No, this blog isn’t about NASA’s announcement last week that they believe we will find alien life within the next 20 years. I am talking about not being alone in our struggles to walk with Christ.

I know that we know this and it sounds like a cliché, but it seems that Satan does a really good job of keeping us from really believing that we are not alone!

You all know the cycle well, so I will be brief. You are walking closely with the Lord and things are going well when all of a sudden something (insert whatever it is for you) happens. Then, despite all the growth you experienced before you feel like you are a failure in your relationship with Christ. You have let Him down again.

What happens next is the real difference maker isn’t it? You could wallow in self-pity and go through a crisis of faith wondering how God (as if He made you sin) could let this happen. You could quit–that is a route many people take–and say you gave this faith thing a shot but it just doesn’t work for you. Or, you could ask Jesus for forgiveness and truly repent–turn away from the sin–and enter into restoration in your relationship with God. Choose wisely because the decision has generational and eternal consequences.

We are not alone when we face this cycle of falling short and then deciding what to do next. There are 3 stories you probably know well–or if you don’t maybe you could check them out–that deal with this from either a blatantly Christian perspective or through a wonderfully crafted fantasy story. Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan is an excellent story that was written over 300 years ago but what the main character–Christian–faces in the book is incredibly relevant to today. The characters he meets and the struggles he faces are exactly what we face in the 21st century.

The other two are excellent fantasy stories by J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis. Of course I’m talking about The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings by Tolkien and The Chronicles of Narnia by Lewis. These stories–although fantasy–deal with people striving to live a certain way and facing trials, temptations, and struggles along the way. They also deal heavily with relationships and their complexities. I often turn back to these three stories because I can relate to them and see myself in them.

You see, we are not alone! Remember that the next time you face a difficult time.

More to come…
Jeremy

P.S. The 3 stories I talked about here are excellent, but always let the Bible be your first source! Nothing can replace spending time in God’s Word!!