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Blessings In Struggles
'That you may be ... fully developed' James 1:4
Paul kicks off the book of 2 Corinthians with some advice on how to survive life's struggles. The reason his words carry so much weight is because Paul has been there himself. He's not writing this book from the poolside of his holiday home in the Seychelles, he's writing from the heat of frontline mission.
He's faced the missiles from the crowd, saliva in the face, beatings to his body, the lock and key of jails, hostility, suspicion, the lot. Here is a man with a PhD in suffering for the gospel. So when he advices us to set our hope on God, we know this isn't some sort of fluffy Sunday School teaching, this is advice learned in the pit of suffering itself.
One of the blessings God can pull out of our suffering is that our troubles qualify us to help others facing the same: 'Before you know it, He brings us alongside someone else who is going through hard times so that we can be there for that person' (2 Cor. 1:4 TM).
Another blessing pulled out of suffering is that we always find God right in the heart of it. Anything that turns our heads to God has to be an asset not a liability. It's when we lose a friend, our health, or find ourselves stuck in the desert that we hear God's whisper calling across the wilderness. Hard times helps us develop a fine ear for God.
written by Bob Gass
'That you may be ... fully developed' James 1:4
Paul kicks off the book of 2 Corinthians with some advice on how to survive life's struggles. The reason his words carry so much weight is because Paul has been there himself. He's not writing this book from the poolside of his holiday home in the Seychelles, he's writing from the heat of frontline mission.
He's faced the missiles from the crowd, saliva in the face, beatings to his body, the lock and key of jails, hostility, suspicion, the lot. Here is a man with a PhD in suffering for the gospel. So when he advices us to set our hope on God, we know this isn't some sort of fluffy Sunday School teaching, this is advice learned in the pit of suffering itself.
One of the blessings God can pull out of our suffering is that our troubles qualify us to help others facing the same: 'Before you know it, He brings us alongside someone else who is going through hard times so that we can be there for that person' (2 Cor. 1:4 TM).
Another blessing pulled out of suffering is that we always find God right in the heart of it. Anything that turns our heads to God has to be an asset not a liability. It's when we lose a friend, our health, or find ourselves stuck in the desert that we hear God's whisper calling across the wilderness. Hard times helps us develop a fine ear for God.
written by Bob Gass