The Agony of Victory

Pastor, author, and Bible teacher, Alan Wright. Somebody had caught them in a moment that even though the net was around his neck, they were in that moment not celebrating.

It was like everything had been spent, and if you didn't know better, you'd have thought they had been defeated. That's Pastor Alan Wright. Welcome to another message of good news that will help you see yourself in a whole new light. I'm Daniel Britt, excited for you to hear the teaching today in the series, Free Yourself, Be Yourself. If you're not able to stay with us throughout the entire program, I want to make sure you know how to get our special resource right now. It could be yours for your donation this month to Alan Wright Ministries. As you listen to today's message, go deeper as we send you today's special offer. Contact us at PastorAlan.org or call 877-544-4860.

That's 877-544-4860. More on that later in the program. But now, let's get started with today's teaching. Here is Alan Wright.

Today's message, the agony of victory. Everybody that knows me knows that I do from time to time mention my alma mater, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Sometimes unavoidably it does come up in conversation that I went to Carolina, and it just happens to come up every now and then, the subject of basketball. And every now and then it might be mentioned that I was at the University of North Carolina in 1982 when we had the likes of Michael Jordan and James Worthy and Sam Perkins. And oh yeah, that was the year that I was there, one of the years we won the national championship.

Every now and then this comes up in conversation. Sometime after the 1982 national championship, I was looking through a pictorial book of Carolina sports over the years. It was somebody's house.

It was kind of one of those books you put out onto the coffee table. And as I was just leafing through it and I saw in there pictures from the 1982 championship, there was one photo that really caught my attention. It was a picture of James Worthy with the net around his neck and Sam Perkins was standing close by. They weren't out on the court. They weren't I don't think in the locker room. It looked like they were just maybe in a hallway right after some of the celebration or I don't know where it was. But what was so interesting was in just moments after they'd won the national championship, in this particular photo they looked not only exhausted, but if you didn't know better, you would think they were sad. They looked almost just hauntingly empty. Just somebody had caught them in a moment that even though the net was around his neck, they were in that moment not celebrating.

It was like everything had been spent and if you didn't know better, you'd have thought they had been defeated. And it made me think about how many times in life where I've had the biggest exertion and maybe the greatest victory and then just some moments afterwards or days afterwards, find myself with a strange hollow feeling. Maybe if you ever experienced this where it's like after something you've accomplished that was really great, just on the other side of it, you could actually be tempted with the old voice of shame. The thing that's so interesting about this is that you would think, this is the way shame speaks to us. It says you don't measure up.

You have to measure up and until you measure up, you won't be accepted. And so one of the things that happens is shame is driving us inwardly, we always do more to be more so that we would have that sense of being totally accepted and totally loved. And so oftentimes people that have that fuel of shame working in their hearts will really work hard at something and it can really lead you to a point where maybe you've tried really hard at something, you reach a certain pinnacle. But here's I think what happens is that you get to that point and maybe you finally had that success or that accomplishment that you think would bring you that sense of inward peace.

But what lies close at hand is there a voice of the tempter that says, look at you now. So you got that far. Are you really loved and accepted now? Maybe you haven't done enough.

Maybe you ought to just give up because obviously you gave it your best and it wasn't good enough. That's where I get my title for this chapter and for this message because of the old sports show that would talk about the agony of defeat, the thrills of the victory, but the agony of defeat. And I just wondered if there is sometimes, strange as it may seem, an agony that can follow victory. And I have found in my own life and I've interacted with others and I've seen this in others that sometimes some of the highest achieving people are actually prone to the most severe shame. It doesn't seem like it would go together because what people tend to think of shame is they tend to think, oh well this is about the guy that's in the gutter, this is about the guy who's given up or whatever. But I found it just the opposite, that shame more likely applies to really high performing people, really high achievers, people even that have become famous. I saw this quote from Madonna in Vogue magazine some time ago and she was talking about her career and she said, my drive in life comes from a fear of being mediocre.

That's always pushing me. I push past one spell of it and discover myself as a special human being, but then I feel I'm still being mediocre and uninteresting unless I do something else because even though I have become somebody, I still have to prove that I am somebody. My struggle has never ended, Madonna said, and I guess it never will. Maybe you could identify with that, that where's the point at which you feel like you could finally say I did it, that was enough, I can rest now in that accomplishment and the fact of the matter is if we are looking in any measure to the accomplishment itself for our peace or if we're looking to the accomplishment or to the achievement to find acceptance in others, we will be forever vulnerable to the voice of the tempter who says, look, you still haven't reached it.

But there's something that can feel really empty after you've given your all, done your best, and even won the trophy on the other side of it when you start feeling like maybe that wasn't enough. Nowhere is this pictured in the scripture more poignantly than the story of one of the greatest, greatest miracle workers, greatest men of faith in the Bible, Elijah. Elijah, if you want to follow along, it's in 1 Kings 18 where we come to this incredible big confrontation between Elijah, the prophet of God, the true God, and all of these prophets of Baal. And this is a conflict for the ages because this is all about the conflict of the true God and the false gods. This is all about the idolatry of the people up against the true living God of the universe. And we come to this in 1 Kings chapter 18. And to set the stage, there have been a growing conflict here between King Ahab and Elijah. And here's how this contest is going to be settled.

It's going to come down to a contest on Mount Carmel. And there they're going to gather all these 450 prophets of Baal, and then there's going to be Elijah. And Elijah proposes a contest in which we'll each take an offering of a bull and put it on the altar. And then whosoever God comes down and consumes it with fire, we'll say that's the true God.

I mean, what a moment, what a contest. And he just says, this is the way we're going to do this. And so they say, yeah, okay, we've got 450 prophets of Baal. They're all, you know, pumped up with this. And so they offer their bull onto the altar. And this is where it really picks up reading at verse 26 where the really the suspense builds. And they took, this is 1 Kings 18, 26, they took the bull that was given them and they prepared it and called upon the name of Baal from morning until noon saying, oh, Baal, answer us. But there was no voice and no one answered.

That's Alan Wright. And we'll have more teaching in a moment from today's important series. Can you imagine what it would be like to be accepted perfectly? Envision it. Being free to be yourself with no fear of rejection. If you mess up, people don't roll their eyes, make fun of you or love you less.

Imagine no more of that anxious feeling that you get deep down in your gut that makes you feel like the pressure is always on so you can never really relax. What you're imagining and longing for is a life with no shame. In Paradise, before sin came into the world, the Bible tells us only one thing about Adam and Eve's relationship.

They were naked and felt no shame. Ever since the fall, the human heart has been riddled with shame. It's a lie that says, until you measure up, you can't be truly acceptable. Shame causes some to say, I'll try to be perfect in order to be accepted and others to decide, since I'll never measure up, I might as well rebel.

Either way, the heart is poisoned by shame and there is only one antidote, the grace of God in Jesus Christ. In his highly acclaimed book, Free Yourself, Be Yourself, Pastor Alan Wright not only exposes the lies of shame, he leads you into a revolution of God's love that heals your soul. Discover freedom, joy, and destiny as you shed performance-based living and let God take the shame off you for good. It's a life-changing, full-length book from Alan Wright.

Free yourself, be yourself. The Gospel is shared when you give to Alan Wright Ministries. This broadcast is only possible because of listener financial support.

When you give today, we will send you today's special offer. We are happy to send this to you as our thanks from Alan Wright Ministries. Call us at 877-544-4860.

That's 877-544-4860. Or come to our website, PastorAlan.org. Today's teaching now continues.

Here once again is Alan Wright. They prepared it and called upon the name of Baal from morning until noon saying, oh Baal, answer us. But there was no voice and no one answered. And they limped around the altar that they had made. What a great line.

They just limping around. Oh Baal, Baal. They're just calling on him with everything within them. And at noon, Elijah mocked them.

Now I'm not recommending this to pastors. But in this case, Elijah had the authority to do so. So he mocked them. And you wouldn't believe that this is what he said unless it's right here in the Bible. This is what Elijah said.

At noon, Elijah mocked them and said, cry aloud. Or cry out, shout louder. For he's a God. See, he's mocking like, you know, he's a God. Yeah, call louder to him.

That's all you need to do. And this is what's really funny. He says either he is musing or he is relieving himself. They say Baal's going potty. So maybe you just need to call out a little longer. He said or maybe he's on a journey or perhaps he's asleep and must be awakened.

I mean this is some audacity. This is some bold stuff here from Elijah. He's saying call out louder.

Maybe he's just, you know, indisposed at the moment or perhaps he's asleep and all you need to do is just call out louder. Which by the way, side point, what a picture of the folly of religion that says that I need to do something in order to move God. See, other than the Christian gospel, all religions are essentially in one way or another saying I'm going to make a sacrifice. I'm going to do something. I'm going to in some way earn or cause God to move on our behalf. And the Christian gospel says precisely the opposite, that at exactly the right time Christ died for the ungodly while we were still in our sin. And what we say is exactly the opposite and that is there's not one thing that you can do to add to or take away from the love of God in Jesus Christ. You're out of the picture.

He's already set His love upon you. So this is a picture of paganism. This is a picture of all religion that stands in opposition to the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. So it says in verse 28, they cried aloud and they cut themselves. They called out for three hours to Him and then at noon they said well maybe if we just start flagellating ourselves He'll do something for us. Their blood gushed out upon them and as midday passed they raved on until the time of the offering of the oblation but there was no voice, no one answered, no one paid attention. Then Elijah said to all the people come near me and all the people came near to Him and He repaired the altar of the Lord that had been thrown down and Elijah took 12 stones according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob to whom the word of the Lord came saying Israel shall be your name and with the stones he built an altar in the name of the Lord and he made a trench about the altar as great as would contain two seers of seed and he describes how all this did and then this is the boldness of Elijah. He says now fill four jars with water and pour it on the burnt offering and on the wood and then he said do it a second time and then he said do it a third time and the water ran around the altar and filled the trench around with water.

So he has doused the thing with water so nobody would be confused thinking that somehow a spark had emerged and had caught the thing on fire. It was drenched with water and at the time of the offering of the oblation Elijah the prophet came there and said oh Lord God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel let it be known this day that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant and I have done all these things at your word. Oh answer me oh Lord answer me that this people may know that you oh Lord are God and that you have turned, have turned their backs and the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt offering and the wood and the stones and the dust and licked up the water that was in the trench and when all the people saw it they fell on their faces. There's 450 prophets of Baal that have been crying out to God lacerating themselves with their swords and they see this and they fall down on their face and they say the Lord, Yahweh the Lord, he is God, Yahweh he is God and Elijah said seize them.

They seized all the prophets of Baal and let none escape enemy. This, this is one of the coolest stories in the Bible. This story is about a man of God who has got so much faith, so much confidence that it's almost unbelievable this man Elijah.

What a victory. Which makes it so surprising that you'd come to chapter 19 and find out what happens in the next scene. In the very next scene chapter 19 verse 2 Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah saying, so may the gods do to me and more also if I do not make your life as a life of one of them by this time tomorrow. Speaking of all the slain prophets. And you would just think that Elijah would just say in his heart, well who is this woman? I'm not going to be scared of one woman right now because I just seen God just destroy 450 pagan prophets. Send word back to her and said, you know, go back home. Not worried about you.

I mean something like that. But instead the text says Elijah was afraid and he arose and ran for his life and came to Beersheba which belongs to Judah and left his servant there. But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness and came and sat down under a broom tree. And he asked that he might die saying it is enough now. Oh Lord, take away my life from no better than my father's.

He was depressed to the point of suicide is a strange thing. But don't ever think that any measure of success is going to make you suddenly immune from the spiritual battle. And don't ever think that you're ever going to reach a certain goal or milestone in your life where shame won't try to find a place in your heart. I'm no better than my ancestors.

They all failed and now I've failed. And you want to grab them by the shoulders and say Elijah, you just saw God move in the most amazing way. What are you talking about?

No. But he is depressed. But God is good because the second part of verse 5 says behold an angel touched him and said to him arise and eat. And he looked and behold there was at his head a cake baked on hot stones and a jar of water. And he ate and drank and lay down again and the angel of the Lord came again a second time and touched him and said arise and eat for the journey is too great for you. And he rose and ate and drank and went in the strength of that food 40 days and 40 nights to Horeb the mount of God. I'm touched by the ministry of this angel and it makes me aware of just how much God wants to minister to you and to me when we are in the agony of defeat. Allen Wright, today's teaching and the agony of victory from the series Free Yourself, Be Yourself. And we've got more with Pastor Alan coming up here for today in our parting good news thought in just a moment.

Stick with us. The Bible tells us only one thing about Adam and Eve's relationship. They were naked and felt no shame. Ever since the fall the human heart has been riddled with shame. It's a lie that says until you measure up you can't be truly acceptable. Shame causes some to say I'll try to be perfect in order to be accepted and others to decide since I'll never measure up I might as well rebel.

Either way the heart is poisoned by shame and there is only one antidote, the grace of God in Jesus Christ. In his highly acclaimed book Free Yourself, Be Yourself, Pastor Alan Wright not only exposes the lies of shame, he leads you into a revolution of God's love that heals your soul. Discover freedom, joy and destiny as you shed performance based living and let God take the shame off you for good. It's a life changing full length book from Allen Wright.

Free Yourself, Be Yourself. The gospel is shared when you give to Allen Wright Ministries. This broadcast is only possible because of listener financial support. When you give today, we will send you today's special offer. We are happy to send this to you as our thanks from Allen Wright Ministries. Call us at 877-544-4860.

That's 877-544-4860 or come to our website pastorallen.org. Back now with Pastor Alan in the studio, our parting good news thought today as we put a bookmark here in this teaching, The Agony of Victory. Kind of a strange thing, but it's real. It's so real because, you know, Daniel, we're such a performance based society and we buy into this idea that if I could finally reach that mountaintop, if I could finally meet that goal that I've always set and we make an idol out of it and then we get there and maybe you come to this great moment of success and realize I still feel oddly empty.

What is that? Do not be deceived. Shame is not only there in the low moments of the valley, but shame can also be there on the mountaintop because, yeah, it's wonderful to celebrate when God works a great thing through you. But in the end, our success is not our God.

Jesus is. So in your success, shame off you. Dr. guilt and shame are two words that typically in the Christian world go hand in hand together. But there is a distinction between the two, right?

Well, we're going to learn a lot about that. You know, guilt is a real thing, right? If I commit a crime, I'm guilty and I have guilt. So we're all guilty. We all we all have sinned. We've all fallen short of the glory of God. But we're all guilty. We all have sinned. We've all fallen short of the glory of God. To say shame off you is not to soften up on sin. That's not what it means. It's not to say that grace means that you get soft on sin either.

Instead, it says, what's the solution to all of this? And what we're distinguishing between is what some have called true guilt and false guilt. But shame is not the solution to all of this. Shame and false guilt. But shame is something that's not just the same thing as false guilt. And it's not even the same thing exactly as condemnation. But what we're going to learn is that shame really is a system of thought. It is a whole stronghold, a house of thoughts, a way of looking at life, a way of looking at your own life. And it's subtle at times, and you don't realize it.

And then there are others who have been through the deepest and darkest types of trauma for whom it is a poison that has been taken in very deeply and is very toxic. But the conviction of sin, as we'll discover, is a good thing. That's a gift from God.

It's good to know how we can go a better way. It's good to know how the grace of God can lead us into a better way of living. So that's the grace of God. Conviction of sin is not something to be ever shy about. It's something we should run to because it's good. It's from God.

The shame that I describe in this series, Daniel, is something we say it's toxic. If you only caught part of today's teaching, not only can you listen again online, but also get a daily email devotional that matches today's teaching delivered right to your email inbox free. Find out more about these and other resources at pastorallen.org. That's pastorallen.org. Today's good news message is a listener supported production of Allen Wright Ministries.