Why You Do What You Do and What God Can Do About It

By: Dr. Rickey A. Nation, PhD

 

Struggle! Struggle! Struggle! It seems most of life is about struggling in some form. It is stated well that there are only three types of people. Those going into the storms of life; those in the middle of the storms of life; and those going out of the storms of life. So, why do we struggle and what can God do about it?

First, accept struggles and troubles as part of life. Job 14:1 states “Man that is born of a woman is of few days, and full of trouble.” Because of the sin curse placed upon humanity, struggles and troubles are a part of living.

Second, God gives power to confront and overcome struggles and troubles. Philippians 2:13 states “For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.” God works through us by His Spirit in us as we believe and live out our new identity in Christ, maintain emotional and relational honesty before God and others and battle for the mind by taking thoughts captive. You can overcome all struggles through God’s power released within you.

Third, struggles are there for a reason. Many struggles and troubles that will not go away despite all our efforts have become strongholds in our thinking and living. In the book “One Day at A Time,” authors Neil Anderson and Mike Quarles quote Ed Silvoso definition of stronghold as “a mind-set impregnated with hopelessness that causes us to accept as unchangeable what is known to be contrary to the will of God.”

People struggling with addictiveness, anxiousness, and depressiveness have allowed strongholds to develop. God’s answer? Second Corinthians 10:3-5 states “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds;) casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.”

Long-standing struggles and troubles have become destructive either through small subtle steps or choices that lead us away from God or an intense event, such as a rape that is burned into our thinking that greatly inhibits us. God’s Word teaches we are to become proactive by going to those areas in prayer, meditation and godly counsel with the intent of tearing down these strongholds. Peace will be the end result.