We
have all faced various trials and struggles in our lives, and these are the
struggles that fashion us into who we are today. Too often in life do we tread
the wrong path, walk down the darkened alley of evil, and become enslaved to
sin. Our hands are bound by the piercing chains of iniquity, and our feet are
shackled down by our trespasses. We are hurt, bruised, anguished, and fatigued.
We hunger and thirst for freedom, but are starved under the premise of trials
and tribulations. We fall, we stumble, and we struggle.
At times, ‘hope’ becomes this far fetched and
abstract idea to the point where we cannot fathom its relatives; happiness,
joy, love and peace. When we lose hope, we lose everything. Hope is a virtue,
to expect a good outcome regardless of the situation. When we lose this virtue,
we belittle ourselves and during these times we feel like we are worth
nothing…we amount ourselves to nothing. We cry, we hurt and become strangers in
our very own world. We lose control of our lives and become passengers rather
than drivers. When we lose hope, we lose the very desire to live.
We look up to God and harshly blame him for the situation.
We question His understanding and demand the answer to the question “why
weren’t you with me” and “why didn’t you stop me”. Truth is He was with us, and
will always be with us. He allowed us to fall into these trials and
tribulations to allow us to come out stronger. In life, we don’t learn from
experience, we learn from our mistakes. In due time, God will reveal to us the
meaning of the trial, but we must be willing to endure it. In order to have
hope, we have to include Christ as the main factor in our situation and expect
a positive outcome knowing that He will intervene.
The word “struggle” has such a negative connotation.
You will never hear anyone talking about struggling in a positive way. We fail
to recognize the struggle on the cross. Our Lord, God and Savior, our creator,
our father, and our King left his kingdom to struggle for us. He took our
nature and allowed for himself to be hung on the cross, for both you and I.
When I close my eyes, I am reminded of his pain and suffering on the cross as
he thought of me. “For God demonstrates his own love towards us, in that while
we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). In His heart, he
knew that I was worth His life, He considered me worthy of His struggle and he
tasted death for me. Following His struggle on the cross, I received salvation.
Likewise, following the struggles that I will face in life, there will always
be a rewarding lesson to learn.
So be prepared to struggle, be prepared to fight,
be prepared to truly mean it when you say “thy kingdom come, thy will be done”,
and wait. Wait to be tried, wait to learn, wait for Christ to intervene.
Life isn't worth living without a struggle, because the struggles you
face are apart of your story.
