The month of May always sneaks up on me. Each year, it launches us into the thick of summer. But in the middle of rising temps – there also seems to be a million things to do and plan. Our four weekends can include anything from graduations to weddings, gardening, and more. On the outside, each of these events may seem entirely unrelated. For the most part, they are. Yet, a deeper look reveals something pretty important in common – newness.
Here we are, almost halfway through 2023, and for most of us, our New Year’s Day resolutions are a thing of the past. Right now, parents, teachers, and students are just trying to make it to the last day of class. May brides are attempting to ensure their last-minute plans are in place. And gardeners are hard at work planting!
Talk about stress!
Before long, those memories will be replaced with new beginnings. Parents will see their children walk in a graduation procession. Couples will start their lives together. And gardeners will soon taste the fruits of their labor with a big tomato sandwich.
However, before those victorious moments happen, chaos and hardships often ensue. After all, stress comes before victory. The same is true in our spiritual walk with the Lord.
Over the past few months, the Lord has been working on my heart in ways I wish He wouldn’t. It seems as though trial after trial has plagued my home.
It reached a new boiling point a few weeks ago. Rather than “dancing in the rain,” I found myself yelling at the ceiling, saying, “I don’t know what you’re trying to do God, but just do it! I’m tired of this!”
He didn’t instantly answer that plea. Not in the slightest. I was crying on the floor – weaker than I’ve ever felt. And to be honest, my next step was not to run eagerly into His presence. I was wounded and questioning His tactics.
Yet, later in the week, verses I had remembered as a child randomly came to mind.
We are pressured in every way but not crushed; we are perplexed but not in despair; we are persecuted but not abandoned; we are struck down but not destroyed (2 Corinthians 4:8).
Later the passage says,
Therefore, we do not give up. Even though our outer person is being destroyed, our inner person is being renewed day by day. For our momentary light affliction is producing for us an absolutely incomparable eternal weight of glory. So, we do not focus on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal (2 Corinthians 4:16-18).
Encouragement. Instantly, my fears and hardships (although not removed) were replaced with the hope of the cross. The promise of heaven!
I think that Paul knew a thing or two about “momentary light afflictions,” but he didn’t let them stop him from advancing the gospel of Christ. What if those trials kept him from writing Romans, 1 and 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 and 2 Thessalonians, 1 and 2 Timothy, Titus, or Philemon? The Bible wouldn’t look the same!
The Lord used Paul’s trials to strengthen his faith. And He will do the same for us.
In the middle of storms, it’s easy to lose focus on the hope of the cross. Instead of seeing what is eternal, we, as humans, are plagued by the temporary. Thankfully, it is just temporary. As believers, our hope rests in heaven! Our hope rests in the one who overcame the grave! He can use you in your brokenness if you let Him. In fact, He can give you strength when it seems you have none.
Cast your burden on the Lord, and he will sustain you; he will never permit the righteous to be moved (Psalm 55:22).
