So 2018 has not been the easiest year for me and my family, and I know there are some of you who could say exactly the same thing whether it’s financial issues, health problems, marital concerns, business closures, challenging kids, job loss, new ventures or difficult relationships. We are struggling, and I don’t know about you, but it’s not always pretty when I struggle. As a matter of fact, it can get downright ugly.
Sometimes I wrestle with my flesh.
Sometimes I may worry.
Sometimes I doubt. I’m being completely transparent with you.
And sometimes God has to teach me a lesson more than once. I can be a little hard-headed at times.
There is a good thing that comes from the struggle – GROWTH. The greatest opportunity we have to grow is during the struggle or as a result of the struggle.
We struggle when we are outside our comfort zone.
We struggle when we aren’t in “control.”
We struggle when there is uncertainty.
We struggle when change is involved.
We struggle when we have to learn a new way of doing something.
Am I the only one who deals with these?
I want to tell you there is good news for those who are struggling.
1. You are not alone. We all struggle from time to time in our lives. It doesn’t mean you are a weak Christian. It doesn’t mean you are a failure. It means you are a flawed human being with weaknesses, but our Lord and Savior loves you and never leaves us or forsakes us.
2. God may repeat His instructions to you more than once. In Acts 10, God tells Peter to rise, kill and eat the animals that had been lowered on a sheet from heaven. Peter says he has never eaten anything common or unclean and tells God “no.” Anyone ever tell God ‘no’? Yea, me neither. God tells Peter three times and then the sheet disappears.
3. You will have the opportunity to practice your faith and incorporate the lesson you have learned. In Acts 10, Peter comes out of the trance, and the Spirit tells him men are coming to see him and for Peter to go with no doubt.
a. Anytime the Spirit leads, you can have the confidence to go WITH NO DOUBT.
b. Lessons in faith require action. Rise up. Go. Implement. Peter is supposed to leave with the Gentiles. He not only goes with the Gentiles but he enters their home, dines with them and stays with them. This is where Peter is putting to practice the lesson he was struggling to learn. You see, Gentiles were considered unclean and common by the Jews. Peter was raised to think this way, to believe this way.
God was pushing Peter outside his comfort zone, outside what he had been taught as truth, and outside societal norms.
4. Other people are watching, and you will have the opportunity to testify and when you do, give God the glory.
Peter got to experience the first Gentiles receiving the Spirit. How powerful and overwhelming that must have been.
5. There may be nay-sayers, and if there are nay-sayers to your lesson in faith, give your testimony and conclude with, “who was I that I could withstand God?” Acts 11:17. That was Peter’s response to the Jews in Jerusalem who questioned Peter’s interactions with the Gentiles.
So what are you struggling with right now? Take time and write down everything you are struggling with in detail. I find this so incredibly helpful.
Have you or are you in God’s Word? Are you meditating and studying? Are you praying? If so, write down where the Spirit has you studying. Write down your prayers regarding the struggle.
What is the Spirit prompting you to do? Have you done it yet? If not, why not? If He is prompting you to do something, write it down and share it with someone. Being accountable to someone who is a growing Christian is necessary some times.
What happens when you follow the Spirit with no doubt? Write down what happened. It’s going to be amazing. Keep journaling all the way through the struggle. Journal all the way until you are able to testify and give God the glory. Share the journey because you never know who needs to hear it.
As they say, The struggle is real, man. But God is bigger than any struggle we will face. Just have faith.
