We All Struggle. What to do when we struggle.

When we struggle in life with a particular issue, we have a tendency to “dig in”, to make a plan to improve. We may read self-help books on the subject or listen to speakers who give suggestions on how to improve. I believe it’s ingrained in all of us to go into “work” mode to fix any problem that we have. Whether we are talking about a bad habit, addiction, sin, or physical struggle. We believe that if we put the right plan in place, or follow the best program, or exert our personal best, we can overcome these issues. Granted some level of “work” on problems may be needed to make things happen but remember it’s faith before work. Not faith in yourself but faith in something or someone greater than yourself. Faith in something greater than ourselves starts with giving up on our own resources, basically, it is giving up on our ability to fix a problem. Another way to say it might be, not my will but yours. Let me give you some examples.

Paul’s Thorn

In 2 Corinthians Paul said that he was given a thorn in his flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment him. Three times he pleaded with the Lord to take it away from him. But God told him, “My Grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness”. Then Paul goes on to say, he will boast all the more gladly about his weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on him.

That is why, for Christ’s sake, Paul delights in weakness, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when Paul was weak, he is strong. We don’t know what Paul was struggling with, and personally, I’m glad we don’t. I believe that if we knew exactly what Paul was struggling with, we would design a life improvement program around that and focus on how to best overcome that particular struggle.

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If we did that, we’d missed the point that Paul’s power came from his weakness not from his strength, because when Paul was weak, Christ was strong. When Paul thought he was strong, Christ’s power could not be shown in his life. Many people want to believe and teach that Paul’s problem was a physical one, which may very well be the case, the bible does say that he had eyesight troubles. Yet, I strongly believe that the Bible is teaching us that it doesn’t matter what kind of problem we have, physical, mental, spiritual, sin, addiction, or habit; the point is still the same, Christ’s power is shown through our weakness, not our strength.

A Call For Faith

I am not suggesting we don’t have to “put in the work”. I am suggesting that initially, faith is in ourselves to solve the problem, if and when we come to the place in our life when we realize that we cannot solve this problem with our own resources, then the object of our faith moves from ourselves to a power greater than ourselves. Without this realization, there is no healing, salvation, or relief.

The same way a person comes to salvation in Christ is the same way we live our daily lives. It is a transformation, daily, from an independent life to a dependent life. Even though in our society, dependence on anything is considered weak, properly placed dependency produces the most extraordinary freedom man has ever known. Also, the idea of a “power greater than ourselves” may bother some people because I’m not saying Jesus Christ initially, it is easy to overcomplicate faith and be very exclusive when it comes to our own personal beliefs.

We Struggle To Grow

The Bible makes it clear that it takes the faith of a child and children do not understand complicated religious jargon. Children understand better than most adults because they can dream and believe. That is why many children’s stories are about mystical creatures and made-up stories because children can imagine a world of possibilities. Children can look up at the stars or moon, or sun and wonder who made them, or see the same beauty or simplicity in bugs and animals. Should we continue to only eat baby food our entire life? No, at some point we must graduate to the “meatier”, deeper thoughts of God but not before we have built our foundation on the very basics of who God is. Sometimes, many times, we as adults must revisit the child-like faith of a power greater than ourselves so we can remember how we got here and who got us here.

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Behavior Matters

Let me be clear, behavior matters, it matters to us, it matters to God. Do you think Paul’s struggle just ended in giving up asking God to remove it and he continued to struggle and be a slave to that struggle? Never. Paul realized when it came to this particular struggle, God wasn’t just going to take it away. I believe that there were other struggles Paul had that God “just took away” but God decided with this particular struggle, he wasn’t just going to do away with it.

Why? Because God wanted to save Paul. Save Paul from getting too “puffed up”. God wanted to save Paul from self-reliance, from it being “all about Paul”. So, God allowed this particular struggle to be an ongoing struggle, sometimes minute by minute, other times month by month struggle so Paul would rely on God to be the object of his faith. God wanted Paul to be constantly dependent on Him for life. In those moments of struggle, Paul would have to rely on God to produce the outcome that God wanted, not rely on his own willpower.

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Where does the work come in? The work is in our constant wellness to let God be God. To let God take the lead, and to give up our “right” to control things and allow the author and perfecter of our faith to control things. What does this work look like? It can look like a number of things; prayer, meditation, study, and building relationships with a community, friends, and family.

Learning through these relationships, that I am not always in control, that I cannot control other people. Learning to rely on others for help, inspiration, learning, and guidance. Learning to show mercy and grace to others in their humanity, just as God shows us mercy and grace. Learning forgiveness, learning to forgive others, and in introspection learning how much God has forgiven us.

If you have no struggle, there is not much to talk about. If you have it “all together” there is no need for a higher power. However, if you have and do struggle the answer is really simple, so simple we could miss it. First, you must admit you are powerless over your struggle. Second, believe that a power greater than yourself can and will restore you. Three, be willing to turn your life and will over to this power. Pretty simple, right? For some of us, it was the hardest thing we ever did but the most powerful. It does come with a guarantee, that you will not be a slave to no man, problem, sin, temptation, struggle, addiction, or habit but be free to become the person God created you to be.