Maybe you woke up today with the weight of the world on your shoulders.
Sometimes it’s what life throws at you. Sometimes it’s discipline for a bad decision. Every time it’s tough. Really tough. Hard to believe that you’ll be able to bear up under it. Stresses, confusion, anger, bitterness, worry, and wonder... all mixed together in the soup of our day. Life gets very very hard. And in the midst of our pain, the devil sits nearby whispering...
“If God loved you...you wouldn’t be going through this.”
That voice sounds so familiar. It’s the one that tells you that you aren’t good enough... or that God has left you... or you don’t matter.
He just doesn’t let up.
The saddest truth is that some of us have become convinced this is true. It’s far easier to believe we are being punished for something than it is to think that God is allowing it to happen for us to grow. We don’t like discipline. We don’t like not knowing. And if we’re being honest... we don’t like to wait on God’s timing when our own seems like a better plan.
God knows what He’s doing.
He truly does.
I know this... You will be victorious over what is holding you down. How do I know?
1) What you are feeling is for a SEASON.
“In his kindness God called you to share in his eternal glory by means of Christ Jesus. So after you have suffered a little while, he will restore, support, and strengthen you, and he will place you on a firm foundation.” 1 Peter 5:10
That pit in your stomach. The tears that sting your eyes. The lies. The abandonment. The loneliness. You won’t feel these forever. Look at the verse... it says your suffering is not a permanent condition. Of course, a little while to God may seem like an eternity to us….but God’s timing is perfect... and we need to keep in mind that there is a purpose to the pain. It may feel like Winter now... but Spring is coming. Endure the season... but while you are going through it... thank God for His continued love and protection.
He is building you... one season and one challenge at a time.
2) What you are feeling is for a REASON.
A man found a cocoon of a butterfly. One day a small opening appeared. He sat and watched the butterfly for several hours as it struggled to squeeze its body through the tiny hole. Then it stopped, as if it couldn’t go further.
So the man decided to help the butterfly. He took a pair of scissors and snipped off the remaining bits of cocoon. The butterfly emerged easily but it had a swollen body and shriveled wings.
The man continued to watch it, expecting that any minute the wings would enlarge and expand enough to support the body. Neither happened. In fact the butterfly spent the rest of its life crawling around. It was never able to fly.
What the man in his kindness and haste did not understand was that the restricting cocoon and the struggle required by the butterfly to get through the opening was a way of forcing the fluid from the body into the wings so that it would be ready for flight once that was achieved.
The butterfly was meant to go through struggle to make it capable of thriving in its life.
Look again at today’s verse:
“In his kindness God called you to share in his eternal glory by means of Christ Jesus. So after you have suffered a little while, he will restore, support, and strengthen you, and he will place you on a firm foundation.” 1 Peter 5:10
The very reason you hurt is because there is something in it that will refine you... You will learn something about the depth of your faith...the strength of your God... and how very much He loves you.
Pushing through builds perseverance. Enduring under the weight brings strength. Leaning on God when it hurts develops faith.
You’ll need all three to become the person that God has created you to be. Perseverance...strength...faith. If life were always easy, you’d struggle with all three.
You were designed by a loving God to stand strong in the face of adversity. To fly. Instead of running from the troubles or looking for shortcuts around the trials... embrace them. It won’t be easy... Maybe you’ll want to be a martyr... or blame yourself or someone else... or feel like a victim.
You aren’t. God is bigger than anything you will ever come up against. The season you are in has been long and difficult... but you’ll make it. Never quit. Keep moving forward... even tiny steps if you have to.
And when the clouds part and the sun comes back out... break free... spread your wings and be a living testimony of Christ’s goodness and love.
