Twenty-four hours a day

Reflection taken from The Purpose Driven Life;

You face circumstances twenty-four hours a day. ... 

No one is immune to pain or insulated from suffering, 

and no one gets to skate through life problem-free. 

Life is a series of problems. 

Every time you solve one, another is waiting to take its place. 

Not all of them are big, but all are significant in God's growth process for you.     ... God uses problems to draw you closer to Himself. ... 

"The Lord is closed to the brokenhearted; 

He rescues those who are crushed in spirit (Ps 34:18)." 

Your most profound and intimate experiences of worship will likely be in your darkest days - 

when your heart is broken, when you feel abandoned, 

when you're out of options, when the pain is great - 

and you turn to God alone. 

It is during suffering that we learn to pray our most authentic, 

heartfelt, honest-to-God prayers. 

When we're in pain, we don't have the energy for superficial prayers. ... 

(pgs 193 -194)

 "If you look at the world, you'll be distressed. 

If you look within, you'll be depressed. 

But if you look at Christ, you'll be at rest!" 

Your focus will determine your feelings. 

The secret of endurance is to remember that your pain is temporary 

but your reward will be eternal.  ... 

(pg 198)

 "Give thanks in all circumstances, ... " How is this possible? ... 

God wants you to thank Him that He will use your problems 

to fulfill His purposes.  ... 

No matter what's happening, 

you can rejoice in God's love, care, wisdom, power, and faithfulness.  

We can also rejoice in knowing that God is going through the pain with us. 

We do not serve a distant and detached God 

who spouts encouraging clichés safely from the sideline. 

Instead, He enters into our suffering. ... 

God will never leave us on our own.  

(pgs 198-199)

Character building is a slow process. 

Whenever we try to avoid or escape the difficulties in life, 

we short-circuit the process, delay our growth, 

and actually end up with a worse kind of pain -  

the worthless type that accompanies denial and avoidance. 

When you grasp the eternal consequences of your character development, you'll pray fewer "Comfort me"prayers ("Help me feel good") 

and more "Conform me" prayers ("Use this to make me more like You"). 

You know you are maturing when you begin to see the hand of God 

in the random, baffling, and seemingly pointless circumstances of life. 

If you are facing trouble right now, don't ask, "Why me?" 

Instead ask, "What do You want me to learn?" 

Then trust God and keep on doing what's right.

"You need to stick it out, staying with God's plan 

so you'll be there for the promised completion."

Don't give up - grow up! 

(pg 199)