Monday, August 01, 2005

Offer My Suffering?!?

Has anyone ever told you to offer your suffering up to God? If I've heard it once, I've heard it a thousand times...especially growing up in Catholic school. But what does it mean? How can I make it make sense and then actually use it in my life?
I'm wanting to really find that out. Not that I'm suffering in any serious way right now, but I want to learn to offer all of my complaints to My Father.
All through the New Testament, we are reminded that in our personal sufferings, we are sharing in the sufferings of Jesus Christ. This should be an honor. How am I supposed to see any kind of suffering or pain as an honor? The human part of me says, "Are you crazy? Suffering sucks! Find something to numb the pain and get away from it."
But the Bible tell me to delight in it. Now, I've got all of this information in my head. How do I put it into action? I can tell you that I personally just said a little prayer,

God, I don't like to suffer. I really want to be happy and pain free my
whole life. But I know that this is not possible because the world is
evil. It is because of the work of Satan that I now suffer. I
consider it joy to suffer because I know You and through knowing You intimately,
I recognize evil and it causes me sadness. Father, I offer my hardships to
You. I give You my heart to mold and strengthen through these
difficulties. I know that You are preparing me for something greater and I
trust You to get me through this. I love You, Lord and I know You are with
me during all of the difficult moments of my life. Amen

It may not make a whole lot of sense to you, but it changed my attitude and
gave me relief from my worries. I feel much better about all of the
situations that were dragging me down. It doesn't mean that I suddenly
have a new job or have all the answers to life's relentless questions, but I do
have peace in Jesus.

1 comment:

Courtney said...

Hey its Courtney - from Urban Bella's blog! I don't HATE Alabama, but I sure don't get to stalk celebrities here! I'm just jealous - I don't particulary want to live in LA either! Glad tos ee someone else from Birmingham blogs!! I am about to change my blog address, I'll send you a link if you are interested!!