Overcoming Negative Circumstances

"Come quickly, Lord, and answer me, for my depression deepens.  Don’t turn away from me, or I will die.  Let me hear of your unfailing love each morning, for I am trusting you.  Show me where to walk, for I give myself to you." -Ps 143:7 & 8

Sometimes life is hard.  When we go through difficult seasons, we may question God's presence, His goodness, His love for us, or the dreams He placed within us.  "Why on earth would this happen to me, God, if You are loving and just!?" we may ask.

However, this is exactly the posture the enemy wants us to have.  Whenever bad things happen, as they did to Job, the enemy wants to get in the middle and tell us God doesn't love us, He doesn't care about us, and He doesn't have a plan for our lives. He wants us to turn against our God.  These statements are a complete and total lie!

But, how do we get to the truth, when all our circumstances point to the negative?  It may be that we have never known anything besides the negativity that surrounds us. 

First, we need to get in the word, to read what God says about us and our situation.  We need to pray, even if we don't feel like it.  We need to worship, to praise God in spite of whatever is going on - in His word it says that praise is the antidote for heaviness.  (Is 6:13) We need to get around encouraging people.  And most of all we need to believe - to have faith that in spite of any difficulty, our God is still victorious.  We have to realize that we live in a fallen world, and that God does not want us to go through negative things, but He will use them for our good. (Romans 8:28)

Are you going through something negative right now?  Stay in faith, let God be your hope, and even if things don't change immediately stay in faith that God will do what He promised. The answer may not come at the time we expect, but it doesn't change the fact that God loves us, and sent His son to die for us, so that we could live in heaven, eternally with Him.

Arrested Development

Photo credit: http://izoooba.deviantart.com/art/Sad-Kid-244199365

"When I was a child, I spoke and thought and reasoned as a child. But when I grew up, I put away childish things." -1 Cor 13:11
 
Dr. Paul Hegstrom is the author of a book called Broken Children, Grown Up Pain. A psychologist himself, Dr. Hegstrom describes a phenomenon known as "arrested development", in which people are emotionally stunted due to past childhood traumas that occur before the ages of 9 and 12 years old. 

I went through a biblically-based training he developed called Lifeskills, and the knowledge and revelation I received was truly life-changing. Traumatic experiences are classified as emotional, physical, and sexual abuse, neglect, and excessive rejection. When these experiences happen when we're young, we take them in as truth. "Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it." -Proverbs 22:6 The enemy's lies about us and our identity can get planted very early - limiting us from being able to receive God's love for us and understand our true identity and calling in Him. 

Dr. Drew Pinsky, famed celebrity psychiatrist and host of the show Loveline also describes this phenomenon happening in our culture today, as it relates to the increasing trend of narcissism: "As I continue to talk with these people {celebrities}, they usually reveal childhood experiences that were clearly traumatic - the kinds of damaging episodes that are at the root of narcissistic disorders." pg. 106, The Mirror Effect 
 
But, there is good news! God can heal us of any kind of wound we may have experienced during our growing up years. "Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; then your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the LORD will be your rear guard."  - Isaiah 58:8 

Can you see any areas where you might be arrested in your emotions? Can you see where others might have had some wounds in their past? Pray and ask God to help to heal you in these areas, and that you also might be a healing force in the life of someone else. Our heavenly Father desires that we be healed of any lie from the enemy, so that we can grow strong in our faith and know His love, be free from our wounds, and come to full maturity in Him. His love never fails. (1 Cor 13:8)

In the Pit

“Then they took him and cast him into a pit.”  -Genesis 37:24

Joseph was his father’s favorite. Subsequently, he was despised by the rest of his brothers.

Joseph’s brothers plotted against him to kill him. Instead of killing him however, they threw him into a pit and then sold him into slavery. But God had a different plan.

Joseph did not know that the pit was the door to his destiny.  When he was thrown in the cistern by his brothers, I am sure he did not think God had anything to do with it.  But after his journey of years of imprisonment in Egypt and his subsequent elevation as second in command of Egypt, Joseph had discovered a lot more in hindsight than he could have seen for himself in the moment. Joseph effectively saved Israel and the surrounding nations from a drought that would last 7 years because of his faith in God.

There are several reasons God uses the pit in our lives:

• The pit is for our healing & restoration- so we can walk in integrity (wholeness)
• The pit is to increase our dependence upon God to supply all our needs “And this same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from his glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:19
• The pit is for our character development and maturity

We cannot effectively get ourselves out of the pit in our own strength. But, we can speed up the process by forgiving those who have wronged us, realizing that we cannot avenge ourselves of any wrong done to us, and being faithful in the small things in order for God to promote us. When we have been faithful and our heart is pure before God, God is then able to elevate us to the next place.

Do you find yourself in a pit right now?  Make sure you are seeking God in this place and keeping your heart pure before Him.  If God can find us faithful in the small things, He will elevate us to greater things.

Living Under Authority

"Obey your spiritual leaders, and do what they say. Their work is to watch over your souls, and they are accountable to God. Give them reason to do this with joy and not with sorrow. That would certainly not be for your benefit." -Hebrews 13:17
 
We rarely like hearing about the words "submission", "obedience", and "authority." Mainly perhaps, because they have often been abused by people in positions of power. But, possibly also because each of us struggles with being under authority. It goes against our very nature to follow someone else and serve. However, this is one of the primary ways the kingdom advances. 

Jesus was an incredible example of someone who lived under authority. The Bible says He only did what He saw His Father doing. (John 5:19) Some other examples of living under authority are Joseph and Pharaoh, Joshua and Moses, Samuel and Eli, and Elisha and Elijah. If we are married, we are called to "submit to one another" in honor, with the husband being the primary one responsible for the well-being of his family. We also live under the authority of our national and local governments. (Rom 13:1-5) 

The challenge with living under authority is that no leader is perfect. But, even so, God can work His perfect will in our lives by living under the wing of a leader who is imperfectly human. This is not to say we blindly follow someone just for the shear fact of this principle, but we generally respect and do what is asked of a proven leader with integrity. 

Simon McIntyre in his book Follow the Leader states, "I am convinced that many a destiny has been short circuited by an inability to hold the line under pressure. We interpret pressure as a reason to flee, whereas great followers like Joseph allow it to change them into the kind of people who can bear the load of fulfilled dreams." 

Do you live under authority? If you have trouble with this, ask God to help you with it today. We can trust Him by submitting to His leadership for our lives.

Great Followership

"At once they left their nets and followed him." -Matthew 4:20

What makes a great follower? Why should we be great followers? Becoming a selfless follower is one of the biggest proving grounds for becoming a leader. We need to learn to lay down our own agenda. A great follower will more than likely produce a great leader. Conversely, poor followers make poorer leaders.

Jesus was the greatest example of serving his followers by laying down his life. He did the most menial task you could have done back in those days as an act of service to them; he washed their feet.

"He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, 'Lord, are you going to wash my feet?' Jesus replied, 'You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.' 'No,' said Peter, 'you shall never wash my feet.' Jesus answered, 'Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.' - John 13:6-8

Simon McIntyre, in his book Follow the Leader states, "...people who grasp at leadership and try to bypass the apprenticeship of followership only demonstrate their misunderstanding of the purpose of leading." He goes on to say, "(Servants) are strong, intelligent, confident people living successful lives. They are able and willing to take on roles of service because they are confident in themselves and not so insecure as to feel that taking on sometimes menial tasks might be beneath their dignity. They are following the example of Jesus..."

We might think of serving another person as demeaning and self-effacing. This is in fact the point of serving - to get past ourselves.

Elisha followed Elijah. Joshua followed Moses. Joseph served Potiphar. The disciples followed Jesus. Sometimes we need to lay down our agenda in order for God to truly birth His plan and purpose in us. One of the ways He does this is through calling us to serve another man's vision. We need to realize it is not all about us.

Who are you following right now? Are you serving them to the best of your gifts, talents, and abilities?