Seasons of Suffering
Did you ever consider that you were created to display God’s strength? That mountain you are climbing, that season of life you are in, did you ever wonder if God is using it to strengthen not only your own faith, but the faith of others?
We have spent years praying that God would take away my advanced heart failure. Being at stage 3 out of 4 can be rather alarming, knowing the next step is a transplant. Sometimes it feels like we have the unanswered prayers hanging out there and I have wondered, is God still listening?
But through my leukemia journey, God has taught me that unanswered prayers are him truly listening, he just has a higher plan than what I do for the journey.
It took me a bit to accept cancer. But what if we saw our struggles, sufferings, and trials as assignments from heaven? What if we saw them as life-giving, instead of life-taking? Seasons of trials are in all reality, a small assignment, compared to the eternal reward that is awaiting us in heaven. And 2 Corinthians 4:7-18 is a testimony to that (italicized parts are my addition):
But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. 8 We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; 9 persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. 10 We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. 11 For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that his life may also be revealed in our mortal body. 12 So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you.
It is written: “I believed; therefore I have spoken.”[b] Since we have that same spirit of[c] faith, we also believe and therefore speak (do you speak boldly about what God is doing in your life?), 14 because we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will also raise us with Jesus and present us with you to himself (we are never without hope, even if we are close to the end of our rope). 15 All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God (remember, God never lets one ounce of our trial go to waste, so instead of feeling hopeless, think about how God might be using it for his glory).
16 Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day (if you look at your struggles through this very lens of God, you will see this to be a promise that God is fulfilling in you). 17 For our light and momentary (it’s a season) troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all (God is doing something and can’t stop, won’t stop, until his ultimate goal through the trial is achieved). 18 So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal (FAITH. That’s what it is, folks, FAITH.).
My friend, we have an incredible calling this side of heaven. To proclaim boldly the name of Jesus. To make his glory known through the seasons of suffering he allows. God is beyond busy, orchestrating everything just so, with you under his wing, guiding your every step. Don’t lose heart. Don’t lose confidence in the one who created you. His plans far outweigh anything we could think up. Don’t lose hope. Trust him with every part of your being. And you will find a joy that surpasses all understanding.
