Embracing the Agony

I wrote the words for this Motivational Mini a while ago, and honestly, this encouragement has been a poignant reminder for me today. You see, the past few weeks have been wrought with horrible anxiety attacks, brought on for a variety of reasons. 

Most days start out fine, but as the hours and tasks drag on, I get overwhelmed. Stressed. Anxious.

Somehow, I don’t think I’m alone in this. Somehow, I think many of us can relate to feeling okay one moment… then broken and breaking the next. It’s crazy how fast we fall, isn’t it?

And yet, it’s in these hard seasons that we grow, oftentimes, without even realizing it. We see this throughout the Bible…

Daniel enduring the lions’ den…

Mary being scorned for her unwed pregnancy…

Abraham agonized at the thought of sacrificing his son…

David being hunted by Saul…

Moses suffering through the wilderness and trying to led a rebellious people…

Sarah, Rachel, Hannah, and Elizabeth all crying out for children…

John the Baptist, Paul, and practically all of the disciples imprisoned for their faith…

Jesus Himself suffering immensely to save our souls…

And us. Right now. Whatever we’re going through, we’re in good company.

In all of these cases, the Lord has a way of working for His and our good, for turning graves into gardens, ashes into beauty, and death into life (Isaiah 61:3). So, I’m going to challenge us to change our mindsets:

When it feels like God’s cutting you into a million tiny pieces and you don’t know how all this heartache can lead to good… perhaps He’s cutting away the sinful rot that’s preventing you from blooming.

When life seems to be slicing you to bits—the hard realities of this world grinding against your soft, aching heart—perhaps He’s allowing trials to sharpen your faith, to make it as solid and unyielding as iron.

When you cannot go on because it feels like you’re walking through a burning inferno with no relief in sight… perhaps He’s burning away your impurities so you can shine like gold. And perhaps—no, not perhaps; certainly—He’s in those flames with you (Isaiah 1:25).

Friends, may we glory in our sufferings, because we are suffering like He did (1 Peter 4:13). May we embrace being broken—life-as-we-know-it faltering as Satan’s strongholds break—because He is making us whole.

Broken and whole. Sinner and saint. Imperfect but made perfect by His blood. This Divine dichotomy is one we can enjoy. We can thank God for our pain, for in our pain, He is making us new.