Burden or Blessing?

Raise your hand if you’ve ever had this thought: ‘Why is God allowing this to happen to me? What did I do to deserve this?’
I tend to start thinking this way when life isn’t going my way. Either I’m feeling hopeless about the situation I find myself in; or I’m feeling the weight of someone’s insults towards me; or I feel like I will never gain a specific person’s love. All situations I don’t have any control over. Yet God allows these things to happen to me . . . why?

I was thinking about why this might be, and I found this verse:

2 Corinthians 12:10 – 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.

Are the hardships I face really something God has burdened me with? Or should I embrace the opportunity to grow and develop a testimony that will someday teach others that face the same hardships?

James 1:2-4 – Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

Romans 5:3 – We can rejoice when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance.

Shouldn’t I feel privileged to receive the opportunity to develop endurance?

I know it’s a hard concept to grasp, but it’s written more than once in the bible to rejoice in our suffering. One practical way that I like to practice that is this: Write down one of the toughest struggles you’ve faced so far in your life, and beside it write out what you’ve learned through this struggle and how it has shaped you as a person – that way you are learning to see each hardship as a lesson that builds character and endurance, even if it’s hard to see in the moment. Think about how you are going to use that experience to teach and bless others someday. Think about how God is going to use that hardship in the story of your life, and how He can use it to bring Him more glory.

With love,

Gabriella