With us in the trials...

Hey guys.... so I unintentionally took the last two weeks off of posting. This summer has been crazy and I've only posted a handful of times, but that's okay!

I also wanted to give y'all a heads up that I probably won't be posting again until September... I'm going to be traveling a lot in the coming weeks.

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I'm not really sure yet where I'm going with this post. I guess I just want to share some things I've had on my heart recently, so bare with me here.

This summer has been wonderful, challenging, and weird all rolled into one. It's been a time of a lot of internal struggling for me, but that's also made a pathway for growth.

I've been struggling with insecurity, identity, friendships, and a lot of other things for a while now. But I'm slowly learning how to grow and move past those struggles. It's a process, but it's Jesus who sees me through it.

A few weeks ago I was reading through James and James 1:2-4 always sticks out to me...
"Consider it a great joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you experience various trials, because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its full effect, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking nothing."

Maybe you're thinking, "woah James, back up. A great joy to go through trials?"...

Yeah, that's what pops in my mind too. It's crazy to think of having joy while going through trials. But here's the thing: sometimes when we're going through struggles it's not just us suffering for no reason. Those struggles - those trials - produce endurance which helps you to grow in maturity in your faith.

Have you ever played guitar or a simple instrument? If you have then you know that when you first start playing, it hurts your fingers. Your fingers are soft and the strings hurt. But as you continue to play and practice your fingers build callouses and you can play with ease and without pain.
While that's not a perfect example, it helps get the point across. Sometimes you have to go through pain to get what's necessary to grow (or perhaps become a better guitarist).

Guys, I get it. Life can seem awful sometimes. Sometimes it feels like the pain has no meaning. Like we go through trials for nothing but pain. But that's not the case. I know it can seem like those struggles bring nothing but suffering and perhaps for now that's all you'll be able to see.

Last year I went through a time where I seriously struggled with fear. I hated going to bed because the darkness would come and Satan would whisper lies that would terrify me. It got so bad that I wanted to scream for the lies to be silenced. That went on for a while. At the time I couldn't see an end in sight, I couldn't see any good in that situation. But through God and the power of His Word, He helped me to move past that. He helped conquer my fear. That doesn't mean I'm never afraid, but since then I haven't struggled with it that much.
Going through that time taught me how memorizing scripture can help a lot (Psalm 56:3 and Romans 8:15 helped and comforted me during that time). Now I can look back and see how God worked. He used someone in my life to help get some truth back in my head. He was there with me through it all.

I'm not sure what you're going through. But I do know that God can get you through it. But I'm also not guaranteeing that all your problems will automatically vanish.

In 2 Corinthians 12:1-10 Paul is talking about how he had a thorn in his side and he prayed three times that God would take it away. But God didn't.

In verse 9 God told him, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is perfected in weakness."

Sometimes God will ease our suffering. Other times He will give us what we need to bear it.

God loves you so much. He's with us always. He will never leave or forsake us. So trust Him with what you're going through. He will be with you through it.