We kinda left things hanging last night here on the blog. It was not my intent to do that as much as it was not wanting to dump so much stuff on whoever might read this. We will try to review with a bit more detail what was said yesterday. Just remember that what is written is based on my experience in dealing with people. Anywhere that you have people you are going to eventually have problems. Christian people can sometimes be the worst at trying to handle difficulties that arise. Instead of leaning on God to work through the trials of life they can slip into human whining. This is because we are still very human. But is there a better way?

On one hand we know that life is never given a promise to be easy or comfortable. Yet, it is one thing to know that as a saying and something totally different when it is our life that is affected. I usually refer to sayings such as these as "coffee cup theology." We know certain facts or quotes but do not learn what they really mean. No one in scripture who lived in a close relationship with God escaped serious troubles. It wasn't the absence of problems that made them godly as much as it was their choices in the midst of a mess. Here is where our theology moves from the cliche type saying to becoming the norm for growing a deep life with God.

We said in our last post that some of our problems are self inflicted. Our choices may not always be motivated by an abiding trust in God. Sometimes we make choices from our broken, unhealthy places in our heart. We are just wanting to cope with pain so we choose to do things to ease the hurt. We may be trying to fill a void left unfilled due to past damage. David did this when he blundered during what could be called a mid life crisis. Peter did this in denying our Lord by looking for the easy path to self preservation. We do this more than we might imagine if we allow our weakness to dominate our decisions. At least this is true in my world.

We also said that situations can be at the root of our problems. It could very well be that we are as close to God as we can imagine yet another person goes off and does something dumb. This was played out in a horrific fashion during the shootings near Pittsburgh, PA this summer. No one who lost their life was responsible for an unstable man who chose to act out his inner sickness in that tragic way. It could also be something not as violent but just as dangerous. Perhaps someone you trust betrays you for reasons that make no sense. You suffer emotionally due to that decision beyond your control. You have to learn this one eternal truth. You cannot control everyone or every action around you. Even attempting to do that will cause more problems that it solves.

A third area of difficulty is what I refer to as satanic roots. This is the one that is very hard to grasp. But scripture tells us that at least on two occasions where trials were born of his actions. In the Old Testament, Job suffers much because God allows Satan to try his faith. Go back and read the first two chapters slowly for that account. In the New Testament, Simon Peter is told by Jesus that Satan wishes to "sift him like wheat." That account is in Luke 21. How do you know when the trial is from evil sources? My best answer is to go straight to God and His word for direction. Both stories tell us that the enemy is trying to destroy faith in a good God. The other key is that both remain loyal to God and His desire to build a life of undeniable faith. Will you refuse to blame God for a problem so you cannot be in a place to receive His guidance? That question may be at the heart of this type of problem.

All of the above sources get woven together by the spiritual source of a problem. Beyond the circumstances of life is God's activity to mold us to be more like Him. Many of the Psalms were written by David in the midst of a mess. They speak of his desire to be faithful to God even if life is hard. We lean on familiar passages of scripture that tell us of God not abandoning us in the ongoing trials of life. We even sing about a coming day when all of this will be in the past tense. It is my view that nothing happens in our life by accident. God does not just look away to allow stuff to take place. He is involved in our life when we are believers and so He can "make everything work together for His good." This is something we may need to follow up on in our next blog post.

This is a lot of information dumping for one night. These ideas are solely mine alone. You do not have to agree but please take it as food for thought. These conclusions took years to flesh out to this current form. You need not feel like it was simple to arrive at this approach. We will probably try at least one more post to talk about this subject. Until then, my hope is you will allow God to guide you into His truth for your life.

Bro. Trey