Day 4 - First World Problems

Thoughts that have come from various quotes taken from the book, "Victor - Breaking Free From a Victim Based Society by John H. Hovis. Click here to link directly to the audio file.

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"Victims get caught up in wants instead of what is right. Their faith takes them down paths where they believe they have to work really hard to get right with God so that they will get what they want – the provision that God promises." 

As quoted from the book "Victor - Breaking Free From a Victim-Based Society" by John H. Hovis
Page 96.

The needs and wants in our life can be something that works so hard to take control of the way we think about ourselves. I found that when things seem to be going my way my mind focuses on needs and wants that are not that important in the scope of things.  When things are going well for me my needs and wants might be summed up by the term "first-world problems"!  

Have you ever stopped and thought about that phrase in the past?  In places that are not as affluent and don't offer as many choices as we have, many times the daily process of survival present an entire set of needs and wants that are on a completely different level than those in our lives today.  When you stop and consider the everyday needs and wants of a human being in a third world nation it might be easy for those of us living a first world life to feel guilt and shame about the needs and wants in our life.

I'm in no way saying that the needs and wants that we all have aren't important in our lives.  What I'm hoping is that we can focus on the fact that trying to manipulate God and others through our faith and relationships, in an effort to ensure our needs and wants fully met is something that puts us in an amazing position to let victim thinking control our lives.  That previous statement is just as true for those of us living a first world life as it is for those facing the rigors of life in a third world nation.
Here's what The Bible says about needs and wants and God's way of viewing those things that concern us.

Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. 1 Peter 5:7 (NIV)

I'm sure you know all too well that needs and wants can drive us to a place where anxiety can take over our every waking moment?  The person who has decided to live the life of a victor realizes the truth of this verse.  God cares for them!  Victim thinking can occur when we look at our circumstances for proof that God truly cares.  When things are going right it's easy to believe that God cares.  When things take a turn for the worse it can be a challenge to believe whether there is a God or not, let alone have any faith in whether He cares or not.

Once victim thinking enters the picture, and our circumstances look as though they are turning out differently than the way we would like them to, we tend to do one of two things.  Either we get busy at trying to work our way into the position where we can prove that we are worthy of God's love with the hopes that his care will change our circumstances or we give up on a relationship with god altogether.  Same goes with any important relationships we believe might have an impact on the good life we so often fixate upon.  Both of those strategies are so harmful to relationship and promise only more victim thinking as a result.

What are the needs and wants in your life today?  How anxious do you feel about the prospect of those needs and wants being answered in your life?  It isn't wrong to feel anxiety or to be concerned, it's wrong for us as Victors 'to allow that anxiety to make us believe our relationships are not a valuable part of our lives.  When that anxiety comes again today, do something different.  Cast them on god!  Then take another breath and move forward in the life of the victor you are call to be.