The Struggle is Real

I think it was Wednesday last week, I woke up, my husband and I exchanged “Good Mornings,” then I said, “why is everybody…”  I allowed my voice to trail off and I didn’t finish the question.  

​My husband pressed, “What are you asking?”  

I said, “Nevermind, I know the answer, I don’t know why I even asked that out loud.”  

He said, “You didn’t ask, you stopped.  What were you saying?”  

I thought about it and proceeded with my question.  “Why does it seem like everyone is struggling so bad?  It’s like their lives are falling apart?  But nevermind, I can answer that for myself.”

End of discussion.  It was not, however, the end of my thoughts about the question that was obviously on my mind as I slept!  I have come to realize the origin of the question.  A few weeks ago, I joined a local Facebook group that I thought would help me to extend my reach as a Realtor.  I’ve come to find that this group has no filter and there is great need among the members.  I would also say there are lots of poor choices being made.  Now, it seems every time I open the app, someone is sharing their situation and asking for suggestions.  Sometimes I want to comment, after I roll my eyes, but then I see 59 or so people have already commented, and decide my two cents has probably already been stated, so I keep scrolling - but the other person’s situation and my feedback (that I didn’t share) stay on my mind.  It’s become a burden for me.  Other people’s problems are really plaguing me!  (I started to title this post, OPP, but I thought better of it.)

I can’t speak for how everyone else lives their life, but I try to be a forward thinker.  I fully know that while I may plan my own course, it is the Lord who will establish my steps.  (Proverbs 16:9)  I prefer to learn from the mistakes of others rather than experience them myself.  I like to speak with people experiencing positive growth and find out what they did to achieve it.  I don’t seek to live like others live, but it is food for thought.  I understand cause and effect.  As I wrote last week, in my blog about consequences, I much prefer blessed and highly favored over trials and tribulations -and that is certainly not to say I haven’t been through seasons of trials and tribulations- because I have, and may again in the future!  I seek the Lord daily, multiple times per day!  I allow Him to guide my decisions and set the path for me - even if it’s not what I really want to do.

So, back to the question I asked my husband.  The struggle is real and everybody struggles from time to time.  Our struggles can be because the Lord is trying to get our attention and teach us.  Paul said, in Romans 5:3-5 “...we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.”  Our struggles can also be because we didn’t learn from the last struggle, so we are in the same situation once again.  Read that sentence again.  We can be the cause of our own struggles.   

Think about it, if you were caught speeding and given a warning, then get caught speeding again, then the warning was for naught.  Now your insurance will increase as an additional consequence for not heeding the warning.  This can snowball, too!  If you don’t learn to drive the speed limit now, and get another speeding ticket, and your insurance increases again, you may have to make a decision about whether to keep the car insurance or pay your rent which is also about to increase.  Then you get on social media and tell everyone, “Struggle is real!”  

While the struggle is real, God is still good!  I am going to Facebook mute this group.  I think it could be helpful to me to be a part of it, but I will have to seek the group rather than allow its members’ issues to continue to burden me.  I always want to help people, but as I read their backstories, they have not heeded the warnings and now there’s a situation.  I will pray for the members, that they each will take the steps they need to draw closer to God and His amazing plan for their lives.  Something else we like to post is, “Won’t He do it!”  I need to read more stories of His amazing power rather than stories about the struggle.  We all struggle, and we must turn to Him because His healing, power and strength are also real.  Amen!
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