Hurdles

Life hurts, it beats you down and wears you out.

There are times when I am exhausted.

I feel like I can't battle sin anymore.

I just don't understand why a loving God would make it so hard for me to follow Him.

I try and do what's right but still do what's wrong.

My flesh leads me to temptations I can't withstand.

I am weak.

It's times like this when this verse hits home.

"Even though I have received such wonderful revelations from God. So to keep me from becoming proud, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger from Satan to torment me and keep me from becoming proud.

Three different times I begged the Lord to take it away. Each time he said, "My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness." So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me. That's why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong."
-2 Corinthians 12:7-10

You see, Paul's been there.

He knows what I'm going through. He was a better Christian than me and even he still had sin he had to battle. It's not about being perfect, I just can't do that. I try my hardest, but I still screw up. But it is in my weaknesses, my failures, my defeats, my brokenness, when He is strong.

Maybe that's why I write at a time like this, fresh from battle with sin, in my moments of weakness is when God will use this.

But I tell you, in our defeats, we find victory in him.

When all is lost, He is there.

Through Him, we can overcome.

These sound like cliches until you've been there. God has lifted my spirits and delivered me from my shame and hurt.

He can do the same from you.

Only God can heal a broken home, stop an addiction, or simply give you the strength to go on.

Life is hard, I screw up.

All I know is life is better with Jesus than without.

It breaks my heart to see people going through pain without God. I firmly believe that is one reason why God puts hurdles in our paths. So we can experience them, and overcome. Once you've been there, you can reach out and help someone who is there now.

Only those who have been through divorce can truly understand the hurt of someone going through divorce.

Only those who have overcome addiction can relate to others trapped in the bondage of addiction.

God gives us the strength, when we are weak, to pull through problems, reach out to others, and in the end glorify Him.

There are other forces at work, causing pain and sorrow, we come across those people in our lives everyday, coworkers, classmates, spouses, family. God doesn't make us immune to these problems, God gives us the strength to deal with them, and come out on top, victorious.

That way we can go into a broken world and show them that there is a way out of the pain.

That way is Jesus.