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Steve Brown: Don't leave. For God's sake, don't leave. Let's talk about it on Key Life.

Matthew: That was Steve Brown. He's an author, seminary professor, and our teacher on Key Life, a program all about God's radical grace. We're committed to bringing you Bible teaching that's honest, straightforward, and street smart. Keep listening to hear truth that'll make you free.

Steve Brown: Thank you, Matthew. We were talking about Christians being human. Jeremy, who's the producer of this broadcast, and I, as we've recorded different programs, we have times in between. So we end up having wonderful discussions. In fact, I'm going to start recording those and playing them for you because incredible, wise, profound things are said. Well, maybe not, but they're interesting conversations.

I was saying that I knew of people, and there are a lot of them, who were zealous for Christ, totally committed, were going to change the world, and who now have slipped into the darkness. How often that happens. Jeremy began to bring up memories too, and we shared those of people who at one time were running well, but slipped into the darkness for a lot of reasons. Legalism does it. "I just can't do this anymore." The judgment of the church when they misjudge how radical God's grace is for all of us and how necessary it is for us.

A lot of people have bought into a Christian faith that has nothing to do with New Testament Christianity. It's a do-it-yourself-for-God, and get the credit, and rejoice in your success. That's a lie. It comes from the pit of hell. I think I quoted last week from the song or the poem that everybody quotes: "Christ has no hands but our hands to do His work today. He has no feet but our feet to lead men in His way. He has no tongues but our tongues to tell men how He died. He has no help but our help to bring them to His side."

That's a lie. That's just not true. It's very important if you're a new Christian that you right now understand that you're human and that sanctification is a process, and it doesn't happen overnight. If you're an old Christian thinking about leaving, let me tell you, you haven't surprised God. When God called you to Himself, He knew how you would be feeling at this moment. If you're somebody who has left, come back. We'll welcome you back into the family of God because we're all sinners and we have a great Savior and we're very, very human.

Listen to what one of the finest Christians who ever lived, the Apostle Paul, had to say about physical problems. This is what he said in 2 Corinthians 12:7 through 9: "And to keep me from being too elated by the abundance of revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from being too elated. Three times I talked to the Lord about this, that it should leave me, but He said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you.'" What Paul is saying in those verses is that Christians are just as physically weak and spiritually weak as other human beings, and the difference is Jesus.

The things that I'm going to say, and I'm going to talk primarily about physical problems that some of you are facing right now, may not apply to you right now. But I want you to take note because it's important to be prepared for physical problems and spiritual problems and struggles before they happen. When I was in seminary in Boston, Boston University, the papers were filled with stories of the great Alaskan earthquake. A lot of people died in that.

We asked one of our seminary professors what he would say to his congregation on Sunday morning if he was a pastor in Alaska. We wanted to know how you explain that much suffering and loss to Christians, that much pain and darkness. You know what he said? "I would say nothing." I remember saying to him, "What?" He said, "I wouldn't have to say anything because I would have prepared them for tragedy before the tragedy happened."

The good news the Bible has for Christians who suffer, who sin, who fail, is that God knows and understands. No matter how much pain you suffer, no matter how tired you get, no matter how weak you are, no matter how much you fail, God knows that you are an earthen vessel, and He will love you and use you anyway. Catherine Booth said she could not remember a time in her life when she was without pain. Beethoven was the son of an alcoholic and became deaf at the age of 28. When Handel wrote the Messiah, he was suffering from a paralyzed right side and right arm.

Loyola suffered from lifelong pain. Fanny Crosby was blind. Charles Spurgeon was manic-depressive. Can you believe that? And I could go on and on. The point is this: your weakness is not a sign of God's disfavor. It is what God has promised to do for you when you're there. For instance, when we're talking about physical problems, I believe God does perform miracles of healing in our time. Any pastor can give you incident after incident of God's healing power. I remember what the doctor told me when our daughter was so sick.

She was newborn. Her legs were not getting nourishment. Her blood count was rising rapidly and he said, "Mr. Brown, you need to pray." I didn't know how to pray, but I knew some people who did and asked them to pray. The next day my wife called from the hospital and said, "Honey, did anybody pray last night?" And I said, "Yeah." She said, "The doctor came in this morning and said, 'I don't understand this, but everything's normal.'" God does that. Miracles are still happening. Healing still happens. But those things don't happen as a reward for goodness or piety or spirituality.

The Christian life is not a life of power without pressure. It is power under pressure. That includes the pressure of physical weakness, of failure, of doubt, of sin. One of the great dangers involved in the resurgence of interest in spiritual things in our times—and we are seeing, I believe, in many quarters the beginning of a great awakening that is taking place in America and Canada—but one of the dangers is that those who are there don't recognize that they're beginning a journey and there are lots of bumps along the way.

Helen Keller said on one occasion that she thanked God for her blindness because through that she had found herself, her work, and her God. That's a story, and I've probably told you before, but it doesn't hurt repeating. They finally got through to her. Helen Keller, as you know, couldn't speak and couldn't hear and couldn't see. But they got through to her by writing on the palm of her hands. They called Phillips Brooks, who was then the rector of Trinity Church in Boston.

He came and sat down in a chair across from her, and he told her about Jesus. The people who were there said that she lit up as he was describing the gospel. She jumped up and in that croaking voice that she had just acquired, she said, "I knew Him. I knew Him. I just didn't know His name." So one of the things that you need to remember if you're a Christian is that if you're going through physical problems or spiritual problems or doubts, or you've sinned and you think God's through with you: don't leave. Just don't leave because this dark place will be the place where God's power is made perfect in weakness. You think about that. Amen.

Matthew: Your weakness is not a sign of God's disfavor. That is huge. Huge. Thank you, Steve, for that reminder. Hope you're enjoying our current "Welcome to the Family" teaching series. This week, we're drilling down into the concept that Christians are human too. Some really big implications there. So join us again tomorrow.

So have you ever met somebody who's really young but also really wise? Isn't that annoying? I'm kidding. But that did happen to us recently when we spoke with author Micah Davis on "Steve Brown, Etc." His new book is all about how to give and receive forgiveness. If you could use some encouragement in that department—I know I could—the things Micah says are going to really help. And we'll send you that whole show on CD for free. Just call us at 1-800-KEY-LIFE. That's 1-800-539-5433.

You can also email steve@keylife.org to ask for that CD, or to mail your request, go to keylife.org/contact to find our mailing addresses for the US and Canada. Just ask for the free CD featuring Micah Davis. Finally, would you partner in the work of Key Life by giving? You can charge a gift on your credit card or include a gift in your envelope, or simply pick up your phone and text "KEYLIFE" to 28950, then follow the instructions. And remember that no matter how you give, big or small, one-time or ongoing, every gift matters and every gift helps. Key Life is a member of ECFA in the States and CCCC in Canada, and Key Life is a listener-supported production of Key Life Network.