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Sharing a thought from my quiet time this morning. This is the second time this week that God has brought this to my attention—that He is sanctifying me, working Christlikeness in me, through the struggles of life. He knows that I've needed the encouragement to look beyond the struggles.
To this end also we pray for you always that our God may count you worthy of your calling, and fulfill every desire for goodness and the work of faith with power; in order that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you and you in Him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ. (2 Thess. 1:11-12)
For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.... And I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in real knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve the things that are excellent, in order to be sincere and blameless until the day of Christ. (Eph. 1:6, 9-19)
God works even as I struggle. I'm reminded of the transformation of the butterfly as it emerges from its chrysalis. There are good things going on, though I might not even realize it at the time. That thought brings hope and encouragement to continue on and to view the struggles as strengthening agents. They are building my faith and drawing me closer to God himself. The purpose? That the name of the Lord Jesus Christ be magnified through a heart desirous of goodness. He alone will fill with true knowledge and discernment. The work of faith.
As all of us have, I think of the struggles of those assaulted by Hurricane Harvey. We lived in Houston several years ago and have friends there. Our next door neighbor recently moved there. I pray for them, for their safety, for their well-being, for God to supply all their needs. Yet the greatest need is for God to use what they are going through to bring them closer to himself. For only in that will be their well-being, both now and for eternity.
I do hope that your struggles are strengthening you as well, dear one. Let it be so.
Butterfly image ~ by fesoj, Otakárek fenyklový [Papilio machaon]
