Let Your Struggle be God’s Victory

The world we live in is filled with personal glory – people who boast about their accomplishments and ignore the God who is the true Creator of it all.  Our goal as followers of Jesus Christ is to separate ourselves from this world by acknowledging God’s hand in all that we do.  God is not impressed by our worldly accomplishments.  We don’t become children of God based on our worldly success.  We become children of God because of what Christ has done for us on the cross.  “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.”  (Ephesians 2:8-9) Any worldly pride we have is a stumbling block to our relationship with God.  As a result, this world tries to push us away from God through various trials and struggles.

Growing in Spiritual Maturity

When we stand firm in our faith, and keep our eyes on God, He will use worldly struggles as a tool to help us grow to be more like Jesus.  “For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.”  (Romans 8:29)  Our worldly struggles become God’s victory when we stop complaining and start searching for the lessons God wants us to learn from the experience.  Every time we walk through a difficult life event with God on our side, we grow in spiritual maturity and move closer to Him.  We gain a deeper understanding of our relationship with God and a more complete comprehension of what it means to be a child of God.

Use Your Struggle to Help Others

When we look back on the difficult times that we were able to endure with God’s help, we are able to use that experience to help others going through similar circumstances.  “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.”  (2 Corinthians 1:3-4)   This is another example of how our struggles can become God’s victory.  God uses our struggle to help us help others.  When we walk with God through various trials, we develop compassion and understanding for what others are going through.  Praise God for knowing exactly what we need and how to ultimately achieve the best results.

God is in Complete Control

We have an enemy in this world that wants us to suffer and turn our back on God.   As children of God, the enemy has no power over us – God uses all of the enemy’s attacks as strength building exercises.  Just as the pain of lifting weights builds muscle, the pain of worldly struggles is used by God to give us a clear perspective of His mercy and to build up our dependence on Him.  We also learn a great deal about ourselves when we face difficult times.  And most importantly, our compassion and understanding for the suffering of others grows to a point that we can be of service to their needs in times of trouble.  “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.”  (Proverbs 3:5-6)  God is in complete control.  No matter what challenge this world places in our path, God will turn that struggle into a victory.

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