Ambushed and Assaulted: Coping with the Unexpected : Part 2

Turn Your Life Around: Break Free from Your Past to a New and Better You
by Dr. Tim Clinton

(Page 2 of 4)

Widespread Hurt

Far too few of us seem willing to admit there is a problem. From my perspective, this is the sad part. We sing boldly in our church buildings, but little evidence of our personal pain ever leaks out into the streets, the homes, or the cities around us. Who or what has silenced the lambs of God? Why are we so afraid to admit our failures and heartbreaks?

The fact is, "church people" divorce just as often as people who never attend church - in fact, multiple divorces are extraordinarily common among born-again Christians; 23 percent are divorced two or more times!2 Some consider our most serious social ill the lack of fathers in the home. This fatherless trend harms our emerging younger generation and promotes mental disorders, crime, suicide, poverty, teenaged pregnancy, drug and alcohol abuse, and incarceration.3 Nearly three of every four children living in fatherless homes experience poverty right now, and they are ten times as likely to experience extreme poverty.4 (And that is only a measure of their status as financial have-nots. The void in their souls defies calculation.)

I don't mean in any way to slam single parenting. If anything, I applaud and marvel at single parents who work so hard to give the gift of love to their kids. But the fact remains that no mom is a mom-dad. And no dad can be a dad-mom.

Even our heroes are hurting, and no one but God seems to be listening!

We are more stressed than ever before, we're pulled in every direction, we don't have time for anything. Add to that dismal picture the fact that hell itself is against us. Verses such as 1 Peter 5:8 confirm this fact: "Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour." None of us is exempt.

Good people are hurting. Even our heroes are hurting, and no one but God seems to be listening! A group of about thirty missionaries came to me and we talked for two hours. I walked out of that meeting with pain in my heart. We had talked about what it meant to be a missionary and they told me things that I had never heard.

One man stood up at the end and said, "Tim, I guess what we want to know most of all is that we matter. We want to know that what we do really counts." (This came from missionaries who had dedicated their entire lives to foreign ministry!)

What sobered me was the fact that they had given so much. It is true that they had heaven's reward, and none of them worked for the accolades of man. But they had endured great stress and sacrifice. They just needed to be reassured that it was worth it. Do you ever feel this way?

It is time to claim our freedom from the accuser.

Those God Uses Are Especially at Risk

I am a pastor's son. I know firsthand what service looks like: I've seen my father go through distress and weep over his congregation. In my ministry as a professional counselor, I've seen great pastors struggling with deep sin in their lives. I've helped them cope with the aftermath of treachery and stood alongside them as they went through brokenness in their ministry.

You may be one of the pastors or full-time ministry workers who know what I'm talking about. You may even be one of the 40 percent of pastors who'd like to leave the pulpit.5 Apparently, when asked why, these spiritual leaders said they just didn't want to do it anymore. I can understand why. It seems the office of pastor doesn't mean much today. It is not an easy job, and it's often not fun.

My friend H. B. London, the man often called "America's pastor to pastors," once said, "We have found that most members of the clergy feel isolated, insecure, and only rarely affirmed."6

But whether you are a pastor or a different servant of God, you and I are in an all-out battle against disaffection with God and life. It is time to claim our freedom from the accuser.

Regardless of our occupations or life journeys, we all face spiraling stress levels and increasing satanic assault. The Bible itself warns us that in the last days, evil will grow worse and worse.

The enemy appears to be putting in some overtime before quitting time.

The enemy knows direct assault usually won't work against genuine, born-again Christians, so he most often uses schemes or guerrilla warfare tactics against us. He attacks around the edges of our lives, targeting our children, our spouses, our thought lives, our health, or our finances. Although we don't want to give him too much credit, he is a serious student of human behavior.

He knows that if he can get to your marriage, then he can get to you. And he also knows that if he successfully compromises your marriage, he can profoundly influence your kids and ultimately influence or weaken the church.

On top of everything else, he is getting impatient. Look at Revelation 12:12: "Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and of the sea! For the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time" (Rev. 12:12 KJV). He appears to be putting in some overtime before quitting time.

We do have God's promises and His ability to see us through anything and everything. But when your courage flags, my focus is to help you through those moments spent on the brink, at the edge of despair and human frailty. The problem isn't your immediate response; it is how you deal with the attack in the long run. Your choices determine your future.

Your choices determine your future.

Copyright © 2006 by Dr. Tim Clinton

About the Author

Dr. Tim Clinton is president of the American Association of Christian Counselors and publisher of the award-winning Christian Counseling Today magazine. He serves as professor of counseling and pastoral care and executive director of the Liberty University Center for Counseling and Family Studies and was recently a distinguished visiting professor for the Regent University School of Psychology and Counseling. He and his wife, Julie, have two children and live in Forest, Virginia.