Are You A Saboteur?

What?!  I've never sabotaged anything in my life...right?  The dictionary defines sabotage as: any undermining of a cause.  Any undermining of a cause, eh?  What is the cause of my life?  2 Corinthians 5:9 says, "So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please Him." (emphasis mine)  Could I possibly sabotage the cause of my life, the aim of my life?  The Bible answers that question with a resounding 'YES'.  Sin is deceitful (Hebrews 3:13), so when we choose sin over righteousness, we have just sabotaged the aim of our lives...to please God.  "Well, of course, you say, that sin is the problem and we need God's help to eradicate it in our lives, but am I a saboteur?  That sounds harsh!"  We can be saboteurs of a great many things in our lives without even thnking about it in those terms.  As I mentioned before, when I choose sin over righteousness, I have sabotaged the purpose of my life by not bring glory to God or pleasing Him.  What about everyday problems that I face, do I sabotage them as well?  When I was in college, I would go on cycles of depression.  I wasn't depressed all the time or for great lengths of time, but for short, intense bursts of time.  What I found in those moments was a craving for that feeling of something being wrong.  There were a lot of reasons for my depression at those times, but what I took away from those experiences was a desire for the heartache that I felt.  It became a 'security blanket' for me as I approached life.  I didn't have hope.  I didn't have purpose.  I didn't want them, I wanted the heartache.  When I became a believer, I had to really deal with that issue.  It was an idol in my heart because I felt that I needed to feel that way to be safe.  I could shut people out of my life when I was feeling that way.  It wasn't until I saw the glory of God through Jesus Christ and His redeeming work in my life that I began to deal with this deep rooted heart issue.  Is it still a struggle today?  Not much at all, but I am sinful and still in need of Jesus to keep me from despairing all over again. 
Are you feeling something similar right now?  Are you a believer in Jesus and in despair?  Have you sabotaged hope and purpose because it is 'too good to be true'?  Psalm 121:1,2 says, "I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth."  Where do we find hope and purpose in this fallen world and even in our despairing hearts?  Lift you eyes to the Lord who made you and formed your inmost being.  He is our help!

The following article is something that I was able to identify with and hope that Dr. Welch's wisdom and God's truth will lift your eyes today, even in the midst of our ongoing sabotage.

Hope Sabotaged

By: Ed Welch

Published: Oct 06, 2011

I first noticed it when an up-and-coming executive was caught embezzling money. He knew the system. He didn’t need the money; he didn’t even care about money. And, he knew he would get caught. His embezzling had nothing to do with stealing and greed. Instead, he was moving quickly toward dizzying heights of success; hope was rising too—and he had to kill it. In the confusing world of fallen humanity, everything can be turned upside down and backwards. In his case, hope was a threat that had to be eliminated.
No hope…

It happens more than you think. There are many hope saboteurs out there.

• • Do you get uncomfortable or even panic when your circumstances improve?
• • Have your hopes been dashed and you are committed to not having that happen again?
• • Do you believe that somehow you are unworthy of “success”?
• • Do you predict doom and gloom and then help it on its way in order to prove your prophecy true?
• • Have others assured you that you are a failure and rather than try to prove them wrong, you assume they are right?

Beginner hope saboteurs are like Eeyore—pessimists. They forecast the worst. The pessimist says: “There are enough ups-and-downs in life, so let’s assume the worst—prepare for the worst—then the worst might not feel quite so bad.

Those who live with depression are the more advanced pessimists. Just try to speak words of encouragement to some depressed people and you will discover that they seem to become more depressed!

Here is one rule that hope saboteurs live by: success creates higher expectations, so undermine any gains before anyone notices. Some aren’t satisfied until they have hit a new bottom. There, they feel comfortable, safe and at home.

Odd, yes. But this makes complete sense in a godless world. Apart from God, things will indeed get worse. Why postpone the inevitable? Why pretend that all will be well? Ecclesiastes explores such a world and its natural conclusions.

Hope…

But if we have come to know Jesus Christ, who died and is now the resurrected, living King, then hope-killers, along with their Eeyore brethren, are blind. Even in the midst of suffering, victimization and our own sin, the King will accomplish good and his reign of peace will be eternal.

So, a follower of Christ is a person who has hope. That, of course, takes a lot of explaining. After all…I might die today….the church that I attend might be gone in a year… I could lose my job. Uh oh, my inner Eeyore is coming out. But the church-at-large will grow in breadth and depth, Christ and his followers will be vindicated, and we will see the lover of our souls face-to-face.

We are people of hope, and this hope cannot be sabotaged. We must proclaim it well to a world that is almost persuaded that hope is a fantasy.