ISSUES: We All Got ‘Em

ISSUES: WE ALL GOT ‘EM Part I

Proverbs 4:23 NKJV Keep your heart with all diligence, For out of it spring the issues of life.

Issues…it’s a word commonly used to describe attitudes and behaviors that are deemed socially unacceptable or dysfunctional.  The word may even be used to describe something that is a personal “pet peeve” or to identify someone or something we don’t necessarily care for.  For instance, we might say, “I have an issue with…so and so or such and such.”  What usually follows is a description of someone or something we may not necessarily prefer.

It has been my observation that when we say we have an “issue” with something or someone, it is usually their fault; not ours.  Yet, Proverbs 4:23 suggests that all of life’s issues are internal first.  Our issues emanate from within us; from our hearts, the very core and essence of our being.

Issues…we all got ‘em.  It’s the plain truth, even though it’s grammatically incorrect.

Could it be that we’ve been trying to deal with our issues the wrong way?  Have we been shifting blame when the onus of responsibility should rest with us?

The answer is a resounding and emphatic YES!

ORIGINS

The genealogy of every issue in our lives can be traced back to an event.  These events are usually traumatic and have the power to frame and shape our paradigms.  Left unresolved, these events subsequently produce internal conflict.  And it is this internal conflict – around a particular event i.e. abandonment, abuse, disappointment, betrayal, etc. - that gives birth to our issues.

Issues are usually stubborn and deeply entrenched.  They hide out in the inner recesses of our psyche.  They make their home in the caverns of our emotions; lying dormant until the right trigger revives them.

The word picture we find in Proverbs 4:23 for the word “guard” is that of a garrison or fortress being built for protection.  The danger here is that we often build walls that keep the wrong things in and the right things out.    Hence, our issues never seem to go away.  We reject love, acceptance, joy, peace, healthy relationships, freedom, etc. because we’ve built a wall around our hurt, pain, disappointment and anger.  Our issues are trapped behind a self-imposed prison masquerading as self-preservation.

We become both the prisoner and the warden.  We feel trapped, yet simultaneously, we have the ability to exonerate and liberate ourselves.

Where do I begin?

DEAL WITH IT

Paula White once wrote, “You can only conquer what you confront.  You can only confront what you identify.”  If you’re going to be free from the issues that have haunted you, you must do the following:

1. Identify the EVENT: what happend to you

2. Resolve the CONFLICT: what happened in you

3. Take ownership of the ISSUE: what you will allow to happen through you

Join us this week as we discuss this 3-step process to Freedom in Christ.

Amazed by His grace,