From the Cross: Unresolved Anger

by David Chadwick

Unresolved anger is our seventh burden that was laid at the foot of the cross during our Service of Darkness at Moments of Hope Church. This is a big one. Hurts and pains over the years can pile up and greatly impact the human heart. When things happen in our past that aren’t yet solved or resolved, they can haunt us. So what do we do?

For me, I have learned that I must begin with the fact that God allowed or permitted the pain to come to me. He is bigger than my circumstances! Even Satan in Job 1 had to ask permission from God to attack Job, who was God’s special servant. Satan is a creature. God is the creator. Nothing can happen outside of God’s control and perfectly ordained plan.

Look at Luke 22. The same truth applies. Satan had to ask Jesus for permission to sift Peter like wheat. And Jesus granted it. This can be a hard truth to grapple with, but if you sit in it long enough, I believe you will find solace that there is a sovereign hand forming and shaping each step of the story for our good and God’s glory. God’s providence rules all.

So, with painful memories and unresolved hurt, I often ask Jesus things like, “Why did you permit this? What are you trying to show me? What do I need to learn? How do you want to conform me more to your image and likeness?” I go on to look for areas of confession and repentance. I may ask him, “Do I need to confess arrogance or pride? Are there places in my life that need to be submitted to you once again?”

Then I seek to search my heart for times in my life when I may have hurt others the way that I am feeling hurt. I become reminded of when Jesus flooded my heart with his undeserved grace and mercy to heal my sins. Then I try to extend that same grace and mercy to others.

Finally, I try to see the good that’s come out of the situation or hurt. And then thank God for it all.

Healing grace, over time, helps heal unresolved anger. Did you know that only one consonant, the letter “d” separates anger from danger? As we learn to release our anger to God, we become enveloped by the love and safety of the Father. For the sake of our eternal souls, we must release all of our pain and unresolved anger into the hands of our loving, gracious, kind, and merciful and good Daddy in heaven.

Today’s Prayer of Confession: Father God, deliver me from evil. Remove the danger of unresolved anger and replace it with the safety of FORGIVENESS (Matthew 6:14).

From the Cross: Stress

by David Chadwick

Stress is one of the most common emotions mentioned in our society. Everyone seems so stressed out these days. Our modern society runs at a pace that often feels frantic, chaotic, and overly busy.

The pressures of life pile and pile until people feel paralyzed by the weight of the world. They come at us from all directions: job, finances, family, and friends, etc.

Let me share with you one of the statements that has guided me through so many stresses over the years: God is God and I am not and most of my problems come when I get those two things confused. In fact, Twila Paris sang a song back in the 90s called “God is in Control.” I would encourage you to go listen to it and remind yourself of this truth!

Only when you truly understand the sovereignty of God can you fully release the stress in your life. He really is in control. Psalm 46:10 says, “Be still, and know that I am God.” This is step one. Hush. Be still. Quiet yourself. And really pause and KNOW that God is God. Not only is this verse true, but all of the verses in Scripture are active and alive and available to you today (Hebrews 4:12).

God loves you and is in complete control of HIS world. Why start to worry now?

Memorize Scripture so that when the stresses of life come, which they inevitably will, you can repeat back to yourself what is true as dark thoughts begin to creep into your mind.

Finally, cast all of your cares back onto Jesus! 1 Peter 5:7 says that we are to cast our cares on the Lord because he cares for us. Then, contemplate the cross. It’s the most compelling evidence of God’s love. When stressful thoughts try to invade your mind, identify them, take them captive and make them obey Christ (2 Corinthians 10:5). After that, you must cast any stress back onto Jesus’s strong, mighty, sovereign shoulders. Remind him that he promised to carry all of these burdens for you (Matthew 11:28-30). And then pause and feel the weight come off of you as the peace that surpasses understanding guards your heart and mind. You are meant to have a load that is easy and a burden that is light. He is the one who promises to carry all of our problems!

Today’s Prayer of Confession: Father God, deliver me from evil. Remove my stress and replace it with PEACE (Colossians 3:15).

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For more insight on today’s topic check out Moving Beyond Anxiety by David Chadwick. In his book, David shares 12 ways you can overcome life’s fears and worries—all of which come straight from Scripture.

Order or download your free PDF by clicking here.

From the Cross: Depression

by David Chadwick

Depression. Feeling of despondency and dejection. Hopelessness and despair.

What causes depression? Many factors. Usually it comes from a severe disappointment in life. Things like a painful rejection from a spouse, getting fired from a job, the death of someone you love. Generally, the severity of the pain in depression is commensurate with the loss. In other words, the greater the loss, usually the greater the pain. The perfect storm of depression often leads people to wrestling with self-image and asking the question, “What’s wrong with me?”

A great biblical example of this is Elijah. He had just conquered 400 godless prophets on top of Mt. Carmel. Elijah had great expectation that the Israelites would take this monumental victory and lead a righteous rebellion to overthrow the evil King Ahab and Queen Jezebel. But the people did not rise up to finish the conquest and in turn, Jezebel put out a declarative order to have Elijah killed within 24 hours.

Elijah went from expecting to see a royal overthrow by the people of Israel only to find out that his neck was in a royal noose. So, he fled. Elijah ran and ran for miles and hours until he finally collapsed under a broom tree where he begged God to take him home. He wanted God to take him out of his misery. Friends, this is true depression.

God, in his grace, began to restore Elijah by putting him to sleep, awakening him to feed him, giving him water, putting him back to sleep and then commissioning him back into his calling as a prophet of God. Notice God cared first for his body, then his soul (1 Kings 18,19).

There are times when we shouldn't over spiritualize cures for depression. Sleep, eating right, lots of water, and more sleep can greatly help depression.

But especially don’t forget the last step…God called Elijah to get back to work.

Read and reread Isaiah 58:10. If you’re depressed, go serve the poor. Give them food. Hand out hope. Give someone a blessing. Watch as your depression lifts like the noonday sun. There are so many people out there who are worse off than you are. GO and give your life away and watch as you become free!  It’s a promise of God’s Word.

Today’s Prayer of Confession: Father God, deliver me from evil. Remove depression and replace it with HOPE (James 4:10). And find a place where I can go serve someone else in need. And give them HOPE!

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For more insight on today’s topic check out Moving Beyond Anxiety by David Chadwick. In his book, David shares 12 ways you can overcome life’s fears and worries—all of which come straight from Scripture.

Order or download your free PDF by clicking here.