Are you going through a major difficulty such as in your marriage, finances or health? Know that God uses the painful circumstances in our lives to do His greatest work. We like and enjoy the mountaintop experiences but spiritual fruit grows best in the lowlands. It’s in the valley that we become more acutely aware of our needy condition and our utter dependence on God. So anything in our lives that drives us to our knees and sends us to God in prayer is a blessing.
Wrestling in Prayer
The apostle Paul knew something about wrestling in prayer over a situation. He wanted relief from a “thorn in the flesh,” a painful circumstance but God said otherwise. Listen to his words in 2 Corinthians 12:9,
“But He [God] said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness. Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.”
Paul learned that his suffering was a means to Christ’s power working through his life. God was using the painful situation to remove any confidence Paul might have in his own flesh, or anything else for that matter, and driving him to rely more on God and His grace. Paul could now boast about the suffering, because he saw it for what it was: an instrument in God’s loving hand for his good.
Weakness is a Blessing
Like then and now, we live in a society where to admit weakness is shameful. Self-confidence is promoted and idolized. But God says it is the needy, weak and humble who are blessed. James 4:6 We need God’s grace and power to cover every part of our lives, everyday and every second of the day. We cannot do any good apart from Him. Those hard difficult places are mere reminders of the gospel truth that we desperately need God.
Where is the Lord calling you to see a painful situation through a new lens? That despite how it looks and feels, it is a blessing. It is a kind act from a gracious God drawing us away from ourselves and the comforts of this world and more fully onto Him. It’s there that we find we have all that we need, and His grace is sufficient.
Let us say like Spurgeon, “I have learned to kiss the waves that have thrown me up against the Rock of Ages.”
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