Monday, May 23, 2016

To Those Who are Suffering

We All Suffer!

Everyone's story has many small details that are different, but the bigger aspect of our suffering are the same.

One person might be going through a hard situation right now while others are done and learned something through it. There is even others who has gone through a time of suffering but still don't know what to do or what they have had learned from it. Some of those times of suffering might be:

A struggling marriage.

An exhausted mama tired of the everyday mundane of life.

Distracted and busy from having a quiet time or better yet finding a routine that fits you.

Staying awake in bed at night overcome with fear and anxiety.

Someone you love has health problems or is sick.

We All Suffer!



 Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world
1 Peter 5:9
 
 
When we look at this verse, there are 2 ways that can help us survive our time of suffering.
 
 
1) Resist him.
 
We have to look back in the previous verse to find out who "him" is.
 
Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.
 
 
Satan is our enemy. During our times of suffering, he wants us to fail and not trust God. He will try everything to bring us down. The whole picture of being a lion scares me. I might have watched too many movies but lions are strong and powerful animals when their prey is weak, and they can destroy them.  
 
Lets look at some others verses to tell us more of who Satan is as our enemy.
 
In Job 1:9-2:7, Satan is shown to be given permission by God to attack Job's belongings, family members, servants and eventually his health. These are all sad and bad ways that happen everyday because of the sin in this world. Because he is the prince of this world, these things are connected to him. 
 
Zechariah 3:1 states that Satan is our accuser. I learned that his name actually means accuser which I did not know. But as Christians, we are free from the power of sin because of what Christ has done for us. But Satan still accuses us during those hard times simply by putting thoughts into our heads that we are just not being good enough or we will never get it.
 
The next verse in Luke 22:31 I felt was kinda interesting because Satan in this verse was being intentional in bringing down Peter. He could see that there was something in Peter that wanted to follow Christ and he didn't like that. Jesus was telling this to Peter to be aware of it and to draw near to Him for help.
 
Revelation 12:9 calls Satan the deceiver of the whole world. He is the prince of lies. We have the choice to recognize those lies he continuously throw at us and to resist him.
 
So how do we resist him as our enemy during those times of suffering? As the verse says we need to be sober and be vigilant. To be sober according to my Nelson Study Bible notes means "to be self-disciplined, to think rationally and not foolishly (1) ". To be vigilant also according to my Nelson Study Bible means to be alert to the spiritual pitfalls of life and take appropriate steps to make certain that we do not stumble" (1).  When we know who our enemy and his traits of accusing, lying, and intentionality, we can be able to resist him by think rationally and be more aware of our spiritual pitfalls during those times of suffering.
 
But... we need the help to do so, which then brings me to my second point of how to survive during a time of suffering, to be steadfast in the faith.
 
Once again we have to look at previous verses on how to be steadfast in the faith, verses 6-7
 
Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you
 
 
When we are in a time of suffering and feeling so weak and overcome by temptations to want to give up or be angry, we need to hold onto that God is there for us. We need His help. We need to humble ourselves and acknowledge our need for Him. He is all powerful, all knowing God who knows us inside and out and how this situation is going to end. When we recognize that, we are humbling ourselves under His mighty hand. It doesn't happen overnight but through constantly humbling ourselves over and over again, we will make it through. He will exalt us in due time.  
 
Besides humbling ourselves, we can also cast all our cares on him. Just like humbling this will also take many many many times of constantly casting your cares. Because He really does care. He shows that He cares through His love, through His grace, through His new mercies every morning every moment.
 
On a personal note, when I cast my cares on Him, I have learned (still learning currently) to replace it with a promise from His word. Here are some of my favorite verses that I hold onto 
 
Phil 4:6-7   Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
 

 

Psalm 62:5-8  My soul, wait silently for God alone,
For my expectation is from Him.
He only is my rock and my salvation;
He is my defense;
I shall not be moved.
In God is my salvation and my glory;
The rock of my strength,
And my refuge, is in God.

Trust in Him at all times, you people;
Pour out your heart before Him;
God is a refuge for us.


 
Psalm 149:4   For the Lord takes pleasure in His people;
He will beautify the humble with salvation

 
2 Samuel 22:19-20   They confronted me in the day of my calamity,
But the Lord was my support.
20 He also brought me out into a broad place;
He delivered me because He delighted in me.
 
 
It is sometimes unbearable during a time of suffering because you feel like you are all alone. But you are not. There are many people who are going through similar things that you are going through. You are not alone. Hold onto that. Humble yourselves and cast your cares onto God because He does care. And during those times when the enemy overwhelms you with thoughts of discouragement, remember who he is and who you are in Christ.

Share below your thoughts and scripture that encourage you during times of suffering. Share them with someone who you might know that is struggling.

linking up with Jennifer #tellhisstory and Holley coffee for your heart and Jo Thankful Thursdays

 (1) Nelson's NKJV Study Bible. Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1997

9 comments :

  1. Resist! A powerful word that empowers us to persevere when we are going through a time of suffering. Thank you for your scripture references and pointing us in the right direction. Glad to be your neighbor today at #TellHisStory.

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    1. I think the most encouraging thing is that we are not alone. There are many other women and men who have gone through similar situations like our own and we can resist together. We can draw near and help others to draw near too. thank you so much for coming by

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  2. Love what you share here, Kristina. You are such an encouragement. We really do have an accuser prowling about...and definitely need to be resisting Him by being vigilant and sober...For me being vigilant meant retreating from an arena where he was prowling. I had to humble myself in admitting that Facebook and Twitter were becoming a threat to me, stealing my confidence and assurance in the One who loves me.

    Am going to have to come back here and write some of these verses down. BTW I have the final verse you quote from Psalm 62 on my fridge: reminding me to pour out what eats away at me before God, to entrust Him with it, no matter how silly it seems!

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    1. My friend! You are such an encouragement to me! Your heart and willingness to do what is right to draw near to God. I really liked doing this blog because it just reminds me that I am not alone because others are going through the same things that I am going through. I hope your time away from facebook and twitter was refreshing and rejuvenating.

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  3. This is so encouraging! The enemy wants us to think we're all alone, and he especially loves when we isolate ourselves. Everyone has something going on and the important thing is to remember that every spiritual battle we overcome, means that soon another one is coming, but because of Christ ,we claim victory in Him EVERYTIME!

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    1. Amen! That is awesome! You have encouraged me too!

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  4. Hi Kristina,
    Thanks for stopping by my blog today! I love what you wrote about staying strong and steadfast in our faith and sometimes that's not easy to do when we're going through a difficult time, but knowing we are not alone is such a comfort!

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    1. It does bring comfort when I realize that I am not the only one hurting. sometimes it is so hard to see it that way when one is on social media and everyone seems happy. I know it isn't true but that's why we need to resist him. lol I just walked into that one.

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  5. I'm so thankful that God is always with us even in our sufferings and even if we feel alone. I love the Philippians passage you shared. It reminds us that we don't have to worry and that God will give us peace as only He can. Thanks for these reminders. I'm your neighbor at #ThankfulThursday!

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