When I look at my life and my relationship with the Lord, I see how the Lord has changed me over the years growing me to be more and more of the person He wants me to be. It seems that the times I experienced Him the most and grew the most were in hard times. In times of change, in times of suffering, in times of the uncomfortable. Often times in Christianity we want to be comfortable. There is a stigma that once we become Christians our lives become easy and we never struggle with anything. But truly, the switch isn’t whether or not we struggle, it’s how we struggle. The struggle becomes a beautiful thing.
I have seen people who don’t know Jesus struggle and it is such a discouraging thing. There is no hope there, there is no way out, it seems the struggle will last forever. The things to turn to are things to fill them up with momentary happiness that fade the moment they are back in reality and their issues hit them harder than before. And then I have seen people who know Jesus struggle and it is incredible. People have hope, they know it doesn’t last forever this pain, they know who is in control of everything and where their joy comes from. I have a vivid memory of a family friend at her husband’s funeral raising her hands praising Jesus as we sang amazing grace. It still gives me chills thinking this woman is standing here praising the Lord just days after her husband was suddenly taken. That is who Jesus is though, that is what He offers. He offers joy and hope in our suffering.
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Struggle and suffering is inevitable, that is just the world we live in. We are people, and we are sinners, therefore there will be hurt and there will be pain, but how are we choosing to deal with it? Are we trying to cope with it by covering it with things that bring momentary happiness? Are we justifying our sinful actions because of our pain? Or are we choosing to let Christ mold us within it? Are we struggling with Christ in our pain, letting him be our strength, him be what fulfills us? I am sorry to say, but if you didn’t already know there is nothing in this world that is going to fill that void but the Lord. There is no way around that truth that Christ is sufficient and He is what completes us. So let us let Him be sufficient for us, let us let Him fill those deep wounds and fill us with life again.
Let us begin to struggle well, and see the beauty in how Christ raises us from the ashes. As we make the choice to let Christ redeem our struggles and pains other people will see the power of Christ. They will see that Christ is the redeemer and He is truly the one who saves and restores us. If our purpose in life is to bring glory to the Lord then what better way than to let Him transform our lives for His glory for all to see.
