I was talking with the Lord about some things in my life right now.
Asking Him all the questions, all the things that are honestly on my heart…
He already knows everything there is to know about my heart, but there’s something about opening myself up to Him, sharing these things openly with Him that leads me into a closer closeness, a sense of “togetherness” with my Heavenly Father.
There’s something about getting it all off my chest before Him…
And He reminds me, and He refills me, and He refreshes me. ?
And He teaches me through situation after situation after situation.
He teaches me that sometimes things happen that aren’t ideal or easy in order for His will to be done, in order for me to be able to press through into His promise.
Many times, we must be willing to endure so that His will might be done in the earth— in and through our lives.
But it’s hard when we’re standing in a place where we can’t really see the “why”… when we can’t see the purpose of it all yet…
James 1:2 says,
“Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy.” (NLT)
“Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds,” (ESV)
“My brothers and sisters, be very happy when you are tested in different ways.” (God’s WORD Translation)
“My friends, be glad, even if you have a lot of trouble.” (CEV)
“But how? But why?”
“…For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow.”—James 1:3
And here it is…
“By your patient endurance, you will gain your souls.”—Luke 21:19 (Berean Study Bible)
And I love the way the ESV reads…
“By your endurance you will gain your lives.” (ESV)
And this…THIS!
“You need to persevere, so that after you have done the will of God, you will receive what He has promised.” —Hebrews 10:36
The “promised land” doesn’t necessarily come easy.
The promises don’t come without a fight…
But He teaches us how to endure, how to press through, how to trust, how to fight, and how to rest in Him…
He’s building in us, what it takes to step into the promise!
That we will be able to endure and persevere through the trials and the sufferings and the challenges…
…and step right into His promises. ???♀️
“And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise.”—Hebrews 6:15
This is what He is doing. This is part of why He allows certain trials into our lives.
Because He knows they shape us, and prepare us, they grow us…
That we may be able to persevere though—that the will of God be done!
And we will receive what He has promised. ?☀️
“…but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 13 Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”—Philippians 3:12-14
And He makes all of the hardship, all of the trials, all the process, all of the pain— ALL worth it. ??
And in Him, all that seems “lost” all that seems “stolen or taken away” in the fight…. is really our gain —more “gain” than we can comprehend or imagine. ?✨☀️
And we can rejoice, even while we’re “in the middle” of the hardship!
Because we know our God, and we trust in His Word.
And He says that we can “count it all joy”….
If He says it’s all worth it, if He says it’s all going to be beautiful, we can trust Him.
And He says, “You can do it! I am making you able! So keep going! Keep walking with Me! You CAN do it! And you will make it through.”
Thank You, Father. ?
-Heather ?