If
I Could Tell You
By Lexi Ellis
”If
we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit.”
Galatians
5:25 (ESV)
I
recently re-read prayers and journaling I had written a while back. Some were
written after a friend confided in me she was struggling with eating issues,
despite our thinking she was doing great. My heart was aching and, in this
specific situation, I couldn’t talk to anyone about it…except my all-knowing
God. I asked for the right words to say, if any, and for the Holy Spirit living
in her to convict her to do the hard work and get help. I wrote:
You told me your
secret today. I’m not going “to tell.”
But if I could tell you, I’d say it’s much easier “getting by” than joyfully living, because real living
requires encountering scary things. It requires dealing with this stuff. It
requires surrendering the control of “I-can-do-this-on-my-own” and recognizing there’s life beyond this. If
I could tell you, I’d talk about God’s command to “address” our struggles - - that sometimes we need to
work and wrestle with hard things. So right now, I’m praying for the Holy
Spirit to speak into your life. I’m praying the Holy Spirit speaks to me about what
words and when. If I could tell you, I’d say I’m heartbroken for you and I want
you to address this because I love you like crazy. [1]
In
Hebrews
12:1-3, the author acknowledges sin that “so
easily entangles.” Because of this, we need to “throw off everything that
hinders.” By addressing struggles and sin in our lives, we become available to
“fix to our eyes on Jesus.” Our entangling sin and struggles can’t separated
from our relationship with God. We need to reject complacency - - a much easier
choice - - and choose an active-ness to identify struggles and sin and do
something about them. It’s not to try to achieve perfection, but to continually
be working on “our stuff” to remove barriers in our relationship with Christ.
My
friend recognized her struggle prevented a closeness with God and others. I’m
so thankful she made the hard choice to address it. As I read through my
journal and prayers for her, I went back to give Him prayers of thanks.
My
friends, what obstacles in our lives inhibit our relationship with our Creator?
If I could tell you, we need to address them. If I could tell you, a deep
relationship with Christ means we release our control and continually deal with
our struggles and sins.
GOING
FURTHER:
1.
What sin or struggle is inhibiting your intimacy with God? How do you need to
address it?
2.
For whom can you be actively committed to pray?
GOING
DEEPER:
[1]
edited for privacy and space
Lexi is married to
Andrew, serves with Oakwood’s Children’s Ministries, teaches at Lake Country
Christian Academy and is the Fresh Start Coordinator.
