The Necessity for Struggle – Part 1
The definition of “struggle” according to Merriam Webster Dictionary is: “…to make strenuous or violent efforts in the face of difficulties or opposition, or to proceed with difficulty or with great effort.”
There seems to be no shortage of struggling, from the most wicked unbeliever to the strongest believer. What is it about our existence that universally includes battling something?
One thing about humans is we all struggle with something. It can be a physical thing like a disease. debilitating injury, or recovery from domestic abuse. It can be a physiological fight for acceptance or love by a parent or peer. Or it can be a spiritual situation fighting with a secret sin, trying to get enough time to answer God’s call, or wrestling with sins of envy, strife, gossip, lying, or greed. Did you ever notice we don’t struggle with nothing? It always about something else or someone else.
Where does this struggle come from? From childbirth to the golden years, trying to cope with different milestones is tough. When you add in weather, governmental, economic, and global contributions; how can we go on? Where did “easy” leave the scene? If we travel back in time a long way, and recount the rebellion in heaven and the fall of the angel of light from heaven; we can understand the roots of this. There will always be a spiritual element to all struggles, because Satan desires trouble, disharmony, and strife. People even mistakenly struggle with God like they struggle with Satan. Does God struggle with us? You bet. Genesis 6:3 – And the Lord said, “My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, for he is indeed flesh; yet his days shall be one hundred and twenty years.” Yet Jacob even struggled with an angel because Jacob WANTED the blessing Genesis 32:22-32.
This isn’t simply an innocent battle of wills of muscles versus weights at the gym, the denial to reach for that extra slab of chocolate cake, or extending the length of an argument of who is more right.Many falsely claim the struggle is inanimate; when truthfully it is a product of our behavior or attitude.
When we embrace the fact that there will always be a struggle in this life, that there will always be storms that swirl around us, or that the battle between God and Satan will exist until final resolution; we will be able to understand why things are the way they are. I’m not talking about complacency and apathetic resignation about things, but an active, vibrant, and vigorous effort to blast through the fog and seek God’s wisdom, power, depth of will, strength, and energy to show the world that HAVING the struggle isn’t as important as how we DEALT with the struggle.Effective prayer is a struggle, because Satan hates it and wants to throw distractions into the mix. Purposeful discussions about Jesus Christ in the workplace is a struggle because Satan doesn’t want you to!
“Lord, it seems struggles don’t line up in single file many times. Yet, the small struggles seem to take as much out of us as the big ones. Thank You for showing us that You are bigger than any struggle we have, because through them all, we become stronger and more resourceful.In Jesus’ Name, Amen.”