A young child overhears his mother and father
fighting in another room . . . parents learning their teenage daughter is
pregnant . . . a sleepless, a worried mother, finally, hears her son coming
home but he is drunk again . . . a confused, lonely husband is struggling to
understand how his marriage ended . . . fear, hurt, and pain grip the lives
of far too many people who find themselves confronting this
"thing" called life. People desperately wanting to live, needing
to live, yet seemingly, always thwarted from living by life itself.
Many will forge ahead trying to catch their "moment in the sun"
only to find, even if they catch the elusive dream, the moment is lacking.
They set out to "make it to the top of the mountain" only to find
that as they near the top some "figure or event out of the night"
knocks them back into the valley. Sadly, their life is spent in a seemingly
endless search for meaning, fulfillment, and satisfaction. In desperation,
they wonder what is wrong with their lives.
Unfortunately, many believers find themselves experiencing the same
struggles as the unbeliever. Most believers will state that Christianity is
abundant life, but they just never seem to experience it. Or, if they do, it
seems to be either fleeting or of short duration. Failing to understand the
very heartbeat of Christianity, far too many believers, also, never seem to
get on top of their circumstances.
There are many contributing factors that tend to cause people to struggle in
living life. However, one reason stands out far above any of the others. Far
too many people are not able to cope with the "common" pressures
of daily living. Circumstances, many times beyond their control, close in on
them restricting their movement and prohibiting them from
"holding-up" under the pressures. In the midst of troubles,
perplexities, endless "persecutions," and being cast down, they
have a strong sense of distress, despair, being forsaken, and destroyed.
In far too many instances, the non-believer, as well as many believers, are
unable to find freedom from the pressure. They cannot "flee for
refuge." They do not have an "anchor" in
life that holds them "sure and steadfast" in the midst of the
storms. Having no hope to sustain them, they do not experience the
"peace that passeth understanding." They flounder upon the sea of
life and are tossed to and fro with every wind and wave of adversity. They
need deliverance from the overbearing circumstances of life. They need
salvation. They need to experience Jesus coming forth in a
relationship of love. They need Biblical counseling.
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