Pastor Robert
- humansofsurrender
- 7 hours ago
- 3 min read
"Anxiety has been a big part of my story. There were a lot of questions that I wrestled with. I looked at my sins and problems that were going on in my heart. I remember staying up late at night, knowing that God had forgiven me, but struggling with the tension of knowing how dark my heart was. My parents were both missionaries on a Navajo Reservation and led me to the Lord. They talked to me about God's grace and encouraged me. This provided a place where I could dive deep into God’s Word, which gave me a better understanding of God's grace and what Jesus exactly did for us.
Through that whole process, the book of Hebrews in the Bible taught me that Jesus is our High Priest. Jesus identifies with us in everything that we go through and is constantly praying for us. It was like medicine for my soul, knowing that God understands the challenges that I go through. I wish I could say that my life is perfectly easy, but the anxiety struggles still remain. Anxiety has grounded me and helped me to continue in my faith. It has helped me through challenges and has been something that has been major in being able to minister to others. I think a lot of people don't want to talk about something like anxiety because they fear that people are going to judge them and they worry about that. I’m able to tell them that I've been there too and that I still struggle with it.
1 Timothy 1:12-15 is one of my absolute favorite passages in Scripture. “And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord who has enabled me, because He counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry, although I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an insolent man; but I obtained mercy because I did it ignorantly in unbelief. And the grace of our Lord was exceedingly abundant, with faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief.”
I had a conversation with one of my children about how Jesus lived. Jesus grew up being a kid. He went through early adulthood and adulthood. I told my son that Jesus went through everything that we have gone through, and that He understands. I asked him to summarize what we were talking about, and his simple response was, ‘Jesus suffered too.’ I think this is one of the most important things for us to realize. Jesus didn't just stay detached and removed from us, but He chose to enter into our pain. Whether its anxiety, heartbreak, relationship struggles, work heartache, or bullies at school, Jesus experienced all of life. Jesus experienced all of its rawness, grittiness, and nastiness. Jesus made a way to redeem all of it. He hit the reset button through His suffering, death, and His resurrection. He didn't stay detached. He entered that for us, and I would just encourage anyone, no matter what situation you're in, to see that bigger picture that He's redeemed it all, and we can trust Jesus with it. I'm Pastor Rob , I'm human, and I surrender."
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