Everything Is Meant For Good

Everything is Meant For Good

Scripture: "Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ. If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer. And our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort." - 2 Corinthians 1:3-7

Observation: The disciples are writing this letter to the church in Corinthians. They are trying to convey the message that believers are not alone in their suffering and when we suffer we are able to comfort others as God has comforted us. There is hope in shared comfort and suffering among believers. 

Application: I am in a place of suffering and I am in this place because God is telling me "No". I could focus on the suffering and allow it to overwhelm me in pain or I could allow God to use this experience to bring comfort to others. I need to choose comfort that I would be able to comfort others.

Prayer: Dear God, You see the tears I have cried and the pain I have suffered, yet You have promised to work it out for my good. I pray for the strength to endure and I ask for comfort, for peace, to fill my heart. I ask that You would show me who in my life I could bring comfort to and I ask for the courage to share my story. In Your loving name, Amen. 

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Today I am realizing how much the love we have for others shapes our actions. So many of my actions or inaction the last few weeks have been because of love and I pray tonight for a greater understanding of love, that my love would be a reflection of God's love for me. 

Walking Forward In Faith

Today I had coffee with God and I am looking forward to all that He has to teach me. The result of today is a deeper understanding, a deeper desire, to read and to understand scripture. On Pinterest, I found this reading plan from the Bible app as well as the SOAP method of Bible study (I pinned both to my Journey of Faith board), which I intend to apply. Flipping through the reading plans available, I was drawn to the plan When God Says No and decided I would incorporate this plan into my next few days (it's a 3-day study). 

Walking Forward in Faith

Scripture: "Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And 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." 

-Romans 5:3-5

Observation: Suffering is necessary. It is through suffering that we are taught to persevere and perseverance leads to the development of our character, which allows us to hope. God has given us the Holy Spirit that His love would be poured out on us and our hope would not be put to shame.

Application: Right now God is telling me "No" or at least "Not yet" (from experience they feel the same and only time shows the difference). His answer has put me on a known, but dreaded path. I am familiar with this journey, but I resent the suffering that comes with it. I think God wants me to know that suffering is necessary to achieve the hope He wants in my life and that hope won't be put to shame.

Prayer: Dear God, I am thankful that my hope won't be put to shame. I am afraid. I don't want you to say "no" to restoration, but I can't escape the feeling that You are. I find myself back on this well-trodden path of heartache and I frantically look for an exit, but there is no escape. I am lost and I don't want to stay on this path. Please direct me that I would know my next step. Strengthen me that I would persevere and that my character would grow. That hope wouldn't be lost. In Your loving name, Amen