"My husband doesn't show me love, and I feel so hurt." "My wife is always telling me what to do, and I feel so angry." "Why won't God answer my prayer and bring me a spouse?" "I so often feel defeated and worthless."
These are the legitimate problems Christians face every day along with many more. We see these brothers and sisters at our conferences and in our counseling. If you relate to any of those statements or have other struggles such as pornography, addiction, or a negative self-image, you are not alone. All Christians struggle with something, and I mean ALL. No one escapes because Jesus said, "Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows" (John 16:33 NLT).
I hope what I am going to share next will give you some hope and encouragement. Very often your problem is not the problem. It doesn't mean that the problem is not real or painful. It often is, but there can be much more at play. Jesus gives us a little clue about this when He continues in that same verse by saying, "But take heart, because I have overcome the world." What does that mean?
Our Father is jealous for His Son, Jesus, to be the center and source of each of our lives. He will not allow anything or anyone else to take Jesus' rightful place in our lives. He loves us too much to allow us to have an idol, because it is damaging to us. An idol can be something we are relying on to do for us what only Jesus can do.
Most of the time it's an attempt to get our "LAWS" needs met, meaning Love, Acceptance, Worth and Security. It's enjoyable if others meet those needs in addition to Jesus, but as Sandy Witherspoon, our Director of Training says, "Jesus is the cake, and people are the icing." Yet we easily get those confused.
Because Father is jealous for His Son in us to be revealed to us, He will allow our strategies for trying to make life work, run their course and either fail or fail to meet our needs. Is it beginning to make sense that your problem is not necessarily the problem?
Father's goal is for us to learn to live by faith in Christ in us, rather than just the fact that Christ is in us. I believe that is what the prayer in Ephesians 3 means. Paul leads us to pray that we would be strengthened with power through the Holy Spirit so that Christ may live in our hearts through faith (not just fact). Most Christians are confident Christ is in them, but they don't realize that their problems are God's messengers to allow them to know how to live by faith in Christ in them.
So how do we deal with our problems when life seems so hard? The best thing any of us can do is tell God He can do anything He wants, to us, for us, and in us to give us a deeper revelation of Christ in us as our All in All. And continue by affirming to Him that we believe that we have been crucified, buried and raised with Christ, such that He is not only our Savior and Lord but also our Life.
If you are struggling today, would you stop and pray just that?
Warmly in Christ,
Mark Maulding, President and Founder
www.GraceLifeInternational.com All Content Copyright © 2016 Mark Maulding but feel free to pass it on!
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