“Lord, I don’t think I can go on.”

My circumstances pressed down hard on me, tempting me to believe there was no hope for the trial I faced.

Have you ever felt like giving up? Maybe you believed God would spare you from further pain. Yet there you were still walking through the pain of the trial of your faith. Looking for a place of protection from the enemy and his lies. A place to leave your weariness. A place to rest.

I recall a time long past when I was so weary I would have given up on life itself, had not the Spirit of God impressed this question upon my heart.

“Are you willing to hupomeno . . . bear up under the load . . .for the purpose of Christ-like-ness?”

There it was. The purpose of the trial. God’s eternal perspective. That I become more like Jesus.

With that in mind, hope was surprisingly reborn. I was willing to go on and believe for the strength needed to continue on my journey. More than anything I wanted to endure this trial in order for Christ to be formed in me.

I wanted to learn the lesson of the caterpillar … the chrysalis … the cocoon … the butterfly.

Metamorphosis.
I prayed the pressure of the trial would press me through to new beginnings. By faith, I left the cocoon of unbelief behind and with the pause of God’s grace, my exercised wings of faith were strengthened to fly to those heavenly places where God’s eternal perspective changed my heart. I was given strength to press on and press through.

The landscape of my heart changed when I submitted my heart and will to the One I call my Lord and hopelessness gave way to a confident hope that endures to this day. Worship replaced worry as I focused on God and His promises. Fear had to flee when I faced my enemy and stood on the naked truth of the Word of God….The truth that always sets us free.

Now some twenty plus years later I look back knowing time and God’s grace has caused me to forget the past as I stand in awe of the One who makes all things new. I rejoice in times present as the Spirit of God continues to change the landscape of my heart. I want to please the Lord intentionally. I want to press through my trials and watch for the bloom of patient endurance in my life.

What tempts you to lose heart? Have you talked to the Lord about it?

When the winds of change threaten the landscape of your heart, your family and nation, call out to Jesus. He’s been there all along, awaiting your heart’s cry. The Sovereign Lord of the universe rules and reigns over all the fearful and stormy circumstances of life. He’ll take you to the other side of the storm.

We’re Passing through
the storm,
Be-loved of God.
Jesus is on board our battered ship
and He’s speaking peace
to stormy winds and troubled hearts.

We’re pressing through
the storm,
Child of God.
Our Captain and Navigator
controls the winds of change
and has a sure destination in mind.

We’re praying through
the storm—
Bride of Christ.
He sees and knows
when teardrops fall—
And He’s praying us
through to the
other side of the storm.

Reflections from Matthew 8:23-27; Philippians 4:12-13; Romans 8:28-29