Many times, we need to make small tweaks to make big changes. The adjustment is almost always in our thinking.
Our thoughts produce our beliefs and perspectives by which we view our life, struggles and future. In working with helping people for decades, I have noticed some things people believe that keep them trapped and limited in their breakthroughs.
Unfortunately, many of these beliefs are not strongly rooted for transformation, and they keep people in a false sense of peace. They are actually myths, false beliefs that hinder our breakthrough but are often widely held. We often hold onto these myths, simply because they are widely held, not because they are actually producing fruit in our lives.
I have found these common myths that hold believers back from breaking through in the healing and freedom journey:
1. Everything that happens is God’s will. This one gets people all stirred up, because Christianity for so long has attributed everything that happens to either God authoring or allowing. Either way, we see Him as a God who watches destruction happen in people’s lives and does nothing to help, but sadistically observes it all happening. Many people even see their disease, dysfunctional upbringing or limitations as all part of God’s great plan for them.
When people tell me everything is God’s will, I remind them of 2 Peter 3:9c, which says He “does not want any to perish.” I ask the person, “Is it God’s will for anyone to perish?” Of course not. Do people perish? All the time.
We actually don’t realize how much is put in our hands to either obey or disobey the ways of God in this world. When people ask, how could God allow starving people to die, the real question is, how could man allow starving people to die. We often take away our responsibility and simply blame God.
We also have very little room in our spiritual view for warfare. Many Christians fail to see how the enemy seeks to steal, kill and destroy. He gets away with destruction every day. Meanwhile, people either blame God or say He watched and allowed it. We have been bewitched in our spiritual lens and we lose our fight to press in for winning.
2. I have done everything. Now God needs to do something. At some point in our journey, we fall into the exhaustion of overcoming. In our frustration, we say, “OK God, you need to do something now!” We feel we’ve hit our limit, when in fact, God wants to stretch us to a new level of endurance and relentlessness. We think we have come to our end, when God is actually ready to help us go to the next level.
But often our call for God to “just do something” reveals our dysfunctional relationship with Him. We want Him to rescue us, instead of believing in His power within us and rescuing ourselves out. We fail to see that His ability and power is available in us. We need to come into agreement with that and go to the next level.
Otherwise we can often take the posture of self-pity with God–waiting for Him to do something rather than continuing to overcome and grow.
3. God is all I need. We sing songs about this, but it can be taken to a place of isolation. God is the core of what you need, but you need human relationship. In my work with mental illness, one of the key components that breeds deep struggles of the mind is isolation. Relational interaction is one of God’s tools to help us walk in sanity and peace. We need people around us who can encourage us into healthy thinking and healthy choices.
I find the more that people isolated themselves from authority figures and mature people, the more they can open themselves up for insanity. We are wired and designed for relationship. It’s not just a convenience. Our wholeness depends on it. That is why we should never stop the pursuit of quality relationships, no matter how hard it gets.
Question: What myths do you find keep people from breaking through?
