Be Strong and Courageous  - I Will Not Run and Hide!: What to Do When Evil Triumphs, Part 2

When life gets really, really hard, I mean difficult, painful, overwhelming, one of the greatest temptations is to run and hide. To not face what you need to face. Today we're going to learn how to refuse to run and hide and face what we need to face.

You don't want to miss it. Thanks for listening to this Edition of Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram. Living on the Edge is an international teaching and discipleship ministry focused on helping Christians live like Christians. Well, in just a minute we'll continue our latest series, Be Strong and Courageous, with the second half of Chip's message, I Will Not Run and Hide. Last time we tackled the first few verses of Psalm chapter 11 where David asked the thought-provoking question, when the foundations are being destroyed, what can the righteous do? Today we'll learn about the responsibilities of the righteous to heal our broken world and explore why God's nature stands firmly against evil doers.

In fact, that's where Chip's going to start. So grab your Bible and go to Psalm 11 as Chip begins teaching in verse 5. Notice he says, when he looks upon the wicked and they love violence, his soul hates. You know, he says, you know something, there was a day when things got really out of control.

He's kind of saying to his advisors here. Remember, there was a day when, I mean, it got evil. It got really evil and it got so evil God couldn't stand it. And you remember what he did?

He said, Lot, you better get out of town. And Abraham prayed. Abraham was standing up for righteousness and fire and sulfur. And there was a Sodom and Gomorrah, and God judged. Don't think that God doesn't still judge. And by the way, I don't know exactly how he does it, but I would at least intimate that there are enough major, major national disasters that are letting us see that we are pretty puny and pretty powerless despite all of our technology and all of our wisdom and all of our power.

I wonder at times, what would God need to do to get our attention? David says, God is testing the righteous. God is testing the wicked. He's telling the righteous, you may have to live through some very challenging things, but the righteous, what are they to do? They're to make a difference.

It was very true in Daniel's day. And what the righteous need to do is not look over here and blame and not look in here and be afraid. We're to look up and say, as Isaiah did in his crisis time, holy, holy, holy, Lord God almighty, you are holy.

I'm a man of unclean lips and I live among a people that are unclean. First, deal with me. Speak to me. Show me what I need to do in my life. And then here am I. I'll do whatever you want me to do.

That's what God's looking for. It was in that kind of a crisis, there was a teenager in the most powerful country of the world called Babylon. There was a teenager who said, you know, I'm sorry, I can't go along with the culture.

It is evil. And he took a stand. He took a stand early on and God honored it. And then later under Persia, he took another stand and God honored it. And then in the book of Daniel, it says, those who truly know their God believe and take bold steps for him. And what you'll find is all through Old Testament and New Testament, that's what he's looking for. The eyes of the Lord are going to and fro throughout the whole earth that he could strongly support a man, a woman, a student, someone ordinary, just like you and just like me.

And that's what he's always done. And it can be a young, beautiful woman when the nation is going down the tubes who's really afraid, like Esther, and then looks and says, well, perhaps for such a time, this is why I'm where I'm at. How about you? Perhaps maybe you are exactly where you're at, where you live, what you have, how you think, what your gifts are, what position you have, what influence you have for such a time as this, because the foundations indeed are crumbling. So what do the righteous do? We look up and then we look out and then we make a difference.

He's looking for normal people like you and me. And Jesus came and said, look, this is how it works. The foundations were crumbling when Jesus came. Judaism was far from God's ideal. Rome was a brutal, ruthless culture. The Greek ideology and ethics and morality had just, it was just pathetic.

I mean, some of the places like Corinth make Vegas look like a church. It was into that that God gave his word, his presence, his promises and his power. And the church just started in little groups of light where they were not whining and blaming about all the things they couldn't change.

They took steps in their spheres of influence for what they could change. And it always begins with, God, what do you want to do in me first? And so that's what we do. It takes a righteous man or a righteous woman to say we're going to rebuild the foundations.

You know, Teresa and I have had multiple opportunities. They have a ministry called Heal Our Patriots. And whether they're Christians or not, they bring people who've been damaged in Iraq or Afghanistan or in special ops.

They have no arms or they've had their brains scrambled. And they assign a chaplain for life and they take them away and do some counseling. And every now and then they have a big event. And we've had the privilege of speaking at that and then spending the whole weekend and sitting around tables with people that have given their life. And as one lady turned to me, she said, his body is still here, but my husband went to serve our country and he never came back. And he was aware enough, he said, as he shook and had a dog next to him, I can still do a little on my computer, but I'm about at a sixth grade level now.

And he was a whiz before he went. Here I think of Samaritan's Purse organization that if there's a tragedy, somehow, some way, they're there with the love of Jesus. They're not blaming people for this or blaming people for that. And you see, there's a really high price to restore the foundations, but they don't get restored by posting and they don't get restored by blaming and they don't get restored by being hyperpolitical. They get restored when God's people rebuild the foundations one brick, one block at a time where you're at in your life. And it starts even before that, where we look at our own personal brick or block and say, this one needs to be a holy brick or block.

I need to own my part of anything that's happening here before you're going to use me to help anything out there. And as we do, God will rebuild the foundations. I think of historically, it was illegal to preach outside the walls of the church because that's the only holy place. And they had perverted doctrine and the Church of England was in bed with the king and it became political. And so John Wesley said, you know what?

I'm going to go outside. And he starts a movement and he comes to America, just one little guy. And then Whitfield did the same thing. And then Wilber first says, slavery is wrong. We can't have this.

And he stayed in the parliament and served in the government until in England it was outlawed. You're listening to Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram. And we'll continue our series Be Strong and Courageous in just a minute. But quickly, are you looking for a practical way to deepen your prayer time with God? Then stick around after the message as Chip talks about an easy tool we've developed to help you be more intentional in your daily time with Jesus.

You won't want to miss it. Well, with that, here again is Chip. What can the righteous do? Answer, look up. Second answer, repent. Third answer, make a difference.

Just make a difference where you are. You use your time, I'll use my time. You use your influence, I'll use my influence.

You use your money, use your talents, you use your gifts. But you can't hide. You can't hide and you can't flee and you can't be quiet. And you also, you can't be mean and you can't be a jerk and you can't be arrogant and you can't think this is all about you and your tribe and how you see things. This is about the gospel and the kingdom of God and of balancing with clarity the truth of God with the love of God and a package that goes to help people. That's what turns the tide.

That's what makes a difference. And notice verse 7, reason four, the Lord is righteous. So after all of this, hey David, flee to the mountains. I can't. Why? God's my refuge. I'm not going to run and hide. No, you don't understand though, the danger is emanated. It's terrible and you could die. That's true.

That's right, I could. It's almost like Christians these days don't believe in heaven anymore. He says the Lord is righteous and he loves righteousness. Literally, he loves righteous deeds. Those things I was talking about, when you do them, God already loves you.

But he loves it when you do righteous deeds. When you help the poor. When you bring peace in a family.

When you use your money to make a difference. When you say, you know, I guess if this education is going to get better, I'll join the Board of Education. I'll run for office. I'll go down to the school. I'll volunteer.

My life can't be about just me or my world or all my kids and all their sports and all my happiness. I'm going to be a kingdom citizen. I'm going to hear God's voice.

I'm going to be a difference maker. And most of the great things that have happened and are happening, by the way, there's movements all over America. And it's often just a mom over here and it starts out and she goes, you know, they're just teaching this stuff in schools and I don't think it's right.

Any other moms believe that? Yeah, and they start a little thing and pretty soon laws are getting changed and lives are being changed and truth is being exalted. I do understand and I don't want to make light. And so let me say this as kindly but as directly as I can. I do understand that we have grown up in such a safety world that the idea of being harmed or being in danger or have someone attack you, whether that's verbally, mostly verbal in America still.

But actually, what if there's physical danger or what if things continue in a way that, I mean, it really gets scary? The very last line talks about God rewards the righteous. And David's perspective, as we'll learn in Psalm 16, is I'm absolutely certain I'm going to be resurrected. I will live forever. I don't have to be afraid of death.

I don't have to be afraid. I remember many years ago, and I don't mean this in a derogatory way, but there was an evangelist who really did a lot of good things and he was running low on money and he kind of came out with the story. I'm not sure where or how, but he said, Jesus said, if the people don't give the money to the ministry, that Jesus was going to kill him.

And, you know, he got a lot of flack for that. But it went around the world. And I was in the Philippines doing some ministry at the time and we were sharing Christ, playing basketball, doing some things. It was after my college years, but a little bit later. And I became friends with a young guy that had been there a number of times and he goes, I really want you to come to my house. I want you to meet my wife. And so I get on the back of a motorcycle terrified as we go through Manila and then we get to a place where it's all cardboard houses, right?

You know, just lean twos and a piece of here. And it was a slum. And there was one line.

It was really amazing. One little line that had one light bulb. And this was his house because a missionary friend of mine got in that so he could read the Bible at night and all the people from the slums would come. And so I walked into his house.

He was such a warm and caring guy. And I noticed there was like it was a dirt floor, but there was like one little room and it had a sort of like a cot. And he said, I sleep this way.

My wife sleeps this way and our two little boys sleep between us. And then it had just a little bit of rise and had a place where they could cook their food. So, I mean, it's one light bulb and he feels like he's rich because no one else has a light bulb. And it was so humbling. And then he turned to me and said, you know, I've kind of followed this evangelist, but there's something I don't understand. I said, what's that? He said, well, he said that if this money doesn't come in, that Jesus is going to kill him. And he said, well, if he dies, won't he be with Jesus?

I mean, immediately. I said, well, yeah. He said, well, then how could that be a bad thing? And it struck me, just, you know, a very poor person from another country who hears, oh, Jesus is, quote, going to kill someone if money doesn't come in. And he's thinking, I think I'd hope the money wouldn't come in because he had a eternal view.

He actually believed that heaven was real and that would actually be a wonderful thing. And I just say this as we close these things out. The early church and all through history, Old and New Testament, and in the last couple thousand years, there's always been men and women, as there are today, who understand that righteous deeds in an unrighteous world will be challenging, difficult, painful, persecuted, and may well cost your life. We work with people around the world that it costs their life. I've been training in parts of the Middle East where the response was, because they were going to go into countries that I won't name, will you teach us to die well because we know we won't last long? That's the kind of faith.

That's the kind of commitment. Final story I'll share, because it's just more how most of us live. We did a series called Caring Enough to Confront. As we saw the foundations crumbling, we as a ministry determined that we would seek to speak the truth in love, that we thought that the teaching of God's word that brings life and flourishing and encouragement and love and relationships. If you care about people, even if it's unpopular, we should teach that. And so we did the series, and I did an overview, and I interviewed various people, and we addressed all those hot buttons, abortion and politics and the environment and LGBTQ and transgender and multiple things.

And with a humble heart and with a recognition of people that are struggling and people that are hurting and how do we help people, but how do we share the truth and do it in love? And we knew that we would get a lot of pushback. So on some of the more controversial ones, we were blocked by one of those tech companies that you would know in a minute. But it brought me back to, it was about six months earlier when we were praying about should we do this? And we knew it would be a volatile time because of all the political things that were going on in the country at the time. And we have one of our board members has a very, very high up role, and we were talking as a board that, OK, this could go really negative and people could come after the ministry, but they could really come after individuals on the board. And I turned to him in the meeting. I said, you could lose your job. And I'll never forget what he said. He said, if I wasn't willing to lose my job to give the truth of God to the people of God in America where it's at, that I shouldn't be sitting here. And I thought, you know something?

That is how the foundations get restored. Could I encourage you be a difference maker? Could I encourage you to stop blaming? Could I encourage you to actually say to the Lord like David, I will not run and hide. I will overcome the power and the pressure of a world where evil appears to be winning. I, like David, will look up, understand there's a king, understand there's a judge, understanding he's testing me, understanding he is righteous. He loves the righteous deeds. And he's going to reward me now and forever if I do what verse seven says, for the Lord is righteous. He loves the righteous. The upright will behold his face. By the grace of God, I'm going to behold his face. And if that happens a little sooner than I would like, I would like to believe by the grace of God, I'd be willing to take a stand, even if that's the price. And I believe that's the kind of follower of Jesus that's going to make the world the kind of place you and I long for it to be.

And God died and rose from the dead in the person of Jesus Christ to make that happen. Let's make a difference together. You're listening to Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram, and the message you just heard, I will not run and hide what to do when evil triumphs, is from our series Be Strong and Courageous.

Chip will join us in studio to share some insights from today's talk in just a minute. The Greek philosopher Sophocles once wrote, To him who is in fear, everything rustles. That sadly describes our society to a T. Every decision and action is motivated by or rooted in fear. So as followers of Jesus, how do we break free from that toxic mindset? In this series, Chip studies eight powerful psalms that will help strengthen your faith and conquer your fears.

Learn how to focus on the love and goodness of God when you feel discouraged, anxious, or cynical. If you've missed any part of Chip's teaching, catch up at livingontheedge.org or through the Chip Ingram app. I'm joined in studio now by Chip. Chip, many people listen to your message today and are motivated to make a difference in the world. But it's important we establish a good base, a foundation from which to build our faith. And we have just the tool to help them do that, don't we?

We really do, Dave. The prayer journals that we've created, I love. I've used them and, you know, I've always journaled. I mean, I'm a verbal processor and it's really helped me sort of see God's track record. I forget so easily or when I'm burdened, it's amazing to just write down the things that I'm concerned about. And, you know, the passage of casting all your cares upon Him, they get all jumbled inside my mind and so I jot those down. And there's some great prompts inside our journal and, you know, an occasional hymn or a verse or a quote.

And it's just been a really, really helpful tool. And if you're serious about hearing God's voice and praying and making that not a discipline like I gotta, gotta, gotta do it, but more of a communion and a relationship, I've just found the journal becomes a tremendous guide, helps me stay on track. And I would just encourage you to try it and maybe pass it on.

You're thinking about some other people that you want to help, buy two or three of these. Maybe some people that you're discipling and say, hey, why don't you kind of keep a journal? And you don't have to do it every day. We have some really good notes about how uniquely you can journal in a way that'll work for you and help you connect with the Lord. But that's our goal. And what I know is that Christians who pray deeply and regularly are Christians who live like Christians. And that's our goal.

And that's our hope for you. To learn more about our prayer journals, visit LivingOnTheEdge.org or call us at 888-333-6003. These beautiful, compact notebooks have plenty of space for your prayers and personal journaling, along with scripture verses, hymn lyrics, and quotes to encourage you. If you want a more intentional, enriching time with God, this tool will help. For more details about our prayer journals, visit LivingOnTheEdge.org or call 888-333-6003.

Atlas Nurse Tap special offers. Chip, today you said the righteous have a responsibility to rebuild the foundations. Now, for some, that seems too daunting or impossible to do.

What word do you have for them? Well, Dave, it is impossible, and it is a daunting task. And without God, it is impossible. But I really do believe that God's looking for an ordinary man, woman, or student who sees an overwhelming need and says, you know, I can't solve it all, but this is what I can do. In fact, maybe today it's better to just give people some hope. In the pandemic, we found people stuck at home, and it was daunting. It was a crisis. And two weeks into it, we said as an organization, why don't we mentor individual people?

And we tried something we'd never done. Here we are today, years later. We have, I think, five or six or more daily discipleships. Over a quarter of a million people have begun to study God's word on their own, share it with others. Lives have changed.

Why? Because we just took a little baby step. In a like manner, as a ministry, we were near the end of COVID, and we found pastors worldwide in absolute crisis. And then we said, let's just go help them. Well, the pandemic's not over, and you can't travel, and you can't do this, and you can't do that. And our team said, we're going to go anyway, and pray we don't get COVID.

And we went to India, then we went to Africa, we went to Southeast Asia. And we look back now, and 330,000 or 40,000 pastors in live events gathered around together, received hope, helped one another, and it launched a global movement like that I have never seen. God uses improbable people to extend exceeding grace to undeserving recipients. And all I would say is this today. What's your first step? You might be absolutely shocked when a normal, ordinary person with struggles like you have and I have says, you know something, I can't solve it all, but I'm going to do this first step.

Take a first step and see if you don't see God work in a powerful way. Thanks, Chip. And as we close, I want you to know that as a staff, we ask the Lord to help you take that first faith step. If there's a way we can help, we'd love to do that. Give us a call at 888-333-6003, or connect with us at livingontheedge.org. And while you're there, take a moment and look through our resources on various topics, many of them absolutely free. For Chip and the entire team here, this is Dave Druey thanking you for listening to this Edition of Living on the Edge, and I hope you'll join us again next time.