Hope for the Hurting: For the Hurting: Encouragement for Suffering Seasonsنموونە

What do we do in situations so painful and overwhelming, our knees begin to buckle and we can barely catch our breath?

We lean hard on Jesus, trusting Him to give us His perfect strength in our time of weakness.

Paul, a first-century church planter who wrote much of the New Testament, demonstrated how to remain utterly dependent on Christ–from necessity. He’d “been exposed to death again and again.” Five times he received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times he was beaten with rods, once he was pelted with stones, and three times he was shipwrecked. He’d been sleep, food, and water deprived, and daily carried a burden for all of the churches he’d planted.

This would’ve completely overwhelmed me, potentially causing me to emotionally disconnect and withdraw within myself.

Not Paul. Instead, he turned to and relied upon Christ and found in Him the power to not just endure, but endure well.

Too often, I rely on myself, rather than Christ. But when hardships hit, I become more aware of my desperate need for Jesus. The good news is, I have Him. Always, along with everything I need to live a victorious, Spirit-led, and Spirit-empowered life.

If you’ve trusted in Christ for salvation, you do as well. Your present weakness doesn’t have to lead to defeat. It can, in fact, be a catalyst to receive supernatural strength. Rest in your Savior, knowing that He hems you in with His love (Psalm 139:5). Nothing you face surprises Him. He knows every obstacle you’ll soon overcome and every valley He’ll carry you through. He’s standing behind you, ready and able to catch you every time that you fall, to dust you off, and help you regain your footing on the firmest foundation possible—the immovable, unshakable rock of Christ.

If you’re in a hard place right now, if you feel hard pressed on every side with no escape in sight, hold tight to this–God’s got you, and He won’t let go, and He’ll give you the strength to make it through.

~Warmly, Jennifer Slattery