Struggles That Define

I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit.

“IT IS OUR STRUGGLES THAT DEFINE US,” my friend Donnie said to me.

Think of some of the heroes of the faith: Abram was called to move “to the land that I will show you” (Genesis 12:1). This was a struggle to walk by faith not sight. God renamed him Abraham, and he is known as the father of three religions: Judaism, Islam, and Christianity.

Joseph was sold into slavery by his brothers, a struggle of the ultimate betrayal. Yet he forgave his brothers, and God rewarded him with the post of Egypt’s second-in-command.

Daniel, a slave, struggled to worship the true God—but he did. He was thrown into a den of lions and lived to tell about it.

Esther, a queen, struggled, knowing that her people were about to be annihilated. Only she could risk walking into the king’s presence and asking for mercy. Her statement of courage, “If I perish, I perish,” has gone down in history.

Naomi was a widow struggling for survival for herself and two daughters-in-law. She didn’t know how they could all live. In the end her decision to return to Bethlehem gained her economic survival, a precious relationship with Ruth, a new son-in-law, and a new grandchild in the messianic line.

What is your struggle? Can you see how God is defining you and his work in your life through it? Cling to him, and he will bring you to the other side.