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Life is the pits! There is no rest! There is no peace! Why can't my spouse, children, relatives, my boss, my pastor, my church, Christians, non-Christians, the pets, the neighbors, the weather, the president, the clothes in my closet, the house we live in, the car we drive-some or all of them-- be such that I can experience 'rest' in my life?!!! One, or a combination of the above, cause my life to have no joy, no hope for the future, anger, anxiety and/or sadness or depression...and I'm upset!!!
I wish I could tell you I have seldom heard the above verbiage. However, In counseling women for over twenty years, I have heard it, and continue to hear it, constantly. The problem with the above thinking is there can never be a solution to the situation until the one common denominator is recognized and biblical steps are taken to fix that denominator...the person spewing the
verbiage.
Often when I point out this real problem to women I get an angry-sometimes hostile-- response. Sometimes the women never come back to talk to me. And sometimes women have let God break them with His truth. Facing the truth when our 'self' is the problem is seldom easy. But over and over in God's Word He tells us it is necessary...we must take inventory of our 'self'...and adjust our thinking and our lives. "Examine (scrutinize, discipline, examine, test ) yourselves, whether ye be in the faith (constancy in the profession of your faith in Christ for salvation; credence; moral conviction; faith; fidelity); prove (to test; to approve) your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates (unapproved; worthless-literally or morally)? II Corinthians 13:5." And when we've gone through our house/self and gathered and emptied our own garbage can we need to ask God to help us further scan our lives for garbage we aren't taking notice of. "Search (examine intimately; search; seek) me, O God, and know my heart: try (investigate; examine; prove) me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked (an idol; pain bodily or mentally; sorrow) way in me, and lead me in the way (a course of life or mode of action) everlasting." Psalm 139:23-24
We live in a world whose teachings have given people 'permission' to have a victim mentality for every hurt, injustice, problem, inconvenience and illness. For example:
--We can dig our own grave financially and cry we don't deserve the debt and file for bankruptcy.
--We can refuse to make our marriage a priority and put our 'self' and our wants and/or career or children first and cry we don't deserve what we have helped create and file for divorce.
I could go on and on with examples. I have heard them all...until the next person comes to me touting a new one. You may want to say, "Obviously they aren't Christians saying this?" Wrong! Very, very wrong assumption!
At one point, while traveling around the desert the children of Israel were being fed by Jehovah/God Himself. And they deserved better! This 'self'/victim/sin problem is not a new problem. But it is one that is wreaking havoc in lives and homes across America.
The divorce rate among Christians is soaring. Depression drugs-and even addictions-- are now 'acceptable' alternatives to dealing with sin and emptying our own garbage cans. God says plainly that we have a part in our sanctification...our purity of mind and life..." Up, ...Sanctify (clean) yourselves against tomorrow:" And God goes on to say in this verse that He asking the people to do so because, "thou canst not stand before thine enemies, until ye take away the accursed (a devoted thing you should have destroyed; abominable) thing from among you." Joshua 7:13
A victim mentality is an "accursed" thing. A person can get devoted to it and
it can become an idol...that which stands between them and God. I can't blame
everyone else for my internal misery and say I believe the Sovereignty of God...that
He is in control of all. Paul was in prison under the streets of Rome...in the
sewers. Rats, raw sewage, constant standing water, obnoxious odors and Roman
guards, crude prisoners around him and yet he could say he had learned to be
content...in all circumstances of his life. Our unrest does not depend on what
others do to us (and I am not talking about physical, sexual or emotional abuse-get
help for those situations!) it depends on which way we look-down in ourselves
maintaining a constant pity party OR up to God trusting in His sufficiency,
His fellowship and guidance and His ability to take care of those people or
circumstances in our lives that we see as a problem...or He works on us to change
'self'.
God says very plainly in His Word that without hope...a positive vision for our future...we, His people will begin to "do our own thing" and "think our own way" without considering God's Word. "Where there is no vision, the people perish (cast off restraint): Proverbs 29:18b." We all know many Christians who don't live or act like Christ. They have "cast off the restraints of the Word of God...restraints which God gives to us to keep us healthy, moral of mind and action, out of trouble with the civil law of our land, etc.
Yes, this article has a different 'tone' than most of my writing. I think it is obvious that I am disgusted with the world's teachings which have been accepted by Christian people. I often hear Christian people lambasting the ghetto mentality of pointing fingers and saying their plight is the fault of society. Well...if the first paragraph of this article speaks of your course of thought and action...you are practicing the same mentality...pointing your finger at others as the cause of your plight of unrest.
Up...sanctify yourselves...and empty your garbage can...for no one can do it for you. And, only in doing so will you find God's peace that passes all understanding. May we each learn to ask ourselves, "How much does _________ matter in the light of eternity? And then get up from a pity-party dinner table and make a difference for God for eternity.
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