An Encouraging Word
YOUR PROBLEMS MAY BE SMALLER THAN YOU THINK
Almost without warning, the stars disappeared.
I was on my way up to a secluded cabin in the East Georgia hills for a few days of retreat, and as my little car puttered up the winding mountain road on a clear winter night, the brilliant points of light that had brightened my journey were suddenly hidden by a dense canopy of trees, leaving me in near total darkness.
Winding my way through the forest to the property at last, I gingerly made my way around the gravel driving path towards the looming outline of a darkened house. With only my two dirt-covered headlights to light my way, I had no idea how far away the boundaries might be, and as I tried to get a sense of the size of the place, it seemed like the property must be huge.
But everything changed in the morning.
Once the day had dawned, it was obvious that both the house and the property were much smaller than I had imagined the night before. The place wasn’t nearly as big as I thought it was, once I saw it in the light of day.
Have you discovered that often your problems are like that?
Think about those times when you faced what seemed like a major issue, but that turned out to be not such a big deal after all. Don’t you wish you knew then what you know now? Don’t you wish you’d had a little more light to see the issue, rather than having to go through it in the dark?
The truth is, we all face things that are small in reality but look huge in the dark, and that’s exactly the way our enemy likes to keep it. He uses deception, disinformation and darkness to keep us believing that every little thing that comes against us is a crisis worthy of fear and trembling.
Here’s good news though: you don’t have to live in fear!
Jesus said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” (John 8:12b) So, if you are “in Christ,” you don’t have to be afraid of those uncertain circumstances in your life! You don’t have to let the enemy torment you with “what if” thoughts and lies about how big your problems are.
There are times in life when we do face massive obstacles, and God’s grace is sufficient even then. However, most of the time our problems aren’t the life-destroying trials that they seem to be at first glance.
This week, may you bring your struggles into the light of Christ. Look to Him, trust in Him, and you may discover that your problems are much smaller than you think.
-Pastor Phillip
