Do you feel like you are constantly facing challenges and struggles in your life? Do you feel like your life is a mess compared to everyone else? Have you ever felt like giving up? If you answered yes to any of these questions, I have got good news for you.
Over the past several weeks, life has been going really good for me in all areas of my life. From the time I wake up each day all the way through when I lay my head down at night, everything seems to be working together so nicely. Everything feels positive and I am able to see the blessings that surround me. These are my favorite times in life. I call them my mountaintop experiences and I always look forward to them. Whenever I reach these peaks in my life, however, there is always a moment when I realize I cannot stay here forever and eventually I will have to walk through the valley again in the future.
I remember praying for my daughters one night when I started to ask God to allow them to not have to go through many of the struggles I have gone through. In that moment, it hit me, and I realized I couldn’t pray that for them. I realized my heart’s desire for my girls is that they would grow up to know God, love him, have a relationship with him, and fully surrender their lives to him. I also realized one of the main reasons I have grown in my relationship with God is because of the struggles I have faced in my life. If it weren’t for the trials I had faced, I would have believed I was self-sufficient, and would have missed out on the brokenness that led me into a relationship with God.
So, here’s the good news. You will continue to face struggles, trials, and challenges in your life. There will never be a time when you put all those things behind you. So how can this possibly be good news? I believe the biggest reason this is good news is because, just as this is true for you, it is also true for everyone else. You are not alone. You may feel like you’re the only one who is struggling, but let me assure you, there are a great number of others who are suffering at the same time you are.
It’s also important to realize there will be times in your life when you are suffering and it is because it is God’s will for your life. You may ask, “If God loves me like he is supposed to, why would it be his will for me to suffer or struggle?” I think this is best described in the butterfly story.
The story talks about a boy who finds a caterpillar struggling to find its way out of its cocoon. The boy enlarges the hole in the cocoon to make it easier for the butterfly to emerge. Soon after, the butterfly quickly emerges, but there is a problem. The body of the butterfly is swollen,and the wings are small and deformed. The boy later finds out that it is in the struggle to get out of the cocoon that the fluid inside the caterpillar is pushed out of its body and into its wings. The caterpillar will never fly, as a result of the boy’s intervention.
In the same way I believe this explains why our Heavenly Father allows us to struggle and why suffering is a part of his plan for our lives. It is in the struggles we face in our lives when God gives us the opportunity to be shaped into who he wants us to become. If we are to become the person God wants us to become, I think it is also important to discuss how we are called to respond when we face suffering, struggles, and trials.
So, how are we called to respond? This verse makes it clear we are to continue to do good or what is right. This may not seem like an easy thing to do when we are suffering, but I believe there are things we can do to help us respond the way God wants us to.
I have found one of the most important things we can do is to find others who we can share our struggles with. One of Satan’s greatest weapons is to isolate us, but if we are open and honest with others when we are struggling, we can keep ourselves from becoming isolated. The key is to establish these relationships before we are struggling and to make it a priority in our lives to regularly meet and share our lives with these people. This will also give you the opportunity to support and encourage others when they are facing trials in their lives as well.
Next, you need to put your faith in God and hold onto his promises. If you are able to see the greater picture and understand suffering is part of God’s plan for your life, you will have a greater capacity to endure the struggles you are currently facing. In James 1, we are told to rejoice in our trials. At first, this may not seem to make sense, but I have come to better grasp it. The reason you can appreciate not having a headache right now is because you have had one in the past. The reason we can appreciate the summer in Ohio is because we experience the winter each year. Without suffering, we can never fully appreciate the joy. It is in our suffering when our capacity grows to understand and appreciate the good times in our lives.
So, the next time you struggle or whether you are struggling right now, remember you are not alone. When you are driving down the road thinking everyone else you pass has somehow got it more together than you, remember there’s a good chance the people you pass are thinking the same thing as you. Don’t let yourself become isolated and remember God uses the struggles we face in our lives to shape us into who he wants us to become. Finally, ask God to give you strength in your trials and remember you’ll never fully appreciate the highs in your life without going through the lows.
“So then, those who suffer according to God’s will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good.” 1 Peter 4:19 NIV
