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HITTING BOTTOM

(Psalm 51:1-4, 6-7)

    Life doesn’t give anyone a smooth ride.  There are inevitable ups and downs.  All of us hit bottom at some point.  Fortunately, this doesn’t have to be the end of the line.  Paul says, “All things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose” (Rom. 8:28).

    Everything has a purpose and strangely enough, many people only become great after they hit bottom.

    Let’s look at some Bible characters:

    JACOB was a liar and a scoundrel until he hit bottom.  He had cheated his brother and deceived his father.  When he was confronted, he feared for his life and ran away.  Yet, he became the father of a nation.

    JOSEPH was a spoiled brat until he hit bottom.  He bragged and avoided responsibility.  Then he was sold as a slave and later imprisoned.  Yet, he ruled Egypt and saved his family.

    JONAH literally hit bottom.  He was a reluctant messenger disobeying God and refusing to carry out his mission.  Then he was thrown into the ocean and swallowed up in misery.  Yet, he witnessed to a city and changed many lives.

    DAVID was an adulterer and a murderer who lost his child and experienced extreme depression.  Yet, he became “a man after God’s own heart” and the revered king of Israel.

    THE PRODIGAL SON was a wasteful, utterly unproductive young man until he spent time in the mud with pigs.  Yet, he was welcomed and restored to his status as a son.

    PETER lied and cursed and denied that he even knew Jesus.  Yet, a few weeks later he preached a sermon that reached over 3000 souls and he became a leader in the early church.

    PAUL persecuted Christians and aided in the stoning of Steven.  Yet, he became the most prolific and important writer of the New Testament.

    You see, most of us only learn the hard way.  We must experience the worst before we can recognize the best.  So, if you hit bottom, there are three things you can do:

I.  First, you can get up.

    You made a mistake.  You took a wrong turn! You fell!  In fact, you hit bottom.  Well, don’t lie there and have a “Pity Party.”  Don’t sit there and bewail your fate.  Don’t wring your hands and wallow in guilt.  Don’t expect someone else to bail you out.  Don’t hesitate and hope for the best.  Instead, cut your losses, get up and change your direction.

    The Prodigal Son didn’t just lay there in the hog pen.  He got up and went home.

    Ezekiel said, Turn from your sins! Don’t let them destroy you!  Put all your rebellion behind you, and get for yourselves a new heart and a new spirit . . . Turn back and live!” (Ezek. 18:30-32).

    It’s important to believe that change is possible. 

    Sometimes we think how things have been is how they’ll always be.  In Thailand, wild elephants are captured and tamed.  A heavy band is secured around the elephants’ foot and it’s chained to a large tree.  The elephant pulls with all its might trying to break the chain or uproot the tree; but nothing happens.  After a while it finally gives up.  From then on the elephant can be tied with a rope to a small stake.  He could easily break it, but he never does.  The elephant is trapped, not because he really is, but because he thinks he is!

    That happens to many people.  When they are told as children that they are worthless, they believe it.  When individuals have made mistakes and given in to their weakness, they begin to think change is impossible; but the Gospel says otherwise.  Paul says, “Those who become Christians become new persons. They are not the same anymore, for the old life is gone. A new life has begun!” (II Cor.  5:17).  Then he adds, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” (Phil.  4:13, kjv).

    You can get up!

II.  Next, you can learn from your mistakes.

    Something went wrong.  Analyze your past behavior and find the source of your problem.

    Don’t excuse or justify your responsibility in the situation.  Don’t blame others for pushing you down.  Don’t forget the knowledge you gained by trial and error.  And above all, don’t repeat the same mistakes that got you into this fix.

    Solomon says some people learn nothing from their experiences.  “As a dog returns to its vomit, so a fool repeats his folly” (Prov.  26:11).

    Later, Peter uses this illustration to express the sad fate of one who deliberately returns to his evil ways.  He says, “When people escape from the wicked ways of the world by learning about our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and then get tangled up with sin and become its slave again, they are worse off than before.  They make these proverbs come true: “A dog returns to its vomit,” and “A washed pig returns to the mud” (II Peter 2:20,22).

    Repentance actually means “to rethink and turn around.”  An old story tells of a man stopping for directions at a country store.  When he asked how far it was to his destination, he was told, “Well, mister, if you continue in the direction you are going, it’s about 25,000 miles; but if you’ll turn around, it’s about a mile!”

    Don’t keep going down “dead-end” roads.  If something doesn’t work, do something else!

    Have you ever tried to loosen a nut by turning the wrench clockwise, instead of turning it in the opposite direction?  When your efforts failed, you assumed that you hadn’t been twisting hard enough, so you applied more pressure.  Unfortunately, this tightened it even more.  Trying to solve problems by doing more of the same is like that.

    Instead, be wise!  Listen to advice.  Use your common sense.  Solomon said, “A prudent person foresees the danger ahead and takes precautions; the simpleton goes blindly on and suffers the consequences” (Prov. 22:3).  “Whoever learns from correction is wise.  If you reject criticism, you only harm yourself; but if you listen to correction, you grow in understanding” (Prov.  15:5b,32).

    You can learn from your mistakes!

III.  Finally, you can expect greatness in the future.

    Don’t label yourself a failure.  You may have failed, but you are not a failure.  Don’t base your value on the lowest point in your life.  Don’t say, “This is a pattern!  It’ll happen again!”  Don’t begin to live down to your faults and weaknesses. 

    David believed change was possible.  He prayed, “Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me” (Psa.  51:10, KJV).
    Ezekiel gives hope for recovery: “If wicked people turn away from all their sins and begin to . . . do what is just and right, they will surely live and not die.  All their past sins will be forgotten . . .” (Ezek.  18:21-22).

    Paul is especially positive about regeneration: “Our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives. We are no longer slaves to sin . . .” (Rom.  6:6,22).

    No matter how far you’ve fallen, you can expect greatness in the future. 

    There is a remarkably unattractive insect, whose gills force it to live in muddy water for many years.  Eventually, however, it crawls out of the mud on to a plant or rock.  At last, after shedding it’s skin, it becomes what it was meant to be.  Emerging with a long slender body and gauze-like, iridescent wings, it is the beautiful dragonfly.  A whole new life-style is now possible.  It breathes air, feels the sun’s warmth and it flies!

    That can happen to us!  Paul gives us a wonderful promise.  He said, “You . . . were once so far away from God . . . . separated from him by your evil thoughts and actions, yet now . . . he has brought you into the very presence of God, and you are holy and blameless as you stand before him without a single fault” (Col. 1:21-22).

    You can expect greatness in the future.

    Now, the change in your life may be sudden, but it’s more likely to be gradual.  Think of two arrows pointing in the same direction.  If you make a tiny change in one of them by pushing it three or four degrees in a different direction, the change will probably be imperceptible at first.  But if you follow that path forward for miles, the difference will become greater and greater—until there’s no relation at all between the first path and the second.

    That is conversion.  Remember, “God doesn’t make junk!”  You are worthwhile and valuable.  Jacob cheated Esau and deceived his father, but it was a different Jacob who said, “I have seen God face to face . . .” (Gen. 32:30).

    Joseph boasted and bragged to his brothers; but it was a different Joseph who said, “Don’t be angry with yourselves that you did this to me, for God . . . sent me here ahead of you to preserve your lives” (Gen.  45:5).

    Jonah ran from God and rebelled; but it was a different Jonah who obeyed the Lord, The Scripture says, “This time Jonah obeyed the Lord’s command and went to Nineveh . . .” (Jonah 3:3-4).

    David committed adultery and murder; but it was a different David who prayed, “Purify me from my sins, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow” (Psa.  51:4,7).

    The prodigal Son shirked his duty and wasted his resources; but it was a different son who said, “Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you, and I am no longer worthy of being called your son.” (Luke 15:21).

    Peter lied, cursed and denied the Lord; but it was a different Peter who witnessed to thousands.  The Scripture says, “Those who believed what Peter said were baptized and added to the church—about three thousand in all” (Acts 2:40, nlb).

    Paul persecuted Christians and approved the stoning of Stephen; but it was a different Paul who said, “I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus” (Phil.  3:14, niv).

    So, have you hit bottom” If you have, remember this: You can get up!  You can learn from your mistakes!  And you can go on to Spiritual greatness.  That’s the promise of the Gospel.

    As we begin this new year, let’s commit ourselves to Christ my commemorating the Lord’s Supper!


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(WC1739)

Copyrighted 2008 by Miles and Maralene Wesner, Idabel, OK.  PLEASE FEEL FREE TO USE THIS MESSAGE IN ANY WAY YOU THINK IS APPROPRIATE.  The only thing we ask is that you give credit for original material in PUBLISHED works. 

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Miles E Wesner

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