“What should I do?” is a question that I hear a lot on the phone or in my office. People bring complex issues my way almost every day. Parents wonder how to guide their children through the teen years when so many temptations can derail their lives. Men wonder how to deal with sexual desires that have such power to lead them astray. Husbands and wives wonder about how to create a strong intimate marriage relationship in a world that is so very different from that of their parents. Christians wonder about finding ways to balance the demands of work and the call to serve God. I wonder if I am really doing the things God wants done to build His Church!
Some Christians retreat from the complexity of life by creating lots of rules. It’s easier to just react to life rather than respond, to write laws than to live in the Spirit’s liberty! That choice leads to a kind of ‘Christian’ life that is built around “Don’t, don’t, don’t….” In a vain attempt to seize control of life, more and more rules get written, often enforced with grim determination or harsh consequences. But, is that really the ‘abundant life’ that Jesus’ promised us?
The Word reminds us that when we are ‘in Christ’ we are alive, no longer living under condemnation by God! Here’s that passage from The Message. "With the arrival of Jesus, the Messiah, that fateful dilemma is resolved. Those who enter into Christ’s being-here-for-us no longer have to live under a continuous, low-lying black cloud. A new power is in operation. The Spirit of life in Christ, like a strong wind, has magnificently cleared the air, freeing you from a fated lifetime of brutal tyranny at the hands of sin and death." (Romans 8:1-2, The Message)
The complex issues of our lives are no match to the amazing life we can find in the Spirit. He is our Counselor who lives in us, but how easily we ignore Him or even silence Him when we turn our focus onto ourselves. We are invited to take the complex situations to Him! We don’t have to devise scheme after scheme, stressing over life. James tells us that we need to walk it out with patience and that we can be completely confident in God’s wisdom. "If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him." (James 1:5, NIV)
The principle of Spirit-life is so liberating, so life-giving. We should not be surprised that the devil wants to divert us into a religion of rules. If he can get us to obsess about controlling ourselves and others, he has stolen the rich heritage of the real Christian life from us. Paul found the Christians in Rome diverted into making rules about what food was ‘right to eat, what day was holy.’ They were fighting over these things and missing the Gospel. The principle he lays down is still compelling for us. Take a look. "Don’t you dare let a piece of God-blessed food become an occasion of soul-poisoning! God’s kingdom isn’t a matter of what you put in your stomach, for goodness’ sake. It’s what God does with your life as he sets it right, puts it together, and completes it with joy. Your task is to single-mindedly serve Christ. Do that and you’ll kill two birds with one stone: pleasing the God above you and proving your worth to the people around you." (Romans 14:16-18, The Message)
Challenged by sin in yourself, in your family, in your world? Does it seem so complex that you have no answer? Go, ask God! Take it all to Him, honesty, openly, humbly. Then, do what He says! And you will find the life of the Spirit released in you and through you producing the fruit of "love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!" (Galatians 5:22-23, NLT)
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