http://youtu.be/4mmgV6mPvb0 - Blessings - Laura Story
What if our blessings come in raindrops?
This morning I was thinking about struggles that people I love are facing.
I was thinking that as a mom, if I had the power, I would remove every struggle
my child might be facing. I'd make his/her life easy and happy, no bumps, no
disappointments, no sadness...
So my next thought was if God really loves us, His children, more than we can possibly imagine, and He definitely has the power to remove the bumps in the road and make our lives easy and happy with no disappointments, no sadness, why doesn't He?
Because I believe God loves us beyond our understanding, a love that goes so much deeper than any parent's love ( I know this is impossible to comprehend), I know that His love is perfect and good. I hold on to Jeremiah 29:11-14:
11 For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. 12 In those days when you pray, I will listen. 13 If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me. 14 I will be found by you,” says the Lord. “I will end your captivity and restore your fortunes. I will gather you out of the nations where I sent you and will bring you home again to your own land.”
If I believe the words of the LORD, that He has a plan for me - it's for good and not evil, a plan to give me a hope and a future, then I must trust that whatever HE allows in my life can be used to bring me to that plan and purpose. If the struggle He allows continues, even though I'm pleading with Him to remove the struggle, then I have to believe that either I need to handle the struggle in a different way, or that maybe there is someone in my life watching how I handle the struggle, watching how I trust God through it all.
I know my Father loves me even more than I love my own children. If I would move heaven and earth to keep my children safe from harm, to give them a hope and a future, how much more would our heavenly Father work in our lives to bring us to that promised hope?
First, I have to remember: Never, ever doubt His love and goodness.
He proved His love by sending His beloved Son to earth to live a human life full of abuse, beatings, isolation, ridicule, betrayal, insults... God allowed His precious Son to go through all those things, and ultimately, He allowed Jesus to die on the cross an agonizing death. Why? Because He loved us enough to allow the suffering for a moment for Eternal good for His children.
Whatever the struggle or suffering we may face on earth, Jesus understands. He's been there. I know. He didn't have to face "your exact struggle", right? But think about it.
What is the emotion that your struggle brings into your heart? Fear? Loneliness? Rejection? Physical pain? Isolation? Humiliation? What emotion are you dealing with that Jesus didn't have to work through?
He was a solitary man. He had no spouse or children to call "family". He was betrayed by his dearest friends. He had no home of his own. No financial wealth. He had no place to lay his head. He was God, yet refused to cling to His rights as God. He set aside all the glory and honor that was rightfully His, to live a human existence. He showed us how to deal with adversity. He taught us to keep our eyes on Eternity and to love others enough to give up our own "rights and comfort" to help someone in need.
As He breathed His last breath, I wonder how disappointed He felt in His friends? They left Him to face the worst moments of His life alone.
Jesus allowed His Father to use those struggles and the pain for the good of others.
Maybe that's what God is waiting for us to do with our struggles. Maybe if we saw our pain and suffering as opportunities to shine light into the darkness, just like Jesus did, maybe then our struggles wouldn't seem like such burdens. Maybe then we could begin to see our struggles as blessings that God uses to grow us into the kind of people He wants us to be. Maybe we are supposed to be like Jesus and trust our Father through whatever suffering He allows.
The question is "How can I use my struggle to shine for Jesus?" How can I testify to His love through the struggle I face?"
I must respond to the struggle the way Jesus responded to His struggles and suffering. He loved those who persecuted Him. He didn't sit around thinking how difficult His life was. Instead, He reached out to others. He lifted the burdens off those around Him with His love and kindness. HE loved His Father and He loved others, no matter what He was dealing with. He cared more about others than Himself.
Whatever I face today, whatever monumental battle I might think I have, His battle was worse. He took on the sins of the entire world, all the shame, the regrets, the filthiness, the hurt and brokeness caused by our sins, Jesus took all that on Himself. He didn't stop and say "Father, this isn't fair? Don't you love Me? Why are You allowing Me to suffer?" He knew His Father. And Jesus knew that He could trust Him completely. So, He faced every struggle, every pain with honor and humility. Maybe that's how I need to face my struggles, too.
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