It Doesn’t Have to Be That Way
A very successful businessman had succeeded at achieving most of his goals both business and personal. Yet, he still struggled with feelings of depression and anxiety. While in a hotel room on a business trip he became so depressed that he considered taking his life. As he sat there struggling with why he felt the way he did after all his success, he asked God, “Is this a joke?” Then he heard a voice say, “It doesn’t have to be that way.”
We can find ourselves fighting internal battles trying to figure out why things aren’t the way we thought they would be. We all have our own demons causing trouble. Like the man in Luke 8:26-37, there is help in fighting these battles, but it’s up to us to acknowledge it. Jesus asked the demon for his name and they answered Legion, because there were many.
Knowledge is power and power is in the naming of something.
When we are clear about problems and name them, it’s less threatening when we know what it is. We want to blame somebody for our problems, but we need to be careful about this. There are three fights regularly picked that are unproductive. Don’t be at war with the wrong enemy.
1st – Don’t be at war with yourself. Many of us are harder on ourselves than anyone else. We blame ourselves for everything that is wrong in our life. We are extremely critical of not having accomplished all that we think we should.
2nd – Don’t be at war with other people. Maybe we are looking for somewhere else to lay the blame, so we point the finger at others. It’s not my fault so it has to be somebody else’s. We don’t want to take responsibility.
3rd – Don’t be at war with God. Life is full of difficulties and hardships. It’s not fair that this happened to me or that I was born this way. Whose fault is it? It must be God’s fault. We forget that we live in a fallen world full of battles.
Satan wants us to be at war with ourselves, our neighbors and God. This is what he does. We need to be clear on who the war is with.
Remember that you have the power to choose who you are going to be at war with. No matter what’s going on in your life, IT DOESN’T HAVE TO BE THAT WAY.