This article on the topic of faith focuses on Abraham from Hebrews chapter eleven. This man despite his imperfections, was characterized as a person who lived by faith. He was obedient to God’s call and direction for his life, despite how it sounded or appeared.

Relationships are a mess because our original father and mother, Adam and Eve, decided to be independent of and from God. It was their sin of believing that they could find and enjoy a life of peace apart from the One who had created and designed then to be dependent on Him. Nothing in human nature has changed since that time in the garden.

There are two ways to help people in their life struggles. The first way is to relieve that pain. The second way is to look for and examine the root cause of distress while enduring the pain a little longer while digging out the root cause. Long term resolution.

We all seem at one time or another to have the need to control. Whether it is someone who we believe is out of control by our standards or some circumstance that is disrupting our personal peace and security, we all have a need to control. The point of this article is to call attention to the fact that God is sovereign in all areas of life and we as His followers must submit our wills, selfish ambitions and our agendas to Him.

We live in a culture that is extremely concerned about identity theft. We receive warnings on a daily basis from our credit card companies, in newspaper articles, and extended segments on our nightly news reports about how to protect our identity. While the culture is concerned with the theft of individual personas, we as Christians should be concerned with the real identity theft – the loss of focus on who God created and designed us to be.

Self-sufficiency is a natural part of our sinful behavior. Your basic struggle is depending on self or depending on God. Begin by acknowledging your inability to control all of life. Have a contrite heart and repent of the sin of self-sufficiency.