Topic: Following God is Not an Easy Road – Discover the Book by Dr John Barnett 30 November 2022
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Following God is Not an Easy Road
One of Satan’s greatest tools is to isolate believers in their minds from other believers around them. He makes us think we are the only ones facing such struggles.
Beware of Self-Isolationism
When Satan keeps us from sharing our struggles, bearing each other’s burdens, and encouraging one another—he has pushed our spiritual lives into a potential cycle for constant defeat. He plants thoughts like: “no one else has ever faced what I am facing”, or “I am so bad and no other Christian has ever done what I have done”, or “no believer has ever failed as I have failed”.
As we read I Corinthians 10:11-13, it is our introduction to how much we need to realize we are all weak, frail, and in need of God’s grace.
What David faced, we all face; how David struggled, we all struggle. In varying degrees an in various flavors of sin, but we are all made of the same stuff. There are no super-saints.
“Now all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come. 12 Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall. 13 No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.”
Most of us who grew up in the twentieth century remember the comic books, cartoons, and TV shows portraying the exploits of super-heroes. Those superheroes had extraordinary abilities to fight a never-ending battle for truth and justice. Fans all over the world therefore idolized them—and loved hearing stories of their great feats!
In the 21st century many of these superheroes are coming back in the movies. As usual, movies often reflect deeper issues that can lurk in the back of our minds. It is easy to slip into a Bible-characters-were-superheroes mentality.
Those thoughts can lead to many Christians viewing God’s choicest servants like David, or Elijah, or Paul as Super Saints. These servants actually fought for—God’s Truth and His justice. And Christians all over the world love to hear stories about their great feats—like when David the shepherd boy slew the evil giant, Goliath; or when Elijah called down God’s miraculous fire in front of the 850 prophets of Baal; or how the Apostle Paul was so instrumental in the spread of Christianity throughout the Roman Empire.
Yet, when believers face the same “good fight” (I Timothy 4:6-8) of faith in hard times, Satan tries to rob them of encouragement and strength through the testimonies of these great saints. “Surely,” he whispers, “their strength and ability to minister is way beyond what you as an average Christian can expect in your own life.”
The devil has deceived many into thinking that these giants of faith were made of a different substance—as if the Lord gave them something extra that we didn’t get. Or, that some were so special because they had been with Jesus in person, or were at Pentecost. But the truth is: We All Face Similar Struggles
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