But a huge stumbling block to this determination (to be thankful) is the stubborn belief that thankfulness is a result of trouble-free existence. "I'd like to be thankful, but everything keeps breaking down around this house." "I'd like to be thankful, but God hasn't fulfilled my greatest need yet."
To me, joy and suffering seem mutually exclusive - I have one or the other - never both at once. Yet, joy is the response to suffering which God consistently encourages in His Word.
Enlisting trials won’t make them easy, but it will cut them down to manageable size.
So considering the ways of The Great Charter of Courses, I wonder if we spend too much time trying to change our journey and not enough time mastering its challenges. Don’t get me wrong, I think we should diligently and boldly seek course change – be it physical healing or deliverance from a rough situation. Even Jesus sought a Plan B route before His crucifixion in the Garden of Gethsemane! Yet there is a stumbling block in forgetting to move forward while we wait for circumstantial change.
My true self is already as it should be. It is not something that I whip into shape - as it is the seed of Christ in Me!!!! That seed takes over where my powerlessness ends. His work becomes bigger as my eyes are open to God’s will - which WAS done on the cross!
Paul was no stranger to hardship. He mastered some miserable circumstances – jailings, whippings, beating and stonings. He knew what it took to not just survive, but to thrive. So like Paul, let’s allow dependence on God’s power to propel us forward into great endurance and patience, even joy.
Sometimes I think we see prayer like a cell phone contract. It's hard not to expect Him to perform - to answer when we call. Reconciling this was a struggle during my battle with Stage IV cancer. If He really loved me, He should be as committed to my well-being and comfort as I am, right?
It is tempting to think we must change on our own so that God will be pleased with us. It is also tempting to think that we can change on our own. Yet we know Paul had become so frustrated that he gave up trying to change. Can you relate to Paul?
Fortunately for us, the Lord never meant suffering to be just a cruel and bitter pill to be dutifully swallowed. Suffering is a path, never a destination.
- battling cancer, cancer support, comfort, dependence, goodness of God, handling trials, melanoma survivors, power of God, rest, surrender, surviving melanoma, weakness & strength
So to merge the symbolism of the three names (Euodia, Syntyche and Clement), serenity brings harmony between the good times and bad.
