NOT NO, GROW!
“For as the soil makes the sprout come up and a garden causes seeds to grow, so the Sovereign Lord will make righteousness and praise spring up before all nations.”
“I don’t know how to pray!” Connie wailed aloud. Hiding her head in her hands, Connie wept.
“Mom! What’s wrong?” Connie’s ten year old daughter Cassie asked.
Connie sniffed back tears. Dabbing a tissue to her eyes, she choked out, “Your Uncle Albert left Aunt Marlene. She’s bitter and very sorrowful. I just don’t know how to pray for her, honey. My gut tells me that she’s better off without him. But she vowed to God ‘until death.’”
Cassie hugged her mom. Finally, she said, “Mom, let’s pray that God makes Aunt Marlene’s life sweet.”
That’s not bad advice, Cassie. Connie could also pray for Jesus’ peace as He walks Marlene through her suffering. Marlene is still God’s beloved child. Her eternal life is intact. All that’s broken is the relationship with her husband.
Believers are often unsure how to pray in different circumstances. Moses shows us how to cry out to God when the water at Marah was bitter. (See lesson linked below from Exodus 15). God can bring sweetness from bitterness in your life just as He made Marah’s water sweet. When life brings us trouble, let’s cry out to God in our sorrow. We can ask God to bring sweetness.
Our victory is assured by faith in Christ.
The opening Scripture shows sprouts and blooms come when seeds are buried in dirt. When humans face trouble, we often feel that we’re buried alive. But it’s during these times when we cry out to God.
He hears our sorrow, feels our suffering.
We’re not buried; we’re planted.
Suffering is a time for growth.
The difference is whether we let the mud and rain keep us down, or choose to learn and grow past the pain. Suffering is necessary for thriving. It was through suffering that Jesus learned obedience.
Matthew 26:39b: “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from Me. Yet not as I will, but as You will.”
Let’s see suffering as a blessing. Let’s grow into something great!
Take Home Nugget
After all, we’re still saved beloved children of Almighty God. Problems make us stronger. The correct approach is to pray that what’s bitter be made sweet. God only allows enough suffering to bring us to our knees. Prayer and repentance is growth steroid.
When the mud and rain pound us down, God isn’t saying, “No.” He’s challenging us to grow!
Thank You, Father, that suffering is a blessing for my growth. Help me to grow past the pain into a sweet life—in Jesus’ name, Amen.
J.D. Griffith
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My background is a life time of worship, but seriously following Jesus came with age. Spiritual maturity is a leap of faith. Sometimes we don’t know what we’re missing until living on the edge of God’s leading. My life of self sufficiency ended abruptly when losing my job as an analytical chemist after being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. Now living on the edge of God’s leading has become a way of life that I wouldn’t trade for anything else.
Surrendering one’s will to the Lord can be scary. Why did I wait so long to do it? Diving into an intimate relation with the sovereign God of creation is the most secure position in the universe. Will you share your experience with me? Will you let me give you my testimony? May I introduce you to the Jesus I know?