When Life Hurts

Thirty-five relatives and villagers grabbed Hezekiah by the hair. They punched him until he became unconscious. Hezekiah, has since endured more beatings because of his conversion to Christianity.

"As I have matured in my walk with Christ," Hezekiah says, "I have more faith to endure these hardships. The trials I have gone through have served to strengthen my faith, and I see God's faithfulness in delivering me. I thank God I have been able to bring thirty people to the saving knowledge of Jesus." (Extreme Devotion from the coauthors of Jesus Freaks/Wpublishing Group 2001)

I think God is trying to teach me similar lessons. Through trials, God has built, within me, perseverance and even hope. It will probably take several blog posts to share stages of these lessons.

I confess. I came to Christ because every book I read led me to believe that He would take all my problems away. I stubbornly held on to that belief for decades! I wanted to believe what I wanted to believe. Consequently, when life handed me pain and challenges, I doubted God. I concluded that He had "favorites" and "I" wasn't one of them. At first, I questioned what I was/or wasn't doing to qualify me for such a position. Then as I made my own list of what I thought God wanted from His favorites, I determined that I'd never make it.

This week, I've spent time in Hebrews 11. These men and women believed in God's goodness even when their eyes told them something completely different. I believe God is teaching me that my eyes can't be trusted. He can! He is always faithful. He can be nothing less. With that, I close with a quote from the devotion mentioned above.

"God's loyalty to his children in not based on reciprocity. If it were, we would all have been abandoned long ago."

How do you see the struggles in your life? How does it affect your faith?

Still Growing,
Lonnie