As we continue our series on faith, walking by faith, and trusting in God, it’s helpful to look at our idea of the place of struggle in faith. We can tend to think that if you have great faith then there is no struggle. This is a huge fallacy – a miscalculation and misunderstanding that can lead to tremendous discouragement and defeat, even turning away from the faith that is our hope.
We are afraid of and intimidated by struggle. We may think it indicates that God has forgotten or forsaken us. We may think we are unworthy. Satan will tempt us to believe we are on the wrong path with so many wrong explanations of struggle.
At the very top of the list is always this one: “If I were getting this right, it wouldn’t be so hard. I might as well quit.” Other people appear to have no struggle, and we feel we can’t measure up. The truth is, everyone struggles. The best Christian you know struggles sometimes. And their struggle may be about things you would never dream, and far more difficult than you can imagine.
The secret of navigating struggle is not finding a way to avoid it. There are two things that every successful and joyful traveler in the journey of life does with struggle:
Embrace the struggle. Embracing the struggle means accepting and even welcoming challenges and difficulties as inevitable and valuable parts of life, rather than resisting them. When you choose to embrace the struggle, you decide to find meaning, strength, and opportunities for growth, learning, and developing resilience within this season of your life. You decide to work WITH the adversity, not resenting it, ultimately leading to a richer, more fulfilling life, and becoming a stronger version of yourself.
Honor the struggle. A very similar choice goes hand in hand with embracing it. To "honor the struggle" is a life philosophy that involves acknowledging, embracing, and learning from life's challenges and hardships without complaint or blame. It goes beyond simple acceptance of the fact that we can’t get out of struggle to recognizing that difficulty is essential to becoming the person you desire and need to be. You cannot master life skills and opportunities without struggle. By shifting your mindset to actively honor struggles as opportunities for personal development, you can cultivate resilience, build character, gain clarity, and focus on your intentions.
The Word directs us to embrace our struggles, honor their space in our lives, and never give up. There is joy ahead.
Consider it all joy, my brothers and sisters, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. James 1:2-4 NASB
Let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up. Galatians 6:9 NLT