The Solution
July 4th, 2010
“Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:6-7 (NLT)
The great philosopher, Pogo, of the cartoon section in the newspaper once said, “We have found the enemy and it is us.” I thought of this last night as I listened to a friend give a very powerful testimony at our recovery service at Ginghamsburg Church in Tipp City, Ohio. She sought relationship “cures,” chemical ”cures” as well as geographical “cures” for her problems, but the problem continued to follow her until one day she named the problem and the problem was her.
I learned a long time ago that a problem remains a problem as long as we stay in it. It always amazes me how quickly the problem disappears when we begin to live in the solution. Those of us in the recovery community who have found recovery and are living a new life, realized at some point that until we named our problem, which was us, there was never going to be a solution.
In essence, a life full of problems is a life fueled by self instead of God. Some great indicators of a life fueled by self include being in constant turmoil, arguments, confrontations, worry, regret, fear, revenge and envy; to name a few. I know some people who are always at war with something…can you relate?
A couple of weeks ago I found that a former employee of mine’s husband was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer and had only weeks to months to live. He had been diagnosed with the cancer three years ago and it looked as though his treatments were working until this latest report.
The family has kept us all abreast with his valiant fight against the cancer through a website via the internet. The family is deeply grounded in their Christian faith and from the very first post they made on their website it was easy to tell they were choosing to live in The Solution and not the problem as they referred to “God’s will” early and often.
We are talking about a young couple with two little boys and many hopes and dreams for the future. It would seem to me that they would have every reason in the world to complain about their problems.
In her most recent post, the wife tells us that her husband says to her more than once, on the long car ride home from the hospitial, “I’m going to get to see God soon.” She closes her web post with the powerful words from Paul in 2 Corinthians 12:9; “But he (the Lord) said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in your weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.”
What awesome witnesses for The Solution!
Challenge yourself to get out of self and into The Solution and like it says in the opening scripture from Philippians above, you will receive a peace which you will not be able to understand, the same peace my friends are experiencing during this most challenging time in their lives.
Please lift Jason and Jennie as well as their 2 boys, Luke and Matthew up in prayer every chance you get.
P.E.A.C.E.