Suffering is a reality of life. It is something that everyone experiences, and sometimes for unknown reason. But in our suffering it is so important to allow God to be God as we go through instead of complaining, crying and wallowing in it.
How we allow God to be God is by holding our heads up in the midst of how we really feel, we stop running around trying to fix our change our circumstances, we pray and thank God inspite of what things may look like. Romans 8:28 says, If God is in suffering, only good can come out of it; so he must have good reason for it.
I havent always been able to embrace struggle. There were times when I would try to fix or change every mishap or problem that came my way in life. But what I have learned is when we do this, we show view God when it comes to our lives. It proves to Him that we dont trust that He will take care of us, so we have to do it on our on.
Honestly, I can still freshly remember going through a situation recently where I wanted to do something about the problem in front of me. I was even plotting and planning, how I would do it and a still voice came to me and said, "when has doing it your way ever worked out anything" and as clear as I could hear this voice, I understood clearly that my battles are not my own. God truly wants to carry our loads. We just have to trust and beleive that He will.
We live in a world that believes only in what we see and experience but we have to remember that this world is also spiritual and satan is often allowed by God to test us and take us through things that can result in suffering. Knowing this should make us more prepared, more armed and more ready when problems and issues arise. Because we know we are going to be tested we should constantly be praying for strength and endurance and when the test arrives be in prayer even more. We've got to stop asking God to take away the struggle and asking for strength to endure through it.
God will take us through things and sometimes allow us to go through things just so we come to realize none of the trivial (small) things we are concerned about are as important as getting to know Him.
When someone comes to you for advice or to share their struggle, be mindful that you dont get caught up in trying to explain their problems to them as if you know why they are going through. When people are struggling all they need from us is compassion, understanding, a listening ear and prayer.
Many times we cant explain why we go through things, so we definitely are not in position to explain someone else's problems. But what we can do is recommend a God who can explain and answer any problem, great or small. Keep your eyes on God, not your struggles.
“The steadfast of mind You will keep in perfect peace, Because he trusts in You. Isaiah 26:3
No comments:
Post a Comment