Day 332, April 24, 2018
You might be going through one of the hardest seasons in your life right now…maybe you’ve heard back from the doctor’s office and are wondering what the future holds for you and the ones you hold dear…or maybe you’ve lost a job and don’t see how God is going to provide for you and your family. Perhaps, you are experiencing the loss of a loved one or perhaps you are frustrated with where you are in this season of life…you feel hopeless, broken, beaten down and tired….you feel as if God is picking on you and you feel the sting of bitterness growing slowly because things are not working out the way that you wanted it to…whatever you may be going through right now, I want you to trust that there is a reason and there is hope…
Seriously?!? Just shut it you glass-is-half-full-crazy-lady….
WAIT! Before you roll your eyes at me…there’s a reason why you clicked on this post…so bear with me..even if it’s just for a little bit…give me a few minutes before you go back to your pity party…
Many of you know that last Sunday, I was given the opportunity to give my testimony at church (click here to watch it). It’s funny, because I thought that 10-15 minutes was a long time to be talking in front of people until I actually got up there and then I wished I had a little longer because God had so much to tell the people who were there. I hope that if you were there, that you were able to take something away from that service…
If you weren’t able to make it, then I want to share with you now of what I think God wants you to hear…If you did go, then here’s the rest of what I need to say…
Suffering of any kind…physical, mental, spiritual, emotional…SUCKS.
NO ONE likes to go through hardship…but the Word tells us:
“Here on earth, you will have many trials and sorrows…” -John 16:33
It doesn’t say, you will go through one trial and then you are good for the rest of your life…it says there will be many…It doesn’t say you might have sorrows…it says you will have them….and there’s nothing you can do…no extra prayers to send up…no extra amount of volunteering to lessen how much is coming (although if you volunteer for our Kid’s Ministry..maybe…just kidding!)….no cave that you can crawl into to avoid it….its coming…
The Word continues the above verse:
“But, take heart, because I have overcome the world…”
When you take something to heart, you are supposed to be encouraged by it..not dismayed or depressed…
Still not clicking with me, Pollyanna…
GOD IS NOT PICKING ON YOU
GOD HAS PICKED YOU FOR A PURPOSE
What Suffering Does:
- Suffering produces intimacy with God. Job 42:5 tells us, “My ears had heard of you, but now my eyes have seen you.” Sometimes it is when life has brought us to our knees and we are the most broken that we can finally see Him…see that He hasn’t abandoned you…but that he has been there beside you the whole time…waiting for your vision to clear for you to finally call to Him.
- Suffering equips us to comfort others. 2 Corinthians 1:3-5 reads, “Praise be to the God and Father…the God of all comfort, who comforts us in our troubles, so we can comfort those in any trouble.” When we experience hurt, we develop compassion for others who are hurting and it allows us to minister to them more effectively.
- Suffering refines us. Hardship and trials have a way of bringing our strengths and weaknesses to the surface. We learn that we are able to overcome the unimaginable and we also learn the areas we need help with. Isaiah 48:10 reads, “See, I have refined you, though not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction.” Suffering is uncomfortable…but God is more concerned with our condition than our comfort…your hard season feels like it is never-ending in the midst of it…but God can work a miracle in trying to transform and purify you because He would rather you be uncomfortable for a little while so that you can be comfortable with Him for eternity.
- Suffering produces growth. James 1:2-3 tells us to “consider it pure joy” when we face trouble…he tells us to seek joy knowing that God will prove himself and make His promises real to you again…which tells us that it will be worth…all of the pain and hurt and crappiness (not sure that’s a really word….) all of it…will be worth it…When we turn to God in our pain, he can use it to mature our faith.
God can do some of His best work in and through you when you are in the midst of crisis…but you need to seek Him!
Psalm 37:4 tells us:
“Take delight in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart.”
How are you supposed to take delight in the Lord when the suffering sucks? Oh friend, I know it does… In the message on Sunday, we heard the story of the woman who had been suffering for 12 years…for 12 years she found no relief and was outcast and seen as unclean. She had spent all her energy, time, and money trying to figure out what was wrong and still received no relief…and then one morning she heard about this healer passing through her area and when she reached for Jesus’ tassel she was immediately healed. Jesus tells her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well.” (Luke 8:48)
This woman desired to be physically healed. A desire is something you are committed to pursue…something you want with so much focus and dedication that you are willing to do whatever it takes to receive it…
The translation of the word “well” into Greek is “sozo” – interestingly enough, “sozo” also means “saved”, “delivered” “protected” and also “whole”…sometimes the miracle is not just to make you physically well…but to make you whole…by healing you in ways that you didn’t even realize needed to be healed…
When we turn to Him, we start to see a shift in the desires of our heart……is your desire to just fix the temporary so you are no longer uncomfortable? God can and wants to work a miracle in the middle of your mess…to make you whole…
Breathing Again... 