THE STRUGGLE IS REAL

 

This time of year there is a real struggle going on on my front porch light.  A robin and I are fighting because he is trying to build a nest on my front porch light which is right by my front door.  Not a very smart place for him to do this, at least in my eyes.  Now let me say this, I love robins, I love birds and nature.  the puzzling thing about this is we have a small forest of trees behind our house.  Why not build a nest in a tree?  So here I sit arguing with a robin.  I think I have finally got through to him after almost 4 weeks of arguing, but the struggle is real.

This struggle may seem meaningless to you and I, but I'm sure the robin sees things differently. We all have struggles and deal with issues that propel us into a state of confusion and frustration, doubt and fear.  If we are being honest with ourselves we have all been there at one time or another.  Maybe you're going through some struggles right now?  Struggles can come in many areas of our life, personal issues, financial, spiritual, health, work, family or just life in general can be a struggle.   Sometimes it feels like we're struggling in many areas of our life all at once.  

Struggles are real, they're not made up and they are something we learn to live with, learn from and move on.  The thing is if we don't learn from these struggles and move on, they become a stronghold that can drain us and tie us down into a bottomless pit of despair.   This pit is life draining and leads us into one giant pity party that can last for, what seems like, an eternity.  Listen I'm not just writing this for you, I've been there many times over the course of my life.  It can be very hard to get out of this struggle but the amazing thing about the struggles I have had is that I learned a lot about myself and most of all I have learned a lot about my Abba, my heavenly Daddy, my God. 

 I do not believe that God causes these struggles, our own selfishness, our own pride, our own sinful nature causes these struggles.  God may allow these struggles to happen to shape us and mod us into His image.  He may use these struggles to grow us and help us learn.  My Abba is faithful.  My heavenly Daddy loves me.  My God is powerful.  But like my earthly dad, God allows me to make mistakes but I also have to deal with the consequences of my actions which usually causes the struggle.

There is an enemy out there who want us to blame God for everything bad that happens in our lives.  He wants us to struggle our whole life and live in a pit of despair.  He also wants us to blame other people for the struggles we're going through.  He wants us to be filed with anger and resentment and envy.  He wants us to be prideful and selfish.  But my Abba, my heavenly Daddy, my God knows the truth and He will always point me in the right direction if I shut up long enough for Him to get through to me.  

Ephesians 6:12  For our struggle is not against flesh and blood but against authorities, against powers of this dark world and against spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.

When I give up the struggle and stop fighting, stop blaming and learn from the struggle I was in, my heavenly Daddy gives me a peace that surpasses all understanding.  He helps me learn from the struggle and move on.  He can do that for you also.