Preacher’s Wife Teaching Life

You know that feeling when things aren’t working out the way you planned? Maybe you expected a better outcome for yourself and you’re worried about how everything will turn out? You lose sleep over issues that are out of your control and you have anxiety about the future. As the reader, you might notice all the “you’s” in the above sentences. There wasn’t much of “God” mentioned but there was a lot mentioned about your own well-being and yourself. This is an example of operating in the flesh. If you haven’t grown up in church, you might associate “flesh” with skin and you’re wondering why I’m talking about skin. “Flesh” in church-ese for operating in this world without the guidance and fruit of the Holy Spirit. Flesh focuses a lot on “self” – self-gratification, selfishness, self-satisfaction, self-advancement, self-consciousness, self-protection, etc. Walking in the flesh usually ends in anxiety, worry, depression, addictions, destruction, anger and fear. Matthew 7:13,14 Ent...

In Psalm 129 , the Israelites express their frustration for being persecuted since youth and they ask God to cut the cords that tie them to the wicked.  For them, it's about slavery and the way they've been treated in the past; for us it's more about being slaves to the things that torment us - like depression, addictions, anxiety, etc. God is trying to teach us, in this day, that: Our suffering is not a lifestyle, it is merely a gateway to our freedom in Christ. Suffering is not a phase we live in for the rest of our lives while we wither away in sorrow and frustration - it should be used as an opportunity for God to cut the chains that bind us so we can experience true freedom in him. For example, years ago when financial burdens plagued us I used to get very worried, stressed and hopeless about our situation. I would try to come up with ways we could earn more money to afford the things that came up unexpectedly. I lived this way - chained down to this fear of lack o...