We all hit speed bumps. We all experience setbacks. Struggles will be inevitable in our lives. It is not the struggle that determines your success or failure. It is what you do during the struggle. When we talk about struggles, we must always define them in the light of God’s power and our limited experience.
We grow because we struggle, we learn and overcome. R.C. Allen.
James 1:2-4 (TLB) “is your life full of difficulties and temptations? Then be happy, 3 for when the way is rough, your patience has a chance to grow. 4 So let it grow, and don’t try to squirm out of your problems. For when your patience is finally in full bloom, then you will be ready for anything, strong in character, full and complete.”
The testing of faith produces endurance. It develops character. Tests help us to be productive. Without them, we will not produce because we are not held accountable. God tests us for this very reason. The Greek word for “test” means “to locate a weakness with the purpose of strengthening and reinforcing it.” God test us to make us strong.
Proverbs 20:30 (GNT) “Sometimes it takes a painful experience to make us change our ways.”
Mark 5:27-34 (NIV) “When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, 28 because she thought, “If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed.” 29 Immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering. 30 At once Jesus realized that power had gone out from him. He turned around in the crowd and asked, “Who touched my clothes?” 31 “You see the people crowding against you,” his disciples answered, “and yet you can ask, ‘Who touched me?’ ” 32 But Jesus kept looking around to see who had done it. 33 Then the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell at his feet and, trembling with fear, told him the whole truth. 34 He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.”
Trying something new may be the last thing on your mind, especially when you have a challenge or are in the midst of long-standing troubles. The woman in this story inspires us never to give up. She took a bold risk to believe in Jesus and his power. She stepped out of the shadows and made her way through the crowd.
When it feels like things will never change, step out in faith, put your trust in God, realising there is more to explore in our relationship with God.
Difficult times can lead us to a point where we feel like our backs are against the wall and there are little options before us to find a way out or a solution to overcome. See a setback as a set-up for God to move.