“When the righteous cry out for help, the Lord hears and delivers them out of all their troubles. The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.” (Psalm 34:17, 18)
The little white and black kitten made its way slowly up the lattice siding of the yard building and appeared to be quite proud of itself until it decided to come back down. That was an entirely different story. Admittedly it was humorous to watch as it cautiously tried to make its way back down to the safety of the ground below. The mission was finally accomplished but not without a real struggle, loss of balance, and almost falling prematurely.
Our lives are just like that, aren’t they? We all have our own personal struggles that we must contend with, many of which can be most daunting. There are so many different areas of our lives that have their own challenges and they can appear at times to be simply more than we can handle. Yet, our Creator who made each of us and understands our physical, mental and emotional makeup, promises not to give us more in life than we can handle (1 Corinthians 10:13). But it’s the dealing with these struggles that we struggle with, isn’t it?
- It might be the loss of a job and the income received from that job.
- It might be demands of the job you have that seem to be more than your ability to meet.
- It might be the uncertainty of some chronic illness that seems to continue to loom large in your every-day life.
- It might be the struggle of a family member in poor health or one suffering from dementia.
- It might be the struggle of a troubled marriage.
- It might be the strain of parenting and helping your kids through the formative years, even when they don’t want your help.
- It might even be the battle in your own heart to keep your faith alive and well.
Living our lives for the short time our God allows us was never promised by Him to be free of challenge or difficulty! But He has promised to never leave us or forsake us. Each of us must learn how to deal with our own struggles and in the process perhaps enabling us to help some other sojourner in life. The little kitten learned from its struggle and figured out a better way to climb on the roof of the yard building.
We, too, must figure out there is a better way to face our own struggles and that is by trusting God, reading His precious Word along with meditating on its inspired words and to accompany all of this by talking to Him through the blessing and privilege of prayer. There is simply and profoundly no one more trustworthy than our God! What a wonderful sense of assurance these venues can and should be to each of us. “It is God to whom and with whom we travel, and while He is the end of our journey, He is also at every stopping place.” –Elisabeth Elliot
When we learn to walk more closely with God, not only will we find the strength to face any struggle, we will learn to look beyond this life where in Heaven there will be no more struggle of any kind … EVER!
“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” (Philippians 4:13)
Bill Fairchild, Jr.
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