Ambushed and Assaulted: Coping with the Unexpected : Part 3

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

(Page 3 of 4)

Numbness May Be the Greatest Predator!

Look closely at what Paul said to a congregation he was shepherding:

I wish you would bear with me while I indulge in a little [so-called] foolishness. Do bear with me!

For I am zealous for you with a godly eagerness and a divine jealousy, for I have betrothed you to one Husband, to present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. But [now] I am fearful, lest that even as the serpent beguiled Eve by his cunning, so your minds may be corrupted and seduced from wholehearted and sincere and pure devotion to Christ.

(2 Corinthians 11:1-3 AMP)

Paul wrote these words to Christians in Corinth. They weren't infidels or bad people - they were good people who, somewhere along the way, he knew could lose heart. The apostle feared they would succumb to the death of desire for God. Numbness may be the greatest predator threatening your Christian walk today!

As a spiritual father, the apostle was concerned about these people. He deeply loved them and was anxious over their journey. While I am no apostle Paul, I feel the same way about you and millions more who are at risk in the land of the spiritually shell-shocked and the emotionally dazed.

Paul shared his motive when he wrote, "[I care] because I have betrothed you to one Husband, to present you as a pure virgin to Christ." Then this great apostle said, "But I am afraid. I am fearful for you." The renowned Bible teacher Beth Moore, expressed the clearest interpretation of Paul's urgency. She said that the term for "fearful" might be better translated as: "I'm terrified for you, lest the evil one deceive you by his craftiness, that somehow he would deceive you and you would lose that pure, undefiled faith in Christ."

Do you remember what it was like when you first came to Christ, when you knew you were different because you had been washed by the blood of Jesus? Do you remember the joy you sensed when the light bulb came on in your soul and you knew you had connected with the living God? It was good people like you Paul was talking to when he said, "I am terrified for you!"

Paul knew that evil, in some subtle way, may begin to strip us of our joy. He worried that in some way the con man and scam artist we call Satan would intercept us in the journey of life and steal away our pure, undefiled faith in Christ. God urges us in Proverbs 4:23, "Above all else, guard your heart, / for it is the wellspring of life" (NIV). But sometimes, pain leads us down a path where we actually are in danger of losing our hearts.

The truth is that if you are at a place of deep pain, then Paul the apostle and anyone else who really cares is "terrified for you." Are you broken or struggling in his journey because life is not the way it's supposed to be? Understand the cause and prepare to discover God's incredible solution to the problem. This is the place where everything you've been taught, or everything you have preached, over the years must come into play. You have to ask yourself, Do I really believe it? Or is it all just myth?

You're in a War

As Christians, we claim that "our citizenship is in heaven," and that is correct (Phil. 3:20 NIV). The downside to this is that kingdom of God is more than mere talk. The idea is that our conduct should reflect our citizenship.

If we have really been born from above, and if our lives have truly been "bought with a price" - the precious blood of Christ - then we should be different now (1 Cor. 6:20 NIV). If our behavior should reflect our citizenship, then let me tell you what you already know: there's a struggle going on!

The apostle Paul was sincerely terrified for good people he loved - he saw they were at risk. How do good people lose heart with God and life? By enduring enormous, unexpected, relentless pain.

I can still remember going to Bible camp as a young Pennsylvania boy. One of the very first verses we had to learn was James 1:2: "Brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials. . . ." I still dislike that passage because it talks about pain and suffering.

I hate pain. Suffering has no place on my wish list.

To be frank, I get ill when I hear some untested and unscarred teacher stand up and quote that passage. It must be quoted because it is God's Word and it is true, but let it be quoted in tears and genuine humility before God and by people who have faced real risk in this life.

I hate pain. Suffering has no place on my wish list. Yet I know it will come nonetheless. According to the apostle Paul, even our planet itself gets in the act: "The whole creation has been groaning" for the day of redemption (Rom. 8:22 NIV).

Who wants darkness of soul or confusing days of struggle to be a part of his or her life? When enduring pain, most of us want to protest, "But this isn't the way it's supposed to be!"

My dad is a strong man who has battled cancer with God's help. Yet even after overcoming such hardship, he experienced one of those days.

Throughout his struggle with illness, he had looked forward to going back to the pulpit. He miraculously recovered and prepared for the day he'd anticipated for so long. Preaching was what he loved, what he held on to, especially since his wife of fifty years had passed away. But just two weeks before he was scheduled to return to his church, he got the word: "We don't want you back anymore."

The ambush caught him by surprise. I don't understand. This isn't the way it's supposed to be.

At the heart of our pain in times like these is the loss of control. We finally realize there is absolutely nothing we can do.

False expectations fuel disappointment in life. When people fail to hear the truth right up front, they believe that once they receive Christ, life will be completely pain free. God will take care of everything and meet all their needs - all they have to do is show up at church regularly. You and I know hardship befalls everyone.

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.