Everyone has faced adversity on some level during their lives. I have had my fair share of them when it comes to my physical wellness, others have had emotional hurdles and some more profound. Though my struggles may not be yours we can not say either is any less difficult. The one thing that people have said to me time over time is that they do not understand how I can go though it and handle it so well. In the past I would politely shut the conversation down with a simple "Thank you" or a sarcastic comment such as "oh I bounce back pretty well". In truth I would love to sit in a corner with you and spill my whole story, explaining how difficult my journey has actually been and how I really was able to pull it all together because of this or that, but I figure most people don't want to hear the gritty truth. Sometimes, I don't even like to reminisce on my struggle. I wonder do I make to light of them or do I exaggerated them when others have so much more of a burden than I do?
I have always been told that God won't give your more than your can carry, and scripture tells us that God can use what is intended for our destruction for good. I believe we all have our unique experiences to not carry alone but to help one another. The problem is that most of us are so self absorbed that we are not listening to others enough to know when to do this. I have been guilty of this myself.
I can tell you that I have been to the bottom of myself , an emotional black hole, and yet was able to resurface not because of my own ability. The Lord has lifted me from places that I could not crawl out of on my own. I find my peace in the Holy Spirit and through building a relationship with the Lord I have been able to fight for a better version of me than what existed twenty years ago or even last week or yesterday. The struggle is daily but Christ told us that this would be the case in John 16:33 "In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” . In fact the Bible is full of the struggles and burdens of individuals. It is also full of wisdom and instruction on how to get through them and honor the Lord in our lives.
By building a relationship with Christ through study of the written word in the Bible we can bridge our discomfort and adversity to a place of peace. That is when we can honor God and be the example someone else needs. We may not even know when this happens. What is true is that others are watching how we handle ourselves when adversity comes.
