A lot of people say that “what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger”, but we don’t always feel that way. Sometimes when life keeps throwing trial after trial at you it’s hard to see if you are improving at all. As Christians, we say that God has a plan and a purpose behind everything that happens to us, but sometimes it’s hard to find meaning. Why should we have to become stronger if He could just make the world easier to bear? The truth is, He did. When Jesus came to earth He took the weight of our sins and made Himself the final sacrifice.
I have listened to many sermons throughout the years about how great our God is, but always wondered why He allowed these sins and pain to continue. Did He want us to suffer? No. He is trying to help us, He isn’t the one creating it. God doesn’t create our sins, and He doesn’t put our troubles on our shoulders, but He changes the troubles to triumph.
“For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.”
James 1: 3-4 (NLT)
When we are put through difficult situations to endure, it helps to have previous experience to reflect on to help with our current situation. Kind of like how we look back on the words we said in the heat of the moment and think, “I can’t believe I said that. That was awful,” and next time we try to remain more level headed.
In this verse, I don’t think He meant that we would ever entirely reach perfection. Humans are meant to make mistakes, because we won’t be able to ever be completely God-like. However, our experience in some areas can improve through reflection and prayer. You may not know the right thing at that moment, but talking to God can help us to know what is right next time.
We won’t always know why bad things had to happen, but He is always fighting for us. A lot of the time we may end up asking why, but get no immediate response. Sometimes we go through things so that we can help others when they go through the exact same thing and help them see God in those times. What seems like failure, may help you save someone else. And other times, it can just be self improvement. Experience can help us to see things in a new light, to help others as well as our future selves. There is always a meaning behind every loss and every victory. When we see loss, God sees triumph.
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Awesome article Brianna! Thank you!