My struggles are about Him

[patti4jesus]

What about your struggles? Is there any chance, any possibility, that you have been selected to struggle for God's glory? Have you "been granted for Christ's sake, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for Him, but also to suffer for His sake" (Philippians 1:29)?

Here is a clue. Do your prayers seem to be unanswered? What you request and what you receive aren't matching up? Don't think God is not listening. Indeed he is. He may have higher plans.

Here is another. Are people strengthened by your struggles? A friend of mine can answer yes. His cancer was consuming more than his body; it was eating away at his faith. Unanswered petitions perplexed him. Well-meaning Christians confused him. "If you have faith," they said, "you will be healed."

No healing came. Just more chemo, nausea, and questions. He assumed the fault was a small faith. I suggested another answer. "It's not about you," I told him. "Your hospital room is a showcase for your Maker. Your faith in the face of suffering cranks up the volume of God's song."

Oh, that you could have seen the relief on his face. To know that he hadn't failed God and God hadn't failed him-this made all the difference. Seeing his sickness in the scope of God's sovereign plan gave his condition a sense of dignity. He accepted his cancer as an assignment from heaven: a missionary to the cancer ward.

A week later I saw him again. "I reflected God," he said, smiling through a thin face, "to the nurse, the doctors, my friends. Who knows who needed to see God, but I did my best to make him seen."

Bingo. His cancer paraded the power of Jesus down the Main Street of his world.

God will use whatever he wants to display his glory. Heavens and stars. History and nations. People and problems.

Rather than begrudge your problem, explore it. Ponder it. And most of all, use it. Use it to the glory of God.

Through your problems and mine, may God be seen.



Written by Max Lucado



I was certainly blessed by this, and I hope that you will be too.

--Patti

 

[andrewnicholas]

Thank you sister Patti - I know my sufferings of the moment have helped me understand and reach out to others in a unique way. In times of adversity when God is with you and is seen to be with you others take heart and consolation and it is then that the Lord is working through you. God Bless.

Nicholas.

 

[lilywhite]

Thank you so much patti for sharing that !!! well i certainly was blessed too reading this!

i wish you could've seen the relief on my face when i was reading this! its like put up here for me it seemed as i was reading it. Everything is so true. As i was reading it, flashes of scenes and stuff came through my mind..... everything suddenly is becoming more clearer... it is all about Jesus!

There have been those that have told me i have no faith and you need faith to be healed. I was feeling like i've probably even lost my salvation along with all my faith because i wasn't getting healed like people said i should.

Then there have been a few people keeping on telling me, oh we can just see God's joy in you and we can see so much of God in you. And I've been wondering, how on earth can that be possible....i feel sick and i don't feel God's presence at all and i've gone and lost all my faith and stuff. And i certainly felt not even one ounce of joy! Then I remember, its not my joy, its God's joy! His joy , and He is always so joyful !
The joy of the Lord is my strength! ~ Neh 8:10

Reading this brought back memories of me in the hospital with the doctors and nurses commenting on how I could smile in the midst of so much pain and suffering. I'm glad I could be used by God in times of pain. I sure hardly even felt it and was too miserable to think about it but if someone saw Jesus in me, i think the pain is worth it !

I guess i forgot about this most important thing... its all about Jesus and its not about me!
Well this story really brings things into clearer focus for me. I'm beginning to think wow thats nice i've been selected to suffer for the kingdom of God. Thats a nice thought in the midst of pain!

Thank you so much for sharing this again! It is such a blessing! It really has helped me. I love that part - use your problem to the glory of God , so God may be seen through you.


"In the midst of suffering, there's a God worth worshipping, and on these wings of worship, we will fly! " ( ~ Jason Upton CD - Trusting the angels )


thanks and God bless !!
lilywhite