CALEB CUNNINGHAM: WAKING UP MILES AWAY

Waking Up Miles Away from Where You Want to Be


One of the most familiar parables of Jesus is called The Prodigal Son (Wasteful Son). The story is found in Luke 15 and was told in the presence of tax collectors and sinners in response to the grumbling criticisms of the Pharisees and scribes (Luke 15:1-2).

You can teach this parable from many different angles: the love of the father, the anger of the older brother, the wasteful living of the younger son, etc. Many doctrines are found as well in this parable: grace, love of God and your brother, forgiveness, repentance, and consequences of sin.

I want us to approach this parable focusing on half of a sentence in Luke 15:17:
“But when he came to his senses” (NASB).
“But when he came to himself” (NKJV).
“When he realized what he was doing” (NCV)

Have you ever found yourself in the prodigal’s situation? Miles away from where you thought you would be?

The prodigal had big dreams of what he wanted for his life. So he set on his journey into the distant country with dreams in his head, youth in his heart, and money in his hand, but we know The Rest of the Story. He ended up impoverished, a hired servant, lusting after pig feed, and dying of hunger…Miles away from where he thought he would be. But how did he get to this point?

Maybe your situation isn’t as drastic as the prodigal’s. You’re not starving, you’re still better off than swine, and you’re not impoverished. But as you examine your life you’re not living the way you had originally planned, the “distant country” hasn’t worked out quite like you imagined. The question is: How did you get to this point?

We ask this question a lot of times in regards to ourselves and in regards to others:
A 700 lb. man is confined to his bed because he is now too heavy for his muscles to move his body. How does a man get to this point?
A young woman who makes $20,000 a years has over $30,000 of credit card debt. How does a woman get to this point?
A church going person finds himself stealing strangers, friends, and family, to support his drug habit and wonders, how did I ever get to this point?
A husband and wife meet up with each other one sunny day, not for a picnic, but with their lawyers to sign the divorce papers and they wonder, how did it ever get to this point?
Parents drive to the police station to pick up their teenage son who has wrecked the car and been arrested for DWI and they wonder, how did it ever get to this point?

The stories could go on and on of people who have found themselves miles away from where they though they’d be.

John Trent writes in his book Heart Shift, “In a way, people every day, perhaps even you, wake up to find that in a critically important area of life everything has changed. In the blink of an eye, you’re miles from where you ever though you’d be.” (pg. 3).

1. Why do people end up miles from where they want to be? Because they take a gradual “turn for the worse”.

Hebrews 2:1 – We must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away from it.
Imagine a ship leaving England for New York. If that ship is just a couple of degrees off course for the entire journey, it will land in Boston instead of the Big Apple. This is where most people are today—a couple of degrees off course. We’re doing the things Jesus told us to do. Great things are happening in many areas of the world. But we need a few gentle course corrections to bring men back. Only then will we reach the goal Christ laid out for us. But here is the serious danger: The longer we wait, the more drastic the corrections will need to be.

NASA understands this concept thoroughly for space travel. Suppose NASA was two degrees off on their blast off and flight plan to the moon. The moon is 217,614 miles from the earth (depending on the time of year and the moon and earth’s orbit). If you’re calculations are two degrees off, then you’ll miss the moon by 11,121 miles. Add in enough time and distance, and be just two degrees off and you’ll miss your target by miles.

This is why two people who are madly in love with each other on their wedding day can end up at a point where they hate each other and divorce years later; many two degree turns in the wrong direction and landed them miles apart.

C.S. Lewis writes a fictional book called The Screwtape Letters about an older devil instructing a younger, inexperienced, devil on how to tempt humans. He writes this book to show the weaknesses that we have to temptations and the devils tactics. On one occasion he writes:
“You will say that these are very small sins; and doubtless, like all young tempers, you are anxious to be able to report spectacular wickedness. But do remember, the only thing that matters is the extent to which you separate the man from the Enemy.
It does not matter how small the sins are, provided that their cumulative effect is to edge the man away from the Light and out into the Nothing. Murder is no better than cards if cards can do the trick.
Indeed, the safest road to Hell is the gradual one—the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts.”

The church of Ephesus felled prey to just such a subtle attack when they woke up one day to find themselves far from their first love. Slowly, gradually, unremarkably, they had left or drifted further and further away from Christ until his wake-up call opened their eyes to both their problem and their need for change.

Initially the Ephesian Christians were called the “faithful in Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 1:1). Paul had written of them in the Ephesian Letter, “Having heard of the faith in the Lord Jesus which exists among you and your love for all the saints, I do not cease giving thanks for you, while making mention of you in my prayers” (Ephesians 1:15-16). But somewhere along the way they lost their focus and edged off the narrow path. I don’t know if it was the constant barrage of false teachers, pressure to conform to the community around them, or if the newness of the gospel had began to wear off, but they had left their first love (Revelation 2:4) and needed to make a change in their directions (Revelation 2:5).
· Revelation 2:4-5 – But I have this against you, that you have left your first love. Therefore remember from where you have fallen…

In Revelation 3 he addresses the church at Sardis, a church that had a great reputation for being alive and vibrant. But Jesus looked beyond the outer appearance and into the core of their being and saw that the Sardis Christians were dead (Revelation 3:1). But notice in Revelation 3:2 that Jesus doesn’t tell them to give up, he tells them to wake up!

2. How can I get back to the path toward my goals? By deliberately making small, positive, changes in the right direction.

A). Deliberate Steps

John Trent writes, “It’s not enough to put good ‘actions’ on autopilot and just assume we’ll end up where we want to go” (Heart Shift, pg. 10).

Our most important personal changes won’t happen by waiting for a huge wild-card event to change our life situation. Relying on that one big break that will somehow transport us from A to Z is a great way to stay broken.

Most people don’t become wise, wealthy, or healthy by accident. Accidents are better associated with destruction. That is why Christians, husbands & wives, parents and grandparents, students and workers, must stay awake behind the wheel making constant adjustments.

Many have drifted toward a place they never wanted to be—even in the midst of making sincere efforts. It is time we turned back to a vital faith, toward our families, or toward better health,

B). Small Steps

A lot of times I find myself thinking that the solutions to my problems are in big things. A magical pill, a million dollars, a big break: those are the things we connect with great changes.

An example of this mentality is seen in a leper in 2 Kings 5. Naaman was a soldier who had earned a place of great power, prestige, and influence.
· 2 Kings 5:1 – Now Naaman, captain of the army of the king of Aram, was a great man with his master, and highly respected, because by him the LORD had given victory to Aram. The man was also a valiant warrior, but…

In a cruel twist of fate, he would now lose it all. “He was a leper” was a way of saying, “Dead man walking”. On whatever day Naaman first noticed the sign on his skin that he carried the ancient world’s most deadly disease, a terrible countdown clock began ticking. With each passing hour his wealth, power, and privilege was being eaten way. Literally. Mighty warriors had failed to kill Naaman on the battlefield. Now a tiny microbe would bring down Aram’s best.

I’m sure Naaman had been to the physicians and magicians, he’d tried the home remedies and alternative medicines, and even turned to the King himself to look for a cure. But what the King of Aram was unable to do for Naaman, a slave girl from Israel knew of a prophet in Israel.

But rather than go to the directly to Elisha’s house, Naaman and his band, with letters from the king of Aram go to the king of Israel with a letter saying, “I have sent Naaman my servant ot you, that you may cure him of his leprosy” (2 Kings 5:6). It is obvious that he never even considers the idea of Naaman going before some small-potatoes, back woods prophet. They’re looking for big cures, trying to buy it with big money!

When Naaman arrives with his horses and his chariots at the doorway of the house of Elisha, the prophet doesn’t invite him in; he doesn’t even go out to greet this mighty man. Elisha’s not impressed with what impresses men. Elisha sends out a messenger with a small, simple, cure: “Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh will be restored to you and you will be clean.” (2 Kings 5:10).

This is not what Naaman is looking for! Naaman was looking for a big King in Israel with a fanciful cure to all his problems. “Naaman was furious and went away and said, ‘Behold, I thought, ‘He will surely come out to me ad stand and call on the name of the LORD his God, and wave his hand over the place and cure the leper.’ Are not Abanah and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them and be clean?’ So he turned and went away in a rage.” (2 Kings 5:11-12).

Imagine, the nerve of someone telling you that your life could change by making tiny changes. Or the nerve of someone saying that a marriage in deep trouble could be resurrected with small acts of kindness. Or the audacity of thinking that something as simple as faith could start to restore someone’s spiritual life. Or that washing seven times in a filthy river could really bring any change.

Dipping himself in the river was such a small step that initially that fact alone held Naaman back from entering the river. He almost missed his chance for change by demanding, expecting, waiting or “some great thing” to effect change and demonstrate God’s of Israel’s power.

Often times it is just a two degree turn that makes all the difference! Most of us define our lives by the special occasions and big events within them: graduation, job, marriage, children, conversion. And most of our history books are filled with the Revolutions, the Political upheavals, the wars and big battles. Yet most of history is filled with normal, unrecorded events and dates. It is the accumulation of the little things that makes the difference!

Just as an accumulation of two degree turns in the wrong direction can lead to major problems, an accumulation of two degree turns in the right direction can lead to major victories.

C.S. Lewis points out in his book Mere Christianity: “Good and evil both increase at compound interest. That is why the little decisions you and I make every day are of such infinite importance.” (pg. 132)
A seemingly small indulgence today may set you up for failure tomorrow.
A small good act today makes for a strategic point you may be able to go on to victories through tomorrow.

Mike Shanahan, head coach of the Denver Broncos and two time Super Bowl Winner, write in his book Think Like A Champion, “If you solve the little problems on a daily basis, very seldom do you encounter the big problems. Big problems typically come from not addressing the little problems first” (pg. 56).

Conclusion

I want you to use your imagination with me for the next few seconds. Imagine you’re in your car going for a drive. This drive represents your life. You keep your foot on the pedal but you’re so distracted with everything around you that you take your hands of the wheel. You’re car is finely tuned so you can do this for brief moments and everything will be okay. But the more you do this the more comfortable you become not adjusting the wheel. How long do you think it will be before your car, your life is out of control? How long will it be until you crash?

According to John Trent, “A Heart Shift is the conviction that we’re on the wrong road and in need of making a turn back to a deeper faith, stronger relationships with family and friends, and a better life.” “A two degree change is taking the smallest of positive steps, actions, or corrections to being, sustain, or move us toward a needed change” (pg. 48).

The Prodigal Son experienced this. “He came to his senses” and realized he was miles away from where he thought he would be. It would be a sad story if Jesus ended the parable at that point, but He didn’t. The Prodigal turned around and began taking the small steps necessary that led him back to his father, back to his family, and back to life.

Maybe you’re in need of such a change today. Some will need to do a 180 degree turn, but most it can be done in small two degree turns. But these corrections, adjustments, and improvements that we make everyday will lead us to an abundant life.

Today is the day we need to wake up and begin the journey back toward God’s best and what’s best for our family, our friendships, and our fellowship with God.
· “Today if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts” (Hebrews. 3:7-8).

“This is your life. Are you who you want to be?” By Switchfoot.