Monday, May 19, 2014
When Life Seems Too Much To Handle
What happens when life seems just too much to handle, when
we feel we are at that jumping off point? Life is certainly not easy. While it
is a gift from God, because of the broken world we live, we still face a
variety of challenges, sometimes on a daily basis. Often life doesn’t seem fair.
Sometimes it is simply hard and seemly malicious. The challenges we face often
appear insurmountable. But are they?
Certainly we are forced to make difficult decisions as well
as take arduous actions. All too often we feel trapped and see no way forward.
Unpleasantness and despair seem like our constant companions. Faith and hope
are so distant that we can’t even imagine what life might be like with them as
our rock and guide. God is a vague concept that perhaps once existed in our
life, but now seems distant and abstract. This is a point in life in which we
face the harsh crossroads of faith. Do we continue to believe in the
benevolence of God, or do we search for the answers to our life’s problems
elsewhere?
This is an important place in our life. Faith is the hard
road, while the other path is much smoother and easier. With what do we fill
that hole in our soul? The choice is ours to make, but deep down in our hearts
if we have had any kind of relationship with God, we know the answer. The easy
path leads us into all kinds of dysfunction and unhealthy lifestyles, while the
path of faith leads us through trial and tribulation, but ultimately to a
healthier and stronger relationship with God.
So what happens when our faith has run dry? Do we
automatically take the path of least resistance or do we trust in the God that
we no longer believe and take the path less travelled. The emptiness in our
lives demands to be filled and the path of least resistance offers us all sorts
of unhealthy ways. But they are short lived and soon become a burden themselves
adding to the ones that we already carry.
The path of faith is the correct choice. Even though we feel
distant from God, perhaps even angry with God, in our hearts we know this is
the route that will fill our souls with spiritual fortitude and grace. But
pride sometimes won’t let us take the faith path. Our egos are fragile and
easily hurt, thus we rebel against the God in which we no longer believe and
strike out on our own, determined to find peace in our own way. Many have tried
to carve their own path or take the easy route in order to fill their hearts
with something, anything that will kill the pain in which we live and exist. We
soon find that we are in more trouble than ever before. Our lives have become
miserable, lost and full of anxiety. Alcohol and drugs no longer relieve our
pain; promiscuous activity no longer fills our need for real love. Perhaps we
have even turned to other religions that are incapable of filling our hollow
hearts. It is then (if we are fortunate enough) that we lay aside our pride and
ego and look to the true Living God for help.
Jesus reminds us that he is the way, the truth and the life.
It is through him that we come to the Father. Christ welcomes back the lost and
spiritual destitute. He embraces us even if we are still skeptical. His is the
peace that passes all understanding and through that peace we find refuge and
hope. We are redeemed and renewed by his body and blood. The gift of forgiveness
is there for us to merely accept without any strings attached. Gradually our
faith is renewed as we begin to relax and trust God again. That hole in our
soul is filled with God’s grace and we come to believe in the same God we had
forsaken.
Life is difficult enough in this broken world, but if we
forsake our spiritual lives and practices it becomes much more difficult.
Remember, faith is an action verb. It requires us to actively participate. To
grow in faith and our relationship with God we can’t just sit there passively.
If we do so many spiritual opportunities will pass us by, and we will not only
remain in that same spiritual void, but actually regress as well. It is then
that we come to that jumping off point. So exercise faith, even when it is
trying and difficult. God is present and will ultimately reveal Gods self in
our lives.
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