Resisting

Travelers on a boat tour in the Bahamas were relieved after witnessing an incident on the waters. Witnesses say they saw a twelve-foot-long hammerhead shark swimming in the waters, a rare treat for tourists. But their delight turned to horror when they witnessed a dog jump into the water from a nearby dock to confront the shark.

In a video posted to social media, onlookers can be heard shouting anguished warnings for the dog to get away while the dog and the shark are circling each other. But inexplicably, the shark turns around and swims away. One man exclaimed, “I don’t think the shark is going to mess with him!”

The tour reservations manager Rebecca Lightbourn says she often sees the dog running along the shore to greet the boat, but had never seen it dive in like that. She said, “I guess this time the dog decided he wanted to protect his house or play with a really big fish in the water, so he went after it.”

When the shark swam away from the pier, the medium-sized dog scrambled back onto the rocks and loped away like it was no big deal.

Possible Preaching Angles:

1) Devil; Satan; Spiritual Warfare - When God is with us, we can be bold and confident against our vicious enemy Satan (Jam. 4:7). 2) Boldness; Prudence - God honors good judgment and wisdom as well as bravery. So, we do not completely ignore danger.

Tim Keller said he would never forget the story about one of his mentors, a college professor named Dr. Addison Leach.

Two young women at the college were both bright and their respective parents wanted them to get Master’s Degrees and go on to careers. But, instead, they both became Christians. Both decided that they were going to become missionaries. Their parents had a fit. One of the mothers called Dr. Leach, thinking that Dr. Leach was one of the reasons that the girls had become (in the mother’s words) “religious fanatics, rather than pursuing the course they had hoped, getting a career and having security. Instead, they were going to go wildly off into the blue.”

This mother said, “We wanted our daughter to get a master’s degree, start a career, and get something in the bank, so she could have some security. Dr. Leach responded:

Please just let me remind you of something. We’re all on a little ball of rock called earth, and we’re spinning along through space at zillions of miles per hour. Even if we don’t run in to anything, eventually we’re all going to die. Which means that under every single one of us there’s a trap door that’s going to open one day and we’re all going to fall off this ball of rock. And underneath will either be the everlasting arms of God or absolutely nothing. So maybe we can get a master’s degree to get some security.

But the biggest savings account in the world cannot stop cancer. It can’t stop traffic accidents. It cannot stop broken hearts. It can’t give you anything … any of the things that only God can give you. He’s the only significance you can have. He’s the only love that you can get and can’t lose.

One key discovery is that self-control is an exhaustible but buildable resource. A psychologist demonstrated this with a clever experiment. He had college students skip a meal, so that they felt hungry, and then sit at a table. The table had freshly baked chocolate chip cookies, candy, and radishes.

The first group of students—the lucky ones—could eat whatever they wanted. Of course, they only ate the sweets. The second group had the same food in front of them, but they were told to leave the sweets alone, and they could only eat the radishes. The third group had no food in front of them at all. (It was the control group.)

After the students sat at their tables for a while, they were given a complex geometry problem to solve. The trick was that the problem was unsolvable; what mattered was how long they worked on it before giving up. The students in Groups 1 and 3 worked for about 20 minutes. But, the students in Group 2 worked only about 8 minutes. Why such a big difference? The students in Group 2 had already used up a lot of self-control resisting the sweets, so they had less energy left over for working on the geometry problem. Researchers call this ego depletion.

Does this mean that self-control, once it’s used, is gone forever? Not at all. It recharges with rest. In fact, the more often self-control is used, the stronger it gets. Self-control is like a muscle. It weakens immediately after use but strengthens with frequent use.

Possible Preaching Angle:

The strategy is simply being aware of our capacity for self-control and willpower throughout the day. Keep an eye on the gas gauge. Knowing our willpower level tells us when it might be a good time to take on new challenges, or when we should stop and refill. It lets us know when we are most vulnerable to moral failure.

Travel blogger Matt Karsten was sightseeing on a small dinghy during a trip to Antarctica with his wife and some friends when they happened to notice some commotion in the water. The video they took of the experience went viral.

We were heading out for a scenic Zodiac cruise between icebergs when a large pod of orcas showed up playing in the water besides us. They swam right up to the camera and said hello. Suddenly the orcas started chasing a penguin trying to eat it.

Left with no other options for survival, the penguin tried to jump into the boat. The first time it bounced off the side, but in a show of resiliency the penguin’s second attempt landed it safely inside, to the shock of everyone on the boat. The orcas gave chase for a bit, but eventually gave up and moved on. Karsten said, “After cruising for a little bit, the penguin said goodbye to the boat and hopped back into the icy water.”

Possible Preaching Angle:

Often when danger rears its head, pride causes us not to take it seriously. But the enemy of our souls is just as dangerous as a hungry killer whale. There are times for careful thought, and there are times for urgent action. May the Lord guide us so that we can know in the moment which is which.

Like many sheep ranchers in the West, Lexy Fowler has tried just about everything to stop crafty coyotes from killing her sheep. She has used odor sprays, electric fences, and “scare-coyotes.” She has slept with her lambs during the summer and has placed battery-operated radios near them. She has corralled them at night, herded them during the day. But the southern Montana rancher has lost scores of lambs--fifty last year alone.

Then she discovered the llama--the aggressive, funny-looking, afraid-of-nothing llama. Fowler said, “Llamas don’t appear to be afraid of anything. When they see something, they put their head up and walk straight toward it. That is aggressive behavior as far as the coyote is concerned, and they won’t have anything to do with that. Coyotes are opportunists, and llamas take that opportunity away.”

Possible Preaching Angle:

The author of temptation is much like the coyote--he is an opportunist. But if we are firm in our faith in God to give us the strength we need to resist temptation, then he can be beaten. “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you” (James 4:7-8).

We in the American church are facing a time of testing. Our testing may not look like the testing of what the church in China is undergoing, or the church in Nigeria. But it is still a test. This anecdote is more typical:

True story: a couple in suburban Washington, D.C., approached their pastor asking him to help their college student daughter, who felt a calling to be an overseas missionary.

"That's wonderful!" said the pastor.

"Oh no, you misunderstand," said the parents. "We want you to help us talk her out of ruining her life."

Christians like that couple won't make it through what's to come. Christians with sacrificial hearts like their daughter's will. But it's going to cost them plenty.

When a wild mountain lion was found mistakenly caught in a bobcat trap in Utah, wildlife officials were faced with a tricky problem. Mountain lions are fierce, aggressive creatures—and this was a big one. Video footage shows the authorities struggling to calm the growling cat, which naturally was unable to comprehend their friendly intentions. Eventually, after several minutes of careful and courageous work, the officials were able to free the mountain lion, which dashed off with minor wounds on its paw.

Possible Preaching Angle:

C.S. Lewis compares God's relationship to mankind in a similar way. "Suppose that what you are up against is a surgeon whose intentions are wholly good," he writes in A Grief Observed. "The kinder and more conscientious he is, the more inexorably he will go on cutting." We cannot always understand the pain in our lives, but we can always trust that there is One who is working good through it.

The Jackie Robinson Story is the 1950 movie about the life, challenges, and achievements of baseball star Jackie Robinson. With the help and vision of Brooklyn Dodgers general manager Branch Rickey, he broke the professional baseball color barrier. Starring Jackie Robinson as himself, the movie depicts the prejudice and hatred Robinson had to endure and the depth of patience, courage, and self-control he displayed in the face of relentless adversity.

The clip begins in Branch Rickey's office. It is their first meeting. Rickey surprises Robinson by telling him he wants Robinson to try out for his team and possibly become the first black player in the major leagues.

Rickey asks, "What do you think, Jackie? Do you got guts enough to play the game no matter what happens? They'll shout insults at you. They'll come into you spikes first. They'll throw at your head."

"They've been throwing at my head for a long time, Mr. Rickey," Robinson responds.

Rickey fabricates a scenario: "Suppose I'm a player on the eve of an important game. Suppose I collide with you at second base, and when I get up I say, 'You, you dirty black so-and-so.' What do you do?"

"Mr. Rickey, do you want a ballplayer who's afraid to fight back?" Robinson asks.

Rickey answers emphatically, "I want a ballplayer with guts enough not to fight back. You've got to do the job with base hits, stolen bases, and fielding ground balls, Jackie. Nothing else. Now, I'm playing you in the World Series, and I'm hotheaded. I want to win the game. So I go into you spikes first. You jab the ball in my ribs and the umpire says 'out'. All I can see is your black face, that black face right over me. So I haul off and punch you right in the cheek. What do you do?"

Robinson calmly thinks for a moment, then answers, "Mr. Rickey, I've got two cheeks."

Rickey is very happy with his answer. He briefly discusses the contract with Robinson. As Robinson is about to leave, Rickey tells him, "Remember one thing. No matter what happens on the ball field, you can't fight back. That's going to be the hard part. You can't fight back."

Robinson does turn the other cheek and becomes a model of courage and humility.

Elapsed time: Measured from the beginning of the opening credit, this scene begins at 00:24:14 and ends at 00:25:55.

Our tribulations and doubts, wherewith the Devil plagues us, can be driven away by no better means than by condemning him; as when one condemns a fierce cur, in passing quietly by him, the dog then not only desists from biting, but also from barking; but when one enrages him by timorously throwing something at him, then he falls upon and bites him. Even so, when the Devil sees that we fear him, he ceases not to torment and plague us.

Temptations, of course, cannot be avoided, but because we cannot prevent the birds from flying over our heads, there is no need that we should let them nest in our hair.

The only person who likes change is a wet baby.

Believed by many to be truth, this mythical story about the lighthouse makes a great point: The captain of the ship looked into the dark night and saw faint lights in the distance. Immediately he told his signalman to send a message: "Alter your course 10 degrees south." Promptly a return message was received: "Alter your course 10 degrees north."

The captain was angered; his command had been ignored. So he sent a second message: "Alter your course 10 degrees south--I am the captain!" Soon another message was received: "Alter your course 10 degrees north--I am a seaman third class Jones."

Immediately the captain sent a third message, knowing the fear it would evoke: "Alter your course 10 degrees south--I am a battleship." Then the reply came: "Alter your course 10 degrees north--I am a lighthouse."

In the midst of our dark and foggy times, all sorts of voices are shouting orders into the night, telling us what to do, how to adjust our lives. Out of the darkness, one voice signals something quite opposite to the rest--something almost absurd. But the voice happens to be the Light of the World, and we ignore it at our peril.