Do you struggle? I struggle. I struggle with doing the right thing, with physical pain, with emotional hurt, with failure and unmet expectations. I think we all struggle and we all suffer. I have been wondering a lot lately about why we suffer and why we struggle. After all, wouldn't it just be easier of God just took away all our struggles with doing what's right? I know what the Bible tells us:
No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.
1 Cor 10:13 (ESV)
Just because I can endure it, however, doesn’t mean I always do. Can’t I just be zapped with a holiness beam? Apparently not, and I think it’s a good thing. I need Jesus, not just for salvation as a one time process, but continually, to help me and give me strength and to forgive me and to love me. I am now and for the rest of my life completely dependant upon Jesus. He gets all the glory, all the credit and all the honor. I continue to struggle to become less and less dependant upon me, and more and more dependant upon Him.
We all struggle. We all suffer. No struggle, no suffering . . . no testimony. No testimony, no credibility of God's power to restore. No refining, no desire to change anything. It is the valley's of suffering where God's faithfulness grows into assurance. It is the struggle that we grow close to God, that we come face to face with our need for Him. I just praise God that I never struggle or suffer alone. There is always a divine appointment stationed along the highway to walk with me! I heard someone say the other day . . .How God must have loved them to trust them in the suffering . . .I'm still thinking about that . . . there's something to it!!
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