City Life Starter

Written by Stefan Johnsson

The Word

And he said to his disciples, “Temptations to sin are sure to come, but woe to the one through whom they come! ² It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were cast into the sea than that he should cause one of these little ones to sin. ³ Pay attention to yourselves! If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him, ⁴ and if he sins against you seven times in the day, and turns to you seven times, saying, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive him.”

Luke 17:1-4 (ESV)

Reflection

This sermon over the parables in Luke 17 really spoke to me this Sunday. I am currently dealing with two big tensional situations in my life. The first is taking on a new role at work. It will allow me to manage others, but I know that my current boss has a very different management style than I do. How do I honor my boss while wanting to manage in a different way for those I will now have to supervise? The second is a sibling of mine who lives life day-by-day in a selfish lifestyle, doesn’t know how to save, and can’t take care of himself while doing so in my mother’s basement. It creates hardship on my mother and stress on the rest of us kids.

Many of you have already thought of ways to fix this for me or advise me on what to do. Yet, these are the kinds of tensions we deal with in life and there’s no perfect solution. If i choose to manage the way i want, how would this honor my boss as God wants me to do? And kicking my sibling out of my mother’s house won’t make him seek after God but resent God even more.

What these situations have taught me is simply this. I do not have the wisdom or foresight to handle each unique situation I come across that brings tension. Instead, I need to rely on God to help and guide me. The more difficult a situation seems, the less I should rely on myself and more on God. It is God who will bring me the words to say, the decisions to make, and the people along the way who will speak into my life or in the situation itself.

We should pray for God to increase our faith in Him for these situations so we can grow and handle the tensions that life brings us. It is through these that our faith will grow and how we will be sanctified. God already has everything under control and we just need to trust in Him.

Application

Have you currently pinpointed tensions that you are currently dealing with in life? How are you handling them? Are you trusting in God to lead through these, to manage them as life goes on?

Ask God for wisdom and the faith to believe in Him through these difficult situations. He is faithful and will help you.

Prayer

Father in heaven, help me to trust You through the difficulties of these lives. I may never solve or fix the tensions that life brings, so help me manage them wisely. Let me be patient and kind to others, to love them and trust that You have everything under control. In the name of Jesus I pray, amen.