I Tried Until I Almost Died: From Anxiety and Frustration to Rest and Relaxation by Sandra Mccollom

Author:Sandra Mccollom [Mccollom, Sandra]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
ISBN: 9781601425782
Publisher: The Crown Publishing Group
Published: 2015-03-02T16:00:00+00:00

Success in our spiritual lives isn’t tied to what we determine to do in our own strength. It’s about reigning in life through Jesus Christ. When I see it this way, I am not at war with myself, but instead I am focused on the fact that Jesus already won the war on my behalf! So, for example, when I tried to unwind that yarn with my teeth gritted in determination, instead of thinking, I’d better crucify my flesh, the very best thing I could have done was to declare, “Wait a minute. Because of Jesus, I am dead to throwing fits. Anger and fits no longer have power over me. In fact, because of Jesus’ finished work, I am righteous in Christ right now, this very minute.”

Do you see the difference here? One approach involves trying in our own strength; the other leads to trusting in God and following the Spirit. One finds us trying to wrestle our flesh to the ground; the other finds us simply remembering, receiving, and living out what Jesus has already provided. Remember how Paul answered his own question about who would free him from a life dominated by failure? “Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 7:25).

Once I finally understood this, I took a deep freeing breath and started to relax in His love and in His ability! The phrase in Christ was beginning to come alive for me and to hold meaning for my everyday life. Colossians 3:3 says, “For you died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God.” This means I can live my life through Christ, through His ability in me. I have no need to try to conquer this life on my own. In fact, Jesus actually said He has overcome the world. So guess what? Since we are in Him, we have overcome the world too, through Him! This was a total change for me. A completely new approach.

Now that I had learned this, each time I had a burden of any kind, I had a choice to make: either I could try to unburden myself, or I could place myself under the grace of God to lift the burden. The same is true for you. Our burdens can be any number of things: a besetting sin, a health problem, a lack of purpose, a seemingly impossible list of tasks to accomplish, a feeling of rejection, anxiety, a bad temper—the list goes on. The point is, whatever challenges arise, we don’t have to figure out how to cope with them on our own. We can live our life in Christ, through Christ, and by Christ. Thank God!

Instead of attempting to drive ourselves toward submission or accomplishment by thinking I have to stop doing this and I have to start doing that, we now adopt the discipline of daily, even hourly, laying down our struggles and receiving God’s grace in every area. We make it our practice to refuse

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