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Coping in the Real World - Part 2

by Jerry Ousley  
4/27/2013 / Christian Living

Often my wife tells me that I have a cartoon mind. One of my favorite scenes is when the subject of the cartoon is being tempted to do evil. On the right shoulder appears this little tiny angel who whispers in the ear of the subject warning of the dangers and consequences of doing whatever it may be. On the left shoulder appears this little devil guy. He's talking in the other ear telling about all the benefits of whatever it is. These conversations can go on and on. Sometimes the devil wins and sometimes the angel wins, but the choice is always up to the character.

In reality, this scenario represents what is taking place. Evil is all around us. We go through a struggle each and every time we are faced with our situations, "opportunities," and problems. Each and every time there is a little angel and a little devil on our shoulders. We may not see them, but they are there. You see, we are not only flesh and blood, walking around on a physical planet, but because Christ has come into our lives and revived our spirits by way of His own Holy Spirit, we have also become a part of a spiritual world. There is a spiritual conflict that goes on every time we are tempted with evil. We can feel it inside of us. It seems our gut ties into knots and we may even become nauseated.

In Jesus' prayer found in John 17, He prayed that God would not remove us from this world so that we can be witnesses just like Jesus was a witness. We've discussed how that coping in this world brings on all kinds of problems. Some live in poverty and struggle each day with what and how they are going to eat. Others have lost their jobs and are wondering how they are going to pay their bills and if they are going to lose their homes. Some already have.

How fair is that of God? Why can't He see the plight I'm in? Why doesn't He do something about it? These are all good questions, and quite honestly I don't have all the answers. But I do know that even though coping in this world is not easy, God has allowed each of us to come to where we are for His own Divine purpose. He never once said that life on this planet as a believer in Christ would be easy. But he did pray to God for two things. The first is that God would keep us from evil.

It may seem with all the bad things going on in the world today, war, hatred, violence, terrorism, economic crashes and on and on, that God isn't keeping us from evil. But if you have come through what you have experienced so far with your faith in God intact, then God is doing what Jesus asked Him to do. Even though it may seem like God has let you down and that He is being downright mean to you, God is still in control.

I know that you will agree with me that the greatest thing that can ever happen to a life takes place when Jesus draws people from sin to Him. When He does they have been saved from the worst holocaust that will ever take place on this world. Their spirits have been made alive again and they can begin to fulfill their chosen purpose for the Kingdom of God. "Brother Jerry, these things are all great and wonderful; but how are they going to get me through the loss of my job or the loss of my home?"

Let me tell you that if you hold on in faith, God is going to provide for your needs. I don't know how and I don't know when, but hang in there because it's coming. Our main purpose is to be witnesses to this world. Our faith in God is that witness. It's not in the words we speak or in any of the ministries we may do but in our day to day faith in God. Over the centuries people have had faith in God and He has produced great and mighty miracles. We read about them in the Bible and we've heard others testify to this fact. But many more have faith in God and it seems that their sickness worsens, or their financial situation collapses into nothing. Many will even lose their lives in their struggle to cope in this world. But God will keep us from evil. He will give us the ultimate victory in Jesus Christ, whether on or off this rock we call Earth. People will believe your witness, sometimes because of the miraculous, but more often because your faith brought you through even to the very end. Our faith in God, regardless of our situations, will bring us ultimately into victory.

Jerry D. Ousley is the author of ?Soul Challenge?, ?Soul Journey?, ?Ordeal?, ?The Spirit Bread Daily Devotional and his first novel ?The Shoe Tree.? Visit our website at spiritbread.com to download these and more completely free of charge.

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