STAYING GRITTY IN TOUGH MOMENTS

Verse of the week: Philippians 2:14-18 (TPT) 
“Live a cheerful life, without complaining or division among yourselves. For then you will be seen as innocent, faultless, and pure children of God, even though you live in the midst of a brutal and perverse culture. For you will appear among them as shining lights in the universe, holding out the words of eternal life. I haven’t laboured among you for nothing, for your lives are the fruit of my ministry and will be my glorious boast at the unveiling of Christ! But I will rejoice even if my life is poured out like a liquid offering to God over your sacrificial and surrendered lives of faith.”

First of all, for those of you that weren’t there, Resonate turned 5 this past Sunday! Starting from a team of 64, growing to the hundreds we’ve seen over the past few years, we’re more encouraged than ever to see people brought to Jesus in our families, communities, and across the world. Though it’s been a lot of hard work, we were able to look back cheerfully, and party together! 

Pastor Shane was able to share from Philippians 2 over the weekend, speaking directly to the ecstatic celebration that comes from living cheerfully, even in tough situations. This is a 5th anniversary kind of verse! 

Through these verses, we can understand three ways on how to shine when life gets tough – three thoughts on how to stay gritty: 

#1 – Live a cheerful life.
‍Paul writes this message from a Roman jail, likely awaiting execution. He’s chained to a guard 24/7, stuck in a dark, damp dungeon. Not exactly the most cheerful place. But Paul knows that this Philippian church, just 10 years old at the time, needs maturing to help grow their faith and their grit. 

It’s pretty unbelievable. I mean, think about it, what would you right in his situation, or on your toughest days? But Paul knew something about the power of cheer. That others feel the impact of cheer. That your cheer will keep someone else encouraged. And at the time, his message was exactly what that gritty church needed to keep going. 

Now imagine the impact we can have if we lived our lives like that. If we shifted our mindset when things got tough. If we reminded ourselves to live a cheerful life. Sitting down for dinner – live a cheerful life. Heading into a meeting – live a cheerful life. Over the sound of your kids screaming – live a cheerful life. Truly ask yourself, “Am I living a cheerful life?” and identify why or why not.
‍
#2 – Be united.
Cheer is great. It’s a positive Holy Spirit driven force, but we don’t want to gloss over the rest of the verse. “Live a cheerful life, without complaining or division among yourselves.”  See, in order to live cheerfully as called out in the Bible, we need to identify where we are complaining, and where there may be division between us and someone else in Jesus’ family.  

Our church family is full of people who have different opinions on many topics, and there’s nothing wrong with that. Opinions are applications of our values, and as people who are rooted in Jesus, we continually submit our values to Him to align with what Jesus values. When we don’t submit to Him, our pride can get in the way of seeing and hearing any other perspective. We can forget we are called to love. 

We are one family. Not because we have the same opinions on everything, but because we have equally been saved by His grace. In a world that is so divided, it’s more important than ever to move towards one another, even when acceptance seems impossible. Paul says, “For you will appear among them as shining lights…” and as united Christians, we truly will. Where are people connecting in today’s world? It’s become uncommon. And we want to live uncommon, because unlike the world we don’t move away from differences. We have values. We have opinions. But we choose to move towards each other.  

In 2022, let’s strive to be cheerful and undivided.
‍
#3 – Be willing to get gritty to see people get free in Jesus.
In verse 17, Paul writes, “But I will rejoice even if my life is poured out like a liquid offering to God over your sacrificial and surrendered lives of faith.” This is HIS True Grit statement. That even though it costs something – even if my life is poured out for you – I’m going to celebrate, because I see God working. 

Are you willing to be gritty for other people? To be there in the party, but also present through the pain? To show up ready to be used by God to bring other people into His kingdom? 

If it’s tough to find that grittiness, that cheer, or that hope – please know that you have people praying for you ready with the attitude to show up and help, and that there is a God ready to step in and deliver His blessing through grace. And that there’s a place for God to use you too.

Make sure to check out the full message here!