5 Steps for Suffering Well

Suffering well.  Phhh…this is not my expertise.  It’s been a ginormous growing edge for me.  God has taken me on a pretty crazy journey to teach me a little bit more about suffering well.  Here are some of the practical insights He has taught me during this time. 

1.     Grieve our Loss, Both Big and Small.  Whether it’s losing a limb, a job, your temper or growing up without a mom or dad—it is vital we grieve it all.   It’s how we move on.   Ask the Lord to show you some of the pain you may have buried and not processed through so you can move on into deeper freedom with Christ. 

2.     Perspective is HUGE.  Sometimes when life gets tough, the only thing we can see is the negative present pain.  Yet, I’ve found that God’s grace is so abundant in our suffering.  Ask God to help you see your life from His perspective, an eternal perspective that sees both the really awesome stuff and the really painful stuff in proper balance. 

3.     Faith in His Word.  God has given us His Word of Truth in the Bible and He tells us that suffering and pain leads to good things, really good things.  Things like hope, love, and a more mature complete faith--suffering is how we become more like Christ.  Not only that but that He has a purpose for our lives, and it is good.  So, from God’s perspective suffering and pain is actually a good thing and not something to avoid (wrap your mind around that one!).  Ask God to grow your faith in His Word concerning your pain and loss. 

4.     Contentment, Joy, and Praise.  It really can happen in the midst of loss. We can be content, joyful people who are bent on praise, but it will take a very conscious choice to be this type of person.  Beloved, I am convinced of this, there is some deep freedom when we praise God through pain.  I admit though, this has been a big growing edge for me...my emotions have a way of guiding me.  I’m asking God to change my attitudes and to help me be a person of praise and thanksgiving in all circumstances.  Won’t you?

5.     Jesus is Enough.  This one is BIG.   Some things we loss, we may never get back.  We can live aching for what we’ve lost, but I believe God desires for us to come to His Son to find He really is enough for us.  I think it’s one of the main reasons He allows loss and suffering, He desires for us to come to Him in desperation for our well-being like never before.  His love, forgiveness and grace are what really sustain us.  Ask the Lord to help you turn to Him for inner peace and satisfaction so you may find that He is more than enough for you. 

Why Life Stinks

Have you ever wondered why you’re just not happy?  Why your heart is so restless?  Maybe you keep saying or thinking things like: 

I want a new job.  I want a new spouse.  I want more money in my bank account.  I want a bigger house.  I’m so tired of this health sickness.  Why can’t I exchange my kids at Wal-mart like I can a pair of shoes? 

It may be that we are miserable because we’ve chosen to be.  I know, you just got upset, because if I only knew what you’ve been through or are going through.  Beloved, I’m not trying to downplay the pain you’ve been through.  Yet, I also believe some of us are miserable and we don’t have to be but we are because of the attitudes we have chosen in response to our pain.  Life is full of unexpected circumstances, things far beyond our control.  It’s a choice how we respond to those circumstances and I believe we can actually have joy and be happy even when we’re experiencing pain and disappointment.  It’s called contentment and it comes from trusting God and not putting our hope in our circumstances—but in His Word. 

God has really been teaching me what contentment means lately.  Contentment means that I don’t have everything I want but I choose to trust in and thank Him for His sufficiency in my life resting in the fact that He has given me everything I need to be completely happy and content. 

Do we really believe that God is enough and that His love can truly satisfy?  Because if we did, we’d stop striving for more and we would be much more thankful people.  Thankful even for the painful stuff, because we believe by faith that God is using all of it to draw us closer to His heart and grow our faith.  God always acts of out love for us.  Always.  Yep, even in the struggle and in the pain, He’s acting out of love.  Don’t believe me, peruse the Scriptures that talk about suffering and see what God has to say about it.  I think you’ll be surprised to see the element of hope and goodness, which God tells us, comes through it. (Rom. 5:3-5, James 1:2-4, Gen. 50:20, James 1:12, Heb. 12:5-11, Rom. 8:18)

The more I rest in the Father’s love and complete control over my life, giving up my restlessness, and choosing to always be thankful the more satisfied I find my heart to be.  It’s here we find, that we don’t have to keep running and striving anymore because He is enough—more than enough. 

Joy Through Pain

I’m tired.  I’m hungry.  I ache.  I’m hot.  I’m a punching bag.  My stomach feels like Gumby, but I’m not Gumby…I’m pregnant. Yes, this is the beloved last trimester of pregnancy.  Don’t get me wrong, I am absolutely ecstatic that I am pregnant and I will endure because I am waiting for the amazing day that I will meet our precious baby and hold him in my arms.  Wow, that makes it all worth it, doesn’t it? 

I keep thinking about how this relates to our walk with Jesus (sorry people this is just how my brain worksJ). 

I believe when we desire deeper intimacy with Jesus Christ there will come a time when life gets really hard.  It’s like having a baby and going through the last trimester and birth.  We have an Enemy, he doesn’t play by the rules and he wants us to give up on going deeper with Jesus.  So when life gets tough, the pain becomes unbearable, the accusations, the guilt, and the shame gets stronger and stronger—that’s the Enemy trying to deter you from walking into deeper intimacy with Christ.  He knows your freedom is sure in Christ so he’ll do everything he can to bring you to doubt God, filling your heart with unbelief and despair to keep you stuck.   Beloved, your God has deeper freedom for you through His Son.  Press on, trust, and rest!  Remember who you are in Christ, an overcomer and more than a conqueror (Rom. 8:37, Rev. 12:11).

The reality is, if we want to become like Jesus and grow in intimacy with Him, we will suffer and struggle. 

“Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.  Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”

God uses what Satan has intended to harm us to make us more complete in Him.  THAT’S THE TRUTH.  God is in complete control of our lives and nothing He allows is beyond His control.  Surrender it all to Him, stop holding on, let it go and let God transform your pain and grow your faith.   He can and will use it for His great glory and for a deeper intimacy with Christ.  Like the pains and discomfort of labor, it is totally worth it.  

Failure, Shame, and Disgrace…Oh My!

 Have you ever felt like a failure or felt a sense of shame and disgrace?  I know I have.  If I were a betting gal I’d bet that you have too.  Satan LOVES to fill our hearts with shame, failure, and disgrace.  Why?  Because he wants to fill us with so much despair that we give up.  Give up on what?  On the calling and destiny that God has for us in our marriages, families, spheres of influence, ministry, health, etc. 

Recently I was wrestling with my own sense of failure and disgrace and the Lord took me too Isaiah 54.  Here’s what God says about His people who have suffered and felt destitute like the barren woman who can have no children.  Watch this in v. 2-3, “Enlarge the place of your tent, stretch your tent curtains wide, do not hold back; lengthen your cords, strengthen your stakes.  For you will spread out to the right and to the left; your descendants will dispossess nations and settle in their desolate cities.” 

Feel like a failure?  Ever felt like that destitute, barren woman?  I have, not only physically but spiritual and emotionally.  YET, God says to us stretch out your tent.  Aka, DON’T GIVE UP!  In fact, we are called to expand and be strengthened.  What calling has God placed on your life, what dream in your heart?  There’s comes a time when we need to take a risk and stretch out our tent.    

As we walk in humble obedience before the Lord, in His gracious timing He will restore us and take our disgrace.  Often times God allows us to experience failure, shame, and disgrace in order to grow us into the person He desires us to be.  He is preparing us for our destiny, stripping us of ourselves to fill us with more of His Son.  So, Beloved, you keep pressing on because God is working in you to build perseverance, faith, and ultimately the character of Jesus. 

I often wonder how much shame Moses, David, Hannah, Mary, Joseph, Paul, and Peter felt.  Yet, God used them in some pretty powerful ways! 

FBC Women's Retreat 2014 Part 1 "Life's Tough, Get a Helmet."

Our first lesson from our women's retreat, Walking with Jesus: Step by Step, Season by Season. Andrea Mercier shares from Exodus 13:17-22, 14:10-15 in her message "Life's Tough, Get a Helmet." Andrea encourages the women to let go of their 'helmets' and embrace the long, sometimes confusing road that leads towards deeper freedom in Christ. She shares from her own life, and a part of the journey of suffering God has taken her on. *We apologize for the glare on the powerpoint making it unable to view on the video.

The State of my Health Address: Enough

I never would have expected the journey God has taken me on over the past three years concerning my health, my mind, my walk with Him, and really so many other things—some of which are personal and quite dear to my heart (you don’t need to know all of my business anyways;)).  Following Jesus over the past three years has not been easy, it’s been hard.  It’s been a choice in so many ways for me, not a feeling, but a choice to trust and believe God even when I may not understand it.  Especially in the moments where I wanted to serve Him more, but I couldn’t because physically I wasn’t able.  What a much-needed humbling experience this has been for me.  I can’t even begin to express to you all God has done in me through this.  And now, by the grace of God, I believe He has brought me to a much better place of acceptance and praise, with the understanding He is good, Sovereign and has a plan that reaches beyond anything I can seeJ.   My faith is becoming something I know personally, and not just something I read about it.

On this journey, I’ve experienced ups and downs, but through it all Christ has remained constant.  In the moments where I have just wanted to throw in the towel, I hear the sweet whisper of the Holy Spirit calling me to keep moving forward.  Yes, I’ve experienced a level of suffering and surrender I have not known until now, but for the sake of Christ, know it has been redemptive!  That’s why I want to share this blog with you, because I believe God has allowed me to suffer for His glory--and my own freedom.  He has allowed some things to be removed from me, some for a time, others maybe forever, and, oh yeah; He has allowed me to experience the consequences of my own sin.  Can I tell you, it is hard, so hard, because I’m realizing just how broken I am.  I have never in my life realized just how much I need Jesus. 

Here’s the great thing about God though, because in my brokenness I have realized just how sufficient Christ Jesus is.  Jesus is enough.  Though I’ve been stripped of things, some of which are very good things; I have come to a place where I can say, Jesus is enough and He is really what my heart is crying out for.   He is beyond sufficient to meet my needs.  I’ve found in the quiet moments with God what I really want is more of Him.  Isn’t this the journey God desires to take us on?  A journey were we are so fed up with our trips to the pit we dig for ourselves that we say—Jesus, make me well, I just want You.   Like the man who had been sick for 38 years whom Jesus asked if he wanted to be well?  Isn’t it odd Jesus asks this man if he wants to be well?  I wonder if we really want to be well or if we want our way, our self-sufficiency and in essence our sickness.  Maybe we’d like to think we can have both.  I know my actions have shown the latter.

Beloved, God is so patient and kind.  He can restore anything and anyone who would turn to Him for healing.  Let go of the resentment, stop fighting for answers and fall at the feet of Jesus, confessing your own unbelief.  He really is enough!  Seek Him like never before and you will not be disappointed!  He has a plan for your life and it is good.  You can stay in your bondage or you can trust that God will set you free through your own pain and suffering.  “I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.” (Romans 8:18)  Friends, as believers in Christ, we have this hope.  Our struggle is actually an avenue to our freedom in Christ.  I’m choosing to trust God with my pain knowing He is using it to free me and bring me into fuller intimacy with His Son.  How about you?

Suffering = Freedom

After my last blog I promised I would write on waiting on God even when it doesn't really make sense to us.  Well, here it is. 

So you have accepted and rejoice in the fact that God is working for your good, you are believing Him by faith putting your hope in His promises.  Yet, you're still waiting.  

God needs to do some work in us, and sometimes it takes time…often times it is more time than we imagined.  Yet, it’s here that we become whole and free.   God longs to free us and He will use these times of waiting to do just that.  How do I know?  Because I have seen Him do it in my own heart.  My faith, and yours too can become deeper and stronger than ever before.  

There will be some things God calls us to persevere and wait.  Why?  Because it’s there that we learn about who He truly is, a God of grace and amazing patience who is sufficient for us.  It’s also here that we become more like Jesus because as Rom. 5:3-5 tells us perseverance builds character, the character of Christ Jesus.  We are formed and shaped, prepared for the work God has for us, so we don’t work out of our unhealthy selves but out of Christ in us. 

  

Okay, but what do we do when the temptation comes to doubt the goodness of God and His plans for us? What is our remedy?  It is His Word.  I can’t get over it, there’s something so powerful about it.  So captivating.  I read it and it’s like my eyes are open, and I sense newness, I sense peace.   In fact, when it comes to our trails, James 1:2-4 says, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”

Yes, God is at work in us, transforming us into the character of His Son, so that we will not lack a thing.  What a great God we serve!

Now I know that as our waiting continues we could ask why.  We could look back and be discouraged.  We could even look forward and be discouraged.  But that my friends is a pit of the enemy, used to steal our joy in Christ.  The Word tells us “It is God who works in you to will and act according to His good purpose.” (Phil. 2:13)  You better believe the Lord’s purposes are GOOD.  Scripture also tells me, “The LORD is righteous in all His ways and kind in all His deeds.” (Ps. 145:17)  Not only is He good, but also He is RIGHTEOUS and KIND in ALL His ways.  God has purposes and plans that are so far beyond our comprehension, plans which are making eternal impacts.  I am fully convinced that the Lord uses our pain and our suffering for good and He allows it because He loves us. 

YEP, SUFFERING IS FOR OUR FREEDOM.