We have all had these seasons in life, when nothing goes right – the bills are piling in. If there are young or teenage children, just keeping them focused on the important things in life and not the culture which demands their souls and attention can be overwhelming. If you are a single parent trying to deal with work, children, child care, food on the table, homework done and a car muffler going out, sometimes life is just too much. If you’re a middle-aged dad, the college bills are coming in, and no job prospects for little junior lie ahead. If you’re a senior, the end of life is on the horizon ahead, and somehow life feels unfulfilled, or even empty.
So what do we do when feeling crushed, under the gun and there is no end in sight. You hear the preacher in church tell you on Sunday morning, if you can even make it to church, that “you must give it to God”…..or “let God have it”…..or “make Jesus the Lord of your life”…. or “read the Word of God, it has the answers”. As a Christian, you may know all of this is true, or could be true and you consider Jesus as Savior. You even prayed “the prayer” and accepted Christ into your life. But with all you’re going through, none of it seems real. There is a disconnect. In fact, there seems to be a huge gap of reality.
Here is where the preacher is right! The Word of God DOES have all the answers. In fact the words themselves contain answers, therein. But there is a caveat and it requires something not human within us to bring deliverance and breakthrough. Do not get this wrong. It has nothing to do with “sowing a seed” or chanting a verse as you see on those TV shows on prosperity, word faith or contemplative prayer programs. These are outside the realm of the Spirit. What we are talking about here is letting loose the Spirit of Christ within us, to remove the human element of wanting to control outcomes and answers, and then allowing Him to guide us into the areas of all Truth.
This is basically what surrendering or committing your life and mine to Christ really means. The examples cited above (bills, teenage rebellion, stress, car problems, work etc.) can, do and will continue to overwhelm us. These are what daily living is all about. But it can also be about REST. This is the Rest emanating from the penumbras of the not-so-hidden Oracles of God, which is the Bible.