Education Extra
Brought to you by: White Plume Technologies, www.whiteplume.com
Learning to “Cope with Life” and the things that life throws at us, has been a major source of stress in a person’s life since the beginning of time. The funny thing is…God created our brains to deal with multiple tasks and problems at very advanced levels of thinking all at one time. Our brain is used 90% of the time as a filter of all mental inputs and stimuli it receives and then processes them into our conscious thought for the activities around us. It allows us to consciously focus on and function at accomplishing just one or two things at a time. God gave us the capacity to train our brain to do more- to allow more “ducks on our pond” so to speak, without being overloaded.
So why am I always freaking out because I can’t keep all my ducks in a row? When our emotions enter the coping equation stress enters the situation. Jesus said in John 16:33, “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble [your ducks will not be in a row/author insert] But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
Ducks Vs. Duck Maker. God created us in His image so that we could experience relationship and Agape love with him and others here on earth. The richness of that love when we find it is so cool! But we have limited brain ability in our human form and our emotions often get out of sync with God’s Will. Too many ducks get out of line and we begin to focus on the ducks and not on the Duck Maker. Inevitably we begin to try and control all the ducks because of fear; fear of losing something I love, fear that someone I love will get hurt, fear that I will not be a success and so on. You can see there are many fears that can come upon us. But that’s why Jesus said we would have these troubles but not be afraid. Stress is driven by our emotions getting into control of our will and not letting the Holy Spirit control those emotions. So, a battle rages between our soul (our feeling, intellect, emotions) and our spirit (God’s truths and power) as to who will CONTROL our will.
Worldly Standards Vs. Godly Standards. Coping is accomplished in two ways- by Worldly Standards or Godly Standards. Let’s be honest here. When the bills pile up, a loved one is sick, you’ve lost your job, your marriage is not going well, your kids are in trouble or worst yet, maybe going off to the “money drain” called college…. Things begin to feel like they are getting out of your control and you don’t like it. You strive to keep all those ducks in a row, but they don’t line up. Ever been there? The world then tells you…”take these medications, do this yoga, smoke marijuana, have a drink, find sexual releases”, well you get the picture. But worldly standards will drive you bananas! It never works…we end up running ourselves, our marriages and our children into the ground and the ducks just never line up!
Coping comes when we listen to what Jesus said to the disciples in John 15:5, “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man abides in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit [the ducks begin to line up/author insert]. Apart from me you can do nothing.” So, the answer to the “Duck” dilemma is learning to cope with Godly Standards. The Bible says “…God is Agape (Love) and we worship Him in spirit and in truth.” As we learn to trust God with every aspect of our life he will teach us more and more truths about how to abide in Him and not have to be in CONTROL! When I learned to Trust the Father in Heaven with everything and everyone in my life and gave up Control, I found a place called “Rest.” Godly coping is learning to live in his Grace and rest in Him during all the storms. When that happens, I don’t have to strive to please anyone anymore! I can merely do my best and let the Holy Spirit inside of me guide me through the stormy waters. I will still need to be engaged in life and all its problems, but I won’t have to have stress or anxiety. So, it’s a willingness to give up control and then an intentional desire for learning how to abide in Christ. When I keep my eyes focused on the Duck Maker all my ducks start to line up.
For more teaching on how to get your ducks in a row, come join us at the Transformation Ministries School of Ministry Part I class called, “The Keys to Inner Healing.” Registration on line is still open, www.trministries.org. Come see what Godly Standards can do to helping you abide in Him and live in His Rest!
-Warren “Rock” Hobbs
Founder, Transformation Ministries
100 Missionary Ridge Drive, 35124
205-991-4988
