My Father, my Example, my Advocate, loose my soul to see You and delight in You even in life’s bitterest times. Remind me “The Lord Himself goes before you and will be with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged”. ....Stir me to faith. Turn my eyes outward to You in worship and to others in kindness. Guard me from soul-fouling sourness. Instead, may I know You in sweet connection, in ways impossible apart from sharing in Your suffering and comfort.
The above was taken from a book I am reading, one that has been a great blessing. Pursue the Intentional Life, by Jean Fleming. Today’s reading was about suffering, and the choice to either grow sweet....or grow bitter in the suffering.
“We were not created to suffer, we are called to suffer.”
“A brooding, runaway mind hollows out a man.” Oh how we tend to brood upon things, to feel sorry for ourselves in the trials we must endure, to look to our neighbors and envy their happiness, to wish we had someone else’s lot in life, to think “why me”? Resentments build up, we begin to feel wronged, mistreated, and before we know it we are brooding on how unfair things are.....and our hearts and minds become hollow and ugly.
If you trust in Christ and are one of His, there truly is nothing in life to fear. If you are in the midst of trouble, if you are oppressed on all sides and it seems the enemy of your soul is laughing and mocking, “Where is your God?” take heart and remember. Nothing can touch you; nothing can touch your life that He does not allow. The enemy of your soul, who laughs and speaks out “I won that round”, won nothing at all, for God will use all things for His glory and for our good, even defeat. Every trial, every sorrow, every wound, turned around and used for His glory. Truly we are victorious at all times in Christ. We need to cling to that knowledge, and we need to preach it to each other and to ourselves.
Soul, hold fast to truth, dwell upon it, meditate on it, lift up praise, even in the hard times, remember His promises, and rest in them. Forgive others, forgive yourself, persevere in the faith and remember always that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.