HOW TO DEAL WITH DRAMA IN YOUR LIFE!

A few nights ago my wife, Sandra, and I watched the biography  of Tony Braxton.  For those of you who don't know who she is, Tony Braxton is a very talented singer and song writer who sold over a 100 million albums!  She was so popular that she stayed on the road touring and singing most of the time and all over the world.  Tony Braxton gained great success and fame, but for some reason endured very troubling circumstances in her life.   She went broke and had to declare bankruptcy twice.  Her second son was born with autism.  She was diagnosed with lupus and found that traveling on tours was too detrimental to her health, so she had to leave the road after suffering several heart attacks.  To top it off, her husband of 10 years, left her with two children to raise alone because he could not deal with the baggage of her being sick.

Even though she had success, Tony Braxton, could not avoid drama.

All of us will deal with drama.  Drama is something that cannot be avoided. We encounter drama on our jobs, in our relationships, and in our everyday personal experiences.

 In John Chapter 2, the Bible records the story of Jesus attending a wedding in the city of Galilee.
During the course of the wedding, the wine ran out.  In Jewish culture wine represented the lasting joy and happiness of the newly wedded couple.  It meant that this couple would experience lasting happiness and blessing in their marriage.   Only, at this wedding, the wine ran out.   I believe that the wine running out reveals a very important truth.  And that truth is: wine does run out and sometimes drama is unavoidable.  All of us hope for easy, uncomplicated lives.  We hope for strong marriages, loving relationships, everlasting joy, happiness, and peace.  But in truth, that almost never happens.  Even the happiest people run into troublesome circumstances ever now and then.  In other words: Drama.

Have you ever wondered why we sometimes have to deal with the drama of wine shortages? (In other words, why do bad things happen for no apparent reason?)  Even when things seem to be going well, suddenly, "drama."  Unfortunately, sometimes dramas such as these cannot be avoided even at the most beautiful of weddings.

Jesus, on the otherhand, is the one person who has the ability to solve all of our personal crisis that cause drama in our life.

Perhaps you are going through a personal drama or crisis as you read this page right now.  One thing that you need to understand is while drama cannot be avoided, God has given us a way to deal with drama.  His name is Jesus.  Jesus has been dealing with drama since he first came to our earth.  Although he is now in heaven, you can still access him through prayer.  He is just one prayer away and he wants you to come to him with your crisis.  Listen to his words, "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light"(Matthew 11:28-30).

You see, Jesus is able to end your drama and give you back your joy again.  The Bible says that Mary went to Jesus and told him that the wine ran out, and he restored the wine by changing water into wine.

He did it so simply.  Your problem may seem like a difficult one to solve, but not to Jesus.  He can turn even the most complicated circumstances around in your life.


You might be wondering, why is life so filled with Drama?

Let me give you two reasons:

1. Drama is God's way of reminding us that we are not in heaven yet.  If you are a follower of Christ, like me, then that means that this world is not our home.   We are just strangers passing through this foreign land.  You see, earth has been corrupted and is not perfect.  It was corrupted after, Adam, the first man fell into sin.  Sin changed our world and made it difficult for us to experience lasting peace, joy, and satisfaction here.   The result is DRAMA...  However, Jesus came to our earth to provide a solution for that.  He offered his life to God as a sacrifice in order to buy our right to eternal life in heaven with him.  He actually died for our sins and for doing this, Jesus gave us the rights to become children of God.   All we have to do is to believe the gospel:  Jesus died for our sins, was raised by God on the third day, was seen by the apostles, and now sits in heaven at the right hand of God.

2. Drama teaches us that we need Jesus everyday.  You see, although Jesus was at the wedding, he was not recognized as essential to the marriage.  And truthfully, most people don't think that Christ is essential to their lives until they need him.  They go about their business ignoring the very presence of God everyday.  Don't make the mistake of ignoring the presence of God in your life.  Most of us don't really think that we need Christ in our lives until drama strikes.  That is not the kind of relationship that Jesus wants to have with us.  Jesus wants us to depend on him every single day.  This is why he referred to himself as bread, and encourages us to pray: Give us this day, our daily bread.  Everyday Jesus wants us to pray to him.  Everyday Jesus wants us to depend on him. When Jesus is at the center of our life, drama (while unavoidable) becomes less likely, and much more bearable.
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To summarize, three points must be made here:

1.  Drama will visit everybody.   In the movies, we love to here that they lived Happily ever after.   But truthfully, there is no such thing. Job said, mans, born of woman, days are few and full of trouble. Job 14:1

2.  Drama is best handled by Jesus.
In the story of Jesus turning water to wine, Jesus handled the crisis, because he is our problem solver.  Mary understood, that if she wanted to prevent Drama, she needed to take her problem to Jesus.


3. Drama is our signal to pray and to develop a closer relationship with Jesus.

Notice that the wine ran out, and Mary recognize this was a time to pray to Jesus.

Have you prayed about your personal drama?  Jesus is waiting.  Don't let him merely be an observer in your life.   But as drama unfolds, call on him, and let him meet your every need.