When times are difficult

Reflection

We often pray for God to remove the difficult seasons. But sometimes the very seasons we want to escape are the seasons God uses to grow us. When life is easy, it can be easy to say we trust God. When everything falls apart, trusting Him becomes something deeper. The struggle can teach us patience. The uncertainty can teach us surrender. The waiting can teach us trust. And the pain can draw us closer to Christ. Your struggle isn't necessarily a sign that God has abandoned you. Sometimes, it's where your faith is being strengthened. As Johnny Chang reminds us, don't waste the difficult season. Let God use it to grow you. "Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance." — James 1:2–3

Questions to sit with

• Which difficult season have you been praying would just end, and what might God be growing in you through it?
• What would change if you saw your struggle as a place of strengthening rather than abandonment?
• Where is the waiting teaching you to trust God in a way ease never could?

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