Michael Krahn

COVID Has Made Us Weary, But We Should Still Be Doing Good

If you are in a season that feels barren and fruitless, take heart – over time, if we are persistent in our pursuit of God and obedient to his will and plan, we will bear fruit. Now might be a time when you are being pruned and watered and weathered so that your fruit will be both sweeter and more abundant when the appointed season comes.

“As for you, brothers and sisters, do not grow weary in doing good.”
2 Thessalonians 3:13

Seldom in the world’s history has the entirety of humankind been subjected to such mind-numbing and soul-crushing stress and chaos that has led to such persistent weariness. During this time, on days when I’m feeling down, it’s easy to look for the fruits of my efforts and wonder if I’ve accomplished anything at all. On those weary days, progress seems painfully slow and tangible “results” seem like a barren field on a foggy morning. This is quite opposite of what we desire, isn’t it?

We would all love for our efforts to result in immediate, visible, tangible fruit, but fruit is a fitting metaphor, and it is no accident that this metaphor is employed frequently in Scripture. As Psalm 1 points out, the blessed person is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season.

How the Wicked and the Righteous Grow

In Psalm 92 we see a clear contrast between the wicked and the righteous. In v7 we learn that “though the wicked sprout like grass and all evildoers flourish, they are doomed to destruction forever,” while in v12 we see that “the righteous flourish like the palm tree and grow like a cedar” that still bears fruit in old age and is ever full of sap and green (v14).

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The wicked have their day in the sun, their flash in the pan, their proverbial “15 minutes of fame.” They sprout like grass, which grows rapidly but provides little value and fades away just as quickly as it appeared. Although these people are often among the most prominent in the world and seem to be successful by worldly standards (we might even envy them sometimes), in the end, such people are doomed to destruction.

The righteous, however, are like palm or cedar trees. Palm trees take about five years to grow a trunk and another 15 years to produce coconuts, but they can live for hundreds of years. They represent slow growth and much fruit, just the opposite of grass.

Cedars are evergreen trees that can grow to over 150 ft and live up to 300 years. They are known for their alluring scent and have an ornamental quality because of their beauty. Cedar is also used for guitar tops and is known for its warm tone. Cedar trees represent beauty, warmth, and an inviting aroma. We might think of this aroma as “the fragrance of life” that is mentioned in 2 Cor. 2:16.

The Long Blessings of Slow Growth

In contrast to the wicked, the righteous grow slowly but they live long and fruitful lives. For such people, what often looks like a season of fruitlessness is actually a season of preparation. If we see a tree as only useful when there is ripe fruit to pick, we might see it as useless at all other times.

But trees are not useless during seasons when the fruit is not visibly emerging. During times of not bearing fruit, a tree is still being prepared to be fruitful: it is being pruned and watered and weathered, all of which will make the fruit sweeter and more abundant. Even the blessed person is not bearing fruit in all seasons but in the appointed season; there is a cyclical pattern to fruit-bearing.

If you are in a season that feels barren and fruitless, take heart – over time, if we are persistent in our pursuit of God and obedient to his will and plan, we will bear fruit. Now might be a time when you are being pruned and watered and weathered so that your fruit will be both sweeter and more abundant when the appointed season comes.

So, as for you, do not grow weary in doing good.

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Sin is Seeking to Destroy You

On any evidence of the fruit of the Spirit, sin takes notice and seeks to distort and destroy. This should cause us to live with greater awareness, not more fear. And this is why we must live in continual repentance and confess our sins often – to God but to each other as well, as we are commanded to do in scripture.

“Did that which is good, then, bring death to me? By no means! It was sin, producing death in me through what is good…”
Romans 7:13

Sin seeks to use what is good in order to deceive and to destroy all that it can in the process. We see this tactic first employed in the biblical account of the fall of mankind. In Genesis 3:1 the serpent asks Eve, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” One of Satan’s main tactics is to parse the commands of God and present us with potential loopholes. We often accept his offer, forsaking the simplicity of God’s commands for convenient complications.

Where Compromise Leads

Through their compromise, Adam and Eve really did become more like God, but not in a desirable way. Consider this: up to that point they knew only good; now they would know evil as well. God already knew what evil was but mankind did not yet have knowledge of it. This knowledge of evil was obtained by participating in evil, which had both immediate and massive downstream consequences. Death was now a possibility and mankind was on track to experience that as well.

Participation in sin does expand our knowledge and awareness, but it makes us aware of realities we consequently wish we’d never known. Once we know these things, we cannot un-know them. And yet in the foolishness of our human pride, we still fall for the same gambit over and over. We compromise repeatedly as our flesh seizes the opportunity and our minds rationalize the sins we commit. Presented with a convenient mistruth, we are willingly led down a path of compromise.

Sin is Aggressive

In the next chapter of Genesis (4:7) it says that “sin is crouching at the door…” I find this insight into the nature of sin to be helpful. Sin is not only what we seek to do that is contrary to God’s commands, it is also what waits to surprise and tempt and attack us. Sin is an aggressor in addition to being a passive availability.

Sin sees that we are humble and tempts us to be proud of our humility.

Sin sees that we are compassionate and seeks to lead us to approve of the sins of others.

Sin sees that we are patient and encourages us to tolerate evil.

Sin sees that we are obedient and seeks to lead us into bondage to those who would do us harm.

On any evidence of the fruit of the Spirit, sin takes notice and seeks to distort and destroy.

This should cause us to live with greater awareness, not more fear. And this is why we must live in continual repentance and confess our sins often – to God but to each other as well, as we are commanded to do in scripture. The heart indeed is desperately wicked, and we will need far more than pep talks and self-help books to live lives that are pleasing to God.

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The Deep Lack of Wisdom That COVID Has Revealed

The COVID period has revealed a deep lack of biblical wisdom among those who call themselves Christians. We have not been desperate for God’s wisdom, even while we eagerly consume the many doses of folly that invade our minds via social media. Do not be surprised if you are frustrated and do not know what to think if you have feasted on foolishness while starving yourself of real wisdom.

“Walk in wisdom toward outsiders,
making the best use of the time.”
Colossians 4:5

To walk in wisdom toward outsiders requires us to first seek wisdom from the right source, but too often our words are many while our prayers are few. We crave constant activity and the notoriety that comes along with our publicly visible efforts. We want to be seen and known, and not always with the most virtuous motives.

So we must not apply this command, as I sometimes have, in a way that justifies our burnout-inducing over-busyness. The causes of burnout are many and not all are sinful, but “burning out for Jesus” is not a game plan to be proud of; it is a sin to be repented of. Often the “best use of the time” is to sit and do nothing physically or audibly, to do nothing more than take in God’s word, to ask God questions, and to sit quietly as we wait for answers. He promises to supply wisdom if we ask.

Ask For Wisdom

In the men’s Bible study I lead on Thursday nights, we always start by having someone read James 1:5-8, which promises the following:

“If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.”

After this reading, we pray, asking God with all the desperation we can muster to supply us with wisdom and to make us willing to receive it, learn from it, and then to go and live accordingly. Life is filled with constant challenges and we often feel unprepared. God’s promise to supply wisdom is not a promise made in vain. If we are humble enough to admit that we need wisdom and we ask for it, he will give it to us – generously!

Making the Best Use of the Time

The command to “make the best use of the time” frequently interrupts my days and my thoughts. It is easy to misunderstand this statement as a command to constant busyness, but if we understand it this way we will fail to live as Jesus did. We will not take times of solitude to spend with the Father. We will not rest as often as needed.

We will flit about, feasting on one bit of information that is presented to us, and then another morsel that is diametrically opposed. Instead of gaining wisdom, we reap confusion. And then we distribute our confusion to others, perpetuating a downward spiral of frustration.

The COVID period has revealed a deep lack of biblical wisdom among those who call themselves Christians. We have not been desperate for God’s wisdom, even while we eagerly consume the many doses of folly that invade our minds via social media. Do not be surprised if you are frustrated and do not know what to think if you have feasted on foolishness while starving yourself of real wisdom.

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What is the Place of Effort in the Life of a Christian?

People like to make resolutions at this time of the year and these resolutions are often forsaken before the year is half over. But we should resolve daily to do as Paul instructs in this passage: “Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.” And we should be ruthless in our discernment, sparing no area of our lives.

“If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.”
Colossians 3:1-2

What is the place of effort in the life of a Christian?

We did not and cannot earn salvation by anything that we do or have done. No effort, no striving, no amount of self-improvement will ever make God look down and say “Ah – there is one who has made himself good enough for me to save! If only there were a few more like him!” We did not and cannot earn salvation by anything that we do or have done.

After we believe, after we have been saved and redeemed by God, we are to rest in Christ. In Heb 4:11 it says that we are to “strive to enter that rest.” The work is done and we can’t add to it; salvation is a complete work that we receive.

We rest in this salvation, but in other areas of the Christian life, after we are born again, there is effort involved. In 1 Tim. 4:7 we are told to discipline ourselves. In Phil. 3:14 we’re instructed to strive as an athlete striving to win the prize. In 2 Tim. 2:6: “Make an effort as a farmer who works hard in order to receive some of the reward from the vineyard.” In Eph. 6: “We wrestle not against flesh and blood but against the principalities and the powers of this evil age.” And in 1 Cor. 9:27 Paul says “I put my body in subjection so that after preaching to others I myself might not be a cast away.”

These all make sense when we remember Paul’s words in Phil 2:12-13: “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God working in you, both to will and to do of his good pleasure.”

Effort Applied

The Christian life is not a life without effort; the Christian life is one of applying effort to all that we are called by God to do. And God will empower us, by his Spirit, to accomplish whatever he commands us to. So, in the end, it is not a striving by human effort that makes the difference, but the complete surrender of obedience that aligns us with God’s will and supplies us with God’s power.

As we live out this new reality, we are instructed to, “Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.”

If you are hungry, you may find a grocery store, but finding the grocery store won’t solve your hunger. You need to enter, find the food, purchase the food, and eat the food. In the same way, it is not enough to merely know heavenly things; you must set your mind on them, devour them, ingest them. You must be preoccupied with them. True spirituality is not seeking spiritual experiences. It is not the pursuit of an emotional high. Emotions are a response to renewal, not the source of renewal.

True Spirituality

True spirituality is the practice of setting your mind on heavenly things. And setting your mind on heavenly things is the starting point and the accelerator of practical holiness. It is true that “we become what we behold.” We will take on the likeness of that to which we give our attention and affection. If to heavenly things, then holiness will result. If to earthly things, then wickedness and unholiness.

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Let’s Read Together in 2022

This is an invitation to you – church-goer or not, Christian or not – to read through the New Testament with me over the course of the next year. I’m starting on January 1 with a plan that includes short readings, opportunities for dialogue, and helpful videos like this one:

In the New Testament, in Hebrews chapter 4, verse 12 (NLT) it says that “the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires.”

Because I believe that to be true, and because I have seen the difference it has made in my own life, I keep reading. I am inviting you into that experience, believing that the same can happen for you. There are no strings attached to this. I am only interested in reading the New Testament together with you and having conversations that include your questions, objections, struggles, and insights.

How to join:

Go to https://my.bible.com and register for a free account
Use on your desktop of download the app
Use this link to join the group New Testament reading plan

BONUS: I’ll also be reading through the Old Testament in 2022, so if you’re up for a bigger challenge, join by clicking this link.

See you over at Bible.com!

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How Can We Keep Our Anxieties at Bay?

The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.
Philippians 4:5-6

The command is: “Do not be anxious about anything…” And yet never in our lifetimes have we had so much opportunity to worry and so little ability to contribute any effective first-hand solutions to the situations that are the subject of our stresses.

In the time of Paul’s writing, a person’s potential sphere of worry was much smaller. The raw materials of their anxieties were restricted to local events. Not that these weren’t legitimate worries, but they were not exposed – as we are daily – to a barrage of news of events near and far that might cause us to fret. In this way, our technological progress has become a disadvantage. So we might be tempted, given our technological disadvantages, to proclaim that obedience to this command is impossible! However, when God inspired these words to be written he was not ignorant of how our world would look in our present.

We’re in a challenging period of time, and you’re probably experiencing some combination of spiritual, emotional, physical, and financial problems. Well, you are not alone. Jesus told us that in this world we will have trouble. So we should not be surprised at what the Apostle Peter called the “fiery trials” of life. They are not pleasant, but they are very normal, they are to be expected and accepted with faith.

And they are to be endured together, not alone. We often hesitate to share our struggles, not wanting to burden others with our pains, but we miss out on a double blessing when we do this. We are blessed when our burdens are shared with others, and we are blessed in bearing the burdens of others.

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Believing and Affirming the Superior Promises of God

“For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit.”
Romans 8:5

I have found this verse to be helpful in evaluating my everyday actions. Is what I’m doing/watching/saying/listening to feeding my flesh or my spirit? Will proceeding in this direction lead me to obedience or rebellion, to righteousness or sin?

This is an important evaluative tool because “to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.” (Rom. 8:6)

We all want life and peace but we sometimes pursue and indulge in that which will ultimately lead to death. Enticements to sin are constant, opportunities abound, and the promise of a quick remedy to our sadness or anxiety or fear is powerful in its draw.

It is only by affirming and believing the superior promises of God, and then acting in faith according to those promises that will we ever find true freedom and peace.

(I was helped tremendously in this area of thought by a book by John Piper called “Battling Unbelief”.)

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The Cure For Selfish Ambition and Conceit

“Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others… Do all things without grumbling or disputing…”
The Apostle Paul in Philippians 2:3-4, 14

Nothing, do NOTHING that will benefit you alone. This means that you must meet a basic requirement before you decide to act in a certain way. You must ask yourself: Will what I’m about to do benefit me alone or will it also benefit the ones I am called to love, and perhaps even those I don’t?

Paul lists two ways we should not act, but as he often does he then proceeds to tell us how we should act. And his answer to how we should act, in one word, is humility. When we are humble we will count other people as more significant than ourselves. True humility means living with an awareness of our own shortcomings and weaknesses. We all have them, and we all like to deny that we have them. When we engage in this type of denial we begin to think of ourselves more highly than we think of others. And very quickly we add to admiring ourselves the despising of others. We so easily slip into Pharisee mode – ‘Thank you God for not making me like that person! Wow – have they got some SERIOUS ISSUES!”

Paul goes on to reinforce his point in instructing each of us to “look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.” There is an assumption here that you will look to your own interests – that comes naturally to all of us. It’s not something Paul has to instruct us to do; it is something we will do without any prompting or instruction. But this goes awry when we lack humility and indulge in selfish ambition and conceit, looking out ONLY for our own interests.

Selfish ambition and conceit need no encouragement. At every moment they are willing to spring into action from their secret hiding places inside our desperately wicked hearts.

We are not to be so preoccupied with our own comfort and progress that we fail to see the noble traits in other people. Looking away from ourselves, refusing to be internally focused will assist in the cultivation of humility.

These words of Paul’s must constantly be brought forward in our minds. Selfish ambition and conceit need no encouragement. At every moment they are willing to spring into action from their secret hiding places inside our desperately wicked hearts. His instructions here are impossible to fulfill perfectly, but in relying on the Holy Spirit to empower our efforts, we make progress toward the perfect Christlikeness that will one day be fully ours.

Be Proud of Your Work For God

A man who boasts of all he has accomplished in his own strength is headed for a fall that will drag many down with him.

“In Christ Jesus, then, I have reason to be proud of my work for God. For I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me…” (Rom. 15:17-18)

Pride and boasting do have a place in the life of a Christian but in an unusual way. When we boast we do not boast about our talents and strengths but about all that Christ has accomplished through us despite our weaknesses and flaws and our propensity to sin. When Christians boast, they are to boast in their brokenness and weakness, so that the power of Christ is magnified in the sight of all.

The Christian life is an exercise in giving credit to others for the good accomplished through us. Seeing the opposite in a servant of Christ – especially in a Pastor – is a giant red flag. A man who boasts of all he has accomplished in his own strength is headed for a fall that will drag many down with him. We see this over and over again in churches, and yet we seem wired to admire brashness and boastfulness in Pastors. It should not be so.

To be clear, just like Paul, Pastors are to be bold and unafraid to stand for the truth of God’s word, but each one must keep this perspective in mind: that what is accomplished comes about in spite of his weaknesses, not because of his strengths.

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Jesus, Then Canada

As far as kingdoms go, my primary loyalty is to Jesus and his kingdom. Canada is a distant second, but second nonetheless.

I celebrate my country today the way I hope people celebrate me when the time comes for those reflections. I hope they acknowledge that I have flaws and imperfections, that I fail at times to do what I know is best, and that I occasionally delay right actions for fear of the consequences.

And then I hope they are able to say “but”…

But he works hard to address his imperfections, apologizes when apologies are needed, and takes action – even if sometimes later than he could have. I hope they are able to say they have helped me in my journey, intervened when necessary, and encouraged me to do the right thing even when I am reluctant.

And then I hope they say, “I really love that guy! Despite his imperfections, I love him.”

This is how I think of Canada – a nation I love so much it brings me to tears. A nation that is respected around the world for many good reasons. Many of us take this for granted. We focus constantly on Canada’s failures and imperfections and seem to suppress the many good words that could be said. We should seek to say all the words – the words of criticism and the words of appreciation.

Some Canadians seem to enjoy indulging in self-hatred (and not the kind that Jesus advocated). Self-reflection is healthy. Doing the hard work of change is too. But self-hatred leads only to more hurt – for yourself and for others.

It is most certainly time for us to face, address, and correct our historical failures. I hope we can do that in the same we would face, address, and correct our personal failures. Not by hating who we are and writing ourselves off, but by acknowledging the lump in our throat and knot in our stomachs and saying, “Something needs to change – and by God’s grace, I will do better.”

In 2 Chronicles 7:14 God says this: “if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.” This was a promise made to Israel as a nation, not to Canada as a nation. Canada as a nation is not “God’s chosen people.” But within this nation are people who belong to the Kingdom of God. And if those of us who claim to belong to that Kingdom will humble ourselves, pray and seek God’s face and turn from our wicked ways, God will hear from heaven and forgive our sins. Inevitably, healing would follow.

The path forward is not self-hatred; it is repentance.

Celebrate Canada today the way you would celebrate a good friend. Pray for blessing as you acknowledge failures and celebrate accomplishments. Encourage by kind words and correct with harsh but loving words when necessary. Take action where it is within your power to do so. Take everything else to prayer.