Cope: Overview - Struggle
“My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. (John 14:2-3) This is Jesus’ promise; that those who truly believe Him are 100% guaranteed of eternal life with Him in Heaven. There is no bigger prize. So, since we already have the big stuff, why do we sweat the small stuff?
Reasons include such tings as forgetting to show gratitude. When wee take our focus off our Lord’s eternal promise of Heaven and place it on our temporary surroundings we’re setting ourselves up to be hardship focused. This was Peter’s problem when he took his focus off of Jesus and onto the crashing waves surrounding him. This practice causes us to fear and even resent the circumstances Jesus has called us into, and will certainly call us out of His perfect timing. Trusting in Jesus will put our extremely temporary sufferig in the perspective of eternity and eternal joy. In this proper comparison, our molehill will be exposed for what it really is.
We can resent the situation we’re in. We can want what others have (or appear to have). We can even believe we dont’ deserve to suffer and try to escape suffering at literally any cost. But the cost of disbelief is seperation from Jesus. Since Jesus endured excruciating pain, ever focused on the prize beyond the suffering, we can’t let our pride allow us to believe we deserve to walk in anyone else’s footsteps. Being grateful for Jesus is the single most effective coping skill we can develop and the right rebuke to our struggle.
The fear of man brings a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord shall be safe. Proverbs 29:25 (NJKV)
