We are all hungry for life. We all look for ways to get the life we want. The best of us work hard for life; the worst of us work to steal life from others. In reality, life is a gift given to us by God. When you come to trust that God loves you and is with you, when you learn to listen to and obey the Word of God, then you will find thanksgiving for the abundant life He offers.
At Pentecost, the apostle Peter was filled with the Holy Spirit. He preached the gospel of Christ to the very Jews who put Jesus on the cross. He told them of their grave sin that certainly deserved the penalty of death. Yet, instead of pouring out his wrath, God granted these Jews repentance into forgiveness of sins, offering them baptism and the filling of the Holy Spirit. Their sinful way of life was transformed into thanksgiving.
But God was not finished spreading the unity of faith that leads to abundant life into the world. Through Peter’s preaching and teaching many Gentiles received the gift of repentance, baptism, and new life in the Spirit.
Acts 11:18 says, God “granted even the Gentiles repentance into life.”
Acts 11:19-25, describes how unity in Christ spread to Jews and Gentiles and how they were first united under the name Christian in Antioch.
Acts 11:19-24, Now those who had been scattered by the persecution in connection with Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus and Antioch, telling the message only to Jews. Some of them, however, men from Cyprus and Cyrene, went to Antioch and began to speak to Greeks also, telling them the good news about the Lord Jesus. The Lord’s hand was with them, and a great number of people believed and turned to the Lord. News of this reached the ears of the church at Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch. When he arrived and saw the evidence of the grace of God, he was glad and encouraged them all to remain true to the Lord with all their hearts. He was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith, and a great number of people were brought to the Lord.
Persecuted believers were scattered like seed to spread the gospel. Because they were united with the Lord, the worldly stress of persecution did not destroy or demoralize them them. Instead they were fruitful and thankful in the midst of the stress.
Everyone ever born deeply desires, craves and strives for life. In the quest for life, people build cultures and whole empires based on the principles that they believe lead to life. They even choose gods and develop theologies to capture their understanding of the way to true and abundant life. As along as the system works or they have hope that it will work, people will continue to pursue life their chosen way.
The Jews understood what it meant to seek life by obedience to the word of God. Their father Abraham walked by faith in God and received new life because he believed God. King David, like Abraham, loved God and walked with him. With God, David built a great and prosperous kingdom. Unity with God gave him abundant life. The Jews looked forward to the coming of the Messiah who they expected would return them to the glory days of king David when united Israel was a rich and powerful nation.
Yet, the Jews after David fell into idolatry and unbelief. Their forefathers walked with God, but they began to worship the idols of peoples they conquered in the promised land. The Jews also came to treat the law of God as an idol. They stopped trusting the grace of god who made them a people and who rescued them through the Red Sea from bondage in Egypt. They believed instead in the power of their own striving to observe the law. The problem is that that this way of life separates people from the One who created them. Instead of walking with God, they listen to themselves and rely on themselves. To be separated from God is always sinful, exhausting, and futile.
The Gentiles for their part did not ever worship the God of the Jews. History says “The Roman Empire was primarily a polytheistic civilization, which meant that people recognized and worshiped multiple gods and goddess. The main god and goddesses in Roman culture were Jupiter, Juno, and Minerva.” So the Gentiles were sinners who did not know what it meant to walk with God and trust him. The common thread for Jews and Gentiles was that they both separated themselves from God. They were both sinful peoples who never found the fullness of life for which they craved and strived. They both needed God to save them.
The question is: how did idolatrous Jews and Gentiles come to trust Jesus? A severe crisis happens when you realize deep down that the system you have always trusted will not give you what you want. The proclamation that Jesus is the Messiah in itself would not matter much to Gentiles and was unbelievable to the Jews. The proclamation that Jesus died and rose again would have been interesting to some. But would this proclamation have been enough for them to abandon their idolatrous ways of life and follow Jesus? It likely would not.
We know that the ways of idolatry feel good in the present, but over time they create loneliness and exhaustion from ceaseless striving. If anyone could or would deliver them from the lonely futility of their effort, this would be very interesting indeed.
The gospel that Jesus is the Savior offers release from the ceaseless striving for righteousness and life; that Jesus is “God with us” offers release from the bondage of loneliness; and that Jesus is King of Kings offers liberation from the oppression of all earthly kings.
These messages delivered with the power of the Holy Spirit bring people into abundant life that comes from being united with God. When people come to know that they can trust Jesus to be with them give them strength in the midst of difficulties, they are drawn into unity with Him.
Life is stressful. Some stress in life is good stress that leads to abundance and fruitfulness, but stress can also and cause the destruction. healthline.com documents “Eustress produces positive feelings of excitement, fulfillment, meaning, satisfaction, and well-being.
Eustress is good because you feel confident, adequate, and stimulated by the challenge you experience from the stressor. Distress, in the other hand “makes you feel overwhelmed because your resources (physically, mentally, emotionally) are inadequate to meet the demands you’re facing.”
One psychiatrist notes that distress leads to despair, addictions, a chronic sense of panic, and relationships that are marked by alienation, disconnection, and explosions.” Distress also contributes to heart disease and immune system diseases like multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, and cancer.
Things get more complicated because what is eustress for one person is distress for another. One huge factor that determines whether stress is life giving eustress or life-destroying distress is the extent to which you are forced to endure stress alone. People who experience stress alone are vulnerable to distress. Those that have strong support, however, can experience eustress even in the face horrible trauma.
For people to truly hear that they are loved and forgiven by the creator God of the universe who is with them is real good news.
To have that be not just an impersonal promise but a life giving reality means that the stresses of life become positive ones when they listen to and trust Jesus in their lives. This principle is reflected in many Scriptures. I will give you four examples.
John 16:33, “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
Psalms 23:4, Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
Romans 8:28, And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
Hebbrews 5:8, Although he was a son, (Jesus) learned obedience from what he suffered The most powerful force that turns distress into eustress is the power of God. To trust that the Lord is with you, that He will protect you guide you, means that even tribulation does not create destructive distress. Instead Christ turns tribulation to life-giving eustress and thanksgiving.
Remembering God’s word when you are under stress gives you hope, encouragement, and even wisdom. Turning to Christ needs to be done often every day.
Anytime you feel stress remember that Christ is with you as your partner. By seeking Him, trusting Him, and listening for His life-giving word, your distress turns to eustress. The assurance that somebody bigger and stronger is taking care of things means you can be secure and rest even though you face hardship. When you live in unity with Christ, you become a seed that He sows into the lives of others so that they too will receive the repentance that leads to life.
The holiday of Thanksgiving remembers when God turned the hardships of the new world into eustress for 100 refugees from religious persecution in England. They faced great peril and stress in their Atlantic crossing and in their first months in the new world. These people lived by faith, and God provided for them every step of the way.
Because of His providence, the seeds of faith and repentance to life spread to a new continent. The blessings of God were celebrated in the first Thanksgiving. Faith in the Creator always leads to thanksgiving even when the journey is hard. May the Lord bless as you seek Him and enjoy His blessings as you celebrate this coming Thanksgiving.