Written by Deanna Brooks, volunteer with Iron Rose Sister Ministries in Arkansas
Struggles… life can be hard. We can plan, but then something happens that shatters those plans, and it is not always because of something we have done that our plans did not work as we expected; often it is something over which we have no control.
So, where does that leave us?
We can be angry and bitter, or we can try again. It’s easy for someone to say, “Pick up the pieces and move on.” It’s harder when I am the person picking up the pieces and trying to make the best decision about what to do next when it seems every way is blocked.
It took Thomas Edison 2,774 tries until he got the right filament for the light bulb—one that would burn for more than a few minutes.
When an assistant complained they were learning nothing, the reply was, “Oh, we have. We’ve learned over 2,000 ways that don’t work.”
Can we imagine a world without the light bulb? It’s something we take for granted… as a necessity… but how different would our lives be if he had given up?
Having a positive attitude in looking at what might be considered a failure will help us work through the problem.
When a butterfly emerges from the chrysalis, it struggles. Its wings are weak and wet, but it is in breaking through those strands of silk that the wings gain strength, allowing it to fly. If someone tries to help by cutting the silk threads of the chrysalis, the butterfly will die within minutes. It needs the struggle to be healthy.
It is in our struggles that we grow… even when we don’t like the process.
Romans 5:3-5 (ESV) reads,
Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.
Suffering… endurance… character… hope.
Financial struggles can make us more compassionate toward those who have less than we do and help us learn to budget.
Health struggles make us thankful for medical care and for better health when it comes.
Relationship struggles help us appreciate those friends or relatives who encourage us.
Think about the struggles some of those in the Bible experienced:
Noah and his family lost everyone they knew in the flood. When the door of the ark was opened, they stepped into a world where there was no one else.
Sarah was barren, longed for a child, and was mocked by her handmaiden.
Naomi lost her husband and both sons while living in a foreign land.
David found himself in a dark place, far from his shepherd days and glory as king after taking another man’s wife.
Elijah was hated by Jezebel and fled after a “mountain top” experience on Mt Carmel.
Daniel was one of numerous young teens captured and taken to a foreign land… away from family and friends.
The apostle Paul tells of his struggles in 2 Corinthians 11:24-29, yet he was still able to write,
“We are more than conquerors through Him who loved us” (Rom. 8:37).
“The Lord is faithful. He will establish you and guard you against the evil one” (2 Thes. 3:3).
The writer of Hebrews gives this assurance, “He who promised is faithful” (Heb. 10:23).
We belong to the Father, and Jesus is interceding for us. When struggles come, we need to remember the words written long ago by David, “The LORD is on my side; I will not fear. What can man do to me?” (Ps. 118:6)
We have the assurance that God is faithful, that Jesus is our Advocate, and that the Spirit lives in us, so let’s use these struggles to live as “children of Light”! (Eph. 5:8)