Thursday, September 5, 2013

Taking control of one's life situations

Welcome to the world of a frustrated problem solver.  That's been my strength for years, from mathematics to a myriad of other specific situations.  Consequently, it is also one of my biggest frustrations with other people, when they won't seek to solve their own problems once it has been indicated that they have a problem.

Now, this does not mean one should not ask for help. Asking for help is a trait that is practiced too little by many in case they should appear to be weak.  No, this is the result when one has asked for help, been given help and assistance, but a new problem arises that the prior source for help can not address.

Scenario 1: I never have any "free time".  This situation is common in my work environment. By "free time" an individual means, time to do what I want to do when I want to do something. As a "problem-solver" I can sit down with them and assess their "required time" when others expect them to be somewhere and help them understand that their "free time" is any time not required by others.  The problem they sense is due to their misuse of the "free time" that they already have and not managing their free time.  However, rather than use this information and take control of their life, they continue allowing others to schedule their free time and they continue to complain.  They need to solve their own problem now.

Scenario 2: I just don't have enough money.  The person has money to eat out, to drive randomly around town, to stop for a 'coffee' or soda several times a day, but can't accumulate enough money to pay for a repair or buy a book!  I can sit down and identify their money leaks, but I can not change their actions. They have to make the changes personally.

You may be wondering what this has to do with the Bible.  It has a lot to do with the biblical teaching of Jesus. The problems listed all have at the center of the issue the capital letter "I".  All the excuses, all the scenarios, all the complaining begins with "I".  The problem is that due to the impact of sin, the effect of sin and how sin affects (one is a noun, the other a verb!) our selfhood. The Bible teaches in several different ways that the "old I must die" and a new I be raised from the dead.  Because our culture so dramatically separates the 'spiritual' from the 'physical' we don't see how they have anything to do with one another. But they do!

The transformation process Paul addresses in Romans 12.1-15.13 is not limited to some non-physical or non-material realm.  It does not just have to do with our thoughts and attitudes.  In fact very little has to do with our thoughts and attitudes.  It is not that these are not important, they are.  However, the transformation has to do with more than the mind.  Rom 12.3 discusses how we think, but then 6-8 all deal with actions. Rom 12.16 deals with the mind, but the remainder of the chapter is what we  do.  Romans 13.13 says (NASB95) "Let us behave properly".

Transformation encompasses our entire life, just as death encompasses our entire life. We don't just die with Christ in our thoughts so that we can be raised to new life in our thoughts.  We die to Christ so that we can be raised to new life!  No one else can solve our problem. We have to address it and take control of our new life, control that comes by giving up control-not to others-but the the Lord Jesus Christ.