Our Own Worse Enemy

Problems can slow us down temporarily but they don’t have the ability to stop us. Only we have that power. Wayne Cordeiro

Most people agree on the fact that problems can slow us down. Well, Duh!!! The argument or doubt comes when we reach the word “temporarily.” In the midst of having problems there is nothing that feels temporary about them. “This too shall pass. There is a light at the end of the tunnel,” we hear from others, yet we find it hard to believe it ourselves.

Caught up in the lies of Satan we don’t look to the light at the end of the tunnel. We concentrate on the walls the tunnel is made of that surround us at the time. The moments that could have quickly passed turn into double time because of our lack of trust. We wind up behaving like the Israelites, back in Bible times, when they found themselves on an extra long journey in the heat of the desert simply because they didn’t steward their problems well.

Since no one is exempt from the troubles life can throw at us it’s important that we learn to be good stewards or keepers of them. Keepers? Who wants to keep their troubles? No, no, you know what I mean! What seems to be impossible to us is possible to God and that is why we need to use what He has given us to be the best possible keepers to see us through. A good step to always start with is praying our way through instead of wasting our time and effort on pity parties, why me’s, and all the negative thinking our minds can dream up!

Step two should be the hanging on to God’s promises and truths that we find in His word. Doing so in an effort to shut out Satan’s lies and thus making room for Christ and the strength He has to offer us. Life isn’t going to be a piece of cake. In fact, I hate to burst any bubbles but it isn’t a “walk in the park” either, even for Christians. We have an enemy out there, Satan who would like to get back the power Christ took away from Him as stated in Colossians 2:15 where it talks about how Christ disarmed the powers and the authorities, making a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.

We too can triumph over Satan, over sin, over our setbacks. We will never be Satan, sin, or “setback” free but we can have victory over them. It may take a stumble here and there but we need to bear in mind that Satan can make us trip but he can’t make us fall. Only we hold that power. If we do manage to fall we need to always remember to go back to step one and fall on our knees, seeking God and His continued guidance, strength, and forgiveness.

I must confess that once during my journey through the school of hard knocks or “life” as it’s generally called, I didn’t do well in the “Open Wounds 101” course I seemed to be required to take. Being a poor steward of my own problems in my Christian immaturity it took me many problems and several years later to learn what I needed to learn in order to survive. For every wound I managed to pry open before it had a chance to heal Satan was handing me the salt needed to keep it irritated and infected and I was using it no questions asked. Once I realized what I was doing I began to use God as the ointment or Neosporin in my life to allow healing instead of Him always being the target for my anger at “what life had dealt me to deal with.” I truly was my own worse enemy and didn’t even know it.

We don’t need to be our own worse enemy; we have God on our side. Only God can take a disadvantage and turn it into an advantage for His kingdom. The part we play is to open wide our hearts and lives to insert His strength instead of always opening broad our mouths to insert our own foot we seem to trip over or choke on.

Closing thought: The time is now to look past our problems and on to God, Being thankful for what He has to offer instead of complaining about what we have to deal with. It’s up to us to rise up spiritual champions in ourselves and in our youth to learn how to stay strong and not give in to Satan, the very force Christ once made a public spectacle of. All it takes is the boldness of Daniel, the determination of Moses, the obedience of Noah to do what needs to be done in order to succeed. God will never take us “around” life’s problems. He takes us through them as He works things out for the good of those who love Him. Praise the Lord!

Our physical problems (cancer, blindness, arthritis, paraplegic) may never go away but they are only temporary anyway as we await the new body God has waiting for us in Heaven. The problems that can and will eventually disappear are the ones that arrive moment by moment. Spiritual ones brought on by bad choices, anger, emotional mishaps, Satan’s tormenting, and so much more. Just remember that God is the light at the end of our tunnels, the road that takes us through to where we need to be.

Set your standards high in order to steward your problems well. Standards such as holding captive any thoughts that don’t belong in our Christian walk. Being thankful, content, and rejoicing in the Lord in spite of our difficulties. Trusting in God whether we trust in our fellowman or ourselves or not. With God first in our lives we can’t be beat unless we beat ourselves. We don’t need to be our own worse enemy, go W.I.T.H. God.


Copyright 2008 Karen J. Gillett at Pencil Marks and Recipes Publishing