We Christians are supposed to be the boldest, most courageous people in the world. Many of us, however, tend to run away from the problems and dilemmas we must each face. Some of us will not admit it, but we all want to avoid dealing with difficult situations.
Christ-followers must realize that difficult situations are a part of life. We get hurt and offended by others. We experience the pain of rejection, separation, and ridicule. We experience painful losses through the years, and the longer we stay alive on earth the more we see of both the good and the bad.
Because of these things, we can develop unhealthy and self-defeating ways to cope, mostly (if not entirely) avoiding the issues that need to be faced. One thing we should all remember, though, is that problems don't go away unless they are dealt with and solved.
Here are three wrong ways to deal with difficult or challenging situations.
1) By "praying it away"
So many Christians are guilty at this. We do something wrong, we create a problem, and instead of fixing it by doing what is right, we merely ask God to "drive the problem away" or solve it.
For example, we commit sin, and ask God to spare us from the consequences of our actions. We neglect our health, and pray to God that our ailments will just go away. We spend our money on worthless things, and ask God to give us provisions.
We can't expect God to solve our problems for us if the problem is ourselves. We can't just pray to God and ask Him to make our lives as perfect as can be, without doing our part in obeying Him. We can, however, pray to God to help us make wise choices that will avoid some problems in the first place.
2) By repressing feelings (usually of hurt and pain)
There are some Christians who avoid facing confrontations or uncomfortable conversations and interactions by merely repressing what they feel. This usually happens when someone does them wrong, and instead of confronting their offender they merely keep silent and try to "forget" what happened.
The Bible tells us that we must not allow a root of bitterness to grow in us (see Hebrews 12:15). When we repress our hurts, we actually prepare fertile soil for resentment, hatred, cynicism and bitterness to take root.
3) By not talking about it
We can avoid dealing with our problems by merely keeping our lips sealed. We simply won't talk about our issues because it upsets us, and we'd rather "be happy" by "thinking positively."
Truth is, a positive mindset that doesn't want to discuss unpleasant but important matters will never solve anything. We need to talk about how to solve our issues, make important decisions, and find solutions to every problem that we are facing.
