Prayer to successfully complete a season of hardship
Jessica Van Lochel
Bible Reading:
“Not only does it, we also give glory to suffering, because we know that suffering produces patience, patience, character, character, hope.” – Romans 5:3-4, niv
Listen or read:
Life offers a variety of experiences. Some create precious memories like holding their child in their arms on the day they achieve their long-awaited goals or eventually breaking the negative cycle. Other life experiences break us. We want to forget, but wounds make it impossible. At the time, “Why me?” or we turn our fingers to God and demand that we know why he didn’t do anything. We turn our backs and forget the sufferings our Lord knew and the sufferings that can spread to us in the seasons of our hardships.
Difficulties are part of this life. It comes to those who know Christ and those who don’t. Difficulty may seem like that at times, but you don’t like one person more than another. For our Christ, we have a glorious opportunity to see the seasons of suffering through another lens. Pain and suffering can become one of the blessings of our relationship with God through Christ, due to what it produces in our lives and the benefits it brings.
The difficulties and problems we face can appear to be pressure from our work, our school, our finances, our family situation, our health challenges, tragedy, sadness, persecution, abuse, or loneliness. When we dismiss our hardships, we miss the blessings that God has for us in our trial, as they are not as bad as someone else’s.
God assures us that he is in all things. He allows us to rely on him and he helps us get closer to him. When we realize that we will gain strength and maturity, we can successfully complete a season of hardship. These benefits will strengthen our minds for future hard seasons. Suffering creates patience and knows it is the ability to endure. This creates character by reinforcing our resolve to choose to respect God through what we face. This strength of personality creates hope that will turn to your future with God.
Jesus goes back, makes everything new and sets things right. In the meantime, while we wait, God pours His love into our hearts through the power of the Holy Spirit to comfort us and bring Jesus’ presence to our hearts. The perspective of the good that our hardships can produce in our lives allows us to learn glory in them for what God produces in us.
God uses amazing hardships in our lives to create a chain of Christian maturity. Patience creates character. Characters create hope. They are built on each other. We don’t need to create or drive difficulties, but we don’t need to lightly splash them or lose hope when we face them. We can successfully complete a season of difficulties because we know that God uses them on us to enable us to create maturity and encourage others.
Soldiers go to battle, sailors go to the sea, runners run, and Christians face their hardships head-on as they allow our faith to lead into action. Seasons of hardship can create a sense of disappointment in our hearts, especially when they last for a long time. The burden of living through them will hit our bodies and we may feel weak. But we can end well if we remember to trust God in order to choose to endure, live according to God’s way, and to look to Jesus’ hope.
Let’s pray:
Holy God,
The hardships this season have been tough. I don’t know if I can make it. I am happy and pleased, but I feel it is very fake. I know that solid things come through the trials, but I really want a break from them. I read your words and feel nothing. I go to church, why? I try to praise you with my thoughts and actions, but I am tired. Fill me with your comfort and strength. Your power will rise in me and strengthen me to walk this difficult path. I trust you at the timing because I know you’re good, and what you’re doing is good. You have proven to be faithful to the past. Help me remember your loyalty. I rejoice in you because you are full of goodness and mercy. Please help me get through this challenge and get through it well. Thank you how you move in my life. Thank you for what you do to guide me to the finish line. Patience cultivates my character and reminds me of the hope I have within you. You are always with me and I praise you.
In the name of Jesus, Amen
Photo Credit: ©getTyimages/tfilm
Jessica Van Lochel loves the upside-down life of following Jesus as he travels through wholeness through what Jesus has broken. As an author, speaker and worship leader, she uses gifts and experiences to rescue, recover and renew God’s transformational powers. She longs to know that rejection does not have to define or determine your future when it is placed in God’s healing hands. Check out more at ReframingRejectionBook.com, where you can connect with her on Instagram and Facebook.
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