How Long, O Lord?: A Journey From Exhaustion to Hopeનમૂનો

If you were to map out my family genealogy, you would see Hoyt, my dad, gave birth to Scott. Then Scott fathered Wesley. That's three generations of the Savage family.

James provides us with a distinct kind of genealogy: "Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death." (James 1:15 ESV)

Here's the genealogy of sin: Lust gives birth to sin, and when sin is fully grown, it gives birth to death. You might think that sinful desire isn't that significant, but when you trace its genealogy, the result is death.

James warns us not to underestimate lustful desires. And lust isn't just sexual; lust is wanting anything you know is wrong, either in its context or manner. You can lust after a job, a person, a car, a vacation, a house, or a relationship.

Don't underestimate the power of those desires. And don't underestimate your own capacity for brokenness and sin.

Years ago, I had the opportunity to hear Rick Warren speak at a conference. This was a man who pastored one of the largest churches in America and had written a book that sold more copies than 50 million copies.

Warren told us about a file he keeps in his office called his "scary file." In that file, he records every story he hears about pastors like himself who fall (i.e., moral failures, sexual failures, financial failures, and issues of pride and arrogance that destroy their influence and ministry). He's been doing this for decades.

Warren said, "I open that file twice a year and spend an afternoon reading through it." Then he looked at us pastors and said, "You're not above it, and I'm not above it."

Friends, you are not above temptation's trap, and I'm not above the trap either. If you think you're above it, you're in danger because you have no idea how far down that trap's road you may have already gone.

Some people look at someone else's sin and say, "I would never be so stupid to fall for something like that. There's no way I'd ever struggle with that." When you have that attitude, you're setting yourself up for a fall.

In the 1940s, a newspaper in England ran an article titled "What's Wrong with the World?" An author named G.K. Chesterton wrote a letter to the editor in response. His entire letter said: "Dear Sirs, I am. Sincerely yours, G.K. Chesterton."

There's a lot wrong with our world, but until we can look in the mirror and answer the question "What's wrong with the world?" with "I am," nothing's going to change. The problem isn't just out there in the world. The problem is in our hearts. Until our hearts change, nothing else will.

James says in James 1:16 ESV, "Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers." Don't be deceived by Satan, and don't deceive yourself about your own capacity for sin.

But here's the good news: on the last day of this plan, we'll discover that there's another genealogy at work in your life, and this one leads to life instead of death.