Q: It seems the closer I get to God the more problems I have in my life as per my kids, financially, health all at once it has been going on constantly. There are times I want to give up but I cry and turn to God for help. I don't know if it is the Devil attacking me or not. I learned allot to rely on God. It is not easy as I want to fix everything fast, my way and not have to wait. The struggles are unbearable. I want them to stop, but they don't. As soon as one problem is dealt with another comes along. For example, as a single parent I had two children in two different hospitals this past weekend. My heart was torn in pieces as I didn't even know my son was also hurt while I attended to my daughter. And as soon as that matter finished, another was waiting for me to fight through. I don't know why or what is going on, all I know is I am emotionally and mentally tired. I want to lie down my soul but I cant seem to get rest.
A: One of the biggest mistakes that people tend to make when it comes to God is expecting something from Him that He didn't come to give. We tend to believe that our circumstances are a direct reflection of His love and acceptance of us. If our lives are comfortable and going according to our plan then we believe that He is pleased with us. But, when things seemingly go awry we think that God is displeased and that we are suffering some form of punishment for our actions. Jesus said, "In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world (John 16:33)." There is no question that pretty much everybody in this world has problems with their children, finances, health and many other areas of their life. And we, definitely, should turn to God during these times for strength and guidance. However, we must also remember that the reasons we may be in these circumstances have more to do with our personal choices than anything else. Many times we dig a hole and expect God to fill it up for for us. Most often we are trying to find peace through what the world has to offer rather than in what God, in Christ, has already offered to us and then are deflated when it does not happen. There is nothing in the world that is designed to offer us the peace that can only come from resting in Christ and His finished work.
What we have in Jesus Christ is a solid foundation to rely on in the midst of our troubles. "Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock (Matthew 7: 24-25)." I don't believe it to be a stretch to compare the problems we face in life to rain coming down, streams rising and winds beating against a house. We are God's "house," the temple of the Holy Spirit, the Body of Christ. That doesn't mean that we are immune to problems in this world. As the scriptures state, it means that God will be with us before, during and after we experience these struggles and keep us from falling. The only way we can believe this promise is by getting a proper understanding of who we are in Christ and all that we have in Him. This is the only way to be able to cope with the constant barrage of problems the world throws our way. When we don't have the confidence that comes from knowing who we are in Christ and how God sees us, we will not have any peace in our lives. The Bible says that the "thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full (John 10:10)."
It is Satan, with his lies and deception, that is able to mislead Christians into believing that the trials of life are something strange and not to be experienced by a believer. The pressures of life only reveal the validity of what we say we believe. If when these pressures arrive in our life and we are left without the ability to rest it may be due to the fact that we are trying to live the Christian life in the energy of our own flesh. "To this end I labor, struggling with all his energy, which so powerfully works in me (Colossians 1:29)." We cannot live the Christian life. Jesus Christ was the only one that ever did live it and now, through the indwelling Holy Spirit, wants to live His life through us. God wants us to rest and has promised us that rest in Christ. He did for us what we cannot do for ourselves. We rest by understanding that we are totally loved and accepted by God because of our faith in Jesus Christ. It is this knowledge that allows us to have peace in the midst of our troubles because we realize that the world is not designed to give us peace or rest. But, the troubles of the world can be used by God for our good. "Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope (Romans 5:3-4)." When we suffer in this world we must ask ourselves what this situation can teach me about the character of God and how to trust Him in the midst of our suffering. Struggles make us stronger so we are not only more prepared for future trials, but so we can help others who face similar struggles to ours.
"There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God's rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from his. Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall by following their example of disobedience (Hebrews 4: 9-11)." If God has promised us His rest and you are not experiencing it, then perhaps something is wrong with what you believe. We rest from trying to gain or maintain our right-standing before God through our own efforts. God has given us everything we need for life and godliness (2 Peter 1: 3) and has blessed us with every spiritual blessing (Ephesians 1:3). It is this truth that we are reminded of every time life gets us down. In turn, we don't lose hope because we aren't surprised at life giving to us exactly what we are to expect from a fallen world. That is how we rest and maintain peace in our lives in the midst of the storms. Therefore, we are able to enter the rest God has promised to us. "Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God (Romans 5: 1-2)." The peace we have does not come from our circumstances, but from the fact that we are now reconciled to God, have access to Him in our time of need and have eternal life because of the work of Christ on our behalf. So while the devil may try and use our circumstances to rob us of the joy of our salvation, we can rest assured that what we experience is not indicative of who we are in God's sight and what we have in His Son.
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