But how could Christianity be so stressful? Because it was tough living up to a perfect standard – perfect prayers every day, perfect amount of Bible Study every day, perfect outgoing, serving, happy attitude all day, perfect thoughts every second, perfect work ethic, perfect Dad, perfect husband, perfect example in the community, perfect sermons, perfect health, perfect everything, because wasn’t that what Christianity was about, being a perfectionist and living up to the highest standards?

But what else could it be when Scripture tells us we’re “rewarded according to our works”? Doesn’t our eternal future (hell or heaven) depend on living up to the highest standards? If we do an outstanding job of meeting all the demands put on us now, the better our reward later – isn’t that how Christianity works? I’d be a fool then, surely, not to drive myself on relentlessly, being the best I can be. But – I discovered to my dismay – it was killing me!

I was steaming full bore to an early death and making life miserable for people along the way as I deteriorated. But how do you ease up after 40 years of believing Christianity at its heart and core is living up to God’s demands as perfectly as possible – and doing whatever people expect of you, as well? Especially when people expect you to continue keeping up the pace you’ve been at, and expect the same level of service. You feel so guilty letting them down, or having to say “No.”

So I didn’t say “No.” I pushed on, meeting every demand put on me by God and people, never easing up, despite the obvious (and frightening) signs of stress on mind and body. But Christians don’t ease up, they “plough on regardless,” go beyond the call of duty, chin up, chest out, giving their lives endlessly in service to others, right?

Wrong, Galatians 2:20. “The life I live in the body,” Paul wrote, “I live by the faithfulness of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” Christianity is about living in the love of Christ, and trusting in his faithfulness. His faithfulness in what? That he will live HIS life in me, because “I’ve been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but CHRIST lives in me.”

Every day I expect Christ to do that, then. And that’s where my expectations now rest, not on myself but on him, that he will faithfully live his life in me. Because his life is perfect.

But why? I’d only been doing “what all Christians are supposed to do.” I’d done my best to be a good example of Christian living, done all my church rituals, helped the needy, spread the gospel, and got a pretty good grasp of Scripture and Christian teaching. And while I was young and had lots of energy, I’d kept up with it all.

But the shine on that kind of Christianity began to wear off as I got older. I couldn’t keep up the pace like I used to, and when I pushed myself too hard for too long I got ill. But I couldn’t switch off what I’d been taught, so I pressed on, only to get knocked down again, and again, and each time quicker and worse. Physically, I felt hammered. Mentally, I thought I was going nuts.

But surely this shouldn’t be happening to a Christian, right? I was worn out, wings sheared off, energy spent and horribly confused. I was done. I began to wonder, therefore, if doing all my Christian responsibilities as perfectly as possible and being an upstanding, good person in every way wasn’t actually what Christianity was about.

But what on earth was it instead?

A little light began to shine in 2 Corinthians 4:7, which told me I’m a “jar of clay.” I’m not a powerful example of Christian living, I’m a pot. And the reason Christians are pots is “to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.” I’m not a Christian to show off what I can do, I’m a Christian to show off what God can do, “For we (Christians) are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that his life may be revealed in our mortal body,” verse 11.

And there I had my clue as to why I was so stressed out. I was trying to be a tower of strength while God was taking the strength out of me. Why? Because all God wants me to be is a pot, a container for the life of Christ that he then shines out from me. That’s why “he made his light shine in my heart” (verse 6), “so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in (my) mortal body,” verse 10. I’m a Christian so that God, by HIS power, can reveal his Son through me. HE does it, not me, because I’m just a pot.

I’d taken my responsibilities seriously, studied my Bible ’til my eyes ached, prayed even when I didn’t have anything to say, said “yes” to any request from someone in need, listened for hours to people pouring out their problems, driven through horrendous weather to fulfill my duties, given up many pleasures and hobbies, delved deeply into controversial issues that Christians have wrestled with for centuries, tried to keep up with all the latest trends in Christianity, furiously defended my congregations from weird ideas, bought hundreds of books to make sure I was on the right track, worried through many a night about keeping up with all my obligations, and so on.

A commendable life of dedication and diligence, you say? But from where I sat, I was a mess. I became so stressed out, physically and mentally, I ended up in hospital six times thinking I was having a heart attack. The symptoms were frightening and very real, to the point I was afraid to even go for a walk outside (fearful I might not make it back). It wasn’t my heart, though, it was stress – but stress so bad that my Doctor told me I could lose everything I held dear if I let it continue much longer. I was, to be blunt, digging my own grave as fast as I could shovel.

So I had to do something, and fast, but what? Go on a strict regime of not worrying anymore? Make a New Year’s resolution to ease up on myself? Take a 3 month stress leave? Go on anti-depressants? Get psychiatric counselling? Get a hobby that might, at least, turn off the worry switch in my head for a few blissful hours? Pray more? Get out and about more, and do normal things with normal people? Stop being so conscientious and delegate more? But I am who I am – and you don’t change a leopard’s spots overnight, either, so now what?

Well, I’m not the first Christian to be “under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure.” Paul was too, 2 Corinthians 1:8. He “despaired even of life,” it got so bad. He “felt the sentence of death.” He simply couldn’t handle any more. “But it happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead,” verse 9. Is that why God lets us sink so low, then, and lets us reach the point we’ve had it? So that, at last, we realize Christianity is all his doing, and not ours?

Well, like anything neglected, salvation stops doing what it was made for. Salvation, just like a car or a home, is built to serve our needs as perfectly as possible for as long as possible, and if cared for it works beautifully for us. A car that coughs to a halt and leaves you stranded isn’t doing what it was made for. Neither is a home that goes mouldy or a body that gets weak and sickly. But neither is salvation doing what it was made for if it isn’t enabling us to love God and love neighbour at all times.

Because that’s what salvation was made for. So when I’m driving home after a long day and the traffic is nose to tail and crawling along at snail speed, salvation enables me to not get upset, because salvation was made for all circumstances in which I’m tempted to hate my neighbour. “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me,” Paul said in Philippians 4:13, which today would include not coming unglued in traffic.

But that’s what salvation was made for. It was made for survival in the devil’s insane world, where circumstances constantly arise that make us want to spit at people. It struck me, therefore, how silly I am to neglect so great salvation that was made for such a world, because included in that salvation are all the fruits of the Spirit, which far exceed what’s needed to survive in traffic. I also know what symptoms show up when I neglect that salvation too – obvious things like road rage, near misses with pedestrians, heart-thumping emergency stops and risky overtaking manoeuvres, and long, grim trips that make me irritable and short-tempered.

And what stirred these thoughts, ironically, was being stuck at the back of a long line of traffic, weaving its way through the countryside like slugs on holiday, with no opportunities to overtake. It was getting late and I’d had a long, tiring day of work as well as nearly 6 hours driving. I wondered at the time if salvation covered situations like this. And it dawned on me that of course it does. How silly I would be, then, to neglect it. So I didn’t.

Imagine going through University, then, without tapping into this ton of money available. It’s there to be had with both hands from people more than willing to give it. One student got $70,000 and she wasn’t even a great student in school. But why shouldn’t she get all that society is very willing to give?  She’d be stupid not to.

Imagine being a human being, then, and not getting all that GOD has to give, especially when he specifically created human beings to give them all he’s got. For 2,000 years it’s been sitting there in Ephesians 1:3 that God “has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.” Before he even made our world he provided everything we would ever need for life, joy and eternity through Jesus Christ. Every blessing, every benefit, every bit of our tuition fees paid in full on the road to life everlasting. And if it’s “wisdom and knowledge” we’re after, “treasures” and full scholarships are available for them too in Jesus Christ, Colossians 2:3.

And Jesus wants us to grab them, too. When people found out what God was offering through him, he figured people would be in there grabbing with both hands, really pushing and shoving to get it – and with his blessing too!  ”Ask, seek and knock,” Jesus said, and it’s yours. And don’t ask politely, ask boldly, Hebrews 4:16 (KJV). Some of those university students did just that too, they boldly asked for scholarships – and got them! They sought out what was clearly stated as available, started knocking, and doors opened. So, says scripture, do the doors to the treasures of heaven.

In 1 John 5:14, “if we ask anything according to his will he hears us,” and in verse 15, “if we know he hears us – whatever we ask – we know that we have what we asked of him.” All we need do is ask and it’s ours. Are we limited in that request by his will? Not when his will includes every spiritual blessing and all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. In those things there is no limit. So are we getting all that God has to give, when clearly he’d love to give it?

But in context, what does “saved” mean in this verse? Does it mean saved from eternal death, or saved from hell? Is “saved” here an eternal life and death issue, deciding our fate forever? Is that the salvation Jesus is talking about?

No, it isn’t. In context he’s talking about being saved from the dangers Christians face as conditions in the world get worse. The dangers are many, verses 4-12 - natural disasters, violence, attention-grabbers predicting the date of the end, preachers pushing their own version of Jesus, worldwide persecution and murder of Christians, and a world where it’s every man for himself. The strain of it all will test even the stoutest heart. We can survive it all, though, Jesus says, it’s possible. So stand firm, because those who stand their ground will make it through, no matter what this insane world throws at us.

But Jesus also warns us in Luke 21:34, to “Be careful, or your hearts will be weighed down with dissipation, drunkenness and the anxieties of life, and that day will close on you unexpectedly like a trap.” As the world goes down the tubes we can go down with it and resort to ITS ways of dealing with stress, rather than the world’s worsening troubles being a source of hope for us that “your redemption is drawing near,” verse 28. The worse it gets, the sooner it will be over. “When you see these things happening you know that the kingdom of God is near,” verse 31, and the restoration of everything under Christ will begin (Acts 3:21).

So stand firm, because it’s all going to be over and done with one day, once and for all. And those who do stand firm can make it through with their trust in Christ intact. It really is possible, no matter how bad the world becomes. So don’t even “be afraid of what you are about to suffer,” John writes in Revelation 2:10, because as Jesus said in John 16:33, “In this world you wil have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world,” and with his help so can we, Hebrews 13:6. Because “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?”

That’s right: What can the world do to us that Christ can’t deal with? So stand firm; HE will get us through.

To other Christians, however, the idea that God decides the day we die creates all kinds of problems and neuroses. It’s scary, for a start, knowing we could drop dead at any second for no other reason than “God decided it.” It could make us careless too, because what’s the point of looking after ourselves and making right choices if our actions and choices don’t have any effect on how and when we die? If tomorrow we die only because God’s decided it and not because of anything we do, then we might as well eat, drink and be merry. We can do whatever we like because there aren’t any consequences, and that surely can’t be right.

So, what really decides the day we die? Is it God or us? Does God simply allot a fixed number of days for us to live, or does he adjust the time of our death according to our choices and actions? If a Christian decides to fight in a war, for instance, and he’s killed, is that because God willed it to happen or because he allows us the freedom to choose? Does God base our death on the consequences of our actions, or on some predetermined plan of his?

Well, in Scripture, the day we die is a total non-issue, because we’re already dead. “For you died,” Paul writes in Colossians 3:3. And when did that happen? We “died with Christ,” Romans 6:8. “Don’t you know,” verse 3, “that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?” When Christ died, we died. But God then “raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms,” Ephesians 2:6, so not only are we already dead, we’ve also been raised from the dead too, and right now our lives are “hidden with Christ in God,” Colossians 3:3.

When it dawned on Paul that “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live,” Galatians 2:20, it got his mind off death entirely. And when he realized that Christ was now living HIS life in him, then death really did become a non-issue because Christ never dies. Instead of worrying about how and when he was going to die, then, Paul could concentrate on this new life he’d been given that would last and grow forever.

1) The state of Israel today tells us nothing about when “the last days” are. In Romans 11:25, Paul writes, “I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers, so that you may not be conceited: Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of Gentiles has come in.” In other words, what happens to Israel is not what’s important at this time. God’s timing, according to Paul, is determined entirely by the “full number of Gentiles” coming in, and who knows when God decides that’s been done? Israel, meanwhile, remains in its dormant state until God’s done his job on the Gentiles.

2) The book of Revelation was not written to enable us to predict the end. It was written for Christians in the first few centuries who were facing horrific persecution. The book was written primarily to encourage them, telling them in apocalyptic terms they understood that Jesus is in total control and God will get them through whatever is thrown at them.

3) The prophecies of Matthew 24 and Luke 21 are not “signs” for us today. They’re aimed primarily at the Jews in Jesus’ day who are about to face the horrors of the Romans in the terrible destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD.

4) Knowing the state of our present world can help us prepare for tough times, but world conditions do not determine when the end is near.

Anyone who’s ever used Scripture, Israel or world conditions to predict the time of the end – or warn people that the end is near, or tell people they need to straighten out their lives because the end is near – has ended up with egg on his face. The end has never come on any date that anyone has predicted. But Jesus did say in Matthew 24:36 that “No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.” His parting words in Acts 1:7 were: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority.” In other words, none of us humans can know when the end is, and to say that we do know is to take the Father’s authority to ourselves.

The focus of Scripture is not to provide us with clues to pinpoint when the end is close. Its focus is on what Jesus has done for us and all humanity through the cross and his resurrection, because that’s what prepares us best for the end of time – whenever it happens.

“A good war might be just what we need, though,” a young man told me, “it would knock the population down and give us breathing space for a while.” I can’t blame him for thinking that way because he’s got a lot of life to live yet, and it doesn’t look good for him the way things are. That being the case, wouldn’t it be better, then, if God did wrap things up soon, got this agony over with, cleaned out the lunatics and started again with Christ in charge? God could certainly do that, so what’s he waiting for?

But “bear in mind,” Peter writes, “that our Lord’s patience means salvation,” 2 Peter 3:15. God’s focus is on saving people, not getting rid of them. ”He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance,” verse 9. God’s taking whatever time it needs to grow us for eternity.

For how long, though? It can’t last much longer, surely, because look at the mess we’re in. But, Peter replies, “The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness,” verse 9. God’s definition of slow has nothing to do with time. It has everything to do with “keeping his promise.” And what is that promise? To make a “home of righteousness” for us, verse 13. He’s building a world for us that won’t have the problems our world has. How? By transforming us. By making human beings “spotless, blameless and at peace with him,” verse 14. Think what the Earth would be like if everyone was like that. Well, that’s exactly what God is patiently putting together for us, so we’ll have a home that will last us forever.

And he’s not being slow about it, either. According to Peter, God’s smack on target because he keeps his promises. That perfect home we all hope for one day is in the works. In which case, Peter continues, rather than wondering when the end is going to happen, live in a way we can look forward to it coming at any time, verse 14.

But if that’s what Paul said in those verses he’d be contradicting himself, because in 2 Corinthians 3:8-9 he says it’s the “ministry of the Spirit that brings righteousness,” and in verse 18 that we “are being transformed into his (Christ’s) likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.” So, where does our spiritual formation come from? From the Lord. Who’s transforming us into Christ’s likeness? The Holy Spirit. And whose ministry creates righteousness? The Spirit’s. There is no talk here about us playing any part at all in our righteousness or transformation into Christ’s likeness. Our spiritual formation and growth are entirely the work of the Spirit.

For Paul to even hint that spiritual growth involves something we do would open him up to being asked the same question he challenged the Galatians with in Galatians 3:3: ”Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort?”

The Galatians had been depending totally on the “miracle-working Spirit (verse 5)” for their spiritual growth – but now they were reverting back to depending on their own efforts. Some Christians today, however, would support what the Galatians were doing, because, they say, the effort of spiritual disciplines is necessary for “stirring” the Spirit. In other words, the Spirit will work more effectively in our lives if we’re doing our part better – like if we pray more, study more and obey more, then the Spirit will be stirred to do more too.

But that’s exactly what the Galatians thought and Paul called them “foolish”! That’s why he asked them, in verse 2, ”Did you receive the Spirit by observing the law, or by believing what you heard?” Did the Spirit work miracles in their lives because of their obedience or their belief in the gospel – which? Oh, they knew! It was their belief, and nothing more.

And that’s why I say “bah humbug!” to New Year’s resolutions, because our spiritual growth is entirely the work of the Spirit, not human effort, and the only thing needed for stirring that miracle-working Spirit in our lives is belief in the gospel. It’s only foolish people (says Paul) who believe they can grow spiritually by their own resolve and willpower.