All of us go through difficulties and trying times. It is as if there are many worlds waging war within us, and peace is to be searched for with great effort. Sometimes, the battlefield is all you can see and the war takes longer than you could hold on to strength to fight.
All of us — both great and little in our faith — are going to face difficult, trying times. Which is why it is not a thing of shame for you to drag around with you, to pull you deep down in that ocean of sadness and depression. These hard times you are going through, are not a show of lack of faith or your doubt. Going through a trial does not label you as a second class citizen in the ranks of heaven. It is not there because you are weak, because you are not enough, because you are too much.
What does matter, though, is how we respond to these difficulties and trials. For us believers, our knee jerk reaction should be to lift up a prayer to our God Almighty. We need to look at prayer as a reality; trusting that His answer will come, confidently resting upon the promises given to us.
Because you see — when we are weak, He is strong. My friend, often God lets us see just how weak we are so that He can show us and remind us that He truly is the God Almighty, the Everlasting God.
So the Lord does not move in to help until we have given up and willingly allow Him to work in the midst of our battlefield, in our circumstance, in our lives, in us. Because if the help or the solution came from ourselves, we would have something to boast about and glorify ourselves with. But when we come to the end of our rope, completely helpless in ourselves. God moves in to help us, to rescue us — and all the glory belongs to Him.
When we become fully yielded, God can work in us and through us, even in the midst of a great war within us. When we become fully yielded, we give Him glory as we recognize His strength in the midst of our weakness. When we become fully yielded, we are filled by the Holy Spirit and the Lord uses us for His purposes and for His plan. We become those people God uses, and this is why our battles and our trials have a great purpose.
This week, my friend, let us look at prayer as a reality in our lives, knowing that our God hears us and He will provide. Whether you are trudging up a battlefield miles wide or fighting through a battle without an end — the Lord Is There (Jehovah Shammah). The Lord Will Provide (Jehovah Jireh). The Lord is your Shepherd; but He is also your Friend (Jehovah-Raah).
No season of hardships or difficulties, will ever be wasted when we open our hands and offer it all to the Lord. He will lead us out of that battle, into a glory bright and shining. He will walk with us every step of the way, and never let go.
Encouragement that reached all the way into my battle-weary soul, and lifted me up to hope once again. Thank you so much for your powerful words. I needed them.
Sharon, thank you so much for taking the time and tell me this — what a great encouragement to my heart your comment was! 🙂 I am so glad you find some encouragement here, too. May the Lord go with you this week and encourage you and strengthen you. God bless you!
Yes! Thank you, Ronja, for sharing this uplifting truths with us. These statements especially speak to me today, as I was a little down and a little hurt: “No season of hardships or difficulties, will ever be wasted when we open our hands and offer it all to the Lord.” “…open our hands and offer it ALL to the Lord.” Yes, indeed. “All to Jesus I surrender. . . ” A can do and a must! God continue to bless you richly!
Oh, how I love that hymn, Cindy! Yes, we can surrender all to Jesus… it might not be easy but it is possible, always. When we open our hands in offering everything to the Lord, we will be blessed in receiving with those open hands just the same. Blessings to you!
Ronja, Thank you for these encouraging words.
Just this morning I prayed, as if in surrender, to a battlefield I have been struggling with. I prayed that the Lord would show me His working in my heart and in the moments of my day. I was reminded of that early morning prayer as I read these words of yours, “So the Lord does not move in to help until we have given up and willingly allow Him to work in the midst of our battlefield, in our circumstance, in our lives, in us.” And there it was, the Lord working in my day and speaking to my heart, confirming my prayer of this morning.
Praise the Lord! Karen, I am so happy and blessed to hear all this — that the Lord would use these words to speak to your heart and confirm to you what He has been doing in you all this time. 🙂 Oh, how good He is to us! Thank you so much for stopping here to share this with me and blessing me with it!
So very true. God is glorified through our weakness and through our times of trouble. I’m so glad to visit you from #wordsofcomfort!
Amen! Thank you for visiting here, Sam! What a blessing it is to have you in this space. 🙂 Blessings to you!
Thank you so much! I have been thinking a lot about the phrase “fully yielded” — because it feels like most of the time, we are so likely to hold on to at least a bit of whatever it is that God is asking us to give to Him. Oh, that we could be like little children and truly trust Him to handle everything that comes our way. 🙂 Blessings to you!
Isn’t it just so amazing, though, how we get to grow closer to God and get to know more of Him as we walk through these seasons of life? Just as I heard a pastor say today in the sermon — our testimonies do start with the word “test’, and just so with all the seasons of our lives. God is so patient to wait for us to truly surrender to His will and purposes (that are so much better than ours), and to use everything for our good. Thank you for stopping by here today to share this with me, Valerie!
Thank you so much for these kind words and that invite, Susan! I’ll be sure to share at the Link up on Friday! Thank you! 🙂 God bless you!
It seems when we start to our hearts start to trust Him thats when we are helped. When we stop trying to fix it or figure it out and rest in His plan is when we start to have peace.
So true! I think I so often try to “help God out”, just making things happen a little faster but His way and His timing are always so much better than mine. In Him, we find peace and rest. Thank you for stopping by here! God bless you!