Denial

 Living in denial. Many do, and to their own harm. Some do, and to their own well-being. How can this be? Read on.

Author Dutch Sheets says that we can live in two types of denial; bad or good. Bad denial is to "bury our emotions and try to pretend we're OK when we're not. We're deeply wounded." Good denial is living in such a way that "despite our feelings or the circumstances we're in, we choose to believe God's Word and what He says about us." We deny the power of our feelings and circumstances to control us. As Sheets says, "It's not what happens to us that controls us, but what we believe about the situation." So, which state of denial will we choose to live in? The first leads to death, the second to life. The life He has for us. His life.

Paul speaks to this in Romans 8:35-37, "Can anything ever separate us from Christ's love? Does it mean He no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or are hungry and cold, in danger, or threatened with death?....No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ who loved us." Overwhelming victory! It's ours, owned by us because of Him. Because of His victory over death on the cross. His victory denied the power of death to hold Him, or to hold any of us who have believed upon Him in truth. Christ denied that power to hold Him, as did Paul, Peter, John, as have millions more. As have I. Have you?

We are born into a world that is filled with trouble. Christ promised we would encounter it, just as He has promised that in Him we would overcome it. The circumstances of our trouble may be daunting, as will the emotions and feelings that may accompany them. Will we dare to believe that what we see and feel may be real, but that what He says and who He is is more real. Infinitely so. We must not, as I've heard it said, confuse the diagnosis with the verdict. Sheets speaks of a couple with a young child who'd been diagnosed with a terminal illness. They were told to prepare for his death, that there was no hope. God had spoken something different to them. He would not let them lose hope. He led them to Doctors who saw the situation differently, and who treated the illness differently. The child lived and he lives today. They refused to accept the diagnosis as the verdict. They denied the power of their circumstances to shape their future and their hope. Will we dare to live in such hope? Will we, in all places, hope in God?

However grey or gloomy your surroundings may be today, deny the false claims of their power over you. Look up, above the mountains of oppression and find the answer that David found in the Psalms. "From where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord." So will yours. Dare to live in denial. Dare to believe for His victory. If He has promised you it, then it is yours in Christ. Own it.

Blessings,
Pastor O