Hey guys, my heart has been burdened with something that I feel like needs to be shared.
If you have followed my blog, you know that God has given me a passion for the broken. I found this out after dealing with a broken heart of my own. A heart that held a lot of pain within itself yet never realized that it didn’t have to carry that burden at all.
You may ask me, what do you mean by that? I’ll tell you.
I had searched for hope in this world and found nothing. I looked for an escape route in anywhere but Christ. I held it in and put on a mask that I felt covered up these emotions that no one could ever know about. If you have struggled with any form of sadness or pain, you know what I mean.
I put all of this extra pain on myself just by keeping it all in. Let me introduce you to a saying that has utterly changed my perspective on things. One of my favorite bands is Tenth Avenue North, and they say it plainly.
“In Christ we are free to struggle, but we’re not struggling to be free.”
I love that. I absolutely adore that.
In Christ we are free to struggle! We are free to have problems that we are confronted with on a daily basis! Isn’t that liberating?! We have the God of the universe on our side, and He will love us no matter what we have gone through or struggle with.
I know when I was in that pit of sadness and depression, I felt as if I had to fight to be free. I had to fight to get out of that pit and get over that struggle. But Christ says, that you are free to struggle and that we are also free in Him.
You will never be freed from a sin that you deal with until you come to the realization that it is only in Christ that we can overcome it. We are merely humans, and that makes us completely incapable of freedom. So often Satan places these temptations in our paths because he knows that it is our human nature to fall into it.
But Christ says to guard your mind and mouth because Satan is out there only to steal, kill and destroy. That in Him we can have life and have it abundantly (John 10:10). Overcoming temptation with a struggle is not an easy task, but we have one thing as Christians that others don’t. We have a gracious and forgiving Father who so passionately loves us. We are not free to abuse this, otherwise our motives for salvation are wrong. But rather, as we begin to whole heartedly pursue Christ with all our hearts we will begin to desire what He desires. Yes, temptations will still be there but Christ encourages us with His word.
“No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.” 1 Cor. 10:13
I have that posted on my desk, right above my laptop. You want to know why? I have nights to where I struggle, and that verse is what keeps my eyes on Christ. You are not overtaken, Christ provides a way out. Don’t struggle alone, tell someone and let them help you through it.
There is freedom in Christ! I hope you are encouraged.
youaremypassion 