Struggle - a forceful or violent effort to get free of restraint or resist attack. Oh how often I have struggled. Struggled to get through one semester of college, struggled to get through the work day, struggled the day my mom told me she had cancer, struggled the day my dad was rushed to the hospital in cardiac arrest, struggled to find the right house, and most consistent of all, struggled to fight off the devil and his attack on my life every single day.
Lets face it, as human-beings, we struggle a lot and we struggle often. So the struggle is indeed, real. But so is God.
Every time I'm faced with a struggle, difficulty, conflict, or trial, the first thing I do is take it to Jesus. I tell him my heart and everything in it. My fears, my desires, and I often tell him how I think he should fix it, instead of trusting that He is in control! And in the grand scheme of things telling Him what's going on is the best thing to do. After all, my whole life I've been taught to pray and have a relationship with Jesus and to present my requests to Him (Philippians 4:6).
But what I have come to see with this is that I tend to make my problems, struggles, and difficulties BIGGER than God! You see, we all do it. "God, I'm, umm, really struggling with _______ and it would be really great if you could, ya know, make it all better." We take our hearts and troubles to Him without confidence, and diminish His power in our minds and ultimately our lives. Maybe if we could just flip the switch on our mindset and BOLDLY and COURAGEOUSLY tell our problems, struggles, and difficulties how BIG our GOD is, then we just might not struggle as much as we think. We just might see a turn around in what God does in and through our lives.
Jesus struggled that day he died on the cross. He struggled to the point of death. But without that struggle, you and I wouldn't be able to have a relationship with Him. God took the worst thing that ever happened, and three days later, made it the best thing that ever happened. Talk about grace.
So the next time something difficult happens in your life, don't make it bigger than God. He's not surprised by whats happening in your life, He's the author of it. He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus (Philippians 1:6). Your struggle just might be the very thing God uses to propel you forward in your walk with Him.
"I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." John 16:33
- Mitchel J Wiley
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