is. Being attention-satisfied in God will most often require them to extend forgiveness to their parent or parents for their neglect. I witnessed the miracle of transformation in people who have taken this step. They let go of the anger, frustration and disappointment with their parent/s and undergo a beautiful transformation from irritable-with-everyone to at-peace-with-themselves-and-everyone else. It’s a gloriously beautiful thing to witness. Ironically for these people, their grumpiness and inability to relate meaningfully with others is discarded for a new persona of forgiving-forgiven-free-and-now-happy-soul which actually makes them attractive to others. And attractive people get healthy attention from their peers.

¶ The eyes of the LORD are toward the righteous
and His ears toward their cry.
Psalm 34:15

BROKEN ATTENTION

What happens when a young person does not receive the appropriate right-attention of the kind that God has ordained for them? The result can be an attention vacuum which can lead to such a young person becoming vulnerable to the slightest and ill-intentioned attention from those with less than noble motives. To a lesser extent, because we are created to be given attention, then to give attention, a child will often resort to whatever works in their pursuit of attention. This is where parents in particular must instruct their children about what should be appropriately rewarded with attention, and what kind of poor behaviour should be corrected.

¶ Come, O children, listen to me;
I will teach you the fear of the LORD.
Psalm 34:11

  

WHOLLY ATTENTIVE

Are you hurting and broken within?
Overwhelmed by the weight of your sin?
Jesus is calling
Have you come to the end of yourself
Do you thirst for a drink from the well?
Jesus is calling

O come to the altar
The Father’s arms are open wide
Forgiveness was bought with
The precious blood of Jesus Christ
Leave behind your regrets and mistakes
Come today there’s no reason to wait
Jesus is calling

One of my major ministries as a pastor is to help people to come to wholeness. Wholeness begins with a recognition of brokenness. This is an acknowledgement that things are not working, life is frustrating, disappointment happens too often, and crankiness happens too easily. Psalm 34 is beautiful prayer of someone moving from brokenness to wholeness. It describes the role of surrendering to God in worship, looking to Him as the Source of our delight and satisfaction and living under His care. It describes the attention we were all made for. It describes the awakened soul who realises that God is their Audience. It describes the soul who not only looks to God, they seek God. It gives the newly whole person the reassurance that while it may appear that no-one notices, sees, or listens – God does! He is the solution to the attention deficit disorder that so many are blighted with. It is my prayer that together, as a church, we can help more broken people come to wholeness by discovering the richness, beauty, and magnificence of The Christ. I hope you will join me in that prayer.

When the righteous cry for help, the LORD hears
and delivers them out of all their troubles.
 The LORD is near to the brokenhearted
and saves the crushed in spirit.
 ¶ Many are the afflictions of the righteous,
but the LORD delivers him out of them all.
Psalm 34:17-19

Pastor Andrew

Lessons from the move into our new auditorium

From Hear To Hear

And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.
Second Corinthians 3:18

We move through life. It is a journey. Along the way, we pass people, scenes, experiences, moments. These all become our memories. If we undertake our journey by always looking back to these memories we run the risk of bumping into our present – which can hurt. Life’s journey happens most sweetly when we keep moving forward. We leave the past behind as we walk into our future. While this can be challenging for any individual, it can be particularly difficult for a group of people such as a family, or church to journey together. 

“Remember not the former things,
nor consider the things of old.
 Behold, I am doing a new thing;
now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?
I will make a way in the wilderness
and rivers in the desert.”
Isaiah 43:18-19

It can be difficult for a family to move house. Often they are leaving behind fond memories and a place where they have felt secure and comfortable, not to mention great neighbours. As difficult as this is (and our family has done it seven times) imagine moving home to another country! (We have several families in our church who have made this difficult transition.) Not only do they have to contend with a new house in a new location, they have all of the challenges of being without extended family networks, or even the benefit of long-term friendship connections. Churches also have to journey which similarly involves leaving some things behind – pastors, worship styles, and even buildings. 

Our church is about to undertake the next step in our journey. It involves saying ‘goodbye’ to our old sanctuary as we leave it for our new one. Kim and I helped to build our existing auditorium (which we opened on August 31st 1996). Twenty-one years later, we are now less than four weeks away from the Grand Opening of our new auditorium.

For me, this means leaving behind the place where I have baptised several hundred people, married many couples, dedicated many babies to the Lord, preached several thousand sermons, counselled hundreds of people, and seen many more people finding saving hope in Christ. I’m sure that there will be many others who could also share fond memories associated with our old auditorium. Even though our new building has been constructed quickly, the move from our old auditorium into our new one has been a careful, considered, and collaborative one. Every step of our journey – from the need, through each stage of the development, has been transparent, explained and exciting. We owe a huge debt of gratitude to Geoff Hill for the brilliant oversight of this project. He has sacrifices his time, sleep, and energy to make this happen. Along with Geoff, several other tradesmen have given of their time and skills to help us on our journey. 

One of the things we have said regularly through this building project is that it has never been about the building. One of the things that we have improved over the last couple of years is our ability to hear. We hear the heart-ache of people. We hear the struggles of those in relationship breakdowns are experiencing. We hear the confusion of young people. We hear the tears of the elderly. We hear the cries of the lonely. Everyone wants to be heard. It validates them. It tells them we care. It helps them to know that we aren’t here to merely preach at them – we are genuinely interested in them and how we can help them. This has led to our church building a reputation as a safe church – a church that cares.  

¶ I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love,
Ephesians 4:1-2

As we transition into our new auditorium, we will be gathering in a building made from ‘rubbish’ wood which has been selected, shaped, and glued together (“LVL” – laminated veneer lumber). This is a picture of our church which is made up of broken people who have been selected by God, shaped by God, and joined together in Christ. It is a building which is nearly three times the size of our old auditorium. This too is indicative of what God has done in and among us over the past few years. It will be a building with a lot of glass. This should remind us that we are transparent and invite people to look in all the while remembering that we are called to reach out to those outside.

¶ And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding,
Colossians 1:9

But most importantly as we transition from the old to the new, let us continue to hear. May we hear one another. May we hear the broken, hurting, lonely, and confused – and may we especially hear God, who always hears us. I will always be reminded of this because of what my American friend Pastor Dan Miller requested. He apologised for not being able to attend our Grand Opening. On Facebook he wrote on my wall asking for a favour. He requested that I write “Ephesians 3:20-21” underneath the place where the Word will be preached each Sunday in our new building. Today, I honoured his request.

¶ Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.
Ephesians 3:20-21

Amen!

Pastor Andrew

THE TRUTH ABOUT INCONVENIENT

WHEN JESUS IS INCONVENIENT!

Peter and Andrew were small-businessmen. Along with their father, they ran their family business and had to work long hours just to make ends meet. But this all changed one day when The Messiah came along uninvited and uttered the words: Follow Me. There must have been a moment of dilemma for these hardened sea-farers. “Now?” perhaps they wondered, “It’s hardly a good time now!” But follow they did. Yes, to follow Jesus is to live a life of inconvenience. It really does seem that Jesus often – if not usually – interrupts a person’s life when it is most inconvenient! It’s not just that it seems inconvenient to walk through life with Jesus – it is! There is a cost to honouring Christ and it is counted in the currency of convenience.

¶ While walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon (who is called Peter) and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.”
Matthew 4:18-19

And as inconvenient as Jesus is, no-one was ever more inconvenienced than He! He came from eternal and infinite bliss and laid aside His divine privileges and inconveniently became a human.

Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 
Philippians 2:5-8

Even though He was on a mission to redeem all mankind by His sacrificial death on the Cross, He was repeatedly interrupted with the most inconvenient requests. “Heal my daughter“, “Raise my son back to life“, “Cast the demon out of him“, “Open my eyes” “Give me back my legs“, “Let me just touch You“, were not the cries of patients who had made an appointment! These people came from seemingly nowhere and inconveniently intersected Christ as He continually strove toward the Cross. In addition to this, Christ’s days were often so full that the only time He could find to commune with His Father was when His own weary body would have screamed for sleep and despite how inconvenient it was, He chose to spend the night instead talking with His Father.

¶ In these days he went out to the mountain to pray, and all night he continued in prayer to God.
Luke 6:12

Each of His disciples went on to live very inconvenient lives. They had to be away from familiarity of their families, jobs, communities, and go where it would have been most inconvenient for them to go. Peter eventually went to Rome where he was crucified upside down in 64AD for preaching the Gospel. Andrew went to Patras, Greece, and crucified diagonally by the Roman Governor there in 70AD for preaching to, and converting the Governor’s wife to, Christianity. Thomas went to India and preached the Gospel there with signs and wonders following and met with violent opposition and was eventually publicly skinned (“flayed”) then crucified for doing so. The Apostle Paul was inconvenienced throughout his preaching ministry when he was repeatedly imprisoned for up to two years at a time as he travelled across Europe. The early followers of Christ gladly embraced inconvenience in order to serve and follow Christ, and two millennia later, we are the eternal beneficiaries!

And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands, for my name’s sake, will receive a hundredfold and will inherit eternal life.
Matthew 19:29

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INCONVENIENT CLOSENESS

In a couple of weeks from now the 2016 Rio Olympic Games will commence. This extravaganza will showcase the world’s best sporting and athletic prowess. Undoubtedly, each of these athletes has been inconvenienced to even make it to the Olympics and it’s probably safe to say that every Gold Medalist could tell their heart-rending story of the inconvenience they and their family had endured to be the best in the world. The greatest delights and pleasures of this world are exchanged for those prepared to be the most inconvenienced. For Olympic swimmers it means 3AM get ups and 4AMs in the pool and twenty kilometres of laps later, they’re ready for school! 

¶ Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.
Matthew 16:24

The case can be made in the spiritual realm as well. The closer you want to get to Christ, the more inconvenient it will be. It too will mean sacrifice. It too will mean getting out of bed rather than staying in it. It will mean hanging in there even though everything within you wants to quit. It will mean being misunderstood. It will mean more times alone when it would be nicer to be with others. It will mean reading your Bible for just a few minutes more than usual when you could be enjoying browsing Facebook or Instagram instead. It will be inconvenient to get closer to Christ and, without doubt, the more people you want to reach for Christ, the more you will be inconvenienced! 

INCONVENIENT LEADERSHIP

Christian leadership involves carrying a cross of inconvenience. This means that a leader will turn up even though they are tired and busy. A local church team leader knows that their presence – not just their attendance – will often be inconvenient for them because of the sacrifices involved, but the blessing it generates is felt by more than they might ever know. This is how you can tell the difference between close-Christ-following leaders, and leaders. Jesus categorised these two groups of leaders as either: shepherdsor hirelings. He offered Himself as the preeminent Shepherd-leader. Shepherd-leaders, unlike hirelings (who are only there when it is convenient and they are paid) more often than not, do not even consider the inconveniences they face due to their genuine delight in serving Christ and His people – 

¶ I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me,
John 10:11-14

Christ’s comparison between shepherds and hirelings might well be the comparison between those who embrace inconvenience (shepherds) and those who don’t (hirelings). No church can possibly reach it’s Christ-honouring potential if its leadership is comprised of hirelings. No barrier can stifle a church comprised of leaders who each gladly carry a cross of inconvenience. This is why the greatly inconvenienced Dr. F.W. Boreham said in his last sermon, “The Church does not ordain men to be preachers – it ordains men because they are preachers!” To put it another way, “A church does not make someone a leader then hope they will (lead). Rather, the church appoints proven (shepherd-)leaders (ones who have overcome the inconveniences to following and serving Christ within a local church) to official positions of leadership.”

Will you join me in striving to be a church of shepherd-leaders? Will join me in praying that we can minister to broken, damaged, lost, hurting, confused, people, even when it’s inconvenient for us to do so?

Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead.”
Luke 10:30

Last Sunday I preached in a church in Brisbane about the Good Samaritan. The man robbed and beaten and lying on the side of the side is like the broken of the world. The busy priests and Levites who were too busy to tend to the hurting man are like many of us today – not prepared to be inconvenienced by the needs of others. And the Samaritan is like Jesus who despite the inconvenience takes the time to clean the half-dead man’s wounds and bandage them. He then transports the beaten man to an inn where he cares for him overnight. In the morning he gives the inn-keeper two denarii (2 day’s wages).

And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.’
Luke 10:35

The inn is like the church where still today Jesus wants to bring in the broken, damaged, hurting, lost and abandoned, that He finds scattered along life’s byways. But the only way this can happen is if we, His Church, joins Him in embracing our own crosses of inconvenience. And as we do, we may discover that the very things we were depriving ourselves of to follow Christ, may well be the very thing which Christ provides anyway! 

And when he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.” For he and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish that they had taken, and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men.”
Luke 5:4, 9-10

Amen.