Resilience Part 3 – Desperation: “Lord, Bend Me”

Opening Prayer & Framing of the Message

Pastor begins by thanking God for the Shine ministry and asks that listeners set aside all distractions so God may work “in and through” them.
Sermon continues larger series on RESILIENCE (previous weeks: Courage & Influence). Today’s focus = Desperation.

The Moravian Missionary Example (1700 s)

Setting: Small Eastern-European town on a church-history tour.
Moravians nicknamed the “Navy SEALs of Christian missionaries.”
Exhibit 1: World map with flags marking missionary outposts.
Exhibit 2: U.S. map showing church plants beginning in the 1700 s and “still going today.”
Story Highlight – Greenland Mission:
- Two single men travel by horseback, carriage, and primitive ship to evangelize Greenland (then untouched by the gospel).
- Cultural adaptation: Greenlanders had never seen a lamb, so missionaries called Jesus the “Seal of God.”
- Obstacle: Both missionaries are single; in Greenland every adult is married (singleness = criminality or insanity). Locals distrust single outsiders.
- Letter home requests WIVES. Church gathers single women, lots volunteer; leadership rolls dice—two women chosen. They board a ship, marry strangers, and help plant churches.
- Moral: Their trust in Jesus outweighed personal comfort; illustrates ultimate resilience.

Recap of Series Theme – Resilience Ingredients

Courage – Hezekiah swiftly reinstates worship of the one true God (Week 1).
Influence – Hezekiah “runs with runners” and brings people along (Week 2).
Desperation (today) – Appears counter-intuitive but is critical.

Key verse: $(Psalm\;34{:}6) \;\; “In\;my\;desperation\;I\;prayed,\;and\;the\;LORD\;listened.”$

Analogies & Supporting Thoughts

Camel fact: Camels can travel (\sim 1{,}000\text{ miles}) without showing thirst, then suddenly collapse—picture of Christians attempting courage/influence without dependence on God.
TED Talk (Lucy Hone): Scholar of resilience loses daughter in car crash; demonstrates resilience can mean simply “take the next breath.”

Historical Context: Hezekiah under Siege

Year ≈ 701 BC. Assyrian King Sennacherib surrounds Jerusalem.
Sennacherib Prism (Akkadian cuneiform, Chicago museum) records brutal campaign:
- Enemies flayed alive; piles of heads at gates.
- Other cities: hands & lips cut off, people enslaved.
Judah faces “hundreds of thousands” of Assyrian troops ➜ existential dread.

Three Facets of Desperation

1. Desperation SEEKS the Wisdom Around Me

Scripture: $2\;Chronicles\;32{:}3$ – Hezekiah “consulted with officials and military advisers.”

Principles

Wise + godly counsel (both traits simultaneously).
Proverbs $28{:}26$ : “Those who trust their own insight are foolish….”
Wisdom must be acted on (Hezekiah shuts springs, rebuilds walls, forges weapons, appoints officers).

Counter-example

King Rehoboam ((1\;Kings\;12)): chooses friend-advice over Solomon’s advisers ➜ raises taxes ➜ kingdom splits.

Modern Applications (given by pastor)

Troubled marriage ➜ find resilient couple & follow instructions.
Repeated school discipline ➜ seek mentor who turned life around.
Career stagnation ➜ study someone who successfully pivoted.
Spiritual dryness ➜ ask mature believer for a one-year practice and pre-commit to doing it.

2. Desperation RECOGNIZES the Evil Inside Me

Scripture: $2\;Kings\;19{:}15$ – Hezekiah’s temple prayer exalts God’s holiness, implying own unworthiness.

Sermon Exercise

Congregation silently recalls most shame-filled sin; illustrates inherent darkness.
Pastor’s childhood confession: stealing a packet of gum at age 6 ➜ shows self-centered heart even in “small” sins.

Supporting Thoughts

Jordan Peterson video: “How do you become a guard at a Nazi camp?” One small compromise at a time.
Romans chain:
$Romans\;3{:}10 \; “No\;one\;is\;righteous.” \quad Romans\;3{:}23 \; “All\;have\;sinned.”$

3. Desperation DEPENDS on the Grace Toward Me

Biblical Outcome

$2\;Kings\;19{:}34$ God saves Jerusalem “for my own honor … I will defend this city.”
Miracle: $185{,}000$ Assyrian soldiers die in one night; Sennacherib retreats to Nineveh and is later murdered by his sons.

Theological Point

Rescue not due to Judah’s strength but God’s unmerited favor (grace).
- “Not their fight ➜ His favor; not their might ➜ His mercy.”

Illustrations of Grace vs. Ungrace

Camp Freedom birthday:
- Volunteers sing; give Big Red & buttermilk pie (grace).
- Immediately afterward staff throw pastor in lake for “birthday tradition” (ungrace/humor).
Addiction example:
- Former porn addicts risk new pride: “I fixed it” ➜ forget dependence ➜ greater sin of self-reliance.
Camp Freedom drop-off:
- Camper Andrew greets cheering volunteers; dad tears up: “Ten years—it never gets old.”
- Parallel to Christian maturity: grace never grows stale.

Metaphor – Tesla Self-Driving

Statistics: Autonomous cars now have far fewer and exponentially fewer fatal accidents than human-driven cars.
Yet AAA survey: only 9 % of Americans trust them.
Spiritual lesson: God’s “autopilot” is safer, but humans cling to control.

Implication

Salvation = surrender of control.
Baptism as ritual of passive submission—launches life of obedient awkwardness, led by others.

Culminating Prayer: “Lord, Bend Me”

Historical origin: Sept 29 1904, Blenanark, Wales.
- Pastor Seth Joshua ends prayer meeting with three-word plea: “Lord, bend us.”
- Evan Roberts (age 26, former coal miner) kneels repeating, “Lord, bend me.”
- Sparked the Welsh Revival (1904-1905)—tens of thousands converted.

Prayer Components

Confess specific sin.
Obey in previously resisted areas.
Dedicate to Scripture for guidance.
Pursue the lost (Luke $19{:}10$ ).

Connection to Series Theme

Scientific definition of resilience: object bends but doesn’t break.
Christians pray to be bent by God—stretched, molded, yet sustained.

Communion Meditation

Congregation holds cracker (body) & cup (blood) repeating softly:
- “Lord, bend me.”
Communion symbolizes ongoing desperation for Jesus’ sacrifice.

Summary of Take-Home Concepts

Desperation = Lifelong posture, not one-time crisis.
Formula for Resilient Faith:
$\text{Resilience} = \text{(Courage)} + \text{(Influence)} + \text{(Desperation)}$
Desperation’s triple action:
a) Seek wise & godly counsel.
b) See personal depravity accurately.
c) Stand on unearned grace daily.
Practical Prayer: “Lord, bend me.”
Non-negotiable principle: Give God the steering wheel. Refusal ➜ collapse like thirsty camel; Acceptance ➜ miraculous protection & purpose.

Ethical & Practical Implications

Mission Ministry: Adapt message culturally (e.g., “Seal of God”) without altering core truth.
Relationships & Sacrifice: Willingness to forgo comfort (Moravian women) when eternal stakes are high.
Leadership: Kings Hezekiah vs. Rehoboam illustrate humility vs. hubris in decision-making.
Addiction Recovery: True victory maintains dependence; pride after success can be more spiritually dangerous than the original vice.
Technology & Trust: Societal reluctance to surrender control mirrors spiritual hesitation—challenge listeners to audit where they withhold trust from God.