Picture your life as a tangled-up jumble of strings all tied into one big wad, and each string represents a portion of your life. Now picture each one of these strings as a different color and each made from different material (cotton string, wool yarn, nylon cord, fluffy yarn, paracord, both flat and round shoestrings, etc.). Each one has a knot that represents a problem that happened in your life at some point in time, one that is still part of your life. Even those who have a “perfect” life have not-so-perfect problems lurking in their past and present.
The process of creating such a mess took time, and naturally it will take some time to untangle, but you and I cannot do it any more than a piece of string can untie a knot in itself, or change its color. When you are totally honest, our lives are a REAL mess. The great thing is that God can easily untangle the knots in our lives. In fact, Jesus came to do just that. He wants us to have more joy and peace than we ever thought possible. Jesus said, “I came so they can have real and eternal life, more and better life than they ever dreamed of.” (John 10:10 MSG) He wants you and I to be happy, but it's up to us.
Even if you think you are currently FULL of joy and happiness it is possible to be even happier. To be honest, that's really hard for me to imagine and understand, but I know that it's true because the Bible is not just a bunch of fairy tales and nice, pleasant sayings. In fact, it has proven itself over and over to be 100% accurate.
All God wants is for us to ask for His help, but things are worse than most of us think. Unless God gives us the knowledge that our lives really are a tangled-up mess and gives us the desire to become untangled, we won't even know that we need help, much less ask for it. He doesn't just leave us to our own problems though. He places in everyone's heart the knowledge of our situation and the desire for more happiness, plus the realization that we cannot really get there without His help. He places within each of us the desire to ask, but then He leaves it up to us whether we actually ask or not.
How about you, how happy do you want to be? Could you stand to be happier than you are right now? Would you be more at peace if you knew that those problems that are currently lurking in the back of your mind would never be an issue for you again? Would you sleep better knowing that the troubles you face on a daily basis don’t exist anymore?
Dan
“This is what I want you to do: Ask the Father for whatever is in keeping with the things I’ve revealed to you. Ask in my name, according to my will, and he’ll most certainly give it to you. Your joy will be a river overflowing its banks!"
So ASK already!
Read:
- Steps to Jesus
- Does God Still Love Me?
- What's God's Will for Me?
- Discouraged? Got Problems?
- Define Freedom
