"ENTITLED? A Personal Reflection on Life" by Welby O'Brien, LOVE OUR VETS

The Problem (As I See It)

What went wrong??? Things are definitely NOT as they should be in this world, or in my life. Funny how we start out in life expecting things to go our way. All our needs – and wants – to be met. Of course! We are entitled to that, right? That should be the default setting on our existence. And we continue through life operating on that assumption, only to discover that life relentlessly lets us down.

We will get hurt. Be betrayed. See tragedy. We will witness acts of violence, crime, and evil. We work hard just to get through each day. We feel trapped. We will fail. Battle health problems. Try to outrun aging. We will grieve for those we lose. And no matter how hard we try, including those who may have had everything they ever dreamed, everyone ends up dying. Something is very wrong.

The Solution (As I See It)

Our natural inclination as human beings is to fight! To fix it! After all, we are entitled to the best. We will do all we can to make things right! Go to war. Stop war. Elect the right politicians. Make better laws. Buy better stuff. Take better meds. Be religious. Live longer. Hook up with a better life partner. Start more charities. Get a better job, or better yet: win the lottery!

And for many who are tired of fighting, the final and only option they see is to give up. Death must be better than life.

The REAL PROBLEM

Unfortunately, these futile efforts have failed throughout all of history to deliver what we truly need. The real problem is that the original entitlement premise is flawed, and all our attempts to solve the problem are at best only temporary.

I too, began my own life with this mindset. I pretty much planned to live happily ever after. After all, I was entitled to! But over time, abuse, betrayal, life-threatening illnesses, failure, grief, and broken relationships were woven into my life story. To this day, all around me and in my own life and home, I see the visible and invisible wounds of trauma. And in spite of my best efforts, I have not been able to solve these problems. When I finally stopped striving and realized that I (me) have a deeper need than just “fixing” symptoms, I became aware of my deep rooted inherent longing for something bigger than what this broken world has to offer. I need to understand WHY I am here, and what life is all about. Is there hope or not? And that answer has to come from something outside myself, independent of all my futile efforts.

For so many of us who have survived trauma and live with invisible wounds 24/7, we can’t trust, we are skeptical, angry, and see no hope. In my own life, however, in spite of how disillusioned I had become, I was determined to find that hope.

The first step on my journey was to search and research for the source of truth.

After much time and hard work, my conclusion was that of all I have seen, heard, and read, the Bible is by far the most reliable source, and I have chosen to bank my life and future on its words. (If you want to research yourself, I’ve included some good resources at the end.) According to God, the real problem is that He is holy (perfect, flawless) and we are innately flawed (aka sinners), bent on our own way, and entitled only to death, and ultimately eternal separation from God. Our sinfulness has permanently blocked us from a relationship with Him, and there is nothing WE can do about it.

No temporary need or want can even come close to the enormity of our profound need that most of us are not even aware of.

The REAL SOLUTION

The best way for me to envision the real problem and its solution is rather than viewing all things from inside myself looking out, to project myself as if I am looking down at the earth from space (funny how small I suddenly appear). Instantly corrects my assumption that I am the center of the universe, and reminds me that all this was here before I arrived on the scene. The big picture. A more accurate perspective of reality. Then taking my cues from the scriptures, I look back in time prior to the universe’s beginning, and see that the one and only almighty God allowed evil at some point. A cosmic conflict has been going on for ages. And now man and the earth are front and center in that raging war. What astounds me is that it was BEFORE God even created the world (or me!) that He HAD a PLAN for us.

So when the first people (who had been granted a very special relationship with God) deliberately rebelled against Him (the loving caring God Who had given them everything anyone could ever want – all a gift – they were not entitled) by siding with God’s enemy, He did not wipe them out. He did not abandon them and start over somewhere else.

Instead, He put into action the PLAN He already had. The REAL solution.

And although He has had the power to at any time, for reasons unknown to us (and He owes us no explanation) God has continued to allow His enemy to wreak havoc on our planet and in our lives. A key component of the real problem.

Since the entitlement/payment for our sin is death – and ultimately eternal separation from God – unless Someone else paid that payment, we would have no hope. The only One who could pay it had to be sinless Himself, an eternal Being who could forever be the proof of payment as the only acceptable substitute in God’s eyes. All of which was set in motion long before we even needed Him. Jesus.

All through history, God has used symbols such as requiring blood sacrifices for sins, and never permitting anyone but the High Priest to come behind the veil/barrier into His presence…all pointing to the REAL problem (our sin) and the REAL solution: Jesus. The Son of God. Whose name means “God is salvation.” His substitutionary death on the cross, in OUR place, and resurrection from the dead, is the only REAL solution for our REAL problem.

And not only did He make this salvation a free gift, it is available to ANYONE who reaches out in faith to receive Him. Personally, I do not know of any “religion” that offers free salvation and access to God and heaven to everyone. The only requirement is to believe and receive.

And those who think they do not need Him because they are good enough, or the opposite extreme that they are TOO BAD, beyond redemption as one veteran put it, please take a second look at the TRUTH.

He wanted us in the first place. He knew we would sin and need a savior. ALL of us. Yet He went ahead and created us anyway. He really wants us! ALL of us. And when He died and rose again, not only did He make it possible for us to be His children and with Him forever, He also defeated the enemy…all at once. The scriptures tell us that the angelic beings are amazed as they look down on all of this. And rightly so! God has always had a plan and we are part of it!

The ultimate consummation of His victory will occur at some designated point in this universe’s timeline. Until then, God allows the enemy to wreak havoc to a point, and for a limited time, and supernaturally uses the hard times and tragic circumstances for our ultimate good, which is to be close to God.

And once the problem of sin has been solved and done away with permanently, and we are reconciled with our Creator and Savior forever, then and only then will we have all those things we will ever need or want.

All undeserved. Not entitled to. Purely gifts of His grace. And from our vantage point and from God’s, that is a win-win for those who believe and for our God who loves us more than we can imagine!

What can I do to be sure I have this hope?

Below are some of my favorite Bible quotes. Just reading the beginning of the Bible and the end will give you an amazing big picture. And the parts in between bring it all together. (Don’t worry about the parts you don’t understand…we CAN grasp what is truly important.)

I hope you are able to ponder these things and arrive at the same conclusion I have…and choose to believe in the Son of God as the REAL solution for our REAL problem.

Life will still be hard. We will still battle PTSD and other foes, and our bodies will eventually die. But what a difference to see how it all makes sense in the big picture. There is no comparison between temporary hardship and permanent eternal darkness, evil, and separation from God. What keeps me going is the fact that we DO have hope for what awaits beyond what we can see with our limited vision right now.

All have sinned and come short of the glory of God. (Romans 3:23)

For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal
life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 6:23)

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only
Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have
eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world
to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
(John 3:16-17)

Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No
one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6)

Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name
under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.
(Acts 4:12)

Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever
rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on
him. (John 3:36)

Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who
believes in me will live, even though he dies.”
(John 11:25-26)

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—
and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by
works, so that no one can boast. (Ephesians 2:8-9)

God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. (1 John 5:11-13)

If and when you are ready, here are some steps I took personally in response to what I had discovered. There are no magic words to say or religious steps to “perform.” God wants us to honestly come before Him and receive His gift.

1. Acknowledge my helplessness as a sinner before God.
“We are all utterly incapable of living the glorious lives God wills for us, so God did it for us. Out of sheer generosity he put us in right standing with himself. A pure gift. He got us out of the mess we’re in and restored us to where he always wanted us to be. And he did it by means of Jesus Christ.” (Romans 3:23 The Message Bible)

2. Choose to believe that God loves me and Christ died for me.
“But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8)

3. Honestly admit to God that I need Him.
“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6:23)

4. Choose to receive God’s free gift of eternal life only through His Son.
“Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” (Acts 2:21)

5. Trust Him to do as he promised.
“He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have
life. I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.” (1 John 5:12-13)

6. Begin my new life with good things that will help reaffirm my choice, and strengthen my relationship with the Lord, such as reading the Bible, praying (talking with God), and connecting with others who also follow Jesus.