Hello everyone! I can’t believe it is 5 days before Christmas! I hope you have your Christmas shopping done!
Today, I want to talk about problems. Specifically, when we don’t admit we have a problem and we just keep stumbling around in the dark. To refuse to deal with our problem is to live by the definition of insanity – to keep doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. We not only hurt ourselves but we hurt others when we won’t be honest with ourselves.
I have watched countless people do this over the years. I was married to a man who did this all the time. People who refuse to be honest and face the problems they have are like the man in Pilgrims Progress who, despite the bright light shining over his head and a way out of the abyss he was in, continued to dig and sift in the darkness below him. He would not look up! His answer was above not below. His answer was also not within him. The problem with not admitting you have a problem is your problem persists. You don’t get anywhere – you are like a hamster running in a wheel going nowhere fast. You are going on your own strength in your hamster wheel. You may see success for a while, but what happens when you get tired of running around in the wheel or going through the motions? You will fall back into your problem – whether that be abusive behavior, drinking, drugs, porn, etc. We can’t go through the motions. We have to face our problem and get honest! We have to want to know what drives us to the bottle, the pill, the violence, the photos, the men, the women, etc. This will be painful but it will be worth it! Do you want to continue to run around in the hamster wheel or do you really want to change your life? That is the question you must ask yourself.
Once we can be honest with ourselves, we can start the real change in our lives. To have real change, you have to reach outside yourself. You need real strength to overcome a problem behavior and you need grace. You can find that strength and grace in Jesus Christ. He will not condemn you for the problem or the behavior. He will not give you a list of more rules to follow. He will show you how you got there and help you heal so you don’t have to return to your problem to find peace or forgetfulness. He will teach you how to really live without your problem! He will place others around you who will encourage you in the change you are making and who will lift you up when life gets hard and you are tempted to return to old thought or behavior patterns. He will be there when or if you stumble and so will those he sets around you. You will no longer be alone in your problem with your fear and doubt. He has come to cast out all of your fear and remove all of your doubt. He will never leave you nor forsake you as many have done to some of you reading this blog. He will be your peace and your comfort. He will satisfy you better than any violent rage, anger, drug, drink, man or woman.
I ask you today; are you ready to try something different? If your answer is yes, cry out to Him. He knows your heart, your pain, and he is waiting for you. He loves you where you are and you do not have to “arrive” for Him to love you! You do not have to follow a list of rules for Him to love you! He wants to love you and set you free! Test Him and see! You will not be disappointed!
He came over 2000 years ago as a baby in a manger. He did not stay a baby. He was God as man. He died for you and He rose again to take your pain and your problem and turn them into promises. He came for you! He came for me! He came that you might be free! Call to Him and He will answer you! He is not afraid of your pain or the darkness it brings to you. His Light will light up any darkness and He will show you the way out. Call on Him and He will answer!
With much love and hope for your future,
Elizabeth **I want to wish all of my readers the happiest of Christmases! Blogs will return late next week after the holiday. Merry Christmas!