"I Feel Trapped"
By Steve Backlund
Today, we are taking some concepts out of my book Fully Convinced: The Art of Decision Making. I want to talk about the feeling of being trapped when you’re stuck in a situation you feel you can’t get out of.
2 Corinthians 9:7 says, “But each one must give what he has decided in his heart. Not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” I have a podcast called God Loves a Cheerful Decider on this that is strong additional content for this blog.
Cheerfulness is one of the main evidences we’ve attached faith to what we’re doing, and a lack of cheerfulness is often an indicator we haven’t attached faith. When I say “attach faith”, I am referring to intentionally stirring up beliefs that what I am doing is blessed and will cause a positive impact.
There are four ways we can approach our commitments, assignments, and responsibilities:
Reluctantly/under compulsion - we are doing it out of duty or obligation. This is the point we will be talking about today
In doubt - we are unsure whether or not we should be doing what we’re doing
Passively - we are just waiting to see what’s going to happen
Attaching faith - we are confident in the choice we’re making and believe the choice will produce a positive result for the world and me
Let’s talk about point one: approaching our commitments reluctantly or under compulsion. The Bible calls this a “dead work”. A dead work is anything we haven’t attached faith to. We all have some areas of dead works, but we’re on a journey to dramatically decrease them.
Hebrews 6:1-2 talks about the six elementary principles of the Kingdom. The first is repentance from dead works, which is really repenting from anything we are doing from duty and obligation, rather than faith.
We cannot stay in a place of “dead works”. We cannot stay in this mindset where we feel stuck. Staying there perpetuates the victim mindset, which is a stronghold that limits so many from their destiny.
I am not discounting the pain caused from what other people are doing (or not doing) or the pain of being in a very difficult situation, but I remind you of Romans 14:23 which says, “Whatever is not of faith is sin.” Sin is an archery term that means “to miss the mark”, so the verse could read. “Whatever is not of faith misses the mark.” If we are not “in faith” in our difficult situation, then we will be unable to accomplish the highest purpose for why we are there.
Let’s say you feel trapped at a job you don’t like. The first thing to do is to clarify your options. You can stay in the job. You can quit. Or you can make some adjustments you need in this job. Clarify your options and then go through a good decision-making process that asks questions like the following: What am I hearing from God? What do I really want? What does the Bible say? What do healthy people in my life say? What is my gut saying? What are my tendencies?
If you want specific help on how to clarify your options and make choices, my book Fully Convinced here has some great keys on these.
Matthew 4:4 says, “Man shall not live on bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.” The quality of my life depends on my identifying what I believe God has told me. I can put up with a lot of junk and things I don’t like if I have a word from God. As we attach faith to what we believe God has told us, then we will be empowered to be victorious in our emotions and in what we do.
In any situation where you might feel trapped, try taking these steps to clarify your options, decide what to do, and then attach faith. This can be done in ministry, a family situation, under certain leaders, a friend you are having difficulty with, a financial situation, etc. You are a powerful person! What are your options? Make your decision full of faith and confidence that you are a good decision-maker.