Fearlessly Courageous
Desk of Dennis Piller
8 1 2023
How do you get in front of someone’s storm?
Can I begin by asking you what is the definition of a friend?
What is the definition of a prayer partner?
What is the definition of church?
Truthfully, I don’t think I need to give you a definition of any of them. But there are different types of friends. Social friends, work friends, neighbor friends, low-dose friends, and even group friends and best friends, They say in America people have 3 close friends on average. I would say it is less.
But I do think that true friendships, admittedly rarely, are only possible
if you know how to be one yourself.
That includes knowing what to expect from others you want to call friends
They should be a safe zone where we can really speak our minds and hearts and trust ourselves with them. A friend told me one time after I had made a silly, and if it had been taken wrong, a demeaning statement. My wife was there and was aghast. But later that hour our friend told Dyan
that it was OK because I know his heart.
I have never forgotten that, and I will never forget that!
Because it really speaks to the heart of the matter. A real friend is someone who knows your heart even when you do something stupid or out of character.
But how do we get in the way of someone’s storm? Maybe that’s more of a metaphor than anything else, but I think it means that when two or more walk together there is much added strength. The proverb says that iron sharpens iron.
I think a true friend points us in the right direction and helps us stand when we’re buckling at the knees. I believe there are well-meaning friends who are good people and they do bring a sense of comfort during difficult times, but their wisdom is worldly and commonsensical, but it isn’t in them to point you to God, pray with you, stand in the gap for you spiritually. Even though they may be nice people it is similar to having a beer-drinking budding and a church-going friend. ‘their entire basis of thinking and believing is on a different plane.
And if you’re a Christian the way that you get in front of someone’s storm is to emulate Jesus. It means being part of the filter that they will see through with spirit eyes. It means praying for them and with them. It means locking arms with them, getting in step with them, and showing them the higher ground of faith and trust in Christ.
When we have a friend in the storm, we need to help them see and hear what God has to say about the matter. Not what the situation seems to be dictating. The truth we must impart is that Faith is essential to finding peace.
In my own life experience God’s intent, and purpose is more than just delivering us from the storm, but teaching us, and growing us to trust him to be there with us in the storm. So that we come to realize and grow in the truth that He has been with me through the storm. Meaning my faith grows that he will be there for me in the next one too.
When my mom 98-year-old mom was in the hospital, the greatest strength that I could give, was to be there with her and hold her hand. My family would sit there and read scripture to her. Read God’s promises to her, so her faith would grow, and her trust would be in Christ in the midst of the storm no matter the outcome.
In Isaiah 9:6 they call him, “the Prince of Peace”. Romans 8:6 says “To be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace”.
As a friend, I have the privilege of pointing my friend to the Scriptures. Holding their hand and letting God use me to speak to them in what could be his darkest hour.
Every day we have struggles, setbacks, and inconveniences, but it’s not every day that we find ourselves in the midst of a real storm, a divorce, cancer, or a death. Yesterday, I spoke to you about the wife of a dear old friend who was killed in a motorcycle accident. Please pray for Debra and her family and keep them lifted up in prayer as they navigate their storm.
I love the story of Jesus, falling asleep in the boat when professional fishermen fearing for their lives wake Jesus, who turned it all around with three words.
Peace be still.
I would love you to memorize Isaiah 54:10
Though the mountains be shaken
and the hills be removed,
yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken
nor my covenant of peace be removed,”
and Isaiah 41:10
The honor of my position as a friend is to share with them what the Holy Spirit gives me for my friend.
In the battle in Exodus 17:12 when Moses, had his arms raised, they were winning but as he grew weary and tired, he dropped his arms and the battle shifted away from Israel. But his two friends Aaron and Hur held up his arms so the victory could be won. That’s what friends do. “A man that has friends must show himself friendly: and there is a friend that sticks closer than a brother.· Proverbs 18:24 shows that we too have a part in this by showing ourselves friendly, open, and transparent.
We start our men’s group Courageous in just a few weeks on August 28th at 7 pm. My prayer is that you will join one of our tables or join a small group where you are and open your heart so that people can get to know you. You would find people who know you only casually but would step up to help you in your storm.
I guarantee you that if you would be transparent, and show yourself to be a friend, God would bless you with men that would walk with you, listen to you, believe in you and with you, war with you in the spirit, and help you to be the man that God wants you to be.
Matthew 11:28–30 says “Come to me all ye that labor and are heavily laden and I will give you rest”. How does one get in the way of someone’s storm? It’s to come alongside them in the spirit of the lord and walk with them and be a safe zone, a safe place for them and to guide them along the still waters, and even loan them a portion of your faith until they grow up enough to grab ahold of his own.
Go get in the way of someone’s storm!
