I will accept the trouble and suffering that comes into my life, knowing God will equip me to endure and be my comforter.  

Verse

Matthew 6:34

Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Romans 5:3 NLT

We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance.

2 Corinthians 1:7

And our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort.

God, do you tell us to not worry about tomorrow, because you know we will worry about tomorrow?

Is that because we desire order? Because we thrive when we have a plan and sense of purpose? Or is it because You designed us for eternity and we ache for it in this world of trouble. 

We suffer in this fallen place . . . our temporary home. We long for a time when there will be no more tears, no more sorrow, no more death. But for now, we have to endure the suffering that will come.

You say that we can rejoice in these trials because they develop in us endurance. Oh, but Lord, that isn’t easy for us to do. We put too much stock in our circumstances instead of putting our hope firm in you. God, keep us from making false gods in search of comfort.

Lord, turn our mind afresh to your promises.

May we remember that as we suffer, you share in our sufferings.

In knowing our suffering, you can and always will be our source of comfort.

In the Strong Name of Jesus, Amen.

Would you describe yourself as someone who suffers well? Do you face trials with poise and grace? Or does even the mention of suffering turn you into a hot mess?

While I had been through difficult times in my life, I never really categorized any of those hardships as suffering until this one life-changing moment on a Wednesday evening smack in the middle of summer. We were away at a Christian family camp, sitting under the teaching of James MacDonald. He spent the whole week preaching on the topic of suffering, and until that Wednesday evening session, I didn’t think it really applied to me. It didn’t matter that he said, “Everyone is either in the middle of a trial, coming out of a trial, or about to go back into one.” For some reason, I thought I didn’t fit the mold.

Until that night.

When I finally realized that I was in the middle of a trial that was so long, it simply felt normal.

Can you relate? Is the suffering your experience more like years rather than just a season passing by?

At that time, I was two years into a falling out with my dad. Two years of wondering if I’d ever see him again. Two years recounting the hurtful words, lies, and accusations. Two years grieving his absence. Two years of hating on Father’s day. But for two years, I never really identified it as a trial nor considered what good God might want to accomplish in me and through me in the middle of my suffering. That’s because I never really saw that I was suffering. It just was. Until I began to the connect the pieces as I listened to Pastor MacDonald. I was left with two questions:

Am I willing to glorify God in the middle of this trial instead of finding a way out of it?

Am I willing to love God and obey Him, even if He doesn’t take this from me?

Those questions pounded through my mind and heart as my eyes welled so full, it felt like two years worth of tears were breaking forth. I cried hard for at least an hour, falling on my face before the Lord. Feeling the pain and the loss, instead of denying it. I finally was in a place of accepting the reality of this trial.

That mid-summer night, I yielded my suffering to the Lord on the shores of the most beautiful lake.

I gave God my dad. My sorrow. expectations.

Over the next two years, God accomplished such a healing on my heart, freeing me from the pain and enabling me to forgive my dad.

The suffering turned into full surrender, which is the one way to move through our trials.

Only when we acknowledge our trouble before God, can we then place them in the hands of the One who was meant to carry them in the first place. And in that release, we find the comfort and strength to carry on.

What is your current trial? How are you suffering? What does it look like to acknowledge it and give it over to the Lord?

To continue this journey of living brave and inviting the next generation to join you in the journey, get a copy of Brave Together: A Conversation Starter for Cultivating Biblical Mentoring Relationships.

Available in paperback on Amazon or click the button to purchase the downloadable PDF version.

[purchase_link id=”29428″ text=”Add to Cart” style=”button” color=”dark-gray”]