Our Struggles Lead to Overcoming
Everyone goes through struggles, and even though we know that intellectually, when it happens experientially, we tend to still be like the puppy that gets swatted with the newspaper the first time. We look around at the place where we got swatted and are surprised. What happened? What was that? Why did that happen?
The truth is, that we actually know what happened, but most often, when we are asking those questions, or are surprised by life, we have lost sight of the fact that it was our choices that caused it. Even with others treating us bad, somewhere we made the choice, and I don’t know about you, but I do NOT want to own my bad choices, so much so that I can even go into denial and think – “It was THAT person” or this circumstance, or my upbringing. I am not going to say other things do not affect (or infect) our behaviors, but here’s the truth: There are only three things in life that you do NOT have control over, they are:
Other Places
Other Things, and,
Other People
So, what does that leave you? Well, since that is actually a fairly exhaustive list of anything outside of yourself, then that would be the answer, wouldn’t it? You, it leaves you. Your choices, your responses, your actions. And here’s the thing, when you are in a place where you feel you had no choice, actually, the truth is that you had a choice somewhere along the way, and you made the wrong one. Welcome to the human condition. And, btw, that is the very condition that God knew could only be overcome by sending His Son to do the work we could not. What we could not do, simply put, is offer ourselves as sinless sacrifices, while taking on the sins of all mankind, past, present and future.
I like to say that the Old Testament in our Bible is 39 books proving that man could not follow God’s law, even the most holy and devout among us will fall; but then He spent the next 27 books - the New Testament - proving He had plan the entire time.
So, back to the struggles. Did you know that our struggles are meant to be turned into blessings? If it never rained, would I appreciate the sunshine? (vice versa). If I never had failures, would I really appreciate my successes? If I never had hunger, would I appreciate having a meal in front of me? You get the idea.
Some of us have had bigger struggles than others. And for those whose struggles were more severe than others, do not judge those who you consider had it easy. Nobody has it easy.
Did you hear about the man who was talking to God, and he told God
“Lord, my cross is too much for to bear” And the Lord said “My son, would you like to visit my Cross Storage Facility” and pick out another one?” The man said, “Oh Lord, that would be awesome”. Jesus said, “C’mon, lets go have a look”.
When they entered the room with all the crosses it was enormous, cavernous almost. He saw crosses as high as 10 story buildings, some as big as small airplanes, some with ragged finishes that would cut anyone who was bearing it, others that were so heavy they could hardly be lifted at all. Finally, as they came around to the start, there was a cross in the corner of the room that looked so much smaller that the others, and the man said, excitedly, “There, there Lord, That’s the one. I can do that one” The Lord, said, “well, son, that’s fine, but I’m a; little confused?” The man asked why. Jesus said “well, after all the walking we did and seeing all the different crosses, the one you picked out is the one you came in with”.
Everyone has struggles, and they are meant for your maturation, education and ultimately for your use to help others. And please know I am no more fond of some of those as you are. While I do not revel in my struggles, I do revel in the overcoming of those struggles.
Isn’t interesting, helping others is what this life is all about once we accept that God put us here for His glory. His glory can be seen in the way we show it to others and helping others is a major way in which we do just that.
One last thought for the day. When you encounter those struggles, God never intended you to go through them alone. In fact, that part of the circle of life is that others will be there to share their experience, strength and hope to help you get through them. God says this about overcomers:
Revelation 2:26
The one who overcomes, and the one who keeps My deeds until the end, I will give him authority over the nations;
In other words, those of us who overcome our struggles will have a share in God’s Kingdom on earth, after He returns with the New Heaven and the New Earth. If you struggle with picturing, or imagining that, don’t worry about it for now, Just be an overcomer. Remember that no one gets off free from earthly issues, no one. Look for others who have had similar struggles, and then listen to what they have to say. Overcomers love other overcomers.
