Stronger Than The Struggle: Day 1

Here is the devotional:

God’s mission is to gather as many souls on earth as are willing to live with him for eternity. He is passionate—no, vigilant—for everyone to have an opportunity to choose him. When we give our lives to him, his mission becomes our mission, though we don’t see the whole picture as he does. We get caught up in our nearsighted natural and cultural realities.


So when we ask God to do something for us, our asking isn’t wrong; in fact, he wants us to ask. But often he will answer with a no or not yet. If we don’t agree with his answer or don’t want to wait, we struggle. We battle with his no. Sometimes we wonder if the Devil is withholding what we want from us. Sometimes we wonder if we lack the faith to move the hand of God. But in these cases, God is actually saying, “I’m going to do what’s best for the rest. I have a plan. Trust me.”


Each type of battle—internal, external, or theological—can leave us asking questions and struggling with life. Our questions may sound like this:


    • Why am I on this earth?
    • Is feeling lost normal?
    • What is God’s will for my life?
    • Am I ever going to feel as though I have enough?


    Maybe our questions go even deeper:
    • Do I belong?
    • Do I have what it takes?
    • Am I replaceable?
    • Can I really be happy?


Can I tell you something amazing? We don’t need to feel continually caught in these questions and the struggles of life. I want to help blow the lid off of the enemy’s plan and show you what he’s been up to. I want to empower you to tread him underfoot and keep him there. Right where he belongs.


Gone will be the days of constant warring, wondering if you have what it takes to belong to God. By walking this path together, we’ll learn how to clearly know when the battle is coming from inside of ourselves, when the Devil is involved, and when God is intervening to give us a plan for battle.


We’ll get practical and realistic. I’ll tell you what’s worked for me and share the small but radical shifts that have made a tremendous impact on my spiritual life. You can’t win a battle if you don’t have a fight plan — and God is ready to give you one.
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Here are the scriptures referenced:

Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
2 Corinthians 5:17 KJV

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For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.

He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
John 3:16‭-‬18 KJV

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That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
Romans 10:9 KJV

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Here are Stu’s thoughts:

Hopefully this Bible Study does exactly what the author states in the end there…

I like how he started his study…

We get caught up in our nearsighted natural and cultural realities.

Stronger than the struggle

I can concur with this statement when asking God for something in particular and even during the fight for freedom from addiction.

It doesn’t really matter what you are dealing with…you will have questions. And they will all be valid questions that you earnestly want answers to.

It’s in the waiting for said answers where we get bound up.

But if we have patience God will indeed answer them so be careful what you pray for. The truth hurts.

I prayed for an answer and got it. That answer shook me up but it answered my question and made things more understandable.

But it took a toll on family relations that are still unresolved 8 years later. But my molestation had to be brought out into the light for me to gain the freedom I needed to move forward.

Our nearsightedness can be a major tool for the enemy to use to make us doubt God.

When we ask a question to someone we have come to expect an immediate answer. God doesn’t work like that a lot of the time. Why, you ask…

Well I would say this, based on my own personal experience, you are not ready for the answer.

You think you are but your really not and God is moving you to be prepared for him to answer when he knows you can handle the truth.

That could take, days, months or even years.

Let’s see where day 2 takes us tomorrow 😊