THROUGH CHRIST

Have you thanked Him?

Have you praised Him?

Have you made it your priority to agree and cooperate with Him today?

Have you taken that deep breath and listened for what He has for you today?

1 Timothy 2:1 (The Message)

The first thing I want you to do is pray. Pray every way you know how, for everyone you know.

I was privileged to share a little time at an event yesterday with someone who is becoming a GOOD friend.  Most the time our conversations are fun.  But this exchange was a little more serious.

She was struggling with something. It was trying its best to “knock her down” and she was a little wobbly.  Mind you this new friend is no “wimp”.

She is tough.  She is self-reliant.  Survivor of loss. She is normally steady and steely.

But it was obvious that whatever IT was IT was starting to win and she, was in a word, OVERWHELMED.

Now listen before I continue I reiterate.

This is no “run of the mill” individual.

This one can “take a punch” when it comes to adversity. So for her to raise the white flag and feel like giving up just doesn’t happen. 

But this WAS a different story.  She was struggling.

And she doubted herself and most certainly GOD.

Like my friend, it is not uncommon for any of us to run up against things that are bigger than us; things and circumstances that loom so large or seem so enormous that we simply cannot overcome them in our own strength. It may be outside trials or an internal battle like a lust that threatens to consume us, maybe an addiction that repeatedly trips us up, a resentment that is growing inside us, or a sorrow that seems to paralyze us.

We all have those moments where we feel our limits are being exceeded.

But as I shared with her and now want to share with you this morning…

NO test or temptation that comes your way is beyond the course of what others have had to face. All you need to remember is that God will never let you down; he'll never let you be pushed past your limit; he'll always be there to help you come through it.

1 Corinthians 10:13(MSG)

Regardless of the “size and shape of the “IT”, IT will NOT be more than we can handle and what we need to do in those moments of overwhelming pressure is to shift our focus from the source of the issue to the source of the solution.

GOD.

Oh, we will still grit our teeth, hunch our backs, and seek to make it through by sheer determination. We will tell ourselves we can overcome if we just try hard enough.

Yet GOD doesn’t ask us to do any of that.

He encourages just the opposite.

He says, DISENGAGE; step back, step down and let HIM handle it.

But boy oh boy we sure don’t like doing that do we?

We say things like, “I got it.” “Appreciate the help, but I’m good.”

But like I told my friend, there are just some old tried and true “truths” that “just work” in times like this.

Truths like this one.

Philippians 4:13 (NCV)

I can do all things through Christ, because he gives me strength.

That old and familiar verse reminds us again that the strength for these “overwhelming” situations does not come from us, or from our willpower but from Jesus Christ.

I know it is a well-worn passage, one we use all the time, but HOW OFTEN when the heat is on do we forget it?

So today if you are being overwhelmed, ask yourself some questions…

“How can I make it through this trial”?

Through Christ.

"How can I overcome that temptation or addiction?

Through Christ.

How can I rise above my grief or depression?

Through Christ.

How will I overcome these new challenges?

Through Christ

There is nothing that you cannot do through the strength that Christ has promised to you.

I don’t care how big, how ugly, how ill-timed the issue, or if this is your first battle with “IT” or your 99,995th battle with “IT”, turn to Him my friends, and find the confidence, the joy, the strength that is found where?

Through Christ.

Have a blessed day…

I love you all.

OPPORTUNITIES for HOPE