If you have a pulse right now, then you most likely have been through a rough patch in your life.
Some have had it harder than others: a friend or family member dying, parents getting a divorce, or a hard break-up that left you crushed and confused, just to name a few. But even if the hardest thing you’ve ever been through is getting a C on a test or losing your pet parakeet, it’s all a struggle in God’s eyes. He doesn’t discriminate.
As believers in Christ, when tough times come, we know one place we should automatically look: God’s Word. The Bible has literally hundreds of things to say about hardship in life; there’s even a whole book of the Bible devoted to it called Job.
Many people would like to tell you that God wants to take all your struggles away, but biblically that’s not exactly correct. Sometimes God does take hard times away, but more often than not, God uses what we are going through to make us more like Him.
2 Corinthians 1:3-4 says:
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our afflictions, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we have received.”
Personally, I find it so amazing that God comforts us so that we can comfort others. And the best part is, you don’t have to wait until your struggle is over! One of the best things you can do if you are having a rough season is look for ways you can help, serve, and comfort others. It will make their day, and you will be surprised how it makes you feel, too! Sometimes when we are hurting, it helps to get outside of ourselves and see we aren’t the only ones struggling. I Peter 4:19 says, “Therefore let those who suffer according to God’s will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good.” Don’t wait!
Did you know hard times can be some of the most spiritually productive times in our lives? Listen to this. Romans 5:3-5 says,
“More than that, 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.”
Isn’t that just like God, to take a rough thing and turn it into a beautiful thing?
If you are hurting right now, cling to Jesus. If anyone understands what you are going through, it’s Him. Hebrews 5:8 says, “Although He was a Son, He learned obedience through what He suffered.” Jesus Christ gets suffering. And He gets you. He created you with His own hands (Psalm 139). He will never let go of you, and He loves you infinitely.
“In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”
John 16:33
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