Are You Ready to Live?
By Carrie Crews
I was thinking the other day about a joke that I heard. Some armed men came into a church service and said, “Anyone who is not willing to die for Christ better leave.” A lot of people left, but there were some people that stayed. The armed men turned to the pastor and said “There you go pastor. We got rid of the hypocrites. Now you can continue with your sermon.” I think that I would stay and be ready to die because then that would mean eternity with Christ and without the chronic daily pain that I have to deal with.
I seem to have this vicious cycle of depression going on. It is happening more frequently and the valleys are getting longer and deeper. I think it basically comes down to Faith & Hope. I was putting my faith in the doctors and medications. When the treatments and medications that the doctors prescribed did not work, I lost my hope and went into the valley of depression. When they were working, I had hope and was able to get out of the valley.
I am taking a class based on a book by Neal Anderson titled Victory Over the Darkness. In this class, I am learning more about who I am in Christ and the power that brings. This week’s discussion was based on living by faith. Basically, as I already knew, I placed my faith in the wrong place. My faith needs to be placed in Christ alone.
I live my life by faith which is based on my belief system. We all do. I believed that in order to be happy, successful, fulfilled, satisfied, and peaceful and have fun, my circumstances needed to change. My health, finances and relationships needed to improve. If only I was healthier, I could be a better mother and wife. If only I was healthier, I could attend fun events. If only we had more money, I would be able to…and so on. Unfortunately, there is nothing I can do to change my circumstances or anyone else besides myself. So, if my beliefs continue in this way, then I am going to continue on the depression cycle and never achieve happiness, success, fulfillment, satisfaction, peace, and fun. Fortunately, I can achieve these things by aligning my goals and desires with God’s goal for my life. His goal for my life does not depend on other people or circumstances. God’s goal for my life is character development, to become more like Jesus daily.
The question that I then had to ask myself is: Am I ready to live for Him? Am I ready to live life and praise Him even if that means that I will have this constant pain until I die? Do I trust Him enough to accept His plan(s) no matter what the circumstances? Do I really trust that His promises (every single one of them) are real and meant for me? Do I really trust that He is who He says He is and can do what He says He can do? I can 'say' yes, but is my life proving that? My faith and hope is in Him and I will continue to daily reach towards God’s goal for my life.
What about you, are you ready to live your life for Christ, no matter the circumstances?
Copyright © 2009 – Carrie Crews. All rights reserved.
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