Today I am writing about suffering. Well I don’t like to use the term suffering because the reality is I will probably never truly suffer. And more than likely you won’t either. I am blessed to live in the US and live a semi “normal” life. I’ve never questioned where my next meal is going to come from. (I don’t include my wild ride of college haha) So I would prefer the term discomfort. Now life is full of so much discomfort. I mean I don’t know about you, but this entire pandemic has been a huge discomfort for me. (I will say business is booming though)
What I have learned these past few weeks from my Bible reading and the book I’m reading is that discomfort is in inevitable. I think those of us who grew up Christian are taught things a simple version for us to understand it, so when we get older and life because a little more complicated, we get confused. The best example from my life was growing we were taught ask God for anything and He will give it to you. Well now that I am older and I know that’s just not true. Not because He doesn’t love us or that He isn’t a good father, but His ways are sooooo much better than ours. I could be asking for something that would hinder me or not be good for me right now. He knows the end of the story so I have to trust that whatever happens it was part of His plan and it’s best. So when it came to discomfort I just really struggled with understanding why so many devastating things continued to happen in my life. And why I prayed for some things and the exact opposite happened. From reading scripture, I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s just life. I can do everything right and be a good person, but that doesn’t change the fact that I’m living in a fallen world. Things are going to happen that suck. We’re so used to thinking (it’s an American thing I’m sure) that life has to be this sweet little easy walk. And yes that would be nice, but that’s not reality. These things stretch us to make us better people. And as Paul says in Philippians to advance the gospel. Like I mentioned in my last blog post. That’s all life is about walking in your God given purpose and advancing the gospel. So if there’s a discomfort then we work through it with God and we come out better.
When I started thinking about how in life no matter what we do there will always be discomfort, I began to feel better. If you’ve followed my social media pages you’ve noticed some changes here and there in my life and it was really eating me up for a while. I was struggling with understanding why these things happened. Taking on the perspective that no matter what I do there will be discomfort and that it will make be better which helps me walk in my purpose was reassuring that I was going to be okay. At the end of the day I knew that I am not alone. I may face many discomforting battles without a fleshy human next to me BUT I have God on my side and that’s enough. That’s probably one of my favorite parts about Christianity. Because honestly this life can be incredibly lonely. But having a God that is with you in the hills and valley you that you can trust completely makes like less lonely.
Now don’t get me wrong, I do forget sometimes which is why I highly recommend reading your Bible and Christian books. When I say reading the Bible I mean reading it for yourself. Christian books are great I have like 6 on my need to finish before this pandemic is over list, but you also need to read scriptures for yourself. When you read the word for yourself it has a stronger meaning in your life and bring comfort. I can always tell when I’ve slacked off in my Bible reading. It changes my entire perspective on life.
All of this to say discomfort is a part of life. We can’t run from it. No matter how badly we want to, but we have a God who loves us and will stand by us. And the other side of that discomfort is a better you. You just have to keep pushing toward it. Love y’all.
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