Content with Struggle and Waiting
How is it possible to be content in the middle of a struggle?
Verse of the Day
‘And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them. ‘
Romans 8:28
Today’s Devotional
This is one of those “feel good” verses that we sometimes misuse. This section of Scripture is talking about how we all, including nature, are groaning in anticipation for the return of Jesus, for the devil to be permanently defeated, for our adoption into the eternal family of God to be finalized. Paul mentions that even nature is frustrated by the current state of affairs. (Honestly, that makes me feel a little better.) As we wait for a glorious future, Paul says this: ‘But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently. ‘ (v.25)
Today, let’s talk about being content in the waiting. Being content in the middle of struggle. We don’t have to look very far to see someone who is struggling. Often, we only need to look in the mirror. Sometimes, the struggle is a good thing, like when we are trying to wrap our brains around a piece of God’s truth that is new to us. This reminds me of the caterpillar’s struggle to exit the cocoon. The struggle is real, but it is a good and necessary struggle that results in freedom. There are other kinds of struggle and pain that are much harder, like the wounding caused by abuse.
But….if we are believers in Jesus, these words are a promise. God doesn’t just take one piece of our life and make it better. He takes all of the pieces, some broken and damaged, and fits them all together for a beautiful purpose. I can speak about this from experience. I have walked through some really hard things in my life. God has allowed all of those things from my past to now be used for His glory. This gives me hope during my current struggles. But in the middle of those prior struggles, this is the conversation I wish I could have had with God:
God: Hey, do you trust me?
Me: Ummmm, I want to. I really do. But right now this hurts. This is hard.
God: I see you. I know it hurts. And I am with you in your pain. Do you trust me?
Me: I don’t know. But I know that I want to trust you.
God: I know. I just want you to understand something, if you can. I am so big, so powerful and so good, that I can use all of this hurt and pain and struggle FOR YOUR BENEFIT. I know that is hard to understand from your vantage point. So for today, all you need to know is that I am here and this pain and struggle will not be wasted.
Bibleref.com puts it this way: “The comfort of the verse is that nothing in this life of waiting and suffering is wasted. It is all meaningful for those in Christ, even if that doesn’t diminish our pain in the moment.”
Let’s look at it this way: Suppose you are in your room and you are really cold, the kind of cold that is distracting. And then someone wraps you in a thick, heavy blanket. The mere presence of the blanket helps, and then slowly you begin to feel a little warmer. Before you know it, you aren’t cold anymore.
The action of pulling the blanket around your body does not change the temperature of your room. It changes your body’s temperature by capturing the heat that your body already has.
THAT is the effect this verse can have on us. This verse does not change the waiting or the suffering. This verse wraps us in God’s promise. This verse helps us to capture what has already been given to us in Christ. This verse helps us to be content with the waiting and the suffering, because it helps us to capture our trust that God’s promises are true. Today, may we be content to simply be wrapped in God’s loving promises in the midst of a cold world.
Journal Prompts
Answer only the questions that seem relevant to you today.
What struggle from your past has God transformed to now be for your benefit?
How would you describe your current level of contentment in the middle of the waiting and the struggle?
What would it look and feel like for you to wrap yourself in the truth of this verse today?