Are You Stuck?

For he raised us from the dead along with Christ
 and seated us with him in the heavenly realms
because we are united with Christ Jesus.
~ Ephesians 2:6 NLT

Are you in that place where you feel stuck? We’ve all been there. Sometimes we know the reason. Maybe we feel distant from God, or have been so busy lately that we have ignored God, not made time for him, so suddenly we realize we have lost our sense of his presence.  Maybe we are overwhelmed with a problem that seems immovable. Whatever it may be, something seems to be pulling us down, holding us back.

Let’s examine the truth.  God has promised to never leave us nor abandon us. So, he hasn’t moved.  He is still with us, even if we can’t sense or feel him. Then we may remember that we are in a battle in and for our minds. (2 Cor.10:3-5)

We have an enemy who wants to distract, disrupt, and destroy our faith, our peace, our lives. The devil has assigned a fallen angel, a demon, to whisper lies, accusations and harassing thoughts into our mind. If we are not wearing our spiritual armor (Ephesians 6:10-18), the helmet of the truth of our salvation, we may allow those nasty thoughts to invade our subconscious and percolate there.

We get too tired to remember we are in a battle sometimes. God knows that. He doesn’t get mad at us, but waits for us to start worshiping, praying and being in his Word daily again, so we can rest in his presence as God grows our faith and strength to move on.

We can feel stuck when we forget to remind ourselves that we are new creations, free from condemnation. We are no longer slaves to fear. We are hidden with Christ in the Father. (Col.3:3)

When we concentrate on our problems, we forget our new position in Christ that gives us spiritual authority over our lives and against the devil. We are no longer bound solely to earth, the physical realm, but the Holy Spirit grabbed hold of us at the moment of our salvation and transferred us into the heavenly realms where we are now seated with Jesus Christ at the right hand of our heavenly Father. (Colossians 3:1)

In prayer, let’s start our day there, in Heaven with Jesus. Let’s listen to him. From there we realize we are not stuck. We get the heavenly perspective of our problems and the concerns of our day. That way, we can do what Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 4:18: “So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.”

Dear friends, be blessed as you choose to fix your gaze on Jesus and allow him to give you a heavenly perspective.  Be blessed to see that God has not abandoned you, but is just waiting for you to turn to him and spend time with him.  Be blessed with renewed confidence and secure hope in today and every day you spend with him. Amen.

Mary Sumner ~ October 3, 2023