RECOVERING FROM LIFE'S HURTS (Part Three)

In our last two blogs we have been talking about what doesn’t work when we are dealing with the problems of life. We went over 6 different approaches that people commonly take when trying to solve their problems, and we said that none of them work. In today’s blog we are going to talk about what does work. David tells us about it in Psalm 142:2-3.

“I bring God all my complaints, I tell Him all my troubles.  When I’m ready to give up, He knows what I should do!” Psalm 142:2-3  

David says when he was ready to give up, he gave it to God.  God is the only one who can do anything about what’s going on in our lives.  Most of the time we can’t. That has been clearly demonstrated in our last two blogs where we talked about how our efforts are woefully lacking. God says when you’re ready to give up – when you’re ready to throw in the towel – after you have tried everything else – He says bring your complaints to Him, and He will tell you what to do. People tell me all the time, “I wish I knew what God wanted me to do.” Well, here’s a way to find out.
Recently I was involved with planting a new church called the River Recovery Church. We actually started in September, 2013. Since that time attendance has dropped until it has recently leveled off at approximately 30 people on a Sunday morning. Our Celebrate Recovery program which meets on Friday evenings has also leveled off at about the same number of people. Am I discouraged? A little. Am I ready to give up? No. Why? Because I believe that God has called us to plant River Recovery Church. I believe the mission of the church lines up exactly with what He has asked us to do in Matthew 28:18-20.

“Jesus came and told his disciples, ‘I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach them these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”Matthew 28:18-20

The River Recovery Church is all about making disciples and teaching them to obey Christ’s commands. And we believe that Jesus is with us in this endeavor, just as He promised He would be. And if He is with us while we are doing what He asks, how can we fail? But as I said I still get anxious sometimes. So what do I do when that happens? I do what God tells me to do about worry and cares. Take a look at 1 Peter 5:7.

“Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you.” 1 Peter 5:7

The word “give” actually means to “cast”. It means to throw something away with great force. God wants us to do that, because he cares for us. He knows how fragile we are. We can’t carry heavy loads, because He knows they will crush us. There is another passage that I rely on as well, and it’s Matthew 11:28.

“Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.”  Matthew 11:28-30

Jesus is telling us to do the same thing as Peter told us in 1 Peter 5:7. Jesus wants to carry our loads. All we have to do is come to Him and let Him do it. He says “Come to Me”. He says, “I will give you rest”. That’s a promise that we can trust. So, the six approaches to dealing with life’s hurts that we just talked about over the past two blogs – do not work. Why?  Because they have NO POWER. Only God has the power necessary to deal with our problems. When you consider how powerful God is, why not depend on Him? He wants us to.

Have you ever thought about how much power God has? It’s huge. Consider the little atom. In an atomic bomb explosion atoms break apart and release energy. If you have ever seen a nuclear explosion, you know that the energy released is monumental. Well, God is keeping all the atoms in the entire universe together right now. He’s keeping them from breaking apart and releasing all their energy. Imagine what kind of explosion there would be if all the atoms in the universe released their energy at the same time! It is beyond imagination. So the bottom line is God has more than enough power to deal with our problems. And He wants to use it.

So, that’s the solution. And it’s the ONLY SOLUTION. When we hurt – when we have problems – we must go to God, and ask Him to comfort us and provide what we need to deal with our situation. God will hear us, and He will respond to us. ALWAYS. Why not give it a shot. 

Posted by Pastor Bob Reinhart.  Contact:  bob@riverrecoverychurch.com