Oppressed

I’m not writing today’s blog to depress you or to oppress you.  Instead, I’m writing to warn you and to encourage you.  With all of the changes taking place in and around us, we can easily become consumed with what’s happening, what’s wrong, and what’s next.  Trauma is a good word to describe our times.  Today, I invite you to become more trauma-informed, not trauma-consumed.  If you notice that you’re in fight-mode—full of anger and frustration—you have probably lost your peace.  If you’re in flight-mode—hiding from the people and problems around you—you’re probably becoming more lonely, disconnected, and depressed.  If you’re in freeze-mode, you’re probably feeling paralyzed and stuck—full of worry and anxiety.

As we journey together through turbulent times, I want to warn you of the dangers of becoming trauma- consumed.  If you allow the media, your anxious brain, your feelings, or the people around you to control you, you will become an anxious mess.  If you try to separate yourself from everyone and everything and go into survival mode, you will die of loneliness.  But if you choose to be trauma- informed and biblically-formed, the Holy Spirit will ignite in you a passion to seize the moment and to make a difference for Christ as people all around you are freaking out.

Jesus calls us to be different and to make a difference in the world.  Jesus has given us His Spirit, His Word, His peace, His people, His promises, His love, and His grace.  He’s our foundation where we find our security when the systems of this world seem to be crumbling.  We know that things must get worse before Jesus returns to restore everything.  But what are we to do when our world gets rocked?

This morning I found the answer from a very reliable source. 

“When I am with those who are oppressed, I share their oppression so that I might bring them to Christ.  Yes, I try to find common ground with everyone so that I might bring them to Christ.  I do this to spread the Good News, and in doing so I enjoy its blessings” (1 Corinthians 9:22, 23).  As I woke up with my Tim Horton’s coffee and with God’s Word for breakfast, each word that I digested made me stop and think.  Have I digested lies or become consumed with the things of this world to the point of being oppressed?  Am I more focused on what I have lost or may lose next, or am I focused on my unchanging Lord, Jesus Christ?  Do I really believe that everything that I have and need is provided by Jesus, or are my attachments to the things of this world oppressing me because they’re going away one-by-one?  Have I allowed myself to slip into a state of oppression or depression or anxiety where my life is gradually being sucked away?  Have I been tempted to give up and throw in the “Terrible Towel” because my team lost the game, because I lost a loved one, lost my job, lost my money, lost my health, or lost my hope?

Please call or find someone who cares about you if you are sinking and need a life-line.  Consider what Jesus endured for you and all that He offers you amidst your pain and your problems.  Prayerfully consider ways that you may enter into the oppression and suffering of others so that you might bring them to Christ.  God doesn’t waste a hurt.  He entered into the pain of this world, took it upon Himself, and by His stripes we were healed.  Don’t suffer alone.  We were made to live in community. 

How does God want to use your pain to minister to the hurting people around you?  How are you finding common ground so that you may bring people to Christ?  What do you have in common with the people around you?  People are people, and we all have the same needs.  How will people know the Good News unless you share it?  If your conversations are about what’s going on in the news, it’s not good news.  Don’t cave to culture or let culture define you.  Instead, be transformed by renewing your mind, and offer people some fresh Good News.  Offer a helping hand.  Offer a homecooked meal.  Offer to pay a bill that is weighing them down.  Offer your time.  Offer a listening ear.  Offer a heartfelt prayer.  Offer your home.  Greater love has no one than this:  when we lay down our lives for our friends. 

People are dying to know that there’s someone out there who actually cares about them.  Make a connection today.  Share their oppression.  Lighten their load.  Do the uncomfortable and consistent loving work of demonstrating the life of Christ living in you to the people that you know who are really struggling.  If and when you do, you will share in the joy and blessings, and in the process, God will lighten your load.  Go for it.  Hold nothing back.  Don’t stop short of sharing their oppression until you feel it.  Bring them to Christ as you keep finding how much you have in common, as you’re being the good news to them.  The Spirit of God living in you is the hope of the world.  Give yourself away today and watch what Jesus does in and through you.  You might lose track of time.  You might lose track of what was bothering you.  You might not complete your to-do list.  Give, and you’ll be blessed beyond measure.  Try to outgive God today.  See what happens.

“If we are not fully engaged in this great mission of God in our world,we will miss the very thing He created us to do.”

Richard Stearns

Unfinished