There are chapters in your life story when all you can say is “life is hell.” I’m talking about not just one bad circumstance but one on top of another and another and another before you can catch your breath from the first one! Or, it may be a time when what you are dealing with goes on and on and on – for months or maybe even for years, with little change or resolution. My family has been experiencing both of those to some degree. So, if you are there or you have been, as they say, “I feel ya.”
For any of you who do not have any kind of real relationship with Jesus, my heart really goes out to you. In fact, I don’t know how you make it through those tough times! No wonder people medicate themselves for the stress and pain they experience by abusing alcohol, drugs, food, etc.
Please don’t misunderstand me. I don’t want to come off as saying there is anything wrong with legitimately needing medication for depression, anxiety, etc.. It may offend our religious thinking when Proverbs 31:6 says, Give strong drink unto him that is ready to perish, and wine unto those that be of heavy hearts. (AKJV) These were the medications of the day when it was written.
It may very well be that some people need appropriate medication for them to understand if they know Jesus or not. But this particular issue I’m writing to you about, goes deeper than that. It’s about the ability to tap into our own flimsy strength and into an inner strength far beyond our own.
For those of us who have Jesus living in us, He is the only One we can rely on when life is hell. And He is real. Another way of saying it is, Jesus can be our inner heaven when life on earth is hell. Does that mean we should always feel peaceful and wear a smile on our face? No…we can rely on God in us and still cry sometimes or feel overwhelmed. Yet, deep in our spirit, there can be peace even when our emotions are swirling like a tornado, when there seems to be no end in sight for our problems.
One of the great things about the New Covenant is, it teaches us that we are united to the entire Trinity through our faith in Jesus. We were created for this. It’s what God had in His heart and mind from the beginning. He created us so we could enter into the same fellowship (intimacy) with the Father, Son and Holy Spirit…the same as they have had between themselves, for all eternity. And we can also be supported by the fellowship of other believers as well.
One of the temptations during great times of hell on earth is to think we have to be religious. What I mean by this is, thinking we just need to pray and say all of the right things. It’s so easy to put ourselves under this kind of erroneous religious expectation, believing it’s the spiritual thing to do.
The truth is this. Because we are united to God, Who sits on a throne of grace and not judgment, we can come to Him with all of our raw emotions, doubts, fears, anger, etc., or when we just don’t have the words to pray at all. Do you know where that usually leads us?…into a place of honest trust….this allows God to draw us into a deeper fellowship with Him, in whom we are united. Could this be part of what it means to, cast all of our cares on Him because He cares for us? (1 Peter 5:7)
Somehow, God remains both sovereignly in control of our circumstances, while at the same time, being relational and loving. He can use His these difficulties to draw us deeper into a fellowship with Him that we could not know otherwise. I’m reminded of this wonderful Scripture. We were crushed and overwhelmed beyond our ability to endure, and we thought we would never live through it. In fact, we expected to die. But as a result, we stopped relying on ourselves and learned to rely only on God, who raises the dead. (2 Corinthians 1: 9b-10 NLT)
As we are comforted by God in our own personal hell, we are able to let go of our smug judgementalism of those who suffer their own hell on earth and, instead, freely give the same comfort that God has comforted us with. (2 Corinthians 1:3)
If you are reading this and you don’t have a genuine relationship with God through faith in Jesus Christ, invite Him into your life, to live in you, to forgive you. That doesn’t mean if you do, everything will improve in your difficulties, but it does mean you will be able to face them relying on Him and not yourself and He will never leave you or forsake you.
If you do have Jesus in you, be honest with Him about how you feel and don’t turn away from Him. Turn to Him. He is more than important to you. He is enough for you. He is in you. Ask Him to send some other Christians to support you too, if you don’t already have them in your life.
Believe it! It’s the Gospel.
Live Free In Christ,
Mark Maulding, President and Founder
www.GraceLifeInternational.com All Content Copyright ยฉ 2015 Mark Maulding but feel free to pass it on!
